Chapter Two
Kyrie woke painfully in an awkward position, sitting at her desk, her upper torso sprawled out over the polished wooden surface. The faint odour of the polish though, being so close, had given her a mild headache and she groaned, a kink in her neck as she stood up slowly. She made her way slowly down the stairs grumbling as she remembered there was no chef to cook now. One of the few bad things about living with a millionaire uncle was that you had people to do things for you. When those people suddenly leave, you realise that you've taken things for granted. Example, cooking. Kyrie had never learned to cook because the occasion had never called for it…
She slumped into the large kitchen. It was designed to be large enough for those occasions when her Uncle entertained guests. A lot of guests. Kyrie stood staring blankly for a while. She cursed Cell under her breathe as she slowly began to nestle around in the fridge for food. Her mind drifted to her friends and her school. She knew for certain that Sen and her mother would of fled to safety, and Dominic as well. Most of the teachers that she knew would of run as well, all with kids to think about. That would be a driving force for most people…
Suddenly though as she had her hands full of eggs, bacon, bread, cheese and tomatoes, she heard the distant thumping of the front door. Pausing for a moment, a fleeting feeling of panic rising, then vanishing as she got a grip on herself. She dumped the food on the bench nearby and closed the fridge door, heading into the massive elaborate marble hallway. Opposite the huge double doors was the massive stair way that led up to the second of five floors. She stood out the front of the huge mahogany doors, staring up at them and feeling dwarfed.
She jumped as she heard the knocking again. Hesitantly she opened the door just enough to stare out from. Sen stared back with a childish smile on her full blood coloured lips.
"Hey Kyrie. Thought you might want some company." Kyrie smiled relief and threw her doors wide open and hugged Sen. Something she didn't do often any more.
"I'm so glad to see you Sen. All my Uncle's servants took off when Seru announced his damned tournament." Sen nodded and Kyrie let her go.
"I honestly though you and your mother would of gone, with your siblings." Kyrie stated. Sen nodded.
"She left. Same with my two brothers and my little sister, but I refused to go and leave you by yourself. Mum let me come here because your house is was out of the way and your all by yourself." Kyrie nodded and she closed the door behind Sen as she made herself at home in the entrance hall.
"I was just about to attempt to make breakfast. Did you want some?" Kyrie asked. Sen's eyes lit up and she smiled.
"Will you let me make it? I love to cook!" Kyrie almost danced a little jig at her best friends proposal and led her to the kitchen. Kyrie swore that she would ask the chefs to show her to cook when Cell was destroyed and everyone settled back into routine again.
If they ever found a way to destroy Cell.
"What's up with that cell character any way?" Sen asked. Kyrie snapped back to attention, watching Sen work as she began to make some bacon and egg muffins with some fried rice and fresh squeezed orang juice.
"I don't know hey." Kyrie replied.
"Oh well. From what they were saying last night and all this morning, they are going to launch a full forced attack on him this afternoon. The army, I mean." Sen said, almost casually. Kyrie nodded and hoisted herself on a bench, out of Sen's way, watching as she sliced vegies for the rice.
"I think he's a bit of a sad case to be honest." Kyrie muttered. Sen looked up a little dazed.
"What do you mean?"
"I reckon he's so desperately alone that he's threatened the world in an attempt to get all the attention on him. At least for a while." Kyrie stated, conversationally.
"Maybe. I reckon there's more to him. I reckon that it could be that he's so ridiculously powerful that there no challenge for him any more. He's bored, so he's trying to get himself a little kick for himself."
"Or it could be that he's just a selfish prick and he wants to blow up the world." Sen shrugged at Kyrie's statement casually.
"Could be. Who knows?" Sen stated.
Kyrie yawned absently as a silence befell the friends as Sen continued preparing a meal for them.
"You got any music?" Sen absently asked. Kyrie shrugged.
"What are you into now?"
