Chapter 16: The Shepherd of My Days
"Since the day that I was born
Brought to this life
Where was I before?
Non-existent? Not at all?
Will I ever know?"*
Two and Half Hours Later…
An orderly stuck his head into the darkened, upstairs office. "Sir?"
No answer.
"Sir? Doctor? This is somewhat important."
No answer.
The shadowed orderly squinted, and peered into the darkened room. "Dr. Vincent? You are in here somewhere, aren't you?"
The sound of shifting cloth against leather was heard. "I already know." He replied with a grumble.
"What are your orders, sir?" The orderly asked quietly.
Dr. Vincent stood up from his couch and sat back down at his desk. "Seal off this floor from the rest of the hospital, and lock that door from the outside."
"But sir, that means you can't…"
"Do it." He instructed with a huff. "Now."
"Yea…yes, Doctor." The orderly stammered, and then shut the door.
There was a moment of dead silence and pitch blackness.
"So you're coming home little Swallow, coming home to find yourself? Or something else?" Dr. Vincent muttered into the darkness.
"I've been told this isn't about me…" A small voice said quietly, adding a touch of laughter for sheer shock value.
Dr. Vincent looked up from his desk, to the far side of his office. "You've gotten quite good at that."
"I've learned a few things from your son, but that shouldn't surprise you." Keiko explained, walking up to the mahogany and granite desk.
Dr. Vincent looked up at her, trying to be sympathetic to her situation, and then found it impossible. "What is it you really want?" He leered at her.
She leaned her head back slightly, catching the slight moonlight that was now shining from the window Keiko had left open. "I want it out of me."
He cocked his head slightly to the right. "Your eyes looked like those of a madwoman. You've lost your mind already, haven't you? You have so much farther to go; it's a little early for that."
She snarled and exposed an elongated canine. "I don't have time for your mind games right now, Doctor. You can rape my mind some other time."
He slid a small piece of plastic across the blotter of the desk. "Sixth floor, fifth door on the left from the elevator."
She picked it up and stared at it for a moment. "Now tell me how to stop the disease."
"He's probably already dead, Keiko. You've wasted your time."
Keiko growled and grabbed the doctor by his shirt collar, pulling him forward in his seat. "Tell me." She hissed, staring him down.
He tried to pull back. "Have a rather unhealthy obsession with him, don't you?"
She threw him back into his seat, and the chair wavered. "If that's true, I suppose I have you to blame for it."
He gave a slight laugh. "I suppose so."
Keiko felt herself starting to break down, the past few hours' events finally overtaking her subconscious. "Just tell me." She whispered, hanging her head.
It's always inside of my head. This place just brings it out of me in a rush. She thought.
Dr. Vincent pulled open a drawer on the right side of the desk, pulled out a small metal safe box, and placed it on the desk in front of her. "Ten milliliters a day, for the next ten days. You should see some improvement in the next forty-eight hours if you get it in him soon."
Keiko turned away from the desk, and started to walk back to the window. She turned back slightly and eyed him. "I was expecting to have to fight for this."
That's what I wanted, and that's why I'm being denied. She realized.
He chuckled. "I thought this wasn't about you."
Keiko stepped up, and onto the window sill. "This is about revenge isn't it?" She asked, hanging in the window. "You'll get your revenge through me."
He ignored her comment. "I take it you're not going to the Sixth floor right now."
"My answers can wait." She told him, jumped out of the window, and down to the pavement.
Dr. Vincent stared at the flapping window drapery. "Liar. You're too selfish for that kind of reasoning."
Silence filled the room.
He gagged suddenly and spat up blood, staining his lab coat and desk blotter.
"Time is…blood." He muttered, and then collapsed upon this desk with a thud.
Twenty minutes later…
Komugi sat on the edge of the bed and watched him sleep.
Between Kyosuke sleeping and Keiko gone, it's really quiet here. She thought.
She had tried to listen in on Shiro's conversation with Olivet, but when the subject of fluctuating market prices came up, she gave up out of boredom.
She stood up and leaned on the elevated area of the bed, putting her head next to his. "Just you and me, huh? I've been waiting for this chance, I kinda have'ta admit."
She put a hand to his chest, and his grimaced. "Not right now, Kei', it hurts there." He muttered.
Komugi gasped and backed up instinctively. He only thinks about her like that. She realized, sadly.
Kyosuke rolled his head towards her and looked at her with half-open eyes. "What are you doing, Komugi?" He asked quietly, but with a hint of annoyance present.
She gasped again, covered her face with her hands, and turned away. "I'm sorry."
He exhaled noisily, and passed out from the stress.
Komugi turned around and shook him gently. "Hey, tell me its okay! Come on, that's not fair!" Her eyes started to burn, and her vision hazed over. "You can't go…and be mad at me…" She whined.
She sat down on the floor and put her head to her pulled-in knees. "It's not fair." She whispered. "It's just not fair…"
It wasn't until she was about half-way home that the feeling of "being watched" finally overwhelmed her.
The hell…
The alleyway was dark, but Keiko had a good feel for her surroundings. She couldn't see only in the vicinity, but with what could be tailing her, location didn't mean much. She shut her eyes and tried to feel out where the other person's energy was radiating from.
"There!" She shouted aloud, turning around and to her left.
One building back, on the roof's edge stood a tall, lanky, blond-haired man in white, staring intently at her.
Keiko's memory flashed. "Father?" She wondered aloud. "No…no…" She started to babble, while walking away backwards. "It's not you, it can't be. You're…you're dead!" She clutched the box to her chest in fear.
My child… She could hear him say inside of her..
Keiko shirked and clutched a clump of hair with her available hand. "NO! Get out of my head!"
