A Voice in the Dark
By: Anime Angel ^0^
"Jim?" Gene walked carefully into his younger partner's room, not wanting to upset him. Jim was sitting on the bed, staring at the floor. He didn't move as Gene approached. "Jim...we'll find her. Don't worry."
"Why...why would she leave?"
Gene sat down next to his partner, and looked down at him. "Well..." He didn't know what to say. "I guess she just felt like...um..." He stopped. What could he say? Melfina and Jim were close, he knew, and not even he knew why Melfina would want to leave her only family.
"I thought she was ... with us now. Why would she feel like she was trouble?" Jim looked up at Gene. His face was still bruised, and one of his eyes was swollen shut, but Gene could still see the disappointment in his crystal blue eyes. "Was it something I did, Aniki?" he whispered.
"I don't think it was anything any of us did, Jim."
*****
Melfina looked up at the large hotel sign in disgust. It was rusty and molding in the corners, but with the small amount of money that she had taken, she couldn't afford anything else. An old beat up sign hung from a few hinges just above her head. It read: 'The Satr Gazer's Hotel'. Satr, she thought to herself, Gene would get a kick out of this one.
"Can I help ya ma'am?" the clerk slurred as she entered the building. It was obvious to her that he was drunk, but she didn't say anything about it.
"Um...I would like to get a room...please?" Her request was answered with a deep and gurgley laugh that chilled her body.
"Here? A pretty lil lady like yaself? Why, I'm flattered, but we 'ave no rooms miss!" His belly began to jiggle as the man let out another laugh.
"Oh...well thanks anyway." She was about to leave, when he pulled her back.
"Ya could come stay in my room if ya like miss..." She pulled away from him in disgust, and exited the building.
As she headed alone down the street, Melfina noticed that a man across the way was staring at her. His face was covered, but she had the feeling that she was being followed. Quickening her pace, she rounded the corner into a grocery store. As she had figured, he followed her in.
"Excuse me, have you seen a young lady with dark hair round here?"
As he began to ask around for her, Melfina quickly lost herself in the many aisles of the store. She moved quickly around a corner of cans, and ran into the man.
"There ya are..." Making sure she couldn't make a noise, the man dragged her out of the back door. She felt a blow to her head, and then everything went black.
*****
"ANIKI!" Jim limped through the door of his partner's room. As usual, Gene had fallen asleep. Unfortunately, it was also the middle of the day, which meant that it was Jim's job to wake him up. "WAKE UP IT'S TIME TO GO OUTSIDE!!!" Jim climbed carefully onto Gene's bed, only to be nearly strangled by his older partner.
"Mmmmmmmm....Nancy....." Gene pulled Jim closer. "So warm...smell like flowers..."
"Eeewwww...ANIKI!" With one swift whack, Jim knocked his partner over the head. Gene jerked up.
"Wha...Wha....JIM!"
"Come on Gene, we gotta go look for that guy today, remember? We can't very well do that if you're sleeping!"
"Fine, fine, yeah yeah I'm goin'." Gene pulled himself out of bed, and got dressed. Then he and Jim headed out to look for the man named Disona Cant.
*****
"Hmmmm..." Melfina moaned as she slowly sat up in bed. She knew immediately where she was, and what had happened: she had been caught by the man that had been looking for her.
As her eyes sweeped the room, she noticed that it was very richly decorated. A finely decorated table lay in the corner, and flower vases covered it's surface. Next to it was another finely decorated chair, with red velvet seat coverings and goldish looking threads. A large painting hung on the wall next to her, and the woman in the picture seemed to be staring straight at her. With sudden realization, she realized that the woman's eyes were really two small cameras.
"Good afternoon miss Melfina, did you enjoy your nap?" A large man, she realized, had somehow entered her room without her knowing. He was somewhat short, and very overweight. He was richly dressed, and even had a gold pocket watch hanging down his suit. "My name is Mr. Cant." The words were stated simply. Melfina noticed the somewhat taller man following closely behind him. It was the guy that had kidnapped her.
"You...you were the one who wanted me, weren't you?" she said stupidly. Melfina already knew the answer, but for some reason she needed to ask anyway.
"Why yes, and I finally get to meet you." He waddled over to her, and placed a cold hand on her cheek. She jerked back with disgust.
"Don't TOUCH me!" she growled. Surprised at her own anger, she fell silent again.
"And why shouldn't I? I spent a lot of money and time looking for you, so I can do whatever I WANT WITH YOU!" He smacked her across the face, leaving a large red mark. "I am your new owner..."
