---X---Chapter 7
At the crack of dawn, Watari came in, Hisoka looking towards the door. He knew he looked tired. His mind had shut down partially during the night to regain some energy, but it hadn't been very helpful. "Hisoka? You alright?" the worried scientist asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just thinking, that's all," he replied. He sat the chair down completely and stood up, stretching and waking his legs up. He passed Watari's mirror, taking a second to look at his reflection. In general, he looked worn out. His hair wasn't that messy, but it wasn't that neat either; his eyes had large circles under them, his face looked pale, and his clothes were slightly wrinkled. He could feel his hands slightly shaking from the little amount of food he had eaten from the day before. His stomach didn't growl though. Instead, he felt like he was going to throw up.
"Let's go," Hisoka finally said, letting out a deep breath.
He and Watari went to the church, Hisoka growing more and more nervous, finally breaking out into a cold sweat as they reached their destination. He watched Watari open the doors and slide inside, Hisoka right behind him. He spotted Tatsumi lying on the ground on his side, unmoving, positioned away from them.
Hisoka ran over to him, grabbing his shoulders and looking at the pale face and limp body. Watari came over and felt for a pulse, finally finding one and giving a relieved smile. "He's alive. But we better get him back to Meifu, so we can see how hurt he is."
The bigger man grabbed Tatsumi, carrying him bridal style. They walked out the back way of the church, and concealed themselves, jumping up and flying up towards Meifu. They landed, and walked into Ju-Oh-Cho, heading towards the hospital section. Watari finally set Tatsumi on a bed, Hisoka starting to calm down. The scientist covered the secretary up, and took out his arms, looking at them. "See some nail marks...the edges of the cuts black...little amount of blood for such deep cuts. Interesting." Silence, as Watari continued looking Tatsumi over. Finally, "I don't see anything else. I think if he sleeps in a proper bed, and was looked over, he'll be okay. Go to sleep now, Hisoka. He'll be fine."
The teen gave a small thankful smile and left the room, heading towards his own room, where he fell asleep as soon as he hit the bed.
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Tatsumi woke up, his body hurting, especially his brain and arm. He opened his eyes, the golden sunlight coming in through a window. He blinked a couple of times, soon realizing the sun was going down. How long had he been out? A day? Or more? He didn't want to remember too much. His head was hurting with thinking. After what he did to get the demon off of him, his body needed to recover, and it'd take probably most of the day. Like Tsuzuki and Hisoka, he could heal physically pretty fast, but his powers needed a day to fully recover if he used them to the max.
He heard the door open, seeing Watari coming in, a grin soon appearing on the man's face. "Tatsumi-san! You're awake! You've been out for most of the day, and Hisoka's been pretty worried, when he was awake. How're you feeling?"
"Sore. And Hisoka's been worried? Why?"
Watari shrugged, then said, "I think he blames himself for Tsuzuki's capturing, and how he couldn't help you fight the demon. And it's normal if you're feeling sore. You'll be fine within a day or so." Tatsumi nodded. "And is this where the demon's nails cut into you?"
He turned Tatsumi's left arm over, revealing four small cuts near his wrist. "Yeah, but it's because I held his arm there. Why?"
"See how the edges are black? I'm worried about that. He could've given you something that's dangerous, and we don't know what it is yet. I'm going to take some samples, if it's okay with you." Tatsumi nodded, and the blonde went over to some drawers, pulling a couple items out. He came back holding a sharp knife and a small dish with a lid. "Okay, so this might hurt a little, since I'm going to cut the edging of your skin off, to get the best samples."
Tatsumi watched the scientist as he sliced away the blackness, not even feeling anything. When all the black skin was gone from the four little cuts, his arm healed completely, a slight green tinge around where the slits had been.
"Okay, I'll go to the lab and analyze these. I'll send Hisoka in."
Tatsumi shook his head as one blonde left the room, the other entering. He looked embarrassed, nervous, and upset. "Tatsumi," he said, coming closer to the bed. "Are you okay?"
The older man nodded, the soft blue meeting green. "I'm okay. Just tired, so don't worry anymore."
"What're we going to do about Tsuzuki though? Or more so, with the demon that's possessing him?"
"We...are screwed, if we don't think of a plan. And a good one at that. Remember what we did with the last demon that possessed Tsuzuki?" Hisoka nodded. "Well, we should try that again, except, we've got to be stronger. This is a tough demon, and I'm hoping that he's going to be at least somewhat the same as last time I defeated him."
"How'd you defeat him?"
Tatsumi knew the obvious question was to come, but he didn't know how to answer. "It was a long time ago, right after I became a Shinigami, and my powers were weak. The body that the demon possessed was also weak, so that helped me a little. But I didn't defeat him completely. More like put a collar on him that banned his exit out of Hell when I sent him back. And I was the only one that could take it off. So how he managed to get through is boggling my mind."
"Do you think any help from other demons could have gotten him out?"
Tatsumi thought for a bit, finally saying, "I want to believe it's impossible. I could probably think of a way for it to be possible, but...I don't want to believe it."
Hisoka nodded, thinking of a new question. "Why do you think he's here?"
