(A/N: I can post this faster, I can post this faster....-__- Here's the next two chapters.
AznWhiteTigerGrl: Yes, pity Rei. ) And yes, it is a happy ending. ^^
Now, on with the fic!)
Dawn of Terror
Chapter 14: Dawn of Terror
Junsui tapped her foot impatiently, waiting for someone to pick up the phone. There was a click and she started talking rapidly. "Spencer, it's Junsui. Tala's off, get a hold of my brother for me. Don't let Tala bungle this. If Taiyou says anything, kill him. This can't go-"
Click. Spencer understood. Junsui set the phone back in the cradle, then sat down in a plush armchair. Mariah stepped into the room, setting down a tea tray. The neko-jin bowed low, then exited. Junsui smiled. "Soon, that damn neko-jin won't be a bother to me any more..."
~*
The tent was empty. Tala growled and pressed the barrel of the rifle to the guard's neck. "Where are they?" he snarled.
"T-they must've l-left already," the petrified sentry stuttered.
"Wrong answer," Tala said sadistically, then pulled the trigger.
Kai looked at the blood that had spattered everywhere, strewn with bits of brain and bone. An eyeball stared up at him blankly. The body gurgled, spurting blood at the neck, then fell, its muscles relaxing. Tala stepped over the mess. "There's no one here," he reported, then turned back.
Kai gritted his teeth. "Where would they go?"
Tala shrugged. "I bet they shipped them off."
"But to...where?"
Again, the red-head shrugged. "I don't know. But my guess is that this bastard knew."
He pointed with the bloodied barrel to the headless corpse. Kai felt sick just looking at it. Tala squatted down and pulled a
paper out of the soldier's back pocket. He looked up at Kai. "They're headed to the capital. Emperor's orders."
The red-head got up, walking by Kai. "Let's go. If we hurry, we can get there by tomorrow morning."
Kai took one last look at the body, before departing quickly. He shouted to a random guard. "Hey! You! Get that cleaned up!"
The soldier looked at him, completely baffled. "Now!" the bluenette shrieked and the soldier ran.
Kai kept walking. Tala was about fifty paces ahead of him. By the time he walked out of the camp, Tala was sitting behind the
wheel of the car. The engine was running. Kai climbed into the passenger seat and Tala shifted into gear. The car took off down the road.
~*
The air was heavy with the scent of urine. Rei shuffled his feet, trying not to breath in the putrid smell, trying to forget he was standing ankle deep in it. It was horrible. Beside him, Li was standing stock still, as if not affected by this. Kevin
stood on his left, whimpering in pain and fear. Rei had yet to ask what the trip to the medics had resulted for the other two
neko-jins, but somehow, he knew it was worse than what he'd faced.
Noises were all around. The sound of someone crying. The sound of someone dying. Already, air was running out. Rei felt tired
and he knew that he wasn't getting enough air. All conversation had ceased some time before.
Rei licked his dry lips, finding no relief, because his mouth was dry too. There was no water. He'd either die of lack of oxygen or from dehydration. Lovely choices.
But the train kept going. He could feel its movement beneath his feet, hear the clack of the wheels on the rails above all others. He wondered how long it would be before he got to leave this infernal box car. Somebody was choking now, he could hear it. He winced. Someone else was being sick, probably from the stench. He knew it was making his own stomach churn in disgust.
His eyes felt heavy. He felt like he hadn't slept in a long, long time. This was almost mind-numbing. He counted the rotations of the wheels in his head. '87....88....89....90...'
The urine rose higher. The stench grew heavier. Rei began to feel faint. He was sure now that he was going to die in here. He
couldn't hold up much longer. There was no air, and what there was made him sick. His mouth was drier than a desert now. He felt weak.
And just when he was positive he was going to die right then and there, the train halted. The wheels stopped rotating, the clacking stopped. There was a loud whoosh that announced they'd stopped. Rei almost sighed in relief. He'd survived - so far.
~*
Mariah glanced out the window, letting the drapes fall back into place. It was dark outside and she frowned. "Hiwatari-sama should've been back by now."
