All SM characters belong to Naoko Takeuchi, but the OC's and the story belongs to me. Do not steal!

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20

They took her to the basement and into a darkened room. The white haired man keeping an easy yet sure hold in her arm all the while as he led the way, never letting go of her as he moved to hit the switch and turn on the lights. Only when he turned back around did he let go of her arm, allowing her to take a look around the room she was now in.

There were three chairs, one of which was screwed to the floor, with handcuffs and restrainers attached to it. Right in front of it, the remaining chairs were placed together, as all three surrounded the plain, simple white table. A mirror covered an entire wall, in what she could only guess was in fact a one way window.

It wasn't just a simple room. It was an interrogatory room. And she had noticed the many doors on the hallway; one of them could easily be an observation room that led to the other side of that wide mirror.

She turned around, facing the men. The blonde seemed far more truthful, while the tanned, white haired one was being more skeptical and rude.

Quite openly, too.

But she didn't give him the satisfaction of being intimidated. Not by him, and certainly not by the room they had taken her to; she had an As under her sleeve and the cards were, as of now and for the time being, in her favor. She knew it, and he certainly knew it as well. So instead, she simply stood there, opening her coat and taking a photograph out of the inner pocket, handing it to the blonde one.

He took it, inspecting it, and she closed her eyes, already having memorized that picture long ago.

It was of a teenage girl. Her smile was soft and gentle as she stood in her high school uniform, holding a first place award from a photography contest. The date at the bottom of the picture read exactly two years, four months and two weeks ago.

"That's my sister," she said, opening her eyes again, while fighting the sudden knot in her throat. "I don't care what you do to the others. I just want her safe."

"If this is a trap, you'll have a really nice suntanned by tomorrow morning," the white haired man warned, as he pointed at the last wall, right behind her; a rather large ventilation window was covered by thick, black curtains.

She nodded, acknowledging both the warning and the window, not letting the threat or the unpleasant idea of what may happen to her affect her. Instead, she simply moved to take a seat by the chair with the handcuffs, guessing that was the one she was probably supposed to take.

"It's not," she said, looking up at them. "Just… bring her back…" she said, now looking into the blonde's dark green eyes, unable to keep the begging tone off her voice. "Please. I just want my sister back."

.-.

She was laying on her side, curled up over the dirty floor. Her hands were cuffed at her back, and she could barely feel her own fingers.

She couldn't stop shaking. Her body just kept on shaking, jolting every now and then, and that part of her mind that was still lucid vaguely wondered if it was because of the cold, or because of the lost of blood and the shock and pain still running through her entire being.

Her mind was a blur, and it was hard to tell how long she had been there, laying on the floor like that. Has it been hours? Minutes? She didn't know…

Did it really matter?

She could barely move. Even the simple, mechanical movements required to breathe hurt, and she shut her eyes closed, desperately trying to fight the fog in her mind, willing herself to somehow find the strength to fight back, to release herself and get out of there. She knew she needed to get out of there; she needed to find Michiru and…

Michiru. Was she alright?

Was she even alive?

She clenched her jaw, throwing that thought off to the back of her mind, fighting with herself. This was just not the time to be falling victim of doubt, sorrow and regret. She needed to focus and find a way out. She needed to…

A gentle touch upon her cheek made her eyes fly opened, and she looked up only to find soft, lime green eyes looking down on her. A deep, incredible sadness was swimming in those light orbs, and the smallest, saddest of smiles was playing on the girl's lips, as she knelt right next to her.

"Drink this," she softly said, gently cradling her head and offering a glass with some brown liquid on it.

The blonde looked at the glass, frowning, and then up at the girl again.

Her long, silvery white hair was dirty, and the low ponytail keeping it in place was a mess. The black, embroidered babydoll she was wearing only accentuated her ashen, frail frame, and left absolutely nothing to the imagination. One of the straps was missing, torn, and there were traces of dried blood, scratches, and bite marks all over her arms, wrists, legs and thighs.

She looked fragile, tired. And underweighted.

And judging by those wounds, the blonde guess the girl was probably not feeding herself well.

"Drink it," she said again; her voice soft and gentle, though a bit shaky. "It'll help with the dizzy feeling and the headache after that shot they gave you."

For inexplicable reasons, she trusted the girl, accepting the offered drink. Green eyes never leaving the girl's soft features as she eased the glass to her lips for her to drink. A soft, apologetic smile coming to the girl's lips when the blonde coughed.

"I know, it doesn't taste any good," she trailed off, wincing lightly, as she started to gently remove the torn tank top off her, being specially careful with her wounds.

"What are you doing?" the blonde asked, frowning.

"I'm cleaning your wounds," was the easy answer, just as she felt a cold, wonderfully wet cloth being gently pressed against one of the burning lacerations on her back.

Her frowned deepened at that, as a relieved, throaty moan escaped her at the welcoming coldness. "Why?"

The girl stopped with her task, staring down into green eyes. That soft, sad smile of hers coming back to her lips. "Because no one should be treated like this," she answered, in barely a whisper.

She stopped her questioning after that, allowing the girl to continue with her task. Her eyes drifting closed, mentally thanking the girl and welcoming the relief the wet cloth offered to her burning wounds. But the girl suddenly stopped all movements when the door opened up suddenly and Rubeus strode into the room. Gasping out in fear and surprise, the girl jumped away from the blonde, backing off and curling up against the wall. Light lime green eyes wide opened in nothing but raw, naked fear as the redheaded man walked up to her.

