Chapter 41 - Just Keep Breathing

A/N: Here's Kasumi's half of the last chapter. Enjoy!

Warnings: I haven't posted warnings in a while, as they're usually the same. But for this chapter I'm having a torture trigger warning in place. Graphic depictions of torture occur, please skip over this if it makes you uncomfortable.

. . .

I turned in a slow circle, arrow in hand, breaths heavy in the cold. The snarls, sounds of snapping fangs, and the scent of death made my heart race. My shoulder was barking in pain and I only had a few spare seconds to think up a plan.

But the only thought that entered my head was run.

Sensing that I was weakened, the first wolf brave enough came leaping towards me. They were easily twice the size of a gray wolf. They had multiple yellow glowing eyes and more teeth than any animal should rightly have. Their saliva was hot enough to melt the snow, causing a light steam to erupt into the air.

I dodged the first wolf that lunged at me, slashing with my energy arrow. I missed, not judging how fast they'd be. Another one was on top of me before I could recover from the attack of the first. It pinned me to the ground, but I managed to get a foot beneath it. I kicked it in the belly and it flew off me with a yelp.

I stabbed the next one in the eye, its blood spraying across the ground. The second one I killed just as it's jaw was about to close over my arm. With its death I had created a small opening in the trees. I dashed through it, the rest of the wolves hot on my heels.

In hindsight I should have dropped my pack. I was too slow...would have still been too slow even without it.

I didn't make it very far before one of them sunk their teeth into the back of my calf.

I hit the ground hard, the snow soaking my clothing and freezing my hands. I was dragged backward and then flung side to side as it shook me with its teeth. I rolled to my side and kicked it in the snout. It didn't let go. I put more force behind my second kick, smashing the mutt straight in the face.

It let go and I was quick to drag myself back up. Adrenaline coursed through my veins. I didn't even feel the pain in my leg.

I started running again, my blood trailing behind me, sending the remaining wolves into a frenzy. Even though it was so cold I was still sweating bullets. I felt imaginary teeth snapping at my heels and no matter how fast I ran, there wasn't a chance I'd get away.

I had to kill them all.

Still running I turned. The arrow in my hand disappeared and in its place a ball of energy formed. It shifted, morphing into something else. It took more out of me than I liked to admit...but it was still a bow and my energy, though not used to this form, bent to my will.

The crossbow in my hand was shaky, it flickered and sparked and looked as if it would fall apart. But I created an arrow already nocked and shot it at the closest wolf. It veered to the side, my aim poor, and hit it in the back. It slowed it down, but didn't stop it.

I turned back around, concentrating on running. Once in awhile I would turn to shoot another wolf. I killed three more...but there were still too many. Hell, one would have been one too many.

I made it further into the forest, the light nonexistent. If it weren't for their glowing eyes and my energy giving me the best night vision possible I would have been dead already. Of course, that didn't help me from slamming into what felt like a solid brick wall. I'd been too busy looking behind me, I never saw it coming.

With a loud "oof" I fell on my ass. The sounds of the wolves being killed around me registered. Their slaughter was short, easy compared to what I'd just been through with them. That didn't mean whoever I'd run into was friendly, however.

I scrambled backwards, my hands and feet slipping in the snow. I was grabbed from behind and hauled up by my armpits. I was held aloft, my feet stretching to touch the ground but not quite reaching.

I heard a masculine grunt in my ear. "Looky what we have here…"

As if on queue a group of demons came lumbering from between the trees. Some carried the wolf carcasses, others had heavy weapons strapped across their backs. All of them looked menacing and ready to eat me.

"Tie it up, the human is not for you." One of them said.

He looked more important than the rest. He was dressed in expensive looking armor and had a well crafted great sword in his hand. The rest of the group wore various pieces of hard leather to cover their vital points. They carried a range of shabby weapons, but rusted as they were, they could still kill me easily enough.

Genkai's herbs weren't useful if I didn't hide my energy, it seemed. The fight with the wolves had cost me. They knew I was human. I'd fled from one group of ravenous beasts only to fall into the hands of another.

The brute holding me sniffed up my neck, a moment later his tongue dragged up the side of my face. "Tastes good. I should just eat it. Boss wouldn't know."

That's when I started to struggle. I kicked and screamed, I waved my arms around to no effect. It was like knocking into a punching bag. The beast felt nothing. If anything, it was as if I was just an irritating insect and not a person.