Child…
"Get away!" Keiko screamed, and took off running. "Get away from me!"
She tried to rationalize why her long-dead father could materialize so suddenly, but realized there was no logical explanation for it. It just wasn't possible. More monsters… Keiko realized in a panic. Just more monsters following me…
She took the rest of the route home at a paranoid, full-sprint.
A Half-hour later…
"Hello? Hey, I'm back!" Keiko announced with a pant. "Hey…"
The living room and kitchen were empty.
But the bedroom door was open. She walked over and stood in the doorway.
Keiko screamed and dropped the safe box on the floor.
There were several small puddles of blood on the floor that were beginning to congeal, and both Olivet and Shiro had blood splatter on their clothes. Keiko walked over to the side of the bed, and Olivet went around behind her and picked up the box.
They had lowered the bed, and Keiko stared in confusion at a new machine that he hand been hooked to. She followed the long tube that have been placed in his mouth to a machine with her eyes, and didn't know what to make of it. "What's this?" She asked quietly, putting a hand to his cheek.
Shiro walked up behind her and put a hand on her shoulder. "It's a ventilator. He can't breath of his own because his lungs are so full of fluid." He told her quietly.
She shook him gently. "Hey, it's me. Kyo', come on, look at me."
No response.
Komugi sat in the corner and sniffed. "He's been comatose for over a half-hour now."
Keiko sniffed, then clenched her fists. They've been just keeping him alive so I can say goodbye.
Olivet opened the safe box and filled an empty syringe. "Do you still want to try this, Shiro?" He asked when he was done.
He cocked an eyebrow in response. "Why are you asking me?"
"Because she's obviously too enamored with him to make any rational decisions about this."
Shiro grabbed the syringe from him and stared the doctor down. "Get out."
Olivet took a step back and was obviously confused.
"Out!"
Olivet frowned. "If you plan on trying this, I have no control over what happens."
"Five minutes ago you were ready to issue a death certificate. Don't tell me about this situation now or an hour from now or whenever!" Shiro hissed, and then softened. "How much, doll?"
"'Ten milliliters a day, for the next ten days'" She replied.
He turned and opened the IV fluid line that Olivet had set up. He inserted the needle into it, pushed in the plunger, and closed the line.
Keiko put a hand on his shoulder. "He's cold."
Shiro handed her pale yellow blanket that Komugi had gotten down from the top of Keiko's closet. "Here."
"Thanks." She told them while wrapping him in it, then smoothing it out over him. "Much better." She whispered, trying to sound even a little bit more upbeat.
"You're all in denial. He's practically a corpse already." Olivet proclaimed, before finally following Shiro's "advice" about leaving the scene.
No shit. Thought Shiro.
Keiko pulled the sitting stool at her dresser out, sat it next to the bed, and sat down upon it. I'm so tired. She thought, as she laid her head down on the bed and held onto his arm.
Shiro ushered Komugi out of the room, and shut the door quietly behind them.
Keiko's emotions overflowed, and she started to cry quietly, her face buried in the blanket she had wrapped him in. "I'm sorry I wasn't here. I know I should have been. I'm so sorry."
The door creaked open and Komugi peered in. "Keiko?" She whispered. "You gonna be okay?"
Keiko took no notice, and went long sobbing quietly to herself.
Komugi pulled back, shut the door quietly, and leaned on the door handle. Of course she's not going to be okay. She sniffed and her eyes burned. Now I remember why I don't believe in God. No benevolent god would make us suffer like this.
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* "Six Feet Under" by No Doubt
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Chapter 17: Abused for Being Strange, Part 1
"Nothin' takes the past away
Like the future
Nothin' makes the darkness go
Like the light
You're the shelter from the storm
Give me comfort in your arms…"*
Two small figures ran across a city's square. It could have been any city, in any town, except for one unique feature.
The massive Gothic cathedral with its ever-impressive Rose Window.
"Papa, wait up!" a little girl's voice chirped.
"Hurry or we'll miss the sunset!" a middle-age man could be heard retorting.
The small girl, with her platinum blond hair and aquamarine blue eyes, came to a stop at the cathedral's steps and stared up in amazement. The Window was on the other side of the building, but the front with its three sets of massive wooden doors and rough carvings of gargoyles and demons were almost as impressive to the young gazer.
"Wow! It's really big up close!"
The man bent down next to her and looked up towards the cathedral with her, his blond hair shining with the fading daylight. "Come on, we'll miss the sunset if we don't hurry. Here…" He offered his arms. "I'll carry you."
"Oh-kay!" She chirped, with a smile on her face, and jumped up into his arms.
He picked her up and carried her up the stone steps, and walked into the one door that had been left open. His footsteps echoed through the grey marble eaves, and bounced off the stained glass windows.
The little girl looked at the Technicolor windows as he walked up a set of stairs leading towards the upper balcony of the church. "Papa, what's that one about?" She asked, pointing at one of windows. It was of a woman in blue, with a small child in her lap.
He hosted her up slightly and kept walking. "We'll talk about it later, okay."
"Aww," she whined, quietly. "You're no fun, Papa."
"Hm."
They arrived at the back of the cathedral, on the upper balcony. He knelt down and set the little girl down on the floor. He then pushed on a low doorway at the lower right of the Rose Window and then ducked through. The little girl was preoccupied with looking at the window close up and had no notice of the doorway at first.
"Are you coming? You're gone miss it." He called back through the doorway.
"I'm coming! Wait! Wait!" The little yelled, and ducked through the doorway.
Her father had not lied; the sunset from the church balcony was truly a magnificent sight. It had a perfect line of sight view of the sun setting between two distant mountain peaks. He picked her up and set her up on the outer railing of the balcony.
