Chapter 9: Gone

Ryuka's POV

Panic arose in my brain as I fought frantically to get out of the bed I was in, "Kid! Let me up! We have to get out of here and help the kids! They're in danger! All of them!"

"Ryuka! Calm down!" Kid kept my shoulders pinned down to the bed, "You've got to relax! The kids are just fine!"

"LET ME GO KID!" I screamed again and shoved him off of me. Before he could get his hands holding me down again, I stood and crossed the room, "Daddy! I need you to go get mom! We have to go! We have to-"

"Ryuka." I felt Kid's arms encircle around my waist, "Please just take a breath. Now, how do you know the kids are in trouble?"

"I," I felt myself beginning to fall back asleep at the comfort of his warm arms, "I had a dream," I leaned back into his arms, "And there's something in the house."

That was when it all went black and I collapsed back into Kid's arms.

Shay's POV

My sister and I walked down the hall, clutching our weapons tight within our grip. I could hear the clattering coming from down the hall. Plates being smashed to the floor, Drawers being yanked from their places, silverware flying into walls.

"Where is it, Sasori?" A frantic voice shrieked as another batch of plates crashed to the floor.

"If I knew, Kuriketto, we wouldn't still be here, no would we?" A sharp, menacing voice bit back. Those names could only belong to one creature, and one creature alone. I held out my arm to stop my sister from ramming into me. I turned back to look at her and mouthed the word, 'witches.' Sienna nodded and allowed her eyes to drift on down the line of the hallway and towards the stairs. We continued to proceed forward.

We stopped once we reached the dual set of stairs, our matching sets of golden eyes peering through the shiny black bars holding up the banister. Two women (make that two witches) stood in the kitchen. The first one had short bronze-blonde hair with sharp red eyes and a few thin patches of bronze scales across different places on her golden-tanned skin. The other one had inky black hair with thick streaks of all different shades of brown layering in the undertones. Her beady black eyes shifted at outrageous speeds as she hopped across the room in her tight brown leather outfit, frantically searching for whatever it was the pair was looking for. There was an odd force between the two of them. One was tall and sparkling, the other short, and dark; total and complete opposites.

"Where the hell does that damned Shinigami keep it?" The one that I assumed was called Kuriketto shouted before throwing the carving knife into the wall.

I looked over and mouthed the word 'What?' to Sienna. She looked at me and shrugged. What would witches want from our home? From my father? I felt my hand tighten on Saki's handle.

'Shay?' Saki's voice etched into my mind, 'What are witches doing in your house?'

"I'm not sure," I whispered, adjusting her in my hand, "But we're about to stop them."

I looked over at Sienna and nodded. "Taka," she whispered, looking into her blade, "Smoke Bomb Mode."

"Right," Taka said before transforming into a small bomb in her hand. She rolled the bomb in one fluid motion down onto the first floor where it exploded in a giant puff of smoke. I took Sienna's hand and held Saki tightly in my grip before I leapt over the banister.

Thick smoke filled the air. Sienna held onto me until Taka's hilt was in her palm. I grabbed my sister by the waist and pulled her behind me. She gave me a dirty look, but I just ignored it and kept her behind me. Even if we fought all the time, even if half the time she was on my very last nerve, she was still my sister. I had to protect her at all costs. She was dad's favorite, not me; that was obvious.

I held Saki up in front of me, her black and silver blade shining as the smoke cleared. I could hear the two witches coughing directly in front of me:

"What the hell?" The golden scaly witched shrieked, "Damn it, Kuriketto! You said that the house was empty! That's why we planted that sickness in the Shinigami's wife's drink!"

They were what made my mother so sick? That was when I shot forward. I kicked off of the ground and came down on the golden witch in a screaming rain. I swung at her hard with my scythe. She gave me a fast smirk before she flipped into the air. My scythe collided with the ground, sending shards and splinters of black hardwood flying across the room along with a cloud of dust. Sienna wove out to the side from behind me and made sharp, decisive strokes with her short sword at the witch in slick brown leather, who leapt back in quick movements. The witch in gold perched herself on the chandelier above the sleek dinning room table.

