Chapter 25
An Eye for an Eye

Haru felt as If she had flown across the room. As she sped across to her husband she felt a sort of weight leave her body. She threw herself onto the bed, sobbing with joy as she was pulled into Griffin's arms. His body was shaking, but Haru just held him tighter.

"Haru! Haru is that really you!?" Griffin's voice sounded weak and filled with surprise. He sat up, looking at Haru's face with a searching glance as if he wasn't sure it was actually her he was seeing.

"Griffin… I missed you so much… I missed you so much…" Haru could not stop holding onto him. It was as if it were all a dream that might disappear at any moment and she had to grasp it while it lasted.

"I thought I would never see you again… I'm so sorry… I tried to get to you… I couldn't get out…" Griffin explained breathlessly, stroking Haru's hair. It looked as if he were urgently fighting back tears. As the teardrops cleared from Haru's eyes, she could really see how emaciated Griffin had become.

"Look how big you've gotten…" He touched Haru's stomach tenderly and a shiver ran up her spine. She smiled, but put on a sympathetic look.

"Look at how skinny you've gotten… you poor thing… have they been treating you badly?" Haru asked with raw concern, still in disbelief that Griffin was actually with her again. She had been dreaming so powerfully of this moment for so long.

"Not badly… but there's this terrible drug… it makes you feel very weak… Janet told me it's so I wouldn't run away…" Griffin's voice was hoarse as he gestured to the hawk-like woman with the glasses who was standing stiffly in the corner. Haru looked back at her warily. Now that she had Griffin back with her, nobody was going to take him away again… she would fight for it…

"Don't worry, Ms. Haru… I'm not going to alert my master…" The woman called Janet strode a little to the bed. Not trusting anything, Haru still held on tightly to Griffin, who was still shaking with weakness.

"Who are you…?"

"I'm the woman the master of the house hired to take care of Griffin while they were keeping him here. When I was hired, I knew no details of why he was here… but I was told not to tell him anything… After all this time of getting to know him, I can see that the master is doing something highly immoral… but I'm not about to endanger my life to let him go…" Janet added the last bit without flinching, "I knew that you'd come for him soon enough… you're the only thing he talks about…" Janet smiled a little wryly. Haru's heart felt a little bit warm.

So he was thinking about me…

"Now… if you hang around for much longer, I won't be able to let this slide… but I will be in the other room for several minutes… I never heard you come in, understood? When I come out I expect you two to be good and gone…" Janet turned stiffly and headed towards the door. She turned back a little before she exited. "Good luck, Griffin… I wish we could have met under different circumstances…" She nodded in his direction and retreated into her room.

When she was gone, Haru knew she had to act fast. She carefully removed the needle from Griffin's arm and found a bandage to put over the small wound. Griffin hardly looked fit to walk, but there was no time. This was their chance and they were going to take it. Haru took one last moment to gaze at Griffin…

Besides the fact that he had become so thin… he was exactly how she remembered him… The way he smiled, how his hair fell… He was even wearing the same clothes. That faint smell of sweet liquor still hung about him… it was perfect. He hadn't been changed… he was still the Griffin she had remembered and wanted for so long… Her heart could barely contain the joy that was flooding through it.

"I… I can't believe you're sitting here with me…" He said huskily with a pale smile. "It's been so long… it's like you disappeared… and now you're back…" His voice showed how happy he felt and Haru fell into a another quick embrace.

"I love you…" She said, as she buried her face in his chest, wishing for this moment never to end…

"I love you, too…"

She didn't want to go back into the danger… she didn't want to go back home and find that Celia had died… She didn't want to risk losing Carter's treasure and losing Flora's trust… She just wanted to sit suspended in time, feeling this warmth after being cold for so long.

But time would not stop for them… time was officially running out. She looked up at Griffin, her heart still racing. It was like a dream to be looking into her husband's eyes again.

"Ready to go home?" She asked gently, grinning from ear to ear. Griffin laughed a little shakily.

"More than ready… more like 'desperate to'." Griffin smiled beneath his mustache. Haru helped him out of the bed, but it was true that the drug that Janet had been giving him did indeed make his very weak. At first he could barely stand up but Haru managed to get him going by supporting his weight mostly. They fought their way through the corridor, both of them suffering from their conditions. Haru's belly had never gotten in the way more than it was at that moment.

"We're nearly there… We just have to slip out… and we'll be home free… You've missed so much… there's so much I need to tell you about…" Haru was beside herself with excitement and happiness. It was as if part of herself that she had missed dearly had come back and filled her to the brim with uncontrollable happiness.

Nearly there… We're almost out… It's gonna be okay…

"I know… I'm so sorry I wasn't there to help you through everything…I'm so happy it wasn't born yet… All I could think of was you going through all that pain alone…" Griffin wheezed… the activity was strenuous on his highly weakened body. Haru laughed a little mostly to keep herself calm.

