-CHAPTER 13A-
-Mai's POV-
BLAM!
The gunshot was so loud and so sudden it made my ears sting.
Tock—crunch!
I heard the bullet hit the wood floor close (too close) to us. Splinters of wood spiraled into the air and then there was a sharp pain in my right hand.
Oh my God, oh my God! I've been shot! I feverishly thought. I sucked air and took a quick glance at my injured hand. Even in the badly-lit entryway of that godforsaken house, I was able to see the dark blood that was trickling down my hand in a thin rivulet.
Not shot, I realized. Just a splinter.
"I'm glad you dumb sons of bitches showed up," said the voice of the man with the golden eye.
I shivered and felt my legs go weak. Every one of my instincts were screaming at me to leave, to get the hell away from the man who had tried to kill me twice before. It's fight or flee time, Mai. Don't fight, you moron! Flee! Run away, stupid!
"We…we're all going to die," Anzu whimpered. Couldn't have said it better myself, I deliriously thought.
There was a bright glint of gold from the dark and the man with the golden eye melted out of the shadows. I bit my tongue to keep from screaming. Beside me, I could hear Anzu breathing in short, frightened gasps.
"Where's Shizuka?" Honda demanded, voice dangerously low.
BLAM! Another gunshot. The bullet hit the ground right in front of Honda's feet, but he gave it little notice.
"Where…is…Shizuka?" he repeated. I shuddered. His voice was little more than a growl. I tensed, expecting another gunshot, and was surprised to hear only a ringing silence.
"Where the hell is Shizuka?" he screamed. His face contorted with rage and the muscles in his neck tensed. "Where the hell is she, you son of a bitch?!" He trembled with barely-restrained fury as he awaited an answer.
The man with the golden eye laughed a deep, throaty laugh that made the hair on the back of my neck prickle and Honda lost it. "What the hell did you do to her?! You goddamned bastard! I'll kill you! I'll kill you, you ass! Do you hear me? Huh? Where in the hell is she?! TELL ME—"
"Honda, stop!" Anzu sobbed.
"I'm gonna rip your head off! I'll kill you and dump you in a pile of shit! I will!"
The man just laughed louder and more heartily as the threats poured from Honda's mouth.
"—and then I'll—"
"Stop it, Honda!"
"Hahahaha…."
Shut up, I thought. Please just shut up!
Honda's eyes were wild and his hands clenched into tight fists. After spitting one last expletive for good measure, he finally snapped. With a vengeful roar, he leapt for the man with the golden eye.
"Honda, don't!" I shouted, but too late. There was no stopping him; no way to turn him back now.
Anzu screamed and covered her ears as the gunshots cracked one after another. BLAM! BLAM! BLAMBLAMBLAM!
Honda dropped and rolled, and then, miraculously, jumped to his feet unharmed. How he had managed to dodge the bullets I have absolutely no idea. I was still dealing with the fact that Honda had somehow managed to avoid being turned into Swiss cheese as he gave the man with the golden eye a hard kick in the gut.
Even though the man was built like a rock, Honda had the element of surprise on his side. The man sagged to the ground with a grunt and Honda easily bounded over him and began to pound his way up a flight of old, rickety stairs. He was about halfway up by the time the man regained his breath and got to his feet.
The man was about to follow Honda up the stairs when Anzu sprang onto his back with a desperate scream. The man stumbled and tried to keep his balance as Anzu grabbed for the gun. He cursed loudly and jerked hard, trying to throw her off of his back. She wrapped her legs around his waist and pawed at the hand with the gun until he lost his grip on it. The gun fell to the floor and skittered away. All of this I watched from the entryway, frozen to my spot.
"Get off of me, bitch!" the man snarled. He swatted at Anzu and pried her loose. "You damned wench!" he snapped, throwing her to the ground. I heard a sick pop as she landed heavily on her shoulder and she squealed with pain. I winced and thought, It must be dislocated…or broken.
The man lifted his foot as though to kick Anzu and she twisted around onto her hands and knees and clumsily crawled away from him. She made a lunge for the gun that he had dropped, but he was too quick for her. With a grotesque shout of triumph, he kicked the gun on the ground away, reached inside his coat and withdrew a second gun.