A hint of metal gleamed behind his back.
The sun finished setting and the girl waved. "Bye-bye sun!" She noted cheerfully.
"Prove me right, kiddo." The man muttered and pulled the dagger from behind his back.
"Hm. What Pa-?" The little girl started.
He jammed the knife in to the little girl's chest; the force knocking her over the balcony.
She never screamed, and went quietly into the night.
*
The Following Day
"He really does look much better. I'm quite impressed." Olivet commented, seemingly offhanded as he packed away the ventilator.
Keiko sat on the edge of the bed playing with the ends of Kyosuke's hair. "He said not more than a day or so to see improvement. I almost didn't make it in time through."
"Hm. I suppose so."
Keiko eyed the doctor. He gives me the creeps. And this is a girl involved with a dead guy talking. It's not like I freak easily...which means there's really something weird about him.
Shiro came up behind her and put a hand on her shoulder. "You holding up okay, doll? I see you finally found time to change."
Keiko looked down at her lightly faded, short, pink kimono. She normally didn't wear such frilly colors, but she hadn't had time to clean most of her clothes recently. "This one is old, but it has sentimental value. I can't quite bring myself to throw this one out."
He patted her shoulder. "I wouldn't worry about it. But…"
Keiko looked up at Shiro. "What's wrong?"
He looked off to the side. "I need you to go down and work at Joe's today. We're really broke Keiko, and as it stands right now we can't even buy food, and paying Dr. Olivet is out of the question right now."
The temptation to stand up to Shiro and whine like a little girl was strong, but she fought it back. "I see."
"He's already out of the woods, doll. And he's not awake yet so it's not like your missing anything. Besides, he'll need you later, and I'm sure you'll want to be here then, as opposed to waiting for him to wake up." He explained, removing his hand from his shoulder.
She sat watching the bed for a moment in silence.
"Fine. Give me a few minutes to get ready to go." She finally told him. It wasn't that she disagreed with him. She just wished that he would get a job too.
Keiko half-turned in her seat and watched Olivet finish packing and Shiro help him carry his remaining equipment from the room. Shiro gave her a nod and shut the door behind him.
Keiko looked at Kyosuke and noticed something odd. She put two fingers to his neck and checked his pulse, put her hand on his chest, and then sat back in her seat.
"How long have you been awake?"
Kyosuke opened his eyes slowly and then rolled his head over towards her. "So you could tell."
She leaned towards him. "Yeah, your breathing's a lot deeper than that when you sleep. I knew something was up. And I'm now under the impression that Olivet's a quack. He couldn't even tell his patient was no longer comatose."
He rolled his head back and stared at the ceiling. "I'm so tired still." He told her quietly.
Keiko stood up, pushed the stool under the bed, and sat on the edge of the bed. "I had a feeling. You haven't really been sleeping."
"Don't tell them I'm awake yet. I don't think I'm ready to deal with all of the chatter." He told her, closing his eyes and shifting in the bed slightly.
Keiko stood up and sauntered over to the closet. She shift amongst several gaudy kimonos and began to really wish she had done her laundry.
"Wear what you have on, it's fine." Kyosuke mumbled. "But your tail's showing."
She looked over at him as she tucked her tail back under the thin, cloth belt she wore under the kimono. "You just don't want me making a bunch of noise changing, do you?"
He muttered something incoherent.
"What a stick in the mud. Were you this fun when you were alive, too?"
The words stung, and he forced himself upright in bed. He wasn't strong enough to sit up completely, so he was somewhat hunched over. "That was low." He whined.
Keiko walked back over, plopped down on the bed, and supported him under his arms. He gave up supporting himself, and laid against her, but instead of feeling joyous, or even slightly elated, a twinge of discomfort hit her.
This is the kind of thing a mother does. I sort of feel like I'm just a replacement for her. She thought sadly. Maybe that's all this is – "mothering." Maybe I'm only in love with him because everyone says I should be. I think I'm in love because so many people have told me that's what's right, and that's what is supposed to happen. 'This is what the DNA says,' 'this is what the Bloodlust does to people.' Maybe I'm just following what I've been told.
Keiko looked down and noticed that he had fallen back to sleep. She pushed him back gently and laid him on the bed, and then pulled the blankets up to the center of his chest.
She stood up and looked at him, the sadness continuing to creep over her psyche. I love him, but maybe I'm not in love with him. Maybe. I don't know. She pondered.
She picked up a small satchel that was on the dresser, and walked to the door. She put a hand on the handle and stopped. "Why is it that I'm also so upset before I go to work? It seems like really bad timing or something." She whispered to herself. "Someone's idea of a good time is making me hurt, it seems."
She walked out, shut the door behind her, and left for The Blue Moon.
Two Hours Later…
"How you holdin' up, kiddo?" Joe asked, putting a hand on her shoulder.
Keiko brushed his hand away. Why does everyone do that to me?
"I'm fine Joe." She told him stoicly.
"Alright. Can you bus table number eight, in the corner?" He motioned with his head to the far corner of the bar from their position. "It's been like that for almost ten minutes and no one will sit there with that mess."
Keiko took notice of the half-dozen empty highball glasses on the table. "Sheesh, it's only noon and people are already getting plastered."
Joseph shrugged. "It's a tough world. Some people gotta drink their lunch to get through the day, I suppose."
They don't really know how tough life can be then. Their lives can't be so hard that if they aren't sober, they still won't miss anything, or miss that last goodbye to someone who might not…
Keiko found her eyes stinging and she rubbed them with the back of her hand quickly, before Joseph could take notice.
Stupid place. I hate this place. Her mind complained.
It was then they took notice of a disturbance at the bar.
