Eventide
Chapter XXV
Something is off. Something is really off. I woke up inside of a cell. Not like a wine cellar with old shelves full with wine or anything, this is a legit prison. The cell is small and offers no privacy since it has bars as walls. In the corner of the cell there is a well where I supposed am going to do my business and a futon lying on the other corner of the cell. Nothing more and nothing less. Why am I even here? We were supposed to go to our new home, not here in some cell!
I gasp.
Someone must have hijacked us and taken me captive. Does this mean my mother and father is here? They have to be. I look around the area outside of the cell and there is no one around. My cell that is more of a cage is all alone inside of an unknown room.
I just hope they are alright.
A door creaks open and a tall man walks inside. He has white hair and pointy teeth. His eyes are the most abnormal thing I have ever seen, he has stars in his eyes. Those can't be natural. He must be using contacts or something. And gotten a fill since no one can have pointy teeth. That is just biological impossible, they would have to cross a human being with a shark and that would end badly. If people have to move around in order to breathe we would be in trouble.
"So this is Maka Albarn." The man says with a dark voice. "I had expected more of a Girgori that has managed to escape my dear Kishins over and over again." The man crosses his arms over his chest, his muscles almost cutting through his thin skin. "Maybe a little more attitude, but we all knew you were never alone."
"I don't know what you are talking about." I stutter as the man kneels down in front of my bird cage.
"Don't play dumb with us Grigori. We can do this the easy way, or the hard way. Now tell me everything about your group. How many are there and what types of Meisters are they? Give me their names and I promise you will walk out of here unharmed."
Why does everybody talk about Meisters? My mother talked about Meisters and they seemed to talk a language I had no clue what they were talking about. Why does everybody expect me to know about Meisters and about people? I have never heard about those terms if it wasn't for my mother and that guy.
That guy…
My mother had killed him. She had murdered him in cold blood before the house had started to burn. Why did my mother feel so threatened by him to the point she had to kill him? She said something about "doing the job properly." Does that mean she had tried to kill him before? Exactly why was he better off dead than alive? I don't get it.
"I… I don't know what you are talking about―"
His fist slams into the cage bar. "You chose the hard way." He stands up on his feet and walks toward the door. "Give her a lesson not to lie to me." He says and two large men walk inside of the room.
"Alright sweet pea." A man with light brown hair with many piercings in his ears and nose says. "I will show you what happens when you lie."
The other guy, a guy with black hair and white high lights opens the door to the cage and grabs my wrist, pulling me out roughly, he even dragged me out of the cage, not bothering when I flinch in pain.
"I don't like this." I say as the man with black hair grabs my feet. "Let me go!" I start fighting their grip on my limbs, but they are too strong for me. Their grip on me doesn't even budge. They carry me out of the room my cage is inside and I gasp loudly in horror. All those monsters, those kinds of monsters I saw my mother turn into, they are all locked inside of cages just like mine, but theirs are far smaller than mine. They can barely sit inside of them.
This is horrible! Is my mother inside one of those cages? Is my father being just as badly treated as me?
They carry me inside of an isolated room with a chair that reminds me of the chair you sit when you visit the dentist, although, this one has belt buckles that keep your legs and arms strapped to the chair.
This can't be good.
I yelp when they throw me into the chair and immediately strap the belts around my ankles and wrists. Even though it is useless, I try to fight the belts that cut of my blood circulation.
"You won't go anywhere. The chair and the belts are soaked with blood lines." A female says. She turns toward me with a large needle in her hand. "You can stop struggling. You won't get away from here until we get what we want."
Blood lines? What… so many new things… this is seriously giving me a headache.
"Is my mother and father okay? Please tell me they are alright!" I plead and I quickly run out of hope to struggle against the belts.
"Your mother?" She snorts. "I'm surprised you still care about her when she is the one who turned you and your father in."
Turned us in? She didn't turn us in!
"You liar! My mother would never do such a thing to us!"