He'll kill her! I thought. I sprinted across the room, trying to reach him before he could fire the gun. But deep inside, I knew I was too late. I knew that Anzu was going to die.
How do you like that, Mai? a nasty little voice in the back of my head prodded. How does it feel to know you're responsible for the death of a friend? How does it feel?
"No," I whispered. "Please."
She's going to die. Die, die, die, die! And it's your fault!
"NO!" I shrieked.
The man jumped, surprised by my sudden outburst. BLAM! The gunshot exploded, and Anzu dropped to the ground with a cry. But the man's aim had been ruined, and instead of hitting her in the head or getting any vital organs, the shot hit her in the leg, just below the knee.
I barreled into the man, throwing my body against his and he stumbled and fell to the ground with a curse. He was back on his feet in an instant, but that was all I'd needed to scoop up the gun he'd dropped.
"Go ahead, bitch," he sneered as I trained the gun on him. "Shoot."
My hand shook as I cocked the gun. My finger was on the trigger, ready. I slowly made my way over to Anzu, afraid to blink, lest the man melt away into the shadows again.
"What's the matter, bitch? Afraid?" he taunted as I pulled Anzu to her feet. She gasped as her leg buckled and I quickly draped her arm around my shoulders with my free hand.
"Come on," I whispered to her, guiding her toward the overturned table. I didn't dare take that gun off the man as I half-dragged Anzu behind the table. I carefully deposited her to the ground and she sobbed and curled into a tight ball, clutching at her battered leg.
The table wouldn't be much of a shield, I knew. But at least it was something between her and that lunatic. "You're going to be fine," I whispered to her. Then louder, to the man with the golden eye, "You want to play?" I stepped over the table, gun still locked on him. "Let's play."
-Honda's POV-
I thundered up the flight of stairs as fast as I could go with only one thought in my head: Find Shizuka. I heard a scream from below, answered by a garbled snarl. That bastard, I thought. He's going to pay for this. My legs strained as I powered up, up, up and finally reached the second floor.
I was at the end of a long, dusty hall. The doors that lined the hall had once been painted white but were now so old most of the paint had peeled away. The hall was completely empty.
Don't worry, Shizuka, I'm coming for you, I thought as I tried the first door. Locked, of course. I rattled the knob in my hand and kicked at the old wood, hoping that I could get in by force. No good. "Damn," I muttered.
The next door was locked. So was the next. And the next. By the time I reached the last door, I was thoroughly pissed with myself. You just had to go rushing up the stairs, didn't you? Damn moron. I don't even know if she's really up here or if I'm just wasting time.
BLAM! The gunshot from downstairs made my guts twist. I strained, listening for anything that would tell me what was going on down there, any sign that Mai or Anzu were still alive and heard nothing.
Is that good or bad? I wondered to myself as I moved on to the last door. Why in the hell did I leave them down there with that psychopath? What in the hell was I thinking? Stupid! I should have stayed there to protect them!
I grabbed the doorknob and was surprised when it turned easily in my hands. I pulled open the door and almost cried with relief to see Shizuka topple into the hall. Her hands were tightly bound behind her back and a gag was tied around her mouth. She was dirty and her eyes were puffy and swollen with tears. Her face was tear streaked, her hair was a total rat's nest and she had a cut that ran across her forehead and over her right eyebrow. She was sweaty, her jeans were ripped and one of her shoes was missing. She'd never looked more beautiful.
"Shizuka," I breathed, immediately dropping to my knees. She gazed up at me, shaken, but alive. My hands shook so badly I couldn't have tied my own shoes, but somehow I managed to untie the gag.
"Honda," she whimpered once the gag had been removed.
"That asshole didn't hurt you, did he?" I inquired as I began to work on the ropes around her wrists.
"N-no. I'm fine. Just scared." She paused a moment, then whispered, "Honda, what's happening? I heard gunshots. Is everything all right?"
I pressed my lips into a thin line and finished freeing her hands before replying, "Don't worry. I won't let anything happen to you."
I began to work at the knots around her ankles and felt my heart skip a beat when she threw her arms around my neck and sobbed. I left working on the knots for a moment to fold her into my arms and rub her back.
