Darkness Falls - Chapter 12: Torn

"Alia!" X's screamed pulled Caroline out of her daze. Jerking her head back, she saw him run towards Malice and the unconscious girl. It took her a moment to figure out what he was going to do, and when she did, she screamed as well.

Ignoring the little wise voice in the back of her mind that was telling her that this was going to hurt, she tackled X, wrapping her arms around his knees and slammed hard into the ground, teeth rattling. "You stupid, silly, and stupid man!" she snapped, hissing. Her elbows and knees had scrapped across the ground, and blood slowly seeped from the wounds. "Do you know what you just nearly did?"

"I have to help Alia," he responded, squirming under her. She moved and sat on his back, preventing him from doing anything. "She trapped with that… that thing! That man!" Brining his hands up underneath himself, X shoved upwards, trying to dislodge the girl. "I need to go help Alli!"

"Getting yourself killed is not going to help your girlfriend," Caroline growled back, pressing her knee between his shoulder blades. With a sigh he gave up, fuming to himself. You stupid little bastard, would you just calm down?! "That thing, that guy, that person that's on her is not normal. It's Malice." He shifted under her. "You do that, and you'll not only kill Alia, you'll kill yourself."

The floor creaked ominously under them, causing her to bite her lower lip in worry. This place just seems too much like that place in my dreams…

"How?!" Rolling over quickly, X shoved Caroline off of him, jamming his foot into her stomach. "How can it hurt me?!"

"That's what had you imprisoned to begin with." Caroline clutched her stomach, struggling to breathe and gritting her teeth. "Don't you get that? If you try to safe her, you'll end up killing her?" It was getting easier to breath now, though not by much. The pain from X's foot impacting with her stomach still hadn't gone completely away.

He pulled himself to his feet and regarded her coolly. "Why should I believe you?" he demanded, fighting against the strong urge to kick her in the ribs. "Maybe you just… just want Alia dead!"

"Why would I want that?!"

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Malice laughed gleefully, stroking Alia's cheek. Look at them fight… Maybe they'll kill themselves without me having to do anything.

Alia stirred, groaning, her eyes fluttering open. Wincing, the film cleared from them, allowing her to actually see what was happening in front of her. With a gasp, her eyes widened even more. Before she could scream, however, Malice killed her firmly, covering her mouth and muffling any noise she would or could make.

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Grabbing his arm, Caroline pulled X back, desperate. "X, please, if you do something stupid, you'll both die, okay? Just stop! I can help her!"

With a violent shove, X pushed her away, snarling. "I'm not going to just let Alli be harmed by tha-" He was cut off by an odd noise coming from where Alia and Malice were. Twisting his head, he saw it kissing her, and the panicked look in her eye.

You little bastard, I'm going to rip your head off…

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What's going on?! Alia's mind screaming as she tried to shove the man off of her. Her hand, however, simply went through his body, giving her nothing to shove against. Malice laughed, stroking her hair and pulling away.

"Child, we don't need to get so friendly so fast. Believe me, we'll have plenty of time later to get to know each other."

"Sick pig!"

"Don't worry. I don't want you… just yet."

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"You bastard!" Ignoring Caroline's please and worries, X charged at the man, Malice, intent on killing something. He was touching Alia in a way that no one should ever touch her without her consent, and he was going to die for that. It was simple. Her was going to die in a horrible, blooding manner. No one was-

"Stop. If you value her life, that is. If you don't, then, by all means…" A cruel smile played over the man's lips. "By all means then, continue. Which is it?"

"Please, X, don't do anything!" Caroline begged, running up to him. The camera, which had slipped from her grasp when she had tackled her, laid on the ground, forgotten. If I don't stop X now, he's going to us all killed.

And then she stepped on a weak floor board.

It was just like her dream, all over again. Something reached out to grab her and pulled her back up, but she fell through anyways, shards and splinters dragging, ripping, and slashing at her body. She landed hard, her legs crumbling underneath her. Screaming, she brought her arms up to protect her face, but her head slammed back against something, knocking her out.

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X was only vaguely aware of what had happened to Caroline in a distant way. His only focused thoughts were of Alia and Malice. More specifically, how to get Alia from Malice, and the most painful way to kill him.

He never did once question the fact that, in the span of fifteen minutes, he had gone from pacifist to warmonger.

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Malice didn't wait for X to figure it out. The girl was gone and was separated from her camera. Even if X did figure out that the camera was the key, he would never be able to work it. The Hinasaki blood didn't run through his veins, like it ran through Caroline's.

Smiling again, it flicked its wrist out, grabbing onto his soul. Yanking back, it brought it with him, leaving the useless husk of a body to fall onto the floor with a resounding 'thud'. Alia screamed, but before the noise could irritate it, it grabbed at her soul too, neatly removing it from her body.

Laughing, it rose, carrying the souls with it. All was done. The girl was lost, without her camera. The other one, Zero? He was its. He never tried to fight. The only wild card was those three spirits…

But it doubted they would come back.

All was done. And all was lost.