The Cage 2: The Hunt
Yes, it is finally here! The sequel to 'the cage'. Please review as soon as possible. Chapters may take a while but be patient.
1. No Happy Ending
The dark veil that night cast over the world had only just settled. The world relaxed and so did the humans who inhabited it.
Rukia rested her head against the soft pillow. Her troubles had ended. Life was finally normal for her. She had a boyfriend, a job, a house and a life without strife. She was happy. She had endured so much in the events only two months ago. But that time was long past. All was well, her worries long gone. Now her biggest concern was waking up earlier for work.
Her head sank deep into the soft pillow and her eyes drifted shut. She deserved time to relax. Her body shut down as she slowly went to sleep.
"RUKIA KUCHIKI!! COME OUT WITH YOUR HANDS UP!!!"
The sound was so loud it made the windows rattle. A loud humming was coming from outside. Rukia crept over to the window and looked out. The street was filled with marked police cars, armed patrolmen scurrying out. A helicopter was hovering over her house, a search-light flashing in random places. The blinding light beam hit her in the face and she fell back onto her bed, grasping her eyes.
More screaming and yelling. Something thudded loudly downstairs, the sound of splintering wood. Rukia shrieked as she huddled under the covers, drawing them over her whole body in a feeble attempt to hide herself. She hid under the blanket, hoping she would be in another world, away from these men and their strange raid.
Her bedroom door whined as it's hinges split apart from the thunderous hit it took. A group of armed soldiers burst in and they immediately tore the blanket apart. She tried to leap away but she had already been ensnared in the huge, bulky arms of the armed men. They dragged her by her arms, her legs kicking about madly.
The stairs hurt. Her back and tail bone smashed into each step as she was roughly dragged down. One of the soldiers said something, but his words were garbled as if in another language. Rukia soon realized that she was lapsing in and out of consciousness. She had been so shocked that she was passing out.
"Wake up!" One of her captors growled clearly. He thrust her face into the wall and she wailed helplessly. He chuckled and then threw her outside onto the front lawn.
The police were everywhere! The helicopter still soared over them, the spotlight had been turned off now.
What is going on here?! Why are these people here?!
"What do you want with me?! Why are you here?!" Rukia screamed at the nearest man. He pointed his large combat rifle at her and she leaned back away from the barrel of the intimidating weapon.
"You are under arrest for the murders of twenty-four citizens from Karakura Hospital!"
Her gaze drifted over to a group of men digging a hole in her yard. While the hole was being dug out, dead bodies were being thrown in. One of the faces looked familiar...it was a man she had tried to save during the siege on Karakura hospital.
"What?! I didn't kill these people!! This is all a mistake!" Rukia shrieked at the top of her lungs.
The shadows nearby shifted. Rukia instantly focused on him. The darkness outside made it nearly impossible to see anything, but she could just make out a man with spiky hair. His build and hairstyle were easily recognisable. "No! No!!"
"We meet again Miss Kuchiki." The man said. "Do you recognise me?"
"No! It can't be!! Why, Ichigo why?!" Rukia threw herself forward but two guns poked her stomach and made her move back. Tears flew from Rukia's eyes. "I thought you loved me!! Why would you do this?!
"Ichigo? My, my...you don't remember, do you..." He stepped into a patch of light and his face was revealed. It was Ichigo in every way...except for his hair which was black as coal.
"Wha...what?" Rukia just stared at the man. His identity was not readily apparent in her memory.
"Don't worry, Kuchiki. You don't have to remember right away, because you'll have lots of time to think while you rot in prison!" A twisted smile crept across his face.
Rukia dropped to her knees. Her strength left her. She clenched her fists and squeezed her eyes shut. She tried to control herself, but failed. She looked to the sky and screamed.
"!!!!"
*****
TWO HOURS LATER
Rukia yelped as she landed on something soft. She was dreaming that she had been thrown into the pit of corpses. Her eyes flew open and she looked at a torn seat beneath her. She looked around dazedly and saw an armed guard slide into the drivers seat at the front of the long vehicle. It wasn't a limousine, so it could only be one thing...a bus, a prison transport to be specific.
Rukia sank into the seat and looked around. She was the only one on the bus. The strange man she had met was standing outside, waving and smiling broadly. Rukia realized she was still dressed in her nightie, which cut off on her thighs, revealing most of the flesh on her leg. A cold breeze made her skin crawl. She was barely covered by her attire and it was unusually freezing in the cabin. She called out to the driver and the man nodded without turning his head.
"Um excuse me...Can I go get changed?" She asked.
"Hell no!" The man answered abruptly. "You don't get to wear a freaking ball gown where you're going! Now shut up and sit down!!"
Rukia sighed and gazed out the window again. Someone was leaning against the side of the bus, his arm outstretched. She noticed his digital watch and studied the time. It was nearly midnight. It had been ten o'clock when she was about to go to sleep and was interrupted.
