Chapter 5:

Everything was quiet and calm. The sun was shining through the window of Maria's apartment, letting in warm light. The room was slightly cold due to the curtains that blocked the light from entering most of the windows, but still embraced the warmth from the little bit of sun that leaked through the crack in the curtains.

Maria laid on her couch, her back against the cushions while one leg hiked itself on the other. Her foot swayed to the beat of the soft rock coming from her small CD player. There was no noise from the outside world, something that calmed Maria.

It had been two months since Maria was brought to the Borderlands. Two months since she was forced into sacrificing others' life for her own. Two months since her mind snapped and her hatred for the world blinded the rational portions of her mind.

Each day the little girl with the hole in her skull popped into her head, another reason for why she hated the world; why she despised humans. She knew, at the time, that there was nothing she could do. But she couldn't help but feel this overwhelming sense of guilt. No matter how much she hated other humans, she could not find herself hating children. They were too naive and too ignorant to know what was happening in the world. It wasn't their fault that everything was going to shit.

Adults were a different matter. They could rot in hell for all she cared. Adults were the reason why the world was going to hell. The selfishness that manifested within them was too much to bare. But Maria knew she was being a hypocrite. She herself was selfish and she couldn't escape that fact. She would easily trade another persons life for her own, and she proved that fact many times throughout the games she played.

But, then again, it wasn't her fault; she didn't want to die. Humans were built to fear death. Humans were built to only think of death as something that others go through. Once forced into a situation with a high possibility of death, humans will naturally fight to avoid that outcome.

Maria's arm covered her eyes from the sun that angled itself to disrupt her moment of peace. A groan escaped her lips as she turned her left wrist to eye the watch and the time it told.

"5:43..." Maria mumbled.

It wouldn't be long until she needed to leave the comfort of her apartment to play yet another game. A sigh escaped her lips as a song ended. She moved her legs to the side of the couch and rested her elbows on her legs. She waited a few seconds for the dizziness to leave her eyesight before she stood fully and headed towards her kitchen.

The food she had gathered had been plentiful enough for her. Granola bars for the morning while she had any canned food before her game. It wasn't much, but it was an honest way of eating.

Maria's eyes roamed the cabinets in the kitchen. Many assortments of canned vegetables littered the top shelf while a few bags of ramen littered the shelf underneath. Both seemed unappealing in her eyes.

Her stomach rumbled in protest as she walked away from the cabinet full of food. The weight she had once carried dwindled as the days went on. During her first days in the borderland she had a small gut and some meat to keep her warm, but with the excessive amount of running and the lack of food, her body became slightly toned but lacked the appropriate nutrition. Her collarbone poked through her skin while the skin under her arms sagged slightly due to the loss of some muscle she used to hold. Her legs were toned while her face was slightly sunken causing her jaw bone to protrude a little more than it used to.

The only food that kept her close to healthy were the deers that threw themselves in front of her from time to time. The meat gave her some proper nutrients but not enough to prevent her muscles from deteriorating.

"I need some more meat..." she muttered to herself.

Without wasting another moment in the hole of her apartment, Maria grabbed her metal bat and left the complex. The sun continued setting in the distance and the air grew cooler. The colors of the sunset were shining brighter than the other half of the sky that encased itself in the deep, dark blue that indicated the night sky.

Maria stepped down the staircase of her apartment. Her pace quickened along with the setting sun.

The city was just as deserted as before. With no sign of others Maria felt less anxious. She strolled through the empty streets of Shibuya while swinging the bat in her right hand. She listened for any sound of a living animal. She knew there wasn't much of a chance for an animal, let alone a deer, to show up in the middle of the street but it was a possibility. With the streets lacking in the bustling day to day person, an animal had the perfect opportunity to take a stroll through the streets.

The sun fully set after a while of patrolling. There was nothing that caught her fancy. The stores the red head had passed held nothing but the same canned vegetables that she kept in her apartment or the same ramen that she wasn't in the mood to eat. There were multiple variety of chips that she didn't want to eat, either.

She sighed in defeat. There was absolutely nothing to satisfy her hunger for the night.

Maria wished that the milk in the stores were fresh. She wished she could have cereal or even some hot chocolate. She wished that she could have cold beverage or even an ice cream cone because the heat of the summer air during the day was beginning to irk her. She wished she could make a milkshake with fresh fruits and fresh milk. Those were the only things about her old life that she missed.

