Shadowing Ivy
By A Shot of Amber
* ~ * Session 12: Snow Fall Recluse Part 3 * ~ *
The ship was quiet when he awoke the next morning. With kind of a jump he sat up in the bed and looked around him. It was the same old room with its rusted and water stained metallic walls. For a second he couldn't remember why he awoke with such a start but now he remembered. The thoughts of last night came back to him. Faye being kidnapped, Ivy disappearing, the bar where he met a guy named Alex, and now Hanoi Wai. Together Jet and Ed had gotten enough information for him to use to capture this guy. Today was the day and by the end of the day, he would be receiving that nice big bounty.
Spike swung his feet over the edge of the bed and stood up. He stretched bare arms over his head and walked out of the room, mindless of the fact that he was not wearing a shirt. The girls were gone from the ship any ways and to him Ed was not a girl. She was sort of a thing in all prospects. A wild crazy thing that was lying on the back of the couch sleeping on her back with her arms and legs in the air. Spike walked past her into the kitchen where Jet was leaning against the counter smoking a cigarette.
"Hey Jet, what's for breakfast?"
"Nothing, we don't have any food, remember?" Jet took another puff of his cigarette and blew out a stream of gray smoke.
"What? I thought we had food yesterday!" Spike turned toward the fridge to see if Jet was really telling the truth or not.
"We didn't have anything yesterday either. We are broke Spike! Until you bring us back the bounty money were not going to have any food to eat."
Spike groaned and closed the door of the empty fridge. With a sigh of defeat and hunger, he headed towards the door back to his room to change.
"I'll go out now and get the bounty. Maybe I can scrounge up some food also."
"Good luck," Jet replied as his stomach rumbled at the sound of the word food.
Inside his room Spike quickly changed into his clothes and picked up his parka along with his gun and a sheaf of papers Jet had gotten for him. It was mostly information about Hanoi Wai, useless stuff really. But every little thing would help is his plan to capture the guy.
Outside on the carrier he climbed into Swordfish and started her up. The engine roared to life then settled to a gentle purr while the carrier door opened revealing the dark vacuum of space.
"Wish me luck," Spike spoke in the communicator to Jet standing in the control room.
"Good luck," Jet replied waving a hand has Spike took off into space.
* * * * * * *
Ivy shifted slightly and opened her eyes. She felt cold and frozen. The body heat that Alex had supplied was gone now and the fire was out. Snow covered her body in a light dusting freezing her bare skin. Using two near frozen hands she brushed away the snow and slowly stood up. Alex was no where in sight and there was no sign of where he went either. Footsteps dotted the snow but there was so many of them that she didn't know which ones were his. Ivy wrapped her coat tighter around her body and looked up at the sky. It was still cloudy but it was definitely daytime right now. The snow was holding off at least for a little while but who knew when it would start again.
With a sigh, Ivy shook the extra snow from her shoes and begun to walk towards the street. The least she could do was go and find Spike, if he was still here.
* * * * * * *
Underneath closed lids her eyes moved in rapid circles searching for something. She shifted in her binds straining to get free and run towards the figure in the distance but something held her down. Her mouth opened to scream out his name but no words came out. Water filled her lungs choking off any words. She struggled to swim toward the surface where he was, one arm held out reaching for her but the binds held her tightly, drowning her in the salty ocean.
Near by a figure withered on the floor. Eyes wide open but unseeing in the darkness. Her dirty blond hair was tangled and matted with dirt. Thin hands clawed at the walls, blood staining her fingertips.
* * * * * * *
"This should be fun. I don't even know what the guy looks like." Spike looked over the snowy landscape below him searching for the building he knew was there.
"It can't be helped. Ed couldn't find much in the line of facial pictures on the guy. All she could really find was a bunch of stuff listing his crimes and even then it wasn't much." Jet's voice crackled over the communicator.
Inside the Bebop Ed lay on the floor inside the hatch sprawled out sleeping. Next to her lay Ein sleeping peacefully with his head between his paws. Inside the control room, Jet sat in front of the navigation controls staring into the darkness of space. His communicator rested in one hand. Overhead music played on the speakers. Some old song that he had put on, something about flying into the night.