She chuckles darkly as she put her black hair into a nice buddle on her head. Her eyes have a pattern of spider web, how come everybody has freaky eyes? None of those can be natural and contacts must be annoying to wear.
"But she did." She taps against the syringe in her hands, examining the transparent liquid inside of it. I really hope that is just water! Water can't hurt me, right? I can't even think rationally during these circumstances! This entire situation is freaking me out! "And now I will teach you what happens when you lie to the Star*Clan."
She inserts the needle into my vein and the liquid joins my blood. Let's just say, it could not be water because this liquid could be liquid fire. The substance quickly spreads through my body, making every cell in my body light on fire. I let out a high pitched scream as my body spasm, only the buckles keeping me in place.
"It is pure Kishin venom but don't worry, it won't be able to turn you. Your soul will reject it and take care of it." The woman says calmly as she cleans the needle from my blood.
I don't know how long it went, but I screamed at the top of my lungs until the woman I learned whose name is Arachne, taped my mouth shut. I kept screaming in pain and as soon as the venom wore off, Arachne would roughly rip the tape off and ask me a question about these Meisters I didn't even know of. I couldn't give her an answer, so she would give me another round of the venom and add something to make the pain even worse. She would increase the dose and make the pain even worse and when the dose wore off, she would pull a tooth out and cut my thigh.
The pain never ended, it went on and on and on until my body was completely numb. Arachne's two men then threw me back into my cage "making me think twice about lying." The only problem is I'm not lying!
There was no clock inside of the room so I had no idea how many hours had gone by, all I knew is the adrenaline is pumping so hard in my body I have no urge to eat anything and that is great consider they don't serve any food to their prisoners.
Hours must have gone by when I was inside of that cage. I never moved a muscle, I just laid there on the ground feeling the pain of the aftermath of the torture I had endured. My thighs are cut open and I miss at least two teeth. My mouth is filled with the taste of cooper and my gum is sore from the forcefully removal of my teeth. Luckily for me, no one will hopefully notice it since they are at the back of my mouth.
As I lay there, thinking about everything they said about Meisters, Kishins and Grigories. It is all so confusing since at the back of my mind, I know I have heard those words before but I just can't remember. Every time I think I got the answer, it seems to slip away from me.
The door opens again and I flinch. It slams shut and the man with the white hair and muscles are present. "Have you thought about lying again?"
I don't say anything, I don't think I'm even capable of speaking. How am I even supposed to open my mouth and try to express words when I don't even know where my muscles are? How the heck am I supposed to do such a very normal quest in this state? I won't be able to say anything verbally, or express anything physical either. The only word that exists in my vocabulary is screams.
"So you are going to be that way instead, trying to escape questions by ignoring me." The man says and stands up again. "Back to the torture chamber then. Arachne has something very good in store for you."
By good he meant that she removed one more tooth and cut up my gum and the classic Kishin venom trick she just enjoys to give me. She seemed even sicker than I felt pain. She laughed at me as I squirm in pain and she smudged my blood over her face before she would be disgusted with herself for getting dirty. She is a nutjob alright.
Session after session of torture went by and I ended up more and more hurt. My legs coated a layer of dry blood and so my arms. My jaw also soaked with the blood that never seems to stop flowing out of my mouth. At one time, I actually tried to get the blood to choke me but that proved to be harder than I thought. I just wanted this nightmare to end.
By now, I just want to die, to end my miserably life. The pain is too bad and I have almost lost all my teeth and my whole skin is covered with cuts and blood. I have definitely reached my limit long, long time ago. Couldn't they just kill me? That is all I want, to die and end the pain.
White*Star, the man who had always come inside of my room once again walk inside. He kneels down in front of my cage like usual and his star-eyes send shivers down my spine. I hate stars. "Have you finally broken down or are we going to have to step up the game?"
Step up the game? He had already done everything to hurt me? Is there really something more he can do?
