Returning the Pain
"Noll."
"Not now Luella I have to finish this this repor-"
"Oliver!" His head snapped up to stare at her. She only used his name when he was in deep shit.
A deep breath, and then the three words that turn his world upside down.
"Mai's been kidnapped."
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Her head hurt. She didn't know why. The last thing she remembered was drinking some of the tea she had gotten from a co-worker. Then she...she...what had she done?
The tea had been delicious. It tasted of honeydew and Rosemary. But it was a little too sweet. Almost as if it was trying to cover up something sour.
That's when she realized the world had begun spinning. She was really dizzy. There were little black spots dancing around her. A hand reached out, trying to grasp at the floating spots, only to miss.
"It worked like a charm. Grab her." It was a rough voice. And then something hit her upside the head. She fell to the floor with a moan before blocking out.
That's right! She had been drugged. But...why? Why would someone kidnap her? She tugged her arms, wincing at the sore feeling that flitted through her body. Just from that she knew it had been awhile.
Ropes were tied around her wrists, binding her to something she couldn't see or feel behind her. There was also something tied around her legs, eyes and waist. Why though? Why could she do with her waist? Hip check her kidnapper until her set her free? Yeah right.
"I see you are awake Miss. Mai." She stilled. That voice... It was one of Naru's old clients! He had a daughter with him no she went missing on the case, Naru couldn't use his powers so we weren't able to get to her in time. The ghost ending up strangling her to death in the garden shed of the house he had visited recently.
"Gerald."
Laughter.
"So you do remember me! Well, do you remember my daughter?!" His voice went from friendly to deadly within a breath. It was silent for a couple seconds after that before something flashed across my face, stinging and whipping my head to the side.
"She was only twelve!" Another hit, exactly where the first one was.
"You could've saved her! You bitch!" He was crying now. His voice coming in gasps as he shuffled closer towards me.
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Luella stepped closer towards her son. She was scared. She knew who Mai was to Noll. She had helped him become human again, taught him to feel once more. When to stop pushing his limits, when to stretch them.
And now she had been ripped away.
Noll was staring at her with wide eyes, his mouth hanging open. He looked so vulnerable. And it was only made worse when his powers flared and the desk, bookcase, books, papers, chairs and other office items, started to float.
"Calm down! You can't help her if you're unconscious!" The items quickly fell to the floor and he fell to his knees panting.
"Her kidnapper...left a video."
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"What do you want Gerald?" Her voice was soft, kept that way so he would be less likely to lash out.
"Ruby. I want my Ruby back. But you can't give her to me can you? No. So I'm just going to make Oliver Davis suffer. He will know the pain. But first I will make you suffer. You will suffer worse than she did!"
And then his hands tore at her clothes.
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The disc in her hand was shoved into the DVD player and the play button was mashed until it almost popped out of the remote. Martin, Luella, Lin, Madoka, and himself all waited with bated breath. And then...
A black screen popped up.
"Oliver Davis. You might not remember me, but I hope you remember Ruby. If not, maybe this will help you."
The black then moved out of the way to reveal Mai. Her arms were pulled behind her and tied to a pole. Around her waist sat a harness, strapping her body in place. Her legs were also tied to posts in the floor.
He sighed to see her alive, and glaring at a man.
"What do you want Gerald?" He voice was cautionary, and it was then he saw the blood dripping from her lip and the handprints on her cheek. His fury grew.
"Ruby. I want my Ruby back. But you can't give her to me can you? No. So I'm just going to make Oliver Davis suffer. He will know the pain. But first I will make you suffer. You will suffer worse than she did!"
And then he began to tear at her clothes.
She struggled and screamed as he stripped her bare, laughing maniacally as her struggles were rendered useless.
Luella gasped in horror and quickly turned her face in towards Martin's shoulder, Madoka let out a soft cry of horror before leaving the room, and Lin grasped Noll's shoulder.
The young man was stiff, his eyes locked on the screen as he watched the man beat and rape his Mai.
The innocent girl who had served him tea even when she was beyond angry at him. The girl who was there since before he found his brother's body. The girl who had taught his heart to beat agin. The girl who showed him that it was okay to feel. The girl who loves him.
And he had to sit and watch as she cried out for him. Cried for him to save her, to help her.
Oh how he wished he could jump through technology and rip her from that disgusting beast's arms and take her away to the moon where nothing could ever harm her again. How he wished this were a bad dream that he would wake up from, the smell of tea waiting to bring him back from the dreads of sleep. But he couldn't. It wasn't.
It was real.
And there was nothing he could do.
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"STOP!" She cried, begged, pleaded for this hell to stop. She wanted Naru. She wanted the warmth of the kitchen while she made tea. She wanted to hear that annoyingly comforting phrase, "Mai, tea." She wanted Naru.
But he wasn't there.
She had the weekend off. He wouldn't notice she was missing until Tuesday at the latest, Monday at the earliest. And it made her heart hurt.
It was then she noticed the blinked red light.
It was three yards in front of her.
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Mai seemed to notice the camera. She stared at it, tears running down her pale cheeks as her body shivered and convulsed from the torture she was going through. And then she began to mouth words, her eyes never straying from the camera.
"Naru. I love you. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I was stupid. Please forgive me. I love you. Don't die. I love you. Please forgive me."
She repeated that over and over. Each time sending a flash of pain through his chest.
Forgive her?! Why does he need to forgive her? Stupid stupid stupid!
"Mai. Mai. M-Mai." He whispered her name over and over again. Until her eyes dulled, her head drooped, her lips stilled. She was dead and he...he felt nothing.
With Gene's death he had cried like a child for three hours before deciding he would search for the body. With Mai it was as if he had gone numb. He couldn't feel anything.
Except pain.
Of that he could feel plenty. And he would make sure, to multiply it and force it back on that man ten fold.