It was the worst damn night of Junpei's life. The feeling of fear reminded him of the aching sadness when Chidori passed away. It was strong, almost like adrenaline that coursed through his veins, keeping him awake the entire night. When dawn finally broke, Junpei still felt no better about the situation. The nurse had come in at around 6 o'clock to check on him. She changed some of his bandages and checked up on his stitches, making sure he was doing alright. She hadn't seemed to notice he had been awake for so long, or if she did, she hadn't said anything. She simply asked if he wanted something to eat, which Junpei declined.
Time felt like it was going slower, maybe it was just the small aches and pains Junpei felt through his body, maybe it was the worry eating at him, but minutes began to feel like hours. Junpei eyed a piece of paper on the side table next to his bed. It was on a clipboard and with closer inspection, it appeared to have a list of his injuries and information.
Junpei took the paper from the clipboard and began reading.
Patient was admitted on the 12thof April. The patient arrived with the following injuries:
Stab wound in left thigh
Multiple cuts and gashes across neck
Tiny bits of metal imbedded in neck muscles
Must've been from the barbed wire, Junpei thought.
Dehydration
Loss of nutrients
Even though Junpei hadn't eaten too much after being rescued, he still didn't feel very hungry.
Several cuts along both arms
Signs of blood circulation cut off in wrists
Junpei rubbed his wrists unconsciously. They still felt sore.
Large bruise on right cheekbone
When had he gotten that?
Right femur slightly cracked
Junpei glanced at the cast on his right leg. He had been glad to be informed that his right leg hadn't been completely destroyed from the sledgehammer.
Signs of psychological torture
At the last thing on the list, Junpei scoffed. Signs? More like freakin' brain damage from all the bullshit he endured.
Junpei skimmed through the rest of the text on the page before replacing it on the table. He slunk down into his bed further. It was only 8:30 in the morning. Junpei felt exhausted, but every time he closed his eyes he was afraid Don was going to appear when he opened them again.
The entire day passed by with the same slow pace. Junpei finally got himself to eat the terrible hospital food offered, only because he knew it would be better to eat something rather than nothing. He felt sic afterwards but he managed to keep it from coming back up.
No one had come to see him that day, which surprised him more than it should have. They were all busy with their own lives, they didn't have the time to entertain him. The thought of Junpei getting an unwanted visit from Don slowly faded into the back of his head as the day finally ended.
Junpei came back from the bathroom, sitting himself on his bed, the thought of sleep filling his head. A voice broke him out of his thinking.
"Miss me?"
Junpei froze. He turned his head to the window behind him, seeing Don standing off in the corner, staring at him with that stupid smirk on his face.
Junpei opened his mouth to scream. He tried to make any noise at all. He tried to move, run, push the "call nurse" button, anything. He was stuck with a terror filled look on his face, staring right at a man who was about to kill him.
Don strode over, sitting next to Junpei on the bed and pushing on his chest to get him to lay back. Junpei didn't protest, no matter how much his brain was screaming bloody murder at him to get the hell out of the room. His brain was so focused on trying to move that the knife cutting his stitches open almost didn't register. It took him a minute, but the minute that they were all open and bleeding again, Junpei finally felt his body unlock. He sat up too fast and fell off the bed. He was roughly grabbed by his leg cast and dragged to the window.
A light green glow caught Junpei's attention. The call nurse button had fallen off the bed. Junpei grabbed the box and pressed the button, hoping a nurse was nearby.
Again, Junpei tried to cry for help, but a cloth was forced nearly down his throat to quiet him. Blood stained the white floors in streaks as he was dragged through the window into the warm ground outside. His wrists were pulled behind his back and a rope secured them together. Junpei finally got the energy to struggle, but it was too late.
He was slung over Don's shoulder and carried away to wherever-land so Don could beat the living shit out of him.
Not even a minute passed after Don evacuated the area with his new cargo in tow when a nurse discovered the room missing its occupant and calling the police station. Akihiko was there to take the call and barely hung up the phone correctly before rushing out into the night towards the hospital, making a few calls on his way over to the rest of S.E.E.S.
\/\/\/\/\/\/
Junpei rhythmically bounced up and down as he was towed away from safety back into nightmare land. He hadn't a clue where he was headed, but by the way Don was staying so quiet, only murmuring to himself periodically, he could tell it wasn't good. When Don finally spoke up, he felt even worse.
"I'm taking you to the edge of town, where I'm going to burn you alive. You've caused me a lot of trouble, you little shit. I'm going to enjoy watching your skin melt," Don growled.
Junpei's felt sick, a layer of sweat spreading across his body, staining his clothes. Junpei felt sick to his stomach and he thought he might pass out from the pressing feeling of fear and exhaustion.
