Disclaimer: You know the drill by now. Blah blah blah.
Chapter 23: Merry Bloody Christmas
"Wake up!"
I jolted backwards groaning in pain. My head was throbbing and every part of my body was crying out. I winced as I struggled to move my hands that were bound behind my back. Through bleary eyes I tried as hard as I could to focus on where I was, but the dim lights only made it harder to see. I could faintly make out my surroundings as some warehouse. I opened my mouth to scream only to find that my mouth was taped. Suddenly the switch for the lights being turned echoed through the room. One by one a spotlight was turned on illuminating the other hostages.
Doumyouji.
Rui.
Shizuka.
Soujiro.
Akira.
Yuki.
Kazuya.
My eyes widened as I watched in horror each of my friends bound. Their eyes widened at the realization that they were not the only ones. Slowly they awakened from their own drugged sleep.
"What the hell is going on?" Akira yelled tugging at the ropes on his hands.
Soujiro managed to stand up tied to the chair and started to try to break away.
"Shuddup! Don't even try anything"
Form the darkness like a man appeared with a baseball bat and bashed it into Akira's kneecaps. A loud cracking noise rung through the room and Akira screamed in agony feeling his legs being broken. The man then raised the stick in one swift motion like a hammer striking down Soujiro on the head. He fell down instantly. Everyone quickly closed their mouths afraid to speak fearing the ramifications.
"Well, I see you're finally awake," a dark figure laughed as they emerged from the darkness into the light. They came closer and closer to me pulling off the duct tape covering my mouth with a slow ripping sound.
"Jin. It was you? How could you?" I hoarsely whispered.
"No. It was me." From behind the shadows Hana appeared under the bright light. Her blood red lips were curled into a smile. She draped an arm around Jin's neck and pulled his face to hers in a passionate kiss. "It feels so good to not have to keep our little secret anymore," she whispered into his ear. "Bring them out!"
In front of me stood Haru limply slumped over. He was only held up by the two men in suits holding him from both sides. Blood dripped down his face from the gash on his head. A growing puddle of blood surrounded his feet on the floor. To his left Fujio was too being held up by two other men. He slumped over breathing heavily. His eyes were glazed over barely alive. They both violently struggled to free themselves from the goons, but it was futile.
She sashayed over to Haru cupping his chin with her hand. "You really thought you could leave so easily." She pulled out the guns hidden on Fujio and Haru and handed it over to one of her henchmen. "You won't be needing these. Betrayal hurts like a bitch doesn't it, ge ge?"
Haru icily glared at his sister. "Why?"
"Isn't it obvious?!" she shrilly laughed. "I knew you would fail us. Father gave you one simple job and you couldn't even handle that." She leisurely strolled over to Doumyouji and stroked his face as he turned away in disgust.
"Don't touch me bitch!" He spat in her face.
She wiped away the spit from her face with the back of her hand. Quickly Hana jammed her gun into his face hitting him in the eye. Doumyouji reeled backwards almost falling over in his chair. Her voice turned overly sweet as she spoke. "Naughty. Naughty. Be good now."
"What about okaasan's wishes?"
"Okaasan was a fool! She didn't see how much power our family had. Why would I want to give all this up? Since you can't do it I'm taking control."
I couldn't stay silent for another moment. "What does this have to do with all of us?"
"You really are a stupid bitch!" she yelled. "Tell her what you were going to do Haru! Inquiring minds want to know what you've been planning these last few weeks. Oh, suddenly shy are we. I'll tell her. His mission was to kill Doumyouji Tsukasa. He would have done it if it wasn't for you, Tsukushi! You should have heard him blubbering some nonsense about not wanting to hurt you. He backed out of the deal because of you! I knew you would be a problem. Why do you think I took so much precaution into becoming your 'friend'. It was all too simple to be invited into your world. I was watching your every move, learning who you loved and who loved you. It was just too simple with the help of your sweet brother. He would have done anything for me, even tell me your deepest secrets. Can you believe he thought I loved him?"
My mind went blank. Betrayal. Lies. Was this for real? He would have told me if his mission was that. "Tell me it isn't true Haru!" I looked in his direction, but he lowered his head in admission.
"It's true."
"Now I have all of F4 here. Do you know how much their families would pay for the price of the heirs to the wealthiest corporations in Japan? I'm giving you this final chance to come back Haru. How about it?"
"Never."
