|Brownrick Castle|
There was a special place in hell reserved for Bridget, that was one thought that passed the revue quite often in Junko's mind. Not that there was a lot to do except thinking when someone got locked in a coffin.
'Just put the insect in there, then we won't have to worry about it.' The vampire woman had said, before turning away to check on Karin. She kicked the inside of the coffin again, just for good measure. If it was possible she would kick her way out of the damn thing. No wonder Ren didn't like sleeping in them, the fit was pretty snug.
She didn't know how long she had been inside. If Glark hadn't thought about making some air holes she would probably have suffocated to death. Now she had merely drifted into an uneasy sleep, standing up in the coffin, before waking up again sweaty and thirsty. 'Damn it!' she tried to splutter around the gag, kicking the lid of the coffin again.
She nearly dropped out of the coffin with the motion when someone undid the lid without a warning. Even so Karin still had to stop her from actually falling on the ground.
'Junko, are you all right?' the girl asked, untying the gag in Junko's mouth as soon as she could.
Junko was too exhausted to be snide. Instead she readily accepted the bottle of water Yuriya was holding out, bringing it to her mouth. 'Those idiots… not everybody can be locked in a coffin like that.' She muttered, wiping her mouth. She really was sweaty… eewww…
'I brought you some wet wipes.' Yuriya said, offering a box of them. 'Along with that special lunch you were screaming about to my uncle.'
With a glare Junko accepted, starting to wipe herself a bit. It helped, but nowhere near how a bath or shower could have fixed this. 'Karin.' She started, nearly sending the girl in a stupor. Seemed like being in this place for only a day was enough to give her the chills as well. 'How are you? Did they hurt you?'
Karin shook her head, hands on her knees. Sitting on the ground she accepted a sandwich from Yuriya, hands trembling. Crying seemed to be the nearest action, instead of the usual ready smile she always had ready. Yuriya sat down as well, clearly not happy about Junko being unbound.
'Of course they wouldn't hurt her. She's their precious medicine. And if Karin co-operates then they'll just let her go back home.' The last sentence betrayed that Yuriya didn't entirely believe what Bridget claimed. 'And it's a pain for me to have to guard Karin all day.'
'Don't you have to guard me as well?' Junko asked, picking some bits of the special vegetarian sandwich she'd gotten.
Yuriya's gaze this time was less open. 'They don't care about that. Even if you escape, there is nobody who will believe your story about vampires in the old castle in the forest. The only reason you're useful here is so that they have some leverage over Karin. As long as they have her, nobody can do anything.'
Yuriya's eyes flashed sharply from underneath her glasses. 'Are you to abandon her now? Now that you know you can just walk free?'
Junko took her time, drinking some water. Calm. Collected. She couldn't let anyone push her into things. Everything she could take control over, she would.
'Of course I'm not going. Somebody here needs to stand up for Karin. As her new big sister, I can't allow anybody to harm her.'
'Junko!' Karin cried out, rushing into the woman's arms. Junko stroked the sobbing girl's hair, uttering soothing words as she started to sob.
'Those are brave words, but it's useless.' Glark said, standing in the doorway. That must have meant the sun had gone down. 'I already made a call ta Henry, making clear that it's useless to come after us. He's a smart man, he knows it's better to protect the children he still has than ta risk everything for one daughter who was doomed anyway.'
He raised himself, stepping towards the crying Karin. Yuriya had gone quiet the moment the man entered the room, once again becoming a silent witness for his sake. Glark hardly seemed to notice.
'Come on then, Bridget wants to talk with ta Pushuke.'
Slap.
Glark's head twisted to the side with the impact of the slap. Stupefied he looked down at Junko, who tried her very best not to soothe her sore hand. It felt like she had just slapped a statue. She forced herself to look into his eyes.
'Karin. That's her name, and that is how you will address her.' She stated, calm on the outside. On the inside it felt as if her heart were pounding in her ears, sending hot shivers down her spine. Karin had gone completely stiff, her fingers digging into Junko's thighs.
'Oh?' Glark said, raising himself to his full length. 'And what makes ya think that you can order me around?' he asked, grabbing Junko by the hair. She hissed as he dragged her up like that, Karin letting go of Junko instead of hanging on and causing her more pain. 'Well, little miss human?'
'You're just a lackey… shorty.' Junko lashed out. She'd always known her quick tongue would one day be the end of her. The way the vampire looked at her, blinking as if he couldn't comprehend her words, made her feel as if she had somehow mumbled. 'Did I stutter?' she continued. She knew she wasn't being smart, but she had been frightened enough times in her life. After the incident with Tanaka, she had made a silent vow to herself she would never be so meek again.
