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 12
Twelve men dressed in black, topped with bullet proof vests and clutching long rifles silently scattered to surround the cabin at a distance. It was late afternoon and everyone was anxious to finish this operation before the sun sets. It would be a lot harder to catch the suspect, not to mention more dangerous, in these woods.
But none was more anxious than Eriol Hiiragizawa.
He didn't notice that he was donning borrowed uncomfortable SWAT uniforms and heavy vest. His attention was focused on the cabin while trying to shut out unnerving images of Tomoyo with that despicable man. All day he had been praying that she was okay and that Kazuma had not dared to touch her. He prayed much more fervently now as his nerves were stretched to the limit. That cabin was quiet. Much too quiet.
It took them a few more hours to go through the list of the doctor's properties, send out dispatches to them and inquire about his whereabouts. Certain that they got their guy and that he was currently on leave according to his secretary, Eriol and his men came out with crude plans on how to retrieve the two abducted girls while waiting for Tokyo's SWAT team to arrive. A small, quiet town like Tomoeda didn't have enough trained manpower that could help them.
Movements to his left caught his attention. He waited for Nakajima and Hirayama, the leader of the SWAT team, to join him. "Everything in order?"
"Yeah," Nakajima panted through the heavy equipment.
"My men are in cloud nine. This place's heaven for us. No civilians, plenty of trees for cover and lots of windows around the cabin," Hirayama crouched behind the tree beside Eriol's.
"I doubt if the victims inside regard this place as heaven. In fact, I'd say its hell for them," Eriol grimaced.
"Yeah, well, can't do anything about that except to get them out of there ASAP. My men are at your beck and call."
"Ask your snipers if they see anything inside the cabin."
"You heard him boys," Hirayama adjusted his earpiece then positioned his rifle to the window on their side of the cabin. "No movements here."
Through their earpieces that served as two-way radios, each group affirmed the same thing. Several minutes passed by as they waited patiently. Nakajima was the first to break the silence. "Are you sure they're inside?"
"Very sure," Eriol swiped a sweat from his forehead. "He's fancy. That's his haven. Not to mention that his car is up front."
"Could be a decoy."
"No. He's there. I can feel it. What do we do now?" Eriol was getting restive. Though he's the head of this operation, he doesn't have that much of experience in this type of situation.
"Let's try to get in. Beta and Delta, check the doors. Snipers, stay in position."
"Roger," came the unified replies. Each team except for Alpha has two SWATs and another cop from Eriol's original team. Alpha team was comprised of Eriol, Nakajima and Hirayama. Beta team was situated at the front of the house while Delta team was at the back. Alpha and Charlie were at the sides. Soon they heard a sound of metal to metal as the others picked the locks.
"Negative, Alpha. I can't get in."
"Back door's negative too. Seems like they're blocked from the inside."
"Damn! Go back to your positions."
"Can't we force our way in," Eriol asked Hirayama.
"I don't think it's wise. If what you said is true and they're in the basement, we won't be able to guarantee the hostages' safety. It would take us some time and a lot of noise to open the door plus a couple of minutes more to locate the basement. By then, the suspect will know our arrival and might be forced to do some drastic measures."
"So we're just going to sit here and do nothing," Eriol said back in incredulity.
"We'll see if there will be changes within thirty minutes."
"Thirty minutes! That's enough to kill someone and dig their eyes out!"
"Calm down, Hiiragizawa," Nakajima said, "you said he was fanciful. If he was then he'd already killed the girl last night. He won't kill Daidouji-san just yet. He's too obsessed with her. But if we corner him now he just might do something to her."
At that very moment a gunshot was heard.
Tomoyo! Eriol felt all of the blood leave his face and flowed to his suddenly erratic heart. Nakajima managed to nab on Eriol before he could bolt to the cabin and jeopardize the operation. Hirayama was busy issuing out orders.
"Delta to Alpha, I see movements at the open window. It's the kid! She's trying to climb out. Permission to retrieve her."
"Permission granted. All units have the green flag. Get in there as fast as you can."
