Chapter 10: …And Found
A/N: This Story rated M for violence, torture, sexual situations and themes, experimentation, abusive content, and other nasty things.
Tsubaki sat in a chair with her right wrist handcuffed to the arm of it. Her eyes whirled around the room in sharp focus; why was she here? It had to have been for one of two reasons: either Stein had called the police, or it was something not nearly that terrible.
Liz was in the other room, probably sitting on a bench being watched as she waited for the news on Tsubaki.
Experimentally, she giggled her wrist against the cuff; it didn't come off. She leaned back in the chair and reached back. Bingo- she had a bobby pin.
The door clanked open and Tsubaki straightened back. The man that walked in smiled and reached for his keys.
"Now, damn it, I told them that you weren't a prisoner," He shut the door and walked up to her, "Miss Nakatsukasa, I'm sorry they did this to you," He set his hand on the handcuff, "Please don't run away, I'm detective Spirit Albarn."
She nodded, "I won't run away if you promise not to hurt me or my friend."
"Of course," he said, unlocking the cuff, "I just want to talk."
"What about?" she pulled her wrist away, rubbing it lightly. Detective Albarn was a tall man, built similarly to Dr. Stein, with long scarlet hair and soft blue eyes. He wore a suit and smiled kindly at her.
"Well," He opened a file and held a picture out to her, "Do you know this man?"
Tsubaki's eyes dropped to the photograph. In it, there was a man with long raven hair and deep blue eyes. His pale skin clung to his bony face as he looked into the camera. Her slim, creamy fingers traced the photograph, "Masamune…"
He smiled, "Masamune, that's right."
She stood up, kicking the chair back and pulling Black*Star's knife out and pointing it at the scarlet haired detective, "What have you done to my brother?"
Spirit only chuckled and lowered the knife with his fingers, "I assure you that your brother is just fine, Miss Nakatsukasa. In fact," He stood and set his hand over hers, "I can take you to him if you like."
…
"Chrona…"
The pinkette lay curled on the ground, her slender form shaking from the storm. Kid leaned over and shook her shoulder gently.
"Chrona, are you asleep?"
She mewled slightly under the shake of her shoulder. He stopped, figuring he must've been dreaming. He pulled his hand away and looked at her sleeping figure. Her pink hair hung over her face. He reached over and tucked the angel-soft strands of pink hair behind her ear.
"Mmm…" She nuzzled his touch in her sleep, causing him to smile lightly. Chrona was like a small kitten sometimes: a very timid, jumpy kitten.
"Kid?" Maka asked from her seat sleepily, "What are you doing?"
He came back up beside her, "It's nothing."
…...
"Masamune?" Tsubaki's eyes went wide before she ran into the arms of her brother, "Masamune!"
The young man held his sister tightly in his arms as if she were his anchor to the world. He looked over at the scarlet haired detective and mouthed a thank you.
Detective Albarn only nodded wearing a smile on his face. This was something that made him really happy: seeing people reunited with their loved ones.
"Tsubaki?" Liz asked, "Um, what's going on?"
"Well you see," Spirit explained, "That man there is Masamune Nakatsukasa. He's Tsubaki's older brother and he's been looking for her for quite some time."
"Oh…" Liz looked down, "I see."
"And can I ask what your name is?" Spirit asked kindly.
"Elizabeth Thompson," She kept her eyes on her shoes, "Or just Liz."
Spirit's eyes widened, "Elizabeth Thompson from Los Angeles California?"
"Um, yeah," She looked at him, "How did you know that?"
"Is Patricia with you?" He asked, setting his hand on her shoulder.
She looked away, "No sir…Patty died recently."
"Oh," He turned the touch of her shoulder to a comforting squeeze, "I'm sorry to hear that."
"But," She looked at him, "How do you know about me and my sister?"
He smiled and shook her hand, "Detective Albarn. I work on cases of missing children, and you're file has been on my desk almost nine years."
"Really?" her blue eyes widened, "People have been looking for me and Patty?"
He smiled, "Well at the very least I have. Do you have anywhere to stay until you turn eighteen?"
She shook her head, "I'll be eighteen in a few months though, and does it matter?"
"It does," He shook his head, "You could always do some work here. You'd probably end up staying with me, but you'll get some money to get your feet on the ground."