If I could fly, I would pick you up. I'd take you into the night and show you love.
It was the kind of music an old man like him would listen too. Music for an old man who had no one to be with him when he was alone.
"Hey Jet."
Jet broke out of his thoughts and looked down at the communicator. Spike was talking to him. Raising his arm he brought the communicator up to his lips and spoke into it.
"Yea, what?"
"I just landed on Callistio. I'm off to search for Hanoi Wai and Faye. If my hunch is right she's off with him."
"Sounds like they're having a party," Jet replied ginning at the thought.
"Probably and I'm just the one to crash it." Spike stepped out into the snow and looked around him.
"Well have fun and bring me back some treats."
"Sure will." Spike clicked off the communicator and closed the door of his ship. All around him, the world was silent. Snow covered everything in a blanket of unmarred whiteness. This should be an easy job.
* * * * * * *
Snow sunk into her shoe wetting her sock. With a grumble Ivy stopped and slipped off her shoe. She scraped out the extra snow then slipped the black heel back onto her foot. Her shoes were not very practical in this type of weather but there wasn't much she could do. There were no signs of human life anywhere. No sign of Spike or Alex, in fact that she had not seen a single person ever since she had first started walking.
Now she began to walk again. The snow continued to sink into her shoe and spill over the tops of her socks. Her feet were frozen already but there wasn't much else to do but to continue walking. Maybe she would find that bar they went to last night. Maybe Spike would be there or Alex or someone who could help her. The thought perked her up a bit. She begun to walk faster headed toward a group of buildings in the distance. A closer look revealed them to be a warehouse and some smaller buildings surrounding that. Ivy squinted in the sudden blast of snow that blew around her. The wind was icy cold like knives cutting into her skin. She held one arm up in front of her eyes to cover them from the icy cold.
Then all of a sudden she wasn't cold. The wind stopped blowing and the snow cleared. Her feet were no longer frozen; the white powder was gone replaced by rain. She stood on a street in the darkness. Behind a few neon lights glowed from the bars. Voices filtered out laughing and talking but she didn't pay any attention to those, it was the figure in the distance that caught her attention. He was stumbling slightly, one hand clutching at his side. A closer look revealed blood to be seeping between his fingertips. She moved to run towards him but her feet were locked down, frozen into the street. The stranger stumbled and fell in front of her. The light from the neon signs shining down on a brown trench coat and dark fuzzy hair. Blood seeped from the wound on his side but she couldn't move to run towards him. Instead, she was locked down, frozen into place watching the stranger bleed to death on the street. Rain poured down on her head smoothing out her long blond hair.
Long blond hair? Ivy looked down to see that she really did have long blond hair. She was also dressed differently in a pale sweater and a dark skirt. In front of her, the stranger looked up and smiled at her, his face was cast in shadow but he held out one hand and whispered something. "Julia..."
Inside the warehouse, someone dragged the limp figure of the girl deeper into the darkness. She was carefully tied up to the wall; her hands and legs shackled into place then left there. Her eyes were closed but moved rapidly underneath the lids looking back and forth for something to see.
* * * * * * *
Spike readied his gun and looked around him. It was starting to snow again, a soft powdery snowfall that rested gently on everything including the set of footprints in the snow footprints that stopped only inches from an empty warehouse. Feeling suspicion rising inside him and the guess that his hunch that had led him here was right Spike moved forward towards the door. In one hand, his gun was held ready to be used at any moment. The other hand was left free to run over the aged wood of the warehouse doors, pushing and feeling till he found the handle and he could push the door open.
The first sight he was greeted with was darkness. Slowly he walked in looking for any sign of light or humans but there was none. The only light that spilled in was from the doorway. He pushed the door open further then pushed the other door open so he could see more then turned back to the warehouse. The first thing he saw sickened him to his very core. Lying near by in a corner made by some boxes lay a girl. She could not have been more then ten or eleven but her physical appearance was deceptive. Long blond hair was matted and tangled in knots. Her skin was dirty and covered with cuts. Blood stained the ragged piece of cloth she wore as a dress. She lay there withering on the floor twisting her arms and legs while clawing at the wall or at her skin in agony. Spike could only stare in horror and disbelief at the sight of the girl in front of him.
