A/N: Wow. I got five reviews!!! Thank you all for reviewing. I finally posted my Bio so read it when you get a chance. There are the responses to my five fans who reviewed:

Bluefirechik:  Hey Haven. Thank you for not using my real name. I would have been really angry. Thanks for reviewing. Look, it's another chapter! I got four other reviews besides yours so I promise to keep writing. See you in two weeks!

Sakura: But I love making people be in suspense! *grins devilishly* As for "who's that guy", you'll see in this next chapter. Ta ta for now…

Salor Vega: Thank you for the review. Personally, I always thought I was a bad writer but I just thought of an idea and started writing this. I'm glad you like it.

Revia: Yup! It's a cliffie. I promise to write as much as I can *too heck with homework* Thank you for reviewing. I really do appreciate it.

Anime_luver: No it's not Dilandau *Darn, why didn't I think of that? Oh well* I can't seem to figure out how to put Dilandau in my story. Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

Again, special thanks to everyone who review(s)!

Disclaimer:  Today I have Jessy from Team Rocket to do the disclaimer. So Jessy, do I own Escaflowne?

-No

That's right. Question: Will you ever cut your hair?

-Never. My hair has been my best friend since child hood.

Right…Can I cut it?

-No

Please?

-NO!

Fine, be that way. *snaps finger. Dilandau appears out of nowhere with a flamethrower at hand*

Muahahahahaha. Burn! *Sets Jessy's head on fire*

-Ahhhhhh! *runs around in circles* SOMBODY HELP ME! MY PRECIOUS HAIR IS ON FIRE!

Ok, that's enough. *snaps finger. Dilandau disappears and is replaced by Sakura holding her wand and a clow card*

Water card. Put out Jessy's head. Release and dispel! *Water completely drenches Jessy's head, putting out the fire. Jessy's head is almost completely bald except for a few wisps of hair*

That's better, now, on with Chapter Two! 

Chapter Two: Signs

Hitomi woke up and found herself lying on the cold concrete floor. She struggled to open her eyes but they seemed to weigh at least ten pounds. She tried to sit up when the back of her head exploded in pain. She moved her hand to where the pain was coming from but found that she couldn't reach. After much struggling, she was finally able to open her eyes. Both of her arms were tied to two different objects: a water heater and a pipe that was sticking out of the wall. Taking a quick glance around the room, she could see that she was in an empty basement. A single flight of wooden steps lead to a door that was ajar. Through this door was the only light source Hitomi had.

Hitomi closed her eyes again, the effort of keeping them open overbearing her. Ignoring the pounding of her heart and the throbbing of her head, she strained her ears to listen to the conversation coming from the open door.

 It sounded as if there were two men, one man had panic in his voice, the other full of hatred and malice.

"Now what are we going to do? She wasn't supposed to come home this early." Came the panicking voice.

"No shit Sherlock." Said the menacing one, "You said she doesn't get home till 4:00 Tuesday through Friday. Today is Friday and she crashed our heist at 2:00!"

"She usually comes home at 4:00; at least she has been for the past three weeks. Maybe the weather made her change her plans."

'They were watching me?' Hitomi thought, 'I had no idea…'

The men upstairs continued, "So what are we going to do with her? Give her back?" the first asked timidly.

 "No, you baka. If we give her back, she'll turn us in to the cops!"

So what do we do then?"

The second one paused for a moment, and then said in a deadly calm voice, "Kill her."

Hitomi immediately felt the familiar panic pierce her body. Without thinking of the consequences, Hitomi pushed aside all of the pain she was feeling and screamed at the top of her lungs.

"Somebody Help Me! Please!"

"Oh shit, she's awake." The two men came crashing down the stairs, the second one close behind, pausing to turn on the basement light.

"Someone Help!" Hitomi bellowed.

"Shut up, Bitch!" Said the first.

"NO!" Hitomi retorted, "Can Anyone Hear Me? Please Help!"

