There was nothing else she could do.
That was what she told herself the entire way up the stairs, thighs burning and chest heaving, mouth dry and hands shaking despite their tight grip in Shinra's lab coat. There was nothing she could do, nothing she could have done. Nothing except run, just like she had been told. In that moment, she didn't even think of Seiji; her undying love for him or even his smile. To be completely honest with herself, his name never even crossed her mind.
It was just Shinra and Izaya.
Shinra was more than capable, she reminded herself, and Izaya had this nasty habit of surviving even in the worst possible conditions. She had left them, but she had only taken herself out of an equation that she could only complicate. They would make it. She was an extra person, and now they didn't have to worry about her. She couldn't help them anyway. They could escape. I should have said something to Izaya sooner...
Panting hard, she finally hit the top step, falling into the door when her muscles gave out, her mind groaning at the sudden wave of confusing emotions and regret. The door flew open, smashing against the wall behind it when she fell forward, and the telltale signs of a struggle echoed up from the stairwell. They'll be okay, they'll be okay. She hit the ground scraping her palms and tearing the nylons at her knees, Shinra's dirty jacket suffering the same fate. Grunts and groans and growls trailed up behind her from the depths of the belly, encouraging her to her sore feet, pushing her to rush out of the little stairwell where she grabbed onto the door and slammed it shut behind her, dropping her back against it and taking in a much needed breath.
The air was cold, and it stung at her lungs, but she didn't really pay attention. Didn't really note the way her muscles were cramping and her sides screaming. The closed door wouldn't save her if either of those monsters decided to come her way – friend or foe – but she didn't really care about this either.
They will be okay. They will get out.
Her throat burned when she gasped for air again, sending white flashes across her eyes, but she didn't hang around for long. The screaming down below suggested for her to move when a blood curdling screech sent her heart leaping in her chest. She had an idea on how to help, what she could do to be useful, but the idea would only be helpful if she could make it back in time. It would only make a difference if the men were still alive when she returned – if not, she would most likely die down there with them.
Even though she couldn't breathe, her chest tight and constricted, she pushed off from the door with new found determination, sprinting back the way she had originally come through the long grass. It whipped at her, not parting as easily as it once had, and she found the threat of tripping a great reality. Long stalks curled around her ankles and waist, and suddenly the run seemed further and more difficult than before – more tedious and frustrating. She manged to jump the fence almost as gracefully as she had in the first place – tearing a palm open in the process – landing heavily on her feet on the other side. She took off towards her vehicle, nylons torn and feet bleeding, her heels striking every rock without fail. The pain did not register. Her mind was numb and set on one idea, and one idea only.
She still had that gun in the glove compartment.
- % & ~ -
Somehow, Shinra ended up back in the main room, ducking under the first row of desks with an unconscious Izaya cradled in his arms. The informant was warm against his chest and still breathing – thank the Gods really – but the amount of dirt on his skin and general being prevented Shinra from seeing any sort of bruising. It was really all just a blur – one moment they were trying to make their grand escape, the next, Shinra was sending Namie ahead and turning back for Izaya, of all people, after he dropped to the ground like nothing more than a sack of potatoes.
Shinra suddenly stiffened, his jumbled thoughts halting. The skeletal humanoid was screaming from within the tiny stair case, voice shaking the walls and the floors as it tried to twist its tall frame around to get back out the way it had come. Shinra had been quick to drag Izaya out, and the monsters lack of proportion and over powered swing had knocked the entire beast over.
Shinra just hoped it hadn't crushed the stairs.
Right beside them, Goliath was struggling to get up, a series of groans and pained moans echoing throughout the room while the lights began to flicker, shadows rising from the humanoid in anger. There were multiple questions suddenly running through Shinra's head, but he had more important matters to attend to. Like the unconscious informant cradled in his arms, and the fact that Goliath's toes touched the ground on the step right beside them, the giant human swaying as he slowly brought himself to his feet. If Goliath dies, we're next. Shinra didn't like the idea of being a pessimist, but this situation definitely called for it. While he would have liked to study the giant human in the future, sacrificing it for their own lives sounded much more appealing.
If anything, Shinra needed to be the optimist here. They would get out, and they would get out alive. I need a plan, I need a plan, oh shit... There was a snarl from above, Goliath challenging the other monster in the room once again, and the humanoid hissed in acceptance. The fight wasn't over, and Shinra didn't want to be a part of it.