"It's gonna be fine… we're gonna get out of here…" Haru reached the corridor door and pushed it open softly and peered out to see if the room beyond was vacant. As she dared to glance cautiously through the crack in the door, a terrible surprise met her eyes. The sneering face of a watchmen looked back at her and the door was flung open. Haru screamed and clutched Griffin as the man pushed his way through and caught Haru around the shoulders. She fought with him and was wrenched away from Griffin, who without her support collapsed to the floor.

"Griffin!!" Haru shrieked… They were not going to take him away again!

"I found them, master!" The white haired man who held Haru called down to the foyer below.

"Excellent… Bring them here!" Mr. Worthington's oily voice called back up. Haru gritted her teeth and fought with all her might as she was dragged unceremoniously down the flight of stairs, but it was no use. Another watchmen went to apprehend Griffin and also brought him roughly down the stairs behind Haru.

Haru could see that Muffy and Skye were being held by two other burly watchmen and fighting with them as best as they could. With a jolt Haru also saw that her mother was there along with Phillip, who was receiving the same violent treatment as the rest of them.

"MOM!" Haru screamed at Yuko, tears in her eyes again.

"Haruka! Hold on, honey! Mommy will get you out of this!" Yuko screamed back and was harshly elbowed by her captur.

"You leave her ALONE!" Haru snarled. Mr. Worthington simpered a little bit as he fingered the dusty spectacles that were the All Seeing Eyes in his white, gloved hand. His hair was thickly greased back and his mustache was well oiled.

"Well, well, well… Not the joyous, tearful reunion you had planned…? Pity…" Worthington sneered, smiling victoriously.

"Eddy, just let us go… I'll give you all the money that you need, if that's what you want…" Yuko begged, looking harassed.

"EDDY!?" Haru shouted suddenly as something clicked in her mind. Mr. Worthington turned with thin lips and looked at Haru for a moment, then turned back, addressing Yuko.

"That won't be necessary, Yuko… Normally, that would have been good enough… but why settle for an appetizer… when you can have the whole restaurant?" Worthington said with a greedy flash.

"What are you talking about, dad!? This is insane…!" Phillip raged. Mr. Worthington smiled with great self-importance.

"Oh… I think you might be able to guess, Phil… After all, if it weren't for you and Haru I never would have been able to realize the full potential of this situation." He signaled to a man at the top of the stairs, "Got get some of that stuff… you know what I'm talking about…"

"Yes, Master Edward." The servant replied and went down the corridor that Haru had found Griffin in.

"IT IS YOU!" Haru screamed suddenly. There were angry tears pouring down her face as she screamed at Mr. Worthington. He turned a look of amusement on his sallow face.

"Oh, bravo… you finally guessed it…" He clapped his hands in a mocking way. Haru gritted her teeth and fought.

"You… bastard… You killed Willow!! You framed her and killed her! She was innocent! You killed an innocent person out of your greed…" Haru wailed at him, hating everything about the man. A look of fierceness flared up in his eyes and he spoke again.

"NOT JUST GREED! It was revenge… That unnatural little strumpet stole away my love from me... And defiled her in the worst possible way… she made beautiful Molly into something perverse and terrible… and I could not let a creature like that walk this good earth… Though, yes… the money did play a role." He chided.

"How could you say that!? You're no one to judge what's right and wrong about love… And you're a complete idiot on top of it all…. You didn't even know anything about the Fallen Goddess and you expect to get the boon? Fat chance, you pompous, self-righteous poor-excuse for a businessman."

Edward looked affronted at her words and strode up rhythmically to where Haru was being held by the burly watchmen.

"You'd better watch your tongue, little miss." He was dangerously close to her face as he spoke to her. Boiling up with rage, Haru spit in his face and he backed off, crying out.

"Master!" The watchmen cried and Edward wiped his face with disgust and turned back on Haru. He raised back his hand and gave her a resounding slap on the face. Haru shrunk back in pain and everyone in the room cried out.

"FATHER!" Phillip bellowed in disgust.

"DON'T YOU TOUCH HER!" Griffin breathed, sounding as if it was taking all his energy to shout at him. Edward didn't move but watched Haru wincing with a cruel smile.

"I believe you've just earned the position of honor for tonight's ritual, Haruka… I was going to use your pathetic husband… but I think I like this much better…" His words struck fear and confusion in Haru's heart. Edward strode back across the room and smiled with a little satisfaction, "Ahh! Here it is…" He saw the servant had come back with a small vial of clear liquid and a hypodermic needle. "Go ahead and administer it, George…" He waved carelessly and the servant began filling the needle up.

"How do you know so much about the ritual?" She asked slowly, starting to feel quite afraid of what was to lie next for all of them.

