Yeah, I know, I haven't exactly explained what the DD are doing…so sue me, I haven't gotten to that yet! (And yes, to those of you who want to know…the little ones will be involved pretty soon. Expect a big, complicated plot twist…)

Predestined

Chapter Seven: In the Darkness of the Dawn

Kim Motomiya woke up early the next morning in pitch darkness. Her head throbbed with pain that stemmed from the left side of her head, and the rest of her body ached from lying unconscious for two days in a cold, damp cave. A further inspection of her aching skull with her tentative fingertips revealed a patch of dried blood on her temple. She winced in pain, knowing immediately that she must have lost a lot of blood.

A hand groped around in the darkness, and touched her shoulder. "Kim?" a shaking, but thankfully familiar voice asked. "Is that you?"

"Lee? Where are we?" she asked.

She heard Lee groan and try to get up. "I think it's safe to say we're not in Kansas anymore, Toto," she said in a mock Dorothy voice. "That stupid bitch nurse…I'm so going to kick her ass when I see her! She was the same lady who attacked us at my place."

"What did she do to you? I mean, I know for a fact that she probably gave me the worst concussion I've ever had in my life…"

Lee's voice was angry and hard. "First, she stabbed me with a pen off my desk. Thank God it didn't go too deep…and she drugged me at the hospital. I remember her sticking a syringe in my arm."

"What are we gonna do?"

Her friend sighed. "I don't know. Do you think any of the others are with us in here?"

Hikaru's voice cut through the darkness. "Yes, some of us are. Lauren's in here too, and Chris…but both of them are still out cold. I haven't seen either of them since they tossed Lauren down here."

"Hikaru?!" Kim called. "Where are you?"

"Tied to a stalactite, or a stalagmite, whatever you call these damn things!"

Kim tried to stand, but almost immediately fell over onto her face. "Ow!" she cried.

"Easy there," Lee said. Kim heard her grunt, then plod off toward the sound of Hikaru's voice. "Hikaru? Keep talking, I'll try and find you."

"Hey!" Kim cried as Lee stepped on her foot. Then a fold of fabric wafted past her bare leg, and her brow furrowed. "Lee? What the hell are you wearing?"

Lee muttered, "Damn!" and furiously yanked the strings of her hospital gown. "The least that bitch could do was give me my clothes back! I'm practically naked! These hospital gowns leave absolutely nothing to the imagination!"

Kim let out an insane burst of giggles. Lee gave an irritated groan and pushed her over, then kept blindly feeling around for her cousin.

"Lee, over here!" Hikaru was saying. "Hell-ooo, Earth to Miss Independence, I'm waiting!"

"How long have you been here?" Lee asked.

"Long enough," came Hikaru's reply. "The goons that took me and Chris just left us in here. Chris tried to defend me, but they knocked him around for a while. Played a game of hacky-sack with his head…I think they broke his glasses, I'm not really sure. Tania saw them, I think…is she all right?"

"Do you think I'm supposed to know that?"

"I guess not…anyway, this creepy chick showed up later. You should have seen her, man, she had one yellow eye and one orange eye. Plus she looked like she belonged in an S&M club somewhere. She had a steel-tipped whip…she whipped Chris in the face with it, as a matter of fact…and a machete or one of those what-do-you-call-them's…a throwing blade? And she was dressed in a black leather outfit like Catwoman."

Lee finally found Hikaru, and started to untie the rope that bound her to the conical rock. "I wish we at least had some light in here," she grumbled. "Then, I could see what kind of knots they tied you with. It feels like a sheep's shank, but I'm not sure, it could be a reef knot too…"

There was a groan from a far corner of the cave. "Why are we discussing knots, when we could be coming up with a plan for getting out of here?" it said.

"Chris!" Hikaru cried. The moment that Lee untied her, she immediately began to fumble around in the dark for him. "Oh my gosh, Chris…"

She finally found him, curled up on the ground in a ball. She lifted his head into her lap and touched his face where he had been cut by the whip. "Does it hurt?" she asked.

"Not much. What really hurts, though, is my skull. I think those hired hit-men dented it pretty bad. What about you, Hikaru? Are you all right?"

She half-sobbed, half-choked, "I'm fine, I'm fine…" and found his lips in the darkness, and pressed them with her own. She kissed him over and over, overcome with relief to have found him.

"Are you two making out over there?" Lee yelled. "Coz if you are, I think that can be classified as statutory rape! Or something."

"Get real, Lee, he's my boyfriend!" Hikaru said, exasperated. She helped Chris to his feet and steadied him. "Now all we have to do is find Lauren. I think she was hurt pretty bad when they brought her in."

They found Lauren about half an hour later, after crashing into the sharp rocks about a dozen times. Lauren was splayed out on the floor of the cave, and as far as they could tell, she was unconscious. Lee found the sweatshirt that had been tied around her waist, and put it on herself in silent satisfaction.

"Now I'm not so cold anymore!" she said triumphantly.

Chris had one arm wrapped protectively around Hikaru's waist. "Where in the Digital World are we?" he asked.

"I got no damn clue," Kim sighed. "I guess we'll find out once that psycho-bitch from hell lets us out."

Lee smirked, which of course they couldn't see in the dark. "Judging by the things she's already done to us, it'll be a cold day in hell when she lets us out."