Before this chapter, I have a few notes. I am truly not a perfect writer, and I left a few remaining loose ends at the end of BIDDR. One is that at the very beginning, Yuki had a head injury. This is because when I first started the fic, I hadn't planned on Yuki being "in on it" from the beginning. The one that broke into their house was just Hatori. Yuki went down to see what was going on. Hatori didn't want to be discovered, so he told Yuki about the plan, and Yuki agreed to help. Hatori hit him over the head to knock him out, since he didn't have a sedative. But as my fic morphed and changed, so did that detail, and I haven't edited it out yet, which I will when I am done with TWW.

Another is that the curse was broken, and I never explained why. I was going to in the last chapter, but never got around to it. It was broken as part of the experiment, for Hatori felt it might alter the results.

Also, some of you have been complaining about certain character deaths. So many people die in this fic, that most likely, your favorite character will eventually kick the bucket. If you can't handle that, than you shouldn't be reading this.

The Frog from Hell

Chapter 9: Back to the Beginning Again

Tai ran as fast as he could towards Green Oaks mental Institution. He had to warn Tohru about Kyo… that he wasn't dead. She could have been lying to him when she said that he was, but something told him that she was being honest.

It was a long way, but Tai didn't have anyone to drive him, and he didn't have any money. He grew very tired, but he knew he had to keep running. After a while, he reached the point where he thought that he wasn't going to make it. He wasn't even halfway there, and it was getting dark. He at least needed to catch his breath if he was going to go on. He sat on a bench. His stomach growled, and his throat was sore and dry. He remembered that he hadn't had anything to eat or drink all day, except for some crackers and cereal. He didn't know how to cook, and there was no one there to cook for him.

He buried his face in his hands and wept. For no one reason, but because he couldn't take it any longer. He wept for a thousand reasons, and not all of them were his own. He was distraught, scared, confused, lonely, and angry all at once. He had no idea what to do with all of this emotion, so he simply sat there and wept.

A black car pulled up. Not just any car, it was a hearse. Tai looked up from his weeping and saw a figure, dressed all in black, step out of the car. The figure came closer, and Tai saw that it was a woman. She was wearing a long, flowing dress, a full cape, and a large hat with a netted veil, all in pure black. She approached Tai, and he began to feel very nervous. There could be some creepy people out on the street at night… The woman stood before Tai and removed her veil. Her eyes and hair were jet black as well.

"You… you are Tai Sohma," she said in a calm, deep voice.

"How do you know that?" He responded bewilderedly. The woman didn't answer.

"I am Saki Hanajima. I will take you to your mother," she said. This lady seemed very strange. Maybe she was trying to kidnap him or something.

"My Mom's dead," he said, his voice sounding meaner than he had intended.

"No," she continued, "your real mother… you were on your way to visit her just now…"

"How do you know this?" Tai inquired, astounded at her.

"I can sense it," she said, and gave him the smallest shadow of a smile. "I can promise you, that I will do you no harm. But if you do not trust me, I understand completely. It's entirely your choice. You could, of course, run the rest of the way…" this odd woman was beginning to frighten Tai. It was like she knew everything about him… "But, by the time that you arrive, I fear it will be too late…" As much as Tai wanted to trust her, he turned his back on her and began to run towards the Institution.

"Wait, Tai!" She called, "it's the last chance- " or, that's what he thought she said, but he wasn't paying much attention. He just knew that he had to get to the institution. He ran and ran and ran, as fast as he could. His body told him to stop, and his legs and his lungs ached, but he kept running. He looked only at the ground. He knew that he was getting closer…

He looked around, and realized that the Institution was very close… he should have been able to see it from where he was… but instead he stopped dead in his tracks. 'No, no, no…' he kept telling himself, 'this isn't the right place, this isn't happening…' but he knew that it was happening. He knew that the building that was once an institution was now in flames, and soon, it would not exist at all.