"I'm s-sorry," she choked. "I'm just s-so afraid. Katsuya in the hos…hospital and…and th-that man." She hiccupped before adding, "I don't know what to d-do anymore!"
That goddamned son of a bitch, I thought. I'll send him straight to hell. I hugged her closer to me and brushed away the hair that had been plastered onto her forehead with blood and sweat. "Shh," I whispered. "It's going to be all right now."
I looked into her eyes and felt a shiver go through me. The air seemed to crackle with electricity. I gently tilted her face up to mine and closed my eyes as I brought my lips to hers. She tensed, surprised at first, then relaxed into my arms, into the kiss.
The world seemed to stop. For just one second, everything was OK. I felt something inside of me dancing wildly at the feeling of her soft, warm lips on mine. It was a feeling I wanted to have forever. But then, we parted and as suddenly as it had started, it was over. The magic, the warmth, the electricity was gone. The full weight of our situation came crashing back down on top of me.
What in the hell are we going to do now? I wondered to myself as I silently went back to work on the knots that held her ankles.
-Mai's POV-
"You want to play? Let's play."
Oh my God, did those words just come out of my mouth?
The man with the golden eye trained his gun on me and laughed that nasty, spine-tingling laugh of his in response.
What am I going to do now? Oh lord, what am I going to do now? "Put…put the gun down," I said. My gun hand trembled and my voice was high and thin. Yeah, Mai, real convincing, I chided myself.
"You don't have the balls, bitch. You don't have the balls to shoot me," snorted the man through his laughter.
"Put the gun down! I mean it!" I yelled.
I heard a click and sickly realized that he had cocked his gun. I swallowed and slowly grated out, "Put. The. Gun. Down."
"Shoot the goddamned gun!" taunted the man. "Do it! Last chance, you whore! Do it now!"
This is it, I thought. Do or die. I closed my eyes and slowly, oh-so-carefully, I pulled the trigger.
Click. My eyes flew open. "Oh God no," I whispered. "Please no." It was empty!
BLAM!
I shrieked as the gunshot sounded. The bullet zinged past me and ricocheted off the far wall. My gun is empty…but his definitely isn't!
I dropped my gun and ran.
BLAM! I dove to one side and zigzagged my way into a smaller adjoining room. Old, broken-down stove…useless, rusted sink…peeling linoleum…cupboards with no doors…an ancient, abandoned coffee brewer. A kitchen, I thought.
"You can run all you want, bitch!" shouted the man. "I'll get you!"
I heard his booming footsteps fast approaching and frantically searched for a hiding place. No cupboards with doors…no pantry…not even a crappy table to hide under! I despairingly realized. I can't stay here!
"You're dead!" he roared.
Where can I go? What can I do? I shifted my weight from one foot to the other, back and forth in a hysterical dance. Desperately, I scanned the room one last time, praying that a hiding place would present itself. My eyes settled on a dark doorframe.
I made a dash for that doorway and dove through as the man burst into the kitchen. I was at the end of an extremely dark hall. I squinted, trying to see where it led and apprehensively noted that I could barely see two feet in front of me. I don't know if I like that, I thought.
I didn't have much time to think the matter through. From the kitchen, I heard the man raging, spitting curses and wrathfully kicking at the decrepit cupboards. It was more than enough to convince me that the unknown was safer than facing that madman. I set off down the hall, brushing cobwebs and dirt out of my face as I ran.
-Anzu's POV-
Pain. Pain greater than anything I'd ever experienced screamed through me. I wanted to cry, wanted to scream, wanted to do something to give voice to that pain. But all I could manage was a sick little whimper.
I could focus on nothing else besides the hurt. My brain was urgently screaming at me to do something about this pain. It seemed to ebb and flow through my body in waves that were vaguely located somewhere near my left leg and my right shoulder.
I'm going to die, I thought, curling myself into an even tighter ball. I trailed my good hand over the bloody mess that used to be my left leg and gasped as the action sent a spear of agony through me. I could feel something hard and jagged below my knee and sickly wondered if it was bone. I'm never going to dance again, I hazily realized.