'You're just a monkey to Bridget. No matter what she gives you, it'll always be the scraps that she doesn't-'
She was cut off when Glark slammed her against the wall. Junko thought she heard something crack, and hoped it wasn't what she thought it was. Her flimsy plan would be over with if that had been broken.
'Don't overestimate yourself, ya puny thing. When it comes down to it, you are nothing more than food ta us.' His hand snuck towards her throat, to peel away the sweater hiding her skin away. 'Maybe I should remind you of that.'
Junko tried to kick him between the legs, but the next slam against the wall was enough to get her groggy. His cool fingers peeled away the black sweater, and before she knew it he had his free hand squeezing her mouth.
'Who bit ya? Which one here bit ya this much?' he demanded of her, his eyes roving over the puncture marks in her neck.
She breathed heavily, trying to reach her toes on the ground. No matter if the man was short, he lifted her high enough by the hair to still leave her helpless.
'Not all vampires think of me as just food. And I'm sure he'll be here soon to save me and his sister.'
'Wanna bet about that?' Glark asked her, lowering her to the ground. A red mark was visible on his right cheek. Junko hoped it would sting for a long time.
'I don't take bets when it's obvious I'm going to win.' She replied, dusting herself off theatrically.
'Really?' Glark asked, a smirk spreading on his face. It was obvious he was dead bored and would take anything that offered a small reprise of that emotion. 'Ya can choose, whatever ya want.'
'Fine. They'll have us rescued within the week.' Junko said, folding her arms over one another. From the corner of her eye she saw Yuriya gaping with an open mouth, Karin with pretty much the same expression. 'If they do, you're going to eat an extra-large serving of Yoshinoya's garlic beef bowl, with extra leek.'
Glark took on an expression that seemed as if even the word garlic drained the life out of him. Garlic didn't actually kill vampires, but thanks to their good noses they stayed well clear of it. The same went for leek. 'I can't do that, that stuff stinks!' And most likely a helping that big would leave him incapacitated for at least a week.
Junko shrugged. 'You're the one that wanted to make a bet. Take it or leave it. I'm saying it only takes my man a week to get here.'
Glark smirked. 'That's impossible. It's just a brat, no way he'll be here that fast.' He started to pull her towards the coffin. 'Fine, I'll take the bet. But if he doesn't get here within a week, starting tonight, then ya'll be having fun servin' as my food for the rest of your life.'
Glark slammed the coffin shut, leaving Junko in darkness. She heard him say something to Yuriya, and finally drew another breath. Her heart hammered in her chest. It was risky, but necessary. This way he would at least believe she was planning on staying put, waiting for Ren.
She traced the outline of the little square in her pants. She still had time to collect more of those, and as soon as she could, she would get both herself and Karin out of there. They were underestimating her because she was human. And that would give her a chance.
|Maaka Residence|
Elda walked out of the door, unnoticed by Carrera or Anju. She could smell where her grandson and her son had left for. Even though it had been decided that the women should stay behind and maintain the barrier around their home, Elda had no intention of waiting around for news. Her darling granddaughter was in danger, and her beloved son and grandson had gone to save her.
On top of that, two humans had also joined in on the rescue. That Usui boy had left with the men, claiming he could sense where Karin was thanks to being injected with her blood. And Junko had apparently been taken captive while going out to rescue Karin. Elda had expected the girl to go out and help, especially after all her shouting how much she cared for the Maaka family. She hadn't thought that she would be caught however. No matter, saving one person or saving two probably didn't differ that much.
And Elda had grown a soft spot for Junko in her heart. It had been hard not to, considering it was her own grandson who had chosen the girl. Of course she wouldn't be able to say it out loud. Just not killing the girl would be her special token of affection for the time being.
|End of Shiihaba line|
'That's as far as we'll be able to go.' Henry said, looking up at the sky. The first hint of rose was already mixing with the dark blue. 'If we can keep this pace up, we should reach the Brownrick castle in just three days.'
'Good.' Ren commented, looking as if he was hungry. Sadly enough he couldn't go spend the night at some woman's place, instead being forced to share a room with two other men. Not that he was tempted much; one thought about trying to explain that to his girlfriend sent shivers down his spine. He didn't doubt for a second that right now she was torturing her captors any way she could. The thought made him proud.
'The girls are fine.' Ren told the other two men. 'Though I can't have my bat spying around too much, if they catch him they'll probably kill him.' And that would send Junko into tears. She'd gotten quite attached to her little bat. Sometimes he felt a bit jealous about the little stinker.
'Good. Usui-kun, how about you? Still feel like we're on the right track?' Henry asked their human companion.
Usui nodded, scratching the back of his neck. Traveling during the night was something he wasn't accustomed to, but given his current company he didn't have much of a choice. More importantly, every moment they dallied might be the moment that they would kill Karin. Even if the Maaka family seemed to be certain that they were waiting for the moment Karin's blood had refilled, he couldn't be sure.
