Trailing Along

“Where am I supposed to go now?” He didn’t get an answer. He hadn’t expected one either. All the boy had was Ben’s light. Even that wasn’t going to be enough to get Baby Doll’s soul fragment back and get out of there. Still, he didn’t have a body or a way to take control.

She was the one in the driver’s seat.

Right now, she was looking for something.

“What am I supposed to do now?”

Shhh!

That was all it took. Masayuki drew his mouth closed. Okay then. He looked behind him when he thought he heard something. Hm? What was that?

“Hey.”

Shhh!

“Hey!”

What?

“What’s that sound?” He took a listen with her. Dogs. Masayuki’s stomach dropped. Those hounds couldn’t reach them in the sky, right? Hands grabbed onto his body. The boy didn’t have to ask. He closed his eyes and braced himself to be yanked along. And sure enough, Masayuki was pulled up and disappeared.

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There’s nothing but rushing darkness around him. Masayuki closed his eyes and held his breath. In truth, that proved to be pointless in his current condition, but he didn’t have anything else to do. She was the one leading him on the run. All the boy could do was trust the process. Even at times when he didn’t think that she knew what that was.

We’re about to come up on the new string.

“What was that?”

Hold on tight! She didn’t have to tell him twice. She closed her own non-existent eyes and drew herself and Masayuki backward. The boy held on as tightly as he could. He felt a pair of small hands on his shoulders. He peeked over his shoulder. Deep brown eyes were staring back at him. A strange sense of ease washed over him. This was going to be alright.

I’m going to ask you to hold on as tightly as you can. This is going to be a tight pinch. She didn’t give him time to respond. Masayuki clenched his teeth as he braced himself for what was coming next. Suddenly, he felt something stabbing him in the chest. Masayuki cracked one eye open to see a thin light brown thread coming out of his heart. He could feel it vibrate with each pump. Masayuki was about to speak when he saw the answer staring him in the face.

“This is…”

He vanished in a flash before he could finish that thought. The pulsing space went still afterward.

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When he opened his eyes, Masayuki found himself standing in the middle of an empty living room.