Chapter 25: The Beginning of the End
Time swept slowly by, like a lazy wave pushing forward on a dreary gray morning. The air was thick with a tense sense of emotion, vibrating from all of them, as they stood rigidly, on the tip of the knife; on the tip of hope.
Kakra's head stayed down, almost in submission, with her thick brown locks masking her face completely. Marik simply glared at them, purple eyes at full flash and his arm frozen in place at his chest, holding Bakura strongly to him. Bakura hid his face also with his hair, which seemed logical; if you have it, use it.
Ammon stood at full height, and maybe taller since he seemed to be towering over Yami, Kyle, and Brian, like some giant. Strange, it reminded Ann of the time being chased by the ice-cream truck in Bill's car. His brown eyes flickered like roaring fire, and his face was as serious as stone. Yami's expression matched Ammon's, maybe even went beyond description, and held his arms firmly to his sides, ready for any false move. Brian and Kyle tried mimicking them, and with out much success, but enough to get the job done. It would have been humorous watching them with such serious blank stares if the situation wasn't a live and death one. The distant thumbing of the glass jar went unnoticed to everyone, including the group of onlookers, which contained more women than men. Joey, Tristan, Mai, Marie, Serenity, and Tea watched anxiously, with tight fists and worried expressions in their group. Ann stood near them, watching everyone's faces and feeling the stress, pushing her own chest like a heavy weight. Being crushed by it.
Ann felt calm, but it was an eerie sort of calm. A placid feeling after you learn that one of the closest people to you passes way in some horrific circumstance. She continued to wear her glazed eyes as she wondered about things, none of which had anything to do with the predicament at hand.
It was funny, she actually felt sort of homesick. She wondered if her parents were worried about her; she knew her brother was going to pretend he wasn't even though he actually crying out every few seconds 'Where's Ann?!' at the top of his lungs. It was odd, she actually wanted to hear denying the fact he did miss her, only because he couldn't lie.
Was Marie's boyfriend looking for her? Was he worried about her sudden disappearance for the past few days and frantically looking for her? Screaming at the top of his lungs her name? Ann doubt it a little. Probably not bugging him that much… He never did actually call, but he always kissed her on the way out the door-
Where's Calendae?
Ann blinked at the pure randomness of this thought, but yet it made sense. Where was her other self? She hadn't talked to her since before the bar incident. Was she missing? Or worse was she hurt? Ann's mind shifted to call on her, and found a open white lighted doorway waiting for her. She lifted her right shoe and-
"Let us trade." Kakra's voice broke in, causing Ann to hear that sort of whoosh noise and start blinking as her eyes focused on Kakra's stern face, looking sullenly in Ammon's direction.
"Yes, let's." Ann watched him smile and he nodded his head at Yami, who in turn placed a careful hand at Kyle. Kyle looked at it a moment, seeming saddened he placed the jar squarely in Yami's hand. He curled his fingers around the glass carefully and took a wary step forward, toward Kakra.
Kakra nodded in return, jerked her head in Marik's direction, and sent him trudging forward. Both teens walked, forward, keeping a tight hold on each of their goods, and meet the other group.
Kakra took the jar from Yami the same exact moment Marik set Bakura down by Ammon's elbow. Each transporter briskly turned and started to walk away, back to the other side. Yami was about five steps away when he was suddenly hit from the back by a fire ball and would have meet the ground if he hadn't been prepared for it, he turned in mid-motion and placed a sphere of light in Kakra's direction. The motion of the attack and being hit sent him painfully into the ground, enough to make a small crater in the cement. Ann stared at the dent in the floor for only a shocked glance before something hot flew across and singled the hair on her head. Somehow she dodged it and lunged to the floor for safety. Finally a whole lot of shouting broke; charging from both sides, yelps, growls, grunts, bellowing, all out and a free-for-all began.
Yami's side had the upper-hand, since they did have more man power, even counting that the teenage girls ducked behind the nearest thing for cover. Still they had Joey, Tristan, Ammon, Yami, Brian, Bakura, and Kyle fighting. They should have had the upper head.
In the moment's before each charging force of body's collided, Ann looked up a brief moment and saw, even though her brain didn't register it at the time, Kakra opened the jar lid with a loud pop. Then a cloud of smog banged thunder and swirled out of the jar, probably TombRobber showing off, and turned the room dark.