Tohru sat in her bed, stunned having no idea what to do. If she showed anyone the note, especially a doctor, they would probably think that she had written it herself; she was in the "close observation" wing. She had sat in her bed for over an hour, just debating what she should do. The Institution was deathly quiet. It gave her chills down her spine. The only thing she could think of to do was to get out of there. But there was no way- her door was most definitely locked this time… but she could always give it a try. She turned the handle, biting her lip, wishing that it would turn- it was her only hope of survival. She was sure it wasn't going to, though. But… somehow, as if fate was shining on her, the handle turned. She sighed and smiled, so happy that she didn't even think about how suspicious it was that the door was unlocked. She stepped out into the hallway. But then she realized that since she was so sure that the door would be locked, she didn't know what she was going to do once she was out of her room. Where should she go now? Kyo, for all she knew, could be out in that hallway right then and there, waiting to strike. Warily, she walked silently towards where she was pretty sure an exit was. She didn't know her new wing as well as her old one, so she didn't know where this wing's night watchman would be prowling around. Then, she saw him- he was standing right under a very dim light. This watchman was quite plump, with thinning hair. He was distracted; obviously searching for something he had dropped. He was also blocking the exit. She sighed sadly. There wasn't much hope for her escaping.

She leaned against the wall- or at least, she thought it was a wall, but she soon discovered that it was a door handle. It was hard to see, because she was operating from the dim light, and there wasn't even much of that, but she could still make out that it read, "basement". She tried the door handle, and it was unlocked. She had no desire to go into the basement, but she didn't want to be spotted by the night watchman, so she stepped inside. But immediately after stepping through the door, she tripped over something. She yelped a little, and lost her footing, which caused her to fall down a flight of stairs. She made a loud thump at the bottom, and lay stunned for a moment, but soon discovered that she was relatively alright. She felt around for the object that she tripped over. She knew that it was down there with her because she had heard it clatter down the stairs, but she couldn't see it because it was pitch dark. She finally felt something. She picked it up and realized that it was heavy- probably made of metal. It was cool and felt like metal, too. She soon discovered what it was- a gun.

Probably the watchman's- that was what he had been searching for. She put it in her sweatshirt pocket, just in case she needed it later- there was a possibility that Kyo could be near by. That's when she heard a voice come from the top of the stairs, and there was a crack of light.

"Who's there?" Came the watchman's voice. Oh, no- he must have heard her fall down the stairs. She quickly scurried against the wall, crouching so that he would not discover her. She heard footsteps, coming closer and closer, until they were just above her. She could see his feet only two steps up. Thankfully, he did not think to look down, so she was not seen, and the watchman simply shrugged and made his way back up to the hallway.

When she was sure he was gone, she stood up and started to walk. She fell to the ground, however, when she took her first step- there was a sharp pain in her right ankle; she must have sprained or broken it. She stood back up, dragging her foot, and with one hand gripped the wall, and the other felt in front of her. She then reached something- a wall, no, a door… she felt that there was a handle. She turned it and stepped into it. She felt around with both of her arms, and didn't touch anything, so it was probably a room. She then turned back around and felt the wall for a light switch. She found one, and flipped it, having no idea what to expect.

At first, the room was too bright to see anything. It was pure white, and she had just come from pitch dark. Her eyes adjusted, and she was horrified at what she saw- she was in the room…

The same room from years ago. The same white room, with no windows, furniture, nothing- just plain white walls and a marble floor. She panicked, because she heard the music again. It was so loud and unbearable, just like the first time she had ever been plagued by it, when she was standing in this same exact spot. She screamed and began to flee the room, when she felt something grab her from behind.

"Tohru…" a familiar male voice said, so nice to see you again…"

Tai ran towards the flames. Maybe it wasn't too late. Maybe he could still save his mother- she was the only one that he had left. But as he approached the burning building, he could tell that there was no hope. The entrance was entirely blocked by falling debris, and that there was absolutely no way that he could get through. He could tell that most of the inside was burned away, and that if there were any survivors, they would have had to have escaped long ago. He then heard a voice, calling for him.

"Tai! Tai, get away from there!" He turned around and saw two people- his "father" and the strange lady, Saki Hanajima, from earlier. His dad pulled him away from the building and ran so quickly towards Saki's car that Tai could barely keep up.