A saving grace occurred when Don rushed into the shadows as a man ran in the opposite direction on the other side of the street. It was Akihiko. Aki hadn't noticed the pair, seemingly focused only on one thing. With the gag in his mouth, Junpei couldn't utter a word. He was staring at a group of metal trash cans in a dark alley, with his only chance at rescue running away. An idea formed in his head.
Junpei swung his head into one of the cans, knocking into the others. His head pounded with pain, but the single can smashed into the others, knocking some to the ground. The end result was a large clanging sound and a sea of garbage sitting on the pavement of an alleyway.
Akihiko glanced at the noise momentarily, before abruptly stopping. Don and Akihiko stared at each other from across the street. Their eyes burned into each other. Don moved quick and ran full speed away from the pissed off person behind him. Akihiko snapped out of the glaring contest once Don made his move and sprinted down the street, crossing it so he was right behind them.
Don moved pretty fast for a guy who looked like a skinny stick, even being able to hold his distance with Junpei being carried across his shoulder.
Junpei himself was trying to wriggle from Don's grasp, but the man had an iron grip. He was not going to give up on his goal even if it meant getting another punch in the face from an enraged boxer. At some point, Junpei watched as Akihiko pulled out his phone and dialed up a number. Junpei couldn't tell who he was talking to or what he was saying, but he guessed it was one of the members of S.E.E.S., Mitsuru if he had to guess.
Don turned down another alleyway and made several turns and jumps over fences. Junpei couldn't see Akihiko anymore, all he heard were his pounding footsteps fading.
Junpei heard the jingling of metal, recognizing the noise as keys. He twisted his body to face where Don was running, seeing a car with a missing licenses plate. The trunk was open.
Junpei's panic grew and he actually thought he was about to puke. He gagged. The cloth in his mouth slipped out and floated to the ground. This was his only chance.
"Akihiko!" Junpei shouted at the top of his lungs.
Junpei was slammed into the trunk and he didn't even get a chance to see if Akihiko had found his way before the trunk door shut the engine started. He heard tires screeching and he was thrown around in the trunk of the car, irritating his open injuries.
The car stayed at a constant speed, making a few turns. Junpei banged his leg on the trunk, trying to pop it open. He was losing too much blood. He felt himself getting weaker.
Junpei gave up. He finally lost the smallest fragment of hope he had been grasping onto. He was in so much pain and his friends would never find him. Junpei had failed. Even when given the chance to save himself several times, he couldn't do anything. He just seized up and panicked.
When the car finally slowed down, Junpei closed his eyes and excepted his fate. He was going to be burned alive.
He waited.
Waited.
The car's driver door had opened, but Don hadn't opened up the trunk. Junpei heard a click and thought he saw a flash of blue light seep through the cracks of the trunk door. Oh. Don wasn't even going to take him out. He was going to burn up the car with him. Junpei held his breath and waited.
Waited.
He thought he heard something outside but he still waited. The noise sounded like a car.
He could hear scuffling outside, some shouting.
He heard a final shout from Don himself before all hell broke loose.
"Your all going to see your friend again! In hell!" Don screamed.
Outside of the car, a large fireball was shot towards the parked vehicle, with Junpei still inside it. The car flipped in the air, tossing its only occupant inside around. The engine exploded and the car was engulfed in flames. A sickening crunch was heard as the car landed in the dirt, on its side.
On the inside, Junpei couldn't breathe very well. Smoke filled the small space and Junpei was weak with pain.
How am I still alive? Junpei couldn't keep his head straight. His ears filled with cracking sounds, making him oblivious to the battle happening outside the burning automobile.
Junpei's hands burned. The rope had come undone somehow. His wounds had been cauterized from the fire seeping its way through the floor. Junpei almost felt like he had floated out of his body. He watched himself use the last of his strength to kick the truck, this time with all four of his limbs taking part. He took a few hits before breaking open.
Junpei crawled out slowly, dragging his limp body out of the wreckage. He could see through the thick smoke a group of people fighting and a tall figure shooting fire at them. His hands touched something on the ground.
A gun.
No, not a gun. It felt familiar somehow. He could hear a voice calling to him.
He raised the gun to his head and sat up on his knees.
"Per-"
Junpei watched the group fall to the ground one by one, the tall figure knocking each one away.
"-So-"
The tall thing began making a noise, almost like laughter.
"-Na."
Junpei clicked the trigger of the evoker, Don's evoker to be exact. In a brilliant flash of light, Trismegistus materialized. Fire spewed from his persona and Trismegistus slashed up the other person in a fury of swipes.
He heard someone cry out in pain and watched as a tall looking guy crumpled to the ground.
Junpei himself couldn't stay awake after summoning his persona and passed out himself.
He didn't remember the car ride in Mitsuru's limousine back to the hospital. He didn't remember any surgery he went through. He finally smiled when he woke up with his friends around him.
Author's Note: Here's the next chapter! Yay! Happy holidays to all! Hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it! Also, in this story, Chidori is dead for good. She was not revived.