"Hurry up, Hurry up," Shinra slapped Izaya across the face, the shrill echo of skin meeting skin getting swallowed out by the screams of things that should not be. Shinra tried to ignore the legs shifting right beside him, the fact that with one step Goliath could crush them both. Shinra was underneath the desk where Namie had originally been sitting, practically straddling his friend in hopes of waking him up – and so far, it didn't appear as though Izaya would be waking up any time soon. Shinra slapped him again, getting no response. If Izaya had a concussion before, chances are, the one he had now was ten times worse. Not to mention the cracks that had echoed in the stairwell may have been bones – but Shinra didn't have time to check for these. He needed Izaya up, and he needed him awake now. "Izaya -"
The massive humanoid broke through the wall with a single hand, the remaining glass shattering and the steel reinforcement in the wall screaming as it crumbled down to the floor. The monster was crouched, forcing its way through with its massive mouth agape and drool dripping to the floor, eyeless sockets locked on Goliath. A handful of twisted steel slammed into the ground, the once perfect flooring cracking all around it like the world was about to cave in. Once again, the creature let out a deafening scream.
Izaya stirred with a groan, face crinkling and eyes squeezing shut in pain, one hand shooting out to grab onto Shinra's wrist with a vice grip while the other slapped over his right ear.
Goliath screeched in response, carefully shifting over to the stairs before charging at the abnormality once again, footsteps thundering down the steps. They clashed in the door way, the humanoid meeting Goliath's charge like a brick wall, both bone thin arms raised in defense. Goliath lunged, thick, massive hands wrapping around protruding bones while his face snapped forward, a double set of teeth tearing into the lanky humanoid's shoulder. The humanoid screamed, one hand coming back to rip Goliath off, throwing him back to the ground where he landed on his feet. They snapped at each other, circling each other like rabid wolves, teeth and jaws clapping together so painfully loud that Izaya cringed, abruptly sitting up and almost bashing his head off of the desk. "Shin-"
"Get up!" Shinra whispered eyes wide at the sight before him, grabbing Izaya's arm and dragging him in a crouch towards the next row of desks, "Stay low, we need to go!" He snapped with a pull, dropping Izaya's arm to slip between chairs on his hands and knees, Izaya blindly following after him in a crouch. Goliath suddenly lunged, and the sounds of a violent fight rumbled through the room. They would never make it through the door, not with the giant humanoid and Goliath fighting in the way. Shinra crawled up the next step, crouching under the desk, his eyes set on the door that led back out into the asylum. What if...? They needed to get out of the room without either monster noticing them. To divert them when one finally died. Perhaps hide until the storm was over, so they could sneak out without being chased. Hopefully Goliath wins...
A loud crash had both men flinching and almost hitting their heads when Goliath was thrown into the nearby wall, his screech abruptly ending when he crashed to the floor, desks splintering in his wake and chairs snapping. Black shadows began to heavily form around the light source, the humanoid standing up tall in victory as the room slowly began to fade to black. He roared in triumph, the lights flickering and the room shaking.
"Go where!?" Izaya snapped, dirty face still contorted in pain and now confusion. He hissed every time he stepped, his feet torn, hand still bandaged, and the burns reminding him of his previous hell. His head was throbbing a steady rhythm in his temple, eyes watering and he blearily tried to follow after Shinra. It was getting darker at an alarming rate, and Izaya found that his vision was becoming poorer with every second that passed. "Shin-"
"The room next door," Shinra reached back, grabbing onto Izaya's wrist and then hauling him out from underneath the table. Izaya almost tripped when he was dragged to his feet, and audible gasp leaving his mouth. "Run!"
Izaya didn't have to be told twice, considering that Goliath was moaning and struggling to stand up from where he had landed amongst the tables and chairs. He wouldn't be able to distract the monstrous creature for too much longer, given that he could hardly stand. There was what looked like blood sliding down the side of his face – missing skin had been torn off, making him look more gruesome than before – while the nine foot skeleton seemed more interested in moving prey. Its head slowly shifted to face the two running men, its mouth opening up as if it were eerily smiling. It roared the moment Shinra and Izaya hit the staircase, its bellowing voice shaking the stairs in which they were trying to climb, before it went charging after them, the sound of bare feet slapping on the linoleum their only indication.
Izaya didn't dare look behind him. He was already wheezing, the world spinning around him. Shinra somehow managed to keep them both running despite the darkness and the narrow steps, thighs burning and breath coming out hard, as they burst through the door and abruptly tried to turn the sharp corner. Shinra slipped, his grip ripping off of Izaya's wrist the moment he fell to his face and skidded across the smooth floor. Izaya was left bewildered in the doorway, his steps stumbling right in front of the mysterious door Shinra had found something interesting in. He didn't fall, but instead glanced over with wide eyes as Shinra hit the wall right under the cat walk. "Shin-"
"Pull the lever in there! Left! Behind the curtain!" Shinra yelled, struggling to get back onto his feet. He suddenly glanced over to the door-less entrance they had just come through, his eyes widening as he struggled to get to his feet faster. The humanoid burst through the door with a screech – Izaya practically jumping out of his skin and darting into the dark neighboring room out of sheer fright – where it too slipped on the linoleum flooring and crashed to the ground in a heap of splayed limbs. It slid violently, smashing into the wall under the staircase with a yowl and a flailing arm tripping Shinra back down, the metal catwalk falling from the force of the impact. It crashed into the monster, trapping it for a precious moment, missing Shinra's face by a mere inch.
