Chapter Fourteen
Empathy's Poison
He hissed savagely as he flew over her. That little wretch was heading straight to the canyons, and the wind and rain were making it difficult for him to maneuver between the trees. He shrieked furiously at her, and she seemed to run harder. He watched her as she reached the canyon, and she seemed to hesitate just for a second.
But that second was all he needed, and he swooped down and seized her by her arm, hissing and snarling savagely. She knew that he was enraged, and she squirmed in hopes that he would drop her. Death was preferable to what he was probably going to do to her.
Unfortunately, his grip was too tight and strong, and he dragged her into a cave in the canyon. The ground sloped down a bit, but it was p pretty high, so as long as the dam upstream held, they were in no danger of flooding.
"You idiot, didn't you learn the first time?! Now look what you've made me do; you know damn well that I hate the rain! My wings are going to get mats in them now, if they don't freeze first! Move! Deeper inside, unless you want the flesh-eating bugs on the floor to eat you! As far as I'm concerned, you deserve it! Get going!" he shoved her forward, and now she could hear them. They sounded like beetles, or some sort of grub. She shuddered in revulsion and terror.
Suddenly his hands were on her shoulders, and his lips at her ear. She froze in fear.
"If you don't do as I say, I will hold you down as they crawl over you and nibble their way into your flesh," he moved to her other ear. "They'll chew little tunnels through you, in and out of your body. They'll go in through your ears and out through your eyes, and when you try to scream, they come crawling out of your mouth." He gave a throaty chuckle, pleased that his words were having an effect on her. She offered him no resistance as he gripped her arm and dragged her deeper inside. Once there he left her standing in the middle of the chamber while he perched on a nearby rock. This chamber was devoid of any life other than them, but he didn't feel like telling her that.
Something was bothering him, bothering him deeply. It was something that his father had said a while ago. His words still echoed in his mind, and he put a hand to his head. Hinata wasn't going anywhere, mostly because the cave was pitch-black, and she couldn't see, but he could. He watched her tremble in the middle of the floor, swaying on her feet in exhaustion, but too afraid to sit.
…Reminds me of when you were little…
…You would like her if you just gave her a chance…
…She doesn't trust you, and that's your fault…
…Reminds me of you…
…She's not one of them…
…You saw the way her father treated her…
…Reminds me of you when you were little…
…A trip to the past…
…Not one of them…
…Reminds me of you…
He snarled savagely. He would put an end to this once and for all. He began to whisper the words to a spell that he thought that he would never use, and the magic bound him to her temporarily, and he began to see.
There was a strange woman on the bed. He felt pain and anguish as he watched the woman's chest stop moving. No, not his anguish, hers, and he realized he was watching what she already saw. Her mother.
Gaara growled as the memories flickered forward.
There was a man standing there, and the pain in his/her ribs told them that the cane had been used. They knew that it wasn't the first time, and it wouldn't be the last.
"Ungrateful brat! I've taken care of you all this time, and this is how you repay me?! By failure?! You can't even do this right?!" Hiashi lashed out with the cane again and Gaara saw what she had been unable to do. In the corner was an ornate fan. Her father had expected her to dance as gracefully as an expert geisha or acrobat, and she was only six. The sensation in the chest told him that some of her ribs were broken. He grimaced; he knew what that felt like all too well.
A boy with long hair and gray eyes looked at her in disdain. He then punched her in her gut as he walked past. The eight-year-old fell to the ground. Her father walked by her without a second glance.
Yes, now he could tell the difference between them to some extent. He vowed to never use the empathy spell again. He lived through her childhood, and saw what she saw and felt what she felt. He hissed again. His father had been right.
He watched through her eyes as her father came in carrying a strange demon. He recognized it as Deidara. Hm, he had killed him quite a while ago. He felt her pity for the demon, but also her fear of reprisal from his enemies. She had been the only one to realize that the demon had enemies, and that they would follow him here. She wanted to let him heal and then send him on his way, so that the village would be left in peace. Her father mocked her, and called her weak and useless. He felt her pain and anguish at his assessment.
He saw the night that he had come into her life. He saw the bodies that she stumbled across, and the way that their staring, vacant eyes haunted her still.
He saw himself through her eyes, and the hope that was quickly dashed. She had hoped so fervently that life would be different with him verses her father and clan. He felt her pain as he grasped her by the throat, her fear and misery during the journey to the palace, and her misery in her little cell of a room.
He felt her spiritual anguish from his insults and insinuations that she wasn't good enough and never would be. He felt the pain from every injury that he inflicted on her, and he hissed in rage.
He felt the pain and anguish from when he had bitten her and her loss and sorrow from it. He roared when she screamed in pain in the memory.
He was looking up in his eyes as he pinned her down.
"You will amuse me; then I will kill you. But first, I will drain you dry." He felt her sense of pain and loss, and how bereft she felt when she wept from it. As he delved deeper he encountered the same things. She felt violated, betrayed, and was terrified of him. His name was synonymous to hell, and he was to be avoided at all costs. Just now, she was absolutely terrified because of the deep growls and hisses he was making.
All she had ever wanted was a place to belong, a place where she could feel safe. All she wanted was some control over her life, and someone who could accept her for who she was. But she had given up, that was why she kept running away. She was hoping to get him mad enough that he would just break her neck. She knew after the first time that she would never get away, but she had hoped to…but now her hope was dead, and it awakened something within him.
He too, knew what it was like to have no hope. He knew the feeling of broken bones as well. His father had been right after all. They really were the same, and she really could understand him. So why couldn't he accept that?
A dull roar stopped his musings. The spell was still affecting him, so he didn't react like he should have, but, as the roar grew louder and water began to fill the cave, he realized what had happened. The dam had broken upstream, and he was still suffering from empathy's poison.