CHAPTER 9
TIME TO ESCAPE
Sawamura began to feel tired, every muscle in his body ached and now he felt a fever coming on, again. His jaw hurt where the man had hit him and his face throbbed with a spreading from his cheekbone to his eyebrow but that was nothing compared sitting all day in the chair, tied with rope and metal chain. His plans to escape seemed to be backfiring. He wanted to go home so badly but every time he tried to remember who he was, he's hurt. He didn't remember anything about his family now. He only remembered being cold and alone in the basement for what seemed like forever. He didn't even recognize himself.
The man walked by and said something Sawamura couldn't hear. He glanced down at the tray of food and Sawamura hadn't touched a thing.
"You didn't touch your food, Eijun. Is there something else I can get you?" he asked.
Sawamura didn't feel like eating. He can't even move properly because of the rope. He just sat there thinking and Kimura was disappointed that the young boy hadn't even tried anything.
When Sawamura just shook his head, the man said, "How do you feel?"
But Sawamura didn't reply so the man snarled, "Answer me!"
"M-My whole body ached... with cold..." Sawamura gasped.
Kimura paused to inspect Sawamura's face, "Oh boy, you don't look good. I might be able to find something to put on it in the kitchen."
Sawamura watched the man stepped to the kitchen but he didn't find anything that can help the boy there so he moved on to the bedroom and living room, opening drawers and checking under cushions. While watching, Sawamura finally drifted off to sleep. One of the last thoughts he had was wondering if he would see Takashi in a few moments.
The man walked back into the kitchen with a screwdriver, he noticed Sawamura gasping but sound asleep. He tiptoed to the boy's direction and stood there a moment, watching him sleep. Wondering how someone like him could do something bad and cruel to this cute and innocent young boy.
In the corner of his eyes, Takashi remained silent. He figured Takashi was probably guarding this boy. It was probably best not to talk to a ghost. Besides, he's already dead and ghosts can't hurt people.
There, he untied the rope and quietly loosened the screws that held the plate that secured Sawamura's chain and kicked the chair with his foot. Shocked awake Sawamura tried focusing up at the figure standing above him.
"Get up." the man snapped.
Sawamura got up and the man grabbed his arm and handed him the key and said, "Unlock the cuff."
Sawamura wondered what was happening but, didn't ask, he was just glad to be out of the chafing metal cuff on his ankle.
"Go to my bedroom." the man command.
Sawamura knew that this kidnapper would do what he said, so he just stayed quiet while his head throbbing. He felt the instant heat of blood coming loose from his nostrils but he immediately wiped the blood from his nose, trying to ignore his bleeding while he kept walking his leg. He wanted nothing more that to climb into some bed and take a rest.
"I'm going to buy some delicious food, Eijun. So stay in my room till the morning breaks-up and then you can go back to the kitchen." the man said.
"Y-Yes, sir." Sawamura replied.
"And don't try to escape or to communicate with your ghost friend. Got it?" the man asked.
"Y-Yes, sir..." Sawamura breathed.
After a brief conversation between them, Sawamura collapsed in the middle of the hallway, face down on the floor. He couldn't walk.
"What a pity." the man said.
He carefully lifted Sawamura into his arms and carried him toward his bedroom. He rested the boy's knee as he gently pulled back the covers and laid Sawamura in the bed. Then, he tested the temperature of Sawamura's forehead and gently shook his shoulders, "Hey! Eijun, you're burning up."
Sawamura opened his eyes to find the man staring at him and asked, "W-What...?"
"You're burning up." Kimura replied.
Sawamura's eyes fluttered closed, he has no energy to speak. The man stepped back, pacing a tight circle in the middle of the bedroom. The kidnapper was helpless. He thought the young boy is already recovering because the fever is gone when he saw him again, but he's wrong. Could he kill the boy now? He really didn't have a choice, did he?
The man stood back as Takashi kneeled next to Sawamura. He called the man's name, calmly.
"Do something to help him, Kimura-san." Takashi said, the plea sounded desperate to the man's own ears.
"W-What should I do?" the man began to panic.
"I know he's burning up. Please, get the thermometer." Takashi said.
The man nodded, hurried off and quickly returned, shaking while holding the mercury of the thermometer. He held the glass stick up to the light, shook it again and then encouraged Sawamura to open his mouth. He checked the clock on the wall several times before determining the thermometer was ready to be read. He held it to the light again, frowning at the reading.
"What is it?" Takashi was anxious.
"O-One hundred and two. S-Should I take him to the hospital?" The man asked Takashi.
"Yes, the hospital." Takashi said.
But then the man suddenly remember the situation, "I-I can't! I'm going to jail for kidnapping Sawamura Eijun and for — killing you!"
Takashi looked at him fiercely then said, "But you could try to bring Sawamura's fever down. He's sluggish because of the fever."
