Chapter Ten: The Reaper's Stage
Sora's eyes fluttered open to stare at the dark ceiling above her. Her sleepy body slumped forward and sat up in the black satin bed. Her onyx-grey eyes looked at her wrists. They were mangled and torn, but they looked as if they were healing. Healing? Sora inspected her wrists and sure enough, the cuts were beginning to close up. As she continued to inspect her wrists, she saw she was wearing a white robe. She started to panic? Where was the black nightgown she had been wearing? Did Beyond take it? Her tired eyes widened as she thought of what he could have done to her. She started to whimper before she heard a loud thud coming from across the room. She gasped as the dark figure spoke loudly.
"Relax Sora. I didn't do that to you. I simply replaced your clothing. I didn't want you to wear that dirty nightgown any longer." Beyond walked towards her slowly, his footsteps echoing in the empty room. He glanced over at the music box that seemed to play by itself. He picked it up in his cadaverous hands and sat on the bed besides Sora.
Sora stared at Beyond as he studied the music box carefully. His fingers lightly traced every detail as his blood red eyes took in every curve and color.
"Sora…Do you like this tune?" he looked up at her innocently.
"Uh…I guess. I didn't really notice it at first." she spoke shyly, his innocent face throwing her off.
"Well that's not important. Now how do you feel?" he placed the music box on the nightstand and picked up her wrists carefully.
Sora was frozen with the sudden kindness he was displaying. "I-I guess a little better." Her mind was telling her to keep her guard up. She had no idea what this lunatic was planning.
Beyond smirked and pulled her up quickly, making sure not to interfere with the healing in her wrists. He pressed her against his strong chest, his skeletal hands softly squeezing her. Sora gasped at the contact.
"I'm glad. Now be a good girl and stand still for me okay?' he winked at her, a playful smirk spread across his face. Sora's eyes flickered away. "Okay…he is planning something. Did he seriously just wink at me?" Sora's mind began to spin with ideas of what Beyond was planning. Beyond laughed loudly, snapping Sora out of her thoughts.
"Don't worry Sora! I'm not going to torture you or anything. You are simply going to help me with a few things." He placed the blindfold on her face, caressing her face with his cold hands. Sora stammered back, remembering what had happened the last time he touched her like that. The memories of the rough animalistic kiss, the monitors, L…
Beyond's eyes widened in shock. He hadn't meant to startle her. He quickly drew his hands back. Why did I just do that? His eyes flickered forward as he pulled Sora from her hands. He didn't place the handcuffs around her wrists, fearing that he may infect the wounds already present. He led her out of the room and through the multiple tunnels. Sora simply followed blindly.
After what seemed like an hour Beyond stopped abruptly. He walked behind Sora and removed the blindfold. Sora had absolutely no idea where she was, unlike the monitor room that had some glimmer of light, this place was completely dark. She could not even see her own hands in front of her. She felt Beyond walk away and with a sharp click, the room was flooded with light.
Sora's eyes seemed to burn with the sudden brightness of the room. Her feet collapsed under her as she covered her eyes with her hands. Beyond himself had placed dark tinted sunglasses on his eyes. He laughed at the sight before him, Sora on the floor being blinded by the light. He calmly walked over to her and cupped her face with his hands.
"Here. I don't want your pretty grey eyes going blind on me now." He said cheerfully as he placed matching glasses on her. He chuckled at the sight of the broken girl in front of him. Sora had simply stood still as he traced her face with his hands. She had every instinct to pull away, but she knew if she did that she would probably have more scars on her. When he pulled away, she reached forward and latched onto his shoulders. His body jerked at the contact and Sora froze. What the hell did I do that for? She immediately pulled away but Beyond grabbed her.
"Sora…? What's wrong? Are you scared?" he chuckled slightly, leaning his face closer to hers and looked into her eyes with his crimson orbs.
