A Double Edged Sword Part 11
Falling to Pieces
by
Sailor Janus
Deidra opened her eyes but discovered everything was a big blur. She was lying sprawled on her bed and seemed to have the worst headache in history.
Rain beat softly against her window as she rolled over and suddenly felt very queasy. Without so much as a thought, she rushed off to the bathroom as fast as she could before emptying practically everything in her stomach.
Sickly she slumped to the floor and leaned against the wall as the acidic taste lingered in her mouth. Tears quickly fell from her jade green eyes as she drew her knees up to her chest, cradling them. 'What is happening to me?! I have never been this sick this before! What the hell is wrong with me?!' she thought as reached for a tissue to blow her nose. After a gentle blow, she gaped in horror at the ever present blood staining the soft white sheet. In frustration, she threw the tissue and buried her face in her knees rocking back and forth, before vomiting once again.
*~*~*~*
'White, pasty, and boring,' Minako decided as she stared up at the ceiling in the hospital. The effects of whatever drugs they used on her were finally dying down and the girl was finally able to think on her own.
The senshi of love knew she wasn't crazy. Granted, it was not a stress-free day and she did watch her friend collapse, sending her into a panic, but isn't that normal?
'Why did that lady lock me inside the morgue? I don't understand it,' the blue-eyed girl thought as she tried to move in the bed she was strapped to before giving up with a sigh. "Well, at least I don't have to worry about that history test today," Minako grumbled.
Turning her focus back to the ceiling she thought aloud, "I wonder how the others are doing? No one is telling me anything and the others won't probably won't visit until after school."
Closing her eyes, visions of the cadavers reaching out for her were still in her head. "I know what I saw and they really did come to life. I know they did, if only I could convince someone to believe me."
*~*~*~*
It had been several hours since Hotaru arrived home from school. Propping herself up on the pillows on her bed, she leaned against the wall as she brought her attention to the door which lead out of her dimly lit room. Hotaru's only comfort zone was that room. U unfortunately this time, it was not helping in the least bit. Everything seemed to be crumbling to pieces.
She could barely remember her day at school. Everything was a constant blur. Her sanctuary was a mess, which was very unusual. Normally, the dark violet-haired girl was able to keep up after her room, but now, it seemed pointless.
Everything was quickly going wrong. Her friends and herself were being hunted down; she couldn't concentrate on her classes and to her horror, received her first F on a math test. To make matters even worse, her father seemed to become sicker and weaker each day. Hotaru knew what was going to come of it, but continued to push the thought out of her mind. Even the three women who she loved as her second family, who raised her after she was reborn, were either injured or near death. The soldier of destruction didn't even want to believe that Haruka and Michiru could be dead right now. She refused to accept it.
Hotaru bit her lip as she felt all the tension build up and finally couldn't take it anymore. Quickly, she grabbed the nearest pillow and screamed into it for all she was worth before breaking down, sobbing uncontrollably.
Throwing the pillow effortlessly across the room, the teen wiped her eyes with her sleeve as she brought her focus back to the door and then to her backpack.
Escape.
*~*~*~*
Sighing deeply, Ami's heart felt heavy as she stretched and then dove into the cool water. 'Once again, I am here, trying to find a way to lose touch with reality. If only it were not so bleak, I wouldn't be here everyday,' the blue haired girl thought as she swam laps back and forth in the clear water.
She had to get her mind off the horrific events, but she couldn't. The frightened face of Usagi looking at her so fearful, Minako's frantic expressions, and Haruka and Michiru…. she couldn't even imagine them. It was too painful.
'Who is doing this?' Ami questioned as she dove under the water. Never since her days of becoming a sailor senshi had there even been someone focused on murdering them. Why now?
Realizing she was running out of air, the short haired girl began swimming for the surface when suddenly someone dunked her head back under.
Ami gasped but only water entered her lungs as she fought for oxygen only able to gain one breath before she was forced back under.
'I can't go on like this! Who is that?! If only I had my henshin wand,' the girl thought as she struggled against her attacker.
Finally, her frustration hit a peak as she clawed the hand that was pushing her under to the point she drew blood. The person cried out in and pulled Ami up by her hair.
Frowning, in front of her Ami found a dark haired woman looking very angry. "That was not nice!"
"And killing me is?" the blue haired girl gasped as she glared at the woman. "Why are you doing this?! We have done nothing to you!"
The woman's golden eyes gleamed as she smirked, "Because it is my duty, now die!" With lightening speed, she shoved Ami back under the water before the poor girl knew what was happening, and before she could even take one last breath as her lungs eventually began to fill with water.