She twisted and squirmed over the floor. The light not quite reaching her but instead ending only a slight ways from her. Her body first twisted one way then the next. One hand flew through the air and hit the ground with a thud falling into the path of light. She suddenly stilled; her whole body stopped moving and lay still. Spike quickly regained his senses and reached for his communicator. He had better tell Jet about what he just saw. He was going to need backup on this one.
"Hello boy." The voice was icy cold and filled with bitter anger.
Spike stopped and looked up searching for the source of the voice but nothing revealed itself in the darkness.
"Are you looking for someone?"
"Who are you?! Show yourself!" Spike dropped the communicator and reached for his gun.
"I am who I am. I am a person. I am me."
"You can't be someone unless you give me a name and show yourself!" Spike pointed the gun into the darkness but no one stepped out into the light.
"I don't think you really want to see me. The sight might sicken you."
"Quit playing games and show yourself! I'm interested to meet the person who is hiding from me."
"Very well then." The hand once lying in the path of light disappeared and a pair of eyes glittered has a figure moved out of the darkness. It was the little girl, her thin dirt stained face was stretched into a smile has she slowly stepped out and came to a halt in front of him.
"Surprised?" The voice wasn't her's even though her lips moved with it. He noticed that her eyes were clouded over a thin white layer covering all color in them.
"I am who I am. I am a person or at least I was once. I was a child once but now I am only me." The child like person looked down at one blood stained hand then looked back up at Spike. "And now I am only me." She repeated again.
"Quit repeating yourself and speak straight. Who are you? Give me a name at least."
"A name? A rose by any other name could smell so sweet and with a name comes consequences. When I give you your name I will be forced to kill you."
Spike grinned and lowered his gun. "I was never one to really die. If it must be known, I'm immortal."
"Really, well then I'll guess I'll have to see." One hand flew behind her and drew out a knife. With lightning speed the silver blade flew through the air and hit his shoulder. Spike yelled in pain as old wounds caused by Vicious were reopened. His gun flew out of his hand sliding back into the darkness and he fell backwards one hand grasping his shoulder in pain.
"Well it seems your not so immortal after all. I can bring you down with only one knife throw. Seems you're to easy and maybe I should kill you now. I don't think you're ready for the world of dreams."
"The world of dreams?" Spike opened his eyes and sat up wincing at the pain in his shoulder.
"It's a place where a person will live and die. A place were their every nightmare will be lived out until their very mind goes crazy and they experience a horrible and agonizing death. Much like these two will." The child like person stepped back has a light shone down on two figures chained to the wall.
Spike's eyes widened has he recognized the figures of Faye and Ivy lying there on the floor. There bodies withered and moved in a twisted dance has they struggled to escape the bounds holding them.
"Sickening isn't it? And they'll go straight to hell when they are done. They'll go straight to hell for all their sins and they will experience all the pain I did and more of it."
"What are you talking about?" Spike slowly stood up holding onto his shoulder but he fell to his knees again has another wave of pain took over. The knife was lodged deep into his shoulder, one hand reached to pull it out but the knife only moved in further causing him more pain.
"Don't you know? For so many years, I was locked away. Hidden in darkness and made to feel pain only now I have escaped and I will make those who hurt me feel the pain for what they did." The girl threw back her head and laughed a cold chilling laugh unlike that of any child. "I will make people live out their nightmares until they die and go to hell. I have made a contract with the devil to destroy people's souls!" She turned back to him. "And now I will send him yours."
The knife deepened into his flesh until it was hidden underneath the blood and muscle. Spike screamed in pain and grasped at his shoulder trying to reach for the knife while the girl laughed again, that same chilling maniacal laughter.
"Die you fool! Die and go to hell! The devil is waiting!"
He fell backwards onto the floor his legs kicking into the air while one hand clawed at he air and the other clawed at his shoulder trying to reach for the knife.
"You shall dance with the devil tonight and experience pain for the rest of your days!" She laughed, her eyes glittering in the darkness.
"I don't think so. The only person dancing with the devil tonight will be you." A bright light filled the room reaching into every corner and shining down on the girl. Her screams echoed throughout has she fell to her knees and held both arms up to her face.
"Sorry missy but there is no way you are getting away with this."