Eriol elbowed Nakajima off him then dashed to the window at their side of the house. He slammed the handle of his handgun against the glass. Hirayama tried to remove the remains of the shattered window from the sill with the butt of his rifle but Eriol was already climbing in despite of cutting his hands raw. He became more frantic when he heard her scream.
He followed the sound like a beacon. Soon he found himself at what seemed like the door that led to the basement. Another gunshot was heard and he became more crazed. He almost tumbled down the stairs in his haste. He swung his gun around the room but found no one. At the corner of his eyes he saw a trap door on the floor.
"Hiiragizawa, wait!" Hirayama shouted his warning but the other cop ignored it and went down the passageway. Five seconds later, the ground shook as a bomb was set off to close the trap door.
Nakajima, Hirayama and some of the other cops coughed and waited for some of the dust to settle. The two crouched down at the opening that's now blocked with big rocks and packed dirt.
"Do you think he made it?" Nakajima asked after they got no response from their calls.
"God, I hope so," Hirayama answered back, although by the tone of his voice he wasn't expecting any miracles. "Delta, watch the cabin and stay with the girl. Beta, Charlie, spread out and search the woods. The tunnel's bound to end up somewhere."
~Scene Change~
Eriol gained consciousness just a few minutes after the roof behind him collapsed. Several rocks had fallen on him, one of which knocked him unconscious. The sting on his forehead and the pounding on his skull told him that he didn't escape the cave-in unscathed. He felt around for his eye glasses and automatically wiped the lenses with the sleeves of his shirt despite it being dirtier than the specs. He tried contacting the others through his earpiece but all he got was static.
He waited for his eyes to adjust to the semi-darkness. Behind him, thin columns of light penetrated the stacked rocks and dirt. The first thing he noticed was that both of his lenses were cracked. Knowing that his broken glasses would only hinder his sight rather than help it, he threw the frame aside and squinted ahead of him. He could still see some things albeit a tad blurry.
He pushed himself on his feet and went forward the tunnel. It wasn't long that what little light he had vanished and cast him in pitch blackness. It made him slower. Much as he wanted to get to Tomoyo fast, he couldn't risk stumbling down and breaking his leg or neck. Those falling rocks had probably knocked some sense in him. Good thing they did…
He was Tomoyo's only chance.
By the time he caught glimpse of the light at the end of the tunnel, his hands were already raw from grazing the sharp rocks that protruded the wall. He brushed aside the hanging vines that curtained the opening and squinted a bit at the remaining orange light that's being emitted by the setting sun. One look around the area and he knew where he was.
He was back in the woods where they lost Tomoyo. And around fifty meters to the south was the clearing where she disappeared. He, himself, had gone this far to search for her last night. And he combed the area at least twice but the dense vines that covered the mouth of the cave plus the darkness of the night had thrown him off track.
With grim determination, he ran towards the clearing. Pretty soon he was hearing her muffled cries.
Panic coursed throughout his body as vivid images of what the psycho was doing to her kept on flashing in his mind. It made him sweat some more despite the cold tremor running through him. He ran as fast and yet as stealthily as he could. His mind started blocking the disturbing images of a tortured Tomoyo and instead replaced them with ideas on how he could torture Kazuma Mizutani.
He positioned himself behind a trunk and cautiously peeked with his gun out and ready. Kazuma was trying to drag Tomoyo to a hiking trail that led to a secluded parking lot. Placing his gun back in its holster, Eriol moved quietly behind them and tackled the other man to the ground. Tomoyo was alert enough to wring his hold from her and prevented herself from being dragged to the ground.
Eriol, being stronger and more agile, had the upper hand. The tackle was short-lived and after several solid punches (and then some), Kazuma was knocked unconscious. He wearily stood up and kicked the guy's gun out of the way. He only got to go several steps before he fell to the ground again, this time with Tomoyo atop him.
"Are you okay?" It took all of his remaining strength to hug her shaking form as close to his body as he could. He buried his face against her disheveled yet soft hair and let her scent calm him.
"You came," she whispered against his chest.