"Um…" Liz looked down, "When you say staying with you-"
"In my daughter's old room if you want to. I'm sure we could find other arrangements, but I promise that the other people that work here aren't as nice."
"Your place sounds nice, Detective Albarn."
"Please, Liz," He smiled, "Call me Spirit."
…
Marie stood in the kitchen chopping up carrots for the soup she was making. Her long blonde hair hung in a ponytail down her back as she concentrated. Her fingers were almost shaking in the anger she held towards herself. Why had she let him just take her over like that? Why hadn't she even tried to stop him? She could be so stupid at times!
"Marie?"
She turned suddenly the knife clattering to the floor in her startled movement.
"Oh, God, Soul," She clutched the fabric of her shirt over her heart, "Don't scare me like that."
"Sorry," He slowly made his way into the kitchen, "I didn't mean to startle you."
She managed a nervous laugh in an effort to diffuse her inner tension as she stooped to pick up the knife before washing it in the sink, "It's alright, Soul. Did you need something?"
The albino shook his head, "I just thought I heard you in here."
"Well here I am," She smiled and continued to chop the carrots, "I hope you're hungry, because the soup will be ready in just a little bit."
"Sounds great," He smiled and sat at the table.
Marie finished chopping the carrots and slid them into the pot, "So, are your wounds healing up alright?"
He nodded, "I can walk without my IV pole and get dressed without any help now."
"That's great news," She smiled and put the soup on the burner, "I'm so happy to hear that."
"Yeah," Soul managed a small smile, "Me too."
…
Maka continued scrubbing the floor of the doctor's laboratory in silence. Her stomach whimpered as she stood back up to clean another portion of the floor. Hopefully lunch would be ready soon.
She crossed the room and crouched down by a filing cabinet, scrubbing the dirt from the floor there. How could this floor be so dirty after only a few days?
She sighed and continued so scrub, crawling forward. In the process of her movements, her foot gave the filing cabinet a harsh thump, causing a box to come tumbling down. She bit her lip to keep herself from crying out at the new pain surging through her foot and crawled to the box to clean up the mess she had made.
It almost looks like school work, she thought as she put the papers back in the box as well as a few books. Her fingers stopped as they trailed over a photograph. She picked it up and studied it. There were about six people in the picture with what appeared to be a younger version of the crazed doctor. A woman with short black hair, glasses and blue eyes, a man with blonde hair and deeper blue eyes, a pair of headphones dangling from his neck, the Stein, without the screw or the stitches, another man dressed all in black, his face covered by a skull shaped mask, a woman with long black hair dyed red at the ends with deep red eyes, and lastly a man with scarlet hair and blue eyes. She blinked and looked closer; I think I've seen that man at the end before, but who is he?
She flipped the picture over, finding signatures on the back: Yumi Azusa, Justin Law, Franken Stein, Death, Sanguine Cross, and Spirit Albarn.
Albarn? That's Soul's and my last name, but why-
Her eyes widened as she looked at the signature, her hands now shaking. Is that our-?
"Maka?" Chrona stuck her head into the lab, "Miss Marie says lunch is ready."
The mousy haired girl stuffed the photograph into her pocket and put the box back on the shelf, "Okay, I'm coming!"
…
Slap.
"I know that you know where they are and you just aren't telling me!" Stein's voice echoed in the small room as he shouted, "You're like their leader after all!"
Kid still refused to look him in the eyes, "I already told you, I don't know."
The doctor—if you could call him that—tipped up the teenager's chin, forcing Kid to look him in the eyes, "You best tell me. You're only making it worse on yourself, Kid."
"I don't know," Kid hissed, glaring up at the madman, "I swear I don't."
Stein let out an animalistic growl before picking the raven haired boy up by his throat, "Tell me, or I'll kill that little girlfriend of yours."
Kid wasn't even sure which of the two girls he was talking about, but he couldn't let him hurt either of them, "If you even try, I'll kill you."
Stein released an insane laugh before delivering a sharp blow to the boy's stomach, "Kill me? If you believe that you're crazier than I am."
"Stein?" Marie pushed open the door, "Stein, what's going-?
She froze, her single brown eye widening at the sight. How could the man she loved, be some kind of monster?
A/N: She doesn't even know the half of it yet and she's already freaking out. Read and Review please. I'm sorry for the wait but it's started to get far more intense.
Love Always,
Tsukiko-Chama