CHAPTER 7
Author's Note:
November 18, 9:05 PM
"Ritsuko, would you please take a seat on the table."
Several hours earlier
"Paperwork…..and bloodwork… God, I hate bloodwork…" Ozaki cautiously organized his samples in alphabetical order.
"Wait, I need to switch these two…." the doctor said as he looked at himself in the lab mirror.
Toshio clicked his tongue as he took note of the dark circles under his blood shot eyes. "I'm starting to show symptoms of insomnia….this has been the third or fourth night without sleep, even with medication….god I'm tired…but i cant stop now…..surely my body can handle a few days." Ozaki took a derisive look at his first aid kit. "no….i shouldn't…." he had to catch himself as his eyes closed. They felt heavy. So heavy that it seemed the weight of humanity in its entirety rested upon the doctors shoulders. It took everything he had to stay awake, moving took something more than human….."I guess I'm without a choice." He sluggishly made way, dragging his step, to the fist aid kid on the wall. He pulled out an epi pen and plunged it into the muscle of his leg. The jolt of pain woke him up. The adrenaline sent his mind into overdrive. He took a quick glance into the mirror and saw his pupils contract and the blood vessles in his eyes expand. A million thoughts were racing through his mind at once and he started back to his work at breakneck speed. "This…this is good….the best thing is I can crash later," he said as he slipped into a medicated trance.
Current time
Ozaki snapped the restraints into place as Ritsuko closed her eyes, trying to relax as much as she could to avoid the pain she knew was coming her way. She began to drip tears. The doctor was fast on her.
"Ill collect one of those for a slide." He said. Ritsuko noticed the lack of enthusiasm in his voice. She could smell him too. Rancid body odor and tobacco assaulted her nostrils. He quickly took a cotton swab and dabbed it on her tear ducts. She squinted when the scratchy cotton rubbed against her eye. The doctor looked at her and smiled. A hollow smile, it unnerved Ritsuko. "That's a good sport," he said jovially. He rubbed the contents onto a glass slide and set it down on the table. Ritsuko noticed him brandish a small needle, an epi pen, she saw as she looked closer. She winced as he delicately stuck it into one of his veins. She saw him twitch.
"Doctor… You shouldn't medicate yourself like that, its not healthy" she said with meek concern. He turned back to her and she noticed the frenzied look in his eyes. She would have backed away a few inches if it weren't for the restraints. Ozaki stared at her emptily for a moment.
"Not…healthy?" he said, biting his thumb, then shook his head, regaining some modicum of composure. "Ah, right, right. This is merely a temporary thing, I'm having a bout of insomnia lately, but my work must continue….speaking of which," he brandished another epi pen and injected it into Ritsuko's neck. "Tell me how you feel." Ritsuko's eyes contracted and the blood vessels opened up.
"It-it's like a million things are rushing through my mind at once. Gahhh, I feel wired! Doctor, I don't know if I like this, I feel like I have to move, I feel restless!" she twitched and convulsed on the table, tearing at her restraints. Ozaki looked with surprise and he wrote down his notes.
"Amazing! I think I've found the first chemical that works on Shiki. Adrenaline seems to have the same, if not a greater effect on them." He turned to Ritsuko and smiled devilishly. "You know, this is good news for you too, it means what I'm about to do next is going to hurt a whole lot less." He brandished a scalpel and chuckled lightly.
"You're not going to humiliate me like Masao are you?" she squealed as Ozaki cut into her arm.
"No, no, I just want to see what the effects of various drugs have on you, as well as seeing how your muscles and veins work when you feed." He set a liter of blood on the table….are you still feeling the effects of the adrenaline?" he asked with that same ice cold smile.
"Yes!" she exclaimed as she tried thrashing again. Ozaki placed the bag to her lip and she began to feed, poking her fangs through its plastic, as opposed to opening the latch. Ozaki made a few delicate cuts in her arm. Ritsu didn't notice much as she slowly sipped the blood pack. He sliced into a vein and saw the new blood seem to "dance" with her own dark red blood. The two reds circled around eachother. It was mesmerizing to the doctor who couldn't help but watch in his medicated state. He snapped himself out of the sight quickly, Ritsu was about halfway finished with the bag when the doctor got an idea. He stuck the scalpel just below her ribcage and dragged the blade down to her groin. In the heat of feeding frenzy, and due to the effects of the adrenaline, she didn't mind as much, though for a brief moment she twitched at the burning pain. Two more cuts, one back up to her ribcage, and another connecting the two, Ozaki opened up a triangular section into her abdomen. Everything was visible, her lungs, diaphragm, stomach kidneys, liver, even her uterus and reproductive system. He noticed the cuts healing and quickly clamped the area open, so he could further study.