Blinded by the sudden smoke all the screams were cut off, and only faint breathing echoed across the room. Ann was stupidly trying not to breath, trying to listen to them moving in the cover of the blackness, but she kept hearing breathing softly coming forth. She threw her hand to her mouth in anger, trying to shut herself up. No breath tickled her skin, only the composed breathing sound continued. Ann froze.
Was it friend or foe? Friendly fire wouldn't exactally be appreciated in this. Deciding not to take the chance of finding out, she crawled with her elbows across the ice cold floor, slithering along, like a mouse in the tall grasses of an Egyptian field. One infested with Cobras.
Suddenly a loud yelp sounded out of the darkness and then a scream of pain with a loud flaring sound. Was that Tristan?
"Damn this cloud." She said under her breath and surged forward, clawing foot by foot, inch by inch, until someone grabbed her.
Something sided swiftly into her back, four long sharp dagger-like objects and pierced and climbed deeper into her back, causing a world of painful stars to collect in her vision. That and high pitched screaming. Later she would be angry at herself for shouting like such a little girl, but now, feeling the blood well up in her mouth, she didn't care. It was all over.
The stars slowly faded, and the shouting dimmed to a small squeak, the breathing behind her hear was also small. She was welling up in her mind, letting the blood come forth and her eyes close. She was giving up. There was no way out. She was caught and paying for it. Slowly they dipped as the pain grew ten times worse, and an inhuman snarl erupted behind her, until a bright light pierced the sound, and twisted it into loud agonyfulled pain. The knifes disrupted from her back and her eyes slowly fought open, to the calling vivid brightness, beckoning her forth.
She gazed, almost thoughtfully, at the piercing glaring light pushing out of the holes in her sweater, from her arm and her torso. The shouting came up louder and strong her in ears, and not at all from her mouth. Lifting her shirt a little she watched bright golden needles sowing sunlit rays into her and bring the now horrific gapping hole in her stomach back together as a whole. Sleepily, with sagging eyelids she let her shirt flop down and turned to her almost murderer.
A shadowed figure with two thin arms, two legs, a human-like head, a thinly stretched neck, and four very long and spider-like fingers hunched over and clawing at it's throat, it's mouth wide bearing tiny teeth by the thousands, disappearing into the light, dissolving in it like…like…
Well a shadow.
Ann watched it until it was nothing more, somehow not fully awakening from her sleepwalking state, half conscious, she stumbled a little and trudged forward, looking at the floor with the light, acting like a well lit lantern.
A light much like her's flickered in the distance, causing her to changer her direction and trot toward it, starting to feel a little more awake. No matter how hard she struggled, she couldn't fully wake up, her mind remained dull. She couldn't think straight. She couldn't think at all.
/Ann…/ Ann blinked her eyes slowly, groggily, but kept walking toward the shinning thing.
/Ann…stop./ Ann's feet stopped.
/ Find somewhere to hide. Quick! / Ann dully stood, looking half wittedly around for a spot when someone near by her bellowed and a scream of twisted pain erupted, a human scream. She recognized it.
/Ann? What are you doing?! Stop! Stop! Stop! / Ann ignored the voice sweeping around in her skull and walked to the scream, her mind starting to comeback, her feet moving faster and faster, each moment something telling her stronger and stronger to go to it.
/ANN! YOU MUST ESCAPE! /
"Can't…must…safe." She broke out in to a run at her words and sprinted fast, as fast as she could go, watching the same blackness sweep by her, like a wall. Things were unclear, but still right in front of her as she found herself suddenly leaping and crashing down on another body, digging her hands around and holding on fast as she was thrown about. Struggling she kept hold, letting her legs dangle about, and feeling much like a human rag doll, as she was whipped around.
Through half blurred vision she glanced at another body vaguely getting out of the way, and felt the whipping sensation getting stronger. She strengthened her hold at it and hazy bellows of rage meet her ears, but ignored it, and instead grumbled.
"Help…please." Whether it was heard or not was unknown for what seemed like an eternity until the captive started screaming and hurtled her off. Tumbling into the cool hard cement woke her up a bit, sent a jolt of awareness through her mind, enough to see another shadow creature evaporate in front of her eyes in a big bang of luminosity. And the clear figure of Joey rang out in front of her.
BookDragon: "Cliffy! HAHAHA. Stories almost over. About two more chapters, people!"