Izaya was in the room in a heart beat, breath coming out in ragged pants as he blindly waved his arms around in the dark. His chest was painfully throbbing along with his head, the threat of tears finally making themselves present. Was there a light? Why was it out when the rest were on? Shinra had said something about a curtain? And a lever? He wasn't made for this kind of excitement – this was too much, even for him. The room was small and a few steps in his injured hand hit something slick like plastic, the rippling sound not echoing in the small space. A curtain. Thank whatever God or Devil that had put him in this awful situation. Without hesitating – perhaps he trusted in Shinra a little too much – he grabbed at the curtain, violently attempting to tear it away or to the side so that he could step in and find this lever. It better not be like the generator lever, and only a theory.
His hips hit a high rise table the moment he tried to step behind the curtain, metal cracking painfully against bone. Shinra screeched from outside the room, the sound of the massive humanoid crushing metal ringing in Izaya's ears as he clambered onto the table – most likely a surgical table given how it chilled his knees through his pants – his hands meeting cold, hard flesh. "Fuck." He pulled his hands away, balancing on the edge of the table by his knees before reaching out to slap his good hand against the wall, mouth tightly clamped shut as he waved his hand around, trying to find this lever in the dark. There were three possible walls, unless there was another curtain in the room? But Shinra had said left, and Izaya had gone left? It's just a dead body, no worries, it's dead, find the lever, what does this lever even do... holy fuck Shinra... With a whimper and his eyes squeezed shut, Izaya threw one knee over the body, leaning forward so that both hands could quickly roam over the wall. His finger tips were met with cold, solid walls. There better be a damn lever Shinra and it better get us out of here...
"Izaya!" Shinra squeaked from outside just as another crash shook the whole building, the table in which Izaya was kneeling on shaking from the force. Izaya's good hand dropped to the table from the jostle, landing on a metal restraint tightly wrapped around an arm in which he was hovering over. It's a body. A full body. Oh fuck no. The humanoid snarled nastily outside, more metal crashing to the ground as it struggled to get up from beneath the fallen cat walk. Shinra shrieked again before Goliath roared in the room next door. He was back up, and still looking to fight. Fuck, fuck, Izaya get a hold of yourself, the lever, the damn fucking lever...
"Shinra!" Both hands went back to the walls, and after swinging his hands around as fast as he could, his injured palm suddenly struck protruding metal in the right corner. Without hesitating, Izaya grabbed onto it with both hands, pulling blindly on the protrusion in hopes that this was the damned lever Shinra had been talking about. What did it do? They were about to find out.
The metal rod slowly drifted downwards, the metal creaking as Izaya put all of his strength into it, until it clicked, the distant sound of a generator whirring to life. Izaya almost cheered if not for the sounds of Goliath entering the scene outside with a battle cry, the sound of twisted metal careening off linoleum flooring and the humanoid screaming in sudden agony. Izaya was panting, now becoming aware of his hands and whole body trembling. There was a hiss in the room as Shinra rushed in, air pressure being released, and the table beneath Izaya's knees shifted. The metal clamps on the body snapped open with five distinct clicks, the one around the dead torso snapping into both of his thighs painfully. Izaya, still with his eyes closed, raised his head, struggling to breathe through his nose.
"The light, why is it off?" Shinra was wheezing, running right up to the table and grabbing onto Izaya's shoulders. "Izaya! Is he-"
An alarm suddenly went off, the piercing sound almost scaring Izaya off of the table as a red light on the wall suddenly flashed in warning. He choked, grabbing onto Shinra's arms and glaring straight ahead when a light flashed from within the wall. A voice suddenly echoed throughout the room, red flashes lighting up every couple of seconds outside in the hallway where the screeching fight was occurring. "Project D is out of containment."
What was the point of this!? Izaya all but threw himself off of the body, crashing into Shinra and almost falling, before grabbing his hand. He whirled around the doctor, as if making to leave, peering over his shoulder at the dead human he had just been straddling. The red, flashing glow illuminated a large figure – now no longer restrained to the surgical table, and given how crazy the rest of this place was, Izaya wouldn't have been surprised if the dead body moved – with thick muscles and pale skin still in good condition, like the body hadn't even begun to decay. But Izaya mostly noted that fact that the body was missing a head, and this. This had his mind twisted around in disarray, because all the new details made everything so much more confusing.
