CORRUPT

Chapter Five: The Wicked

~save yourself, for the devil is on his way,
so you pray, so you pray,
but you can't hide, you can't hide,
when evil calls your name~

He never would have thought that something so cold could burn so much.

A searing heat, deep in his shoulder; a pain so excruciating, it hurt to move.

But that was nothing, the man had said. You'll be dealing with a whole lot fucking worse pretty soon.

And he failed to grasp why.

He had no enemies; never had the right temperament to even attract an ill-tempered glare, yet for a reason unbeknownst to him he had fallen under the wrath of the devil himself.

And it was a wrath like no other.

From a man like no other and if it weren't for the very real, very prominent piece of steel biting at his flesh, then he would have believed himself to be having a nightmare.

A man such as he shouldn't exist.

"Shit yourself yet?"

This… man who had referred to himself as Hidan should be nothing more than a tale conjured by parents to scare their children into behaving; a fictional creation as harmless as any other, but those eyes… there was something deep inside those eyes that proved him to be anything but.

There, underneath his wicked gaze, was the promise of torture.

There, underneath his sinister grin, was the promise of death.

He would be thrown piece by piece into damnation by his unjust hands; hands with skin darker than night itself, skin which adorned numerous trails of white and if one were to follow those trails, there amongst the darkness… a skeletal being with eyes that glinted violet and foreboding under the moonlight.

No… a man such as he couldn't be a mere story.

He was the embodiment of evil, an entity born from darkness, truly a terrifying figure.

But then his personality flipped like a switch as his expression shifted to that of understanding. "You're confused, I get it." He shrugged, then spread his arms wide. "Random guy suddenly stabs you and takes your blood, hey, I'd be confused too." He lowered his chin, eyes growing severe. "And pissed."

And just like that, the darkness was back, which only served to intensify Katsuo's confusion as he stared on in horrified disbelief.

"But let me tell you something." He slipped his fingers into the waistband of his pants, seconds later pulling out a small, black, shiny object, gripping it tight as his voice took on an ominous undertone. "The only one who should be pissed here is me." He threw his arm out beside himself, causing the object to extend into a spear with a loud scrape. "And I'll be even more pissed if you're pissed, got that?"

Katsuo had never felt so weak.

So defenceless.

There he stood, trapped in a state of powerlessness, completely at the mercy of this deranged stranger with no hope of escaping.

All he could do was watch as Hidan brought the spear high above his head.

Watch as those violet eyes drilled into his own with such enraged intensity, he could watch no more.

So he redirected his gaze to the ground, near Hidan's feet.

Judging from the raw anger he had seen permeating throughout those eyes, from the sheer maliciousness of that stare, it became quite apparent that he had done something wrong.

There was no way this was by chance.

This was personal.

"You fucked up tonight, kid."

Yes, this was definitely personal.

He shut his eyes, waited for the inevitable punishment his unknown transgression had served him.

Hidan chuckled, then.

A low, raspy chuckle from the back of his throat. "I'm really going to enjoy this."

He sucked in a breath, steeled himself for the oncoming attack, but what met his person was not psychical, but instead, audible.

Hidan had cried out in pain and for a split second, Katsuo felt hope.

Relief.

Someone had come to his rescue and he would live, but when he snapped his eyes open, took in the sight before him, his world came crashing down because there was no saviour.

Just Hidan with the spear rammed clean through his hand, face set in a grimace.

But then he shuddered and groaned, eyes glazing over with what can only be described as pleasure as he threw his head back and cursed under his breath.

A curse which then transitioned into a throaty moan as he yanked the spear out in one swift motion.

Katsuo flinched, overcome with shock, terror and mild fascination, but those feelings were instantly dwarfed by the sharp, agonising pain that tore through his shoulder. His sudden movement had jarred the wound and he let loose a quiet, strangled sound, one muffled by the rag between his teeth and he glanced around, desperate; someone help me, someone please help me, but only darkness met his eyes.

And there would be only darkness once Hidan had his way.

Tears sprang forth of their own accord and he hung his head, tried his damned best not to crumble in front of this man so he could hold onto the last remaining threads of his dignity.

"Are you crying?"

And just like that, they were severed.

He squeezed his eyes shut in shame, unwittingly forcing his tears to spill over.

What did he expect?

Laughter?

Silence spanned between them, accompanied only by the occasional sniffle from the significantly weaker man, but then it was disturbed further by a deadly, chilling voice.

"What the fuck did she see in you?" He asked in an annoyed, disbelieving tone, but that wasn't what caught Katsuo's attention.

Wasn't what had him looking up, meeting his eyes dead on.

He had heard it, loud and clear.

Jealousy.

And now that he had, it all made sense.

It shed light on why he had been lured into an alley.

Why there was currently an ice cold steel pipe lodged deep in his shoulder, pinning him to the wall, preventing his escape.

Why he was currently staring into the eyes of a monster; one which stared back with an intense, concentrated frown, looking as if Katsuo had just announced that he himself was aroused by his violent stabbing.

But he recovered soon enough.

His gaze hardened, face twisting into an ugly, hateful expression as he held out his arm and clenched his fist.

Blood oozed between his fingers, ran down his wrist and dripped onto the ground, the flow getting heavier as he increased the pressure on the wound.

"Like I said before..." He stomped down onto the pool of red, then smeared it across the ground. "I'm really going to enjoy this."

~the fall of heavens gate, the rise of the unjust,
as the wicked, as the wicked have their way~

A/N:

Sucks to be Katsuo.

1. This chapter was an absolute bitch to write. I'm 90% happy with it, but I'm too tired to change that 10%. It's 4.20AM. I'll come back to it at a later date to reword a few things. Unless you think it's fine, then it's fine.

2. I mentioned in the prologue that I write slow, but I bet most of you didn't realise how slow. It took me a month to write one thousand words of this story. Pathetic, I know. But I can't write any faster because truthfully, writing isn't a skill of mine as I only began this year. I just thought I'd mention it again here, so you know I was not exaggerating my slowness. I hope you understand!

3. In the reviews I received about the previous chapter, many of you stated that you would prefer Hidan's perspective for the majority of the story. Well, noted. Hidan you shall have… though not for this chapter. Sorry. I kinda needed to write as the bartender here because I wanted to show how threatening/terrifying Hidan can be through a victims eyes. I hope it was effective as I can never fully judge my own work. Next chapter I will heed your wishes and get into Hidan's head, fill in the gap between the previous chapter and this one through his perspective.

4. For those who listen to the song… holy moses, prepare yourself. The whole chapter was inspired by it, especially the beginning. Just imagine this as you listen to the opening lyrics(the lyrics at the top): you're cornered and injured, there is a man standing before you with skin you can't even see because it's so dark outside. The moon shines down, illuminating the numerous white markings on said skin, and you're looking at his hands(just because) and slowly, you look up, revealing a 'skeletal being' with glowing eyes and he wants to kill you. Good gosh, that imagery is making sweet love to my brain. Also, when I said the chapter was inspired by the song… it inspired me enough to add some of the words sang in it – devil, damnation, unjust, wicked, 'have their way' made into 'had his way'.

5. Okay, this authors note has gone on long enough. But I would just like to say, thank you so much to those who reviewed the previous chapter, even if it was only to answer my question. It meant the world to me and it made me smile(like a creep) knowing people were interested enough in my work to add their thoughts/input. So thank you!

Song – The Wicked by Blues Saraceno.

Link on profile.

-redscarfninja