Sentio struggled out of sleep, twisting under the blankets on his bed until he twisted right onto the floor, finally freeing him from the most horrible dream he'd ever had. He blinked up at Kenjista's sleepily confused gaze; he'd woken her up with his thrashing around, he guessed. She frowned at him, but he didn't see, trying to shake off the last shreds of sleep and nightmare.

::You were dreaming,:: she accused. ::You woke me up.::

"'M sorry, I didn' mean to," he managed. He didn't feel like himself; he still felt half asleep. That didn't seem to pacify her, and as she was getting more awake, she was also getting more annoyed.

::You're really going to have to work on that,:: she grumped at him. ::I'm tired of getting all your nightmares!::

"But I haven't been-- oh." He blinked, glad for the distraction, at least. "Cacopheny's been having nightmares, and I got a couple of 'em... maybe you got 'em, from me." On the heels of that thought came the worry that Chario was getting them, too, through Kenjista. What if even Akija were picking up some of those images, all the way down the proverbial grape-vine? Goddess, but Cacopheny wouldn't like that, he thought tiredly, rubbing at his eyes. They felt gummy, like he wasn't really awake, and something was making him feel itchy and restless. Was there somebody calling him, somewhere in the house?

::Well, then maybe he needs to-- what was that?:: Going in mid-complaint from irritated to wary, her eyes went immediately to the door. Sentio followed her gaze blearily. ::I thought I heard something. Outside.::

"I don't hear anything...."

::There it is again.::

For a moment, caught up in the restless anxiety from the dream-- Cacopheny's dream surely, which, if he hadn't yet woken up from it yet, would explain why he still felt so uncomfortable-- he thought he heard something outside the room. A drawn breath, a mutter, a heavy footstep, something. But then he shook his head. "It's just that nightmare, making our minds play tricks on us," he sighed.

::You never believe me! I'll go out and prove you wrong, there's somebody out there.::

"If it's anybody, it's just Cacopheny wandering around; maybe that nightmare woke him up, too." But Cacopheny didn't seem awake; the half-demon couldn't hold the bond closed while he slept, but whenever he woke, to shadow or self, he promptly closed it again. He swallowed then, remembering. "Besides, he told me to lock the door. I don't think it'd be smart to unlock it, especially if he is wandering around."

::I told you I'd protect you. You still don't believe me.:: And with that, she hopped down from the bed and paced deliberately towards the bedroom door.

"Kenjista," he began, but then the handle suddenly turned. Or tried to: the lock held it in place. Kenjista froze, one forepaw still raised. It made its abortive turn again, jiggled, twitched, jerk angrily. "Kenjista, come away from there," Sentio whispered. She'd backed up just one step when a voice outside made her freeze again.

"Open," it said in the unmistakable gutterals of demon-speech, Cacopheny's voice but strangely high-pitched, strangled, almost hysterical. The handle jumped again. "Open, damn you! Open! She's in there, get out of the way! Open, open, fucking door!" The door groaned softly, as if all the half-demon's slight weight were hauling against it, but held firmly in place. Kenjista made it the rest of the way back against Sentio's forelegs, twining around his wrists anxiously, eyes on the door. His were, too.

"Don't say anything, just stay quiet," Sentio breathed to her, hunching down so that her feathers brushed his chest.

::You stay quiet, too,:: her mental voice whispered back.

Now fists were pounding on the door, as if he could batter it down, which he couldn't, and he was pleading, voice coming faster and more desperate. Even worse than the words was that, somehow, the bond was wide open, and Sentio recognized what Cacopheny was feeling, even if he didn't know what it was-- didn't want to know what it was.

"She's in there," he whined breathlessly, not quite under his breath and clearly audible; now it was a wail, now a demand, now pleading. "I can't see, I can't get through-- let me in, open, damn you! Let me in! Mistress, please, I can't see, come back, I love you, I swear it, come back. Come back, please, please, I can't-- OPEN, DAMN YOU!"

Sentio and Kenjista both cringed at the scream, waiting for the door to break down and spill a furious demon down on them, but it didn't. There was a pause, like a held breath, and then they heard, almost whispered, in a dreadful voice, "Gone." The door handle twitched once more, then was still. 

::Is he--::

"Still out there. Please be quiet--" Cacopheny felt more awake now, but nothing else had changed, and if he was done with the door for now, Sentio didn't want him to be reminded of it. He hadn't been this frightened of Cacopheny since that day after the bonding, when he deliberately stalked him across their room in the complex. All he wanted now was for Cacopheny to forget what he'd been doing and go back to sleep.

"Of course not!" he heard, snapped, growled even, then more silence, full of horror for something that escaped Sentio. Whoever Cacopheny was talking to, whatever shadow or dream or whatever he might think was out there, Sentio couldn't hear it.

A slow, sighed breath, realization: "Yes. I do."

The silence then stretched for what felt like hours. No one banged on the door or tried the handle again, but only the occasional flash of Kenjista's eyes pierced the darkness that clung to everything. Sentio could only sit, breathe, and shiver, crouched over Kenjista as if he might protect her from whatever wrath would inevitably descend.

But it didn't.

::Is he gone yet?::

" ... I think so." Finally able to move, Sentio rose shakily and crept towards the door, Kenjista close to his paws. It took three tries to unlock the door, but when it swung open innocently it was to a dark but empty hall.

::Good, he is gone.::

Sentio moved carefully down the hall, towards Cacopheny's room and the shadows that clung even thicker here than everywhere else. The door was open, ajar, and the room was empty and smelled of blood, sweat, and desire. The shadows whispered secrets that he couldn't understand. "Cacopheny?"

Shaking, gripped with the need to know what had happened to his tormented bond, Sentio didn't sleep the rest of the night. Instead, he scoured the manor, Kenjista trailing irritably behind him and complaining the whole while. He searched every room, but by dawn he stood again in Cacopheny's empty room and had to admit what he feared, but knew to be true. Kenjista was more right than she knew. He was gone.