"So, it seems the blood isn't flowing into her stomach," he said as he cut it open. Ritsu was unmoved. "I think her fangs must link directly to her circulatory system…. I'll have to remove one later," he said quietly to himself. "Hmm, with each sip the organs twitch a bit…." Ozaki looked around her opened cavity, using a magnifying glass to examine the darkened organs. He prodded all of them then had another thought.
"Her ovaries….." he made sure to conceal the scalpel as he cut one of them open. He took a blunt syringe and used it so suck up some of the fluid inside. "I'll just harvest a few eggs to study later…. Alright I see that you're done," he noticed as Ritsuko drained the remainder of the pack. Then he heard screaming. He quickly stuffed her mouth to prevent her from being heard by the other Shiki. Then he removed the clamps on her opening, allowing the wounds to close. Once they were he removed the cloth. "I take it the adrenaline wore off?" he took a close look at her eyes, her pupils were normal and the bloodshot look was gone. He wiped the tears away from her face tenderly.
"Relax, the painful part is over," he said as he produced several different syringes of various drugs. "Now I just want you to tell me how each of these make you feel, we'll start with the anesthetic," he gave her a quick injection.
"N-nothing doctor," she said through her tears.
"As expected... Next up…amphetamines," he pushed in the plunger and immediately noticed her twitching and squirming. "Looks like, yes…..stimulants seem to work….but for how long?" So, the doctor started to wait. He gave himself another dose of adrenaline after the first hour, and another half dose during the second. But finally his patience had drawn thin. "That particular drug was only supposed to last fifteen minutes at the dosage I gave you… The adrenaline seemed to wear off when she ate the blood, or maybe it just wore off on its own, but I might give it a shot." He produced a small cup of blood. "Here, drink."
"But, Doctor I'm full" she said, regrettably.
"Just take a sip," he prodded, she noticed the anger in his eyes and obeyed his request. Immediately she felt much more calm and relaxed, as opposed to the wired high functioning feeling the amphetamines gave her. The doctor tried various other stimulants on her, with varying degrees of success, but all having at least a modicum of an effect.
"And lastly…we have this…" Ozaki lowered a small baggie of pills in front of Ritsuko's face. "Interesting story these, one of the Mizobe police officers confiscated them from a drug dealer, he sent them to me for testing before this whole vampire incident and I never got around to posting the results. But I did find out what they were. These pills have lsd in them, I'd like you to take one." Ritsuko adamantly refused the pill Ozaki held. But he was in no mood and lacked the patience. He slammed the scalpel into the palm of her hand and when she screamed he forced the pill into her mouth. He noticed her eyes glaze over immediately. After a few minutes he saw her laughing and drooling like a junkie.
"Whoa….. these colors," she said through bouts of giggling.
"She must be having a bout of euphoria, along with the hallucinations….. I think I'll let her have it, after the pain they've all been through. Might be interesting for her to tell me what she sees." Ozaki backed away from the table and nocked two blood samples over.
"Damn!" he said as he rubbed his thigh. He looked over at the two samples. One was Natsuno's the other, Megumi's. His eyes widened as he noticed something as the samples mixed.
"My, my….that certainly interesting," he said as he collected the intermingled blood.
Meanwhile
Tatsumi slipped up to the clinic and tried the door. "Aw, c'mon," he growled, "That Megumi girl invited me back, does the invitation have to come from the doctor himself?" Yoshie had told him everything. He wasn't completely certain he believed her story, but so far, what he'd seen seemed to make it believable. Just as with Natsuno, almost as if on command, when Tatsumi mentioned he'd been invited, the door gave an audiable click and swung open. "What the...? Ok, that's interesting."