Tyson stuffed another slice of bread into his mouth. "Maybe the car stalled. Maybe they had to walk."
"Maybe," Mariah said softly, turning back to the kitchen stove. "I don't think so though."
Tyson shrugged and went back to his dinner. "What if they didn't find Rei?"
Mariah looked at him worriedly, her eyes wet with tears. She buried her face in her apron. "What if they did find him? What if he's dead?" she sobbed.
Tyson got up and went to her. He patted her on the back, rubbed her shoulders. "Don't worry, Mariah. They'll bring him back."
She looked up at him and saw the look of sheer determination on his face. She smiled lightly. "Thank you, Tyson."
~*
There were shouts and the sound of wooden planks falling to the ground. The rusty doors slid back and fresh air flooded in. Hard-faced soldiers glared at the occupants of the rail-car, yelling at them to get out. The neko-jins mobbed, no longer chained in a line, eager to get away from the place of death. Urine flowed over the side of the car, onto the cement below as their feet displaced it.
Li grabbed Rei's hair, forcing him to stay still for a moment longer while he whispered, "Stay close together."
Rei nodded and Li let go of him. Kevin whimpered and latched onto Rei's arm in fear. "What are they gonna do to us now?"
Li started forward, pushing into the crowd of neko-jin prisoners. Rei followed him, keeping his eyes on the long, greying ponytail at all times. He tugged Kevin along with him. The green-haired boy whimpered and his nails dug into the bare flesh of Rei's arm.
Once they were on the platform, the guards lined them up again, and replaced the shackles about their wrists and ankles. Again, they were marched. They marched out of the train station, into a small farming community. Rei walked a bit faster than
he should have, getting as close to Li as he could. "Where are we?"
Li shrugged. "Farming town, it looks like."
"Why would the Emperor be here?" Rei asked, glancing around. "Does he live here or something?"
Li shook his head. "Nah. He wanted a secluded place to carry out some deaths. 'sides. People in small towns are generally more racist."
Rei glanced around and saw that this was true. Some little kids were shouting rude things at them and throwing rocks, while their mothers screamed at them to get back before "the dirty scoundrels got ya". Rei lowered his ears, feeling slightly humiliated.
They marched straight through the downtown core, at five o'clock in the afternoon, meeting the rush of marketers closing shop. The shop keepers jeered too, and Rei felt slight contempt. These men, who looked to be at least forty, were no better than the six-year-olds who had yet to learn respect. It was disgusting.
As they walked, Rei curled his lip and bared his teeth, slitting his eyes and watching them. This seemed to shut the shop-keeps up for a moment. Rei turned back to the road ahead of them and Li hissed at him, "Don't do that."
Any pride Rei had felt was crushed by the command. And he saw why now too. The shop-keeps carried pistols and the soldiers seemed not to care if a neko-jin died before they got to the destination. Some of the soldiers even carried whips, held ready in the hand and Rei shivered. They hated them.
Six miles out of the town they were marched, along an old farm road, dust rising up from their feet. An icy wind blew and out
over the empty fields, wolves howled. Rei picked up his pace and walked closer to Li. "How long will they keep us marching?"
"Probably until we get there. They won't risk a camp out here-"
"Silence!"
The whip tore down across Li's back, but the older neko-jin didn't cry out. He flinched a little. The soldier made a lash at Rei's ankles and the blacked-haired neko-jin whimpered. The soldier moved on. Rei stared at the bloody wound on Li's back. The blood trickled out of it, down across the skin, sticking to the frayed edges of Li's grey shirt. Rei stared at it and it stared back, reminding him of the hate and prejudice for his kind.
The night wore on. As midnight approached, an old house on a grand estate began to take shape in the dark. At first, it was just another nameless lump and Rei thought it was a hill. Later, as they drew closer, he could see it was a house, but no lights shone and he wondered if it was just an illusion of the shadows.