"Let me go you prick!"

"Oh ho?" Head honcho smirked at me. "A girly huh? Boss will be even more excited."

They all began to chuckle, the creepy way men do sometimes. Next thing I knew I was being clubbed on the head...and then everything went black.

. . .

It was like a hazy dream. I would wake up...feel myself swing as if being carried like a sack, and then my eyes would droop again.

There was always a smell though. It never faded. The stench of death and decay and evil things. It hadn't just been the wolves or the demons that had kidnapped me. It was the very air itself - the pure, unadulterated stench of the Makai.

That horrible scent is what I awoke to. I don't think I'd ever forget it, even if I lived to be a hundred.

I was tied up, my arms and legs trussed like a prized pig being put to slaughter. I was being carried, but I didn't know to wear. They'd put a blindfold over my eyes. I could only see the barest hint of light at its edge.

Summoning my energy was pointless with my hands tied. Even if I electrocuted the guy carrying me, I was outnumbered ten to one. Struggling would be a waste of energy at this point. I would have to wait and see where they took me.

I hadn't expected that to take so damn long however. The group of bastards traveled for days on foot. They never set me down, even when I whined about having to relieve myself.

I ended up pissing down one of their backs and the spiteful side of me was glad for it.

The beating I received in return was not nearly as enjoyable.

Battered and bruised already, I couldn't even think about moving without causing myself physical pain. It made the rest of the journey agonizing.

I tried to concentrate on any sounds or chatter from the group. But they had chosen to speak in another language now that they'd left the forest. It sounded distinctly Russian, or the Makai equivalent anyway, and I had no idea what any of them were saying.

As for the world around me, I could tell when they carried me through more populated areas. It took three days total to reach their destination. By then I was in tears, starving and in dire need of water.

But I would not receive relief for any of those things.

We passed through a crowd. I was jostled and bumped into. It took every ounce of my willpower not to cry out.

I heard street vendors calling out their wares, people haggling prices. Those sounds faded to be replaced by lapping waves and the freezing cold that could only come from the ocean in winter.

The group stopped then. I heard one of them pound on a door, the following echo telling me it was a heavy one.

Someone called out and whoever knocked answered with what I assumed was a password. The heavy doors were pushed open, the scraping and creaking noise they made near deafening. And then we were moving again, as a single tight unit.

Where the hell were they taking me? If it was some kind of fortress would I even stand a chance of escaping?

My level of fear shot up significantly. And for the first time since arriving in this godforsaken place I called for Hiei from within my mind.

Dead silence answered me.

I called again and again, kissing my pride goodbye, but still I received no answer. I pushed my power outward, my entire soul calling for him, for Yusuke, for anyone.

The rise in power caused me to be dropped. I landed on my bad shoulder and this time I did scream.

"I see you've brought me something nice." The voice was smooth, deep, and accented. I hated it immediately. "Untie her."

They brutes did as they were told. The ropes that had rubbed my skin raw on both my wrists and ankles were cut. I was pulled roughly to my feet by my good arm and the blindfold was torn from my eyes.

The first bit of true light I had seen in days blinded me. My eyes slammed closed until I was able to inch them open enough to see.

"Well...look at the power inside you…" the man breathed, as if in amazement.

Before me stood a tall golden haired male. He was humanoid, which told me enough about his power to be afraid of him. His ears looked as if they were fins and inside his grinning mouth were rows of razor sharp teeth. His hair was long and plaited down his back. He'd dressed in fine clothing, that of a lord's or someone with a lot of money. Multi-colored scales decorated the backs of his hands...but his eyes are what frightened me the most. He blinked like a fish...and the color…

There was none. If I didn't know better I would think he was blind. His eyes were almost a solid white other than a pinprick of black in their centers for a pupil. They creeped me out to say the least.

"You've done well this time boys," he said. "Bring her to the keep and lock her up."

My struggling started anew. If I was caged there was no way I'd be getting out of here. My body was screaming at me to get away from this man. His aura alone made me sick - a dark, mustard yellow mixed with a watery blue. It was strange, just like him, but I wasn't interested in knowing what he could do with it.

I was backhanded across the face. My lips split in half from the force put behind the blow. I bit my cheek and blood flooded my mouth. I heard blondie laugh, his chuckle revolting enough to make my skin crawl.