"Stupid punks." Joe complained walking towards the bar. "Always looking to start something here."
Keiko watched the situation progress from half-way across the establishment. A younger man with dark hair, dressed in black had a bank note in his hand, and was standing at the bar asking for something. A slightly older male patron sitting next to where he was standing turned to him; the younger man shot him a glance and then ignored him, much to the disdain of the seated customer.
Joseph walked over to the two patrons and asked if they were going to start something, to take it outside. The younger man eyed Joe and then headed for the exit. The older man slid off of his bar stool, pulled out a bank note from his back pocket, and laid it on the bar's counter. Joseph put a hand up as a gesture of "relax" and the man seemed to give him a nod, before heading out of the bar.
Joseph walked back over to her and Keiko watched the door nervously for a moment or two. "Stupid punks." Joe complained again. "They're always starting trouble here, ain't that right, kiddo?
Keiko ignored him and walked over to the bar. "Hey, give me my bag, okay?" She asked the afternoon bartender, who oddly enough was Joe's wife, Elisa.
The slightly overweight blond haired woman picked up the light pink satchel from the counter behind the bar and handed it to her. "You leaving already? Joey ain't gonna pay you much for your work."
Keiko had already started to walk away when Joseph stopped her from leaving. "Kiddo, you've barely done anything."
She smiled at him. "I know, Joe. But I made double what you'll pay me for a full day in tips already. That's why I wasn't in any hurry to clean that table and get rid of them. Those guys paid me good."
Come'on, let me go already, I need to get outside. Her mind complained.
He lifted an eyebrow. "'Paid you?' For doing what?"
She showed him a lecherous smile. "That's none of your damn business, is it?"
He was visible taken aback and absent –mindly stepped out of her way.
She laughed to herself. Ha. He is a pervert. I figured a little suggestive imagery would be all it took to get him to let me go early.
Her laughter ceased when she stepped outside.
The older man had his back to her, but was no more than a few feet from the doorway. Had it been any other patron of the bar, they probably would have screamed at this point, but such violence was mild compared to what she had already seen in her days. The younger man, standing opposite of him, but in Keiko's line of sight, shifted his gaze to her for no more than a blink and then returned it to the older patron. He was holding his upper right arm with his left hand, and Keiko noticed several small blood splatters on the ground around him.
"I was gonna be nice about it, kid, but I can't be nice about it now. Your kind are all alike. Nothing but a bunch of spoiled brats living off the pain of others." The older man babbled, his words slurred by the alcohol.
Keiko took notice of his tattered coat at this point, and realized that his goal was probably nothing more than a free drink, but when the younger man refused, he got violent. He doesn't have any clue what he's doing. That's why this is so dangerous.
The younger man's gaze shifted to Keiko again, and this time the older man took notice. He turned around and looked at her, then lunged.
The younger man yelled "He's got a knife!" but it was too late. The man slammed into her, but managed to lodge the knife in the side of the doorway instead of Keiko.
Keiko was stunned for a moment.
But it passed unusually quickly, even for her.
Keiko dropped her satchel and slammed an enraged fist into his gut, throwing him backwards. "Back off!" She yelled at him, without much thought.
The drunken man stumbled back several steps and stared at Keiko. "You…you're strong for being a little bitch."
That was it. Keiko had had it with him.
Keiko pulled him up by his label and stared him down for a second. She then proceeded to throw him up against the wall of the bar, knocking him unconscious.
"Don't call me a bitch." She muttered afterwards.
"I didn't need your help. I was fine. I would have been fine." The younger man told her coldly.
Keiko turned around; she had almost forgotten he was there.
He stared at her intently with only one eye, for the other one was covered by his steel gray hair which hung loose on his head. He stood at most half a head taller than Keiko, and his figure looked almost emaciated. His eyes were a deep indigo, but his anger seemed to tint them black. He continued to hold his arm with his hand; and he panted deeply, despite his attempts to hide it.
"You were fine? He already stabbed you once, how long until you were going to be fine?"
He squeezed his injured arm and stared at her in anger.
Keiko stepped over to the fallen drunk and pulled his knife from his hand. It was little more then a small stiletto, but the entire blade was covered in a thin layer of drying blood.
Sorry Grandfather, but I gotta do it. She realized.
She put the edge of the stiletto to the hem of her kimono and made a cut an inch deep, then tossed it to the ground. She then proceeded to rip the bottom inch of the kimono off, leaving a ragged hem and a shirt even shorter than before.
Keiko turned around and took a step to him, and he took a step back in response.
"Oh stop it. You're bleeding for Pete's sake." She told him, walking over before he could react and recoil in response. She pulled his one arm down and took a hold of the injured one.
"Hmm. The hole's too small." She told him, and then took a hold of material surrounding the stab wound's hole. The material was a sort of velvet or velour, and it obviously wasn't a cheap shirt. Nevertheless, she pulled and heard several threads pop. Keiko retightened her grip and gave it a final pull, ripped a large hole in the sleeve.
"Stop that." He told her coldly, staring her down with his visible eye.
She squeezed his upper arm and he flinched. "Stop complaining or it'll hurt worse."
She put the material under his arm, making the length on each side as even as possible, then wrapped it in both directions, covering the entire area of the wound. Keiko wrapped the ends together, but noticed that he had already started to bleed through the bandaging. She pulled the shirt material back over and let his arm go.
"It's not going to stop the bleeding, but it'll give it enough pressure until you get to a hospital. They can take care of it a lot better than I can."
He walked away from Keiko and started to poke about in a bush along side the doorway to the bar.
What a jerk! He could have at least said 'thanks.'