"That's easy! You conveniently handed it to me!" He laughed as if it was obvious. Haru scrutinized her memory and realized how Edward had picked up her papers for her that day they had crashed into one another… She had been carrying the paper that had all the information about the Goddess Ritual. "And not only that, you two were even kind enough to collect these blasted spectacle for me… and now there is nothing left but to complete the ritual and reap my boon…" He said darkly.

Haru heard a squeal and saw the servant called George pierce Muffy's arm with the needle and inject the clear colored liquid into her.

"Hey! What is that stuff!?" Skye yelped, seeing that he was next in line for injections.

"Don't worry… it only makes it so you won't struggle… we need tonight to go as smoothly as possible…" Edward informed him. Skye began to fight as hard as ever as the man began to prepare his needle. Muffy was starting to collapse into a woozy heap and Yuko was as white as a sheet. Griffin was trying his best to stay on his feet.

"Please, Eddy! Don't hurt my child! I never wanted any of this!" Yuko screamed all of a sudden as she watched Skye screaming as the two men worked together to get the drug injected into him. Haru was feeling sick and could barely think straight.

"Quiet, Fuyuko. The only reason you're here is because you tried to go against the plan… if just cooperate, you'll make it out alive and richer than ever before. If you would have just kept your promise and not tried to tell everything to Haru, we wouldn't have even had to kidnap you…" Edward snapped. The black-haired man turned to his son.

"Are we going to have to give you some too, or are you going to behave?" He asked Phillip.

"If you mean that I'm not going to fight back, you can take that idea and shove it. I've had it with you… I'm sorry I ever protected you… you deserve to be locked up…" Phillip snarled and Edward sighed listlessly.

"Better give him some too, George. I want to take him along… we need to keep a careful on him before deciding what to do." Edward explained. George was looking a little put off, but administered the drug to Phillip, who sat quietly with a stony look on his face as his arm was pierced.

"All right, take care of Haruka, then Yuko and we can be on our way. George looked at Haru with a frightened glance and stood quite still.

"B-but Master Edward… she's pregnant… This drug will hurt her baby…" George said, looking comfortable.

"We're going to kill her later, you idiot. What are you worried about?" Edward spat. Haru was immediately sent into a state of blind panic and her arms fell limp. Griffin looked extremely terrified, but he just could not struggle.

"Don't… please don't hurt her…" Griffin breathed heavily, trying to shout as loud as he could, "Don't hurt the child…"

George looked horrified and let his arms fall to his side.

"I can't harm a child, Master Edward… even one that hasn't been born yet… I'm sorry…" George said shamefully. Edward sighed in frustration and went over to George.

"I'll do it then, you fool!" He tried to wrench the items from George's hand, but George held fast. Haru felt the watchmen's grip on her loosen in surprise at what was happening and she seized her chance. She rocketed out of his arms and launched herself at Edward with full force. Edward looked up in surprise and Haru kicked him with all her might square in his stomach. He gasped for air and fell backward, clawing at his chest. It was obvious the wind had been knocked out of him and Haru gave him another kick in the stomach before she was pulled away by three watchmen. In her sate Haru saw that that man who had been holding Yuko was restraining her.

"RUN MOM! RUN!!" Haru yelled at the top of her lung. Her words seemed to breath life into Yuko's legs and she tore across the foyer and out through the double doors.

Several watchmen went to go after her but a voice stopped them.

"Let her go…" Edward wheezed as he got up from the floor. "Searching for her will only slow us down…"

"What if she gets the police…?"

"We can pay them off when we have all the money in the universe…." Edward said offhandedly, fixing his rumpled hair and clearing his throat. "Stand aside." He pushed a man out of the way and faced Haru.

"That is just not the way a young lady should behave, Miss Haruka… very unbecoming of you… I feel that you should be fittingly punished…" His every word was laced with mocking cruelty. "And what's more fitting than an eye-" He cut off in mid speech and forced his fist with a mighty force in Haru's stomach. "-FOR AN EYE!?"

A blinding pain overtook Haru and she could not think or move. The ripples of agony going through her body were so strong that she could do nothing but wait for it to pass. She could not scream… she could not breath…

"NOO!! NOOO!!" Griffin's voice was screaming from out of the haze.

"FATHER, NO!!"

"Goddess… help her…."

"Haru! Haru, oh no!"

Haru slumped to the ground, nauseous with pain. The men who had been holding her stepped away in horror and cleared away. Edward looked snide and very pleased with himself. Haru clutched her belly which was pulsating with rips of pain. Her entire body was shaking violently and she suddenly felt a warm rushing coming from in between her legs. She put a hand on the crotch of her jeans experimentally and lifted it back up only to see it was soaked in blood.

She took several shuddering breaths and began to cry.

"No… no… not my baby… no… NO!" She was suddenly shrieking in anguish and white hot pain as she lay on the floor.

"What are you twits staring at?" Edward voice was cold and uncaring as he stared around at the frozen watchmen, "Load them into the cars…we've got a Ritual to complete…"