This is the last chapter of Akira's human life. So, as one might expect, she dies. With that in mind, you can feel free to skip this chapter if you don't feel comfortable with reading death. I'll recap this chapter's important points at the beginning of Chapter 4 for those of you who are a little squemish.

I remember hearing Sousuke's voice in my head before I woke up in that little warehouse. He was telling me that no matter what, this would not be the last time I would hear from him. That he would take care of me. I remember feeling a single tear slip out of my right eye just as I awoke.

Marcus was staring at me. Waiting for me to awake, I suppose. He watched with an evil glee as I slowly opened my eyes. My head hurt once again- somehow, he had managed to spilt the skin on the back of my head without killing me. I could feel the blood running down my neck.

I found myself wondering just how long I had been out. I could see no clock, no sunlight shown through the windows to tell me if it were still day. There was only a single window, and ouside it looked as if it was going to storm.

Once he was sure that I was awake, he began to talk. "You thought that you would just throw me away when you were done with me, didn't you, you little bitch."

I realized that I was gagged when I tried to reason with him. I was trapped, tied to a chair. My hands were still bound, and I couldn't move an inch. I was going to die here. I would never see my friends again. I would never get to say goodbye to my father. I would never have a future. I would never be able to change the world.

And Marcus' hateful face would be the last thing that I would see. That was perhaps the most awful fact of all. I would see nothing but the face of my enemy as he destroyed my humanity.

"Well, now you see, I will always be your master! You can't escape me." He pulled my long blond hair as he forced my eyes to meet his. "You were so sure of yourself when you toyed with me, weren't you?"

I glared at him. I wanted to tell him how wrong he was. How much that I had loved him before he began to abuse me. That I was the one who had been toyed with, not him. But, there was nothing that I could do. I would have to sit here and listen to him until he decided to kill me.

"You know what they say about people with brown eyes, just like you? That their full of shit." He spit in my face, before he moved off laughing. He moved out of my line of sight, and I heard him pick up something that had the disturbing sound of steel against steel.

When I saw him again, he was weilding a long knife. He was going to kill me now, I was sure of it until I looked into his eyes. Then I saw what he had in mind. He was going to torture me first. "I'm going to make you bleed. Just as you made me." He rolled up his sleeves and for the first time I saw the scars of where he had tired to take his own life.

He began with a single slice down my cheek. It took all of my willpower not to flinch, not to cry. I could feel the knife slice my skin. I could feel the blood pouring down my face as he moved to match the slice on my other cheek, making it look as if I was crying tears of blood.

I heard a clap of thunder as my blood boiled. I wanted to hurt Marcus for the first time in my life. I wanted to kill him as mercilessly as he would kill me. But there was nothing that I could do. And that hatred and hopelessness would be the things that would taint my soul forever. He seemed to revel in my blood and I could see that he was becoming more agitated.

He moved down to my chest and began to carve his name there. I would be scarred if I survived, and I would never be able to escape him. I would always bear his name. The bastard. I would fade out of conciousness several times as he mutilated my body. I felt as if I was bleeding from a thousand wounds and that my skin was on fire. But I would not cry, I would not give in to this bastard. Outside, I could hear the rain hitting on the metal roof, and I could see the rain pouring down through the window.

I'm not sure how long he tortured me. Time seemed to have come to an end in this little room. There was no sunlight, for there was only a single window- and outside that window all I could see were clouds and the pouring that I would slip into darkness, he would smack me until I regained my mind. He was merciless and cruel. I would be concious until the moment when death came. He wanted to make sure of that.

I began to pray for death. I had never thought that I would sink to this. The storm raged on outside, as if it were the tempest of my own soul. I wished for this to end, I wished for Marcus to burn in hell, I wanted revenge and yet I was powerless to get it. I hated Marcus more than I ever thought possible.

This was the moment when my anger got the best of me. I wished that I could torment Marcus for all eternity. That I would be able to destroy him in the same manner that he did me. This would seal my fate.

I felt his hand strike my face once more. I couldn't help myself, I screamed when his hand caused my cheeks to bleed again. I had lost too much blood, I knew I was going to die soon. I was barely concious as I heard the door burst open.

Marcus screamed as I heard gunfire. I vaguely heard someone barking orders as the thunder rolled. My eyes followed the knife as it fell from Marcus' hand in what appeared to be slow motion. I knew that someone had found me... that I wasn't going to be forgotten. My body wouldn't stay in Marcus' hands.

I felt hands on the chair I was in as they cut me free. I couldn't help but to scream as they brushed against my torn skin. One police officer removed the gag from my mouth and asked me if I could hear him. I tried to nod my head, but the pain was too intense.

He began to order a stretcher to be brought in. I screamed again as they loaded me onto it. There was no way that they could save me... and I knew it. My life was at its close. Softly, I spoke for the first time since my kidnapping. "Please, let me see the sky again... one last time... that's all I want...... please...."

The officer's eyes were green and full of concern. I think he knew that I was going to die. I was covered in blood and there was little left of me that wasn't scarred. He nodded and I was brought out in the pouring rain.

The last thing I would see in this life would be the lightening streaking across the sky. The last thing I would feel was the rain stinging my bleeding wounds. The last things I would hear would be the roll of thunder...

And then I was lost in the darkness.