PART II
Humans
The men have led her far off the path to an old abandoned shack, hidden deep within the Kuwabaras' estate. As Kio creeps along, she thinks to herself how the Kuwabaras had likely been unaware of this place altogether. Taking care to keep herself hidden in the trees, Kio approaches the shed. A crack in the rotting wood lets her slip into an empty room.
Inside is dark, but she can see light peering in through more cracks in the wall. Kio can hear the men in the next room talking quietly among themselves about what had just happened.
Just then, she hears a low growl. She is not alone in the room. Kio whips to her left, spotting the big cat from the trail. It is chained and caged inside a large, silver cell, watching her with slanted eyes. The beast is still clearly sedated. Kio concentrates very hard on making contact—being so far away from the temple and the scrolls actually seems to be helping her telepathy.
Kio breathes deeply and extends her aura. The beast seems to accept her introduction. Kio bares her plea to the demon, conveying an image of the temple; an image of Kuwabara and Yukina; an image of her father; an image of Hinata; Kio tells the beast that they can help each other.
The demon's four eyes seem to regain some light. The beast perks up. At the same time, voices in the other room grow restless and it appears Hinata has woken up.
Kio inhales deeply and the room gets cold; the beast bristles nervously. Never taking her eyes off the demon, Kio inches toward the cage. She places her tiny hands on the bars and the bars melt away like they are nothing. Next, Kio takes the chains in her hand. The sight of them fills her with rage—the temperature in the room spikes.
The demon hisses anxiously, curled away in a corner of the cage. Kio glances up, puzzled. She feels something hot oozing down her hand. Molten liquid trickles through her fingers. It burns.
Kio pulls what is left of the chains from the cage and the demon rises to its feet gingerly. With much effort, the beast carries itself out of the cell. Its paw that had been hanging by a thread earlier in the woods, now appears to be healing.
They didn't think this through, Kio says to herself, shaking her head.
The beast sniffs at her curiously. It stands much taller than Kio, even on four legs. Kio raises out her hand and the creature nuzzles it as if to say, Thank you.
Just then, a loud crash erupts from the other room. Muffled screams and commotion can be heard as the men yell things like "Calm down!" and "Stop squirmin'!"
Kio turns back to the demon. She tries her best to reach out again. Her attempts are more desperate now, and the beast seems to understand. She leads the demon through the rotted hole in the wall and watches as it limps off into the woods.
Another loud crash digs into Kio from the other room. Hinata screams loudly, apparently having somehow freed herself from the gag of tape. One of the men shouts at her to shut up, telling Hinata that she's going to make them filthy rich.
Kio inches closer to the door. She reaches for the handle but then stops short—this time, paralyzed not by fear, but thinking carefully—she weighs her chances of success. She decides that if she were to open the door and try to fight the men, she would fail.
Struggling inwardly, Kio backs away from the door and crouches down in the shadows. She resolves to wait, hiding herself behind the bars of the cage where the beast had been locked up. Kio is certain that the men will come to check on the beast soon; and then, she thinks, she can take them by surprise. She will wait for that chance...
But just then, Kio picks up more of what they're saying.
"Pretty lil thing ain't yuh?" says the same one. Kio recognizes his voice; she can almost see him glaring at her, as if she were Hinata in the next room. Kio hates the sound of his voice; it makes her so angry. "Shame yer so young," he says.
Hinata cowers up at the man peering down at her. He raises his hand to strike her again, but she ducks. His hand scrapes against the ragged, wooden wall, catching splinters. He yelps suddenly. Infuriated, he kicks her hard in the side. Hinata topples over, clenching her tiny belly.
She winces, but she will not cry anymore because that's what he wants. She leers up at him angrily as he nurses his hand. She hates the look of him. Hinata glances to the side where the short man is seated in a decrepit old chair. It makes him look even more stumpy and fat. Hinata cringes, noticing how he regards her with pure disgust.
The tall man swoops on her. He grabs a fistful of her hair by the nape and hoists little Hinata up off the ground. Holding her up against the shack at arm's length, he smiles cruelly.
"Let go!" cries Hinata, kicking her feet.
"Listen!" he barks at her, "We're gonna sell ya for big money, ya hear me?" He tightens his hold on the back of her neck, digging in with his nails, but then he drops her suddenly. Hinata peers up at him, trembling, the back of her head throbbing in pain.
"Til then," he hisses, "you're gonna cry those jewels, and make us even more rich."
The man looks down on her with contempt. He brandishes a large, hunting knife from its holster on his other side.
Kio's eyes are closed, but it's as if she can see everything happening in the next room. She sits inside the open cage, her small fists clenched tightly. Her forehead is hot.
Hinata screams as the man slices her skin with his knife.
Kio flinches at the sound. She must stop herself from jumping up and charging through the door. All she can hear is the butcher yelling at Hinata to cry more jewels. Kio thinks feverishly, she must control herself, but she fights hard to, hating herself and feeling like a coward.
She remembers, earlier in the day, how Hinata had been smiling and laughing as they walked together by the sea. That ocean, that smile of hers—why does Kio think of that now?
Hinata continues to scream, having lost her resolve to keep from crying.
Kio can hear the tear gems clatter as they fall against the old wood floor. She cups her hands over her ears, no longer able to bare the sounds. She feels something warm drip down the sides of her face. Then, all of a sudden, it is quiet.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" asks the stumpy man suddenly. His high-pitched voice booms from far off in the corner.
Kio is livid. She looks down at her palms, painted red with blood drawn by her sharp nails.
"What's she worth if you kill her?" hisses the fat swine.
"She ain't dead," the butcher yawns back.