Around one o'clock, the guards called a halt, and the neko-jins stood, milling outside the iron gates of this foreboding place. It looked like an ancient castle, its tall spires scraping at the night sky like claws. Rei remembered the stories of spooks and witched Mariah used to tell him to get him to go to bed, or to make him leave Kai alone. He wondered if the creatures she'd spoke of were real. If they were, this was the kind of place they'd reside in.
The soldiers knocked three times on the gate with a rusting, misshapen knocker and then, the iron bars slid back, creaking and groaning. The soldiers started forward, the neko-jins between their ranks. They started up a long and winding path to the house.
Rei looked about a bit. The castle, or mansion, was on at least three acres of fenced in land, and beyond that, empty fields and forests rolled. There wasn't another house for miles. Rei shuddered. This was the end. They were out here, with no hope of rescue if they were indeed to be put to death here.
He looked forward and noticed now that the porch lights were on and there was someone standing on the porch.
The soldiers called another halt. The officer in charge started talking to the doorman, or butler, or whatever he was. A wolf howled, close by, and the neko-jins jumped collectively.
At last, the conversation between the soldier and the man died off and the man stepped aside and the heavy front doors opened. The soldiers in front went ahead, the neko-jins filing in after them and finally, the rear guard.
"Alright, you scum bags, get some shut eye! You're gonna see the Emperor at dawn!"
They were led downstairs, into the rotting basement of the castle and there, they were locked up. They slept on the damp, stone floor and shivered due to the nippy air. Most of them didn't sleep though, worried about the morning and the tidings it would bring. Some were grieving lost loved ones, others cursing the Emperor and the soldiers.
~*
Kai watched the darkened country-side roll by, listening to the clack of the wheels on the track. Every now and then, the train would blow its horn, the sound echoing in his ears.
He hadn't bothered to get a sleeping coach. He hadn't expected it to take this long to get up to the capital. They'd been re-routed though, because of a major train accident on the main line. They were now going out and around, heading through the country-side. They thundered through little town stations, only slowing a bit. They had yet to come to a complete stop.
They'd need to stop for fuel soon. Kai shifted restlessly and glanced at the map he had in his hand. The next station they'd come to would be in the little farm community of Jai. That probably wouldn't be for another hour or so. He settled himself back in his seat.
Tala was sprawled out on the seat across from him, his map splayed over his face, the edges of the paper fluttering slightly with the red-head's snoring. Kai smiled lightly and shook his head. He looked back to the countryside outside.
~*
Dawn broke over the world, sending the neko-jins in the basement into a fit of panic, of terror. It was mass chaos. Some were
screaming, some were crying. Some were fighting, some were trying to break down the walls with their claws. It was a pitiful sight.
And then, the soldiers marched down the stairs and everyone was silent. The sound of shoes on concrete echoed. The door was unlocked then and the soldiers stood before them, commanding and terrible. "On your feet!"
They were marched up the stairs in orderly fashion, all of the desperation having dissipated into hopelessness and despair. They were marched down long corridors, up stairs, by various rooms and people. They were held at gun point and whenever they passed someone, be it soldier or worker, Rei could see the hatred in their eyes. He kept his eyes on the ground and lowered his ears.
They were herded into the ball room and there the stood, eyes glued to the ground. The doors shut and locked behind them. They stood for what seemed like eternity in silence. Trumpets blared suddenly and the guards saluted and neko-jins began hushed whispering and silent crying. The end was near.
The room fell into a hush and Rei dared to lift his eyes from the floor. He had to see the man who was about to deliver his death penalty. He had to see the hatred in this man's eyes, he had to ask him why silently. He had to look upon this man and see that, despite all the riches and power this land had to offer, he was no better than the people he was killing.
Rei looked upon the Emperor. He felt his mouth go dry, felt his limbs begin to quake. He felt weak and powerless in this man's presence. His stomach tied in knots, for he could see no other emotion on this man's face than that of pure, pure hatred, and a desire to kill them all. This was real.
And for Rei, that was what set it off. Terror had dawned upon him, realization had set in and his dream-like state had evaporated the second he looked upon the Emperor. He knew now. He knew.