The woman's feet led her further to the outskirts of the main city where the forest of trees blocked the view of the rest of the Borderlands.

The only light illuminating the path in front of her came from the moon. She waited for her eyes to adjust to the darkness of the forest, the trees creating more darkness than before, before taking a step into a direction she felt would hold a good amount of small animals.

A couple hours passed and she found little to nothing besides bugs and small squirrels. Maria's frustration was growing with each passing minute, so she gave up in search of a store that held something that was somewhat edible.

She walked in the streets of Shibuya. Some lights were on, indicating that some games were in session. Maria closed her eyes as she listened to the screams erupting from some of the buildings. Maria thought of herself as lucky; the games on that night seemed to be more brutal than the previous day's.

Maria couldn't help but chuckle at the thought of her first week in the Borderlands. Maria had gone to any game that she saw until one day during a clubs game, she heard people conversing about the visas and what they were for. She felt ignorant in not asking any others about what Visa's. But she hadn't wanted to ask for fear that they would take advantage of her.

The tanned woman walked into a small convenience store that she stumbled upon, looking for something that would ease the growling in her stomach. Her mood worsened with the lack of food.

The store was of a moderate size. The refrigerated food lined the back walls while the shelves were parallel to the front door. Each shelf head a different item of food, some that she neglected to take at previous stores while others held knick knacks and objects.

A snow globe that stood on a shelf in the back of the store caught Maria's attention. There was a ballerina in the center, it's pink dress flourished around her and small confetti replaced the snow that is mainly seen in snow globes. Maria grabbed the globe and shook it, watching the little confetti fly around the ballerina. Maria couldn't help but smile a little.

A sudden sound caused Maria to stop looking at the globe. Her arm holding the bat tensed and her breath quieted as she stood by the refrigerators in the back. Her person was not as visible to the front of the store, but it didn't make her any less wary of the situation. Her eyes scanned the row that she was in, and with quiet movements, she placed the globe back on the shelf and turned towards the corner of the store, where the wall connected with itself.

Maria raised her wrist and checked the watch that rested on it.

9:28, she noted. Someone's game must have ended earlier than expected.

Her bat hovered over the ground as she slowly moved. Her eyes continued scanning the area around her. A voice spoke out in the dark.

"Did you see how she coward away from me? That shit was so fucking hot~" The voice was unrecognizable.

"That's not how you're supposed to treat a woman, you asshole!" A woman's voice popped up next.

"I can treat women however I fucking want! Now shut the fuck up before you end up losing your teeth!"

Maria scoffed at the male. Her left hand covered her mouth as she cursed at herself for making noise.

"Did you hear that?" the man whispered.

"Yeah..."

Maria didn't know whether she wanted to try and run from them or try to hide. Both options seemed terrible. She couldn't see what weapons they had, or if they had any to begin with. But she knew that she couldn't win against someone that had a gun, maybe there was hope if they didn't, but she highly doubted that. She was running out of options.

The only possible solution she could think of was to run out of the convenience store as quickly as she could. But it was risky.

Maria eyed the two strangers through the small cracks of the shelves. The more they moved towards her, the more she moved away from them. She was glad that she preferred black clothing, for she was more grateful then ever to have something that didn't stand out and blended in well with the dark.

"We know you're there! So just come out already!" the man yelled.

As Maria grew closer to the entrance she noticed that the two who were coming after her weren't alone. Her heart raced when a familiar face flashed in front of her. It had been months since she saw the two men that caused her trouble during her four of spades game.

Maria cursed under her breath. She looked behind her to make sure that the other two were no where near her and looked back. The two men were scanning the area, their faces just as menacing as when she first met them.

She looked to the area that was farther than her. The man with the cargo pants kept his eyes locked on the area. She turned to the other side; the one with the rifle was barely doing his job of keeping watch. She knew this was her only chance.

Maria gripped her bat in the center to keep it balanced in her palm and let out a small breath to prepare herself to run. Her feet lifted off the floor as she ran through the doors. Her feet was the only sound that radiated through the air, until voices began yelling at her.

"Hey!"

"Shit...!" she breathed.

"What the fuck are you doing just standing there?! Get her!" she heard the familiar cackle.

Footsteps followed after Maria at an alarming rate causing her to move her feet faster. A gun shot rung passed her ears and Maria stumbled from the sudden sound.