Izaya's stomach suddenly dropped and knotted, his mouth twisting into a grimace as bile ran up his throat. Shinra was frozen where he stood, his face lighting up eerily in the red light. He looked slightly disappointed, as if he had expected the body to move.
"Project D is out of containment. Automatic Lock Down in five."
"Shinra! We'll get locked in!" Izaya was instantly yelling, harshly pulling on Shinra's arm so hard that the doctor stumbled over, knocked out of his trance. He whirled on his heel, about to give Izaya a lecture about the patience of scientific experimentation, until he saw Izaya's face.
"Four."
"Shinra!" Fear. Shinra didn't resist as Izaya grabbed his hand and dragged him out of the room as fast as he could. His grip was too hard and his breath was coming out too quick for how fast they were moving. It wasn't until they were out of the way of the thick concrete door threatening to close that Izaya slowed down a little. His hand was shaking in Shinra's.
"Three."
They were out of immediate danger of forever being locked in, but Goliath suddenly blocked the path out when he was thrown through the doorway, crashing through the wall with a deafening explosion against the roaring alarm. Izaya came to an abrupt halt, Shinra slamming into his back and knocking him a step forward. Both monsters were screeching, Goliath in pain and the humanoid in dominance and rage. It rose up from the heap of twisted metal, the cat walk, eyeless sockets landing on Izaya when he froze up in the doorway. Goliath crashed across the floor until he hit the glass dome in the middle, the sound of cracking glass piercing through the alarm. Goliath suddenly stilled, slumping on the ground. The dome shattered, adding to the noise, and suddenly Izaya found his mind swirling, his stomach lurching. The shadows were gone from when the nine foot monster tumbled earlier, the shadows directly linked it its concentration most likely like Celty's, light leading the way and giving them a clear path towards their exit. What is this monster? Shinra was the first to realize that they could once again attempt to escape.
"Two."
Shinra ran for it, dragging Izaya through the door and down the steps behind him as fast as he could. This was potentially their chance – if they got into the stair well, Goliath might get in the way one more time so they could make their escape – if Goliath could get back up, that was. They flew down the stairs and launched off the bottom step, eyes set on the shattered wall leading them upstairs and outside. To freedom. We can make it. We can make it!
"One."
The lights flickered off, the mechanical sound of heavy doors creaking and slamming shut echoing throughout the basement as the lock down shut everything down. The alarm silenced, the red light still flashing in warning and briefly lighting up the room in which they were running through. Izaya gasped when he suddenly fell in the dark, tripping over a knocked over office chair.
"Zero."
Shinra crashed down after Izaya due to the grip he had on his hand, landing painfully on top of him with a gasp. Something creaked in Izaya's chest – perhaps there had been a cracked bone after all – and Izaya screamed when it finally snapped.
"Project D is out of..."
The words cut off just as a foot slammed down on the steps. It was a rumble in the dark, the flashing red light reflecting ominously against the pale flesh of the nine foot monster. Crack. It took another step down, the linoleum stairs splitting beneath its weight, black sockets honed in on its prey. Shinra yelped, struggling to get his hands and knees on the ground, around Izaya's shaking form. The red light flashed, the monster down two more steps, its gait slow and predatory like a lion readying to spring, when Shinra finally was able to get to his hands and knees. It still had half the stair case to go, perhaps eight steps in total, when the red light disappeared and plunging him into silence and darkness for another two seconds.
Five steps.
The red light flashed, the humanoid three steps closer with its mouth agape, back hunching. Shinra didn't want to test whether or not this one could see in the dark. The red light flickered off, and Shinra struggled to stand up, arms wrapping around Izaya's torso to try and get him up to. Izaya managed to get to his knees, holding on to Shinra with a death grip.
Two steps.
The flash lit up, the humanoid just stepping down the last step, arms slowly reaching out towards them gently, as if he meant no harm. Shinra, against Izaya's protests, dragged the informant up to his feet by his arms, eliciting a sharp cry that echoed throughout the room. Something is broken, but we need to go. The light flashed out, plunging them back into darkness. Shinra backed up quickly, Izaya willingly in tow, attempting to put as much distance as they could between the humanoid and themselves. Holding his breath, Shinra slowly counted to two, feet carefully placing themselves behind them in case something threatened to trip them back down.
The red flash lit up the room. The humanoid was nowhere to be seen.