"How dare you, no one will mess up my plans!" The child reached behind her and pulled out a knife. With deadly aim she threw, it towards the door but half way through it fell clattering to the floor and lay still.
"The light will burn away all evil and kill off her evil power."
The girl reached up clawing at her face has she fell forward flopping her body on the floor. Blood ran in rivulets from the cuts on her face and arms. Dirty fingernails tore at her skin while blood pooled in the cuts.
"How could you? How could you?" The voice was raspy and thinner now fading into nothingness until she lay still on the floor. Her eyes blinked once then opened the milky whiteness gone reveling only simple brown eyes.
The knife began to glow and smoke before disappearing from the floor. Spike stopped twitching and sat up. The mind numbing pain had stopped. He looked at his shoulder to see that the knife wound was gone. There was no sign that he had been hit at all. Then he looked at the doorway; a tall man with brown hair stood grinning there. A gun in one hand and a power switch in the other.
"Surprised to see me?" Alex walked into the warehouse still grinning has he slipped his gun away under his coat.
"How did you know what you do?" Spike slowly stood up waiting to feel any pain in his shoulder but there was none.
"It's really very simple. Hanoi Wai means the one who is not there. So I knew to use light to repel the demon that possessed that little girl. A demon is always repelled by bright light."
"I don't get it."
"Don't try to, my partner figured it out. I just went along with him." Alex walked past Spike towards where Ivy and Faye lay on the floor. "We better untie these two. I highly doubt their dead, more likely unconscious." He bent down and begun to untie the ropes holding Ivy.
Spike stood there a moment watching him before walking over and bending down over Faye. She was deathly pale and covered with dirt. He worked quickly untying the knots and shooting off the lock on the shackles. Alex gave him a look before doing the same for Ivy's.
"We better get them back to the ship before they wake up. I don't think either one will want to see this place ever again."
"I wonder if they will even remember." Alex gently picked up Ivy into his arms and smiled down at her. Spike watched him do this with a veiled look in his eyes before he too picked up Faye and followed Alex out of the warehouse.
* * * * * * *
"So you see. Hanoi Wai never really existed. Instead, there was only a little girl who sold her soul to the devil. She had lived a hard life. She was beaten and starved. She never saw light and when she was almost eleven years old, she died. Her body was thrown into a warehouse and forgotten but somehow her soul wished to come back and seek revenge against those who hurt her. So she made a deal with the devil and came back, she started using her powers to lure in people, locking them into darkness and making them live their worst nightmares until they died and went to hell. Only problem was that she had to experience pain with these people and she couldn't take light. She had never seen daylight or any kind of light before. Her parents beat her so much and neglected her in such a way that she never saw the light of day."
"And now she can rest in peace." Faye replied closing her eyes.
"Only problem is that because of the fact that the "devil" was doing all this we don't get a single cent."
"You can't blame the police Spike. How can they pay us anything when the culprit wasn't even a living entity?"
"After all the pain and time we went through I still think we deserve something," Spike mumbled in reply.
"I think the most we can do right now is forget about what just happened and get on."
Everyone looked at Ivy sitting on the couch curled up into a ball shivering slightly.
"All we can really do is continue on with our real lives and hope that the girl who sold her soul to the devil at least went to heaven."
"I guess that is really all we can do," Jet agreed nodding his head.
"I would have still liked to get that reward money." Spike muttered under his breath.
Ivy shifted her gaze to Spike sitting next to her then closed her eyes. She still did not know what to believe about her dream.
Life is but a dream...
Jet: Boy that sure was a dark episode.
Spike: Yea, I think after all that we need something light to cheer us up.
Faye: I agree after all that I'll take anything to get my mind off that.
Ed: Ed thinks the crew of the BebopBebop should go clubbing!
Everyone: Clubbing?
Ed: The next episode is "Bebop Dance Party."
Jet: This should be interesting.
What do you think? I got the idea for the little girl from a show I once saw where they had footage of a little girl with blond hair withering on the floor in the darkness of a bare room. She had been abused so much that she was blind from never seeing light. It was very creepy to watch.
So please read and review or send all comments, question, suggestions, and flames to Saphrians_Water_Reflection@hotmail.com. Thank you!