When I didn't say anything, he stood up and walks out again. Giriko and Asura walk inside and take me to Arachne's little hellhole again. It was a long time ago I stopped fighting them. I was mentally half dead, my will to live is completely gone and everything I feel is the pain of the venom along with the new tricks Arachne always have in store for me.
"So little Miss Grigori still hasn't had enough." She puffs up her ego as she goes through all of her torture tools. "Now what should I do with you?" She picks up a small knife I often used in biology class when we dissected frogs. "Maybe cut you up some more?" She shakes her head and puts it down. "No, that causes far too little pain." She then picks up a very large butcher knife with dry blood on it. "Maybe I should cut off your arm?" I don't even flinch at her babble what kind of pain she will deal to me. "No, that would require us to stop the bleeding. Not something I would want to do." She put the knife away before she smirks wide. "Now I know what I will do with you." Her hand grips a very slim and thin knife. "Maybe if you lost something valuable, you would learn your lesson."
My heart almost jumps out of my mouth when she steadily holds the knife over my right eye.
"Say bye bye to your precious eye." The knife plunges into my eye and I let out a high pitch scream. She laughs crazily as she keeps stabbing me in my eye. Pain courses through my right side of my face as I feel the white substance that once was my eye trickle down my face.
She could rip out all my teeth and I wouldn't care, she could cut off the poor excuse for a chest, heck, she could cut off my nose, everything but my eyes. Those were always the only thing I really liked about myself. My eyes were always the one part of my body that I admired and truly loved, but now, that self-confidence is gone, shattered to the ground as it pools down my face and neck.
"My, my, my, I got a little carried away." Arachne says as she cleans her knife. "Giriko, take her back to her cage. Then bring Kami to finish the job. She won't talk so we might as well get rid of the trash."
Thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Finally, the time comes. I won't have to bear the burden of just existing. Once again I will be feather light and without a care in the word. As long as I'm gone, I will be more than happy.
When Giriko throws me inside of my cage, for the first time, my muscles twitch and a small, barely noticeable smile comes. Just the news of death is more than enough to keep my spirit up.
The waiting for my mother to walk inside of that door is almost worse than all of the pain I endured. The waiting, the anticipation of finally be united with death is so unbearable I have to chew on my lower lip in order to keep myself in check. I can taste the disgusting soupy liquid of my eye mixed with the cooper taste of my blood. It is disgusting but it then reminds me of the pain and how close I always come to take that step into my grave to just have Arachne ruin everything.
The door finally opens and in walk Asura, Giriko and my mother. She is in hand cuffs and she is wearing a collar with a lock of some reason.
"Alright." Giriko says coolly while he fishes up a key from his pocket, unlocking the collar around her neck and taking it off. "Go crazy."
My mother growls low in her throat and she transform into the beast. She roars like a monster and she goes mad on the bars. The bars go flying onto the walls before they clatter down on the ground. The whole cage is gone and she steps over the low bars that are still intact to the floor.
I should say something, anything. She is my mother. I want to tell her that I don't blame her for killing me because this is what I want. I have already been dead for a very long time, it is time to make it official.
I expected my mother to bury her claws into me like she did to that guy, but instead, she leans down toward my neck and exposes her fangs. Her teeth sink into my neck and I groan in pain. My eyes suddenly widen when a large wave of Kishin poison rushes into my blood system. I scream loudly in pain as my body spasm uncontrollably on the ground.
"Damn it Kami!" Giriko hollers and take a step toward my mother. "You are supposed to kill her! Kill her you beast!" He snatches out a whip from his waistband of his jeans and whips my mother hard.
She hollers in pain and glares at Giriko and Asura. "Save… Maka… Save… Daughter." She chants and she roars loudly.
She has turned on her masters.
She swings her large claws at Asura and he skillfully draws a sword and blocks them. Why are they glowing? It must be the lights.