"Um...excuse me again." She called out. The driver grunted deeply and turned to her.
"What?"
"Why am I still here? It's been two hours since you burst into my house."
"You passed out. The boss said to wait until you recover."
"Oh..." Rukia looked away. "One more question."
"I swear to god-" The driver stopped himself from finishing the sentence. "What?"
"Why are you doing this?!" Rukia pleaded.
"Secret. Now shut up!"
"Answer me!!" Rukia rose to her feet and dashed to the front of the bus. Her fist drew back but everything went white and she fell over before she could throw a punch.
She woke up again a few moment later. Her hand was bandaged up and she was still lying on the floor of the bus, only this time, a dozen armed men sat nearby. Each large weapon had it's sights trained on her. She stared at her bandaged hand and it took a few seconds to guess what had happened.
They shot me!
Someone laughed behind her and she rolled around to see him. She caught onto the fact that he had been ogling her exposed panties while she was laying there. Her face went red and she sat on the nearest seat, thankfully away from the armed guards.
"Nice style girlie! I would have taken a picture, but I left my camera at home! Ha ha ha!!" The men around him laughed hysterically.
Rukia withdrew into herself, or at least tried to, but someone had slinked over to the seat behind her. His breath made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up.
"You haven't aged a bit since I last saw you..." The voice was that of the man who looked like Ichigo. She whirled around to face him and almost screamed when she realised how identical he was with her partner. "Why are you so scared. You know me, you know where you are going, so it's nothing new!"
"Why are you doing this to me?! I have done nothing wrong! I am not a part of your illegal games!"
"Game? This is more than a game! People don't get killed in a game! Riots don't occur in a game, and innocent women aren't exploited in games!" He said the final part with a menacing tone. "I have a use for you..."
"Haven't I suffered enough?!"
"Apparently not." He answered quickly. "Now, as you know, You caused a prison breakout."
Rukia nodded reluctantly. Admitting the truth couldn't get her into any more trouble than she was already in.
"Well, we caught most of the escapee's. But..." He paused, making a concerned face. "Some of them were never found! We are sending you to find them, once we have gathered enough helpers."
"What?! You planted bodies in my yard and shot me and destroyed my house just get me to do a favour for you? Why didn't you just ask me?!" Rukia yelled.
"Because, I don't do things that way. I never taught my subordinates that either. Sadly, you killed them!"
"Killed them?" Rukia asked, eyes wide.
"Kisuke Urahara. An old friend of mine, recently deceased."
*****
KUROSAKI HOUSEHOLD
As the early morning sun sent rays of light through the open windows of the house, Ichigo slowly awoke. He squinted through the light and closed the curtains. His phone buzzed and began to dance on the bedside table. Ichigo picked up the device and opened the message.
~Am busy today. Cannot see you, sorry.~
A smiley face was inserted after the message. It was from Rukia's phone. Ichigo sighed and set the machine down before going downstairs. His family greeted him warmly, with smiles and hugs and idle small talk. Ichigo had not told them about his former criminal life. They had been receiving his money without a clue of where it came from...and it would stay that way.
An annoying sound interrupted the conversation they were having. Ichigo followed the source of the sound and found himself back in his room. His phone was jumping about making a loud buzzing sound again. Ichigo lifted the phone up and studied the screen. A small counter on the side of the screen said that he had ten messages.
Ichigo frowned in confusion and opened the first message.
~Can't see you all week. Am being relocated temporarily for work~
~Don't call me, I won't have my phone with me~
~Goodbye~
Ichigo re-read some of them. He couldn't help himself. He had to ring her up. He dialled Rukia's number and waited for a minute and a half waiting for her to pick up. She never did. With a loud curse, he threw the phone on his bed. He turned to leave when his phone rang again. Ichigo dived onto the phone.
"Rukia?!" He asked expectantly.
"No." A male voice replied. "I am one of her work friends. I just called to tell you that Rukia is being moved for a few months to a different town."
"What?! A whole month?!"
"Yeah, I know, it's a bit stupid. But the boss is a real hard-ass."
"So, why are you calling and not Rukia?" Ichigo asked.
"The poor thing is too busy." A series of muffled yells were audible at the other end of the line.
"What's that? I hear yelling."
"Oh, some customer is angry about a wrong order or something. Moron. Oh, well, Rukia's taking care of it. So, um Rukia will see you soon. Bye." Ichigo hung up and stared out the window.
"I don't like this..."
*****
The black-haired Ichigo put the phone down and glared at Rukia. "You know it's rude to interrupt someone when they are talking!"
"You're lying to my boyfriend! You are just trying to cover up your sick little plan! But there are people who are out there who are still onto you!" Rukia yelled.
"You mean Isane? She won't find us. It took her years to track down Kisuke, and he was nothing compared to me. Besides...I have much planned for you..." The man smiled wickedly.
Rukia felt her hope diminish a little bit more.
Someone...please save me!