The Beast

Seven's eyes fluttered open, confusion clouding his mind as he tried to make sense of his surroundings.

"Where am I? What am I doing here?" he thought, still feeling the weight of the strange, hazy feeling clinging to him.

As his vision cleared, he realized he was sitting at a desk in what looked like a classroom, with rows of students around him.

Before he could process it further, a voice snapped him out of his thoughts.

"Hey, Seven, what are you dozing off for? You wanna get scolded by the teacher?"

His eyes snapped to the source of the voice. It was a girl sitting a few desks away from him.

She had long, wavy blonde hair that cascaded down her back, and her blue eyes glinted with a mix of amusement and mild annoyance. A few stray strands of hair framed her face, softening her sharp features. Her smile was teasing, but there was a warmth to it that made her look friendly.

She wore the typical school uniform, but it was her confidence and playful demeanor that drew Seven's attention.

"Huh?" Seven muttered, blinking rapidly, trying to gather his bearings. His heart was still racing, as though he had just woken from a nightmare.

"Uh... sorry, I kind of spaced out, I guess," Seven apologized sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck.

The girl chuckled, a playful grin tugging at her lips. "Sheesh, I was just messing with you. The teacher won't be here for another 10 minutes. We have self-study time, remember?"

Seven blinked, feeling a wave of relief flood through him, though a part of him was still rattled by the disorienting experience.

"You…" he started, about to comment on how unfunny it was to be in this situation, but before he could finish his sentence, the world around him began to distort again.

In an instant, everything shifted, and Seven was jolted awake, as though something had pulled him out of that moment entirely. His heart thudded in his chest as he found himself back in the darkness, no longer in the classroom.

"Huh, why did I just remember that moment? It's been... 12 years," Seven muttered to himself, a heavy sense of nostalgia washing over him.

He glanced around, trying to ground himself, but the unsettling reality of the room hit him once again. There, lying in front of him, was the same skeleton without it's rusted armor, and the eerie crystal ball still glimmered in the center of the room.

His body instinctively tensed as he tried to distance himself from the ball. However, something felt different. His movements suddenly froze, and before he could even think, his hand jerked forward, reaching towards the ball. 

'Shit, wait, not again. What's happening?' Seven thought, panic bubbling in his chest. His mind screamed at him to stop, but his hand continued its path, guided by an unseen force. 

With a sinking feeling, he realized there was no way to pull back. His fingers closed around the ball, and but this like before, green energy didn't crawl up his arm or overwhelm him. There was only a calm, heavy silence. The ball didn't have the same strange effect this time, but something else was stirring beneath the surface.

Without a second thought, his hand slipped the crystal into the pocket of his pajamas, his heart pounding. He still felt out of control, like someone else was pulling the strings. The familiar sense of dread settled in as he silently acknowledged the truth: he wasn't alone in this moment. Something else was with him, controlling his actions. 

Seven's mind screamed as his body moved against his will. His feet carried him toward the balcony, and despite his efforts to fight it, he was drawn back to the very darkness that had terrified him moments before, the place where that creature had been lurking.

'Wait, stop not there, please no' He panicked internally

His legs moved down the stairs, step by step, despite the cold sweat forming on his skin, and the dread in his gut gnawing at him. He couldn't make his body stop, couldn't force himself to turn back. Every inch closer to that door, to the creature, felt like a death sentence, but his body continued its relentless march.

'Please, no...' Seven begged silently, but his body moved as if under the control of some unseen force. He was trapped, powerless, as he approached the door—the very door where the creature had been on the other side.

Each step brought him closer to the source of his fear, but he couldn't fight it. 

His body didn't stop at the door; it reached out, gripped the handle, and twisted it, the sound of the door creaking as it slowly opened.

The darkness on the other side seemed to inhale, pulling him closer, the creature's presence growing stronger, like a shadow about to consume him whole.

The silence thickened, broken only by Seven's footsteps and the creature's strained breathing. The sounds overlapped, growing louder until they seemed to collide.

The creature's shriek echoed, "Kieek!" desperate and maddened. 

Before Seven could make sense of it, his body moved forward on its own. His mind screamed to stop, but his legs ignored him. The cold, heavy dagger in his hand felt wrong, but his body kept moving. He couldn't control it.

As he neared the creature, its shrieks grew louder. His lips parted involuntarily, and words he didn't understand slipped out.

"Kino daxeti mio glayea." A flare of heat rose before him, a floating flame pulsing with unnatural light. 

In its glow, the creature was revealed. A once-majestic white panther, now starved and weakened. Its stomach was concave, ribs visible. It growled, its hunger palpable. 

Seven's heart raced. The creature, near death, was more dangerous.

His body surged forward without hesitation. He leapt toward the beast with unnatural speed, the dagger raised high. With one swift motion, the blade pierced between its eyes.

There was a brief resistance, a tremble through his arm. But then, the panther went limp, its body collapsing, its chest no longer rising and falling. It was dead.

Seven stood over it, his breath shallow, his mind racing. The silence was deafening. He stared at the lifeless creature, shaking. The dagger still in his hand, dripping with blood, but he didn't feel triumphant. 

There was no satisfaction, just a chilling feeling of being controlled. Something dark and powerful had taken over. Something that wouldn't let go.

Seven's mind raced, still trapped inside his body, unable to move or speak on his own. Desperately, he tried to reach out mentally, hoping for some sign, some answer.

"Please... what's happening? Who are you? Where am I?" His thoughts screamed, but the silence remained. No response. 

Questions spiraled in his head, but there was no one to answer.

The eerie stillness around him seemed to mock his desperation. He was alone, trapped in a body that was no longer his own, unable to escape, unable to fight back. The unanswered questions echoed louder in his mind, but no comfort came. Only the crushing realization that he was no longer in control.