* ~ * Session 12: Snow Fall Recluse Part 3 * ~ *
The ship was quiet when he awoke the next morning. With kind of a jump he sat up in the bed and looked around him. It was the same old room with its rusted and water stained metallic walls. For a second he couldn't remember why he awoke with such a start but now he remembered. The thoughts of last night came back to him. Faye being kidnapped, Ivy disappearing, the bar where he met a guy named Alex, and now Hanoi Wai. Together Jet and Ed had gotten enough information for him to use to capture this guy. Today was the day and by the end of the day, he would be receiving that nice big bounty.
Spike swung his feet over the edge of the bed and stood up. He stretched bare arms over his head and walked out of the room, mindless of the fact that he was not wearing a shirt. The girls were gone from the ship any ways and to him Ed was not a girl. She was sort of a thing in all prospects. A wild crazy thing that was lying on the back of the couch sleeping on her back with her arms and legs in the air. Spike walked past her into the kitchen where Jet was leaning against the counter smoking a cigarette.
"Hey Jet, what's for breakfast?"
"Nothing, we don't have any food, remember?" Jet took another puff of his cigarette and blew out a stream of gray smoke.
"What? I thought we had food yesterday!" Spike turned toward the fridge to see if Jet was really telling the truth or not.
"We didn't have anything yesterday either. We are broke Spike! Until you bring us back the bounty money were not going to have any food to eat."
Spike groaned and closed the door of the empty fridge. With a sigh of defeat and hunger, he headed towards the door back to his room to change.
"I'll go out now and get the bounty. Maybe I can scrounge up some food also."
"Good luck," Jet replied as his stomach rumbled at the sound of the word food.
Inside his room Spike quickly changed into his clothes and picked up his parka along with his gun and a sheaf of papers Jet had gotten for him. It was mostly information about Hanoi Wai, useless stuff really. But every little thing would help is his plan to capture the guy.
Outside on the carrier he climbed into Swordfish and started her up. The engine roared to life then settled to a gentle purr while the carrier door opened revealing the dark vacuum of space.
"Wish me luck," Spike spoke in the communicator to Jet standing in the control room.
"Good luck," Jet replied waving a hand has Spike took off into space.
* * * * * * *
Ivy shifted slightly and opened her eyes. She felt cold and frozen. The body heat that Alex had supplied was gone now and the fire was out. Snow covered her body in a light dusting freezing her bare skin. Using two near frozen hands she brushed away the snow and slowly stood up. Alex was no where in sight and there was no sign of where he went either. Footsteps dotted the snow but there was so many of them that she didn't know which ones were his. Ivy wrapped her coat tighter around her body and looked up at the sky. It was still cloudy but it was definitely daytime right now. The snow was holding off at least for a little while but who knew when it would start again.
With a sigh, Ivy shook the extra snow from her shoes and begun to walk towards the street. The least she could do was go and find Spike, if he was still here.
* * * * * * *
Underneath closed lids her eyes moved in rapid circles searching for something. She shifted in her binds straining to get free and run towards the figure in the distance but something held her down. Her mouth opened to scream out his name but no words came out. Water filled her lungs choking off any words. She struggled to swim toward the surface where he was, one arm held out reaching for her but the binds held her tightly, drowning her in the salty ocean.
Near by a figure withered on the floor. Eyes wide open but unseeing in the darkness. Her dirty blond hair was tangled and matted with dirt. Thin hands clawed at the walls, blood staining her fingertips.
* * * * * * *
"This should be fun. I don't even know what the guy looks like." Spike looked over the snowy landscape below him searching for the building he knew was there.
"It can't be helped. Ed couldn't find much in the line of facial pictures on the guy. All she could really find was a bunch of stuff listing his crimes and even then it wasn't much." Jet's voice crackled over the communicator.
Inside the Bebop Ed lay on the floor inside the hatch sprawled out sleeping. Next to her lay Ein sleeping peacefully with his head between his paws. Inside the control room, Jet sat in front of the navigation controls staring into the darkness of space. His communicator rested in one hand. Overhead music played on the speakers. Some old song that he had put on, something about flying into the night.
If I could fly, I would pick you up. I'd take you into the night and show you love.