"Fuck..." she breathed heavily.

"How are you missing?!"

"It's hard to run and shoot!"

"Than stop running and just shoot!"

A sudden pain erupted in Maria's leg. It burned through her limb and caused her to fumble to the floor and grasp her leg in pain.

Her bat hit the ground, a hard clank resounding in the air. She didn't expect the man she didn't recognize to land a hit on her.

"You're all fucking useless..." the familiar voice groaned. They all got closer to her as she sat on the ground clutching her left leg. There was no way that she could get up and leave without another bullet entering her. She cursed under her breath again.

Maria kept her head low and her hands around her left calf to prevent blood from spilling out.

"Well, well well... Tried to run but only found a way to get yourself hurt..." one of the familiar voices cackled out.

"What are we gonna do with her?" the man from inside the store said excitedly.

"Well~" He paused and kicked Maria's injured calf. Her voiced strained against the unsuspecting pain that accumulated.

Maria moved slightly away from the strange man. She eyed them through her hair that cascaded in front of her face and noticed how each of them were standing in front of her. The man in the cargo pants stood to her right, his hands in his pockets. A memory of him walking into the stadium flashed in her mind, she remembered how he had his hands in his pockets back then as well. Her eyes noticed the leather pants on her left and remembered the rifle that fitted the shoulder of the person that wore them. The familiar bitter taste that had left her mouth for a moment came back. The man with the rifle gave an unpleasant feeling in her stomach.

The other man, the one she didn't recognize, stood in front of her. He wore swim shorts as well as flip flops. Maria thought it was an odd choice of clothing. The Borderlands wasn't a place for a vacation, yet he was treating it like one.

The girl stood behind Maria, seeing as how she wasn't standing in front of her with the other men.

"Hey, why don't you raise your head up~" the unfamiliar man spoke.

"Shut up, Sota!" the girl chided.

They all stood around her in silence. None of them moved as they watched Maria clench her leg on the ground. Each one was deciding what to do with her.

"Raise your head." Maria could remembered the voice once she heard it. She knew that it belonged to the man with the cargo pants.

Maria was stubborn. Even if it was such a simple task, she wasn't going to raise her head, especially if she was forced to do it.

Without raising her head, Maria chuckled and put more pressure on her calf. A slight tsk left her mouth from the pain. Her head drooped lower as she tried to think through the pain. She knew it was a stupid idea to go against them; they had guns and all she had was a bat.

"Hey! Listen when the boss is talking to you!" She felt a kick to the left side of her head. It landed on the metal bat. Soon a ringing was heard in her ears as she tried to blink away the blurriness the kick brought upon her.

"Hey, boss... Doesn't that bat look oddly familiar?"

"Hmm..."

Maria was left with silence. She could have sworn that she felt a trickle of blood slide down the side of her face that made contact with the bat.

"Hey! Do I know you?" the familiar voice spoke again. Maria sat there not saying a word. "Hey! Why they fuck aren't you saying anything!?"

The butt of his gun hit the back of her head. She fell forward and clutched her head with both of her hands, ignoring the numbing pain that was once coming from her leg. Her vision blurred worse than the last hit and she couldn't help but let out a small noise of pain upon impact.

"Don't kill her Niragi."

Blood rushed through the tanned woman's ears but she heard the name clearly as day.

Maria couldn't help but let out a chuckle. It soon turned into maniacal laughter that she couldn't stop. Her right hand covered her eyes while her left held her upper body up.

Maria's head raised slowly, her hands still covered her eyes. She couldn't see them, but she preferred it that way. She didn't want that unbearably bitter taste to emerge on her tongue.

The man with the rifle, whom she now remembered to be Niragi, moved her hands out of her face with the rifle he carried. A smirk displayed itself on her face, her breath slow but raspy.

"Long time... no see..."

Maria noticed the wicked smile that picked itself up on his face. She knew he remembered her.

"Well, well, well..." Niragi circled her. Her eyes followed the figure in front of her, her hair still covering parts of her face.

"I never thought I'd be seeing you again~" Niragi's tongue unhinged from his mouth like a viper ready for its prey.

Maria glared at the muscle in distaste. "Get that nasty thing you call a tongue away from me..."

Niragi cackled and brought his rifle under her chin. "You better watch what you say," he threatened, "I could end your life in a heartbeat."