"Oh, I think you will." She spun around and fired a shot hitting Kazuya. He screamed in agony and his entire body slumped over in stillness.
"NO! KAZUYA!" I screamed.
"My, my, my whoever will be the next to die?" she sang to herself placing a finger on her lips. "Perhaps the ever so sweet and innocent Yuki," she jumped behind Yuki and placed the barrel of the gun against her head. "Wait! I know. I know this would make Tsukushi very happy. How about the lovely Todou Shizuka?" She glanced towards me evilly smiling waving a gun in front of her. "Let's kill the bitch who stole Hanzawa Rui from you! So who will it be brother? Who's senseless death will you be the cause of next? Maybe I will just use my bargaining chip now. Why don't I just kill the person to blame for all this?" She grabbed my face and shoved the barrel of the gun into my mouth. I almost choked upon tasting the residue of gunpowder from her previous shot.
"TSUKUSHI!" both Rui and Doumyouji yelled at once.
Enraged Haru broke free and dove forward pushing away the men who held him. He jumped on top of me knocking out of the chair Hana away. His body hovered over mine, but he wasn't fast enough. Hana scrambled to pick up her gun and pointed it against his head.
"You really think that would save her?" she laughed. "Grab him!" she commanded to the men who once again pulled him back.
Jin walked up to Haru and spitefully patted him on the cheek. "It seems our great leader has fallen, eh?
Fujio snapped into consciousness and glanced over at their traitorous friend. He muttered something in Chinese. "You would do this to your own hing dai?"
"You stopped being my brothers the day you rejected the family."
In the blink of an eye, Haru punched out one of the suits. He dodged the impending blows they tried to get in, but he spun around them grabbing onto the gun strapped under the henchman's jacket. With full force he rammed the gun into the other man knocking him out cold. In the mass chaos, Fujio grabbed one of his guards and snapped his neck letting him fall to the ground with a thud. He grabbed the gun from the fallen man, but the other henchman challengingly pulled out his gun at the same time. Fujio fired without a second thought hitting him in the hand causing the gun to fall on the ground. With a swift motion, Fujio elbowed him in the face knocking him out cold. Hana grabbed me by the hair and jammed the barrel of her gun against the side of my head. Haru pointed the gun at Hana. Jin pointed his at Haru and Fujio at Jin. They were now at a standstill.
"Still trying to fight your destiny?" Hana mockingly laughed. "I'll kill her you know."
"What's going on here?" a voice boomed.
I looked up at the man standing in the doorway to the warehouse. It was that face that sent chills up my spine before. That day I saw his face through the car window dreaded ever meeting him in person. From behind him two men in suits stepped forward.
"I see you've come for the show father," Hana sarcastically spit out.
Mr. Tse's face darkened in annoyance. His face was fixed and stern showing no sign of any emotion or attachment. He stood tall and domineering showing no signs of weakness. His black hair was slicked back. "You've really disappointed me, son."
Haru's eyes lit up with a fire inside. He moved his gun away from Hana and now pointed it towards his father. "Don't ever call me your son!"
Mr. Tse whipped out his own gun with one swift move and pointed it to Haru. Without any hesitation he shot Haru in his bad leg putting a second gunshot wound into it. "So this is Makino Tsukushi. It is quite a striking resemblance. I've heard so much about you. It appears my son has taken a liking to you. I'm sorry that you will not live to meet me again." He looked right at me speaking with a strange gentleness.
I watched intensely thinking would father kill the son? Or would son kill the father? Haru winced in pain as his leg began to tremble from the pressure of standing on it. The bodyguards reached for their guns, but were stopped by Mr. Tse who brushed their hands away. "I'll take care of this myself. Leave us. This is between family." The two men reluctantly waked away.
"So, Haru. Who will it be? Do you choose family or this girl? All you have to do is drop your gun. It will be over soon," Hana chided.
Haru's face lowered and I watched as his fingers loosened letting the gun slip out of his hand. It fell to the ground with a clank.
Mr. Tse tucked away his gun. "That is a good boy." He turned towards Hana. "Kill the girl and her useless friends! All we need is F4. Keep the model, I could use her for later. The dead bodies will send out a message we mean business about the kidnapping."
"Right away."
I looked in horror as Haru was going to let this happen. He was going to let us all die. "Haru," I hoarsely whispered pleading for him to not let it end this way.