"Wait...wait...wait..." the man said, talking like crazy.
He suddenly went outside, run the engine and sit in the car. He thought some good idea that was probably safe so he left the house without locking the door and went to the pharmacy to buy medicine for Sawamura. The man's sudden action surprised Takashi. It's time to escape!
Takashi quickly went back to the bedroom. He touched Sawamura's clothes and started shaking him to wake him up but no answer.
"Sawamura, wake up now please! You must escape or you will die!" Takashi yelled.
Takashi tried to wake Sawamura up again. He shook and shook him and even yelled but he's just lay there. It made Takashi so mad that he started screaming and shaking Sawamura so hard his head jiggled back and forth but he still didn't wake up.
"Please! I don't want you to end up like me! Wake up!" As Takashi said these words, his tears started to fall.
He remained there in the bedroom for a moment or two and tried to compose himself. He said nothing anymore, he's just stood there looking at Sawamura as he burned with fever. Takashi remained thinking for some few minutes, then a bright thought came — he will try to take over Sawamura's body. It would be easier to try to possess him while he slept. Then he would have control over him and he could help Sawamura escape.
The night was exceptionally clear. The stars appeared brighter and closer to the earth than normal. There was a chill in the air and it was starting to turn cold. Seto ran through the streets, checking every places and stores he thought Okumura might be, but he was unable to find his friend.
"Where the hell did he go?" Seto whispered.
He reached for his cell phone and he called, but his friend didn't answer. He hit redial. Still Okumura didn't answer so Seto sent a text but he did not respond. It's getting cold and late and the Seidou jacket isn't all that warm.
Seto started running all the way to the park where Miyuki and Kuramochi waiting. He was out of breath and his heart was beating so fast, then his two senpai looked at him. Seto told them that he still haven't found Okumura.
"What are we gonna do?" Miyuki said.
"Oh, fuck. Do you know how much trouble we are in? You shouldn't have left him alone, Seto." Kuramochi growled.
"I-I'm sorry, senpai. I'm so sorry. I didn't expect this to happen." Seto mumbled.
Kuramochi was just mad and worried. He saw on the television news last night that the police haven't found Sawamura, and now Okumura is missing too?
They all missed the idiot pitcher these past few days. They'd been busy with the training and baseball match but their thoughts drifted to Sawamura often. They missed his laugh, his smile, his presence. They all missed the Seidou's ace so much!
Sawamura was loved by everyone that passed by him. His ears were for everyone who wanted to talk. He was Seidou's shoulder to lean on when they are feeling low. He was always there for everyone, he's everyone's best friend. Kuramochi reminisce about all the things that Sawamura did, he inhaled so much. He knows Sawamura is fine, he's a good boy and he knows that they will see him again.
"Calm down, guys. Did you try to call him on the phone?" Miyuki asked.
"Yes Miyuki-senpai, but he didn't answer and I left him a message." Seto replied.
Miyuki looked at his watch it was nine in the evening, "I think it's time to call the police and file a missing person's report."
"But, we don't know for sure that something is wrong senpai." Seto said, "The battery in his cell phone may have gone down."
Then, Seto's cell phone suddenly rang, startling the three boys.
Seto grabbed the phone and swiped to answer and put it to his ear, "Hey, Koushuu! Where have you been? We've been looking everywhere!"
Miyuki and Kuramochi smiled and a sigh of relief went through both of them.
Okumura heard the anger in his friend's voice, "I'm sorry, Taku. Don't be angry."
"What's wrong with your cell phone?" Seto asked.
Okumura replied, "There's bad reception here."
Seto asked again, "Where are you now—" The phone cut off.
"Hello? Hello? Koushuu?" Seto yelled frantically.
"Damn, this can't be happening." Kuramochi said, he kicked at small rock on the ground.
"What's wrong?" Miyuki asked.
Seto told them the signal was probably lost from Okumura's phone so he tried to dial the number again and put it on speaker so Miyuki and Kuramochi could hear them.
Then, Okumura answered the phone. "Taku, I believe I know the kidnapper and where Sawamura-senpai is."
"W-What?!" The three boys looked shocked.
"I'm with Amahisa-senpai from Sankou. Call the police right away and give them the address I'm going to give you. Sawamura-senpai was probably in the house of the kidnapper." Okumura explained.
Takashi (Sawamura) woke up staring at the stars. His head felt like it was going to pop.
"What a headache..." he thought to himself as tried to piece together what happened and where he was.
It's so dark that no one would see and the ground is soft that you could easily dig a hole in just a few minutes. Takashi (Sawamura) sat up and the pain shot through his head like an electric shock. He moaned and rolled to his side. He tried to stand but again pain seared his brain, he felled back down and nose filled with blood. The head feels very hot while the body feels cool and chilly. He put the the back of his hand against his forehead to check and he's right, he remember Sawamura still had fever. He rolled on his side, moan, and loss consciousness.
