(Continued from Author's POV)
Krad wrapped his hands around the poor girl's neck, unleashing all of his bitter hate, despair and blood lust on ending this precious human life.
Every time he murdered, whether it be out of burning jealousy or searing hatred, the same intense feeling flared up inside him. The feeling dissipated once the person died. He loved and hated watching the light leave their eyes.
He wanted controlled moments of insanity such as these to last forever. Since reality would not bestow upon him such a gift, he relied on the only possible alternative. As a true sado-masochist, he would make the most of these irreplaceable episodes.
Imagine the tears that would stream down his tamers face! It was impossible to wait for. If only Satoshi were awake at this moment..
The feeling of liberation was unparalleled to anything a mere depraved human could feel watching his tamer sink into madness and be consumed by his despondency. Or better, seeing the soul of his lover dwindle right before his eyes.
Simply delectable...
While he literally choked the life force from her, the girl's hands flung up to release herself from his grip.
He liked that too.
But why did they struggle? Was it just a helpless instinct of theirs to be compelled to act in their last moments, though not to accept death would be futile? Whatever the reason be, he enjoyed it. Like the last moments of a dark orgasm.
She was too weak and disoriented to fight against a fully grown and far more powerful man. The very thought of the inevitable conclusion gave him shivers of pleasure.
His seraphic luminescence only grew brighter as she withered away in his clasp. She was unable to take her eyes off of his orbs, so completely suffused with golden fury.
Before her final rendition to her fate, she thought it best to say one last word that stood for her innocence; maybe, just maybe, the implication would either coax him to kill her quicker or rouse some veiled sentiment that would save her life.
"Please." She managed to choke out, as her engorged veins sent the fiery color of her neck inching up her cheeks, marring her once beautiful features.
Krad's menacing eyes softened somewhat at her plea—one he could easily ignore—but something was so inexcusable about the way she said it that he began to reconsider his actions.
He was all about the emotional high that was brought on by the senseless murder of the innocent, but would that be an intelligent thing to do in this case?
If she were to suddenly disappear, wouldn't her fellow humans set out a search to find her? And if they did find her—a corpse sprawled motionless over the ground of the forest—it would only be common sense to suspect foul play. And what if her murder led right up to Satoshi, and he was arrested?
Neither of them would enjoy the electric chair or a lethal injection, or possibly life in prison. Is this pathetic girl really worth a set of consequences that would not help to accomplish his lifelong vendetta?
Krad had to make a decision before the girl's body gave out, and that was happening rapidly. Her skin started to discolor, her eyes began to dilate. Her fingers began to loosen around his own. Very slowly, her struggle was depleting.
Krad closed his eyes and resigned himself to further contemplation.
He would revel at the thought of the psychological damage the girl would suffer; imagining her unnerved in the middle of the night just at the sight of him in her dreams was something that deserved a sigh of satisfaction. The mental breakdowns his tamer would undergo excited in him the most elated sense.
But..?
What if Satoshi committed suicide to escape the blame for the murder and free himself of his alter ego? He certainly didn't want that—and he knew Satoshi would gladly take his own life if the circumstances were too extreme.
Having made his decision, he opened his eyes. He loosened the grip around her neck and flung her against the trunk of a nearby tree. The girl fell to the ground upon impact and rolled to a stop inches from his own feet.
She twitched for a few minutes, then began to splutter saliva and gasp for air. Since her body was too weak to sustain her in a upright stature, she collapsed into the mud and shuddered helplessly.
With her profile concealed in the earth, she withdrew into a fetal position and wept softly to herself. She wrapped her hands over her head as if she were praying that he would not be enticed to strike her.
The pathetic sight elicited the same murderous rage he felt when he first encountered her cowering behind a tree, looking like she was driven to insanity with fear. Her chocolate locks were smeared with mud, leaves and broken pieces of twigs. Her skin was marred by blood and dirt.
The sight was insufferable. How was he supposed to walk away from a piteous creature just begging for death?
Before he could betray his present course of action, the atmosphere stimulated his senses. He averted his amber gaze to the sky as it darkened. The sun was soon sheathed by an impenetrable cloak of bluish grey clouds. He listened intently for the crack of lightening, excited into silence from the advent of the tempest.