The brute holding me up dragged me across the rough stone that covered what I assumed was a courtyard. A giant stone building loomed before me, fishboy standing on the wide staircase that led to the front door. That must be the keep and like hell was I going to be locked up in that monstrosity.

I didn't go down without a fight. I summoned whatever energy I could spare. The rest I'd been using to numb the pain in my body and slowly heal what wounds I could. I sent a bright pink electric shock through the demon holding me. His body convulsed and he fell to the ground, out cold if not dead.

The next guy to grab me I kicked in the nuts. He dropped, howling and clutching his family jewels.

But I never stood a chance. Inside this courtyard there were even more demon lackys. They subdued me before I could even make the barest of dents in their numbers.

Being held by two of them now, tired, broken and out of the will to fight I allowed them to drag my carcass up to the top of the stairs.

As they were about to pass their "boss" he grabbed me by the chin. The pretty boy leaned in close, those razor sharp teeth taking up my vision and causing me to rear back. He smiled, amused. "What a prize you are, human. I'll make good use of you."

I had no idea what he meant by that. And I didn't want to know.

I'd been in the Makai all of three days and I was already royally fucked.

I'd landed in the frying pan only to fall out straight into the fire.

. . .

I was brought down into a dungeon. And yes, it was almost exactly like you'd imagine it would look like. Dank, dark, smelling of rot and death and piss. The bars of the cells were iron, rusted, old. Dried and fresh blood painted the cobbled stone of the floors and the howling of the other prisoners made me cringe. Some were chained, others slept on beds of straw, and still others clawed at the walls as if they could dig their way out.

Panic settled deep in my stomach. I was glad I hadn't eaten anything in days, for I surely would have wretched.

I got lost as I was dragged through the labyrinth of cells. I'd tried to count the twists and turns, but I was almost delirious by then. My energy was waning and though I tried to call on Chronos even she had abandoned me. I was going to die here. Still, she did nothing, did not answer my plea for help or even acknowledge that I existed.

Where the hell was she?

Why abandon me now?

I was thrown into a tiny cell in an empty part of the dungeon. I wasn't glad for the silence. The isolation was just as likely to drive me insane as the screams of the other tortured souls here.

The brutes that had brought me here chuckled at me as they slammed the cell door in my face. I lunged for the bars and they only laughed harder. They walked away, their laughter fading until all I could here was the dripping of water and the rush of blood in my ears.

I started to scream then. I screamed until my voice grew hoarse. I screamed until I was hysterical, gasping for air, breathing ragged and uncontrolled.

I couldn't muster an ounce of my usual cockiness. For once the smarter part of my brain had taken over. I was afraid and that fear had taken over everything. It clouded my vision and took every rational part of me and twisted it into a merciless feeling of panic.

I needed to calm down. My screeching wouldn't get me anywhere. All the inmates here howled and they were ignored, just like I would be. No one could hear me down here. No one cared.

I took one deep breath, which ended in a coughing fit. Then in through my nose and out through my mouth. I concentrated on just breathing, the simplest of bodily functions, until I didn't feel the need to scream again.

Once I had managed to calm down, as infinitesimal as it was, I gritted my teeth in preparation. I needed to put my ruined arm back into its socket. I might have stood a better chance against those monsters if I hadn't already been injured.

If Hiei were here he would have told me I was just making excuses…

Maybe I was. But I didn't know what to do. I was lost in a strange world, five-hundred years in the past. I didn't have a single ally by my side. And then I'd crash landed into this place like a comet that had fallen from the sky.

I had no time to dwell, I needed to fix myself as best I could. But as I summoned a bit of energy to dampen the pain the bars on the cell started to glow. Words appeared in a language I didn't recognize and out of nowhere a shock was sent through me.

It was strong enough to put me on my ass but not quite strong enough to knock me out. I was on my knees, panting and clutching at my chest where my heart was attempting to escape.

Wards...those were fucking wards on the bars! Another feral scream bubbled up my throat, but this one was angry and rough and carnal. I sounded more like a beast than a person.

So, realizing I would have to do this cold turkey, I grabbed at my shoulder. I clamped my mouth shut and jerked quickly to one side, wrenching my arm with me. As my shoulder reconnected to where it should be, I muffled my latest scream with my gritted teeth.