The first man silenced Hitomi with a blow to her stomach, knocking the wind out of her. Hitomi tried to catch her breath but went into a coughing fit. She hunched over, wheezing and coughing until a tiny trickle of blood could be seen coming out of her mouth.

The first grinned maliciously, bent down to one knee, and lifted Hitomi's face to his. Hitomi nearly passed out again as the putrid smell of alcohol hit her like a ton of bricks. Hitomi forced herself to look into his cold, blue eyes.

'He was the one I saw before the other hit me in the head.'

He smiled, revealing yellow, rotted teeth, but Hitomi never left his gaze.

"You've got guts, but even guts won't save you. But your mouth might." He glanced at the droplets of blood on Hitomi's slightly parted lips. He leaned toward her and whispered in her hear, his breath sending chills down her spine, "The longer you stay quiet, the longer you stay alive." He pulled back, stared at her for a moment, and then kissed her roughly on her mouth, sucking the blood off of her lips. He stood up to leave, enjoying the look of terror on Hitomi's face.

The two kidnappers walked up the stairs, turned off the light, slammed the door, and left Hitomi in the dark.

Hitomi was in shock. She couldn't move. She couldn't explain the pain she was feeling, physical and emotional. All she knew was that she wanted to get away. She didn't want to be alone, in the dark. She wanted to be with someone, anyone, anywhere but here. Hitomi leaned against the wall and let her head drop as she fell into an uneasy sleep.

*Flash* Hitomi heard a loud explosion. At the same time, she felt something rip through her chest. A single white feather drifted down and landed in a puddle of blood. The feather was glowing…

Hitomi bolted upright. It took her a moment to realize that her surroundings were not a part of a dream. She had hoped so much that she would wake up in her bed and realize that this was just a nightmare.

She then remembered why she woke up.

'The vision again,' Hitomi thought, 'What does it mean?'

Nothing made sense. Hitomi couldn't think strait. 'None of my previous visions caused me physical pain. Why is this one hurting me? And what about the feather? What could the feather mean?'

And then it hit her.

"Van!"  She whispered.

Hitomi felt the first surge of hope in a long time.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Lord Van! I'm back!" squealed a cat girl with short pink hair.

"Merle!" exclaimed Van as she attached herself to his arm, "How was your trip to Asturia?"

"Oh, it was wonderful. Celena showed me all the sights and took me everywhere! She's quite the tour guide."

"I'm glad you had fun." Van said, not too convincingly.

Merle looked up at her childhood playmate. She could tell something was bothering him.

"What's wrong?" she asked eyes full of concern.

"Nothing!"

"You're lying. I can always tell when you lie. I know you better than you know yourself." Stated Merle while stomping her foot.

Van smiled. He should have known better than to hide anything from Merle. To her, he was an open book.

"What's wrong? What happened?" Merle persisted.

"Nothing happened…" Van began, "…it's just…My advisors are pressuring me more than ever to marry and produce an heir, but…"

Van didn't need to explain the rest. Merle knew what was going on inside his head.

"Those jerks! Why can't they take a hint?" Merle grumbled.

"There's something else." Merle looked up at him as he continued. "Something happened last night."

"What?"

Van fingered the jewel hanging around his neck, "The pendent started glowing, and for a moment, I thought I felt something."

"What did you feel?" Merle persisted, handing on to every word.

"Pain." Van paused and looked up at the Mystic Moon, Merle following his gaze. "I think Hitomi's in trouble." Said Van in a worried tone.

"What kind of trouble?" asked Merle, matching his tone of voice.

"I wish I knew…"

A/N:  Ha Ha. Another cliffie. Hey, at least this chapter is longer than the first. I love torturing Hitomi and Van! Its sooooo much fun! *grins* I'm going to be doing a lot of this throughout the story, so if you don't like it, tough!!! I apologize a thousand times if I miss-spelled anything. I tried my best. Please review or I will stop writing and I'll keep all my wonderful ideas inside my head.