Hi everyone. I'm going to be away tomorrow, so I'm going to update a
few chapters. And I'm replacing some chapters so the story's going to be a
tad awkward. And chapter 8 is going to be quite long, so enjoy the story xD
Cheers!
~Chapter 8
Suddenly grabbed by three men, Meryl panicked and tried to free herself from the men, but they were surprisingly strong. Milly, Wolfwood, and Vash were also grabbed by the remaining men, and in a short time they were all tied with a coarse rope.
The "leader" of the bandits came forward, smirking. He took hold of Vash and signaled the other bandits to take hold of the other three. Meryl was sickened at the sight of the leader smirking disgustingly. She was actually used to being around bandits; they had to deal with them at the town of November. The last time they were lucky, as the bandits had been nothing but cowards. This time, Meryl wasn't sure. The look of each bandits' faces was enough to sicken her for at least ten years. They were all obviously hungry for power, and hungry for blood.
"Vash the Stampede. . . legendary gunman who trashed the town of July and August. To think that he'll be finished off in this small town is hilarious!"
He began to laugh as he kicked Vash to the ground. Vash did nothing. Meryl knew that he was perfectly capable of freeing himself. Yet he did nothing.
"Lemme make a deal with ya, Vash the Stampede. M' bandits are gonna beat your three friends up. If all of them scream and surrender, I'm going to kill you. If one manages to stay quiet, I'll let all o' ya go. And if one screams and surrenders, the bandits will leave them to cry in their own puddle. If ya don't accept this deal, ya leave me no choice but to kill ya all."
Vash gritted his teeth. He knew that Wolfwood would be able to take the pain. But what about the insurance girls? But if he didn't take this chance, all of them would die. If he did accept the deal, the three would get hurt.
'Rem. . . please Rem. . .what should I do?'
Meryl glanced over at Milly, who was shaking. Wolfwood was angrily trying to free himself from the bandits. And Vash was deep within his thoughts. She knew, somehow, that they were all going to die if they didn't accept the deal. By judging from the looks on the bandits' faces, it was pretty obvious.
'I don't want to die now! Dammit, why do bandits always have to follow Vash?'
Vash finally consented with a look of pain. He looked painfully at Meryl, Milly, and Wolfwood, as if to apologize. Meryl didn't want to look at Vash; his expression was too painful for anyone to see.
Thus, the bandits began attacking him. Thankfully, they didn't have any knives or guns with them. Three men surrounded her, kicking her in the ribs. It was painful, but she dare not cry out. She glanced over quickly at Milly to see her that she was voicing stifled cries of pain. Mr. Wolfwood was faring better, although there were five men surrounding him.
The kicks and punches came in randomly; some to her ribs, the others to her chest. Nonetheless, it hurt. The pain was almost unbearable.
'Come on Meryl! You can do it! Don't surrender!'
Her heart fell down when she heard Wolfwood's scream of pain. The bandits' eyes showed an expression as if to say, "Two down, and one more to go."
The pointed boots kept on jabbing her on her sides. Soon, Meryl was coughing up blood but she was determined not to surrender. She looked in the eyes of the men, hoping to find a hint of mercy. There was none. 'Meryl! Don't give up! If you do, Vash and the others are going to be killed!'
Two men started dragging her over somewhere. Meryl hoped that it would scrape off the rope tied around her. Her legs felt like they were literally on fire, and she saw her legs leaving a bloody trail behind. Biting her lip from preventing herself to scream, Meryl tried to get rid of a coppery taste in her mouth. 'Don't surrender. . .don't surrender. . .Meryl, you've got to stay strong! If you scream, everything is going to be over!'
Meryl felt her head hit the bottom of something. She opened her eyes to see that she was underwater. Blood from her body mixed with the water, staining it slightly red.
Meryl used to be on the swim team, and was able to hold her breath for a short period of time, yet for some reason, her lungs weren't functioning as they should be. Frantically kicking her legs, she gasped for air, yet four strong hands pressed down on her body.
'Help! I can't breathe! Vash! Milly! Mr. Wolfwood!'
Meryl was just about to close her eyes in defeat when the rope around her body broke. Swimming towards the air, she took a deep breath of air, only to sputter blood. Standing up from the fountain, she pulled out a derringer she hid in her shirt. Pointing at the so-called leader, she didn't notice a strange stare boring into her.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Damn bitch, I didn't know you had that much determination. . ."
The figure suddenly smirked as he saw Vash looking at Meryl with such an expression of love.
"I thank my Muse for this inspiration. . . I should let YOU feel the pain of losing a loved one. Be afraid, Vash the Stampede. . . you killed someone that never got a chance."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Mr. Bandit, I kept your word. Now release him or I'll personally shoot you through the head and make sure your henchmen face a terrible death."
Vash saw the blazing anger in Meryl's eyes. Anger that he never saw or knew before. Sure, Meryl was almost always angry at him, but this anger was different. It was a sort of "protecting" anger. As if she was trying to protect him.
The leader shrugged and left with his henchmen, disappearing in the dark alleys. Meryl felt enormous pain in her ribs and chest, and it was getting hard for her to breathe. But what she feared the most other than pain was, the expression on Vash's face.
"Come on Vash. . .Milly...Mr. Wolfwood...we should go back to the inn before we get into anymore trouble."
She felt very weak, and even her voice sound weak. But she continued to pretend on being strong. Over her dead body was she going to allow people to see her vulnerability.