He quietly slipped into the building and over to the basement door. "Ugh..." He covered his nose. "Natsuno was right, this place reeks of blood. The hell did he do in here last night?" He reached out and tried the door to the basement. There was an audiable click and the door swung open freely.
Megumi sat on the bottom of the stairs, a bored sort of pout on her face. Masao was quietly slouched in a far off corner of the room. The physical scars of what he'd gone through the night before were gone, but the mental ones were still there. His arms were wrapped tightly around his body and head, his knees tucked to his chest, and he was mumbeling unintelligably to himself. Tohru was leaning against a wall, lost in his own thoughts. All three were pulled from their solitude when they heard the door open.
"Is he coming back for another one of us?" Masao hissed, scrambling to his feet, "It's too soon for him to bring Nurse Kunihiro back, isn't it?"
"No," Tohru said, sniffing at the air, "That's not him."
"Ah?" Megumi lept to her feet, a smile crossing her face. "You came back!" she said excitedly.
"Yo!" Tatsumi said with a smile as he came down the stairs. He instantly noticed the air in the room felt colder as the two male Shiki glared at him. He sighed. "Look, I get it, you two. You don't like me," he said, "But, whatever happened between us, I think we ALL have a common enemy now."
"You mean the doctor, don't you?" Tohru asked cautiously.
"Huh?" Megumi chirped.
Tatsumi plopped down on one of the steps and looked around the room. "Where's the other girl?" he asked.
"Ritsu-Chan's upstairs with Doctor Ozaki at the moment," Tohru asnswered, his voice full of concern.
"No telling what that maniac's doing with her right now," Masao sneered.
"Why are you guys talking like that about the doctor?" Megumi asked, "He's the one keeping us safe, isn't he?"
The males exchanged looks. "It sounds like I'm not the only one who doesn't completely trust him," Tatsumi said with a smirk. "What has he been putting you through? The whole place reeks of blood and urine tonight," he pointed toward the top of the stairs with his thumb over his shoulder.
Tohru and Masao exchanged looks, then took a deep, though unneccessary breath. Tohru recounted his night in the examination room with the doctor. Masao then recounted his own experiences, opening up about it for the first time.
"He did WHAT!?" Tohru exclaimed when Masao came to the part about the UV light tests. Tohru's anger was more toward the danger Ritsu had been in than what Masao had been through, but still, there was a slight underlying paing of pitty for his former friend as well. At least with a stake through the heart, a Shiki's final death would be quick and merciful, sunlight was the most painful, horrifying way any of them could imagine to go, as it would be slow, and if the person behind it were depraved enough, could be prolounged.
"I don't believe you," Megumi snapped. "Doctor Ozaki wouldn't hurt us like that," she refuted.
"Megumi, do you think we'd make something like this up?" Tohru asked.
Megumi shook her head. The look on her face was one of clear confusion. "Th-the doctor said he was helping us," she stammered, "Didn't he say he's been our doctor since the day we were born?"
Tohru sighed. "What exactly did he do when you were with him?" he asked.
Megumi shook her head innocently. "He showed me pictures of people he said I should have known, then gave me one of those... Wha'd'ya' call'em...?" She placed a slender finger to her lips and blinked blankly for a momet, "Ink blot tests."
Tohru heaved a sigh. "Well, it sounds like he's at least letting the girls off easy." All four Okiagari jerked as at that exact moment, they heard a shriek of pain from usptairs. "Ritsu!" Tohru pushed past Megumi and Tatsumi and rushed up the stairs.
Megumi slunk back against the wall, her eyes widened in horror, hands over her mouth. Tohru reached the top of the stairs, but it was as if he'd hit a wall when he got there. Ozaki had laid down the rule, from the start, that none of the Shiki were to go upstairs without his permission, and then they could only enter the rooms he allowed them to. Tohru stumbled back a bit. Whatever it was that prevented the Okiagari from entering a house uninvited was now preventing him from rushing to Ritsuko's rescue. "Damn it all. I warned him not to harm her," Tohru growled.
Tatsumi's mouth dropped when he saw the effect. There was clearly nothing barring the door, but Tohru seemed to have hit a barrier at full force and it pushed him stumbeling back down the stairs. "Do what he wants, I don't think there's any medical explination for THAT!" Tatsumi said, shaking his head in disbelief.
