Sacrifice

"Yusei, what did you see?"

"Shut up and stand still."

Yusei had just shoved Akiza into the bathroom and slammed the door behind them. No doubt in his mind that the sound of the door closing caught the attention of the monster he saw in the garage below.

He held onto Akiza's shoulders with a death grip, locking on her eyes. Fear was all he could see in them and his eyes reflected the same to her. Neither of them moved a muscle and kept their breaths shallow. It was chilling silence, with the only muffled sound coming from the water pipes behind the bathroom walls.

Akiza could feel herself growing more anxious and terrified with every passing second. Her hands begun to shake. She knew firsthand how dangerous and horrifying those monsters were. They had the body of a starving human, long spider-like arms and legs, a large mouth filled with bladed teeth and a bloodcurdling screech. Their goal: attack and destroy everything that moved.

Yusei noticed the young woman's shakiness. He very slowly moved his hands from her shoulders to her cheeks, lighting cupping her face in his palms. He only wanted to calm her, but he too was trembling inside.

Suddenly, bangs and rustling sounds came from the floor below. The sounds grew louder, closing in on the hallway where the two of them had fled. A deep growling sound began to echo through the floor. Akiza shut her eyes and imagined the world before these hideous monsters crawled out of the sewers of the Neo Domino City.

Then, the growling stopped. In fact, all sound seemed to disappear and time stood still. Yusei smoothly ran his thumbs over Akiza's cheeks, praying the monster had left the home. Akiza slowly began to open her eyes at the feeling of Yusei's comforting touch.

Until the sudden ear piercing screech of the monster jolted Yusei and Akiza into each other's arms. They did not move another inch, continuing to bit their lips and hold their breaths. Yusei could hear the monster ravage through the house, back down to the garage where it continued to destroy everything the guys had stored down there.

"Akiza." Yusei spoke extremely quietly. "I'm going to get the monster's attention and try to get it out of the house."

Akiza's eyes widened in disbelief and confusion. "Yusei, no."

"Just make sure to get out of here when the time is right."

"Yusei, please." Akiza pleaded out of desperation to save her lover's life. "You could be killed."

Yusei held on to her tight. He knew what he was doing. He knew the consequences. But in that moment, Akiza's life seemed a bit more important to him than his own. "I want to make sure you're safe."

Akiza shock her head. "No. I'm not leaving you in the hands of that beast."

"It's either one of us escapes alive or we both die."

"Why don't we just hide out here?"

Suddenly, the grumbling and screeches grow in volume. The monster was coming back upstairs, with more rage and destruction than before.

"Run out the back." Yusei commanded.

"Yusei. No!"

"Run. I love you."

Yusei let Akiza free and opened the bathroom door. He was face to face with the monster, making perfect eye contact. The beast let out a bloodcurdling scream and positioned to charge. Yusei saw his chance and darted through the rest of the hallway, making sure to keep the thing's attention. The monster had completely missed Akiza and quickly crawled to chase after Yusei. He ran as fast as he possible could, breaking through the front of the building into the streets.

Akiza stood in shock at the sight of her love giving himself up for her safety. She finally was able to follow Yusei's command and ran out the back of the house. Once outside, the young woman scanned the area for any sign of Yusei or the monster which chased him.

"Yusei." She whispered his name to herself.

After a moment of standing out in the open, Akiza quickly fled behind some trashcans and curled herself up into a ball. Tears were streaming down her face as she tried to hold back sobs.

There was no sign of Yusei.