Narrowing his red eye, he glared down at the girl for a moment, before he raised his hand and slapped her hard across the face. Barely giving the girl the time to even gasp, he grabbed her by the hair, dragging her all the way back to where the blonde was still laying on the floor. Forcing the girl to her knees, he made her look at her.

"Do you wanna end up like her?" he barked, twisting the girl's silvery hair in his fist in a rather painful way, making her whimper in pain as tears started running down her cheeks. And he twisted her hair even more, growling. "Do you?" he yelled.

"No!" she finally answered, crying brokenly.

"No, what?" he asked, demanding, sneaking a hand to her neck, squeezing it.

"No, master," she chocked, desperately trying to blink her tears away.

He smiled, obviously satisfied with her answer, before jerking her off the floor and then throwing her against the wall. His smile getting wider when the heavy sound of her hitting the wall, followed by her whimpering filled the room.

And the blonde growled at the scene. She could feel whatever the girl had given her to drink starting to take effect. The dizziness and headache slowly dissipating, she wished she could free herself from the chains and stop that damned beast, as she saw, helpless, how he grabbed the girl by her hair again and forced her to stand up.

"Now get out of here!" he barked at her. "Go to your room and wait for me there."

"Yes, master," she whispered, bowing to him before turning around, running out of the room.

"Slaves!" he exclaimed after the girl left, turning back around and rolling his eye as he looked down on the blonde. "Always gotta keep'em in line…"

"You're disgusting," she grunted out. "She's just a girl."

"She's one of us!" he roared, stepping on her, making his silver clad boot come in contact with the wounded, already extremely sensitive skin of her back. "And she makes a nice laid," he added, as if on second thought, laughing as she twisted and turned beneath his boot.

Barely able to even notice, she saw a second man walking into the room, carrying a set of silver chains in his hands. He stopped right next to Rubeus, handing him the chains and then bending down and over her, undoing her handcuffs, as Rubeus silver boot made sure to keep her already battered form in place.

She chocked out a whimper, a jolt shaking her entire body as the man placed the silver chains on her wrists, turning them a few times around. The smell of burned flesh soon filled the room as she desperately tried not to scream out in pure, raw pain.

Her mouth opened up but no sound came out as her eyes filled with anguish tears and her body jolted again. She was exhausted, sore and hurt beyond belief, and she had already lost too much blood. She honestly didn't know how much longer she would be able to resist…

"Wiseman wants your little bitch to himself," Rubeus said to her, removing his foot off her back and kneeling down on the floor, right next to her, forcing her to look up at him by her hair. "But I'm gonna have a little taste first, and I'm gonna enjoy making you watch."

.-.

Sitting in the middle of the king sized bed, hugging her legs and hiding her face in between her knees, she desperately tried to block out the screams she could hear coming from the main room downstairs. She didn't even want to imagine what Rubeus was doing to that Shapeshifter. Or what he was planning on doing to that human girl.

And what about herself? He was always particularly violent and vicious after feeding…

Her stomach grunted at the thought of food, but she shook her head, ignoring it. She refused to eat. To kill another human just to feed herself… it was all so disgusting. And she just couldn't do it, no matter how hungry she was.

And as she stood up from the bed, wiping her tears off her face and walking up to the window with shaky legs, she wondered, not for the first time, what would happen if she didn't close the curtains this time. It would be so easy, too; just let the sunlight in, putting an end to this nightmare…

The door to her room opened up, making her jump up and turn around, surprised. A confused, curious frown coming to her features as she eyed the blonde man standing at her doorway; dark green eyes studying her, eying her up and down. But as the distinctive, unmistakable sound of a fierce roar, followed by a wild howl reached her ears, her lime green eyes went wide opened in fear, as she easily guessed who, or rather what the blonde man was.

He stepped fully into the room, followed by another blonde man, this one with short hair and blue eyes. And as they both walked up to her, she backed away against the wall, whimpering and trembling.

"Please, don't hurt me!" she begged, shutting her eyes closed and placing both her hands in front of her in a vain, weak attempt to protect herself from them.

The first man, the one with the long, wavy blonde hair tied in a low, loose ponytail knelt down in front of her, placing a hand over her shaking ones. A surprisingly soft smile coming to his handsome face as he showed her a picture of herself.

Her lime green eyes went wide opened then, as shock, confusion and fear took over her. She blinked, gasping and frowning up to him. "W-where… where did you get this?" she asked, in a weak, trembling voice.

"Your sister."

She sobbed. Her eyes filling up with tears as she took the wrinkled photograph, holding it close to her chest.

But the blonde man smiled again. "She led us to our friends," he said, gently taking her hands in his. "So now we're leading you to her."

She whimpered again, shaking her head. "I-I can't," she stuttered, crying desperately. "Rubeus... he-he's…"

"He's dead," the second man said, now walking up to them and standing right next to the first one. "We need to get out of here. Now," he urged, looking directly at her for the first time, and frowning. "You may wanna put some clothes on."

She lowered her eyes at that, blushing furiously. "This is all I have…" she whispered, covering herself with her arms.

The men exchanged glances, only making her feel even more dirty and ashamed, before the long haired one stood up, taking his own black shirt off. Now standing in his jeans and black undershirt, he extended the shirt he had just taken off to her.

"Put this on," he instructed. "We need to get you out of here before dawn breaks."

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Electra Red: you already know how: another cute kittie, a handsome doggie and a pretty birdie come to the rescue! (along with a few more fellas from the animal kingdom gang) I'm just explaining why she was so beaten up in the prologue *wink*

Neptune's Lover: oh she did suffer before. I'm only being a bit more...um... descriptive about it. Or mean... depends on how you look at it? Poor kittie!