Haunted Memories

Chapter 4

A/N: Thank you cherryblossom. And yes, people are retarded...in general. No offense to those that come back and read my fan fiction and don't leave me a review...again... Anywho, extra long chapter. Very little sleep, fight with my fiancé at time of writing, and sugar provided by my great cousin cherryblossom. : -

Warnings: Yoai hintings of later on. This is also a DEATH chapter. Just thought you would like to know. Reviews are nice. Flames may be even better, my house is very cold...Oh, and when I decided to finally type this uber long hand-written chapter, I was up late the night before drinking and watching cherryblossom play FF12 and fiancé playing Magic the Gathering... so don't ask.

A/N2- this is midnightcherryblossom. Sorry about the delayed update lucratcia. AOL is working once more (even if all my saved stuff is totally gone your story is on here)
Enjoy everyone.

-Evil is a point of view. God kills indiscriminately and so shall we. - Anne Rice

Heero stumbled as he was shoved into the dark cell. His green tank top was in shreds and blood ran down his face from his brow. He could not catch his balance and fell against the wall, barely conscious. The door was slammed shut, leaving them once again in complete darkness.

"Heero?" Duo called to the other man. He made his way over to where his fellow pilot had landed. Duo nudged him, trying to get a reaction. The only one he got was a low moan escaping from Heero's lips. Duo leaned forward and heard him breathing in quick shallow breaths.

"Hey, Wufei," Duo said when he heard the black-haired pilot move closer. "There's a pin high up in my braid. I can't reach it. Can you get it?" Wufei shifted as Duo leaned forward and turned his head so his braid was in Wufei's hands behind his back.

"What is it doing up so high?" Wufei muttered as he was working on Duo's bindings first.

"Well, they found the first one. They decided that I shouldn't be allowed to have it," he answered wryly. After a moment his hands were free. He rubbed his hands and wrists, trying to get the circulation back.

"Will you hurry up Maxwell?"

"Oh, yeah, right," Duo said realizing Wufei was waiting for him to undo his hands. Soon, both their hands and feet were free and some sense of feeling had returned. Heero's condition hadn't changed a bit.

"Let's prop him up a little bit," Duo suggested. Wufei grunted in agreement. Duo pulled Heero's head and shoulders into his lap with the help of the other pilot.

"Do you think Tro and Quatre got out ok?" Duo felt Wufei shrug.

"Don't know, maybe." The metal cell was cold and they huddled together to stay warm. Thankfully, Duo had the sense to keep his mouth shut for once. The silence wore on. Heero seemed to have fallen into a fitful sleep. The other two began to doze in and out of sleep in the silent darkness.

Duo was the one that heard it first. The faint noise of military officer boots hitting the cement floor, coming closer. He nudged Wufei with his shoulder. They became alert as the noise got louder and stopped outside their cell door. They held their breath waiting for the door to be opened. They didn't have to wait long. The door crashed open, letting bright light into the small room. It seemed as if their jailors were waiting for them to readjust tot he light.

Once they could see who stood at the doorway, Wufei breathed in sharply. Duo was surprised that his friend showed emotion. He looked at the doorway again and saw why. Treize Kushrenada stood there looking in on them with a cold smile on his face. Duo groaned inwardly. Treize is who he heard, his military boots sounding so familiar.

Treize could see they were free from their bonds. He sighed. He would have to be more careful. He nodded his head as a signal.

"Get them. Cuff them," Treize said calmly. No emotion showed on his face, but his voice sounded so arrogant. Duo wrapped his arms protectively around Heero glaring at the soldier closest to him almost snarling. Wufei had sat up into a crouch, ready to attack.

Don't even try it Chang," Treize stated. It seemed that took the fire out of Wufei. He stood, holding his hands out in front of him. Two soldiers grabbed an arm and wrenched them behind his back. They used a device that bound his arms together from wrist to elbow. Wufei gritted his teeth, but a wince still showed on his face. They also latched a tight metal collar around his throat with an extremely short leash.

Duo was horrified that Wufei went along with all of this. Why would his friend do this? He wanted to say something, do anything. Hell, he expected Wufei to do something. He was about to jump up when he looked into his friend's eyes. There was nothing there but total and utter defeat. This shocked Duo speechless and motionless.

He didn't resist as the same was done to him, but not before he felt Heero tense in his arms. The metal bindings hurt, but the will to fight had left him for the time being. If Wufei had given up, what chance did he have? Both of them were needed to get all of them out.

"What do you want us to do with this one?" one of the soldiers asked kicking Heero in the ribs. Heero's eyes fluttered open. At once he is on his feet in a defensive stance.

"Well at least he's awake," Treize commented with a shrug. "Do the same to him." He turned to Yuy and pointed at the other two. "Don't try anything with your fellow pilots already willing to follow my orders."

