Crimson Inferno
Rukia stared at the burning hotel where her friends where staying. She was speechless. She couldn't even gasp, her lungs had shut down and her heart was frozen in place, refusing to beat.
Grimmjow laughed wickedly and massaged Rukia's shoulder. "You look upset..."
Rukia felt the rage boiling over inside her but the intense fear that gnawed away at every fibre in her body was far stronger. She clenched a fist and glared at the evil gang members who swarmed around the building like starving hyena's over a carcass, waiting for the signal to feed.
"Come, let's go have some fun!" Grimmjow wrapped his bony hands around her arm and dragged her towards his legion of vile prisoners. He was pulling her arm with enough force to rip it out of the socket, so Rukia had no choice but to run to avoid a crippling injury.
She was led to the front entrance of the building and the gang stormed inside.
"Ichigo..." Rukia whispered.
"That your boy?" Grimmjow asked abruptly. Rukia was so shocked she couldn't answer. "I know all about you Rukia. I know the whole story behind the prison trade scandal and that kid, Ichigo Kurosaki. I may have been cooped up in a prison, but we still keep up on current events you know."
Rukia didn't respond. She just stared at the flickering tongues of fire that ate away at the walls and carpet, singing everything in sight and melting the plastic chairs in the reception.
"I've always wanted to be on your side, but you became best friends with the guards. Those lying scum deserved their deaths and those that survived all have it coming! Anyway, I followed your story. I noticed that people who befriended you managed to gain freedom..."
Rukia gasped.
"I'm gonna help you and in return you'll help me get out of here. That sounds fair doesn't it?" The raging inferno reflected in Grimmjow's eyes so that it appeared as if his very eyes were blazing. His cold blue eyes flickered and he waited impatiently for a response.
"Why...?" Rukia whispered. "Why did you kill my friends?"
Grimmjow smirked and draped an arm around her shoulders. "You didn't need them! Trusting a guard is like trusting a snake. They may not strike you right away, but they will bide their time and then it'll sink in the fangs when you least expect it! Not only am I getting revenge, but I'm saving you at the same time. Kill two birds with one stone, eh? Ha ha ha!"
Rukia tried to slink away but Grimmjow moved by himself. He stepped inside the burning building and cursed.
"Shit! Guys! Get the hell out of there!"
"What's wrong?" Rukia asked. "Are you sparing my friends?"
"No, I'm getting out of here before I get my head chopped off!" Grimmjow roared, a brief glimmer of fear in his eyes. He called out again to his comrades but the reply was not what he expected.
Two agonized screams echoed down from upstairs. A dark liquid leaked through the eroding floorboards and dripped down next to Grimmjow.
Charging footsteps pounded the stairs and suddenly the gang were in a full retreat. Rukia used the distraction as a chance to escape and she ran down the road and then dove into a hedge garden outside a small shop. She hid in the garden and watched as the gang fled down the very same road, straight past her.
Grimmjow took up the rear flank and hurled rubble at someone who was chasing them. In the darkness it was hard to make out, but it was soon clear. It was the leader of the guards, Kariya Jin. The grey-haired demon who could very well match Ulquiorra in a fight.
Rukia shrank further back in the bushes and watched on curiously.
Grimmjow bolted down the road, running full tilt. Kariya chased for a block or two and then stopped, jogging leisurely back towards the burning bead and breakfast.
Rukia ran around the back of the shop and kicked in a window panel before slinking inside and taking residence for the night. She decided to search for them in the morning, but for now she would rest.
KUROSAKI CLINIC
Isane hummed a tune to herself while she washed off the dried blood from her pale flesh. She cleaned out her wounds and then stepped out of the shower. She wrapped a towel around her torso but one of her wounds accidentally opened and stained the cream coloured towel. Isane frowned and took out the roll of bandages Isshin had given her.
Her three years in medical training came in handy and she patched herself up before putting on her old, dirty uniform.
She stepped out into the hall and almost screamed when she saw someone standing right outside the door. It was a small girl with blonde hair. She studied Isane inquisitively and then smiled.
"You're the woman who saved Oni-chan!"
Isane nodded and then lifted the towel. "I'm sorry, but I ruined this towel."
The girl stared at the large bloodstain and then sighed. "I can get that out!" She snatched the cloth from Isane and jogged down the stairs. Isane followed her into the laundry room and watched as the girl began scrubbing the stain off.
"Wow. You're clever. I didn't even know how to get a stain like that out!" Isane's praise made the girl giggle cheerfully.
"I had to do mummy's jobs after she died..." She was surprisingly cheery as she said it. "Mum wouldn't want a dirty house, so it's the least I can do!"
Isane felt compelled to comfort the child, but she didn't want to come off as too patronising to her. She refrained from doing so and merely watched her do her work. "So, where is Ichigo at such a late hour?"
"I don't know..." The girl sighed. "I think I upset him...He ran away yesterday."
"Yesterday? Why?"
"I found out about his 'job'. He killed people." The girl's eyes welled up with tears and she dropped the towel in the sink. "I didn't mean to drive him away! I was just scared!" She began to weep and Isane hugged the girl as she wept softly.
"It's not your fault. Ichigo is going through a tough time right now. He's just gone off to sort out his issues, and then he'll come right home!"
"You think so?" The little girl sniffed.
"I know so." Isane smiled warmly. "Ichigo is a good person. He wouldn't abandon his family and he definitely wouldn't hurt anyone without being pressured into it."
"Really?"
"I've been investigating everything about your brother. The only reason he hurt people was because he was so desperate to provide the money for you all. He felt bad for leaving you and so he did whatever he had to do to ensure you were able to live well. He despised the animal he had become but he went on, just for you." Isane sighed. "Beneath his cold exterior beats a good heart and I promise I will bring him back!"
