[center][color=lightblue]The familiar sight greeted him the moment he closed his eyes only this time he started on the edge of a building. The visual of the ground far below him made his head spin and he tried to take a step backwards but his legs wouldn’t move. The sudden pressure against his hand made him aware that he wasn’t alone in standing on this precipice. He turned his head slowly, afraid even a little movement would cause his body to decide it wanted to go forward. He blinked in shock at the sight of snow white hair being snapped around by the wind and golden eyes smiling at him. What was the girl from the flower shop doing up here? He frowned. [color=violet]”What are we doing up here?”[/color] He tried to ask but the wind threw his voice back at him. Whether the girl heard him or not he would never know. She merely smiled at him, gripping his hand tightly as she began to tip forward. Before he knew what was going on, he felt a hard tug on his hand and the feeling of his feet leaving solid ground followed by his stomach dropping to his toes. 

A scream ripped its way from his chest and was thrown away by the fierce wind. He looked wildly at the girl still gripping his hand, seeing that she was smiling contently like they weren’t going to have to be scraped up from the asphalt once this was all over. His eyes involuntarily returned to the ground that was growing closer and closer to them by the second. It seemed the fall lasted forever yet it also seemed like they were falling very quickly. Feeling like his heart was trying to beat its way out of his chest, Raven could only watch in terror as he freefell towards the street. Right as they were about to hit Raven squeezed his eyes shut and tensed his whole body.

When the impact never came Raven blinked his eyes open in confusion. He looked around, seeing that he was in a tunnel of some soft. Braziers lined the walls, the warm flames making the shadows flicker and dance out of the corner of his eyes. The smell of dust and earth invaded his nose and he sneezed a few times. He then spotted a white glow at the end of the tunnel. Curiosity warred with common sense. Dare he go closer? What if it was a trap? However, it also could be a way out. He frowned as he stood there for several minutes. Finally curiosity won out and his feet began moving before he could second-guess himself. 

His quiet footfalls echoed down the tunnel, making them sound louder than he would have liked. He didn’t know if there was anything there with him or if it knew he was there but if it wasn’t aware of his presence he would very much like to keep it that way. No need to add being chased by a monster to this very bizarre experience. As he drew closer to the light it began to take shape. First an oval before it morphed to resemble a more humanoid shape. Once Raven drew close enough he blinked in surprise when the light faded away slightly to reveal the flower shop girl. 

She stood there smiling at him with her head tilted before turning and walking away. [color=violet]”Hey, wait!”[/color] Raven cried before racing after her. No matter how fast he ran she always stayed a few paces ahead of him. In fact, it looked like the faster he ran the farther away she got. He panicked when she suddenly disappeared through an open door. He skidded to a halt before it and peeked inside. He almost flinched back at the blackness that greeted him. He had never been fond of the dark either. Gathering up all of his courage Raven grasped the door handle and pulled the door open, a dank odor wafting out of the abyss. 

.As he stepped inside a few inches the door suddenly slammed shut behind him, knocking him into the room slightly and taking with it his only light source. After stumbling forward a bit and regaining his balance, Raven froze, breath halting in his chest upon realizing just how [b]dark[/b] it was. He was too terrified to breath let alone move. As he stood there, wide eyes trying to look though the gloom covering his vision a small sound reached his ears. The sound made his veins fill with ice and his heart stop in his chest.

 [b]tap tap tap[/b] 

The sound of footsteps drew ever nearer and Raven found himself pressing back against the solid wood of the door, the handle digging uncomfortably into his back. Suddenly, a brightness filled the room, making him cry out and shield his eyes against the harsh glare. After a few beats the light dialed back and he was able to open his eyes, blinking away the spots that popped up across his vision. What he saw made him blink again. Flower shop girl was standing in the middle of the room smiling at him. He let his eyes wonder the room, seeing that it was round in shape. Murals depicting winged creatures covered the walls. As he gazed at them he had to blink because it looked like they were almost…moving. A swishing sound drew his attention away from the wall art and he brought his attention back to the girl to see she had stepped closer. 

She raised one slender arm and pointed off to the side, his gaze following her. He saw a red curtain that rustled in an invisible breeze. It slowly started to rise and he glimpsed a dark shape crouching in the opening behind the curtain. Bright blue eyes bore into his own and he squinted, unable to make out the rest of the shape. As he took a step closer to try and see the mass better, he gasped as a rumbling shook the room and the stones that made up the floor began to fall away. A type of weightless washed over him and Raven gasped, looking down to see there was nothing but darkness under his feet. 

He turned panicked eyes upwards, spotting the girl standing but a few inches from him. He threw out an arm to reach out to her but just as his fingers brushed her hand the weightless feeling disappeared and a cry escaped him as he began to fall, the girl’s smiling face the last thing he saw before everything went black.[/color]

A gasped escaped him as he shot up into a sat position, breath escaping in harsh pants as his eyes wheeled wildly around. As his heartrate calmed down and his breathing slowed, he ran a hand over his face as he took a deep breath. [color=violet]”Just a dream.”[/color] He sighed as he flopped back against the sheets. Sunlight was filtering through the cracks in the blinds and he glanced at the clock, seeing that it was eight o’clock in morning. Deciding he wasn’t going back to sleep anytime soon, Raven swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood up. He groaned as pain rushed through his head and he stumbled as his and ache. The longer he stood, the more his body hurt. It felt like that time he had the flu only his nose wasn’t stuffy. 

He sighed once more and stiffly made his way to the bathroom. After doing his business he grabbed his toothbrush and toothpaste. He smeared the paste over the bristles and brought the brush to his mouth. As he opened his mouth, he frowned and leaned closer as he stared at his teeth. Were his canines…pointier? They certainly looked sharper. He gently brought his tongue to poke at one and winced at the drop of blood that welled up. Still frowning, he slowly started brushing his teeth. Things were getting weirder and weirder. After finishing that task he turned to the mirror. Remembering what he saw last night, he gripped the hem of his shirt before hesitantly lifting it over his head. His eyes widened and the cloth fell from his limp fingers. There were more of them, covering a good part of his chest, the top halves of his arms and his calves and thighs. He slowly brought a hand up to touch one of the spots. 

It was hard and smooth…like…like a…scale. Freaked out, he quickly grabbed his shirt and tugged it back over his head. Raven’s vision wavered for a moment and he stumbled as his headache grew, leaning against the wall as he took a deep breath. He stumbled to the medicine cabinet and blindly reached out for the aspirin. He swallowed two dry and stumbled back to the bed, collapsing on top of it. He laid there with an arm throw over his eyes, waiting for the medicine to kick in. As he laid there, a sudden twisting of his stomach had him leaning over the bed and retching into the trashcan he kept next to his nightstand. 

Groaning, he wiped his mouth off with a tissue from the box on the nightstand before rolling back over onto his back. He began shivering as sweat began beading on his forehead and he reached for the comforter, pulling it over him as he moaned, stomach twisting and doing somersaults. Was he sick? It sure as hell felt like it. Blaze mewed, nudging Raven’s head. When the boy made no move to respond, the kitten tucked himself against the boy’s neck, purring in hopes to sooth his owner. Raven dimly heard the phone ring but he felt too horrible to move and felt his consciousness slip away.[/center]