He seemed to find what he was looking for and bent down inside of the bush. When he pulled out, he held a sword in his hand.
Keiko stared for a moment. That's…
It was the katana that Keiko had killed so many with, and had even stabbed loved ones with.
"Hey, that's mine!" She exclaimed, pointing at it.
His visible eye grew larger, and he backed up a step.
Keiko took a step to him. "Where did you find it? You fixed it! I…" She started.
He backed up another step, and then took over running up a narrow alleyway.
"HEY! Wait! That belongs to me!" She yelled.
She backed up, grabbed her satchel, and took over running down the alleyway.
Fifty-five Minutes Later
Keiko came to a densely populated street and was forced to stop running. She was panting and needed a moment, anyway, so it was as good a moment as any to stop the pursuit.
You wouldn't think a guy with a three-foot-long sword would be so hard to find in this town. But…my God is he fast. I haven't had a run like this in ages.
Keiko looked about at her surroundings. She had been going at a full sprint, and had covered the distance between the bar and Tokigawa General Hospital in two-thirds the normal time for her.
She looked up at the façade of the building. It seemed colder than usual.
Rummaging about in her satchel, she found the plastic card Dr. Vincent had given her. I suppose this is as good a time as any, considering I don't think I can run anymore.
She slipped around the side of building and leapt up to the first floors' window ledges, and pulled open a window. Might was well walk around inside. It's probably safer right now, anyway.
She slipped inside and proceeded to climb to the sixth floor of the Hospital.
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* "Nothing Really Matters" by Madonna
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Chapter 18: Abused for Being Strange, Part 2
"Mother, father please explain to me
How this world has come to be
Unequaled in her blessings, oh, I see
Unbridled hatred so extreme, please tell me…"*
Ten Minutes Later…
Keiko walked the sixth floor and counted aloud. "Six-o-one, six-o-two, six-o-three, six-o-four, six-o…five." She came to a halt outside of the fifth door from the elevator.
It looked like every other oversized, wooden door in the hall. She pushed down on the steel handle and pulled the door open. It was heavy, and slow to respond to her pulling.
She stuck her head in. "Hello?"
The room had a strange layout, and it wasn't so much a room, as a door to a secondary hallway. There was a small area to the right with white-washed walls that held nothing, and a small corridor that continued in front of her. The entire area was over lit with florescent lights, and the sheen of the pale brown tiles reflected the light up and around the room, creating a dizzying effect of sorts.
Keiko stepped into what appeared to be an alcove of sorts, and the door shut forcibly right behind her. Ooh, that was a close one. She put her hands to her rear and she felt her tail fall out of the belt and fall down below her kimono's hemline.
She was tempted to fiddle with the belt under her clothes, but an elder woman's scream broke her concentration.
Instinct kicked in and she went running down the corridor, coming to a stop when she came across a pair of elderly nurses backing up in the hallway. One wore a white lab coat and blue hospital scrubs underneath; the other wore a set of green hospital scrubs, but no lab coat. Both had paper face masks and brightly decorated paper caps to cover their hair.
"Do something!" The woman in green yelled.
"YOU do something!" The women in the lab coat yelled in return.
Huh? Keiko's mind wondered.
They turned to the small woman with a tail and screamed, then backed away from her.
"I…" Keiko stammered, her sense lost for a moment
The women in the lab coat pointed nervously towards Keiko's right.
She turned and looked, and then put her hands on her hips. "It's YOU! Give me back my sword!"
It was the young man from the bar, but he didn't seem to be quite as composed this time around. His hair covered most of his face, and the top of his shirt was open. He was inside of a cubby, the size of a small room, and was ready to attack. His fighting stance was obvious, and Keiko could easily see why the nurses were frightened.
Keiko stepped between the nurses and the young man, and the nurses grabbed at her, trying to pull her out of the way. It wouldn't have been nearly as bad if one of them hadn't grabbed her tail instead of her arm.
"Arg!" She shouted, half-turning to gaze them with a wild look from one eye, causing the woman in green to release her furry appendage.
The woman in the lab coat came to her senses and pushed the woman in green away. "Go! Go get Dr. K!"
Keiko turned back to the young man, but her mind wandered a moment. Dr. K? Grandfather still works here? Is this what Vincent sent me to see?
"Stay out of this! This has nothing to do with you!" He shouted, drawing back Keiko's attention.
Keiko put her hands up. "Call down; I'm not trying to start something." She told him with as much composure as she could muster.
She watched his hair flutter gently around his face. Gotta get him calmed down.
She took a step forward and extended her right hand. "Just give me the…"
His anger exploded and he charged at her. "Get out of my way!" He shouted at her.
She had no time to react, but she did see the katana go up into the air. Time seemed to slow down, and she felt the blade make contact with her, landing between her neck and her shoulder. The force pushed the blade down into her flesh, finally hitting her collarbone. It snapped it into two, and pushed the jagged pieces down into her muscles, and lodged the sword's blade in between the two pieces.
But his stunned expression and wide eyes told her she had also managed to make contact with him. He let go of the sword's handle, and leaned forward, but he was propped up on Keiko's fist, which she had mistakenly jammed into his abdomen, just below his sternum. Keiko instinctively recoiled and pulled her arm back, and he went down to his knees clutching his midsection.
She stumbled back a few steps and clutched the exposed blade, trying to pull it upwards. She was trying not to scream, but as she bloodied her hands pulling, she cried out and sank down to the floor. She started to pant, and tried to ignore the pain.
Keiko looked over at the young man writhing on the floor. He rolled onto his back and his shirt fell open, drawing her attention to something she had missed before – several more small stab wounds, including one in the general area that she had jammed her hand into.