Shinra froze, Izaya glaring at where the creature should have been before going wide eyed. How does a nine foot monster just disappear? They stopped walking backwards, a sudden wave of panic crashing over both of them, causing Shinra to spin on his heel just as the light flickered off. He could hear himself panting, Izaya wheezing right at his side. Run. Just run. He pulled Izaya with him as he turned, suddenly dragging him towards the general area the door had been, his steps hurried. His hands were shaking by the time the emergency light lit up the room again, nothing but silence ringing in their ears. They were ten feet away from the stair case, and there was still no sign of the humanoid. Shinra stared straight ahead, and the second the light flashed off, he took off in a run.
They made it one step
Shinra screeched when he was suddenly plucked from the ground by his waist, nails and bony fingers tearing through his shirt and his skin. Izaya tripped, falling once again with a cry at the sudden shift in support, landing on his back on the floor, warm blood dripping on his face. "Let me go!" Shinra kicked out, his feet colliding with air while his fingers struggled to reach his pockets for scalpels to pierce through skin. He was trying to claw his way out, but that too was proving futile. "Izaya, run!" The informant didn't move, staring up wide eyed, brain short circuiting. Click, click, click! There was a scuttle of legs that came out of Shinra's pocket, the little spider that had been hiding oh so silently finally deciding to make his appearance.
It crawled onto the humanoids hand, its legs clicking with every step. The monster was squeezing, fingers slicing through his skin, dragging Shinra in closer through the air when the red light flashed back on, illuminating a very close, and a very open mouth. Long, sharp fangs with saliva clinging to each tooth, top and bottom, were inching closer to Shinra's face, an endless black hole resting inside the monsters throat. It had no tongue, simply smaller razor sharp teeth to assist it with tearing through flesh. Shinra cringed, his scratching becoming more frantic when suddenly, the humanoid flinched.
Shinra was thrown to the ground, curling up at the last second to minimize the impact, the monsters own hand suddenly becoming fascinating when it spotted the little spider pinching its skin with its piercing little fangs. Shinra almost laughed through the pain in his stomach, the idea that the spider had saved him – the spider smacked against Shinra's forehead, little legs quivering and clicking frantically when it scurried back down over Shinra's shirt and into his pocket. The monster had flicked it off like the bug it was, wasting no time in stalking closer to Shinra afterward, the light flashing off and then back on before he could even move. "Can you talk!?" Shinra suddenly yelled, his voice wavering, hands suddenly shaking as he shifted back along the floor. Izaya was a few feet away from him, struggling to get up from the ground. They made eye contact, and Shinra didn't like what he saw.
This was it. Immobile on the floor, almost to the exit, and dying at the hands of a monster. This was it. This was how they would die.
He didn't want this.
The light flickered off, and when it flicked back on, the humanoid was on top of him, leaning down with fangs bared, fingers curling around Shinra's thighs and threatening to snap them right in half. Shinra leaned back, cringing away as the rank breath got closer, the pressure in his legs almost becoming unbearable. Goliath? Izaya!
Bam!
Shinra suddenly covered his ears, and explosion piercing through the pained silence of the room. The monster screeched, reeling back and away from Shinra, arms swatting at the air.
Bam! Bam!
Its chest was pierced, flesh splitting and suddenly pouring out blood as the monster stepped back. It wasn't until the fourth round that Shinra realized what he was hearing were gunshots. Round five and six followed quickly after, and with a scream, the humanoid collapsed to the ground, arms clutching at its chest and face weakly.
"Namie!" Izaya was swaying on his feet, ducking low towards Shinra. Shinra almost cried, struggling to his feet and meeting Izaya half way. He was tongue tied, his mind spinning as he reached out for Izaya. "It's not dead, we need to go." Izaya said quickly, latching on to Shinra's arm for support.
Shinra immediately turned away, dragging Izaya half way across the floor to the entrance. "Namie!" He called, throwing himself at her in a hug the second he was close enough, Izaya almost tripping and awkwardly falling into the group hug with him. Namie wrapped her arms around both of them, scoffing at them for being stupid and almost dying. She dropped the gun. "Thank god, oh god! We need to get out of here!" Shinra exclaimed, glancing over his shoulder at the next light, watching in horror as the humanoid struggled to get up. Apparently six bullets weren't enough to keep it down. "We need to go now."
Namie rushed the boys ahead, shoving them towards the dark stair case, the only light coming from the open door way up at the top. Her eyes locked on the massive figure getting up in the room, its long limbs shifting to support its weight like it hadn't been shot six times in the chest. She quickly took off up the stairs after Shinra and Izaya, none of them overly caring that the glass tore at their feet in their haste. They were slow, Shinra practically dragging Izaya, and so she rushed up and ducked beneath Izaya's left arm to help drag him up the steps.