Those repetitive noises she was emitting was irritating him. Does she not cherish her life? If she did, she wouldn't be whimpering like a injured dog. The moment he lost his patience with her sobs, he violently kicked her stomach to stifle the noises. She got the message and became silent.
He continued to listen for the sound of thunder or feel the first, light touches of raindrops. The sky darkened a little more, then a brief drizzle began. Krad imbibed the air, loving the smell of an impending thunderstorm. It was always something he loved, though he wasn't sure why.
Then again, the majority of the things he adored were loved without reason, as was his existence.
These bizarre instincts must have stemmed from his creator somehow.
He didn't hide the fact that diversity was one of the things he was particularly fond of in this world.
It interested him that, even though Dark and him were conceived on the same day and hour, they came out as two parts of one entity. Dark was the art thief whose chief source of pleasure was indulging himself with the beauty of women and desired coexistence with his tamer; but Krad was the guardian of the arts and saw women as deceiving beings and desired a body purely his own.
As much as it pained him to admit, Dark completed him.
But Krad was afraid that in this world, with such treacherous souls, there was no one to complete his tamer. This pitiful, misery stricken girl was no exception. He was just stopping another tragedy before it began.
It delighted him to show her who she cared for did not fit her preconceptions. Maybe next time she would watch who she tries to ensnare in her feeble, little traps.
He glimpsed down at the girl. Surprisingly, his anger subsided completely when he saw her. She was still for the most part, save the occasional tremor of her colorless fingers.
This girl was usually an eyesore. But seeing her so motionless, pale, and helpless made it easier to accept that she was dead. The softest twinge of infrequent remorse stung his heart; he dismissed it as having been brought on by Satoshi's dwindling awareness.
He reached down to her level, careful not to stain his pure white garments, and lifted her face to his to confirm if she was still awake. Her eyes were dull, blurry spheres of hazel, rolling aimlessly at all directions. She was like a harmless infant, which aroused in him a spirit of perverseness. He could do anything to her and she wouldn't fight back. She was too lifeless to stop him.
The pendant flickered. The light died off within a few moments. Krad felt nothing except the slightest pain at his heart.
Krad chuckled at the now useless trinket he wore around his neck.
Snapped out of his pondering by the girl's uneven breathing, he resumed his intended task.
He closed in on her face. "Consider this a warning," he began softly, lightly swiping the mud off her inflamed cheeks, "If I ever see you near him again, I will not hesitate to end your life..."
She squinted her eyes. The feel of his hands on her again brought back the throbbing of her red-ringed throat. If he attempted to strangle her again, without a doubt, she would spew bile.
He allowed her chin to slip off the tip of his finger and land on the soil. She eventually sank into the heaps of mud that devoured her hungrily. She hoped she would descend deep enough to block out the image of him from her mind forever.
"He's just like Daisuke..." she muttered to herself, almost inaudibly. So softly, she didn't feel her mouth move to the rhythm of the words.
Fortunate for her, Krad did not pick it up. Had he caught a fragment of what she said, he would have changed his mind about sparing her life. He would make anyone rue the day they compared a work of art like him to the detestable Niwa clan.
He stood up, sauntering out of the forest in perfect strides, until he had a mind to add one last sentence for her consideration. He rested a hand on the moss covered trunk of a tree for balance as he turned around to face her.
"Should you disobey...I will make sure he is watching from within me...when I tear your throat out."
Much to the surprise of Krad, the pendant resumed it's defiant flicker.
(Exeunt)
(Satoshi)
I remember bits and pieces. I remember her coming to life under the peaceful blue sky. I remember tumbling down the hill...but anything further...I can't seem to recall.
Before he woke inside, before I felt that pain in my heart...I knew it was going to happen. I knew that this wouldn't end well. But yet again. I allowed myself to be so careless...
She could be dead for all I know...and for all I remember, for that matter...
It took a while. A while to pull myself out of that endless black hole of unconsciousness. It was as if my body wanted to save me from the sight of whatever lay before me in reality.
I was forced into dormancy by Krad. All the while I had to endure all of those sickening thoughts and his warped view of humanity while he did whatever he wanted to her. I felt helplessly imprisoned in one of those enthralling nightmares, where you're aware that what you're feeling isn't real, but you can't get out.