Kio cannot believe the tone of his voice as the men begin to argue quietly amongst themselves. She had known her own family to be ruthless killers, however their humility and sense of honor is unwavering. But this human—actually pouting—enjoys the torture. At once Kio stops trying to figure it out. Her mind goes blank; she wants them gone.
"Still, now what's she worth after you cut her up like that?" pries the short man. The wood creeks under him as he hoists himself up on to his stubby feet. "Well, she's passed out now," he continues. "Lost a lot of blood."
Kio hears footsteps inch along the floorboards. Each step brings him closer and closer to her.
"Clean her up and tie her up again. We're moving soon," she hears him yell.
Kio cannot stand it any longer.
From the other room, she grabs the half-melted bars of the cage door and swings it toward her with such force that a loud clang rings out, echoing through the shack. There is a moment's pause followed by their panicked shuffling on the other side of the wall.
"I'll go," says the stubby one, "check on the beastie." He steps out into the narrow hallway connecting their two rooms.
Kio feels the throbbing again in the front of her head as she thinks about him coming towards her and hears his footsteps pound noisily in her direction. He is so smug and sure of himself. She hates the thought of his face.
"Clean her up…" Kio repeats to herself, "...tie her up again…" His words buzz violently in her mind—he had talked about Hinata as if she was an animal.
Incensed, Kio glares up at the door as it creaks open and he slowly steps inside.
Meanwhile, the tall man is having a difficult time duct-taping Hinata. Blood gushes down her legs, everywhere he had cut her, causing the tape to slide and not stick properly. Her skin is all torn up and bruised. He sighs in frustration.
"Hoy! Hoy!" he groans, "I might need some help here!"
Her legs slip through the tape again. He cries out exasperatedly. Where is that fat bastard?
He slams the roll of tape down, and whips his head in the direction of the door. Having heard nothing for several minutes now, he hunches his shoulders, paying it no mind. Surely if that lump had met any trouble, there would be some commotion.
The tall man decides that Hinata is thoroughly subdued for the moment, just the way she is, and gives up. He proceeds to gather up all the gems she had cried while he had been having his fun. How funny, he thinks to himself idly, to have come across his golden ticket to Easy Street in a mountain-hole dump like this.
Once he's gathered up the new stones, he can barely hold them all, there are so many. He rolls them in his soiled hands, staining them with Hinata's blood.
Again, he says to himself, I'm rich. He pockets a whole batch for himself, before sauntering over to their stash with the rest.
After a while, he glances at the open door again. Still no sign of his comrade. Now he begins to feel uneasy. The air has turned unexpectedly chilly; it is unsettling and does not seem natural.
"Hoy!" he calls into the darkness. "Ya need da bottle?" He reaches for the chloroform. When he looks back up, he almost jumps out of his skin.
Kio is standing in the doorway, her violet eyes illuminated in the shadows. Her cloak is smeared with fresh blood. Demon energy is pouring off of her in waves; she is literally glowing. At the center of her forehead is a blinding light cast over the silhouette of a burgeoning, iridescent third eye. The sight of Kio is horrifying. The man is almost blinded.
He shrieks, scared out of his mind. Then he notices the limp, stubby, severed hands in Kio's tiny grasp, all shriveled up. He begins hollering nonsensical words, calling her a devil, cursing her, and waving his knife around.
Kio watches him incredulously. Her gaze shifts from the babbling idiot to Hinata lying in her pool of blood on the floor and Kio feels a sharp hatred course through her again. A blossoming darkness begins to take charge of her.
Kill him, it tells her, kill him.
She looks at the human again—he is flailing towards her now.
Kio's eyes flash and the man is stopped cold in his tracks, as if by invisible walls. His limbs fly outward against his will, bending back excruciatingly, as he is hurled off the ground. He floats suspended spread-eagle in mid air.
He squeals in pain, just like Hinata had, Kio thinks.
Her temper flaring wildly, Kio finds she cannot control her emotions. Her Demon energy surges, exploding all around them, the heat is unbearable. She is lost in the flames.
As Kio stares the man down murderously, his arms and legs continue to be wrenched violently as if trapped in a vice. She breathes deeply. He shrieks again, flesh literally melting off his bones. Steam pours from his wounds. Jewels he had pocketed clatter to the ground as his clothes and his body slowly dissolve. He watches all of it, horrified and in a world of pain.
"Please…" he croaks, now little more that a gooey, floating torso. "Have mercy…" he begs her.
Kio gasps, as if coming to her senses, and everything stops. The eye that had been ablaze at her forehead fades into a slit before vanishing completely. The tiny voice in her head, calling for his death, is suddenly silenced.
The bloody torso of the man falls to the ground with a thud. Still steaming, he twitches violently. There is still some life left in him, although little more than half of his right arm remains, and what was once his face is horribly burned. He rolls over, looking at Kio, his eyes lusting for vengeance.
Kio stares at the lump of charred flesh coldly as he writhes and wriggles toward the knife that had fallen not far from his body. She strides over to the blade, kicking it farther out of his reach.
"Damn you!" cries the tall sack of flesh on the ground. "Bitch! Damn you to hell!"
Kio tilts her head to face him slowly. Her eyes glint as moonlight hits them through the cracks in the wall, seeing through him. He is small and afraid.
"You sound so different now," says Kio quietly, looking down on him, "than before, when you were hurting my friend." Kio glances again at Hinata, who seems to have moved a little, but is still sprawled motionless across the floor. The man's gaze follows hers, and his own eyes go even wider than before when, at once, he realizes he is already dead.
"I like it," says Kio wickedly. She smiles as what is left of him is engulfed in a blue-black inferno. Never once taking her eyes off him, Kio watches as he crumbles miserably and is slowly scorched away.