AznWhiteTigerGrl: Yes, pity Rei. ) And yes, it is a happy ending. ^^
Now, on with the fic!)
Dawn of Terror
Chapter 14: Dawn of Terror
Junsui tapped her foot impatiently, waiting for someone to pick up the phone. There was a click and she started talking rapidly. "Spencer, it's Junsui. Tala's off, get a hold of my brother for me. Don't let Tala bungle this. If Taiyou says anything, kill him. This can't go-"
Click. Spencer understood. Junsui set the phone back in the cradle, then sat down in a plush armchair. Mariah stepped into the room, setting down a tea tray. The neko-jin bowed low, then exited. Junsui smiled. "Soon, that damn neko-jin won't be a bother to me any more..."
~*
The tent was empty. Tala growled and pressed the barrel of the rifle to the guard's neck. "Where are they?" he snarled.
"T-they must've l-left already," the petrified sentry stuttered.
"Wrong answer," Tala said sadistically, then pulled the trigger.
Kai looked at the blood that had spattered everywhere, strewn with bits of brain and bone. An eyeball stared up at him blankly. The body gurgled, spurting blood at the neck, then fell, its muscles relaxing. Tala stepped over the mess. "There's no one here," he reported, then turned back.
Kai gritted his teeth. "Where would they go?"
Tala shrugged. "I bet they shipped them off."
"But to...where?"
Again, the red-head shrugged. "I don't know. But my guess is that this bastard knew."
He pointed with the bloodied barrel to the headless corpse. Kai felt sick just looking at it. Tala squatted down and pulled a
paper out of the soldier's back pocket. He looked up at Kai. "They're headed to the capital. Emperor's orders."
The red-head got up, walking by Kai. "Let's go. If we hurry, we can get there by tomorrow morning."
Kai took one last look at the body, before departing quickly. He shouted to a random guard. "Hey! You! Get that cleaned up!"
The soldier looked at him, completely baffled. "Now!" the bluenette shrieked and the soldier ran.
Kai kept walking. Tala was about fifty paces ahead of him. By the time he walked out of the camp, Tala was sitting behind the
wheel of the car. The engine was running. Kai climbed into the passenger seat and Tala shifted into gear. The car took off down the road.
~*
The air was heavy with the scent of urine. Rei shuffled his feet, trying not to breath in the putrid smell, trying to forget he was standing ankle deep in it. It was horrible. Beside him, Li was standing stock still, as if not affected by this. Kevin
stood on his left, whimpering in pain and fear. Rei had yet to ask what the trip to the medics had resulted for the other two
neko-jins, but somehow, he knew it was worse than what he'd faced.
Noises were all around. The sound of someone crying. The sound of someone dying. Already, air was running out. Rei felt tired
and he knew that he wasn't getting enough air. All conversation had ceased some time before.
Rei licked his dry lips, finding no relief, because his mouth was dry too. There was no water. He'd either die of lack of oxygen or from dehydration. Lovely choices.
But the train kept going. He could feel its movement beneath his feet, hear the clack of the wheels on the rails above all others. He wondered how long it would be before he got to leave this infernal box car. Somebody was choking now, he could hear it. He winced. Someone else was being sick, probably from the stench. He knew it was making his own stomach churn in disgust.
His eyes felt heavy. He felt like he hadn't slept in a long, long time. This was almost mind-numbing. He counted the rotations of the wheels in his head. '87....88....89....90...'
The urine rose higher. The stench grew heavier. Rei began to feel faint. He was sure now that he was going to die in here. He
couldn't hold up much longer. There was no air, and what there was made him sick. His mouth was drier than a desert now. He felt weak.
And just when he was positive he was going to die right then and there, the train halted. The wheels stopped rotating, the clacking stopped. There was a loud whoosh that announced they'd stopped. Rei almost sighed in relief. He'd survived - so far.
~*
Mariah glanced out the window, letting the drapes fall back into place. It was dark outside and she frowned. "Hiwatari-sama should've been back by now."