I tried screaming. I tried pinching myself. But nothing worked. So I remained in the depths of my own mind in a compelled slumber, waiting. Waiting to die. Waiting to wake up. Waiting for glimmer of a spark or the glow of a white light. Anything.
When my senses finally came, the first thing I felt was rain. I smelled the strong scent of dirt and pine cones. I was so afraid.
I opened my eyes.
Jagged leaves of towering trees stand over me. The distressed sky bore streaks of blue and grey. Lightening sounds. My heart jumps to the moment. I feel the earth beneath me shake. Cold and wet. I don't know where I am.
I cough. The earth shakes again. A minor earthquake, but it's moving my weak body to and fro. I am forced to flip over from the tide of the tremors. My face hits the ground and splatters into a puddle of murky water. A forest? I don't remember being in a forest..
My sight shifts to my side.
Feet quivering in the mud. Those white shoes with those girlish bows on them...now blanketed by dirt. Is she sitting against something?
Propping myself up on both elbows, I let my eyes trail up her body. It took one second to conclude that she was traumatized and scared out of her mind.
So he had hurt her after all.
Her face was bloody and shrouded in mud. Those bright, hazel eyes—once glimmering with happiness and peace—now reduced to fear and distrust.
I reached out for her with my other arm. "Risa.." I cried, trying to pull myself closer to her. Though my body, stunned into dumbness from the intensity of the transformation, would not cooperate with my commands.
If I cannot rely on my body, then I can rely on my mouth. She isn't Krad. She can be reasoned with. Maybe if I can get her to calm herself, I can explain this. She can forget, and I can forget...
Unfortunately, the chance was not to be realized. She flinched and sprung to her feet in an instant, running past me and out into the meadow.
I must have replayed that instant in my head a thousand times. Her swaying hair, the bow ripped and torn from it's rightful position, her bloodied legs, her destroyed dress...as vivid as the first time.
The sight of her running away from me is burned into my brain.
(Exeunt)
(Risa)
The wet pavement glistens in the moonlight, reflecting my muddy, dismal image. If I were more sensible to my surroundings, I might run home, driven by the fear of catching a cold.
But my body keeps me and my thoughts at a relentlessly slow pace. And all I can see is his face. So beautiful, yet so terrifying.
His other half.
Was that man part of some morbid mechanism in Satoshi's body that springs out when...
He gets close to someone?
Who was he in the first place? Is he even human? He doesn't even look like Satoshi at all...nor does he act like him...
I run over my sore throat with my fingers. My hand twitches. Damn, that hurts.
Why did he try to strangle me? I didn't do anything to him. Why in the world would he try to kill me? I didn't do anything...
Was he angry because I tried to...kiss Satoshi?
No, that's insane. He can't be that possessive...
What if that man is another part of Satoshi? Maybe an alternate personality...
A real person living inside him. A real, living, breathing...
Gold eyes. Gold hair. Perfect skin.
Beautiful person...
I shake my head. I need to get these thoughts out of my head. This isn't an appropriate way to think of the man who just attempted to murder me.
But why on earth would Satoshi grow wings?! I-If he has wings then...
He's not human.
"I'm...part of Daisuke..."
Oh my God.
He has two parts of himself..
Like Daisuke does.
A car passes by in the reflection of the puddle. I perked my head up.
Riku...?
Is she...in that car? Where is she going?
Wait! Daisuke and his parents are in the car, too! Where are they going?
Riku glimpses in my direction. A jolt of shock runs through me. I flee to the nearest tree and hide behind it.
The car passes. I'm safe.
Now she won't know what happened to me.
I run home so fast, my legs feel weightless to me. I was propelled by the force of a new fear: something could have happened at home. Whatever it may be, what happened between Satoshi and I was not the only thing that went wrong.
The cars at the side walk fly like fleeting colors as I make my way home in the midst of the storm. I can feel that emptiness take hold of me again. That ever relentless terror. I feel it boil inside my stomach, waiting to seize my heart again. When it does, I won't have the strength to move anymore. I'll fall victim to my grieved mind and fall unconscious.
When I reach the door, I trip over the porch and land on my knees, gripping the door knob and panting for breath. I turn the knob and land in my warm home. The smell greets me like the tormenting miasma it is. Closing the door behind me, I slide lazily down the length of the front it, sitting just a few inches from the faint blood stain embedded into the carpet.