It was the kind of music an old man like him would listen too. Music for an old man who had no one to be with him when he was alone.
"Hey Jet."
Jet broke out of his thoughts and looked down at the communicator. Spike was talking to him. Raising his arm he brought the communicator up to his lips and spoke into it.
"Yea, what?"
"I just landed on Callistio. I'm off to search for Hanoi Wai and Faye. If my hunch is right she's off with him."
"Sounds like they're having a party," Jet replied ginning at the thought.
"Probably and I'm just the one to crash it." Spike stepped out into the snow and looked around him.
"Well have fun and bring me back some treats."
"Sure will." Spike clicked off the communicator and closed the door of his ship. All around him, the world was silent. Snow covered everything in a blanket of unmarred whiteness. This should be an easy job.
* * * * * * *
Snow sunk into her shoe wetting her sock. With a grumble Ivy stopped and slipped off her shoe. She scraped out the extra snow then slipped the black heel back onto her foot. Her shoes were not very practical in this type of weather but there wasn't much she could do. There were no signs of human life anywhere. No sign of Spike or Alex, in fact that she had not seen a single person ever since she had first started walking.
Now she began to walk again. The snow continued to sink into her shoe and spill over the tops of her socks. Her feet were frozen already but there wasn't much else to do but to continue walking. Maybe she would find that bar they went to last night. Maybe Spike would be there or Alex or someone who could help her. The thought perked her up a bit. She begun to walk faster headed toward a group of buildings in the distance. A closer look revealed them to be a warehouse and some smaller buildings surrounding that. Ivy squinted in the sudden blast of snow that blew around her. The wind was icy cold like knives cutting into her skin. She held one arm up in front of her eyes to cover them from the icy cold.
Then all of a sudden she wasn't cold. The wind stopped blowing and the snow cleared. Her feet were no longer frozen; the white powder was gone replaced by rain. She stood on a street in the darkness. Behind a few neon lights glowed from the bars. Voices filtered out laughing and talking but she didn't pay any attention to those, it was the figure in the distance that caught her attention. He was stumbling slightly, one hand clutching at his side. A closer look revealed blood to be seeping between his fingertips. She moved to run towards him but her feet were locked down, frozen into the street. The stranger stumbled and fell in front of her. The light from the neon signs shining down on a brown trench coat and dark fuzzy hair. Blood seeped from the wound on his side but she couldn't move to run towards him. Instead, she was locked down, frozen into place watching the stranger bleed to death on the street. Rain poured down on her head smoothing out her long blond hair.
Long blond hair? Ivy looked down to see that she really did have long blond hair. She was also dressed differently in a pale sweater and a dark skirt. In front of her, the stranger looked up and smiled at her, his face was cast in shadow but he held out one hand and whispered something. "Julia..."
Inside the warehouse, someone dragged the limp figure of the girl deeper into the darkness. She was carefully tied up to the wall; her hands and legs shackled into place then left there. Her eyes were closed but moved rapidly underneath the lids looking back and forth for something to see.
* * * * * * *
Spike readied his gun and looked around him. It was starting to snow again, a soft powdery snowfall that rested gently on everything including the set of footprints in the snow footprints that stopped only inches from an empty warehouse. Feeling suspicion rising inside him and the guess that his hunch that had led him here was right Spike moved forward towards the door. In one hand, his gun was held ready to be used at any moment. The other hand was left free to run over the aged wood of the warehouse doors, pushing and feeling till he found the handle and he could push the door open.
The first sight he was greeted with was darkness. Slowly he walked in looking for any sign of light or humans but there was none. The only light that spilled in was from the doorway. He pushed the door open further then pushed the other door open so he could see more then turned back to the warehouse. The first thing he saw sickened him to his very core. Lying near by in a corner made by some boxes lay a girl. She could not have been more then ten or eleven but her physical appearance was deceptive. Long blond hair was matted and tangled in knots. Her skin was dirty and covered with cuts. Blood stained the ragged piece of cloth she wore as a dress. She lay there withering on the floor twisting her arms and legs while clawing at the wall or at her skin in agony. Spike could only stare in horror and disbelief at the sight of the girl in front of him.