"Something heavy but with a solid beat. Rammstein's good. If not, Linkin Park. Metallica even?" Kyrie nodded and leapt off the bench, heading to the massive sound system that sat wired into the wall on the opposite side of the Entrance hall. Kyrie trudged across the expanses and fiddled for a moment, before the steady beat of 'In the End' by Linkin Park began and she turned it up. The speakers were all over the Entrance hall, and soon the windows were rattling in their panes.
Kyrie returned to her friend and soon they were eating, talking loudly and enjoying each other's company as good friends generally do. Without realising it, the day etched away and Kyrie showed Sen to her room and then headed through the halls towards her own. She stopped though for a moment at the top of the stairs, listening. She heard the front doors slowly close and she knew there was someone in the house. No wind, unless it was hurricane wind, could close those doors.
"Hello? Is there someone there?" She called, arming herself with a baseball bat which she plucked from her room quickly and headed down the stairs. She was wearing a pair of faded jeans and a black T-shirt. Slowly she reached the bottom and she glanced around cautiously. She couldn't see anyone, and the lights from the chandelier above and the side lamps lit most of the room. She headed to the hallway and checked the door. It was locked. She could have been imagining things, but that eerie feeling told her otherwise. She froze as she heard a strange sound, like a desperately-in-need-of-oiling gate, closing. It was coming from the entertaining lounge, to her right. To her left was the kitchen.
She made her way slowly to the door, glancing around the corner, in case someone was there, waiting for her, then she opened the door fully. No one behind there.
"Hello? If you're here, seeking refuge, I don't really mind, but can you show yourself? I don't want to hurt you!" She yelled loud enough for anyone to hear.
"I don't want refuge." It was a deep and smooth slightly accented voice. It echoed around the huge room but she couldn't see anyone and she walked slowly into the centre, to avoid being surprised.
"Then what do you want?" She asked a little quieter, but loud enough to be heard.
"I do like this manor. What is its name?" The voice was casual and she assumed that the bearer was European.
"Err… It's called Hill's Manor. It's my Uncle's." She stated, a little confused. "Please, why are you here, if you're not seeking refuge?" Silence greeted her and it was disturbing.
Finally she heard him breathe heavily and take a breath.
"I am here, simply because I choose to be." He replied, cockily. He was arrogant, like Cell and as she listened, she realised, grimly, that it sounded very much like him.
"You simply choose to be in this manor now? Tell me something, do you by chance know if that attack from the army against Seru was successful?" She heard a snicker and a gentle hum for fleeting moment.
"Seru? Now why, do you call him that?" The emphasis on the word him confirmed to her, what she had feared. Cell was still alive, and in her house, in the same room, as her.
"Seru, is your name Cell, just in a different tongue." A deep laugh echoed around her and she edged towards the door, her hands gripping the bat tightly as her eyes darted around. She tried to hide her fear, but in reality she was more concerned about Sen. She knew Sen would not fight back. She was not the type who knew how.
"Clever girl. To answer your previous question, the armies attack was unsuccessful and the army that attacked me, is no more." Kyrie's face fell slightly at this. She desperately wanted to see him, so she could keep an eye on him, but this game of cat and mouse was disturbing her more than anything.
"Show yourself, please." She said, remembering to add the courtesy word on the end. Cell sounded proper in a sense, and maybe she could escape with her life if she remained polite and respectful.
"Why? I'm having fun toying with you."
"I said please." She said, almost annoyed at him now. It was bad enough he was toying with her, but proving to her that she was wrong about his politeness was irritable.
"As you wish." Kyrie almost screamed, but held it back and fell backwards instead as Cell dropped in front of her. He had been hovering against the tall ceiling, watching her as she glanced around, forgetting he had wings.
Kyrie groaned as the sudden pain of falling badly subsided and she sat up slowly, staring at Cell. He was taller than she remembered; although it could have just been the low angle she was viewing him from.
"Whoa…" She muttered, staring for a moment. She slowly pushed herself back to her feet, and he stared down his nose at her, his brilliant magenta eyes glimmering in the low lights.
