Chapter FOURTEEN: The Tool, The Possession
The walk to her--their new room was completely, utterly silent. There was nothing else to say and nothing else to do but follow the vampire. Even as the tears spilled out of her eyes like a waterfall, she managed to see the outline of Battousai. His auburn hair swayed smoothly with each step he took.
Then suddenly the tears stopped flowing down her cheeks and to her throat. Something snapped inside her mind as her brain finally, completely registered what the Prince of the Night had told her. The immortal's words sunk into her thoughts and dimmed the light of her soul, of her spirit. It was as if her mind stopped working and all she could hear were his words of truth. She was nothing more than his tool and therefore his possession.
Kaoru Kamiya, the last of the sorceresses fisted her hands at her side as she rethought about what she had been about to do. She had almost given in!
Clutching the fabric of her black robes until her knuckles turned a deadly white, Kaoru scolded herself for even daring to think like that.
Her lavender bangs covered her eyes as she forced one foot in front of the other and made herself walk in the shadow of the immortal. She kept the wooden floors and the flow of Battousai's cape in her vision as she walked on, not wanting to ever have to look up and see the flames that danced inside Battousai's eyes again. To see them was to be burned by them.
She wouldn't allow him to take her soul and to make her into something she didn't want to be. Even if she knew she couldn't stop him from achieving his goal, she could at least say that she had tried and had stalled him in the end. By poisoning herself and losing most of his blood from her body, she had already made an attempt to keep her freedom, but if she gave in anymore than she already had, she would lose. Kamiyas never lost without a fight, and she wasn't about to lose! If she was going down, then she would go down with fight, just like her parents.
When she shook her head of the thought of being a tool to get something another desired, Kaoru stopped walking and lifted her head as another thought crossed her mind. Why should she care about what Battousai thought? Why was his opinion so important that when he spoke of her of as a lesser being she felt her heart crumble? Why was she pained by his insults and cruel remarks? The answer was suddenly so simple: because he looked like Shinta, looked like the Vampire that she had fallen in love with on first sight. Shinta's opinion mattered to her, not Battousai's. Her hero's feelings toward her could break and destroy her, but not Battousai's. He didn't mean anything to her, Shinta did. So what in the world was she doing?
"Either you move on your own freewill or I'll force you to." The cold voice ripped into the air like a knife and the threat behind the words made the sorceress stand up straight with her shoulders squared until she met those blazing infernos.
"No," answered Kaoru in the same icy tone that Battousai had made his own. She was not going to back down from him, she would not cower like others and bend to his every will.
Battousai's eyes narrowed at the same time Kaoru's did and fire met ice again in battle.
Pulling his lips into a thin line, the vampire glared at his possession before appearing in front of her. They were so close that their noses nearly touched while their breathing brushed against one another's face. Just as quickly as he had closed their distance, Battousai held Kaoru's throat in his right hand. His hand crushed her windpipe, leaving only enough room to let her breathe in gasps and small gulps.
"I'm not in the mood to argue," hissed out Battousai.
He had nearly thrown her in the direction of their bedroom when Kaoru clung onto his right arm with both hands and glared right back at him. The intensity of her eyes caught him off guard for a second, and a second too long for his liking. For in the moment that he had paused, Kaoru began to struggle against him and would have managed to kick him if he didn't drop his hold on her and jumped back. He growled slightly as Kaoru turned and made a beeline for the general direction in which they had come.
Without hesitation, he raced after her, catching her by the waist when she ran off of the walkway and had made it to the center of the courtyard near the edge of the koi pond. He had managed to catch her before she could climb the waterfall and hoist herself over the wall.
Moving his powerful arms against either side of Kaoru, he forced her arms at her sides and held her in an iron grip as she screamed and kicked to be released.
With her back to him, Kaoru didn't get a chance to see the vampire's reaction as lightning struck only a hand's length in front of them into the pond. Water flew up more intensely than any geyser and landed all around the two, but none of it managed to get through the black barrier that was placed around them the same instant the lightning appeared.
Kaoru's entire body had frozen still when she heard the roaring of thunder resound right after the crash of lightning as if someone had lit a firecracker right next to her ears. It was only seconds later, when she saw the floating bodies of the fishes in the pond, did her body begin to tremble from the experience of nearly being killed by nature's fury. The crash of the lightning vibrated the ground beneath her form and she could feel the unbelievable sensation crawl throughout her body as she shivered.
