LE TUEUR TRISTE
By withered-soup
Two: Wind that Blew from the South
"What was Suna like?" Gaara cocked his head to the right. "All I know is that it is sandy."
Sasuke was fixing the cuffs of his sleeves when he looked up at Gaara and thought of Suna. "It was indeed sandy." He smiled. "It was warm in the morning, cool in the evening. But it was always windy. I always got sand in my eyes." He stopped and buttoned his cuffs.
"So what did you do there?" the child asked once more.
"At first, I didn't know where to go or what to do. I roamed aimlessly under the sun for hours. I also tried experimenting." Sasuke shook his head as if remembering something ludicrous. "I was very much against killing humans. I was eaten alive by the guilt about Tenten. Instead of moping around, I sneaked behind houses and jumped after birds that pecked grains on the sand. Now that I do think about it," he paused and lifted his face to the sky, "I looked pretty pathetic.
"This attempt to feed on animals lasted until afternoon. It was the time I caught a small fowl with its leg stuck between two bars of wood. I could have cried because of joy before I sunk my teeth through the bird's feathery flesh. Something backfired in my plans, though."
Gaara inched closer to the speaker.
"I lost hold of the body of the bird and crashed against the wall nearest me. I supported myself with my arms against the concrete and began vomiting blood. With the amount of blood that escaped my lips, I knew I vomited more than the bird's blood volume. It was then I created this theory that I could only drink my kind's blood."
"No animals?"
"No animals." Sasuke replied. "It is unfortunate. I was overwhelmed with disappointment but I tried my experiment for the second time with the rat I caught minutes before sunset. Like before, I vomited more than what I took from the animal. I gave up and stayed behind that house for a few more hours."
"What happened next?"
"Something tragic." Sasuke muttered seriously. "About three hours past sunset, I heard doors and windows close one after the other. Everyone I saw on the streets hurried into their houses and locked themselves in like everyone else. I was so curious that I left my place and walked along the empty streets.
"I wandered on the streets, hoping to find some place to stay as well when a load shriek came from somewhere behind me.
" 'A VAMPIRE!'
"The loud shriek came from a woman who was draped with old tattered clothes meters from me. Her neck was wrapped with a large chain held by a man in a uniform. She continued shouting, 'a vampire! A vampire!' before being pulled breathless by the man who ran towards me. I felt the rush of blood within me as I made the run for it. The panic in me rose every time I hear the loud shouts of the woman and the footsteps of the running man who held the chain.
"Once I turned into a corner, I found myself hitting a door and pounding on the wood. 'LET ME IN!' I cried as I banged on the door that didn't open. I had to run further and knock on other doors—in vain.
" 'VAMPIRE!' I could hear the woman's continuous shrieks after I turned to a dark alley where I saw one huge wall that blocked my way. I knew that I was trapped—a dead end."
"Did they…?"
"The woman caught up with me and lunged herself against me. We wrestled on the ground and there I saw her prominent fangs as she snapped at me with crazy pleasure.
" 'Let me go!' I yelled and pushed against her but her arms smacked me like steel and I hit the wall effortlessly.
" 'Enough!' I faintly heard a man yell before he grabbed the end of the chain that served as the woman's collar. She purred like a pet and let the man move before her to take a better look at me.
"I struggled to stand but it was in no time when three vampires held me and pulled me back. I shouted and tried to get away but they were strong, stronger than I was. It was a futile fight, as one might say, for I was easily dragged back while yelling for my life.
" 'You thought you could escape, huh?' Another man holding another chain appeared. 'Take him to the pound!' He commanded his other companions before turning his back on me. I remember being laughed at by the chained people—I guessed they were also vampires—who looked pitiful themselves. I asked myself if I were going to be like them, forever chained like a dog to a cruel master.
"After I was bound by ropes, I was thrown into a steel cage supported by wheels. Inside, there were three more vampires whose hands and feet were bound tightly by ropes. They were all looking at me with such hopeless faces before they were startled by the loud closing of the cage door. I hit a corner of that tiny, reeking cage the moment the coach pulling it rode off. With all my strength, I pushed myself up against the rails. I gritted my teeth to keep myself from shouting in anger and confusion.
"I felt utterly damned. I just wanted a normal life. I had a normal life. And then this conversion into what I was and still am now changed about everything. I suffered greatly and hated greatly." Sasuke glanced at his pocket watch.
"It's late. Aren't you going home?"
"I'm an orphan just like you and I don't feel like the orphanage is my home." Gaara muttered more to himself than to Sasuke. "And besides, I want to know what happened next!"