The nurse in the lab coat approached and reached out to touch Keiko's injury. She turned and growled at her, causing the nurse to clam up and back away again. "Don't touch it." She growled.
Keiko reached out and put a hand on top of his. I wanna make sure he's okay…but…but look what he did! Her mind protested.
A shadow appeared above them. "Keiko!"
She looked up, but her vision waned from the blood loss, and she was just confused. "Shiro?"
An elderly gentleman in a white lab coat, with white hair and a graying mustache, bent down next to her, and the shadow followed. "We need to take you to the O-R." He explained calmly.
"Just pull it out." She told him quietly.
"But…" He started.
"Do it. I just can't reach the handle and I'm not strong enough with only one hand, that's why I couldn't do it."
He looked back at one of the nurses. "Nurse Kai, hold onto her while I do this, so I don't inadvertently pull the bones up too far."
The nurse in the lab coat stepped forward. "But Doctor K, she needs real surgery. Pulling it out won't do anything but leave a gaping wound."
He ignored her comment. "Nurse Sani, bring me several towels. Large ones."
The nurse in the green scrubs nodded and started to walk off.
Dr. K remembered then and yelled after her. "Did you call the orderlies yet?"
She took a step back and looked at Dr. K. "They were called as soon as the situation started. I'm guessing they'll be here in a moment or two."
"I want Karasu (1) gassed and put in the Isolation Room." He told her flatly.
The nurse seemed perplexed. "The 'black box' afterwards, sir? Isn't that a tad extreme, even for this situation?"
He looked up at her coldly, displeased at her questioning of authority. "No. Go tell them."
The young man curled up in the fetal position on the floor and started to chant "no" over and over.
Keiko absent-mindedly put her hand on his head and ran it over his hair. It's soft…like feathers. She thought, her mental confusion starting to rise.
Her Grandfather grabbed a hold of her arm and pulled her back. "Don't touch him." He told her flatly.
Be strong, okay? Keiko thought. I can't do anything, he's holding on to me.
I can't, I'm… She could hear him answer in her mind.
She stared at him. "I…I can hear him. Inside my head." Keiko mumbled.
Two brutish men appeared in the doorway and Karasu started to shake. "No…don't put me in…NO!" He stammered, his face buried in his knees.
They pulled him up from the floor, and pinned his arms to his sides, forcing a scream out of him. He tried to pull away, and one of them squeezed the area that Keiko had bandaged earlier. He shrieked and the orderly pulled him away. "Stop fighting back and it won't hurt as much, kid." He told him flatly.
Karasu whimpered in response.
Keiko jumped slightly at the sound, but she became disoriented again, and the scene seemed to shift sideways in her view.
"Keiko?!" Dr. K shouted at her.
But it was too late – Keiko slumped over and blacked out.
It would be on of those times that Keiko would remember waking up as being an experience. Instead of her trying to break into Tokigawa General, the situation had become reversed.
And that wasn't even factoring in the soft-cuffs.
She was being held on of the sixth floor's other rooms; one of them that actual was a room and not a façade for something apparently more devious. They had left what she had on, but had removed the sword and bandaged the wound. Surprisingly, she wasn't in much pain, but she considered the wound's effects to be the least of her current concerns.
Her Grandfather was standing over her bed, and she yanked the cuffs, causing them to pull against the metallic bed rails.
"Are these really necessary?" She asked mockingly.
He scowled in response. "I take it you've gotten that smart mouth from staying with that lazy bum."
She returned the look. "Better than the bloodsucking nightmare I got from you."
He stared at her for a moment.
"What? Am I that much of a sight that there's no words worthy of describing it?"
He retorted with a slap across her left cheek, causing her to fall back.
"Bastard! You are so dead for this!" She yelled.
"I suggest you stay quiet."
"Take these damn things off before I have to rip the bed rails off!"
He looked thoughtfully at the situation. "If I take them off, I want you to stay put, it's in yours…and his best interest."
"What are you doing to him…" She whined.
"Nothing that isn't necessary. And if you don't put up a fight, I'll show you why. You came here for an answer, and I can give it to you."
Keiko gave up the fight, and he unlocked the soft-cuffs. Keiko sat up on the cot and rubbed her wrists.
He pulled a video screen on a wheeled cart up to the bed and turned it on.
She cocked her head to the side. "There's something wrong with the hue. It's all green."
Her Grandfather looked at her, and then back at the screen. "It's supposed to be green. It's essentially a night-vision camera."
She learned towards it and squinted. "Is that why it's kinda fuzzy? What is that?" She asked pointing at a whitish blob on the green screen.
He adjusted a dial to the side of the screen and a small mug-shot of Karasu and several statistics; including heart rate, oxygen levels, and various other number and letters that baffled Keiko.
Keiko's eyes widened and she looked him at him.
He put his hands up in front of her, trying to hold her back, at least mentally. "Hold it. I want you to understand something first. This is just as much for his safety as it is for our own."
She snarled at him.
"It is. Let me ask you something; what are outward signs of the Bloodlust?"
She thought for a moment, and then frowned. "I thought it varies from person to person."
"It does for the most part, but there's a few reoccurring symptoms, including protruding fangs and wings. And the occasional…hair incident."
"You get 'poofy' hair, essentially."
He seemed annoyed at her colloquialism. "Eh, yes, essentially." He turned back to the video screen and adjusted the settings, allowing for the text to grow larger. "Now consider this: what happens with a can of soda when you shake it?"
She cocked an eyebrow. "What the hell does that have to do with anything?"
"Everything. What happens?"
"Eh…it gets all…explosive…ehh…" She stammered trying to follow his reasoning.
"And what happens when you open it?"
"It explodes."
He nodded. "And what about the soda itself?"