He yelped, something uncomfortably cracking in his chest from the movement, but they didn't exactly have time to be careful of wounds. Namie rushed the steps, Shinra trying his best to keep up, but even he was worn out. He had one hand pressed to his side, his hand covered in his own blood shadowed from Namie's sight. "Guys," Namie warned, trying to encourage them to hurry up. At this rate, they wouldn't make it. Shinra was slowing down, his breath ragged and uneven. She glanced over her shoulder just in time to see that persistent, lanky figure entering the stair case, its face glowing in the dark from the light above like some horrifying Halloween decoration. "Shit!"
They rushed. They rushed as fast as they could, Izaya eventually functioning a little more properly, and Shinra pressing on despite how out of breath and in pain he was. The massive humanoid crashed up the stairs with a growl, lanky long legs taking the steps four at a time.
We won't make it! "What the fuck-" Namie didn't want to die. Namie didn't want anyone to die. She just wanted to get back up to her car – the car in which she had struggled to break a window just for that gun, might she add seeing how her keys were in her jacket pocket, down in the asylum – and turn on the heat, and drive home to have a nice bath.
She didn't want to get eaten by a monster. She didn't want Shinra to get eaten by a monster. And she most certainly did not want Izaya to get eaten by a monster.
Said monster suddenly shrieked, the sound loud and striking and suddenly stopping the three humans in their tracks. They glanced over their shoulders panting, glancing down as the monster slipped on a step, landing on its stomach hard enough to shake the stairs. Namie and Shinra reached out to their respective sides, grabbing the railing, Izaya clinging painfully to the both of them. The monster growled, before screaming as it was dragged down the staircase seemingly by the shadows alone. Their limbs froze, hearts pounding painfully in their chest when the monster screamed in pain, the sound of tearing -
They ran with new found energy.
They went as fast as they could, a pack of limbs and heaving bodies as they struggled to reach the top. The door was still open – just as Namie had left it, and they burst out from the shadows and into the fresh, cold air. Namie shoved the door closed the second they were all out, throwing her back against the door once again while she struggled to catch her breath. The stairs were a pain in the ass, and if anything would catch them, it would be now when they were completely out of breath.
Izaya collapsed where he stood, dragging Shinra down with him. They were both panting hard, thighs burning and lungs heaving. The grass parted and swayed above them, burying them in the gentleness of their rocking. Shinra pulled Izaya close, chuckling lightly whether in fear or humor, no one would know. Izaya simply closed his eyes, struggling to breathe.
Namie hoped he wasn't suffocating from a broken rib or anything. "We should hurry – just in case," Namie wheezed out, stomping forward through the grass and grabbing onto Izaya's left arm to try and get him back up. She thought about her actions after she did it.
"Ow, fuck," he snapped, flinching away and dragging his hand back close to his chest. He was still incredibly dirty with soot and dust and blood, making it hard to see any injuries. Namie pulled her hand back like he had burned her, watching worriedly as he closed his eyes once again.
Shinra simply giggled beside him, patting his knee. He glanced up to Namie, his breath mostly caught. "He broke something." He stated casually, standing up shakily and dragging the informant with him by the front of his jacket. Izaya went up easily, standing on his own before taking a deep breath.
Namie rolled her eyes, before glancing to the door. Shinra glanced nervously as well before grabbing Izaya's hand and pulling him forward. They were all weary – and hoping that Goliath had been the one to finally drag that monster down.
They didn't need anymore surprises.
Getting Izaya over the fence was more difficult than any of them anticipated. He refused to put pressure on his left arm, his body apparently sore, and when he finally jumped over, he collapsed in a heap that had Namie running over to him to make sure he wasn't dead. Shinra made it over by sheer luck and adrenaline.
Nothing tried to chase them.
They cleared the field, glancing over their shoulders every couple of seconds, expecting the monster to suddenly appear at any given moment. Waiting for the sound of a door bursting from its hinges, a roar, and an angry mutant rushing out of the building. There was nothing once again, but they still hurried.
They made it to the car, none of them asking why the back window was broken. The doors were all unlocked from Namie's rush earlier. Namie hastily got into the drivers side and slammed the door shut, the seat and steering wheel comfortable and familiar to her. Izaya crawled into the back where Shinra's jacket had been discarded earlier, sitting painfully rigid against the back door, Shinra taking the passenger seat. His wound looked pretty nasty now that they were outside, but he didn't seem overly concerned. Perhaps it was alright. Perhaps they were all alright? It wasn't until they were all sitting, the doors all closed and eyes all staring straight ahead, breaths evening out from their ridiculous adventure, that Namie realized she was missing something important.