Soon afterwards, rain began to pour from the sky and the display of lightning and thunder continued else where all around the two figures in the dark. Not even the rising of the sun would have been able to shed light through the thick clouds overhead.
Legs wobbling, the teenager would have fallen to the ground if it weren't for Battousai's hold on her. The weather brought nothing but unwanted memories back to her and in the moment that the lightning nearly hit her, Kaoru was glad to be in the safety of the vampire's arms. It had been Battousai's barrier that protected them from growing deaf or blind from the closeness of the attack.
She didn't bother to struggle as she felt herself being lifted up bridal style and carried quickly toward her new living quarters. Even the stares she had been given by Okon and Omasu, whom had been seeing to the arrangements of their room, didn't matter. It was obvious that they had left the room in a quick rush when the deafening sound of thunder reached their ears, but they asked nothing while the couple past them. Their eyes had been fixated on the steam that rose from the pond's surface.
Upon entering the newly set up room, Kaoru heard the shoji slam shut with a click and the familiar eerie comfort of Battousai's dark power around the room as she was laid on a futon.
Kaoru knew better than to try and fight now, there was no way she was going to be able to get past the vampire's barrier or the vampire itself even if she did try. She'd only be making the rest of her life as Battousai's slave hell if she tried anything foolish like that for a second time. By doing so, she'd only be delaying the inevitable.
She finally moved her eyes from the star on the ceiling toward Battousai when she heard the quiet brush of his cape against the wooden floor.
Curiously, she watched him lean his back against the farthest wall from her and slide down into a sitting position with his katana leaning against his left shoulder. Kaoru watched on in awe at the silent strength in his movements as he placed the other three of the Seven Dark Diamond Weapons of Hell on his right side.
Kaoru turned her head to look at the other side of the room when Battousai met her eyes for a split second. She wasn't about to let the Vampire have the satisfactory of smirking from catching her stare at him. If she couldn't see it, then it never happened and thus meant he hadn't won. She still wasn't going to give up on winning, even if they were small victories, but in the long run they could make a difference. And just because he saved her life didn't mean she was going to be grateful to the bastard. It was his fault she was in this mess in the first place.
Stubbornly, she refused to acknowledge the fact that the room was visibly turning dark as she sulked in her own mind and replayed her dreaded memories over and over again. The images flashed before her eyes as she tried desperately to fall into a dreamless sleep.
xXoXx
Pain was all that she could feel. The blazing sensation ran through her veins like fire following a path of oil and the hotness of it threatened to burn her alive. Her skin was wet from her sweat and the blood that escaped her deadly wounds. It was only when the agony became unbearable did the shape-shifter finally scream and allow her anguish to be heard.
Misao arched her back into the air, uncaring that the ropes that tied her down to the ground ripped through her flesh and tore through wrists enough to make her bleed. But at the moment, the only thing going through her mind and body was that she had to cease the pain that threatened to kill her. If her hands hadn't been tied above her head, she would have clawed at her skin to try and stop the suffering within her body. The wounds she had received earlier didn't even compare to the internal anguish that she felt now.
Turquoise eyes rolled back into their skull when the shape-shifter finally collapsed in a pool of blood from exhaustion. She now lay almost completely still in her own liquids and her rigid breaths came in gasps as her body continued to twitch from the after affects of her struggle. Not even the sounds of twigs snapping from her right were loud enough to be heard over the drumming of her furiously beating heart.
The silhouette of two creatures loomed over her in the darkness of the night. Misao moved her head slightly to look at them before gritting her teeth to stop from screaming in front of the two.
"She's exhausted herself," mocked the shorter one after letting out a laugh full of pleasure at seeing another's pain.
"You might want to step away from her face, Sadashiro. She's going to show you her guts on your new shoes if you don't move," warned the other's companion, his tone emotionless.
Immediately, the one near the shape-shifter's face jumped back in repulsion, just in time to dodge Misao's dinner as she lurched as closely as she could to the black shoes.
"Disgusting creature! Of the remaining four in that room I just had to grab her!" growled the demon so that he revealed to Misao his fangs.
Misao could faintly make out his black hair and pointed face before another wave of pain crashed down on her and threatened to drown her in its current.