'I'm becoming just like Vash...pretending to be something I'm not...'
~Chapter 8
Suddenly grabbed by three men, Meryl panicked and tried to free herself from the men, but they were surprisingly strong. Milly, Wolfwood, and Vash were also grabbed by the remaining men, and in a short time they were all tied with a coarse rope.
The "leader" of the bandits came forward, smirking. He took hold of Vash and signaled the other bandits to take hold of the other three. Meryl was sickened at the sight of the leader smirking disgustingly. She was actually used to being around bandits; they had to deal with them at the town of November. The last time they were lucky, as the bandits had been nothing but cowards. This time, Meryl wasn't sure. The look of each bandits' faces was enough to sicken her for at least ten years. They were all obviously hungry for power, and hungry for blood.
"Vash the Stampede. . . legendary gunman who trashed the town of July and August. To think that he'll be finished off in this small town is hilarious!"
He began to laugh as he kicked Vash to the ground. Vash did nothing. Meryl knew that he was perfectly capable of freeing himself. Yet he did nothing.
"Lemme make a deal with ya, Vash the Stampede. M' bandits are gonna beat your three friends up. If all of them scream and surrender, I'm going to kill you. If one manages to stay quiet, I'll let all o' ya go. And if one screams and surrenders, the bandits will leave them to cry in their own puddle. If ya don't accept this deal, ya leave me no choice but to kill ya all."
Vash gritted his teeth. He knew that Wolfwood would be able to take the pain. But what about the insurance girls? But if he didn't take this chance, all of them would die. If he did accept the deal, the three would get hurt.
'Rem. . . please Rem. . .what should I do?'
Meryl glanced over at Milly, who was shaking. Wolfwood was angrily trying to free himself from the bandits. And Vash was deep within his thoughts. She knew, somehow, that they were all going to die if they didn't accept the deal. By judging from the looks on the bandits' faces, it was pretty obvious.
'I don't want to die now! Dammit, why do bandits always have to follow Vash?'
Vash finally consented with a look of pain. He looked painfully at Meryl, Milly, and Wolfwood, as if to apologize. Meryl didn't want to look at Vash; his expression was too painful for anyone to see.
Thus, the bandits began attacking him. Thankfully, they didn't have any knives or guns with them. Three men surrounded her, kicking her in the ribs. It was painful, but she dare not cry out. She glanced over quickly at Milly to see her that she was voicing stifled cries of pain. Mr. Wolfwood was faring better, although there were five men surrounding him.
The kicks and punches came in randomly; some to her ribs, the others to her chest. Nonetheless, it hurt. The pain was almost unbearable.
'Come on Meryl! You can do it! Don't surrender!'
Her heart fell down when she heard Wolfwood's scream of pain. The bandits' eyes showed an expression as if to say, "Two down, and one more to go."
The pointed boots kept on jabbing her on her sides. Soon, Meryl was coughing up blood but she was determined not to surrender. She looked in the eyes of the men, hoping to find a hint of mercy. There was none. 'Meryl! Don't give up! If you do, Vash and the others are going to be killed!'
Two men started dragging her over somewhere. Meryl hoped that it would scrape off the rope tied around her. Her legs felt like they were literally on fire, and she saw her legs leaving a bloody trail behind. Biting her lip from preventing herself to scream, Meryl tried to get rid of a coppery taste in her mouth. 'Don't surrender. . .don't surrender. . .Meryl, you've got to stay strong! If you scream, everything is going to be over!'
Meryl felt her head hit the bottom of something. She opened her eyes to see that she was underwater. Blood from her body mixed with the water, staining it slightly red.
Meryl used to be on the swim team, and was able to hold her breath for a short period of time, yet for some reason, her lungs weren't functioning as they should be. Frantically kicking her legs, she gasped for air, yet four strong hands pressed down on her body.
'Help! I can't breathe! Vash! Milly! Mr. Wolfwood!'
Meryl was just about to close her eyes in defeat when the rope around her body broke. Swimming towards the air, she took a deep breath of air, only to sputter blood. Standing up from the fountain, she pulled out a derringer she hid in her shirt. Pointing at the so-called leader, she didn't notice a strange stare boring into her.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Damn bitch, I didn't know you had that much determination. . ."
The figure suddenly smirked as he saw Vash looking at Meryl with such an expression of love.
"I thank my Muse for this inspiration. . . I should let YOU feel the pain of losing a loved one. Be afraid, Vash the Stampede. . . you killed someone that never got a chance."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Mr. Bandit, I kept your word. Now release him or I'll personally shoot you through the head and make sure your henchmen face a terrible death."
Vash saw the blazing anger in Meryl's eyes. Anger that he never saw or knew before. Sure, Meryl was almost always angry at him, but this anger was different. It was a sort of "protecting" anger. As if she was trying to protect him.
The leader shrugged and left with his henchmen, disappearing in the dark alleys. Meryl felt enormous pain in her ribs and chest, and it was getting hard for her to breathe. But what she feared the most other than pain was, the expression on Vash's face.
"Come on Vash. . .Milly...Mr. Wolfwood...we should go back to the inn before we get into anymore trouble."
She felt very weak, and even her voice sound weak. But she continued to pretend on being strong. Over her dead body was she going to allow people to see her vulnerability.
'I'm becoming just like Vash...pretending to be something I'm not...'