As they made their way to the motel, Ren took a quick peek through Genji. The bat had hidden himself underneath a gutter, giving a wide view of the forest and smoke trails of the nearby village. Ren would have killed for a chance to see Junko. Just then the door underneath the bat opened.
Ren adjusted his step. Looking through the eyes of a bat while walking wasn't exactly easy but he didn't want to waste a chance to be able to listen a bit.
'Your cheek looks pretty swollen, Glark.' One voice said. Ren didn't recognize any of the two men, but that wasn't a surprise. He had never been to one of the vampire meetings, which was the only place vampires ever met others of their kind.
'It does?' the other man asked, sounding surprised. Over a foot shorter than the other man, he touched his cheek and started laughing. 'It's ta Pushuke's friend, she slapped me. Don't let her get too close ta ya, or she'll try ta scratch your eyes out.'
Of course Junko would. No woman Ren ever picked would be timid when people she cared about were in danger.
'What did you do to her? Can't imagine you letting her get away with something like that.' The other man sounded surprised, making Ren grit his teeth. If that Glark had laid a hand on Junko, he'd-
'I was planning on sucking her dry. Then I saw she already had bite marks. And when I say marks, I mean marked.' Glark said, laughing. 'Seems like ta Maaka runt likes her a lot. I ended up making a bet with her.'
Ren waved goodbye to his father, who was going out to search for some food. Judging from the way Henry looked at his son, Ren wouldn't be surprised if his father wouldn't bring him back something to eat as well. He shook his head absently towards the Usui kid, continuing to listen in.
'If that guy she's so crazy about manages ta make it here in less than a week, she wins. If he doesn't, I get ta drink her dry.' Glark said, gloating.
'She accepted that?' the other guy sounded surprised.
'Well, I didn't say it like that ta her. I made it sound like she'd live a bit longer, but yeah… once this Pushuke business if over, I get ta drink my fill.' The man sounded absolutely confident that he would win that bet.
Ren shook his head, chuckling. When the Usui kid asked him what was so funny all of a sudden, he started to laugh even harder. It had been two days since the women had been taken, and they had covered half the distance already. Ren wouldn't even need an entire week, just two more days and he'd be there. Junko had been way too generous with her calculations.
The day after tomorrow, they would arrive. And that night, the people who had stolen both his sister and his lover had better duck for cover.
|Brownrick Castle|
'That was a very dangerous thing you did, challenging uncle like that.' Yuriya chided her, handing over the vegetarian sandwich packet. She had been complaining about what a hassle it was, finding that exact brand, but she had pulled through nonetheless. If Yuriya knew that right now she was playing a central part in Junko's escape plans, what would she say?
Junko hid her sudden grin in a bite of her sandwich. 'I don't know what you're so worried about. From what I have seen, vampires could do with a bit more challenge. Let's be honest here, they don't think that highly of me, and you're not high on the social grace list either.'
Yuriya looked a bit sour at that remark, taking a sip from her yoghurt drink to refrain from having to answer that. Junko left out the part where the vampires in this specific family were planning on draining Karin dry. That would only add unneeded emotion to the girl's misery. So far they had fared quite well. Karin didn't cry any more than she usually did, and Junko was still working on her rather flimsy escape plan. Of course Karin played her own role in that as well.
She gave a smile to the girl, who reciprocated uncertainly. Junko knew Karin's blood had increased considerably thanks to her tearful goodbye with Usui. She suspected she herself would have also given quite a rise to blood levels, had it not been for Ren's bite marks in her neck. But that certain condition played right in her cards at the moment.
Thinking her plan over, she stroked a finger over her back pocket, now feeling two little bumps in there. Would she be willing to brave it already?
There was of course the matter where she would have to convince Karin to bite her. That would probably be the hardest part, if she managed to get that far. She remembered the story about how Usui's mother had suddenly gained almost superhuman strength thanks to Karin's bite. If Karin could somehow give Junko that effect, that would already solve half her problem.
'I think that in the coming days the vampires of this castle will learn that they shouldn't be so high and mighty.' Junko stated gently. Yuriya raised her eyebrows questioningly. 'Once Ren and the others come here to save us, in a while. According to Glark, a week might just be cutting it.'
She had a week to make that escape. They wouldn't expect her to run away after making such a fuss about that bet. She licked some sauce from her fingers, silently cursing the infernal carrots they always insisted in putting in sandwiches like these. And her other hand slowly traced the other part of her escape in her back pocket, her mind racing.
The Brownrick vampires would find that a human could end up being more than they bargained for.
|Moon's note : that's it for today… a bit of build-up before we go to the second last chapter (thunder crashing in the background). Thanks for the reviews, my lovely readers. As always, I hope you have a very pleasant day.|