Some of it was starting to make sense. "It goes back to being normal soda, abet on everything it exploded on."
The video screen beeped twice suddenly, and he turned to look at the numbers.
"What's wrong with it?" She asked, slightly baffled about the machine ability to monitor so accurately from such a distance.
"Nothing." He told her, resizing the text back down with an adjustment of the dial again. "Now imagine if you never opened that can, what happens to the soda?"
"It stays ready to explode."
He nodded again. "Correct. That is essentially what is happening to Karasu. He is the can of soda that cannot be opened because he doesn't produce the correct chemicals for manifesting the characteristics of the Ketsueki Yokubo."
She eyed him. "Wanna explain that again?"
He was a tad miffed at her request. "He cannot produce the outward side effects of the Bloodlust because of his chemical makeup, and because of this, he is maddened with rage and pain whenever it rises up in his system. He has no way of physically releasing the pain caused by changing."
Keiko stood up from the cot and watched the screen. "I understand what you've explained. But those symptoms pass relatively quickly, why is there a need to keep him in the Hospital all of the time?"
"We've discovered that the pain builds and compounds as time goes on. This is only the fifth time his gone through this and it's taking twice as much medication to keep his pain tolerance within a normal human range."
He's hurting… Her mind considered.
She looked up at him. "Let me try, please. Maybe I can help."
"There's nothing you can do. Modern science cannot even help him, so I'm doubtful of any effects you might have. You could even be detrimental to his condition if he becomes attached to you in any way."
She clenched her fists and stared him down. "How bad is the pain, really?"
"Not nearly as bad as it could be without the gases and lightless room."
That explains the night-vision camera. She concluded.
Keiko made her decision. She sidestepped her Grandfather, and took off running down the white corridor behind him.
He turned and yelled in her direction. "Keiko STOP!"
You've left me no choice. This is what Dr. Vincent really sent me for, to see what really happens…from the other side. She realized.
After running a dozen yards, Keiko discovered she was lost. She ended up at the end of the main hallway, which split off into two separate, yet smaller hallways.
She put a hand on top of her head. "Ah crap, now what?"
Both were dimly lit and unmarked.
"Shoot. Shoot!Shoot!Shoot!" She exclaimed aloud. "Losing my lead here."
She looked back down the way she had come and could dimly hear footsteps. Time to choose. It doesn't matter now. She realized, then headed to the right.
Half-way down this hall she ran into a locked, glass door which refused to open.
"Shi…" She started, trying to pull on the handle. "Open…"
This is too much. I mean, if even I can't open it…which means its leaded glass and is…" She released the handle. "…not gonna let me through this easily. Damn."
She backed up and forward-kicked the pane. It rattled, but did little else.
It was then her luck began to change. The nurse in green scrubs from earlier wandered into the hallway from an adjoining room.
"You're not allowed to be back here. You need to go back to bed." She told Keiko, muffled by a paper mask.
Lie…need a good lie… She realized.
"Um…my Grandfather…err…Dr. K asked me to retrieve something from this room." She explained, gesturing towards the locked door.
Bad lie, very bad lie. Note to self: work on lying skills.
The nurse walked over to the door and pulled on the handle. "I wonder why this is locked. I hope nothing's wrong."
Then this might not be the right way. Unless this woman's dumber than a doornail. Keiko considered.
She pulled a set of metal keys from a pocket in her scrub pants, unlocked the door, and pulled it open slightly. A faint smell of blood wafted through the hall.
Doornail, defiantly doornail.
"Heh, thanks." Keiko told her, stepping through the doorway and into what appeared to be a small waiting area.
Click…
Keiko turned around and realized the nurse had locked her in the room. She returned to the door and started to pull on the inner door handle.
"Let…me…OUT! Damnit!"
A muffled scream caused her to stop. She examined the opposite wall from her position and noticed several movable racks in front of a large iron door.
"Ha. And to think I almost gave her some credit. Idiot locked me in the room I was trying to find."
She pushed three racks to the sides and examined the door. It was featureless except for a simple iron handle.
With an inch wide chain-link chain connected from the handle to a socket in the wall, secured with a basic key-lock.
Keiko ignored the newer lock and pulled on the chain. It was showing its age, and rust flakes came off in her hand. She called upon some of her inner strength, braced a leg against the wall, and started to pull back upon the chain.
Come…on. It can't be that good.
Two of the links bent under the pressure. "Little more…"
Her hair fluttered gently around her face, and the bent links finally gave. She let go and the chain dropped to the floor with a thud. She pulled open the door, and then pushed it back. It started to re-close on its own, so she pulled on the movable racks back and wedged it between the door and doorframe, propping it open.
"There." She announced, brushing the flakes of rust from her hands.
The room was tiny and lit only by the light from the doorway, almost exactly what she had pictured.
What she wasn't ready for were more chains.
Karasu lay on his side, facing away from her, in a far corner of the room. Keiko walked over to him, and shook his shoulder gently. "You alright? They didn't hurt you, did they?"
No response.
He was bound by several interlocking chains, which feed into several holes in the wall behind him. Upon examination, to Keiko's disappointment, the chains were not actually attached to the wall, but went through the wall, and were attached on the other side to something she couldn't quite make out. On top of that, they looked to be brand new.
She pulled on one of the chains, and was met with the sound of metal scraping against stone. She winced. "Eck. That was a nasty sound." She complained aloud.
The sound caused Karasu to stir. "Mhm?" He muttered, sitting up as best as possible with the chains. He pulled his knees up to his chest, and held onto them.
Keiko bent down next to him. "You hurt?"
He stared at the open doorway and was silent.
Eh?
Keiko put a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, I'm talking to you. You okay?"