Duo could barely watch as they roughly handled Heero. He could tell the Japanese man was in some serious pain for it to show in his eyes. Wufei hung his head, hiding his face from Heero. This was the first time anybody had seen Wufei like this.

"Let's go," Treize commanded. He was the first out the door. Two soldiers followed him, then the gundam pilots with a soldier at each of their sides, and then two more at the end of their happy little group. Ten soldiers, not including Treize, to the three of them. These odds were so not good.

Duo looked at their surroundings the best he could. The leash was too short and the collar too tight for him to be able to turn his head much. He wasn't sure exactly where they were inside the base. The walls, floor, and ceiling were all the same metallic gray. The lights were so bright that they made his eyes water.

They passed several doors, but no windows. Some that they passed they could hear screams coming from behind them. The kind of screams that made your blood run cold and you pray that you never find out what was happening to the person doing the screaming.

Treize stopped in front of a door that was unmarked and no different than the others. His royal highness opened the door himself prompting a raised eyebrow from Duo. Before a retort escaped his mouth, he clamped it shut and vowed not to say a word or sound no matter what.

Treize stepped aside, motioning for the soldiers to lead the pilots into the room. The lights were dimmer than those in the hallway. Duo noticed that this room was about twice the size of the cell they were in. It was twice as long as it was wide and one long wall was nothing but a big window. Like what you would see in an interrogation room. The opposite wall had hooks along the length of it at various heights.

Duo realized what the hooks were for and paled visibly, as did the other two. Of course, Treize saw this. He sneered at each of them. Somehow he even made that look elegant.

"Space them out," he told his underlings. They did as they were told without question. Duo could see no way out of this. If he fought now, he was dead. Treize blocked the door, he could hardly move at all, and this room was way too small to try very many kicking moves. If only his hands were free… So, he could do nothing as the soldiers attached the leash to a hook in the wall at shoulder height. He watched as both Heero and Wufei complied also. Well crap and double crap.

"Gentlemen, thank you so much for your cooperation. Especially you Wufei Chang, pilot of the Shenlong Gundam," Treize said in a mockingly sweet voice. He smiled. Not just any smile, but a smile that would make you believe that he had taken a long jump off the deep end.

Duo stared incredulous at Treize. Since when did Oz know there first and last names along with what gundams they piloted? He could see the vein throbbing at his friend's temple. Something was going on here, he just knew it. Maybe that's why Wufei followed Treize's orders so easily…

It seemed that each of the gundam pilots had sworn to silence. Treize was determined to change that very soon.

"Leave us," Treize told his soldiers. "And lock the door." A soldier made the move to question the last order. A look from his commander was all he needed to change his mind. They all but ran from the room. The pilots heard an ominous click as the door was locked.

"Now I have arranged a nice little demonstration for you. You will soon see why you are bound the way you are." There was a manic gleam in his dark blue eyes that worried Duo. Yes, even scared him. He felt his stomach slide to his feet. That gleam scared him to the point where he was praying to the little belief he had left that he would pass out. His gut was telling him that he would soon know what was causing those other people to scream.

"I do say, Maxwell, you are quite pale. Don't worry, that'll change here in a moment.

The fallen commander walked over to a panel that was by the door. He flipped a switch that lit up the room behind the glass. Duo gasped without meaning to at the sight behind the glass. Trowa and Quatre were in the other room, bound the same way as they were except their leashes were attached much higher. Their toes barely touched the ground. If they were to relax, even the slightest bit, they would basically hang themselves.

No cloth covered their upper bodies although bits and pieces clung to different wounds; the rest lay at their fee in shreds. Quatre's hair was a mix of blond and red from blood. Bruises ran from his cheek, over his ribs, and down to his waistline. The metal bindings that held his arms together were also attached to a hook on the wall, further limiting his movement. Both arms were sever3ely dislocated and swollen at the shoulders. Welts covered his back and chest from what looked like a whip. Some were still bleeding readily, while the others just oozed. His face was ruined. Both eyes were black and almost swollen shut. His nose was broken and both lips were split completely open. Trowa looked so very much the same. Blood was spattered on the wall behind them and pooled on the floor. Duo wondered if they were even still alive. Treize seemed to have read his mind.

"They are very much still alive," Treize said gladly. "What fun would this be if they weren't?" The man had obviously completely lost it. He flipped another switch – the intercom.

"Proceed." Only then did Duo realize that two officers were in that room also.

They stepped up to Trowa. Each had a long thin knife. They proceeded to systematically peel the skin from Trowa's shoulders. Duo had to admire his friend for his resolve not to make a sound. Then it started. Trowa let a cry escape from between his gritted teeth. This brought Quatre very awake. The small blonde started screaming obscenities that would have mad Duo's hair curl at any other time. He tried to kick the soldier nearest to him. He wasn't even close. Duo saw that Quatre's throat was also coated with blood, as was Trowa's. They had both fought their collars, to no avail.

