[b][i]BUZZ. BUZZ. BUZZ.[/i][/b] Eri lifted her head up, her eyes peering darkly over her arms as she saw her phone vibrating out of control. She bared her teeth in anguish and half-crawled half-limped towards the phone, picking it up with clenching fingers and swiping it on. [h2][/h2] [B]Attention, Everyone[/B] [I]If you are now part of this madness, we can help you. If you ever need help, don't hesitate to call us or mail us we will always rush out to you. When you are able, come to the direction attached to this message, this is where we are. We are all Colors, just like you, and we must help each other.[/I] [I]Ryousei.[/I] [h2][/h2] She needed help, but would these people really help her? Or is it a trap to lure Colors to their deaths? Surely it was a trap. What else could it be? Who in their right mind would try to fight this dangerous system? It was too much of a risk. She couldn’t trust them. No, Eri was much safer in this room…alone, in the dark, forever. Eri closed her eyes and breathed in tightly to prevent the tears that beckoned her. To prevent the sadness that wished to overwhelm her, already has overwhelm her. And suddenly the walls were spinning and she was reaching for the wall, dry heaving as there was nothing in her stomach and memories of the awful, awful screams resounded in her head. “I can’t, I can’t.” Eri gasped, gripping her head until it left small fingernail indents. [i][b]BOOM. BOOM. BOOM[/b][/i] Someone is banging on her door, calling her name – “Eri, Eri, Eri” – and it was all too much. Tears exploded down her face, torrents that threatened to drown her and she couldn’t breathe. Her lungs were shriveling and Eri clasped her eyes shut, the pressure on her eyeballs hurting. This pain couldn’t compare to what Kotone had felt – maybe she deserved it, she deserved pain and death and blood and this horrible twisting in her gut. Eri wanted to be swallowed up by the earth, to not be real, be [i]human[/i] anymore. She didn’t want to die, but she wanted to stop existing – does that make sense? Is Eri being rational? No, no, no. Stop thinking, Eri. Stop, stop, stop. “Eri, sweetie, Kotone called.” Eri’s eyes widened and her gasps halted. “She wants you to visit her in the hospital.” The tears stopped flowing, but a horror replaced it and a sick feeling followed. “I think you should go…and maybe you could talk to somebody?” Therapy? Eri wasn’t crazy, no, no, no. Eri was fine. She was fine. Right? Right? “Come on out, sweetie. I’ll take you there.” She doesn’t want to go! Can’t go! Can’t go! … “Okay, mom.” [h2][/h2] Eri never liked hospitals. It was always too white for her, too bright, too pristine. And the smell, the smell was the worst. It was a mixture of anesthetics and old people – Eri hated the smell of the elderly. It reminded her of her fate. To shrivel up like a prune. Eri shuffled through the halls, her hands burrowed in her jacket’s pocket and she periodically glanced at the door numbers. …102… …103… …104… 105!!! Here it is. Eri needs to steel herself – she takes in deep breaths, trying to quell the storm in her stomach, and prematurely opens the door. [i][b]BANG.[/b][/i] The door slams against the wall and Eri winced, she didn’t mean to hit it so hard. She scans the room and breathes a sigh of relief – Kotone is sleeping soundly. Almost like a creeping shadow, Eri slinks forward and hovers over her best friend of which she has caused so much pain. Pain, pain, pain. The tears threaten her with their crystalline fragility and Eri bites her hand to keep them at bay. Almost as if her tears are compensating, words pour out of her mouth like Niagra Falls. “I’m so sorry, Kotone. This is all my fault. I didn’t…I didn’t mean to hurt you. Emotionally or physically. I just…wanted to have fun. I’m so sorry.” Eri got onto her knees and held a limp, sleeping hand close to her face. “Mm…E..ri…” By the time Kotone opened her eyes, Eri was gone. [h2][/h2] Eri glanced down at the phone in her hands and huffed, the sound ripping her throat that had become sensitive from a day of crying. So this is the place, the place where this Ryousai is supposed to help her. Great. It could be a trap. But Eri didn’t care anymore. She opened the door and strutted into it, gathering the bravado she had before she had…pain, pain, pain.