The battle is full on and Giriko and Asura have great teamwork when it comes to fighting. I can't even see their movements. They move so fast around my mother and her skin blocks their attacks successfully. She swings her claws madly at them but she misses them.
How can humans move that fast? As soon as I see Asura or Giriko stop, they are gone the next microsecond. This won't ever end in the pace things are going in―
I'm picked up from the ground and a knife is against my throat. It cut me a little as I squirm in the man's arms.
"Surrender!" Asura hollers from behind me. "If you don't, your daughter dies!"
My mother stops, she growls loudly as she glares daggers at Asura.
She must have forgotten about Giriko since when he comes in front of her, she has no time to block. His knife sinks in between her scales at her throat. She roars out in pain and Giriko twists the knife, cutting up her whole throat. My mother coughs up black blood and stumbles a little on her feet.
Asura's eyes widen when her body slams into us and gets him away from me. The next second she is on top of me and her teeth are once again in my neck. My screams become louder, louder than I have ever screamed and my throat isn't that sore from all of my screaming.
Survive. Achieve your dreams and be happy, do it, do it for your mother. I want to see you happy.
I want to keep living. I want to make my mother proud.
The memory block will disappear when you hear words of affection from the one who holds your heart.
I want to hear those words.
Her eyes stare into mine. Her red eyes slowly turn into the green eyes I was always familiar with. Not the cold green eyes I had seen inside of the kitchen, but the vibrant green eyes that made you want to smile. The same eyes she always looked at me when I was a little girl afraid of the dark.
Despite the burning pain that courses violently through my veins, the corner of my lips twitch into a faint smile. "Mama."
"Maka." She whispers, in her warm and loving voice, not the one of the monster. "I will always love you." The black blood from her neck drips onto my chest. "Be a good girl and make your mother proud―" Her voice is cut off and she yells in pain. Giriko's and Asura's hands bury in her wounded neck and the sparks flies from her wound. She hollers in pain, but despite that, I see her smiling back at me. She smiles lovingly at me and her eyes glisters with happiness.
That is the last expression she makes before her body puffs and her ashes rain down over me.
My mother is dead.
They killed her. They murdered my mother.
A new wave of pain courses through me, ever since I got to this place, I never felt any mental pain, but now, my screams of pain are mixed with the pain of my mother being gone, just gone like that.
"Take her to a new cage. White*Star will be more than happy to know he has a new test subject." Giriko orders as he clutches his… his wounded stomach. She got a hit after all.
"R―"
A loud ring goes off. It manages to drown my cries. "Warning, Kishins are loose. Warning Kishins are loose." A monotone voice says.
Giriko curses loudly. "Forget about her! Lock the door after you and go to the east wing!"
Asura nods as they both run out of my prison room, slamming the door after them.
I breathe heavily as I squirm in pain. Smoke is coming up from my legs and arms. If I wasn't screaming uncontrollably in pain, I would have gasped. This can't be happening. The cuts Arachne left behind are healing. They are closing up and leaving no scars behind. I can feel new teeth come out from my gum and my right eye is slowly being regenerated.
How is this even possible?
I almost jump out of my skin when I notice a man wearing a black robe kneel in front of me. His large hand gently cups my cheek and caresses it with his thumb. Why is he so kind toward me?
"I'm sorry I didn't come earlier…" His hand abandons my cheek and he lifts me up from the ground. I yelp in pain and he immediately apologizes. "You can rest. I'm here. I'm going to take care of you."
Rest? Can I really rest? He seems like a nice person.
My eyelids are so heavy and my eye seems to be made out of sandpaper. I don't care if I can trust this man, I just need to sleep.
Slowly my eye closes and the man takes off his hood that covers his face. White hair springs free and large red orbs stare back at me, not like the eyes of a monster, his eyes have a human touch to it and they are so soft. He smiles gently at me as he carries me out from the room.
"I will be here when you wake up." That is the last thing I hear before sleep sweeps me off of my feet.