My hands make muddy imprints on the floor. I don't care. The terror has me in it's embrace. God. The smell reminds me.
The smell reminds me.
"Risa, Riku ...I just love you so much..."
She's gone.
"Risa..."
And so is Satoshi. They are both gone.
"I will make sure he is watching from within me..."
He doesn't want me there. He doesn't want me near him.
"...When I tear your throat out."
My blurred, lazy eyes shift to the living room. The lamp is turned upright, placed in it's original position. On the table, as it should be. The floor is dry and the depressing scent of beer and cigar smoke has been eliminated from the atmosphere. All those tiny little appendages of innocent, dead little girls are no longer here.
Then it hits me like a hard slap across my face.
My father isn't here either.
Before time sufficient enough to panic passes, the rain drops sound like those dreadful falling drums. My ears ache. The floor quakes. I fall.
A hazy figure of her appears. Her skin is so blue. She must truly be a part of the ocean now. She asks me what's wrong.
"I told you not to play in the rain, Risa! You know you can get sick like that! Haven't I told you?"
Yes, you've told me.
I breathe in the faint scent of blood. And my existence ends with the beating of those insufferable drums and tremors.
Family member friend..
Surly.
White h alls.
I'm no t
crying!
Red paint behind...
Good god, Risa.
Mommy doesn't...
Lit tle girl..
Aya...
Rip
Throat o ut
"Risa..."
Ugly
Duc kling...
"Risa?"
White.
Sist er died?!
Gone...
"Risa?"
I gasp.
Sunken eyes? That's Dad. That's Dad!
He shakes me repeatedly. "Risa, are you alright? Your eyes are rolling all over the place..."
Gonee...te...
rror...
"Risa! Wake up!"
I gasp again. I have a lump caught in my throat. Tears spill out from the corners of my eyes. I grasp something. Hoping I'm not dying. Terrorized by the fact that I could be dying.
"It's okay, it's okay...you're a little tipsy, that's okay." He runs his fingers through my hair. Trying to reassure me.
"Am I dying?" I slur, my voice breaking.
"No." He shakes his head. His sunken eyes stay the same. His breath isn't so foul and offending now. His stringy grayish brown hair is combed back. It's usually all over his face.Why does he care about everything all of a sudden? He even cleaned the living room.
This white place isn't home. I know that much.
"You need to calm down. You don't have the strength for anything right now. You're being fed through a tube as it is."
My heart lurched. "What are you talking about?"
"You're in the hospital. Take it easy. Stop squeezing me so hard." He murmurs.
My hands loosen my grip on his jacket. I was holding it that hard? I can't even feel my hands...
"Dad, something's happening!" I cried, trying to scream, but the attempt only came out as a loud groan. "I can't scream.."
"You don't need to be screaming, honey. You're in a hospital. If you wake the other people up, the doctors and nurses aren't going to be happy about that."
"What's happening?"
Dad let out a sigh and situated himself on the side of the hospital bed. His weight made me feel like I was going to fall off. I let out another groan, which was really another attempt at screaming. He clamped my shoulders and rubbed them to release the tension. "Oh, honey, you're in such bad shape...you're worse than me.."
"Dad..." I rasped, unaware that I was clutching him tightly.
"Did you try to hang yourself or something? Your neck is so red...I-I mean I know you're sad about Mommy...I am too, but.."
"No. I want you to tell me why I'm here." I breathed.
"Let go of my jacket, Pooh bear." He smiled again, letting out a little laugh.
My lip quivered as I let go. It still irked me that my hands were so numb.
He reached up to my face and pulled a few hairs off of my mud caked cheeks. "The reason why you're here is because you finally gave out after days and days of not eating."
My breath hitched.
"You don't eat at all. That's not healthy, Risa." Daisuke's voice startled me into awareness.
"I know, it's not your fault. When people are really, really sad...sometimes they forget the necessities." His eyes darkened. "Sometimes...they forget everything."
The sudden realization just suspended all movement. I had forgotten. I was so wrapped up in my misery...I forgot to feed myself...
What a silly reason to be in the hospital, Risa.
He clenched my numb hand, letting a tear slide down his cheek. "I wanted to take this opportunity to...to tell you something, Pooh bear. I...if it wasn't for you...I wouldn't be here."
