On the brink of a new discovery, she woke to find herself trapped in the deepest, darkest pits of hell.
Persephone's reincarnate, cop Sakura; Hades, Lord of the Underworld Sasuke AU. (If turned into a fic, will contain 🔞 content!)
I actually have 4 parts already written and will share them all here before I decide if I'm going to make it into a full fic or not.
Part 2/4!
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The Manila folder resting on her lap felt heavy and thick as she gazed at it with a mixture of both awe and uncertainty; her fingers drifting over its spine carefully, like the gentlest touch from a lover, and her partner's last words still rang heavily in her mind, before he had suddenly disappeared.
'Don't let this information fall into the wrong hands, love. With its power… let's just say, it could change everything we thought we knew about the world around us. I'll be in touch. Keep it safe.'
That was the last she had heard from him, no matter how much she had tried to get in touch, and she was starting to feel a sinking pit in her stomach form, from the notion that her partner may have actually somehow gotten them into a mess that was far beyond anything that 'mere humans' could comprehend.
Sakura was no incompetent. She had heard the whispered rumors surrounding all of the very sudden disappearances of man and it frightened her greatly to think that something was moving in the shadows against them; something that was far more powerful than any weapon mankind had built to date.
A cold bout of shivers ran down her spine as she gnawed at her bottom lip, too deep in thought to even realize that the temperature in her office had plummeted significantly. It wasn't until Sakura heard it, the darkest, most seductive whisper of her name, breathily placed at her right ear, did she finally feel a jarring sense of doom. She placed a hand firmly on top of the papers, her heart pounding as her body tensed…green eyes gone wide in the dimness of the room as she stilled completely.
She could feel a presence behind her, dark and looming as it pressed in around her, and her poor mind propelled her into the most horrendous foreboding feeling she had ever experienced thus far. Lips parted on their own accord, and she was shocked to see how billowing puffs of hot air escaped them… as if she was standing outside on a cold winter morning.
'Sakura.'
The dark presence behind her closed in, a shadowy mist forming behind her right-hand side and it was as if she had no control over her own body as it remained frozen in her chair; unable to turn, due to unexpected fear clogging her senses.
She had never experienced this feeling before, and it was absolutely terrifying.
The long strands of loose pink hair that had fallen from her high, messy bun, blew across her skin, as if someone was breathing next to it, and she couldn't stop the tremors from racing across her chilled skin as her previously soundless breaths became noisy even in her own ears. Her heart felt as if it was going to burst from her chest as it thumped at a frighteningly swift degree and she let out a shaky whimper, of unease; unable to do anything else while her viridescent eyes widened further at the next breathy intonation.
'Sakura.'
It was so close—
Suddenly, the oppressive atmosphere shifted and she was finally, blessedly able to spin around. But even as she did, there was nothing there and the temperature had begun to rise once more, leaving her both frightened and confused.
Sakura decided that a good night's rest would do wonders and tried to shake off the uncomfortable feeling still racing through her bloodstream and lingering on her mind as she rose to gather her belongings. Being the last to leave that evening, she turned off the lights and locked everything up before heading straight to her car, completely unaware of the pair of glowing ruby-red orbs following her every move, lurking dangerously in the darkness of the shadows.
A cloaked figure watched as she turned the car on and left the parking lot… thoroughly intent on following the woman, with a dark and twisted smirk plastered on its lips.
Her knuckles had grown purely white with the vice-like grip she was holding on her steering wheel and she ground her teeth as she gazed up into the rearview mirror to watch the police station as it grew fainter and fainter, before vanishing completely from sight. She let out a small breath she hadn't even realized she'd been holding before turning her gaze forward… but after feeling anxiety forcing its way back into her system… she felt almost compelled to take a quick glance at the folder next to her on the passenger's seat. The ominous feeling deep inside of her grew rapidly the longer her gaze fixated on it and she swallowed slowly before looking at the road once more.
Feeling uneasy, she pressed a few buttons on the bright screen to her right and the soft sound of ringing began to play through the speakers. 'Come on, please pick up. We need to talk. I need to know that you're safe… I need you. Ple—'
Click. A breath—
"Sakura?"
