Chapter 36

~Raikou~

After Komui told me that I had a mission I reported to the finders section of the Order. There they told me that I had a mission in Saudi Arabia scoping out some innocence. So without any further notice I was headed to Saudi Arabia with a group of finders.

The trip was uneventful. I slept most of the way anyway.

When we arrived at our destination the finders immediately began to ask the locals questions about local legends and if anything supernatural had been going on. Being new at the whole finder thing I was a little lost at what to do. I tried asking people if anything unnatural had been going on but none of them were very friendly.

I suck; I thought as I sat down on the sandy ground and watched the finders do their jobs. I twiddled my pink hair in my fingers, letting my thoughts engulf me and feeling the sting of rage build up inside of me.

Those assholes should be helping me out. They should be fucking ashamed of themselves.

No… wait, that's mean. What's going on? This is the second time this was happening. It was starting to freak me out.

Why don't we give them what's coming to them? Look at them, pathetic. They're the underdogs of the order. They don't deserve to live. The voice was persuasive. It all escalated really quickly, but for some reason the thoughts in my head never seemed extremely wrong. Although I knew they were.

They do a lot for the order though. Without them the order wouldn't be able to survive.

Pfsh! They seem to be doing fine without you. Maybe it's just you, Raikou.

…what?

You can't even do a finders' job. That's shameful.

….You're right. I put my head in my hands.

I know. But they're not any better. They allow themselves to be treated like errand boys. If you killed them you would be better than them.

…But that's wrong.

Is it? They're pathetic, worthless. Killing them would be doing them a favor.

No. I can't.

Do it Raikou. You know you want to.

No! "Get out of my head!" I screamed without realizing it, receiving several concerned looks from my fellow finders.

"Raikou, are you okay?" One of them, I think his name was Andrew, asked as he came over to me.

"What? Yeah, I'm fine." I smiled, suddenly calm and confident. I got up and brushed myself off. "I'm gonna go check out the market over there."

The voice was gone but I felt oddly cocky. Like nothing and no one could get in my way. My fear from earlier had been replaced with something else. A craving for something, but I couldn't tell what. Something was obviously different, as if some other force was driving all of my outward thoughts and actions, leaving the "me" part caged inside.

I walked through the market automatically, not really paying attention to where I was going. I ended up in a dark alley. Normally I would've shied away from a place like this, but at the moment I was drawn to it. It felt dangerous, and that sense of danger was oddly thrilling. I continued to walk down the alley when all of a sudden a pair of hands grabbed me from behind and placed a knife at my throat. It was weird; I was feeling all these physical and emotional senses, but it was almost as if it was through cellophane. I could see feeling it, and I could feel it sort of, but the root of everything was being felt by whatever was in my head I guess.

"Hello sugar, what are you doing out here all by yourself?" the man said.

"You should be ashamed," was all I said before taking his arm and breaking it. The man screamed. I grabbed his knife smiling as I approached him, muttering to myself. Red. I wanted to see red.

"No! Please no!" The man pleaded.

"You should've thought about that before preying on a cute little girl like me," I said these words cheerfully, but it really didn't feel like I was saying them. I was in a dream-like state as my body and thoughts did the walking and talking for me. I held him down with ungodly force, and plunged the knife into his shoulder. He screamed again. That's what you get, asshole.

I gave a small chuckle as I watched the red slowly spread throughout his shirt. I dipped my finger in the pool of red and painted my face with it.

The man groaned. He was still alive. His eyes were full of fear and withdrawal; it sent shivers down my spine. I twisted the knife in his shoulder and watched curiously as he squirmed and groaned in agony. It intrigued me, like a little kid playing with a new toy. Then, in a quick motion, I pulled the knife out of his shoulder and slit his throat, watching blankly as he gurgled and bled out in front of me. The light left his eyes.

"Akuma!" Someone screamed, snapping me back to reality.

"What…?" I whispered as I noticed the man lying in a puddle of blood at my feet. I looked at my hands. They were covered in blood. I felt my stomach lurch. I threw the dagger down in disgust, and felt like I would cry. I wanted to throw up. I did.

Slowly I started walking back to the finders. What did I do… I thought, even though it was obvious. When I found them there were akuma everywhere. The finders were huddled behind protective barriers and they had the innocence. The akuma were attacking the finders.

"Raikou! What happened to you?!" Andrew asked when he saw me.

I didn't get to answer. The world had started to slip away as I fell forward into darkness.