#displayed

The mirror exit broke apart as the horde of vampires burst through. The ones in the front halted, the others sweeping around as all eyes trained on Jonathan. Like a pack of wolves intent on the slaughter, their eyes gleamed in the dying light. Was the ghost holding him in place for the vampires? His body still rigid, Jonathan tried to force the spirit out. He didn't know why. Perhaps the determination not to be consumed gave him courage. His body loosened all at once. Like a rubberband untensed. The feeling pooled in the back of his throat. Jonathan fell to his hands and knees, retching out a viscous white form that pooled on the floor. With a shrieking howl, the puddle dried up in a poof of thin smoke. "I lost control to that?" Jonathan gasped. Then he remembered the vampires. Looking up sharply, he saw them frozen in place, staring not at him but behind him. Before he could think, he felt something curl under his chin. The gentle touch of a dozen fingers. Curiosity guided Jonathan to look over his shoulder. But a breath probed his ear first, and the voice of a thousand tongues murmured, "Look at me...and your mind...will belong to nothing else."

His brain churned painfully just to pick out the English words from so many languages.

"Why?" He asked, eyes cast to the floor for safety. "Why me?"

A heavy pulse beat behind him. The way the frequency warbled indicated this being was laughing at him. As the hand guided him to stand, he heard its reply:

"Why not you?"

A dark, heavy cloud passed Jonathan from both sides, bearing down on the horde of vampires. The spell broke. At once, they shrieked and thrashed about, clawing at the darkness around them, trying to escape. Their bodies sank into boneless puddles on the floor, features swirling into each other. Until Jonathan only saw bleeding eyes and screaming teeth lost in the dark. Then the shadows cracked and broke, falling like obsidian glass to the floor. Light burned into his retinas. He shut his eyes, waiting for the pain to subside. But then, shouts, applause, wild cries that sounded...inhuman. He heard the being him make an announcement, and the cries surged louder. He picked out "Galaxy" among the unknown words. Then, a long thin necklace was placed around his neck. The bottom of it struck against the lowest point of his v-neck. Was this being...styling him? Another announcement. "Earth" now stood out to him. The second necklace now. Shorter, heavier, its metal more dull than the first. "Human." The third necklace was composed entirely of linked diamonds. And finally, the announcement he waited for most of all. "Man." The last round of applause nearly filled this interdimensional space. "What are you?" Jonathan whispered. "I am...the Hungering," he heard as the last necklace wound tightest around his throat. It felt cold against his skin, a thousand sharp links that cut if he moved too quickly. "What do you hunger for?" "Knowledge...beauty...broken...things..." Somehow, Jonathan could feel the Hungering's eyes upon him. As if its eyes had fingers that felt every part of him. His silk clothes pushed close to his skin, giving him a cooling sensation without a hand touching him. "...will I still go mad if I look at you?" he asked. Sight would make these odd feelings less terrifying. "Not...from below..." Suddenly the highest necklace pulled. Jonathan fell backwards, landing heavily on his side. The wind knocked from his lungs and he could smell the blood the necklace had drawn from his skin. Pressing the wound, Jonathan looked up. A creature of shifting features and a hundred arms sat above him. Its robes were made of galaxies, the hem pooling over the creature's feet (of which animal, Jonathan did not recognize.) The pair of hollow eyes locked with his, while the nearest hand reached for his throat. A black tongue glided out from its palm. "W--wait--!" Jonathan jerked back. But not far enough. The tongue curled around his neck. "Forgive me..." He felt its mucus seal the incisions in his skin. But the tongue lingered, almost affectionately. Realizing this being meant to heal him, Jonathan relaxed his body, trying to accept what was happening. As the Hungering held him there, he noticed other creatures seated around the throne. Beings he had never seen, some which hurt his eyes to look upon. Each wore silken clothing to enhance their beauty, each wore necklaces to label what they were. Some a few, some a dozen. "Did you hunger for them too?"Jonathan wondered. A sensation permeated through his body at once. He felt a thousand sighs wash through him. His eyes rolled back in his head as a wave of euphoria left him weightless. His bones turned to lead and even in his stupor, he sensed the Hungering tongue was the only support that saved him from falling into nothingness. "...yes..." The tongue loosened, curling with a final, teasing flick under Jonathan's chin. The Hungering eyes smiled upon him, but he could not hold their gaze long. Rubbing his damp neck, Jonathan moved closer to the throne. As he leaned against the Hungering's robes, he remarked quietly, "Well...lucky us, then."