Reluctantly she bit her lower lip to stop from crying out and when the taste of blood filled her mouth she coughed and allowed her shrieks to be heard again.
"There's no need to complain over what has been done. Toshiyoshi already has the half breed in his clutches and that's all that matters. You've proven yourself to him by completing the task right under Battousai's nose. Our leader is pleased and he's even gone as far as to give you permission to do as you please with your second catch," stated the other demon, his eyes examining Misao's body as she jerked upward and screamed again.
"You're right, Eibin. You're always right." Sadashiro smirked even though he had kept his attention on his prisoner, who was flopping about like a fish out of water.
The two stared down at Misao as she struggled desperately to get free, they watched on as the poison placed within her body made its way through her system and slowly ate at her innards. From the way that she was withering, they could tell that the venom had already done so much damage that Misao couldn't speak, let alone think of anything but the destruction of her body from the inside out. The only things coming out of her throat were her screams, which went unheard by anyone outside of the barrier-protected forest. Not even the sounds of thunder from outside the barrier could be heard, which was the reason why Misao's earlier screams sounded so loud and tortured.
"Yell all you like, no one's going to save you." With that given permission from her kidnaper, Misao cried out once more.
xXoXx
Kaoru tossed and turned in her dream as she felt herself running once again from her enemies.
The shouts of the vampires behind her, along with the ever gloomy shadow of the lycan leader beside her, kept her running. She was determined to not to get caught. She was going to survive.
Racing through the thickly dense forest, the sorceress came to a halt at a familiar cliff when the rain pounded against her skin and soaked her robes. She sucked in a gasp of air as she was pulled back by the waist, the bolt of electricity that had aimed for the cliff made its target and nearly scorched her outstretched hand.
The roaring of thunder echoed in her eardrums as she fell back and into the arms of her savior.
Slowly, she felt herself fall to the ground, felt herself being held once again in protective arms.
Eyes darting up, Kaoru closed her eyes when the scenery seemed to switch so that now the light of the sun stung her optical nerves. When her pupils finally adjusted to the new flare of light, the teenager felt the air leave her lungs once more. There, holding her in his arms, was Shinta. The unmistakable figure of her silent crush and hero had his arms around her with a smile on his lips, a smile that matched his lovely amethyst orbs as they watched her almost passionately.
Like a mirage, the image of her love changed subtly into a certain vampire in which she was slowly beginning to loathe more than when he had first taken her away from her home.
Scowling, Kaoru tried frantically to get out of his grip, but he wouldn't budge. His hands merely got tighter around her body and threatened to suffocate her if she continued to try and escape.
Out of no where, Battousai's lips claimed her own, it was worse than a slap to the face and it made Kaoru freeze completely still in his hold as he deepened it. She could feel his fangs brush against her own canine teeth and his tongue easily parted her teeth and slid against her own. His hold around her waist released to move to the small of her back and behind her head to gain more access to her mouth. Even now his movements were precise and confident as he gathered her into his arms. It wasn't until she felt his fangs bite down on her lips that she felt something other than pleasure.
The shock was so great that Kaoru sat up straight on her futon, her own breathing sounding loud in her own ears as she awoke to the real world with a burning blush on her cheeks. It didn't seem like her heart was about to cease pumping so quickly anytime soon.
"Must you always dream about me?" drawled an amused voice from one of the darker corners of the room.
Whipping her head into the general direction of the sound, Kaoru felt all of her blood rush to her face when she remembered that Battousai was in the same room and could read her mind without much effort.
Sputtering to find an answer, Kaoru finally decided to not answer altogether and had to refrain herself from touching her lips. The dream had felt terribly real and unconsciously she graced her lower lip with her tongue to see if Battousai had really drawn blood from her. She was somewhat relieved and for some unknown reason disappointed to find that her lips were still as smooth as ever. It had all been a dream, a sick imagination that her mind had thought up while she tried to sleep. She highly doubted she'd be able to get back to sleep any time soon.
Not wanting to have to see Battousai with either a grin or smirk on his face at her silence, Kaoru laid back down on the futon and covered herself with the blankets once more.
Tucking the covers to her neck, Kaoru kept her eyes on the star on the ceiling and listened to the putter and platter of the rain caressing the roof above her head.