"Shikamaru! Thank goodness." She finally managed to get ahold of him, she thought as she turned onto the highway. But a roadblock ahead had her almost immediately shifting back onto the wooded roads, as she was forced to take a different route on her way home. She bit back the plethora of curse words hanging precariously on the very tip of her tongue at this notion, knowing that it would take her twice as long to get there, but decided that it simply wasn't worth the hassle or wasted energy she would expend doing so.
The pinkette's thoughts were immediately sent back to her partner, as it seemed she was becoming more and more like him every day. A gentle smile of remembrance formed on her lips as she pictured him in her mind, as well as the first time that they had met… before simultaneously being assigned together on the very same case. His 'it's a drag' attitude had been quite frustrating back then, but was now one of the many qualities and reasons why she thoroughly enjoyed working with him… and subsequently, they had in fact made a great team and had become fast friends.
His deep baritone brought Sakura back to reality when he retorted—
"Where are you, love?"
At first, she had been angered that he would be so bold as to refer to her with such unsettling familiarity, but then she came to realize that it was just his way of speaking to any and all who were the opposite sex; so, she had very quickly calmed down thereafter. "I should be asking you that, Shika! I haven't heard from you in days," she accused him as she took a sharp turn. "You just… vanished. What happened?"
"Listen love, this is important." His tone caused alarm bells to blare intuitively throughout her body; she felt her bottom lip being drawn into her mouth while her eyes narrowed on the road ahead. "That information that I gave you… do you still have it on you?" Her blunt teeth clamped down…harsh and unforgiving on the plump flesh, before finally releasing it to speak.
"Yes, why?"
"Can I come get it from you tonight?"
"… yes. But, Shika…what is it? What's going on?" Sakura felt exasperated with the situation and wanted answers… and she wanted them now. "What aren't you telling me… and why in the hell did you disappear like that?"
Her body stiffened slightly when she slowed her car down significantly as she rounded another curve before pressing down on the accelerator again. A pause. "I can't discuss it on the phone. When I come, I will explain. Just keep it safe for me until then, okay love."
"Fine…," she managed after releasing a harsh breath. "But you'd better explain absolutely everything to me when you get there," she demanded as she finally relented, realizing that she would get nowhere (and no closer to the answers to her endless questions) at this rate.
"I will. I promise. See you soon, love."
After he hung up, she tried to decipher the urgency in his voice, but decided against it when she felt a migraine form in the back of her temples at the strain. Sakura sighed and reached over unseeingly, from muscle memory alone while her gaze remained fixated firmly on the road ahead, to turn on the radio, allowing for a soft (albeit unknown) melody to begin playing gently through the surrounding speakers.
She was too deep in thought to notice the shift once again in the atmosphere around her… so lost was she, that she failed to notice the sinister fog rolling in around her… until her vision became blurred and distorted from its willowing form. Sakura squinted ahead, trying in vain to see the road in front of her, when she felt a jarring to her right, rendering her unable to continue on the path ahead and a scream of pure terror slipped through her lips when her car began to careen out of her control towards a large cluster of willowy and twisted trees. When she tried to right the wheels once more, they struck a huge stump, causing the out-of-control vehicle to flip and then tumble over itself, before coming to rest on its crumpled and mangled hood.
The pinkette's head was thoroughly spinning and a pained groan slipped from her lips… almost soundlessly… as she hung precariously upside down. Her fingertips brushed the rough texture of the broken metal and her focus was hazy as she gazed unseeingly through the cracked windshield.
The force of the impact was far too great for her mind to comprehend at first, but within seconds of the car settling and muffled silence creeping to her eardrums… it became painfully evident, with that one final, startled, painstakingly swift breath— that she was going to die.
The last thing she knew was that a deep, breathy whisper was calling her name before consciousness slipped away, leaving her world black…and her mind became completely unaware of the gentle movements beyond the shadows as the cloaked figure from before drew near.
'Sakura.'