"Err… Did you want a drink or something?" She asked cautiously, failing to hide the sudden squeak in her voice as her throat seemed to tighten.
"I am a bio-mechanical android; I do not sleep, drink or eat." He stated calmly as if she should have already known.
"Do you mind if I have one then?" She asked. His grin spread into a smirk and with a gesture of his wrist, he indicated for her to be his guest. She managed a weak smile and backed out of the room. Cell followed, his huge feet, squeaking as if on hinges, until she realised it was just the boots of his armour. Slowly she turned around, hesitant to show her back to him and paced the length of the Entrance Hall, glancing up the stairs.
"Don't worry. I won't kill your friend… While she sleeps." Cell stated calmly.
"How did you?..." She stopped herself and shook her head, opening the kitchen doors.
"I can sense life signals." Cell replied smoothly. He stood in the doorway, folding his arms across his chest and watching Kyrie rudely as she fashioned herself a quick milkshake from the milkshake maker.
"You're… a… err… gifted man…" Kyrie muttered, feeling awkward and terrified.
"Thank you." His intent stare was beginning to irritate Kyrie now, even though it was an observant stare, not a perverted one. His eyes never seemed to blink and they boasted a fiery intelligence that far surpassed her own. She knew he could snap her in an instant, yet he didn't make a move to hurt her. The question of why though, ran rampant through her mind and she tried to hide it by sipping her shake.
Finally she snapped though.
"Why am I still alive?" She asked. Cell's left eye ridge arched slightly at her sudden question but he smirked all the same.
"I haven't killed you, if that's what you mean, because you haven't given me a reason to yet. If you had screamed, or if you had been rude or disrespectful, I would have simply killed you. Instead, you have been polite and honest. A decent host. As such you will remain, until I see fit." Kyrie swallowed at that. She didn't want to play host initially to the tyrant.
"I… thought you didn't need to sleep…"
"I don't. But that doesn't mean much. I'd like some form of dignified shelter, as it is currently raining at my arena."
"Dignified shelter? You mean the most expensive and grand house you could find?" Cell smirked at her sudden sarcastic comment and she excused herself, downing the rest of her shake instead.
"I don't entertain often." She muttered and filled the glass up with water to wash the milk out and let it soak.
"I can tell." Cell replied.
"I… err…" She silenced herself and turned to Cell. He smirked suddenly and stepped to the side then back against the wall, behind the door as it suddenly opened. Sen wandered in, partially asleep and headed to the fridge. Kyrie stared in horror. Behind the shadows that the door cast, she saw the pin pricks of magenta light that stared intently at her. Judging her reactions, she realised, but Cell was out of sight for now, which means, it was possible, Sen could just not know, and Kyrie could attempt to wait it out, until Cell left.
"G'night Kyrie…" Sen muttered, heading to the door with a glass of warm milk.
"G… Good night Sen." The door closed, courtesy of Cell as Sen left and he stared at her.
"So, my host does have a name. Kyrie…" He said, tasting the word for a moment. He was sinister and merely toying with her to get kicks. It was sickening at the thought, but as she watched him watch her, she felt fearful. This man was the most dangerous man on the entire planet and he was in here house, in her presence, watching her, waiting.
Waiting? For what?
"I... don't mean to sound rude… but how long can I be expecting you for?"
"Hmm… Not much longer."
"That's a relief… I mean, I was hoping to go to bed soon…" Cell smirked.
"You're a unique woman, Kyrie. Don't be afraid when I say that I will see you again." Cell smirked and gave a half wave as he turned and headed back towards the huge double doors. He saw himself out and Kyrie stared as he took to the skies. He was fast and powerful. She sighed as she locked the doors again. She was still in a state of shock over what had happened. She had survived an encounter with the most dangerous man on the entire planet. But why had he come? It wouldn't really have been the weather… Would it?
"Maybe he was just bored after all…" Kyrie muttered slowly ambling up the stairs. Maybe he was bored… Which meant, he wasn't really as bad as she had thought in the first place… Maybe…