I tried to laugh at the thought, but all that came out of my mouth was a pained cough. There was so much blood…my jeans were soaked with it, the floor was covered with it. I was lying in a puddle of it, and it was warm and sticky. Did he get an artery? I wondered.
It's so quiet, I thought. It was quiet—much too quiet. Where Mai and the man with the gun had gone I didn't know. When (if) they were coming back, I had no idea. I knew only one thing: I would die when that man came back. He would shoot me through the head. Or the heart. Or watch me bleed to death, or whatever else fit his fancy.
No, I thought. Have to do something.
I tried to sit up and flopped back to the ground with a moan as my broken (it was broken—it had to be!) shoulder screamed in protest. All right…that's not going to work….
I glanced around what little of the room I could see around the table and saw nothing, absolutely nothing that could help me. Come on, there's got to be something, I thought. Look for it!
I swept my eyes across the room again. I saw a bit of broken chair…a spent bullet…a pebble…nothing useful. And then I noticed the trunk. It was old and rusted, like everything else in that awful house. But it was big. And it had to be heavy. And it was so very temptingly close to falling to the ground floor from its place near the top of the stairs. At the top of the stairs.
I smiled and cough-laughed again. Like I can really make it up the stairs, I miserably thought. That's it. Game over. I shivered. I knew the man would be back any second to kill me.
No. Somewhere inside of me, a fire began to burn. I won't let him. I won't! "I…won't die," I whispered. I twisted and tried to roll onto my stomach. Immediately, pain assaulted my senses, ringing in my ears and blinding me.
Go…do it, I thought. Do it now. Now!
I jerked and flopped onto my stomach. It was as though a bomb had gone off in my head. I saw lights behind my eyes as agony that I could hardly comprehend snapped through my brain. I coughed and vomited and slowly, the pain receded back to the pounding ache I'd become accustomed to.
Get to the stairs. Weakly, my hand shaking crazily, I dragged myself a few inches forward with my good arm. I clenched my jaw as fire raced through my shoulder and down my right side and forced myself to repeat the action. I had to keep going. And so I made my way to the foot of the stairs.
I almost gave up when I looked up that flight of stairs. Part of me wanted nothing more than to stop, to just lie down and die. But a larger, deeper part of me wouldn't let me do that. It was a basic, primal part of me; a simple will for survival and self-preservation.
I pulled with my good hand and wriggled against the steps, trying to climb up. My leg limply flopped behind me and it hurt, hurt, hurt, hurt! I whined with pain as the edge of the first step bit into my stomach. Can't stop…keep going….
Up I climbed, resting every few stairs and still no sign of Mai, the man, Honda or Shizuka. I'd nearly made it to the top when my good leg slipped and I rolled down a couple of stairs.
My vision went black and I felt as though I was floating. "Hurgh," I miserably gurgled, clenching my good hand into a fist. Am I passing out? I wondered through the buzzing in my ears.
As if to spite me, my vision cleared and I gradually came back to my senses. I gazed up to the top of the stairs. Only five steps to go, I thought. So close.
I reached out and pulled, forcing myself to ignore the burning in my shoulder and leg. Four. I wriggled and bit my tongue as the edge of the step dug into my side. Three. Don't give up…. Two. You've got it…. One. A final burst of effort and I was limply sprawled at the top of the stairs. I took a moment to rest before pulling myself to the chest.
I did it, I groggily thought.
"Anzu!"
I recognized that voice, but it took my exhausted mind a moment to place it. "H-Honda?" I whispered.
"Holy shit," he breathed. "What happened to you?"
"Oh my God! Anzu!"
I blinked. Oh. We've found Shizuka.
"We've got to get you out of here," Honda was saying. "We've got to get you to a hospital."
I tuned him out, the matter of little importance to me. "The chest," I whispered.
"What?"
I was so out of it I couldn't tell whether Honda or Shizuka had spoken. "Push the chest down…on…him…." I closed my eyes. I was suddenly so very tired.
"Anzu! Anzu don't close your eyes! Anzu…."
G'night, I thought as I sank into unconsciousness.
-Mai's POV-
"You goddamned stupid bitch!"