She twisted and squirmed over the floor. The light not quite reaching her but instead ending only a slight ways from her. Her body first twisted one way then the next. One hand flew through the air and hit the ground with a thud falling into the path of light. She suddenly stilled; her whole body stopped moving and lay still. Spike quickly regained his senses and reached for his communicator. He had better tell Jet about what he just saw. He was going to need backup on this one.
"Hello boy." The voice was icy cold and filled with bitter anger.
Spike stopped and looked up searching for the source of the voice but nothing revealed itself in the darkness.
"Are you looking for someone?"
"Who are you?! Show yourself!" Spike dropped the communicator and reached for his gun.
"I am who I am. I am a person. I am me."
"You can't be someone unless you give me a name and show yourself!" Spike pointed the gun into the darkness but no one stepped out into the light.
"I don't think you really want to see me. The sight might sicken you."
"Quit playing games and show yourself! I'm interested to meet the person who is hiding from me."
"Very well then." The hand once lying in the path of light disappeared and a pair of eyes glittered has a figure moved out of the darkness. It was the little girl, her thin dirt stained face was stretched into a smile has she slowly stepped out and came to a halt in front of him.
"Surprised?" The voice wasn't her's even though her lips moved with it. He noticed that her eyes were clouded over a thin white layer covering all color in them.
"I am who I am. I am a person or at least I was once. I was a child once but now I am only me." The child like person looked down at one blood stained hand then looked back up at Spike. "And now I am only me." She repeated again.
"Quit repeating yourself and speak straight. Who are you? Give me a name at least."
"A name? A rose by any other name could smell so sweet and with a name comes consequences. When I give you your name I will be forced to kill you."
Spike grinned and lowered his gun. "I was never one to really die. If it must be known, I'm immortal."
"Really, well then I'll guess I'll have to see." One hand flew behind her and drew out a knife. With lightning speed the silver blade flew through the air and hit his shoulder. Spike yelled in pain as old wounds caused by Vicious were reopened. His gun flew out of his hand sliding back into the darkness and he fell backwards one hand grasping his shoulder in pain.
"Well it seems your not so immortal after all. I can bring you down with only one knife throw. Seems you're to easy and maybe I should kill you now. I don't think you're ready for the world of dreams."
"The world of dreams?" Spike opened his eyes and sat up wincing at the pain in his shoulder.
"It's a place where a person will live and die. A place were their every nightmare will be lived out until their very mind goes crazy and they experience a horrible and agonizing death. Much like these two will." The child like person stepped back has a light shone down on two figures chained to the wall.
Spike's eyes widened has he recognized the figures of Faye and Ivy lying there on the floor. There bodies withered and moved in a twisted dance has they struggled to escape the bounds holding them.
"Sickening isn't it? And they'll go straight to hell when they are done. They'll go straight to hell for all their sins and they will experience all the pain I did and more of it."
"What are you talking about?" Spike slowly stood up holding onto his shoulder but he fell to his knees again has another wave of pain took over. The knife was lodged deep into his shoulder, one hand reached to pull it out but the knife only moved in further causing him more pain.
"Don't you know? For so many years, I was locked away. Hidden in darkness and made to feel pain only now I have escaped and I will make those who hurt me feel the pain for what they did." The girl threw back her head and laughed a cold chilling laugh unlike that of any child. "I will make people live out their nightmares until they die and go to hell. I have made a contract with the devil to destroy people's souls!" She turned back to him. "And now I will send him yours."
The knife deepened into his flesh until it was hidden underneath the blood and muscle. Spike screamed in pain and grasped at his shoulder trying to reach for the knife while the girl laughed again, that same chilling maniacal laughter.
"Die you fool! Die and go to hell! The devil is waiting!"
He fell backwards onto the floor his legs kicking into the air while one hand clawed at he air and the other clawed at his shoulder trying to reach for the knife.
"You shall dance with the devil tonight and experience pain for the rest of your days!" She laughed, her eyes glittering in the darkness.
"I don't think so. The only person dancing with the devil tonight will be you." A bright light filled the room reaching into every corner and shining down on the girl. Her screams echoed throughout has she fell to her knees and held both arms up to her face.
"Sorry missy but there is no way you are getting away with this."