"Of course I came. I promised I won't let him hurt you, didn't I?" He pushed them up in a sitting position then tipped her face up to his. "He didn't hurt you did he?"
She shook her head, amethyst eyes bright with tears of relief and delight. Eriol would have kissed her then…would have said the words that kept on echoing at the back of his mind ever since he met her again a week ago. But movements behind them brought him back to the situation at hand. He quickly stood up, pulling Tomoyo behind him and pointed his gun at the roused man.
Eriol glared at Kazuma, at his calmness despite being held at gunpoint. He had been lighting a cigarette using the built-in lighter of his gold plated case. The glowing amber end of the stick stood out against the twilight, making Eriol recall about that flickering light his men had seen before Tomoyo disappeared. A thin cloud of smoke went their way but Eriol didn't leave his gaze off the other man, especially now that he was trying to stand up. The older man was either too confident or just plain stupid. He was acting as though he has no care in the world, especially for someone who's about to be locked in jail for the next century (if he was lucky).
"Put you gun away, detective. I'm unarmed, you know that." Kazuma waved his cigarette-bearing hand around.
"Yeah, right," Eriol snarled back and retrieved his handcuffs. "You'd like that wouldn't you? Hands in the air."
Kazuma did as told but still kept on that annoying smirk. "I wouldn't wave that gun around too much if I were you. You might hurt somebody."
"As if I care if you get shot. In fact I'd probably enjoy seeing you dead."
"Ah, but would you enjoy it if Tomoyo-chan was the one dying because of your own hands?"
And then Tomoyo was in front of Kazuma, blocking him from Eriol's gun with her own body.
"Tomoyo!"
"Stay right there, detective. And do put your gun away. Tomoyo, dear, please fetch my gun. I believe it's somewhere to your left. There's a good girl."
"Tomoyo, don't!" Eriol shouted but of course was ignored. He shifted his gun from Kazuma to Tomoyo then back to the psycho, unsure of what's going on and what he should do. "You! What did you do to her?!!"
"Aw, come on, detective. Surely you could guess by now, seeing that you already met the skeleton in my closet," he took a deep puff of the cigarette and leisurely exhaled the smoke. Tomoyo returned to his side and he smiled at her. "Thank you, dear. Now point the gun at our friend here since he's too rude to point his gun elsewhere."
Eriol could only glare at the man in rage. There was no use reasoning with either of them. Kazuma was too crazed…too obsessed. While Tomoyo was too far gone from reality. He could see it from the lack of expression on her face and the dark dullness of her amethyst eyes. He should have realized sooner that Kazuma did more than repress her memories. The bastard had obviously put her in a hypnotic trance that could make her do his every bidding.
"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't put a bullet in your head," Eriol growled, taking a step forward.
"You mean aside from Tomoyo shooting back?" He lit another cigarette then stepped on the old one. He brushed some raven locks from her face and neck and placed his palm on her small back. "If you kill me now then my little amethyst eyes will forever stay this way…beautiful but without a will of her own. You see, only I can control her…only I can have her."
"Never! Over my dead body!"
"That could be arranged. I'm getting tired of this game. Tomoyo-chan, shoot him in the head. He would have done the same to me."
A long tense silence passed between them. Eriol still had his gun trained on Kazuma but his eyes was on Tomoyo. With his eyes he pleaded for her to wake up, begged her to come back to him. A brief change in her facial expression gave him hope but was quickly dashed to the ground.
"Tomoyo, do it now!" Kazuma impatiently flicked his cigarette.
And then the silence was broken by the sound of a single gunfire.
To be continued…
BISHLOV NOTES:
Aw, come on! Don't tell me you didn't see it coming. By now you should know I'm sick enough to throw another cliffhanger. This chapter's ending is practically clichéd. But you have to admit that its effect is still pretty d*mning.
I made a booboo somewhere in this chapter but was too lazy to think of an alternate scene. I wonder if someone noticed.
Now I wonder how many more death threats I'm gonna get this time…
KISSY THANKS MINNA-SAN!!!