BISHLOV: *sigh* this did not come out as creepy as I wanted. Oh well...ENJOY!!!
DISCLAIMER: I do not own CCS or any of its characters. CLAMP does. This plot is a product of my imagination. Any similarities to other fan fictions are unintentional.
AMETHYST EYES
By bishounen lovah
Chapter 11
The chair was brought back to the middle of the room. Sitting on it was Tomoyo with Keiko on her lap. The once dark room was now bathed with a beam of sunlight, forming a rectangular spotlight on the two. Tomoyo tried to be brave for the girl but her heart pounded hard against her chest in time with their captor's footsteps as he walked in front of them in a leisurely pace.
She felt like a cornered prey waiting for the predator to dive in for the kill.
Her brain was all muddled up with numerous questions mixed with the feelings of shock, betrayal, anger and fright. This man whom she once thought as the most kind-hearted person she has ever met turned out to be a wolf disguised in sheep's clothing.
Looks could really be deceiving. Even now he didn't look too menacing in that impeccable business suit and handsome, clean-shaven face. But Tomoyo knew better. No man who could do these things to innocent children could be harmless.
He's an animal...a madman.
Keiko started sobbing against her chest. She tightened her hold on the girl, ready to protect her at all costs. She was here because of her. If something bad happens to the child she could never forgive herself. Somehow they'd be able to escape. She'd make sure of it. Eriol would make sure of it.
With renewed courage, Tomoyo dared to look up at the man. "Why are you doing this?"
Dr Kazuma Mizutani stopped pacing and turned to look at her. Half of her wanted to berate herself for opening her mouth and drawing attention to herself while the other half wouldn't let her just sit there passively. That latter half kept her face from showing the fear that gnawed her stomach as the man walked up to them and reached to tip her head up.
"Why? Isn't it rather obvious, my Tomoyo? I'm doing this because I love you," he said as he gave a sickeningly sweet smile. He bent over, drawing his face closer to hers, aiming for her lips.
She barely managed to escape the kiss due to his firm grasp on her chin. She was able to turn her head at the last possible second causing his lips to brush her cheeks instead of her lips. Amethyst eyes flashed in disgust and met ice blue eyes. An involuntary shiver coursed through her body as she realized the degree of his coldness in those eyes. They say that the eyes are the mirrors to the soul. It was only now that she could see her doctor's soul.
"Don't call me that," she hissed. "I'm not yours nor will I ever be yours. And don't you use me as an excuse to your sick mind."
"Ahh, but it is the truth. I do love you and you are mine."
To her relief, Kazuma released his grip on her and took a few steps back. He reached inside his coat pocket and took out a gold cigarette case. She watched as he took a stick and tapped it on the case. Weird as it may seem, a part of her didn't want him to light that cigarette.
"I delivered you, did you know that?" Tap. "Six and a half pounds." Tap. "You looked like the usual newborns." Tap, tap. "Nothing special." Tap. "But I was wrong."
She knew she should be irritated with his tapping but instead the sound and the movement of his hand mesmerized her. Why did this man have such a bewildering effect on her?
"The moment you opened your eyes I knew I was wrong. Such beautiful colors. Amethysts. Your eyes were like the gems only warmer. Babies' eyes change color a few weeks after birth but I knew that yours would remain the same. At that moment I fell in love with you.
I changed my life for you. I shifted from obstetrics to pediatrics. I know everything about you...your every sickness...your every vaccination...even how your mind works. You see, you're my life Tomoyo."
"You're sick," Tomoyo spat out. "That's not love. That's obsession."
"Love...obsession...what's the difference?" He waved the unlit cigarette around. "By the time you were seven I felt discontent. I wanted you for myself. So I stole you from your mother. She deserved it. She wasn't giving you the love and attention that was rightfully due to you. She always left you alone with that pathetic nursemaid of yours. I would have done much better taking care of you. They don't deserve you. I do."
She could tell that the man was starting to get carried away with his own story. His voice was starting to get huskier from emotions and his eyes were getting a crazed glint. If those hadn't unnerved her, his next movement did.
Kazuma had wandered to the wall while talking, once in a while looking back at Tomoyo with a smirk. He balled his hands to a fist, crushing the cigarette inside. Then he punched the cement wall several times with all of his might. She wished that it had hurt him but knew that a psychotic man like him probably relished the pain if he had felt any at all.
She was right because he just looked at his bloodied fist in wonder. He took a handkerchief from his pocket and wrapped his hand with it. The crushed cigarette fell to the ground and his eyes followed the movement with a frown.
"I was very angry when you managed to escape from here. But I was proud too. My lovely amethyst eyes had brains to complement her beauty. I searched for you but you had gotten such a big head start. The next thing I knew I was being summoned by your mother to perform a physical and mental exam on you.
I was reluctant to go of course lest you identify me as your abductor. But what can I say...you had me wrapped around your little fingers. You had me addicted to your eyes. I was surprised that you did not recognize me. I deduced that your selective memory loss was the result of shock and fear. Your young imaginative mind had only identified a 'shadow man' as your abductor.
And of course there was that risk that you'd remember everything once you've rested and the trauma has passed. So I suggested to your mother that we use hypnotism to repress your memory."
Something about what he last said made Tomoyo realize something. It made sense now why her mind was not totally in her control the night before...why despite her inner struggle that large part of her mind still made her go willingly to this man...why with just one order from him her body follows.
"You bast—," she managed to cut herself off. Keiko was still a quiet and frightened bundle in her arms. It would do the girl no good if she realized that her companion was distraught too. "You messed with my mind, didn't you? You didn't just repress my memory. You did something else too."