"You didn't the first time... What makes you think you're gonna be able to do it after you threaten me a second time?" she challenged.

Niragi's smile faded as he stared at the female bleeding on the ground. He cocked the gun and raised her head higher with it. Maria looked into his eyes with determination, not wanting to back down. She was hoping, in the smallest part of her mind, that he wouldn't go through with killing her. She only remembered their last encounter after he cocked the gun under her chin. Her intuition told her that there was something holding him back from going through with killing her.

"Niragi," the man named Aguni spoke up. "We're taking her with us."

Maria watched Niragi look at the other man and saw a disgusted look cross his face.

"Why the fuck are we doing that?!"

Maria was still on the floor, the bullet in her leg was still aching and her head was still pounding. The blood from the open wound on her head had slowed to a stop, but the remainder of it stayed on her face.

"That seems like a smart idea," Maria's voice sarcastically strained out. She moved the gun away from her and tried placing most of her weight on her right leg. It was proving to be difficult as her vision became blurred the more she tried moving. "Take the person you've just tried to kill with you..."

"Grab her," Aguni ordered again. Niragi motion for the other two to grab Maria with a nod of his head. Before he turned away, a tsk escaped his mouth.

The man named Sota held out his arms in preparation to carry her but she stopped his movements with a hand in his face. She grabbed her bat and looked at the small blood stain and sneered at the inconvenience.

She used the bat to stand up but found her balance being lost.

"You're not gonna be able to walk like that on your own," the man she didn't know said.

"It's fine..." she mumbled.

She stumbled with the bat, almost falling over. The pain in her leg sprouted once she tried using her leg to stand. She cursed at herself for not using her brain to think properly.

"You're not fine..."

The man picked up Maria and placed her on his shoulder. Her eyes made contact with his back and her bat hung loose in her right hand. She noticed them taking her to the car she had seen in the front of the store.

The door was opened by the female companion; she waited for him to place Maria in the seat. Maria's hand clenched the bat. Her rear end touched the seat, her legs dangled out of the car and she watched the man who helped lift her straighten himself up.

"Don't bleed all over the car..." he grumbled.

"I'll try to," she remarked.

Maria was placed behind the passengers seat where the man with the cargo pants sat, the girl on her right and Niragi on the far right while Sato took the wheel. Maria's bat was placed in between her legs, the butt end of it in her hand.

The drive to the unknown destination was quiet and tense. Maria sat in silence wanting nothing more than to jump out of the moving vehicle than to continue on her strange trip with them. She sighed; her head hit the back of the seat as softly as she could manage. The blunt force trauma was beginning to take its toll on her. She didn't have any idea of how much longer she would be able to stay awake but knew that it wouldn't be much longer.

A few minutes passed, her eyes were closed until a sudden burst of light bled through her lids.

Maria's eyes opened and eyed the big building in front of her. The building looked to be some type of hotel with the bedroom lights on in most of the windows. As the car got closer Maria noticed the words "The Beach" graffiti'd on the archway of the entrance.

The car was soon parked with more cars, each a different type of sports car and armor car. Maria opened the door and stepped out, her bat holding her up and preventing her from falling over.

Once she stepped out of the car the pest-like noise of partying entered Maria's ears. It caused her face to fall and a bitter taste to enter her mouth.

"Don't like people?" the female beside her questioned, aware of the change in demeanor.

"Loathe..." Maria answered answered.

The tanned female stood next to the car, waiting for what was to happen next.

"You're gonna meet our leader," the driver said.

"Leader?"

"Yeah. He goes by Hatter. He's number one at the Beach."

"Number one?"

"He'll explain everything once you meet him."

Maria tried stepping forward with her bat, only to fail in the process and almost fall over.

"Jeez... no use in trying to walk..."

"I can walk just fine, thank you very fucking much."

"Stop trying to keep your pride..." Niragi sneered next to her. His breath was on her ear. Maria tried swatting him away, as if he was a a fly that was buzzing too loudly. His breath was uncomfortably warm.

"Get the hell away from me," she demanded bluntly.

Niragi chuckled. Maria felt something wet against her ear and flinched away from the sudden contact. Niragi had no intention of putting away his tongue. Maria was growing irritated. She didn't understand why she didn't resist into leaving with them; maybe it was solely the guns that they held, or she couldn't run without being caught anyway. But she knew there was something else, a hidden reason.