"I....I....I don't belong to anyone!" Her voice quavered, and Cant smiled at her bold remark.
"Oh really? Then what were you doing with those other two. Were you all friends?" he sneered.
"You monster. Jim and Gene care about me. And Gene's gonna come and rescue me, just like he did before!"
Cant let out a deep throated bellow of laughter. "Oh yes, Gene Starwind gonna fight all my men and come to save you! Ha...he couldn't even get there in time to save his little kid!"
Melfina turned red, and felt stinging in her eyes again. She was scared, and began to shake.
"And besides, why would they want to come after someone who doesn't feel the same way about them?"
Melfina's face softened. "Wha...what do you mean?"
"You ran away, didn't you? Now don't you think that would tell them that you don't need them anymore?"
She didn't know what to say. With a sudden guilty jerk, she realized that she may have hurt them both more than help them. She knew that they cared about her, so what would they think now?
"I...."
"Exactly. They're not coming after you, girl. You might as well get used to it. Why would they? That boy got all beat up for you, and all you could do was run away. That's the thanks you gave them." With that said, Cant turned around and left. The darkly clad man waited for a second, before following after his boss, leaving Melfina to think about what she had done.
"Gene...."
*****
"WHERE IS HE???!!!" Gene threw the gambler onto the ground. He and Jim had found out what kind of business Cant was in, and now they were 'talking' to some of his associates. "Where does he LIVE!" Gene yelled.
"I...I DON'T KNOW..I" the man whimpered.
"Of course you do....YOU DO BUSINESS WITH HIM DON'T YOU?!"
"Well...I...I...ASK TIM!!" He pointed to a smaller man watching quietly in the corner of the room. Gene turned to face him, and he jerked back.
"ME?!" He yealled. "I DON'T KNOW NOTHIN'!"
Gene advanced on the man, and lifted him off the ground.
"C'mon now, ya gotta know something. What's he payin ya, huh? Is it worth LOSING AN EYE?!" He raised a fist up menacingly.
"Okay OKAY! I'll...tell ya. He lives in this large building!" Gene tightened his grip. "THE CORNER OF CAROB AND SANCHEZ!"
Straightening up, Gene dropped the man onto the floor of the bar. "There, that wasn't so hard now was it?"
With that said, the two partners left the building.
As they headed towards the location that the 'business associate' had described, they could see the building even before they got there.
"What the hell...." Jim's eyes were fixed on the building. "It's huge!"
Gene looked at the large building in disgust, and realized that this guy, Disona Cant, had to be the richest guy on the planet. He decided that , even though he had never met the man, he hated him.
When the two got to the building, they were surprised to find that it wasn't very heavely guarded at all. However, as they opened the gate to go inside, a voice stopped.
"How may I help you?" It was soft and sweet sounding, with a hint of an accent. Gene didn't like it.
Seeing that his partner wasn't going to answer, Jim took the liberty. "Um, we would like to see Mr. Disona Cant?" He paused, and nothing happened. "Please?"
"Much better, what a polite boy. May I ask your name?" The voice seemed to sing the words.
"Um....that would be John Hawk and..." He looked up at the grumpy Gene. "George Winder."
The microphone was silent for a bit as Gene grumbled about the stupid name Jim had given him, but soon the voice came back on. "I am very sorry young man, but Mr. Cant does not have an appointment with you. Would you ike to make one?"
Gene pulled the microphone toward him. "Listen up Mr., we don't need an appointment, SO LET US IN!" he growled.
"Oh MY!" the voice exclaimed. "You really should learn from your friend what POLITE means." With that said, the sound box turned off.
"What?!" Gene tore the thing off of it's hook, and threw it to the ground. "We'll come back later with Suzuka and Aisha."
*****
Melfina curled herself up on the small bed as best she could. It was getting late and she was exhausted. Not ony this, but the man and his 'friend' had not come back since the last time. As she closed her eyes, Melfina began to think.
Gene, Jim, what have I done? She gingerly felt the small bruise forming on her cheek. You were so good to me and...and all I could do was leave you. But then more thoughts arrived. But what if I had stayed? Both of you would be dead, or hurt.
Feeling a sudden chill, Melfina searched the bed for any form of blankets. Finding none, she laid back down. Feeling sleepy, she soon drifted off into a deep sleep, convincing herself that what she had done was right.
To be continued...
*Okay...even I know that chapter sucked....HOPEFULLY THE OTHERS WILL GET BETTER! hey, if you wanna comment, just review it for me! Feel free to flame, I enjoy them very much. *evil laughs*