"How astute of you to notice. Yes, I did more than just that. The brain is like a computer and hypnotism is nothing more than programming that computer. I 'programmed' you to come back to me by full moon. But you never did."
He gave a creepy humorless laugh and went to the bookshelf. He toyed with the cloth that covered the detested jars. "I guess I wasn't such a good hypnotist then as I thought. Your mother didn't bring you back for more sessions so I wasn't able to correct what went wrong. I couldn't get you because of your bodyguards. So what's a man to do?"
"A sane man would have given himself up to the police." Deep inside Tomoyo was asking herself why she's even listening to this man. His gun was already tucked in his pants. The door that would lead to the upper level of the house was wide open. She and Keiko could make a run for it when he has his back turned.
The truth was she wanted to hear his story. She wanted to know what else he did to her in order to break from his bond. She wanted to know what he did to those other girls and where he hid their bodies.
Closure. She's staying because she wanted...no, needed closure.
"Perhaps you were right. Perhaps I am too obsessed. When I couldn't get you, I tried to forget you. But I couldn't so I settled for the next best thing." He uncovered the canisters and picked up what she could surmise as his first victim. For what seemed like forever he stared at those eyes and they stared back at him.
Keiko chose that moment to brave a look at the 'bad man'. She saw those eyes before but it was dark then and could barely see them despite knowing what they were. But now, in broad daylight, those eyes were too much to take for a seven-year-old girl. She started screaming and climbed higher on Tomoyo's lap.
"Hush, chibi-chan, I won't let him hurt you." Tomoyo tried to calm the hysterical girl. Who could blame the kid? She herself was trying very hard not to be affected by the sickening sight but could feel the bile rising from her stomach. Only her hate for the man kept her from throwing up.
The sounds coming from the girl brought out Kazuma from his trancelike stare at the eyes. He walked back to them bringing along the glass canister. "Lovely aren't they? See, Keiko-chan, your eyes are as lovely as theirs."
The child only screamed louder when the container was all but shoved to her face. Kazuma was not teasing her. He was too far-gone with his thoughts to realize that he's only upsetting her. Tomoyo pushed the girl's face to her chest in an attempt to hide her.
"Get that away from us," she yelled but her words fell on deaf ears.
"But they're not as beautiful as your amethyst eyes, Tomoyo," he continued on as though nothing happened. "They did not satisfy me. Oh, don't give me that look. I'm no pervert. I had no desire on their bodies...just their eyes."
He replaced the eyes back among the others but went back to her and caressed her cheek lovingly, much to her disgust. "But you, my Tomoyo, I want all of you...not just your amethyst eyes."
She jerked her face from him and slapped his wounded hand away. Kazuma grinned back, amused at her show of fire. The more she gets angry, the more her eyes glitter like the gems they were compared to. "And then you came back to me. I don't know what happened...why you had those dreams...those visions. But I grabbed the opportunity. I decided we could play a little game. I kidnapped those other girls to get your attention. And it did. Daidouji-san brought you back to me again and again. I used those sessions to make sure that my new 'program' was flawless.
I made sure that you would come to me by my seventh."
"That's why you changed your MO. That's why you made sure that there were witnesses to Keiko's abduction. So that I would get a message."
"Of course. See, you and I belong to each other. You understand me so well as I you."
"Shut up! You don't know anything about me. Why did you kill those girls? Why did you take their eyes?"
"Because they're not you. It's as simple as that. I saved these eyes not because I wanted trophies. Oh no. I'm not that selfish. I wanted to share them with you so that you'll see how special you are. So that you'll know that your amethyst eyes are the most beautiful."
Tomoyo had enough of this. The man was definitely sick...completely insane!
She whispered something to the girl while she waited for the still rambling psycho to come close. When he did, she kicked him in the groin with all of her might. She placed Keiko on her feet and the girl promptly ran to the open door. Tomoyo stayed behind long enough to pick up the chair and slam it on the rousing man.
She raced to the door taking two steps at a time. Keiko was waiting for her in the hallway. They locked the door and jammed it with a nearby chair for good measure. Tomoyo grabbed the girl's hand and went off to search for a way out.
They went from room to room but all of the doors were nailed shut as well as the windows. When they reached the last room there was still no possible way out except for a small window but it was a bit high to reach. Tomoyo started ransacking the drawers and cabinets for a hammer, knife or crowbar...anything she could use to pry the door open. When she couldn't find anything she started pulling frantically on the boards that blocked the door.
And then a gunshot was heard. A second later the sounds of a body slamming against the basement door came to them. She knew that it would only take him a while to break the door. She looked around in panic. Having no other choice, she crouched down in front of the girl to talk to her.
"Listen, Keiko, I need you to brave for me. Do you see that window up there? I'm going to boost you up so you can climb out and get out of here. Do you understand?"
"But what about you?" Tears started to come out of her eyes again.
"I'll be fine. Don't worry about me. He won't hurt me." I hope.
Tomoyo indicated for Keiko to sit on her shoulder. She cried to the girl to reach up for the window, hoping all the while that the girl would fit through the small opening. "Push yourself up. That's it. You can jump down. It's not that high. You could do it and when you get outside look for the stream. I think...no, I know there's one around here. Go downstream and when you find people ask them to call for the police. Tell them to look for Hiiragizawa. Can you remember that? Can you do that?"
The girl let out a small 'hai' and then shrieked when a loud bang sounded from the basement.
"Go!" Tomoyo yelled for she knew that Kazuma was coming. She watched the girl maneuver herself to the opposite side of the wall. She saw her little fingers let go of its hold and heard a short scream as she fell.
God, please, let her be safe, she prayed before rushing out of the room to find a hiding place.
To be continued...