"Yeah, so how the hell are you getting in?" Masao and Tohru both asked.
Tatsumi shook his head and pointed at Megumi. "She let me in, and then invited me back," he said, "Doc O said he didn't even want us coming here at night, but didn't explain why. The door almost didn't open for me when I got here. But, I HAD been invited..."
"Yeah, that's how you got to his wife and patients he kept in the clinic in the first place, isn't it? Someone else invited you in," Tohru said, glowering at the Jinrou.
"I honestly don't remember," Tatsumi said, "But that's how it's been explained to me. From what I've been told, it's how we got Megumi into your bedroom, and you into Natsuno's house."
"DON'T...!" Tohru seethed. Without thinking about it he slammed his fist into the wall next to him, leaving a hole in the spot he'd hit.
"Ooo... Touchy subject," Tatsumi said. He saw the look in Tohru's eyes and sighed. "Right, right, I won't bring it up again."
"I just don't understand any of this," Megumi whimpered. "We can't leave without the doctor, you're all talking about things I don't remember doing, we haven't eaten REAL food since we got here, and we only leave this room at night. Would someone PLEASE tell me what's really going on here?" She looked at Masao with a sneer as he moved closer. She pushed him away. "Someone OTHER than the creepy guy? And, no, don't give me that junk about us being a couple," she warned him.
"You two?" Tatsumi asked, "Naw, I can't see that."
"Oh, screw all of you," Masao huffed, turning away from the group.
Tatsumi wrapped an arm around Megumi's shoulders. "Look, I don't remember everything clearly, myself," he admitted, "But, someone who says she knows what's going on filled me in on things after I left here the other day. If no one else has explained it to you, I'll tell you what's going on," he offered.
Megumi gave a meek nod. "Alright," she agreed.
Tohru heaved a sigh. "Wait..." Megumi and Tatusmi looked up at the blond. Rather than walking down toward them, he placed both hands on the gaurd rail and jumped over it, landing just inches away from Tatsumi at the bottom of the stairs. "You're right Megumi, it's time we all sit down and talk."
Meanwhile
"Oi, Tatsumi?" Natsuno called as he walked down the stairs. He stopped and listened for an answer. "He must have gone out again? Oh well, guess I'm just cooking for myself, then."
As Natsuno rounded the corner, heading into the kitchen, he was interrupted by a knock at the door. He stopped and waited. Not really in the mood for company, he hoped that with the lights off, if he remained still, whoever it was would leave. The knock came again. "Natsuno, open up, I know you're in there," Yoshie's voice rang out, "I can smell ya'."
Natsuno threw the door open and glared at her. "Just what the hell is that supposed to mean?" he growled.
"Calm down, big boy," Yoshie giggled, "I'm not saying you stink or anything. ... Just the opposite, in fact."
Natsuno stared at her for a moment. "Is that blood on your lips?" he asked.
"Huh...?" She blinked at him then licked her lips. "Oh, oops, I guess I missed a drop."
"What?" Natsuno asked.
"Just shut up and invite me in already," Yoshie sighed.
"Excuse me, little miss ragdoll, but why should I?" Natsuno asked.
"Ragdoll?" Yoshie barked, "Now I see what Masao meant when he said you were rude and cold. Where's Tatsumi?"
"Out," Natsuno answered, "Now, I'll ask again, why should I let you in?"
"Because, I'm the only one around here who knows what's going on with you, that has any sense to do what needs to be done to help you out with it," she said, confidently. "That doctor doesn't care one way or another if you get your memories back."
Natsuno clicked his tongue. "Come on in," he grumbled, "I was just about to raid the kitchen, are you hungry?" he offered.
"No thanks," Yoshie said, as she slipped off her shoes and shut the door behind her. She licked her lips. "I just ate," she giggled. "You should feed, too, actually."
Natsuno paused and looked at her like she were mad. "Didn't I just say..." he started.
"Wrong kind of feeding, Jackass," she snipped. Yoshie put her hands on her hips and sighed. "Tatsumi didn't explain anything to you, did he?"
"No," Natsuno returned.
Yoshie pointed to the couch. "SIT!" she demanded.
"What?" Natsuno growled.
"Sit down and shut up," Yoshie said, "We've got a lot of ground to cover."