"How dare you, no one will mess up my plans!" The child reached behind her and pulled out a knife. With deadly aim she threw, it towards the door but half way through it fell clattering to the floor and lay still.
"The light will burn away all evil and kill off her evil power."
The girl reached up clawing at her face has she fell forward flopping her body on the floor. Blood ran in rivulets from the cuts on her face and arms. Dirty fingernails tore at her skin while blood pooled in the cuts.
"How could you? How could you?" The voice was raspy and thinner now fading into nothingness until she lay still on the floor. Her eyes blinked once then opened the milky whiteness gone reveling only simple brown eyes.
The knife began to glow and smoke before disappearing from the floor. Spike stopped twitching and sat up. The mind numbing pain had stopped. He looked at his shoulder to see that the knife wound was gone. There was no sign that he had been hit at all. Then he looked at the doorway; a tall man with brown hair stood grinning there. A gun in one hand and a power switch in the other.
"Surprised to see me?" Alex walked into the warehouse still grinning has he slipped his gun away under his coat.
"How did you know what you do?" Spike slowly stood up waiting to feel any pain in his shoulder but there was none.
"It's really very simple. Hanoi Wai means the one who is not there. So I knew to use light to repel the demon that possessed that little girl. A demon is always repelled by bright light."
"I don't get it."
"Don't try to, my partner figured it out. I just went along with him." Alex walked past Spike towards where Ivy and Faye lay on the floor. "We better untie these two. I highly doubt their dead, more likely unconscious." He bent down and begun to untie the ropes holding Ivy.
Spike stood there a moment watching him before walking over and bending down over Faye. She was deathly pale and covered with dirt. He worked quickly untying the knots and shooting off the lock on the shackles. Alex gave him a look before doing the same for Ivy's.
"We better get them back to the ship before they wake up. I don't think either one will want to see this place ever again."
"I wonder if they will even remember." Alex gently picked up Ivy into his arms and smiled down at her. Spike watched him do this with a veiled look in his eyes before he too picked up Faye and followed Alex out of the warehouse.
* * * * * * *
"So you see. Hanoi Wai never really existed. Instead, there was only a little girl who sold her soul to the devil. She had lived a hard life. She was beaten and starved. She never saw light and when she was almost eleven years old, she died. Her body was thrown into a warehouse and forgotten but somehow her soul wished to come back and seek revenge against those who hurt her. So she made a deal with the devil and came back, she started using her powers to lure in people, locking them into darkness and making them live their worst nightmares until they died and went to hell. Only problem was that she had to experience pain with these people and she couldn't take light. She had never seen daylight or any kind of light before. Her parents beat her so much and neglected her in such a way that she never saw the light of day."
"And now she can rest in peace." Faye replied closing her eyes.
"Only problem is that because of the fact that the "devil" was doing all this we don't get a single cent."
"You can't blame the police Spike. How can they pay us anything when the culprit wasn't even a living entity?"
"After all the pain and time we went through I still think we deserve something," Spike mumbled in reply.
"I think the most we can do right now is forget about what just happened and get on."
Everyone looked at Ivy sitting on the couch curled up into a ball shivering slightly.
"All we can really do is continue on with our real lives and hope that the girl who sold her soul to the devil at least went to heaven."
"I guess that is really all we can do," Jet agreed nodding his head.
"I would have still liked to get that reward money." Spike muttered under his breath.
Ivy shifted her gaze to Spike sitting next to her then closed her eyes. She still did not know what to believe about her dream.
Life is but a dream...
Jet: Boy that sure was a dark episode.
Spike: Yea, I think after all that we need something light to cheer us up.
Faye: I agree after all that I'll take anything to get my mind off that.
Ed: Ed thinks the crew of the BebopBebop should go clubbing!
Everyone: Clubbing?
Ed: The next episode is "Bebop Dance Party."
Jet: This should be interesting.
What do you think? I got the idea for the little girl from a show I once saw where they had footage of a little girl with blond hair withering on the floor in the darkness of a bare room. She had been abused so much that she was blind from never seeing light. It was very creepy to watch.
So please read and review or send all comments, question, suggestions, and flames to Saphrians_Water_Reflection@hotmail.com. Thank you!