"What do you mean?"
"If I hadn't been reminded of what you and Riku were going through...I would have killed myself the night Mommy died."
"I ran away. The business trip was a lie. I left. I just...it was so intense, Risa. You will never know how...much it was, how much I felt. I had the same thoughts berating me, beating me, and...I didn't want to think about any of that anymore. So I lied. I told you I had to go somewhere so I could escape. I was gonna run somewhere, go buy a gun and..."
"Oh, Dad..." I shook my head, "You're so pathetic..." I actually burst into dry laughter.
He issued me a confused expression. "Oh, honey..." He smiled, "You are so strung out on drugs.."
My smile disappeared. "I'm...on drugs?"
"Yeah, honey." He wiped the tears from his eyes. "You were out of your mind, saying all these things about something called a Dark, and uh..." he scratched his head, "Geez, what else were you saying? Oh, yeah. Something about a duckling..." he laughed again, "And about Mommy being gone. You also said you have a headache, which was the only thing you said that actually made sense."
"So they gave me drugs?"
"Yeah. We also needed something to shut you up. You were embarrassing the hell out of me."
I laughed again. Though I really wasn't in the mood for it. But I thought: if I can't scream, then I guess I'll have to laugh instead.
The store was about to close, so everything had to go. Even the most beautiful dolls were on sale for less than what they were really worth. All kinds of dolls. Children, women, men, elderly couples, fairies, mermaids, ect.
Dad let us choose which ones we liked the most. He wasn't on a budget. He'd be able to pay now. He even said I could quit my job at the library.
"It was wrong on my part to force the burden of the bills on you because I wanted to be a cry baby," he said, as I layed in the hospital bed.
As we roamed about the shop, I couldn't help but notice his far more pleasing countenance. Having been liberated from those binding feelings, he could return to the person he used to be. His color returned to him. His eyes sparkled beneath those heavy lids.
Hell, he even shaved.
His happiness was contagious. Seeing him slide his finger over the doll cases and shelves relieved my own despondency.
Riku seemed too lost in her state of indecision as she held two dolls of the same garb, but different hair color in her hands. Her eyes darted from one to the other, letting out an occasional groan of disappointment.
I peered down at the cart. Five had already been decided on. They were not really reminiscent of the others that had been destroyed, but I was sure Lucy would grow to love them as she had loved her other sisters. She would be surprised to know that we were replacing her companions with new ones. I just hoped she wasn't too angry with Dad.
"Ooh. This one's going on the highest shelf, with little Lucy."
Riku and I turned around to see Dad holding in his hands one of the cased ones. She was undoubtedly going to be more expensive than the other ones. Before I could advice against it, he took the words right out of my mouth.
"She costs a little more, I know. But I want her. Look at her, you'll see why."
Riku and I sauntered up to him, our eyes immediately averted to what lay in the case.
Contrary to the trademark spiral curls a porcelain doll usually wore, her hair was sleek and long. She was endowed with the beautiful chestnut hue our mother once had, bearing the eyes of her as well. That hazel that we missed so much.
To top it all off, she was a mermaid with a pink tail and shiny orange shell breast plates. Like the one she was burned with.
Dad turned to me. "Risa, honey, I know you don't believe in Heaven, but...can't you at least let me believe that she's up there?"
I studied him for a while, trying to see my mother's gaze in his eyes.
One of those rare, unexpected things happened. I smiled. "Of course. What are you going to name her?"
Riku usually did the naming. Despite this question having been addressed to my father, she bit her lip in contemplation.
Before she could answer for him, he replied, "Aya."
Sorry it took so long to update. I was suffering from major writer's block. I knew what I wanted to happen in this chapter, but I just didn't know how to effectively put it into words. How did I do? I honestly think I could have been just a little bit more emotional with this chapter.
Forgive me if the latest two chapters didn't have as much melancholy overtones as the other ones had. I am working toward an ending that requires the change in mood.
Also, I have been stressed out about how I am going to word the upcoming events in the Life and Death of Rio Hikari, which was another factor in my bout of writer's block. I feel the need to make my works distinct from one another, so if each of my stories have a serving of angst in them, I want the emotions of sadness and despair being depicted in separate ways for each of the stories. It's just the way I think.
Okay, thanks for taking the time to read this.