"Fuck!" Shinra and Izaya both flinched in the car when Namie suddenly yelled, face suddenly twisted and brown eyes narrowed. He slapped her steering wheel, hands clenched. "Fuck me!"
"Namie?" Izaya whispered from the back seat, sending her an odd look. He didn't move, but his face expressed concern for once.
"My keys! They're in my jacket!" She suddenly hissed, eyes glaring towards the massive building. They were not going back in there. She was not going back in there.
"The... the jacket that was down on that chair?" Shinra asked, glancing her way with eyes darkening. He had considered grabbing her stuff at one point. "Maybe the spider can go get them?" He suggested with a baffled grin, pulling the little spider from his pocket. The creature had been useless thus far, perhaps now was its time to shine. The spider squeaked, legs clicking as it refused to let go of the lining inside Shinra's pocket. After a brief moment of struggle, he let the poor thing go, and it huddled back inside his pocket for safety. "Or not..."
Izaya groaned in the back seat before flopping over onto his side, hissing when he jostled his body too much. He curled up on the seat, eyes generally narrowed and mouth pulled into a frown, pulling Shinra's jacket underneath his head. Shinra let his head fall back into the seat, staring out the front window while Namie glared at her steering wheel like it had personally offended her. I should have just stayed out here. Shit. Why did I do that? They had been through so much – she couldn't send one of them back in. Izaya would tease her forever, but at this point in time she didn't care; she didn't feel like dying because of something stupid like this.
"I'll go back in." She snapped, popping her door open before anyone could argue, and before she could rethink her horrible plan and idea. She jumped out of her car, feet landing quietly in the grass, her determination unwavering. She didn't even turn for confirmation, simply set out across the yard, her mind going through all of the possibilities. How long would this take? Would Shinra even be okay bleeding in the car? And Izaya? He looked terrible.
"Namie, wait!" Izaya was trying to pop open the back door, but Shinra locked the doors before he could get out. Izaya sent him a dirty look, watching as Shinra popped his own door open. "You... Shinra, don't you dare leave me here!"
"Just wait for a minute, I will be right back." Shinra scolded, getting out of the vehicle. He slammed the door closed, trying not to laugh at Izaya's look of absolute horror.
"Shinra!"
No, he couldn't just let Namie go in by herself. What was she thinking? Celty would kill him is she knew he didn't try to help. "Namie!" Shinra called, hurrying through the grass. Luckily Namie wasn't that far, her resolve to go back down there alone weakening with each step.
"Get back in the car!" She snapped, whirling on her heel. She was walking backwards, arms crossed and eyes fixed on Shinra with her usually nasty glare, the one that sent people scurrying after a single threat. "I will fix this." She was already entering the yard by the front door, her knees shaking the closer her torn, bare feet carried her to the fence. She turned around, freezing where she stood a second before Shinra yelled at her in a panic to stop.
Across the yard, on her side of the fence stood a six and a half foot figure, the grass swaying just below his waist. Namie felt her stomach lurch, the idea of going back down into that horrible basement seeming like the worst spur of the moment idea she had ever come up with. Getting out of the vehicle sounded like a horrible idea too. So what she had lost her keys to her car? They could walk. She suddenly felt on edge like they were about to be attacked again by this new monster – she had screwed up, and it would be the death of them all.
The figure was dressed in solid black armor, dragon-like scales running up and down his body, reflecting no light from the fading moonlight, a cape blowing gently in the wind just above the long swaying grass. He looked oddly majestic, tall, strong and potentially lethal, but beautiful, despite the fact that he was headless.
A Dullahan.
Namie gasped, eyes widening at the black smoke the rose from his neck, long black strands coiling and dispersing in the wind. He took a careful step forward, slowly wading through the long grass until he was just out of arms reach. Namie didn't realize she had been leaning back and away from him, his presence sending a shake straight down to her knees. She knew the legend, she knew what they were capable of.
But he too, seemed to be missing his head.
He reached his hand out, Namie flinching back a few steps while Shinra was deathly quiet some feet away from her. A black coil of shadows suddenly sprung up in his hands, a ball forming in his outstretched palm before gently dispersing into the air. A leather jacket hung from his hands, slightly scuffed and a little dirty, but Namie recognized it as her own. She didn't move, frozen in a trance. This is not Celty, he might kill us all...
He lifted the jacket, holding it by the shoulders and taking a step forward, his actions seeming non threatening and oddly familiar. Namie held out her arm for the coat, used to her brother and even – if he was sucking up to her for whatever reason – Izaya putting her coat on for her, like a gentleman in the loosest sense of the term. She didn't really consider the danger – if they were all going to die anyway, there was no point in fighting it – as she turned, letting the otherworldly creature slip the jacket over her arms and onto her shoulders, before he stepped back and bowed. She wrapped the jacket tightly around her, feeling in the pockets her phone, her keys and even the flashlight.