I settled back against the wall, my hair plastered to my face with sweat. I slicked it back out of my face, positive I was sporting a do similar to a Urameshi. But looking like a man might work to my advantage here. If demons even cared about gender that was…

Realigning my arm had made a significant difference to my level of discomfort. But I was still left with a torn up calf on my right leg and several other smaller wounds. I'd been able to heal the minor cuts, scrapes and bruises I'd received during my journey here. I wished my pack hadn't been taken from me. I had plenty of bandages stashed in the first aid kit. But I had no idea where they'd taken it...or if I'd ever see it again.

This sucked…to say the least.

And so, for the next several hours I sat scrunched up on the floor, back to the wall. I wouldn't sleep, no matter how much I needed it. I wouldn't be caught unaware. I would take any opportunity that presented itself to escape, no matter how small.

After what felt like an eternity sitting in the near dark - a single torch on the wall outside the cell the only source of light - I heard footsteps. I struggled to my feet and stood in a defensive stance. My arm was still aching, but I could use it now.

The man who rounded the corner and stopped at my cell was new. He wore solid black and had a mask over his face. The only thing I could make out of his features were his rather full lips and the golden eyes that shone from beneath the mask. His skin was a deep chocolate color, those lips lighter than the rest, but tanned. A forked tongue flicked out to lick across them and I cringed in disgust.

He unlocked the door and let the bars swing open. He didn't say a word, just stepped forward and went to grab me by my forearm.

I wouldn't be taken again. I snapped my arm downwards, breaking his hold, then kicked him hard in the stomach. He stumbled backwards and I took the chance to punch him in the jaw. Another quick succession of hits, a punch to his stomach, a kick to the side of his shin.

He fell to one knee and I was about to end the fight by kicking him hard in the side of the head. But his arm whipped out and I didn't notice in time what he held in his hand.

A needle sunk deep into my thigh. It wasn't like modern needles, it was large and crude and made of some kind of wood. And fuck if it didn't hurt.

The pain didn't last. He pushed down a little harder and a sudden warmth flooded me. It made me wobble on my feet...and before I knew it I'd fallen to the floor. I tried to speak, to demand what he'd done to me but the words wouldn't come. My vision swam. My tongue felt heavy. My eyelids drooped but I didn't sleep.

I was grabbed by an ankle and dragged through the dungeon. I didn't even feel as my head thumped against the cobblestone floor. This was...sort of...nice. It made me feel kind of light and floaty…

Next thing I knew I was being hauled up into a large wooden chair. My arms and legs were strapped down, then a band of leather was wrapped around my head. I laughed, as if this were funny. But it wasn't funny. I couldn't move.

But the drug did its job. I didn't care. I didn't panic. I wasn't even worried about what this man planned to do.

How stupid can you get?

Next thing I knew a vial was being shoved between my teeth and a horrible tasting liquid filled my mouth. A hand clapped over my mouth and nose so I wouldn't spit it out. I couldn't turn my head. Couldn't fight it.

I was choking, choking, choking...couldn't breathe, couldn't cough, couldn't spit. I swallowed it.

And the effect was almost immediate it.

Fire burned through my esophagus, down to my belly, down to my very soul. It was an agonizing, unbearable, horrifying type of pain. The drug I'd been given previously did nothing. It might as well have fled my body.

I pushed against my bonds with all my might. The hand over my mouth muffled my screams, my eyes rolled into the back of my skull.

Couldn't breathe, couldn't think. I couldn't even remember my own name through the pain.

But almost as soon as it had begun...it ended. The dark skinned man leaned over me, turning his head from side to side, inspecting. That forked tongue flicked out again, as if tasting my anguish.

"That will make sure you do not bleed out," he said. His voice was warm, deep. It would be pleasant to hear under different circumstances.

He moved out of my line of sight. I heard the clink of metal, the shuffling of cloth. When he returned he held a pair of pliers in his hand.

"Forgive me for what I am about to do." He made the sign of the cross and then lifted one of my hands.

The panic overrode the drug in my veins. The liquid he'd given me chasing it from my system. I knew what he was about to do. "Don't do this…" I said.

Those warm golden eyes flicked up to my face, devoid of emotion. "I do what I must."

As he drew the pliers closer to my fingers I asked him, "Why?"

"It is my job to break his chosen fighters...so he can control them."

I hadn't expected an answer and it was the only explanation I got before one of my fingernails was torn off. I tried not to scream, I really did. But after the third nail was taken I couldn't hold them in anymore.