"So you're the famous Shay Cross? The next Grim Reaper?" She smirked, her red eyes glistening, "I have to say I was expecting a bit more." She dropped down beside me and let her eyes explore me. In reality she looked about my age, maybe just a year or so older, "That doesn't mean you aren't hansom though," she ran her fingers up my chest and up my jaw line. I jerked away and held Saki in between me and her.

She just smirked and sat her hand lightly on the blade, causing golden streaks of lightening to dance across black and silver, "My name is Sasori. It's very nice to meet you." She smiled. I felt my golden eyes slip into her red ones; my mind swirling into nothing but a hypnotized blur.

'Ack! Shay!' Saki's voice pulled me out of the hypnosis 'Something is stinging throughout my body!'

I shook my head back and forth and yanked Saki's blade away from the witch's touch. The flickers of golden lightning stopped and Saki seemed to relax. A delicate frown perched on Sasori's lips, "You poisonous scaly bitch!"

She cocked her head to the side as I spat my venom coated words at her, "I'm a witch," the smirk came back, "What do you expect?" She skittered back a few feet, a red glow forming around her body, "I guess playtime is over now."

Sanguine's POV

I sat in the backseat of the car with Kid and Ryuka while Stein drove. Ryuka's head sat in my lap, her sweaty locks of hair beneath my hands. I ran my fingers through her hair in attempt to relax myself. I felt heavy tensions shaking through me. I was scared. The moment I'd heard that the kids were in danger, I felt my heart freeze. Even if it was for a second, I hated it. I despised the feeling of fear, because it made me feel weak.

"Sanguine," Stein's voice pulled me out of the dark depths of my mind, "I'm going to need you to transform when I stop the car."

"But-"

"Lord Death, you need to stay in the car with Ryuka."

"Stein, I'm responsible for my kid's and anyone else's who are in there. You have to let me-"

"My job is to protect those kids, the same as yours," Stein's voice cut him off, "Therefore my job also includes the protection of you and your family when necessary."

The reaper's brows knit together, "Stein, you are a member of my family."

Stein gritted his teeth together as we turned a sharp corner towards gallows' manor, "That's not what I meant."

Sienna's POV

I leapt back as the dark witch lunged at me. I slashed my short sword at her, but she leapt away before my blade even came close.

'Damn it' I felt my teeth grind together as my eyes searched with lightning speed for where she went, 'She's fast.'

I felt a firm heel snap hard into my back, causing me to fall forward, the wind flying from my lungs.

'Sienna! Are you all right?' Taka's voice echoed through my head, concern edging in his words.

"Y-Yeah," I stood feeling the knots forming in my back, "Taka, enchanted sword mode."

'Are you sure?' Taka questioned, his deep blue eyes staring up at me in the reflection of the blade, 'I don't want you to get hurt.'

"I don't care!" I screamed, "Please, just do it!"

'Okay.'

Taka transformed into a long, sleek black blade in my hand. Streaks of black static danced down the blade. I felt the thick stripes of black tattooing themselves across my skin. I ran forward at an inhuman speed towards the witch and swung the sword. A long slash ran down the witches body. She let out a piercing scream, sending echoes of it reverberating through my skull. She spun on her foot, sending a kick flying to the side of my head. I flew back several yards, Taka's hilt flying out of my grip. I felt my body collide with the wall, causing whatever scream I had in my lungs to leave me along with all the rest of the air in my body.

I saw the witch racing to get out of the house. I saw large hunks of rubble falling down upon me. But everything went black before I ever felt the impact.

Death the Kid's POV

I pressed my palm to the seat in front of me as we turned another sharp corner. Stein's reckless driving might get us to the house quicker, but it was starting to give me a headache. Ryuka made a small whimpering noise in her place. I sat my hand on her leg in reassurance.

Stein's knuckles where white as he gripped the steering wheel. We were almost to the house. We were coming down the street.

BAM!

The care rolled at least four times before it skidded to a stop on the side of the road.

"Ung…" I heard Ryuka's moan from somewhere beside me. I managed to un buckle my seat belt and felt through the remains of the car for her limp body. Sure enough my hands came to rest on her. I gently brushed the pieces of splintered metal off of her but didn't move her.