Minutes has passed by when Takashi (Sawamura) rolled on his back and opened his eyes. He tried to sit up but he was quickly reminded that he was burning up with fever. He laid back down and touched his forehead.
"Eijun Sawamura, I had no idea you were suffering like this." he said.
He waited, calmed himself and continued to stare at the night sky. The moon was full and bright, he closed his eyes and felled asleep.
Takashi (Sawamura) woke from the whistling sounds of singing birds above him. He sat up slowly, his head was still burning but the pain was tolerable. He slowly stood to his feet and looked around, brushed some of the dirt off himself and started walking. He walked under a small bridge and could see in the distance a path that led to the street. He braced himself against the wall for a moment, he felt dizzy. He collected himself and headed for the path.
"Oh my God, Sawamura..." he whispered.
Takashi (Sawamura) felt like he was going fall back but he forced himself to walk. He looked around everything was hazy then he saw a bench and made his way to it and sat down, closed his eyes then open them again, things were a little clearer. He found a sky blue baseball cap on the ground and he picked it up. He slowly put the cap on his head to hide the boy's hair. He had to be extra careful not to be caught by that man. The bastard was probably somewhere looking for Sawamura.
He looked up, down and across the streets and nothing looked familiar to him. Well, he's been dead for a long time. Everything changed suddenly when he left the earth. He didn't know whether to feel happy or sad that he's alive. He's come back. But he knows once a person dies he can never come back into life again in his original body. However, he's kinda happy he was managed to escape from the kidnapper. He will help Sawamura return to his family.
"This body is not mine..." Takashi (Sawamura) whispered.
He scanned his surroundings again, cars were zooming, people walking, everything was moving so fast and the noise of the street was making his ears hurt. Then, a bus pulled in front of him, the door opened and the bus driver looked at him and Takashi (Sawamura) looked at the bus driver.
"Well?" the bus driver yelled out.
"Uhmm, okay..." Takashi (Sawamura) said, as he stepped on the bus.
The bus driver said something but Takashi (Sawamura) didn't hear it he closed the door and drove off.
Takashi (Sawamura) sat up now and begun to wonder where he was, nothing looked familiar. Suddenly, a young boy with spikey blonde hair and blue eyes sat down beside him. It's Narumiya Mei.
"Excuse me, where am I? I mean what place is this?" he said shyly, trying to hide Sawamura's face under a baseball cap.
Mei looked at him, frowning, then answered, "Y-You mean the name of this city?"
"Y-Yeah sure, what's the name?" he said, still hiding Sawamura's face under the cap's brim.
"Hachiouji. You're in Hachiouji, a city in West Tokyo" Mei replied.
"Hachiouji..." Takashi (Sawamura) repeated to himself.
Mei tried to catch a glimpse of the young boy's face but he can't see the face properly.
"Hey kid, you don't look good. Are you okay?" Mei asked.
"Y-yeah, thanks." Takashi (Sawamura) said, he didn't even dare look at Mei.
Mei shrugged his shoulders. He grabbed his cell phone, shuffled the list of all the songs and set the earphones into his ears. He suddenly noticed the boy wearing baseball cap stood to get off the bus.
"He looks familiar to me and his voice..." Mei said to himself.
Takashi (Sawamura) decided to walk around. He went to the corner. He's looking for police station but it's just kinds of stores lined on both sides of the street. He stopped in front of one, he pressed his face against the window and he saw baseball gloves. Suddenly, the owner came out of the sports store, "Hey kid, what you do here?"
Takashi (Sawamura) backed away from the window, "I-I was just looking."
The owner crossed his arms, "Looking huh, you have money?"
He didn't reply and the owner started waving his arms wildly and said, "You go look someplace else, I said go!"
Takashi (Sawamura) stared at the man for a moment, turned and walked away. He was passing a clothing store and saw mirrors near the front door. His reflection startled him.
"I-I'm not Takashi anymore. This boy is Eijun Sawamura." he whispered to himself.
He moved away from the mirror but a sales lady approached him, "Excuse me boy, may I help you?"
"N-no, I was just looking." Takashi (Sawamura) said and walked away.
He saw another bench down the street, Sawamura's head was pounding with pain so he sat down and laid the head on the back of the bench. It brought Takashi some comfort and the pain wasn't as bad. Then, someone sat beside him, "Poor boy, I've been watching you. You don't look good."
Takashi (Sawamura) turned to see who was speaking.
"Who are you boy and what's your name?" the old lady asked.
The boy pauses for a moment before he replied, "Takashi. My name is Takashi."
Note: It's kinda boring isn't? I don't know what will happen next. Thank you.