I felt no relief when he stopped at the fifth nail and left my other hand alone. But this would not break me. It hurt like a son of a bitch, but it would not break me. I didn't know what my purpose was here or what they wanted from me. But I wouldn't give into them so easily. Not when I had something at stake.

Once again, tall, dark, and creepy stepped out of my view. I heard the sound of a fire being stoked. The flames roared and crackled for a moment before settling down. Another metal clang…

I could only see so far out of the corner of my eye. I couldn't tell what he held in his hand. But a moment later I didn't have to. He tore my shirt down the middle, exposing my chest and stomach to the open air. He brushed aside my jacket. I was thankful he hadn't ruined that too.

My jacket was the least of my worries. My screams returned anew when I was stuck with a hot cattle prod. It sizzled and burned its way through the tender skin of my stomach. As the smoke faded and the heat lessened he left to stick it into the fire once again.

This time he burned me just under my left breast. Then again near my collar bone. He wrenched up the sleeves of my jacket and burned the flesh of my forearms. When he was finished I had at least a dozen brands on me. I had no idea what the symbol was. I didn't want to know.

"Please…" I begged, "Please stop."

"Do not make me take your tongue too girl," he snapped.

I didn't listen. Once again I asked him, "Why do this?"

I received a backhanded slap to the face as my answer. But I had gained the sense that this man...demon...whatever he was, didn't actually wish to harm me. He showed no pleasure, no amusement at my pain. It was as if he'd done it hundreds of times before...and grown numb to it.

So I steeled myself for the next round of pain. I gritted my teeth and suppressed blood curdling screams. I had wooden shoots underneath the fingernails of my other hand. He'd taken a device, that at first looked innocent enough, but when shaken was anything but. It was made of crude metal, round, filled with holes, and attached to a long rod. He held it aloft over my stomach and gave it a good shake. Molten hot oil spilled out.

This bout of torture went on for a bit, until most of my chest and stomach were covered in burns. I could no longer think through the pain. I couldn't remember who I was...where I was...or the names of anyone I loved.

All I knew was the suffering I was being put through.

I didn't even have the strength left in me to beg. What could they possibly want from me to do all this?

Next came a flaming metal rod. Once through my shoulder, between the bones. He twisted it before pulling it out. That same rod was used twice more to be pushed through the soft flesh of my thighs. It wasn't quick and the instant cauterization of the wounds only saved me from bleeding to death.

With no one to heal me...and no energy left to heal even the tiniest wound by myself - these would scar. I would have this reminder for the rest of my life.

My thoughts scattered, my brain beginning to shut down. He was carving tiny bits of flesh from my stomach now...my arms…

He sliced open my thighs, ruining what was left of my clothing.

But they weren't clean cuts. They were jagged...done with a serrated knife.

I had screamed so much I no longer had a voice. My eyelids drooped. I couldn't stay awake any longer. I needed that sweet oblivion, needed it like air, like water.

Just as I might have drifted off I had a freezing cold bucket of water dumped over my head. I choked and sputtered on it, unable to turn away from the cascade.

"I'm not done with you yet."

. . .

Hours later, after being awoken again and again. After enduring more pain than any person should ever have to endure - I was dragged back to my cell. The tall man tossed me onto the pallet of straw and I expected him to leave me to rot.

However, he remained standing in the open doorway, just staring. I wished to snap at him, to tell him to go fuck himself, to tell him to go die. But I had no energy...no voice...no will.

After a moment he spoke, voice a rumble, unfazed and as calm as it had been the entire time. "I will come for you again tomorrow night."

No...no! I couldn't endure that again!

He turned his back on me, a hand gripping the bars of my cell tight. "Do as he says...do whatever he may ask. This will stop if you do."

The door was slammed shut, the grating noise of the key being turned was the last thing I heard.

Oh Hiei...Yusuke...I hope wherever you are...that you are both safe.

I fell into a deep slumber then. My body was spent, my soul torn to shreds. No amount of sleep would fix this.

And come hell or high water...every single piece of shit that called this place home would die by my hand.

That was a promise.

. . .

A/N: I had a hard time writing the final scenes. I actually researched methods of torture...for your own sanity, please don't ever do that. I tried to be descriptive...while not being overly descriptive because, poor Kas. Also, big dark and scary...you'll be seeing more of him. Until next time, thanks for reading!