"Ryuka?" I asked in as calm of a voice as I could manage, "Are you alright, Dear?"

"Mhm," she managed, weakly nodding her head, "I'm okay." I sat my hand on the two-inch long gash cutting across her forehead. She gave me a weak smile.

Sanguine undid her seat belt and forced her head so she could see into the front seat, "Stein!" she unbuckled his seatbelt and lightly slapped his face, "You okay, Stitches?"

"Yeah, San," he mumbled, forcing his eyes open to look at her, "Go check the kids."

"But I shouldn't-"

"You and Kid go check the kids," he reconfirmed, lightly jerking his head towards the house. Sanguine looked at me and I nodded.

I leaned down and kissed Ryuka's cheek before I crawled across the mangled seat and followed Sanguine out the door and onto the road. Sanguine leaned onto my shoulder as we walked in an effort to control her limp. The two of us managed to stager towards the house. We were headed up the drive when we heard a sickening crunch followed by a scream.

Shay's POV

No. No. No. No. No. No. No. DEAR GOD, NO!

Taka and I dug quickly through the ruble searching for my sister. Please be alright. Please dear Lord be okay. Saki ran up the stairs to go get Silver. Hopefully Silver would have at least some medical knowledge.

Sure my sister was a pain in the ass. Sure she and I never really got along. Sure she was totally dad's favorite and not me. But she was still my sister. My twin. My other freaking half. AND SHE COULD NOT DIE ON ME LIKE THIS!

'Come on Sienna,' I thought to her through the telepathy I inherited from my mother, 'You have to be alright.'

'Shay,' I heard her voice weakly respond, 'Please…hurry."

She sounded so weak it wasn't even funny. I pushed away another rock to reveal a strand of her silver hair. Smeared with dirt and caked with sweat. I moved another rock to reveal more and more of her dirty, beautiful hair.

"Taka!" I pushed another rock away, "Taka! Come help me!" Together we pulled away the rocks to reveal Sienna's limp and broken looking body.

"Sienna," I stroked her dirt smeared, bruised cheek lightly with my hand. She weakly opened her eyes.

"Shay?" Her voice sounded broken, tears were streaming down her face, clearing away trails of dirt. I brushed the dirt off of a nasty cut in her forehead. I felt my own tears pouring from my eyes, "It's okay," She strained to reach and cup my face with a shaking hand an wiped the tears away, "You don't have to cry."

Then her eyes slowly closed.

"Sienna?" I cried out, gently shaking her in my arms, "Sienna, come on! Wake up!" She remained still in my arms. "SIENNA!"

Silver's POV

I raced down the stairs, Saki's feet thudding behind me. The second I reached the bottom of the stairs I saw my father staggering towards my brother and sister. My feet guided me towards Sienna's limp body. I knelt down beside her. She looked bad. Her left leg was bent at an odd angle. There were nasty lacerations covering all different parts of her body. And her body was littered with a rainbow of bruises. I gently placed my hand on her neck.

"There's a pulse," I sighed in slight relief, "But it's faint. Where's Stein?"

"Back in the car," Sanguine panted as she leaned against the wall, "He should no what to do."

I nodded and raced out the door and down the street towards the mangled remains of the car. NOTE TO SELF: Ask what the hell happened once everyone is all patched up. I came to a stop and tugged on the drivers side door of the car. But it wouldn't open. I raced around to the other side of the car and fought my way into the already opened door.

"Stein! Mom!" I called out.

No response.

The Car was empty.

A/N: OH MY GOD I FINALLY FREAKING FINISHED! I'm so happy! ^^ It took me forever to write this because I got another writers block and didn't know what to do with this story and…NOW I DO! I know exactly where this is going no as to before where I was just wandering blindly into the dark praying that some day this story would have a direction AND NOW IT DOES! I just really hope that this story isn't confusing or anything like that. AND IF IT IS I NEED TO KNOW. Please please please please PLEASE review! I'm so happy that I get as many review as I do and I would kind of like to keep that going. I have no solid idea when the next chapter will be up, but hopefully it will be VERY VERY soon! ^^ I'm going to work a hell of a lot hard for you guys! SEE YOU ALL IN THE NEXT CHAPTER! ^^