"Dad? What's going on?" He said, his voice hysterical.

"Just get in the car, Tai," he said, "we'll explain everything…" The two adults got into the front seat, and Tai in the back, and they drove away, not looking back.

Tohru stood stunned, too afraid to move. The man held a knife across her throat. She gasped and trembled. She squirmed a little bit, which caused Kyo's grip to tighten.

"Looks like now, you're in the same position I was, twelve years ago," he said, "in fact, it was exactly twelve years ago, today,"

Tohru still didn't utter a word. She did not have very good reflexes, and this is a time that she could have used some.

"Say something, you goddamn bitch!" He yelled at the top of his lungs, "or I might just kill you right here on the spot! In fact, you'd like that, wouldn't you?" he said. He then laughed, the same laugh as twelve years ago, on the same day, in the same spot. Maybe even the same time.

Tohru bit her lip and squeezed her eyes shut. What could she do, what could she do? Then, she remembered- the gun! Very discreetly, as Kyo was laughing, enjoying his moment of glory, she reached into her pock and grabbed the gun. She felt for the trigger. Preparing to shoot, she took the gun out of her pocket. She could only hope that it was loaded. It was truly her last hope of survival.

As quickly as she could, she held it up behind her head and pulled the trigger. It was loaded, and as there was a loud bang. However, Kyo realized what she was doing, and moved out of the way of the bullet.

"What the-" he said, astonished that she could actually defend herself. Tohru turned around and aimed the gun at Kyo.

"Sorry, Kyo," she said, "but you should never bring a knife to a gun fight," she smiled, and pulled the trigger again. And this time, she didn't miss.

"Dad, who is this? How do you know her?" Tai pleaded to his father.

"This is a friend of your mother," he said, "I'm surprised that you didn't spot her in that high school yearbook you're so fond of," he replied. Then Tai remembered- she had been in his mom's yearbook! He had just forgotten!

"Well, why is she here now? And why is that building on fire?" Kureno Sohma stayed silent.

"Tell me!" He cried exasperatedly.

"We honestly don't know," said Saki, her wavy black hair falling over her face.

"Well, is Tohru in there? Is… my mom in there?"

"Do you really want to know the answer to that question?" She said sympathetically, or at least as sympathetically as she was capable of.

Kyo fell to the ground. Tohru was pretty sure that she had hit him in the heart, but she couldn't be sure, so she fired again. And again. But she could tell that he was dead. Her heart was still thumping incredibly fast, and she was still tense, but at least she knew she was safe. She could now go back and tell the doctors everything that happened. They could identify Kyo as the killer. Everything would go back to normal- maybe she could even be moved back to her old room. She turned around, feeling so relieved, that she didn't expect to see Mrs. Johnston, standing in the doorway.

"Why, hello, Tohru," she said with a surprising creepy smile, "fancy seeing you here…"

"Mrs. Johnson?" she said, her voice wavering, "why are you…"

"Oh, I'm here for a very good reason indeed. You don't need to worry about poor old me…" she said almost bitterly. She moved her hands from behind her back, and Tohru noticed that she was holding two things: a gallon of gasoline and a box of matches.

"W… where did you…?" Tohru began, now terrified of this seemingly harmless old lady.

"Where did I get these?" Mrs. Johnson continued, "I got these from the supply room, the same place I found… the rat poison." Tohru, for once in her life, put two and two together.

"You mean…?" She was shocked at who the culprit was,

"Yes, I was responsible for the food poisoning. By the way, it was in the chocolate cake. Such a pity that I had to ruin it…" Tohru could not let this go on any longer. She was going to end up killed… she pulled out her gun and fired at Mrs. Johnson. Well, she tried to fire, anyway. She realized, in complete horror, that it was empty- she had used all of her bullets on Kyo. Mrs. Johnson just smiled, as if she hadn't even seen Tohru pull the trigger.

"I'm sorry, dear," she said as she began to pour out the gasoline onto the floor, "but you should have listened to me… you know nobody ever listens…"