"Thank you." The girl wiped away her tears and sniffed. "Your clothes are all torn..."
Isane looked down at her uniform. "Huh? Oh right. I forgot about that. Don't worry, I can just run home and get some new ones."
The girl nodded and looked at the clock. "Well, I should be going to bed now...Goodbye." She hugged Isane and looked up at her with pleading eyes. "Please bring Oni-chan back!"
"I promise." Isane ruffled the girl's hair and then walked out into the living room. She found Isshin sitting on the couch watching TV.
She sat down next to him and pretended to watch whatever was on, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't stray her mind away from Ichigo's disappearance. The recent events led her to believe he was abducted like Rukia, but if what that man had said was correct, then both of them were on a prison transport headed for the middle of nowhere. If that was the case, then she would have to storm the prison and try and get the information she needed, but to do that...
'Knock, knock.'
Isshin rose to his feet and walked over to the door. As soon as the door opened he was knocked down and a trio of police officers charged into the living room.
Isane screamed and ran into the kitchen where officers were bashing on the back door. She cried out in alarm and ran upstairs. She entered Ichigo's room and opened the window only to find the front yard swarming with police officers and patrol cars.
"Shit!" Isane punched the windowsill and noticed someone standing in the middle of the police blockade...A woman with long green hair.
"That woman..." Isane remembered her encounter with the odd woman before. She was one of Kaien's henchmen, sent out to kill her. "Damn her! For a lap dog she's pretty clever!" Isane backed away from the window and went out into the hall.
The shadows of the approaching officers caught her eye and she ducked back inside. She left the door open and ran into the cupboard. There was a mattress stored in there which took up most of the room. Isane squeezed underneath it and then waited.
The door was kicked open and the officers began yelling to each other to search other room and other commands. Judging from the noise they were upturning the bed in search of her. If they bothered to check the cupboard she would be in grave danger.
Their irritating racket was beginning to get on Isane's nerves. The raid was so loud she felt like screaming but she knew that would mean certain discovery and she couldn't afford that. She held her breath and waited.
The cupboard door was wrenched open and light spilled in on the mattress. The gap was only big enough for her to see a foot standing over her. She clenched her fists and held her breath for as long as possible, refusing to make even the softest of noises.
More shadows could be seen now and Isane could feel her heart hammering inside her chest so loud it was almost audible. She grasped her chest and felt tears roll down her cheeks. This was agonising. Waiting here, trapped and powerless. She never felt so small before.
The shadows converged and some departed. It looked like things were going well...But then one shadow returned. The mattress jerked suddenly and was lifted out.
Isane was momentarily blinded by the light and she squinted at the face that looked down on her. It was the other Kurosaki girl, Karin.
"The cops are looking for you. They've gathered in the kitchen talking to dad right now. If I were you I'd run as fast as you can and get the hell out of here!" She helped Isane out and looked out the window. "The coast is clear."
"Thanks, but how did you find me?" Isane asked as she approached the open window.
"I'm eleven years old. I'm still young enough to remember the best hide and seek spots." Karin smirked and then ducked out into the hall to check on the situation. "Don't come back until you've got Ichigo. I'm counting on you, alright!"
Isane nodded and then jumped out of the window, landing in the large bushes out the front.
TOMMORROW MORNING
NO MAN'S LAND
Rukia crawled out of the shop through the smashed window and slowly made her way back to the bed and breakfast which was still spewing black smoke into the sky even after the fire had been put out.
She stepped up to the melted front door and she walked in. The front room was unrecognisable. What was once a reception was now a dried up puddle of melted black liquid, the end result of the plastic chairs and the synthetic lino floor. The wooden frame of the walls had split apart and part of the upper floor had collapsed down into the centre of the room.
Rukia traversed over the singed scraps of timber and went up the stairs. The fire had made them structurally unstable and one charred corpse remained trapped with his legs plunged through the floor. Rukia cautiously walked past the blackened skeleton and continued on upstairs.
The top floor was even worse. The giant hole in the floor made it impossible to reach the adjoining rooms so Rukia had to give up on her search. She descended the stairs with light footsteps and a heavy heart.
She had lost her friends...She was alone again.
Rukia collapsed to her knees in the middle of the reception. Her knees sank through the ash coating on the ground but she ignored it, too absorbed in her sorrows. She cradled her head in her hands as she wept pitifully.
"You are upset." A strange, emotionless voice whispered uncertainly. "It must be a terrible thing..."
Rukia felt the tears stop. There was something very wrong about this visitor's presence. She turned around to face him but the suns rays shining from behind him veiled his face in shadow.
"Severe emotional outbursts are a sign of weakness." The blank voice explained. "But you are the one..."
Rukia tried to speak but her voice cracked and croaked indecipherably so she settled with a raspy, "Huh?"
"You are the one they want...You are Rukia Kuchiki." The man came closer but still the shadows hid his identity.
"Who...Who are you?" Rukia flinched and crawled away.
The man pursued silently and he paused momentarily to stare at a patch of wall which only seconds later crumbled and fell apart. Sunlight spilled through and illuminated the man's face which was deathly pale. Cruel green eyes stared vacantly at her and emerald lines were painted on his cheeks to look like tears. Wild black hair adorned his head and he wore a tattered white prison uniform.
"No...Its...Its..." Rukia almost choked on the name. "Ulquiorra!"
Something strange is going on...What is everyone's obsession with Rukia and why is Ulquiorra, the human killing machine suddenly so calm? Also, where is Ichigo and the guards? did they escape the fire or are their charred corpses trapped in the unreachable upper floor of the hotel? Find out in the next chapter!
Now, I want to know if there are people out there reading this story. Please write a review, even the shortest of comments can be a huge motivation.