He bowed to Namie. But he also bowed to Shinra, his form much deeper.
Namie backed away, stiffly bowing back politely to the creature in case it became enraged at her rudeness. Only when she was beside Shinra did she turn away, grabbing Shinra's hand while doing so.
They rushed across the field, borderline running and never looking over their shoulders until the got back into the vehicle. Shinra got in the back with Izaya and Namie got back into the drivers seat – after giving Shinra shit for locking all the doors.
"Put your seat belts on." She commanded, hands shaking as she locked all of the doors once again. It took her thirty seconds to locate her keys and turn the vehicle on, the engine roaring back to life. The headlights flicked on, illuminating the tall grass and emphasizing the shadow of a creature standing in the field. He was standing in the gate, a majestically ominous figure given the scenery.
He did not move. Simply watched.
Namie licked at her bottom lip before pulling out of her hiding spot. She pulled away from the trees – from the asylum, from hell – slowly, watching the Dullahan carefully through the window, and then in the mirror. When she turned to head back down the creepy road she had driven up to get here in the first place, the Dullahan bowed once again, Izaya catching sight of it and gasping.
"You knew!" He snapped, glaring over to Shinra and jabbing him in the shoulder. "We let that Dullahan out of that room!?"
Shinra snorted with an uncommitted shrug, watching out the window until the Dullahan was out of sight. As soon as they were pulling away from the chaos and the building, Shinra turned to Izaya. "So what did you break?" He asked, hand reaching out for the zipper of Izaya's jacket.
"Don't you mean, what did you break? When you fell on me?" Izaya snapped back, suddenly gasping when Shinra hastily unzipped his jacket in one fluid, way too quick motion. He almost complained again before quick, precise fingers found his collar bone. He moaned instead, grabbing Shinra's hand and trying to push him away with his good arm.
"Looks like a broken clavicle." Shinra said, grinning in mild amusement, "It's a good thing Namie came and saved our asses though, or that clavicle would be the least of your worries."
Namie sent him a dirty look in the rear view mirror, suggesting that Shinra should shut up. Shinra grinned, leaning forward between the seats. "Thank you, Namie. I will forever be in your debt!"
Namie snorted, but a smile slowly spread across her lips. She liked the sound of that. "That's good to hear. So, I assume then, there will be no problem getting you in on the revenge operation?" Her voice went cold, eyes glaring at the winding road of trees and shrubs ahead of them. It was early in the morning by now – men would be dying within the next few days.
Shinra laughed, sitting back in the seat. "You just bring him to me, and no one will recognize him every again. I'm sure Izaya would have fun cutting off a finger or two. Or ten. And a tongue. Some toes, given all the emotions I got to see tonight."
Namie snorted, the drive and the fact that they just almost died not seeming so bad now that they were free. She just had to make it through this winding path, and then they would be safe. By even then, her shaking hands had steadied, the eerie Dullahan not as scary as she had initially thought him to be. She now found him interesting. "What was his name? Fuzen something?" She asked, eyeing Izaya in the rear view mirror. He had pulled his phone out from the pocket of Shinra's lab coat, and appeared to either be making a phone call now that he had service again, or listening to a message. He was still lying down like a little kid, and she found herself smiling. "Fuzen Kumori." Namie said, the voice tasting sour on her tongue. "We have a lot of questions for him, as well as for your father." She said, shooting him a quick but dirty look. "His name was mentioned."
"My dad? And Fuzen?" Shinra asked, before scoffing. "You should have understood this would all go wrong given his name. Who trusts a guy named Fuzen?"
Izaya lowered his phone, staring blankly at the screen. He dropped his hands to the seat, eyes sliding over to meet Namie's in the rear-view.
"So if we get him, what should we do? Torture the answers out of him? That Dullahan is free! What if it comes and whoo's away my Celty? Also that giant-giant monster, and the Goliath. There's something really weird here. And listen. Izaya? Next time you want me to come with you on some random asses excursion for the night, please call Shizuo instead. I'm sure that would have been better bonding time for you and him, and no one would have almost died." Shinra was making dramatic gestures, almost smacking Izaya in the face. "I even broke my camcorder – Izaya, where does he live? This man has a lot to atone for."
"It doesn't matter," the informant said, his tone of voice instantly catching Namie's attention. Her eyes flickered dangerously in the rear view mirror. He closed his eyes once again. "Fuzen Kumori is dead."