A moment of silence passed.
The rack that Keiko had wedged in the doorway was pulled out, and the door slammed shut on them. She jumped and backed up slightly.
Karasu screamed, but Keiko was unable to register what had happened.
"Did it work its way out? The door was really heavy." She mumbled in the sudden darkness.
She could hear the sound of metal-against-stone again, then the sound of something metallic banging against the other side of the wall.
"Hey, relax, okay? Getting all exciting isn't going to help."
Although she couldn't see him, she was convinced his level of panic was steadily rising. Oddly enough, she wasn't panicking. Being confined was one of those things she was somewhat used to. The darkness was an added issue, however.
"I don't like the dark." She whined. "Where are you?"
She received a smack from a chain to the left side of the head, seemingly as a response.
"Oww! Watch it! Where are you?" She complained, pulling on the chain that had smacked into her, forcing him to fall into her. "Why does it seem like I always end up hurt around you?"
He trembled, and she found herself holding onto him.
What the heck am I doing? She wondered.
She felt metal smack into her already wounded shoulder, and she saw colors float through her vision in response. "Uh…ooh…not good." She stammered, and grabbed at what had hit her, which turned out to be his arm. She pulled both of his arms in, pinned him, and held onto him from behind, trying to avoid getting another blow.
She ended up pushing on the stab wound, and he screamed again.
"Stop it! Stop screaming for GOD's sake!"
"Keiko!" Someone called over an intercom
It was her Grandfather. "Hello? Help!" She yelled.
"Are you alright? What happened?"
Karasu bent back and rammed his head into the bottom of her jaw. She pulled him back down and held on tighter. "I seem to have gotten myself into a situation." She turned her attention to Karasu then. "STOP THAT!"
He hissed in response.
"Hmm." Her Grandfather commented. "Seems so. I'm sorry, but I cannot help you, nor should I bother, considering you refused to follow my advice."
Curse words ran through her mind.
"I will speak with you when this is over." He explained, and the intercom shut off.
Karasu started fighting her again. "I'm…gonna have…a few words for him, for sure!"
She held on tightly, putting her head between his shoulder and his head, and her arms around his upper chest. "Stop it now. You have to stop fighting me. I'm not the one who did this."
His hair brushed against her and she took note of its softness again, which caused her heart to skip a beat. Ack! What the hell is wrong with me?! This is serious!
He grabbed onto her wrist and squeezed, and it was she who let out the scream this time. She grabbed onto his wrist and yanked it away, but it also loosened her grip, and he squirmed out of her grasp. He pushed back against her, knocked her onto her back. With a few missed grasps, and a bit of luck on his part, he managed to land a hand on her neck, and started to push down. After a few moments, the pain began to build, and she felt herself changing into an animalistic state.
Oh god, he might actually be able to…to…to…kill me…in this state. She realized, her mind becoming fuzzy.
She tried pushing back his arm, but he was placing too much weight on it to push it back, and she was growing weaker as her oxygen was slowly being cut off. She started to push his arm gently to her left, and she felt his grip weaken slightly. She forced both of her arms into his, and he grip broken, causing him to fall on top of her, startled.
Uh…
Keiko fumbled for a moment to find the collar of his shirt, and upon finding it, held onto it. I want to do it. I wanna try it. I've never even wanted to try, now I have to…I want to. She realized.
She pulled him up slightly, and he shuttered. She bent slightly, to where she thought his neck was, just above the collar, and bit down into his neck. Unfortunately, she missed slightly, and only landed one fang in the correct place. Regardless, he stopped moving upon contact.
She pulled back slightly and pushed him up, and she could smell the coppery scent of fresh blood. She sat up and licked at the wound with the tip of her tongue, causing him to go limp, and fall backwards onto his back.
Keiko sat back on her knees. "I…this is wrong…what am I doing?" She muttered. "I'm sorry…I shouldn't have done that. It's…I'm no different that what…who…caused this whole mess in the first place."
She heard the chains rattle as he rolled onto his side. Had she been able to see more clearly, she would have noticed that he shut his eyes and drifted off to sleep then.
The scratching of metal against metal was heard, and the iron door was pulled open, letting light float in. He tied it back to the other wall, stopping it from automatically closing again.
Her Grandfather stood in the doorway, back-lighted to the point that he was heavily shadowed. "Are you alright now?"
She rubbed her eyes as they tried to adjust to the change in light. "I'm fine."
"If you plan to leave, you're going to be wanting this." He explained, holding up her katana in the shadows. He laid it on the floor, and kicked it over to her.
She picked it up and held onto it, and then stood up. "You're letting us go?"
"After he's recovered, yes."
Keiko was slightly confused "Why are you letting him go?"
"Because he's no longer my concern. He's your concern now. "
"I see." She answered with a sigh. "I just wanted to stop him."
"Is that really all you wanted?"
No…er….yes!...err…maybe? Her mind babbled.
She stared at Karasu in silence.
"He is strange, Keiko. His memories are strange, and he says strange things about his soul. I suggest you err on the side of caution at all times." He advised. "Now come out and give him a little time to sleep."
Keiko walked to the doorway and was somber. "I'm sorry. I do realize what I've done, and I'm not proud of it."
He put a hand on her shoulder. "Child, this is not the battle that concerns me; it's what you haven't seen realized yet that worries me."
She looked up at him. "Grandfather?"
He turned and walked away.
She sat down on the floor outside the iron door, and covered her face with her hands. Oh lord, what have I done? And…poor Kyosuke…what have I done to him?
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1. "Karasu" is Japanese for "raven," and is a reference to his bird-like features and dark hair.
* "Mother, Father" by The Dave Matthews' Band
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