Maria continued walking on her own, even going so far as to walking on her injured leg. She didn't want that psychotic, rifle-carrying bastard to be right.

While she was following Niragi and his partner, the other two were behind her. The noise that emitted from the Beach grew louder as they walked deeper into the hotel. They made their way through gates that led to what looked like a pool. People in bikinis and swim trunks were huddled together in small groups. Some were drinking while others were smoking or swimming in the pool. Others stayed to the side, conversing in hushed voices as if they didn't want to be noticed.

While Maria limped through the crowd, she noticed the people's gazes. A scowl rested on her face, causing the majority to look away. She already despised the place she set foot in.

The group continued walking through the people. It wasn't long until Maria was brought in front of a door.

"We're here," the man with the cargo pants stated.

Niragi opened the door. The bulkier man stepped in first while Maria looked skeptically at the man holding the door.

Maria followed after the burly man into the dimly lit room. She looked above her to the small chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, the light giving a soft orange glow.

In the center of the room was a long table. Three chairs on each side with the exception of two at each end. A man with shoulder length hair sat at farther end of the table; a red beach robe hung his shoulders. His eyes looked cold but alive, hard but calculatingly so.

Maria watched the man she followed take a seat across from the red-robed man. A women in a white button up, a man with a white hoodie, and a man with a sword and tattoos covering his face were on the left side of the burly man.

Niragi waltzed passed the tanned woman, bumping her shoulder along the way. She cursed at him before he took the empty seat beside a woman in black beach-like clothing.

"Ah!" A voice spoke up. "Looks like Aguni and Niragi have brought a newcomer..." Maria took brought her eyes to the man at the end of the table. "And she's injured..."

Maria eyed Niragi's back. "No thanks to that asshole..." she said.

Some of the other eyed the female with wide eyes.

"She has spunk!" He said. "I'm Hatter, Number One at the Beach."

"Maria..." she responded.

"Maria~" he breathed dramatically, "what a beautiful name! Though the meaning isn't as beautiful, is it?"

"Sea of bitterness..."

The Hatter laughed at Maria's blunt statement.

"So, why do you want to join the Beach~?"

Maria looked confused. Her eyebrows raised and her postured straightened with the help of her bat, Maria responded.

"I was forced to come here. By that guy..." she pointed to whom she now knew was Aguni.

"Ah~ So Aguni brought you along on his own will... That's a special case then." The Hatter rested his elbows on the table and placed his head on the top of his hands. His eyes narrowed playfully. "Since you have been recruited by such a trusting person, I have no objections with bringing you into our ranks!"

He motioned his hands in the air. Maria eyed him warily, not liking the enthusiasm that he was exerting. It seemed animated and fake.

"For now," his demeanor became more serious, "I would like to discuss your ranking with the executives... I will have Sota and Nariko, the two standing outside, take you to a vacant room. We'll figure out a permanent settlement for you after we discuss your ranking."

"Alright-"

"Also, we'll discuss the rules of the Beach. For now, rest. Our lovely enacting medical examiner, An, will help you with you any injuries that you have."

Maria paused and waited for him to continue speaking. "That it?"

The Hatter nodded with a small small on his face. Maria turned to leave, not glancing at any of the other "executives" that sat at the table with the Hatter.

"You're back out in one piece," the girl named Nariko spoke up.

"I wish I wasn't..." the beaten girl muttered back.

"It'll be fine. You'll like it here at the beach. You can do whatever you want... within reason at least."

"Yeah. You can fuck who you want, whenever you want."

"Shut up, you asshole. This is why no one ever actually wants to fuck you. You're a disgusting pig!"

"Can the both of you shut up!" Maria growled. "Get me to a room before I pass out. He said you guys were capable enough to do that..."

Maria's head was beginning to pound harder than before. The blaring music and the loud partying was not helping her head at all.

"Never mind. Get me to where ever An does her doctor thing..."

Maria noticed the wary looks upon the two. She would have had the courage to regret her sentence, but she was too out of it to care. She only wanted the treatment for her leg and head.

"Hurry up..."

I did say that this story was going to be a slow update. Also, tell me what you like about the story so far by either liking, following, bookmarking, commenting or whatever it is. I'll try to update the next chapter sooner because the semester for classes ends in about three weeks. I'll still try to upload somewhat long chapters as well.