*~*~*~*
Mamoru watched Usagi sleep, as his heart seemed to break. She was so pale and frail looking. The poisoning had terrified the girl so much that she refused to eat, no matter where it came from.
Slowly she woke up and noticed her boyfriend sitting in a chair across from her. Briefly she smiled. "Hi. When did you get here?" she softly said.
"A few hours ago. How do you feel?" the dark haired man asked, as he looked concerned at the girl in the bed.
"Okay, I guess."
"Usagi, I know how much you hate me for nagging you about this, but you have to eat," Mamoru stated firmly as the blonde shook her head nervously.
"No! What if it's poisoned? I don't want to die!"
The man sighed deeply. He never realized how scared she really was but looking deep into her crystal blue eyes, he knew she feared for her life. He was going to kill whoever was tormenting them. Usagi didn't deserve this. None of them did.
Quietly Mamoru stood up and walked up to his girlfriend then sat next to her as took her hand in his. "What if I brought some food? Would you eat that?"
"No, it could be poisoned too," she stated as the man sighed once again. The once cheerful girl was now a paranoid wreck, and it was tearing him apart. He had to help her but how?
*~*~*~*
Sweeping the shrine grounds was the only way that Rei could find a way to relieve her stress. 'I need a vision but nothing is coming to me! Who is this evil and why do they want us dead?!' Feeling her anger get the best of her, the dark haired girl threw the broom to the ground and stomped off to her favorite cherry blossom tree. She already had made several attempts at trying to do a fire reading, but Rei could not find anything. It was all a complete blank.
The mystery of Sailor Janus and Deidera was also plaguing her mind. "Why were those bracelets so important and where did Deidera disappear to?" the senshi of fire said to herself as she recalled the events of the past few days. The others never mentioned the girl since the attacks began but she was also a sailor senshi. Why would she try to hurt them not to mention, wasn't she a victim as well?
*~*~*~*
Makoto was hard at work, cleaning her apartment from top to bottom. She knew that Setsuna, who was staying there for a few days until everything was cleaned up at the mansion, didn't care otherwise. However, the senshi of Jupiter found that cleaning, cooking or martial arts training usually helped her work out her problems and keep a clearer head.
"Why does someone want to kill us? Did we do something to them in the past or something?" she said to herself as she vacuumed the carpet in the living room.
Checking her watch she noticed it was almost time for her to leave. "I guess, the rest of the apartment can wait," the brunette sighed as she left for her room to get ready before departing her home.
*~*~*~*
"I can't believe that this is the same place," Setsuna breathed as she looked around the devastation, which once was the lovely mansion, she had called home when not guarding the gates of time.
She was growing tired of the emotional anguish she was now constantly plagued with. The fact that this new nemesis was operating differently compared to their previous enemies was beyond her. The woman found it rather troubling and the fact that they still had no clue who or what was hunting them down gave no comfort. They were trying to assassinate them. Assassination. That seemed to be the perfect word. Strikes quickly and suddenly, without evidence leading to their identity.
'They have already placed four of us in the hospital,' Setsuna thought as she stepped over the broken glass and headed in the direction of her room.
She gravely feared what would happen next. "Explosion, poisoning, insanity, smothering, hemorrhage which lea to almost bleeding to death, there is no ties between any of them except they were done without knowledge leading to the attacker," she said to herself as she turned the doorknob to her room. The green-haired woman only wanted to grab a few things to take back with her to Makoto's before the brunette came to help her with the heavier stuff to place in storage. At least, the things that were spared from the shower of broken glass and metal.
"Tricky little monster even found a way to block my visions," she muttered when suddenly the woman was thrown against the wall.
Screaming, Setsuna landed on the floor and painfully groaned as she glanced up, only to find a shiny object in a dark haired girl's hand.
"You! You were that rude nurse! Who are you and what are you doing here?!" Setsuna shouted as she tried to get up but was forced back down.
Snickering the girl pinned the senshi of time to ground as she held the knife in her hand. "But that would be giving it away. Don't worry, this will hurt a lot probably, but soon it will be all over."
Holding Setsuna down with all her weight, the dark haired girl ran the blade of the knife against the older woman's wrist, slicing it as she cried out in pain.
"Oh, look at that. It's not good to commit suicide. You have so much to live for," the female assassin mocked with an evil glint in her eyes.
"Who are you?! You're killing me anyway so why don't you tell?" the woman urgently ordered as the girl sliced her other wrist.
"You are so weak, but I'll leave you with a name," the golden eyed girl sneered as she stood up. "They call me Kalika. The rest, you shall never know because life was too cruel for you, and you found death as a much better place. Good Night."
The garnet-eyed woman heard the girl leave as the lights began to dim.