Blood splattered upon the ground and the monstrous roar of the blood golem was not far behind. Anaris struggled to keep himself balanced. He had miscalculated gravely; the antidote that he had taken was not strong enough to rid himself of the toxins the blood golem had injected into him. With each beat of his heart, Anaris felt his hands and knees getting weaker, his vision clouded by a red misty haze.

"Ugh!" He fell on his knees, vomiting. The thunderous steps of the monster came closer. Using every once of energy to keep his head up, Anaris could see only the blood golem some seventy feet away. It was sniffing the air.

[i]You are a hunter?[/i]

"Oh damn, I'm becoming delirious..."

This was it. He was hearing voices now. The toxins were beginning to affect his brain. Anaris looked for his revolver. He weakly wrapped his fingers around the grip.

The golem caught a whiff of Anaris' scent and triumphantly ran at his direction, its hands in the air, ready to smash him like the ant he was 

[i]Killing ourselves are we? Well, I won't fault you for that. Much better than being tortured. But are you sure you want to do that? It's quite the coward's way out.[/i]

"Shut up, I'm taking this thing down with me at least. I'm hearing things. Damn, I'm actually hearing things? Is this my imagination? Move! Move!"

[i]No, it is not. The voice in your head is mine. I do like your...tenacity and resourcefulness. Say, why don't we make a deal?[/i]

"Who are you?"

[i]That's hardly the time to be asking that. We can exchange formalities later. If you want to live, all I need is for you to provide a place for me to live. How's that sound?[/i]

The golem was closing in quickly and Anaris' vision was starting to black out.

"...Curses, I won't even be able to lift my gun or see my own death. Ok voice in my head, I'm pretty sure you aren't real but I'll agree to this deal. I'll provide you housing in exchange for saving me."

[Anaris' eyes turns cloudy]

[i]As you command, master[/i]
=====
["x"]=Anaris speaking to Jakai in his head

[i]Ah, rewatching a memory of our first meeting aren't you? How nostalgic. This will be a year now? Hmm...[/i]

["There is no privacy when you are bind to a ghost. How many times I told you to not peek?"]

[i]Apologies. It's just that things inevitably leak out and having nothing else to do, I look.[/i]

["Right. Since it's our first anniversary tomorrow, why don't you tell me what you want?"]

[i]...[/i]

["Never mind, tell me when you are ready. If you would have wanted to kill me you would have attempted it a long time ago."]

Anaris spotted a small little coffee and tea shop close by. A rumble came from his stomach. 

["Well, I suppose a small snack wouldn't hurt. Don't come out. We don't need another accident"] 

Anaris entered the shop.