The First Cut

Yuki was left standing there cursing the awful night; wile the din of sirens and panicked people filtered up into the air around him. His mind felt like lead as he struggled to come to terms with what had just happened. Everything they did to keep Shuichi from harm was all just wasted effort. All their careful plans had been laid bare by the maniac, who was next to them the whole time. Without knowing a thing, they had all played Brown's game flawlessly.

Yuki looked over to Hiro, he was unconscious and breathing heavily. As he stared blankly at the two remaining band members, a small sedan drove in front of him, nearly hitting him as it skidded to a stop. Chris was driving with a look of intense disgust. K was in the passenger seat loading yet another huge weapon. Yuki could see he was covered in blood and haphazard bandaging. He had obviously done what he could in an attempt to patch up his shoulder wound. K leaned out the window and ordered, "Suguru, I have some help on the way for Hiro, just sit tight. We're going after Shindou."

Suguru was in shock and didn't say anything. He looked up at K and nodded weakly.

K rounded on Yuki "Get a move on blondie! We don't have all day!"

Yuki hopped quickly in the back seat yelling out the way he had seen Brown's car go and they sped off into the night. Since the police and rescue workers had their hands full with a few thousand panicked concertgoers, nobody expected police backup for their rescue mission. And so it was to be that this one small, ragged rescue party was Shuichi's only hope.

During the anxious search for Brown's car, Yuki and K started to notice that Chris was losing it. The young man had started mouthing silent words under his breath, as the night's events replayed themselves in his mind, Brown was the man that had killed his brother, and now thanks to him, he now had Shuichi to torture, and it was all his fault again! He had actually handed Shuichi off to the killer without a second thought.

Chris didn't realize he had started to mutter out loud, "Brown that fucking bastard, fucking bastard was the stalker all along. He came to my family and pretended to care that my brother was dead! We let him be a pallbearer at my brother's funeral! He was right next to me all this time and I didn't fucking know!"

"Uh Yuki, I think you should drive." K said staring at Chris.

"I'm fucking fine, ok?", Chris snarled, "Besides, I have a pretty good idea where he's headed."

Yuki felt like he was about to explode, "How do we know your not working with him? You left his side when he needed you most! What the fuck were you thinking?"

"Brown fucking lied to me. He told me where I could find the stalker, and I believed him. I wanted to be the one who killed the bastard. I wanted revenge for my brother. It wasn't until I found K and he told me what was really going on." Chris paused breathing heavily, "He brought me along to Japan just to watch me suffer over my brother longer. Fucking sicko." Chris kept muttering. All he could feel was numbness and anger. "I think I know what he's planning to do."

"Oh goodie, how about starting with why such a high profile grab. Surely he didn't mean to blow his cover like this, unless he intends to kill all of us." K inquired as he scanned the empty streets.

"I remember Brown saying something about the killings. It was so boring so I didn't pay attention, but there were only supposed to be five for some reason. Five innocents sacrificed to repay something. Damn it! Why didn't I see this coming? I should have seen it!"

Chris was still breathing heavily, as he ran through a red light. A horn blared out as they sped past.

"Watch it Baka!" Yuki spat, "We're useless to Shuichi if we get killed."

Chris ignored him, "I remember Brown saying something about how he remembered every person he had killed…. He had tracked so many monsters that he started to admire his prey. After each kill he felt he gained something. Oh hell, I can't remember."

"If that's true, then it sounds like Brown tracked one too many mentally deranged psychos and became one himself." K wondered

Chris nodded, "That's what it seems, but the fifth victim is supposed to be different. I guess that's why he let us know who he is. It's like he planned for us to follow him."

"Which means you" K turned to Chris leveling his gun at Chris's temple, "are leading us into a trap."

"Go ahead and shoot. My Brother is dead. That fuck killed him and lied to me. If you really think I am working with him then pull the trigger. I don't care. The only one I care about right now is Shuichi."

Yuki reached from the back seat and pushed the gun away from Chris's temple. "K, why don't you save your ammo for the psycho."

"We should head to any abandoned buildings in the area. He likes to take them somewhere he can let them scream without arousing suspicions.", Chris said wile scanning the dark streets.

Yuki winced at the statement. His lover was out there, alone with a monster. A monster that planned on hurting him. Yuki sat back as a wave of helplessness washed over him. "Please hang on Shu.", he whispered to himself.

Meanwhile

Shuichi woke up in the back seat of the car. His head hurt; it felt like it was going to split in two. He noticed they were already driving around in some horrible vacant building complex. He knew what was going to happen, but surprisingly he wasn't afraid; instead he felt a surge of pure anger. He was pissed about Brown being an asshole and playing them all for fools. He was so pissed at how Brown was able to get his kicks watching him and Yuki be afraid all this time. The sight of the dead bird flickered his mind, as well as Hiro and K. Was Hiro going to be ok? He began to smolder at the thought of his best friend lying on the ground bleeding. Shuichi's hate had finally reached a boiling point; he was going to make Brown pay for what he'd done.

Luckily for him, Brown didn't handcuff him properly in his haste to get away. Shuichi with a bit of effort, he was able to wiggle one of his wrists free without being noticed. He slipped off his belt from his outfit and wrapped it around his hands. He was ready. He felt the car slowing down as Brown was turning into one of the empty lots. That's when Shuichi leapt up from the back seat with one smooth calculated movement, and started choking Brown with the belt. Brown took his hands off the steering wheel to claw helplessly at the belt on his neck, but Shuichi hung on like a mad dog. This was his only chance to stop Brown. It was up to him. The car careened out of control and crashed head on into a building. Shindou was thrown forward into the front seat. His head connected with the windshield as it shattered. Shu was knocked out again.

Brown panted for a minute then looked in the rearview mirror at the marks on his neck and the bruise over his left eye. Shuichi had put up a real fight at the concert. He had totally underestimated his prey this time, by now the whole plan had almost been ruined twice. He took a deep breath and collected himself. No matter, he thought, they had arrived at their destination anyway. Shuichi was already proving to be better than he ever imagined. He looked down at the unconscious form and couldn't help but laugh.

When Shuichi woke up he was tied up in a standing position with his face against the wall. "About time you woke up. Can't have you missing all the fun." Brown breathed in his ear. His voice made Shuichi shutter.

Brown was behind him brandishing his blade and that lopsided grin. He tore off Shuichi's shirt and took a moment to run a hand along the pale skin of Shu's back.

"Don't touch me you bastard.", Shuichi growled as he tugged against the ropes.

"Who's going to stop me?" came the low seductive voice in his ear again, as he felt that blade cut into his back. Shuichi bit back his urge to scream, he would be damned before he gave brown that satisfaction, instead his mind drifted to Hiro, Yuki, and his friends. As felt his own blood running down his back, he wondered if he was ever going to see them again.

Sorry gentle readers, I am just not done fucking with you yet.

All the chapters are written already I just need to tweak. I have found that it helps to act out the story to see if it's plausible, it also gives me a good excuse to talk to myself.

Pointing out errors is a good thing. It's like when someone tells me I have toilet paper stuck to my shoe.

The next chapter is called "Bleeding Tiger"