Chapter Fourteen: Alone in The Dark

*So tired! Running on coffee and cookies* So how are you liking the story so far? I know I'm enjoying it very much. Van and Hitomi all the way! Hope you like the chapter!

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Godeshen Dungeon

Hitomi woke up in the dark unable to see anything in the room. She wasn't tied at all but that must mean that the doors were locked. Where were the doors? Hitomi walked until she felt the wall in front of her. She traced the wall until she felt the knob to the door and twisted it. Locked as Hitomi suspected with a sigh.

Hitomi was startled by an earth shattering scream that sounded close by. Hitomi couldn't make out whether it was a male or a female screaming. Shivers went up and down Hitomi's spine as she curled in the corner making her self as small as possible.

The last thing Hitomi remember was yelling Van's name over and over again as he plundered to the ground. She was taken away before she could see if he had regain control of Escaflowne and got away safely. If he has regain control of Escaflowne wouldn't he have come after her? Hitomi didn't want to think of what might or might not have happened to Van. Right now she was wondering was what Shin wanted with her.

Godeshen Reed's Laboratory

"What did you bring her back for? You should of just killed her when you had the chance. Now they'll be coming here for her" Reed said in anger as he knocked over the set of glasses.

"Don't go ballistic on me Reed. There's no need to worry. I have a plan all laid out" Shin said looking at Reed devilishly. Reed was all to aware of what that look meant. He had a devious plan that he was hiding from him.

Reed sighed as he sat down in front of his desk. "Why don't you tell me these things before? You have me worried all the time. Everything must be planned out or this whole operation will be over."

"You should know by now that I always have a plan Reed, and the plan for her will be a pleasant one indeed" Shin said as he left the room leaving Reed to wonder what was going through his mind.

Valley Outside of Freid

Light danced on the ground through the trees. The light danced on Van's face. He groaned as he felt the sudden pain in his ribs and left leg. His hand went immediately to his aching head as he sat up. Van memory suddenly came back as he saw Escaflowne lying next to him in dragon form.

Van remembered Hitomi being taken away by the black guymelef. He remembered flame blinding him as he chased after him. That's when he fell to the ground, but he blacked out before he felt the impact.

Van looked at the shape Escaflowne was in and cringed at the sight. He had just repaired Escaflowne to it's original shape and now it was even worse then it was before. As Van was thinking as noises came from all around him deep in the forest.

Van quickly pulled out his sword as he hard a noise directly behind him. He swung his sword but stopped before cutting into the individual.

It was Gaddes who had come up behind him and was startled by Van's speed. Van looked at Gaddes for a second then put his sword away. "Your getting to be pretty good Lord Van. You'd be a good match for boss" Gaddes said scratching his head. He whistled into the forest to let the others know that he had found Van.

"Escaflowne's in pretty bad shape. It's going to take awhile to fix it up again" Gadded said beside Escaflowne looking at it with a sympathetic look.

"I don't have time. I have to save Hitomi before they do anything to her!" Van said in anger trying to get Escaflowne to work. Van mumbled curses under his breath as he realized it would have to be repaired.

"If they were going to kill her they would of done it already. So I say for now, Hitomi should be safe from harm" Gaddes said with a goofy smile.

"She must be so scared. I said that I would protect her, but in the end I couldn't" Van said finally giving up on Escaflowne as he sat down on the ground. His leg and ribs were in tremendous amount of pain. He groaned as he sat on the ground moving his leg into a more comfortable position.

Gaddes looked at Van then at his leg. "Did you break anything?" he asked looking around. Van looked at him then at his leg and shrugged his shoulders as he closed his eyes. He was focusing on things other then the pain he felt in his leg and also the pain in his heart.

Godeshen Dungeon

The screams had finally stopped Hitomi realized as she lifted her head. She must of dazed off when she had sat down on the cold floor. She could hear foot steps passing by the door constantly. One question passed through her mind as she sat on the floor. What did they want with her?

Knocking sounded at the door and Hitomi's eyes grew wide as she looked at the door. Someone opened the door and walked in the room. He was holding a lantern looking around the room. The light illuminating from the lantern hitting the side of his face. Hitomi immediately recognized him. It was Shin, the one who kidnapped her.

Hitomi held her breath as he looked around the room. Please don't let him see me, Hitomi said over and over again in her head.