Sora tried to pull away, but he held her closer to his pale frame. His sadistic smile was inches away from her horrified face. His midnight black bangs were now slightly brushing against her fear infested eyes. His cold breath lingered on her face, causing her to shiver with fear. He chuckled softly and placed his hand gently on her face. She gazed up into his rose red eyes that were filled with love and a hint of lust. She closed her eyes sharply to avoid his gaze. His loving looks were really starting to freak her out.
"Shh….It's okay. I wont hurt you." He whispered quietly, his voice laced with sarcasm and false care. He held her close, but she managed to step back and look at his face.
"W-where are we? Where did you bring me?" she still latched onto the bloodthirsty man, but she managed to step back.
"Don't worry Sora. I have a surprise for you, but you have to follow my instructions carefully." He let her go as she stumbled back and collapsed on the floor by his feet. She looked up at the man, a prominent smirk played across his face, his piercing red eyes looking at her playfully. He crouched in front of her and captured her gaze.
"Well the surprise is that you precious little Lawlipop is on his way here to rescue you!" he chirped with false happiness. Sora's eyes shot up filled with tears of joy. She started to laugh quietly, her body shaking with excitement,
"He's….L….Is coming here? To save me? To take me back?" she started to cry, tears of complete joy trickling down her face.
"Yeah he sure is! Don't get too excited though. I'm not giving you up that easily." He chuckled and caught the tears from her face on his index finger. "Now in approximately 18.9 hours, Lawlipop will probably arrive with a bunch of SWAT team members, multiple weapons, and his little successors. I already noticed that little choco-Mello has placed a large quantity of remote-triggered explosives around this place. I have already rewired all of them so they switch off to the command of my remote and not his." He flicked out a small black remote from his pocket and dangled it between his index finger and thumb.
"I have also rigged all of the possible entrance areas with multiple sensors that will go off with the slightest hint of movement." He tossed a piece of broken glass to what seemed to look like a large metal door. The glass clinked on the floor and activated the sensor. Suddenly, there was a sharp metallic sound and the door collapsed down, completely crushing the glass into powder. Sora screamed at the sound and dropped her gaze away from Beyond.
"Since I am feeling rather generous, I will let you see your precious Lawlipop and his little sidekicks," He stood up sloppily and grabbed Sora's hand. "but you have to play along in this little charade of mine okay?" he dimmed out the light just enough so that the room had a slight glimmer of light. He led her up a rusty set of stairs that looked as if they would give out any second. Sora quickly followed, not wanting Beyond to pull too hard on her hand. Beyond stopped abruptly and Sora stumbled into him. He turned around slowly, a sick smile taking over his face.
"Now put these on." He tossed her the blindfold casually. She caught it limply in her small hands and stared at Beyond, her eyes were listless and dull. Beyond frowned and flicked out his knife. "Don't test my patience Sora." She quickly put on the blindfold. He grabbed her hand and pressed her up against a wall, his hands holding her in place. She winced as her head hit the wall roughly. She heard Beyond's hands fumble around with some chains and restraints. She started to whimper, not wanting the handcuffs on her wrists.
Beyond chuckled quietly as he pushed her hair out of the way so her pale neck was exposed. He traced his hand along the scar on her neck. That scar was also healing. Beyond frowned at tied a restraint around her neck. Sora flinched as the cold metal hugged her neck. Beyond pulled the chain softly, but enough to make Sora to let out a small cough. He took the end of the chain link and clicked it onto a bar next to her head. He then held up her wrists softly and traced along the wounds. He stared oddly at the wound and let out a troubled sigh.
"Hmmm…I don't want to harm the wounds anymore…Oh! I know!" he happily dropped her wrists and he pulled out his knife. He pressed the knife gently on Sora's thigh, cutting a long piece of the robe. Sora gasped as her legs made contact with the cold air around her. She twitched her leg forward into the knife. She screamed as the knife cut across her thigh. Beyond simply stood up and cupped her face.