"That, I couldn't tell you. Maybe it's for revenge, maybe it's for the pure pleasure of being able to kill again. I honestly don't know. But, as soon as it's dark, the killings will start, and then the horror begins."
Hisoka was silent, finally asking, "Is Tsuzuki going to be alive by the end of this?"
"I'm hoping. Last time, I had to kill the guy's mind for me to capture the demon. I'm hoping I don't have to do the same for Tsuzuki."
Hisoka nodded once more, turning towards the window, seeing the last rays of light disappear, Tatsumi knowing Rauksauta would go out in any moment.
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A girl around the age of 19/20 was walking along the lake, watching the stars glimmer off the surface. Kindrou's going to be here soon. Oh how I can't wait, she thought, her heart fluttering faster, feeling light and giddy. She sat on the edge of the lake, watching the small wakes lap at the surface. She started tossing rocks into the water, when she heard the leaves rustle behind her. Eagerness flowing through her, she turned around, asking "Kindrou? You're late."
What she saw though wasn't Kindrou. Light reflecting off the figure, she saw a tall man, his eyes blood red, a malicious smile on his face. His looming figure caused her breath to pause, her brain to freeze. "What have we here?" he asked, his voice deep and commanding.
She pushed herself further away, scooting into the water, not caring if her purple skirt and black top got soaked and started freezing her skin, her heavy coat starting to weigh her down. She stood up, not eager to drown, the figure still coming towards her. She knew she was becoming hysterical, but she couldn't help it. Maybe it was the eyes, maybe it was how it walked, but whatever it was, she wanted to get away.
She was now almost mid-thigh deep, and then couldn't move anymore. She looked down, her mouth opening in a silent scream. She saw that the lake was coated over in a thick layer of ice. As the demon stepped on the ice, she could hear the ice hissing from heat, each step making the water hotter. As the creature came up to her, she was screaming aloud, the water literally burning her legs, the pain only becoming worse and worse. "Oh my little princess, don't cry. You're imagining it worse than it really is. Let me help take your mind off of it."
He entered a hand into his coat pocket, pulling out a knife, the hilt embroidered with a golden wolf on it. She screamed again, sobbing hysterically, her legs burning and unable to move. "Get away!! Help, somebody help!!" she screamed at the top of her lungs, desperate for anyone to hear her.
The creature in front of her laughed, saying "Honey, no one's going to be around anytime soon. Your screams will fade soon. They're a lot quieter than you think they are. Look above you."
Reluctantly, she looked up, seeing the moon and stars a hazy red. "A shield?" she whispered, knowing she had officially lost her mind.
"Exactly. So no one can hear you, and your body's not going to get discovered for some time. Smooth move, planning a date out here buttercup."
He laughed again as more tears and screams broke out, his hand grabbing her right wrist tightly as he cut off her jacket and the long black sleeve shirt. He threw the excess clothes to the side, leaving her in her bra to deal with the cold. He took his knife and placed it sideways at the very top of her shoulder, and slowly cut his way down, a layer of flesh coming off and revealing the muscle and tissue underneath.
He continued slicing down, while the girl was feeling like she was about to pass out from the pain all over, her vision already growing dark. "Oh no you don't, my delightful toy." He took his hand and squeezed her mouth open, as he placed his own over hers, blowing in. The air felt sweet yet sour, cold yet boiling hot. Her mind seemed to wake up and become three times as alert, the pain redoubling up. "I can't have you passing out on me yet. You'll die when I tell you to."
And it continued on. The pain never let up as he sliced her skin off all over her top half, invasion raging through her as he cut the skin off of her breasts, and when he decided to finger her. He had pleasure in his eyes as he grinned at her, asking if she's ever had sex. When she didn't answer, he said "I'll take that as a no," and continued to cut the remaining flesh off, laughing once it was done.
She wanted to die, the pain wanting to kill her, the demon's spell-magic-thing keeping her awake and observant. She was sure the skin on her legs was thoroughly burned off and the heat was attacking her muscles. Her mouth seemed to be stuck in a silent "O" with her voice gone into the invisible wind.
"Would you like to see what your lovely self looks like now?" the creature asked, smiling once more, the blood covering him making him look all the more demonic. "You once looked so pretty sweetheart, and now, you don't."
A mirror appeared in front of her, showing her entire body including her legs. Her voice slightly came back, and more tears poured out of her eyes, burning every part of her they touched. The demon wiped his knife off on her clothes and stood up.
"Now, you are going to die a slow painful death, because I feel like it. Have fun."
He snapped his fingers, and the red shield came down, a wave of cold air making her breath pause. "You'll probably die in the next five to ten minutes, and your body's not going to like this massive change..."
She felt it. Her legs were burning, burning like fire was licking them, tasting them for its next meal, when the water turned icy, the cold grabbing and absorbing into her muscle and bones throughout her, making her brain pause, as a new wave of torture went through her.
He turned around and calmly walked off the ice, leaving her alone, the darkness pressing around her tightly, the cold blanket convincing her she was truly dieing, and it would never be figured out how she died. She could say it was the coldest, longest last time of her life, as she slowly dripped into the darkness, the blackness capturing all of her. Her entire body went limp, the pool staining the ice permanently red.