Tyson stuffed another slice of bread into his mouth. "Maybe the car stalled. Maybe they had to walk."
"Maybe," Mariah said softly, turning back to the kitchen stove. "I don't think so though."
Tyson shrugged and went back to his dinner. "What if they didn't find Rei?"
Mariah looked at him worriedly, her eyes wet with tears. She buried her face in her apron. "What if they did find him? What if he's dead?" she sobbed.
Tyson got up and went to her. He patted her on the back, rubbed her shoulders. "Don't worry, Mariah. They'll bring him back."
She looked up at him and saw the look of sheer determination on his face. She smiled lightly. "Thank you, Tyson."
~*
There were shouts and the sound of wooden planks falling to the ground. The rusty doors slid back and fresh air flooded in. Hard-faced soldiers glared at the occupants of the rail-car, yelling at them to get out. The neko-jins mobbed, no longer chained in a line, eager to get away from the place of death. Urine flowed over the side of the car, onto the cement below as their feet displaced it.
Li grabbed Rei's hair, forcing him to stay still for a moment longer while he whispered, "Stay close together."
Rei nodded and Li let go of him. Kevin whimpered and latched onto Rei's arm in fear. "What are they gonna do to us now?"
Li started forward, pushing into the crowd of neko-jin prisoners. Rei followed him, keeping his eyes on the long, greying ponytail at all times. He tugged Kevin along with him. The green-haired boy whimpered and his nails dug into the bare flesh of Rei's arm.
Once they were on the platform, the guards lined them up again, and replaced the shackles about their wrists and ankles. Again, they were marched. They marched out of the train station, into a small farming community. Rei walked a bit faster than
he should have, getting as close to Li as he could. "Where are we?"
Li shrugged. "Farming town, it looks like."
"Why would the Emperor be here?" Rei asked, glancing around. "Does he live here or something?"
Li shook his head. "Nah. He wanted a secluded place to carry out some deaths. 'sides. People in small towns are generally more racist."
Rei glanced around and saw that this was true. Some little kids were shouting rude things at them and throwing rocks, while their mothers screamed at them to get back before "the dirty scoundrels got ya". Rei lowered his ears, feeling slightly humiliated.
They marched straight through the downtown core, at five o'clock in the afternoon, meeting the rush of marketers closing shop. The shop keepers jeered too, and Rei felt slight contempt. These men, who looked to be at least forty, were no better than the six-year-olds who had yet to learn respect. It was disgusting.
As they walked, Rei curled his lip and bared his teeth, slitting his eyes and watching them. This seemed to shut the shop-keeps up for a moment. Rei turned back to the road ahead of them and Li hissed at him, "Don't do that."
Any pride Rei had felt was crushed by the command. And he saw why now too. The shop-keeps carried pistols and the soldiers seemed not to care if a neko-jin died before they got to the destination. Some of the soldiers even carried whips, held ready in the hand and Rei shivered. They hated them.
Six miles out of the town they were marched, along an old farm road, dust rising up from their feet. An icy wind blew and out
over the empty fields, wolves howled. Rei picked up his pace and walked closer to Li. "How long will they keep us marching?"
"Probably until we get there. They won't risk a camp out here-"
"Silence!"
The whip tore down across Li's back, but the older neko-jin didn't cry out. He flinched a little. The soldier made a lash at Rei's ankles and the blacked-haired neko-jin whimpered. The soldier moved on. Rei stared at the bloody wound on Li's back. The blood trickled out of it, down across the skin, sticking to the frayed edges of Li's grey shirt. Rei stared at it and it stared back, reminding him of the hate and prejudice for his kind.
The night wore on. As midnight approached, an old house on a grand estate began to take shape in the dark. At first, it was just another nameless lump and Rei thought it was a hill. Later, as they drew closer, he could see it was a house, but no lights shone and he wondered if it was just an illusion of the shadows.