Sasuke smiled to himself. "Okay, I'll just walk you home later." And then he continued. "It was nearly midnight when we reached a building in the middle of Suna. The vampires with me were reacting violently against the rails as the gates opened. Inside the gates, I saw other coaches and cages parked. There were other vampires, both young and old brought into the front doors. Many had to be dragged. A woman was even pulled by her hair. A boy about a year or two younger than me was tame and was only pushed roughly into the building. Others had varied reactions.
"When our cage was opened, the three vampires reeled back and moaned and cried to be saved while I was dragged out by my arm. I didn't see how the others were got out for I was hastily pushed into the building. What I found there was worse. The vampires caught that night were gathered in a large room where countless men with revolvers stood against the walls. Another set of men came into the room and turned on the lights.
"A man in white stepped in front of the group of men and surveyed us before saying, 'strip them'. He left the group just when the men began picking vampires and pulling their clothes off. I heard a man crying, 'you are the demons!' wildly before he was hit by one of the guards. Almost everyone was crying while some continued to fight off. About four were shot consecutively when they tried to overpower one of the men.
" 'We know how to kill you!' One of the guards pressed his revolver against an old man's left chest. 'So shut up!'
"I stared at the old man who was smiling oddly at me. He closed his eyes and calmly said to the guard before him, 'you men torture the same humans you try to protect. Maybe you are far worse murderers than we are—' a bang, and he was dead.
"It was no sooner when I was grabbed by my hair and was pulled towards two men. They pulled on my clothes and hit me whenever they felt like it. I yelled and tried to fight back by latching my teeth on one of them but I was just hit more until I was paralyzed on the ground. Kicks followed next. My head was turning and my eyes were falling fast. I could hear women screaming for their virginity while men shouted for freedom from torture. I heard another gunshot before an instant silence came and after that, I blacked out." Sasuke took out another stick of cigarette and lit it.
"It was morning when I awoke. I heard people conversing loudly. When I opened my eyes, I found myself lying on the cold cement, once again, inside a filthy cage. The only difference was, all of us who survived the stripping were crammed there and all of us, male and female, were naked.
" 'Chief, here is the catch for last night.' A man with round shades reported to the same man in white. 'Six out of twenty were shot dead because of fighting back.' He added after the chief approached the cage. The chief surveyed us and then pointed at a sleeping lady at the back part of the cage.
" 'Yes, sir.' The man with shades nodded and noted something on a piece of paper.
" 'Did Orochimaru ask for supplies?' The chief asked while still observing us.
" 'Yes, chief, but he only asked for two.'
" 'And Kabuto?'
" 'He asks for at least five.'
" 'Are there any orders from the other clients?'
" 'One client wants a young girl for his collection.'
" 'Alright,' the chief turned to the speaker, 'I'll leave it to you then, Aburame-san.' After that, the chief left.
"I watched how Aburame gestured the guards to unlock the door and carry the lady the chief pointed at. She was moaning but she couldn't fight back because of I didn't know what. After she was gone, Aburame wrote something before pointing at the five men who were easily taken away from the cage. He pointed at the youngest female vampire there but the girl tried to fight the guard who was pulling her.
" 'Go with him, young girl or you will get hurt.' Aburame warned while he approached a switch.
" 'Mama!' She cried as she kicked on the guards. 'Mama!' Apparently, her mother wasn't there.
"No one was moving to protect the girl either but the child was still moving away with all her might.
" 'I warned you.' Aburame pressed the switch and the ceiling above the cage opened from the middle. It exposed us to the warm sunlight.
" 'AAAAH!' Everyone started screaming and pushing themselves against the wall to avoid the light but to no avail. I was left in the middle of the cage, wondering in horror about what was happening to the other vampires there. They were pulling and pushing on each other. They were embracing themselves in order to save their abused flesh. I had nowhere to go so I stayed in the middle of the cage, half-lying with my elbow against the ground for support. The vampires were crying for Aburame to stop as they bled from cuts that developed on their skin.
" 'STOP! PLEASE!' The child cried and finally, Aburame closed the ceiling for everyone's sake. It was then I realized that all the guards outside the cage were staring at me in confusion. Soft murmurs followed before Aburame raised his open palm to hush the guards.
" 'You…didn't burn.' Aburame said to me.
"I looked at the vampires around me. All of them had blood on their nude bodies. All of them were crying because of the pain.
" 'You weren't affected by the light.' He added with a little hint of amazement.