He looked up at Hana and me with deadend eyes and muttered, "I'm sorry."
BANG!
"Wake up!"
I jolted backwards groaning in pain. My head was throbbing and every part of my body was crying out. I winced as I struggled to move my hands that were bound behind my back. Through bleary eyes I tried as hard as I could to focus on where I was, but the dim lights only made it harder to see. I could faintly make out my surroundings as some warehouse. I opened my mouth to scream only to find that my mouth was taped. Suddenly the switch for the lights being turned echoed through the room. One by one a spotlight was turned on illuminating the other hostages.
Doumyouji.
Rui.
Shizuka.
Soujiro.
Akira.
Yuki.
Kazuya.
My eyes widened as I watched in horror each of my friends bound. Their eyes widened at the realization that they were not the only ones. Slowly they awakened from their own drugged sleep.
"What the hell is going on?" Akira yelled tugging at the ropes on his hands.
Soujiro managed to stand up tied to the chair and started to try to break away.
"Shuddup! Don't even try anything"
Form the darkness like a man appeared with a baseball bat and bashed it into Akira's kneecaps. A loud cracking noise rung through the room and Akira screamed in agony feeling his legs being broken. The man then raised the stick in one swift motion like a hammer striking down Soujiro on the head. He fell down instantly. Everyone quickly closed their mouths afraid to speak fearing the ramifications.
"Well, I see you're finally awake," a dark figure laughed as they emerged from the darkness into the light. They came closer and closer to me pulling off the duct tape covering my mouth with a slow ripping sound.
"Jin. It was you? How could you?" I hoarsely whispered.
"No. It was me." From behind the shadows Hana appeared under the bright light. Her blood red lips were curled into a smile. She draped an arm around Jin's neck and pulled his face to hers in a passionate kiss. "It feels so good to not have to keep our little secret anymore," she whispered into his ear. "Bring them out!"
In front of me stood Haru limply slumped over. He was only held up by the two men in suits holding him from both sides. Blood dripped down his face from the gash on his head. A growing puddle of blood surrounded his feet on the floor. To his left Fujio was too being held up by two other men. He slumped over breathing heavily. His eyes were glazed over barely alive. They both violently struggled to free themselves from the goons, but it was futile.
She sashayed over to Haru cupping his chin with her hand. "You really thought you could leave so easily." She pulled out the guns hidden on Fujio and Haru and handed it over to one of her henchmen. "You won't be needing these. Betrayal hurts like a bitch doesn't it, ge ge?"
Haru icily glared at his sister. "Why?"
"Isn't it obvious?!" she shrilly laughed. "I knew you would fail us. Father gave you one simple job and you couldn't even handle that." She leisurely strolled over to Doumyouji and stroked his face as he turned away in disgust.
"Don't touch me bitch!" He spat in her face.
She wiped away the spit from her face with the back of her hand. Quickly Hana jammed her gun into his face hitting him in the eye. Doumyouji reeled backwards almost falling over in his chair. Her voice turned overly sweet as she spoke. "Naughty. Naughty. Be good now."
"What about okaasan's wishes?"
"Okaasan was a fool! She didn't see how much power our family had. Why would I want to give all this up? Since you can't do it I'm taking control."
I couldn't stay silent for another moment. "What does this have to do with all of us?"
"You really are a stupid bitch!" she yelled. "Tell her what you were going to do Haru! Inquiring minds want to know what you've been planning these last few weeks. Oh, suddenly shy are we. I'll tell her. His mission was to kill Doumyouji Tsukasa. He would have done it if it wasn't for you, Tsukushi! You should have heard him blubbering some nonsense about not wanting to hurt you. He backed out of the deal because of you! I knew you would be a problem. Why do you think I took so much precaution into becoming your 'friend'. It was all too simple to be invited into your world. I was watching your every move, learning who you loved and who loved you. It was just too simple with the help of your sweet brother. He would have done anything for me, even tell me your deepest secrets. Can you believe he thought I loved him?"
My mind went blank. Betrayal. Lies. Was this for real? He would have told me if his mission was that. "Tell me it isn't true Haru!" I looked in his direction, but he lowered his head in admission.
"It's true."
"Now I have all of F4 here. Do you know how much their families would pay for the price of the heirs to the wealthiest corporations in Japan? I'm giving you this final chance to come back Haru. How about it?"
"Never."