"Sora," he sighed. "stop trying to hurt yourself please. I'm pretty sure that's my job" his voice was monotone as he picked up her wrists again. He tied the white fabric around the wounds tightly and fastened the fabric to the chain in his hand. Beyond took the chain and clicked it onto a bar in front of Sora. He then bound her feet into a pair of handcuffs, securing them tightly.
"Hmm…Beautiful." He stood back and stared at the chained up Sora, his sadistic side taking the best of him. He walked up to her and cupped her face. His cold breath mixed with her own warm breath filled with fear. "Sora you have no idea how beautiful you look right now. It's driving me crazy." He leaned forward and placed his cold thin lips on her own. Sora froze with fear as her eyes widened behind the blindfold. Beyond let out an animalistic grunt as he deepened the harsh kiss. His hands went from her face down to her hips as he pulled her closer. Sora gasped when he pulled her. Beyond took this advantage and bit her lip harshly, drawing her blood. Beyond exhaled huskily as his mouth was filled with her blood. He broke the kiss sharply and licked at her lip, collecting all traced of her blood. He then flicked out his tongue and lapped up the blood from his stained lips.
"Oh Sora…look what you made me do. You drive me crazy." He whispered seductively into her ear. His ghostly breath danced on her neck, making her whole body shiver. He noticed the tears soaking through her blindfold and he brought his hands up to her forehead. He pulled off the blindfold to meet her moist eyes. His eyes stared blankly at her face and he wiped away her tears with the sleeve of his black shirt. He pulled her forward so she could see his creation.
"Look Sora. You'll have a full view of everything and everyone when your precious Lawlipop arrives." He leaned his back against the back of the balcony and stared at her.
Sora gasped at the sight that unfolded before her. She was almost hanging off the rusty balcony overlooking every entrance, wall, and stairway. She saw the eerie lights flickering above her, dimly illuminating the warehouse. They gave the place a dangerous aura unlike the blinding light bulbs they were when she saw them. The decaying walls were stained with blood, and a loud exhaust fan caused a dim amount of light to flicker through as the fan spun continuously. Her eyes met Beyond's red orbs sharply as he stood behind her and wrapped a pale arm around her torso. He simply chuckled and played with a strand of her hair. His breath lingered on the white cloth on her shoulder for a moment, causing Sora to shiver slightly. He let out a sharp exhale as he let her go and he began to walk away, slouched forward in his characteristic fashion. Sora's eyes opened wide and she made an attempt to follow him, only to be stopped by the multiple chains and binds he placed on her. Beyond stopped walking at the clinks of the chains and began to laugh quietly. His ghostly frame shook as a deep chuckle escaped his lips. Sora strained against the restraints, but to no avail.
"Beyond! Do not even think about leaving me here!" her voice shook at her weak attempt to sound somewhat strong. Beyond's silent laugh erupted into a sick menacing cackle that echoed through the dimmed room.
"Sora! Did you actually think I was going to chain you up oh-so-beautifully and then let you go?" he slumped forward and grabbed his sides as if he would explode due to laughter. "I told you that you're going to wait here for little Lawlipop to arrive. I'm using you as my little piece of bait." He glided down the creaking staircase without making a sound, almost as if he were a ghost. In a matter of seconds he was in the middle of the room, staring up at Sora, a sadistic smile spread wildly across his pale face. Sora screamed and shook her body wildly, trying to escape the chains and get out of the haunting room. Beyond simply turned his back on her, placed something on the floor, and shut the heavy metal door behind him, leaving Sora in a pitch black room.
Sora kept screaming and pulling away from the chains until her throat grew raw and her body was tired and moist with sweat. She heard a small but extremely recognizable sound coming from the small object that Beyond had placed delicately on the floor.
The sound was faint, but it echoed softly in the lightless room. Sora stayed still and listened intently to the sound.
It was Beyond's music box.