" 'Is he really a vampire?' A guard asked Aburame before inching back as if I were a worse beast. 'What is he?'
"I didn't know what to do or what to say. I stared at them—all of them. I was also searching for answers myself. It wasn't long before Aburame raised his hands to calm everyone and ordered for my isolation. The guards looked at each other, asking who among them would dare approach me. One stepped forward and then moved back when eyes moved towards him.
" 'Hmp.' Aburame, slightly irritated by the guards' fear, stepped into the cage, pulled me by my arm and dragged me out."
"Where did they take you?" Gaara sounds confused. "There are so many places to remember in your story."
Sasuke laughed. "You don't have to remember all of them. Moreover, they are all sad places." He sighed. "I was taken to a room cemented close from floor to ceiling. A little square window blocked by layers of rails covered it though little sunlight could seep through.
"I was thrown there and before I could charge for the opening of the door, it was shut against my face. I dropped to the cold ground. 'Sister Anji,' I whispered to myself as I scraped on the wall with my fingernails, 'I can't take this anymore.' I felt like I was dying. 'Sister, please take me away from here.' I pitied myself terribly. 'Please take me away from here…'
"I repeatedly thought of those words." Sasuke said softly. "Take me out of here." He repeated silently to himself before continuing.
"I had been there for hours, shuddering at the corner of the room, when the steel door opened and Aburame appeared at the doorway with an unreadable look on his face. A man followed him in my view and the first impression I had of him were his gold snake eyes.
'There he is.' Aburame said to the man.
'What's your name?' The man asked.
"I kept my silence and inched further against the farthest corner.
"The man studied me for a few seconds before telling Aburame that he'd be taking me. 'Replace one man in my list with this young one.' He smiled and licked his lips. 'Interesting…'
" 'I'm not coming with you!' I yelled as I pushed myself against the wall. 'Let me out!'
" 'You sound like you're ready to kill for liberty, vampire.' The man replied with a mocking smile. 'But you quiver down to your little toes.'
"I was scared—it was true—embarrassing as it may sound.
" 'But I like you even more because of that. I have a feeling that you will have people under your feet in the future—that is, if you survive then.' The man added before he turned his back on me and walked away." Sasuke wrinkled his cheek.
"You're still here. So you survived." Gaara noted.
"But I can't say I have people under my feet."
"You look rich." Gaara grinned.
Sasuke looked around and saw an ice cream parlor nearby. "Want some ice cream?"
"Sure!" Gaara slid down the bench. "But I like this bench. Let's return here, okay?"
Sasuke nodded and held out his hand to the child who happily clamped his tiny palm against Sasuke's.
"What happened next?" The red haired child asked as he slightly swung Sasuke's hand as they walked.
"I was left alone in that same cage served blood in a shallow saucer from time to time. At first I tried to kill the urge to drink but I reached my limit and I had to lick the saucer clean because of the desire for the taste of the crimson fluid.
"I can't remember how many days I stayed that way—naked and waiting for the saucer to be replaced by blood. I just remember that one morning some men pulled me out of the cage and wrapped me in a brown cloak that draped even over both my feet. I was so weak that I had to be held by two men to keep me from stumbling forward. My head lolled forward as they turned me from one corner to the other until I was outside the pound.
"I finally felt little joy when I felt the warmth of the sun against my face and my eyelids as I stood there without caring who I was with. For a moment, I felt free of the torture of the cage. Maybe I was too hopeful that I would really be let free.
"My happiness lasted only for a few minutes because as soon as they had signed contracts, I was shoved into a vehicle where I saw a lady wrapped in the same cloak. She was keeping her toes away from the sunlight that seeped through the holes of the old car.
" 'Hello,' I muttered with the faintest smile.
"She didn't respond but she nodded her head once in acknowledgment.
"The car jerked forward, startling us both.
" 'Do you know where they're taking us?' I asked.
" 'To Otto.' She replied calmly—something I half-expected for I was exposed to screaming and crying vampires before.
" 'Do you know what they're—?'
"She glanced at me with those eyes that had a smooth shade of cyan. 'Boy,' she grimaced, 'you ought to know that in that place, once the clock strikes night, you will be declared a toy.' "
A/E/N:
Special thanks to the anonymous reader who pointed out my wrong format. XD Haha! Really, I am deeply grateful : 3
I wanted to skip to Sakura and Sasuke's part badly...to be honest with you, guys. But I hafta make things chronological. Haha. Oh well. Sorry for the late update! It's vacation and am finally out of college--until June.