BLAM!
"You get back here!"
BLAM!
Is he gaining? I think he's gaining…oh God he's going to catch me! I thought as I dodged blindly to avoid the bullets.
"You'll never get away! You hear me?"
I could taste my own fear; a bitter taste in the back of my throat. Please don't let this be a dead end….
BLAM!
I whimpered with fear and forced myself to move faster. Ahead, I saw light. Silvery, shadowy moonlight, but light all the same. Head towards the light, I thought. Yeah, that's right Mai. It's the light at the end of a long tunnel—just like when you die.
"You damn whore!"
Head for the light, Mai.
BLAM!
Doesn't that gun ever run out of bullets? Or is that another one?
"I've got you!"
No! "Arrrrgh!" I shrieked as I burst out of the hall and into the light. I was right back where I'd started, in the room near the entryway. Everything was as it had been as I'd left it. The table was still overturned. The ground was still littered with bits of broken chairs. Dirt and grime still coated everything. But—no…not everything was the same.
Where's Anzu? I wondered as I sprinted across the room. I saw a broken trail of blood across the floor and followed it across the room and towards the stairs with the man right behind me.
I leapt for the stairs when and there was an earsplitting crash behind me. I whirled around and nearly wet myself with shock. A large chest had apparently fallen from the sky and landed directly on top of the man. What in the world?
"Mai!"
"Hey, are you all right?"
Honda? Shizuka? I looked up and there they were, at the top of the stairs, Honda with an apparently unconscious Anzu on his back. Did they do it? I wondered. It must have been them. "Y-yes," I stammered. "I'm fine. What—"
"It was Anzu's idea," Shizuka quickly broke in.
I nodded to show I understood and wordlessly walked back down to the bottom of the stairs. The gun was there, lying on the floor almost innocently, as though nothing had happened. I snatched it up. Its grip was still warm.
Behind me, Honda and Shizuka descended the stairs. Thank God it's over, I thought. But then, to my complete and utter horror, I heard that grating voice growl, "Now I'm pissed!"
The chest, that big, heavy chest, shook and tipped onto its side with a dull thud. And slowly, the man rose to his feet.
I couldn't believe it. It was ridiculous, completely unbelievable. And yet there he was.
"Yaaaah!" I screamed. I raised the gun and pulled the trigger. BLAM! He staggered. "Why won't you die?!" I shrieked. I pulled the trigger again. BLAM! And again. BLAM! And again. BLAM! Each time the man stumbled and shuddered until finally he sank to the ground.
"There!" I snapped, dropping the gun to the floor. "Dead now!"
"Mai…." Shizuka whispered.
I couldn't have been more wrong. The man began to laugh, gurgling and choking on his own blood. "You'll die," he stated. "If I go…you're…going…with me…."
"Come on," Honda whispered, steering me towards the door. "Let's get out of here."
"You're all dead!" wheezed the man as we ran for the door. We could hear his horrible laughter even as we raced out the front door. It followed us down the hill and all the way to Honda's car. I would swear I heard it until we'd all piled in and slammed the doors. And as we started the engine, there was a flash of light and an insanely loud explosion. We all screamed like five-year-olds.
The sound seemed to echo long after the light died away, crackling in the air. When I finally had the courage to look, Hill House was a smoldering heap of ashes.
"That crazy son of a bitch," Honda whispered.
For several minutes, all we could do was stare at the remains of Hill House. Finally, Shizuka whispered, "Honda, Anzu needs to get to a hospital now. And I want to go home."
"Yeah. Yeah…right," he distractedly replied. "Let's go."
The car started with a whine of protest and off we drove, back to Domino.
Author's Notes: Well, here is my extremely long chapter! Next up, we'll get to see what in the heck happened to Seto, Jounouchi, Ryou, Yuugi and Jezebel. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter!
Thanks to Sunrise and Sunset, Leland Lancaster, AmunRa, WildBlackWolf and Viva, Tuulikki, Wizzu, dragonlady1220 and Yuki Tsukihana for reviewing. You guys rule! Also, a special thank you to shadowwaker for the awesome fan art (Squee! Seto with wings)! I love it!