The light shone on Hitomi as she stared wide eyed at Shin. Shin looked at her as an evil smile crossed his face. Hitomi felt her whole body tense as he walked closer to her slowly as if torturing her.

"There you are. Hiding from me is useless. Now I need you to come with me. Of course if you don't come quietly who knows what I might do" Shin said in a sly calm voice. His eyes looked like fire as he looked at her.

"W-what do you want with me?" Hitomi said in her most confident voice. Shin moved closer to her hovering above her. He looked down on her with cruel eyes and grabbed her arm with force.

"Don't worry. I wouldn't harm a hair on your head in a matter of speaking" Shin said pulling her from the dungeon down a long hall way.

His hand was around her upper arm. His fingers were pressing hard into her tender flesh making Hitomi wince. He was a cruel man, Hitomi though as he brought her to a large room.

The room had medical bed and odd looking equipment that Hitomi had never before seen in her life. Shin pulled her into the room after him. As Hitomi walked into the room a table caught her eye. The were shape knifes of all different shape and sizes on it with a few needles.

"Don't look so frightened Hitomi" Shin said pushing her down on one of the beds. Hitomi watched him as he walked away to talk to what appeared to be a man at the other end of the room.

Hitomi looked at the door and considered running but then she remember the guards she saw. Hitomi looked around the room to see if she could find some sort of weapon. She remembered the knifes and she slowly got up and grabbed one without anyone noticing.

When Hitomi sat back down she heard a groaning noise and turned around to see where it was coming from. A curtain was in her way of seeing who or what it was. Hitomi looked at Shin to make sure he was still busy. He was still talking to the man but he appeared to be angry.

Hitomi got up and moved the curtain to one side to see. Hitomi couldn't see who it was but she was sure it was a human male. Hitomi moved closer, closing the curtains behind her. The person continued to make groaning noises as Hitomi moved closer.

Hitomi stopped dead in her tracts as she stood over him. "Your..." Hitomi was suddenly grabbed by the supposedly sleeping boy. He held her arm tightly as he opened his eyes and looked at her. His eye were red as fire but were cold as they looked at her.

"Look who we have here. The girl from the Mystic Moon" he said as his gripped tightened around her arm. Hitomi tried to pull away but his grip was to tight. He licked his lips as he got up from the bed. He looked down at Hitomi as a grin crept across his face.

"Dilandau, be nice to our guest" Shin said walking up behind her. Hitomi looked at Shin and Dilandau released her arm. Dilandau sat back down on the bed and crossed his arms with a sighed.

"Is my red guymelef ready yet Shin? I want to go out and burn some innocent people" Dilandau said looking at Shin coldly. Hitomi noted that Dilandau didn't appear to like Shin that much.

"Don't worry Dilly. We'll have guest soon to take care of soon. They'll be wanting the little miss back" Shin said looking at Hitomi. He walked closer to her and put his hand on her shoulder.

"Van! I can't wait to have some fun with him, and Allen too… What are you planning to do with her?" Dilandau said looking at Hitomi.

"I feel like making some innocent people suffer immensely and she's going to help me do it" Shin said looking Hitomi in the eyes. Hitomi eyes grew wide as he looked at her.

His hand held her chin lifting it up so that she was staring directly at him. He stared at her for a few moments and leaned over slowly and kissed her on the lips. Hitomi struggled as he came closer to her. Hitomi raised her hand and slapped him across the face with a satisfying smack. He moved away holding his cheek. Hitomi's face was red from embarrassment and hatred.

Dilandau looked shocked as he saw them kiss. He immediately left the room and left them alone. Shin walked over to the man and pointed at Hitomi. A shiver went up Hitomi's spine as he pointed at her. Shin winked at her and waved as he left the room.

The man walked out of the room for a few seconds and returned with four others like himself. They moved closer to Hitomi and she moved as fare away from them as she could. Hitomi felt the wall as they continued to move closer to her. One appeared to have a needle in his hand as Hitomi shrank against the wall.

Hitomi held out the knife she had grabbed from the table earlier. She thought it was now or never as dashed through the group of men but one of the caught her arm. She thrashed the knife at him and cut his rob. Hitomi felt a sudden pain in her neck as she was injected with a sleeping agent.

Hitomi's eyes began to blur and she dropped the knife from her hand as she head began to spin. "Van" was her last words before she fell asleep. What were they going to do to her? Hitomi though as she drifted off into a deep sleep.