Around one o'clock, the guards called a halt, and the neko-jins stood, milling outside the iron gates of this foreboding place. It looked like an ancient castle, its tall spires scraping at the night sky like claws. Rei remembered the stories of spooks and witched Mariah used to tell him to get him to go to bed, or to make him leave Kai alone. He wondered if the creatures she'd spoke of were real. If they were, this was the kind of place they'd reside in.
The soldiers knocked three times on the gate with a rusting, misshapen knocker and then, the iron bars slid back, creaking and groaning. The soldiers started forward, the neko-jins between their ranks. They started up a long and winding path to the house.
Rei looked about a bit. The castle, or mansion, was on at least three acres of fenced in land, and beyond that, empty fields and forests rolled. There wasn't another house for miles. Rei shuddered. This was the end. They were out here, with no hope of rescue if they were indeed to be put to death here.
He looked forward and noticed now that the porch lights were on and there was someone standing on the porch.
The soldiers called another halt. The officer in charge started talking to the doorman, or butler, or whatever he was. A wolf howled, close by, and the neko-jins jumped collectively.
At last, the conversation between the soldier and the man died off and the man stepped aside and the heavy front doors opened. The soldiers in front went ahead, the neko-jins filing in after them and finally, the rear guard.
"Alright, you scum bags, get some shut eye! You're gonna see the Emperor at dawn!"
They were led downstairs, into the rotting basement of the castle and there, they were locked up. They slept on the damp, stone floor and shivered due to the nippy air. Most of them didn't sleep though, worried about the morning and the tidings it would bring. Some were grieving lost loved ones, others cursing the Emperor and the soldiers.
~*
Kai watched the darkened country-side roll by, listening to the clack of the wheels on the track. Every now and then, the train would blow its horn, the sound echoing in his ears.
He hadn't bothered to get a sleeping coach. He hadn't expected it to take this long to get up to the capital. They'd been re-routed though, because of a major train accident on the main line. They were now going out and around, heading through the country-side. They thundered through little town stations, only slowing a bit. They had yet to come to a complete stop.
They'd need to stop for fuel soon. Kai shifted restlessly and glanced at the map he had in his hand. The next station they'd come to would be in the little farm community of Jai. That probably wouldn't be for another hour or so. He settled himself back in his seat.
Tala was sprawled out on the seat across from him, his map splayed over his face, the edges of the paper fluttering slightly with the red-head's snoring. Kai smiled lightly and shook his head. He looked back to the countryside outside.
~*
Dawn broke over the world, sending the neko-jins in the basement into a fit of panic, of terror. It was mass chaos. Some were
screaming, some were crying. Some were fighting, some were trying to break down the walls with their claws. It was a pitiful sight.
And then, the soldiers marched down the stairs and everyone was silent. The sound of shoes on concrete echoed. The door was unlocked then and the soldiers stood before them, commanding and terrible. "On your feet!"
They were marched up the stairs in orderly fashion, all of the desperation having dissipated into hopelessness and despair. They were marched down long corridors, up stairs, by various rooms and people. They were held at gun point and whenever they passed someone, be it soldier or worker, Rei could see the hatred in their eyes. He kept his eyes on the ground and lowered his ears.
They were herded into the ball room and there the stood, eyes glued to the ground. The doors shut and locked behind them. They stood for what seemed like eternity in silence. Trumpets blared suddenly and the guards saluted and neko-jins began hushed whispering and silent crying. The end was near.
The room fell into a hush and Rei dared to lift his eyes from the floor. He had to see the man who was about to deliver his death penalty. He had to see the hatred in this man's eyes, he had to ask him why silently. He had to look upon this man and see that, despite all the riches and power this land had to offer, he was no better than the people he was killing.
Rei looked upon the Emperor. He felt his mouth go dry, felt his limbs begin to quake. He felt weak and powerless in this man's presence. His stomach tied in knots, for he could see no other emotion on this man's face than that of pure, pure hatred, and a desire to kill them all. This was real.
And for Rei, that was what set it off. Terror had dawned upon him, realization had set in and his dream-like state had evaporated the second he looked upon the Emperor. He knew now. He knew.