Tohru wrapped her arms around her legs, burying her face in her knees. The darkness faithfully kept her surroundings hidden from her, making every sound twice as loud as usual. Every so often, sinister giggles would erupt around her, never in the same place. A whip cracked through the air as often as the horrid laughter, occasionally hitting its mark and biting painfully into her exposed skin. Again it flew through the air, and again it ripped a small gash in her flesh. She bit back a whimper and hunched her shoulders, trying to make herself as small a target as possible. She didn't dare move for fear of walking straight into Akito-san's clutches.
The hours dragged on. Slowly, the physical torture ceased; she could not, however, escape the emotional torment. Even as Tohru, wincing and gasping in pain, attempted to clumsily bandage her bloodied torso, Akito-san's constant hiss of insults and threats never ebbed. Hatori had been allowed in for exactly give minutes just after Akito-san's vicious blows suddenly stopped. He had been the only human other than Akito-san Tohru had actually seen since her capture. Over and over she replayed their conversation, the words that had left her confused but hopeful.
"Honda-kun." She could still hear the heartbreaking sympathy and pity in his voice, could still feel his cool hands lightly brushing her bruised, aching flesh. The rectangle of light from the doorway illuminated his tired face.
"Hatori…san?" she had gasped, struggling to lift herself up off the floor.
"Don't even try it. You just rest." His frustrated sigh had made Tohru want to reassure him, but she simply couldn't. "I need more than five minutes. I need to take you to the office…"
"Kyo-kun…Y-Yuki-kun?" she had forced out.
"They're fine. I don't think it'll be long before they'll stop by to visit," he had said in a low tone, giving her a meaningful look as he calmly wrapped her bleeding wrist.
"No! Akito-san…" Panic gave her the energy for a few more words.
"You rest. Let us worry." He'd barely gotten the words out when Akito had come for him, shrieking angrily about him taking more time than was needed.
Tohru had been alone since then, keeping company with the hissing voice and her muddled thoughts. She scratched absently at her leg, frowning slightly. The blood had dried, leaving her skin itchy under the thin, flaky film. The itching was the least of her worries, however. Everything ached, everything was sore. Anxiety for Kyo-kun and Yuki-kun clawed at her heart like a rabid animal. Akito-san's stream of threats–
Had stopped. Tohru paused in her scratching, listening hard to the silence. Yes. For the first time, it was true silence. She blindly, slowly, painfully stumbled to her feet. If the torture was to continue, she would meet it on her feet–no matter how unsteady they may be.
Footsteps outside the door. Her hands became clammy and cold. Quiet voices. She clenched her jaw to keep herself from vomiting up her fear. The door sliding open. She locked her knees to keep them from shaking…
"Honda-san!"
"Yuki-kun!" she cried.
"What…how…?" Yuki crossed the room in two steps and reached out for her, abandoning his attempts to find the right words.
"You shouldn't be here." Despite her best efforts, she began to sob brokenly, half from relief and half from fear.
"Fuck that. You're the one who shouldn't be here." Kyo's gruff, angry voice came to her the moment his hand touched her shoulder.
Clinging to Yuki's hand, she grabbed a handful of Kyo's shirt desperately. "You have to go!" she pleaded again.
"We know. And you're coming with us," Yuki said firmly.
"C'mon. Can you walk?" Kyo, with unusual gentleness, slipped his arm under Tohru's and around her back. Yuki mutely did the same, and the three limped awkwardly out of the one-roomed prison.
They'd barely made it five feet when Akito stepped out of a door not ten yards away.
"Akito!" Hatori's panicked voice shot out from behind her.
A fierce scowled twisted the Goddess's elfin face. "Shut up," she snarled.
Before anyone could even realise what the gleam of dying sunlight meant, Akito pulled the trigger. Tohru's scream couldn't be heard over the gun's explosion. Hatori's strangled yell of pain echoed in the deafening silence following the shot. As the three teenagers watched in horror, the head of the Sohma family turned the gaping mouth of the pistol on them.
A/N: Dun, dun, duuuuun! -dramatic gasp- What's to happen to our poor dears? You decide! Choose any one (or two. Or all of them, if you so prefer) of three sets of endings: Cyanide, Can't Get Something For Nothing, or Death of an Angel. All very angsty, very w00t. Please review, even if it's just to tell me how much you hate me because I never update. –hangs her head in shame– I deserve it. BUT! I do have the first chapter of Cyanide written, just so you know. So I'll be posting that ASAP. Just keep that in mind.
P.S. I'm considering changing my penname to Evil Queen of the Demon Pandas. What do y'all think?