The soldier on Trowa's right seemed to have tired of Quatre's yelling. He stopped what he was doing to backhand him in the face. The man was wearing brass knuckles. For good measure, he punched the young man in the ribs twice. Each hit resounded with a loud crack. The young pilot was now wheezing, fight to stay on his toes.

Duo couldn't help it. He lunged towards Treize, remembering too late about the metal collar around his neck. He was jerked back, knocking himself off his own feet and succeeding only in chocking himself. He scrambled to his feet trying to get his footing before he lost too much air.

"You sick bastard!" Duo sputtered trying to breathe. "What the Hell is your problem!"

Treize calmly walked towards the pilot. Without warning he backhanded Duo, splitting his lip and breaking his nose.

"I see that you have to use those brass knuckles too," Duo retorted. "Didn't want to bloody your own knuckles, did ya?" A steady stream of blood ran from his nose and was dripping off his chin.

Treize grabbed Duo's braid at the base and yanked his head towards him. His lips were mere inches from Duo's ear. He could see that the other two pilots were getting extremely pissed. He loved how they could do nothing about it.

"I've bloodied my hands plenty," he practically snarled. Duo's smart comments irked him.

He yanked the braid up against the wall smile at the sound of Duo's head hitting the metal wall and the look of pain that flashed across his face. He pressed the length of his body against Duo's. The braided pilot was dazed from the hit and blinked back the darkness that threatened to close in, but that didn't stop him from trying to pull away.

From the other room, through the intercom, they heard Trowa start screaming like the people they heard on their way to this God-forsaken room. They had gotten bored with his shoulders and were now working on his chest and stomach. Quatre, who didn't dare scream, was sobbing uncontrollably.

Duo closed his eyes and wished he could close his ears. He couldn't bear seeing his friends like this. Trieze slapped him, making him open his eyes. The commander shook his head.

"I don't think so. I brought you here to watch. Although I've about had it with the screaming. I do tire of it after awhile.

He let go of the long braid and reluctantly stepped away. He walked over to the panel and switched the intercom off. Somehow the silence was worse than the scrams, because they could still see what was happening to their two friends. For what seemed like hours, they were made to stand there and watch. After the two men were done with Trowa, they moved onto Quatre doing the same.

Next, they brought out the whips. Not normal ones either, if there could even be one that could be called normal. They were going to use the nine-tails whips. The two gundam pilot's bodies were destroyed. There was n way they could live much longer.

Duo was frantic by this point. This was his fault, all his damn fault. Tears were running down Wufei's face. None of them had ever felt so helpless before as they watched the other two arch their backs and their mouths open in silent screams.

"What do you want?" Duo pleaded. His answer was a smile from Treize.

"Nothing…yet."

"Why don't you just end it?" Wufei said through gritted teeth. Tears had left dirt-stained tracks down his cheeks. When he spoke, the smile disappeared instantly from the fallen commander's face.

"How dare you talk to me like that?" Treize practically hissed. He backhanded the black haired pilot across the face. When Wufei opened his eyes, a pair of intense blue were staring back inches away from his own onyx eyes.

"You should know better than that. I bet you didn't speak to Miliardo that way now did you?" Treize said slowly, his voice low and menacing. Wufei's eyes widened slightly, but still glared back at him.

"Yes, just end it," Duo cried. Treize's head snapped in his direction. He straightened and gave a dramatic sigh.

"Fine." He walked over to the intercom. It made a high-pitched beeping noise. It took a bit for Trowa and Quatre to become quiet when the two men walked over to the speaker on their side.

"Yes, commander?" one asked.

"Finish it," he told them in a bored voice. They nodded. They walked over to the cabinet to where their devices were stored. They came away with two large knives with curved blades.

They unhooked the two pilots from the wall. They almost fell to the floor, but the two soldiers had a hold of the collar leashes. The pilots had to have seen the end coming. Duo was sure of it.

Quatre looked at the glass and mouthed "good-bye" and his eyes slowly closed. Trowa just gave a small smile and shut his eyes. The two soldiers reached around and slit the pilots' throats in one swift motion right above the metal collars. They were dead before they hit the floor.

Duo heard somebody laughing, but he could see that it was not Treize. Who could be laughing at a time like this? Everything was slowly becoming black and the laughing went on. Later he was told that it had been him. He was the one laughing until he had finally passed out.

A/N: And there you have it peoples. Uberly long chapter. I was amazed that I got it typed all in one day. Now my fingers hurt… I'm really excited at how this is turning out and that I am not short of any ideas of how to go onto the next part.

Anyways, a review or two (or flames : - ) would greatly be appreciated. If it wasn't for my cousin, I probably would have stopped by now. Seeing my hit count go up every day has also kept me writing. So, thank you to those that have kept coming back.