"Oh, I think you will." She spun around and fired a shot hitting Kazuya. He screamed in agony and his entire body slumped over in stillness.
"NO! KAZUYA!" I screamed.
"My, my, my whoever will be the next to die?" she sang to herself placing a finger on her lips. "Perhaps the ever so sweet and innocent Yuki," she jumped behind Yuki and placed the barrel of the gun against her head. "Wait! I know. I know this would make Tsukushi very happy. How about the lovely Todou Shizuka?" She glanced towards me evilly smiling waving a gun in front of her. "Let's kill the bitch who stole Hanzawa Rui from you! So who will it be brother? Who's senseless death will you be the cause of next? Maybe I will just use my bargaining chip now. Why don't I just kill the person to blame for all this?" She grabbed my face and shoved the barrel of the gun into my mouth. I almost choked upon tasting the residue of gunpowder from her previous shot.
"TSUKUSHI!" both Rui and Doumyouji yelled at once.
Enraged Haru broke free and dove forward pushing away the men who held him. He jumped on top of me knocking out of the chair Hana away. His body hovered over mine, but he wasn't fast enough. Hana scrambled to pick up her gun and pointed it against his head.
"You really think that would save her?" she laughed. "Grab him!" she commanded to the men who once again pulled him back.
Jin walked up to Haru and spitefully patted him on the cheek. "It seems our great leader has fallen, eh?
Fujio snapped into consciousness and glanced over at their traitorous friend. He muttered something in Chinese. "You would do this to your own hing dai?"
"You stopped being my brothers the day you rejected the family."
In the blink of an eye, Haru punched out one of the suits. He dodged the impending blows they tried to get in, but he spun around them grabbing onto the gun strapped under the henchman's jacket. With full force he rammed the gun into the other man knocking him out cold. In the mass chaos, Fujio grabbed one of his guards and snapped his neck letting him fall to the ground with a thud. He grabbed the gun from the fallen man, but the other henchman challengingly pulled out his gun at the same time. Fujio fired without a second thought hitting him in the hand causing the gun to fall on the ground. With a swift motion, Fujio elbowed him in the face knocking him out cold. Hana grabbed me by the hair and jammed the barrel of her gun against the side of my head. Haru pointed the gun at Hana. Jin pointed his at Haru and Fujio at Jin. They were now at a standstill.
"Still trying to fight your destiny?" Hana mockingly laughed. "I'll kill her you know."
"What's going on here?" a voice boomed.
I looked up at the man standing in the doorway to the warehouse. It was that face that sent chills up my spine before. That day I saw his face through the car window dreaded ever meeting him in person. From behind him two men in suits stepped forward.
"I see you've come for the show father," Hana sarcastically spit out.
Mr. Tse's face darkened in annoyance. His face was fixed and stern showing no sign of any emotion or attachment. He stood tall and domineering showing no signs of weakness. His black hair was slicked back. "You've really disappointed me, son."
Haru's eyes lit up with a fire inside. He moved his gun away from Hana and now pointed it towards his father. "Don't ever call me your son!"
Mr. Tse whipped out his own gun with one swift move and pointed it to Haru. Without any hesitation he shot Haru in his bad leg putting a second gunshot wound into it. "So this is Makino Tsukushi. It is quite a striking resemblance. I've heard so much about you. It appears my son has taken a liking to you. I'm sorry that you will not live to meet me again." He looked right at me speaking with a strange gentleness.
I watched intensely thinking would father kill the son? Or would son kill the father? Haru winced in pain as his leg began to tremble from the pressure of standing on it. The bodyguards reached for their guns, but were stopped by Mr. Tse who brushed their hands away. "I'll take care of this myself. Leave us. This is between family." The two men reluctantly waked away.
"So, Haru. Who will it be? Do you choose family or this girl? All you have to do is drop your gun. It will be over soon," Hana chided.
Haru's face lowered and I watched as his fingers loosened letting the gun slip out of his hand. It fell to the ground with a clank.
Mr. Tse tucked away his gun. "That is a good boy." He turned towards Hana. "Kill the girl and her useless friends! All we need is F4. Keep the model, I could use her for later. The dead bodies will send out a message we mean business about the kidnapping."
"Right away."
I looked in horror as Haru was going to let this happen. He was going to let us all die. "Haru," I hoarsely whispered pleading for him to not let it end this way.
He looked up at Hana and me with deadend eyes and muttered, "I'm sorry."
BANG!
