Disclaimer: You've seen this at least once so I assume you understand where I'm going with this…
A/N: Well… Tis' nice to be back (Kinda…). Expect a lot of questioning moments. The description doesn't tell all about the points of this story (Do to me having to little characters to work with). Anyway, I would like to say thanks to all my reviewers/readers. I thank you for your support. Here is the next chapter. Have fun!
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Endless Darkness
Chapter 09 - Unexpected acquaintances
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"Do you think they suspect?" A man in a with a raspy voice and a black suit asked. "No. If all went well, they are still in the dark about everything." Said another man in a white lab coat "How long until the release?" One final man in the background asked. "I'm not sure. It all depends on how willing the host is."
"This is outrageous." The man in the black suit said. "You promised we would have the 'absolution' in a few days!"
"Calm down. Sooner or later, we will have the key." The man in the lab coat said.
"Soon. You said that last time, now see where we are. We don't have this kind of time. Sooner or later, the figure heads will get suspicious. You know how they can get, with all their public influences." The man in the background barked.
"Like I said, it will take time." The man in the lab coat push up his slim glasses higher onto his nose. "No one ever said this would be easy. It's a delicate process."
"Well, I can assure you. If this takes any longer then anticipated, you wont have to worry about the punishments of the higher-ups." The raspy man said.
"Is that a threat!?" The lab coated man retaliated.
"No. I see it as a possibility. Don't stall us from our 'absolution' any longer, or your head is mine!" The man in the black suit turned towards the door with the man in the background following him out of the room.
"Hm… Little by little. The soul will crack, bleeding the holy "absolution". That's no more then a pathetic farce for those who are pathetic."
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Natsuki slowly approached her room, little by little. Once she reached it, she walked through the doorway slowly. The blunette scanned the room. "What the hell was that? That… That voice I heard?"
Thinking back, that breeze, along with what it contained, Natsuki couldn't make sense of it. "Come see? What did it mean? I must be going crazy." The girl thought to herself.
Just then, she heard something drop. The sound came from the closet. "Hmm…?" Natsuki walked over to the doorway of her closet. She looked at the ground and noticed something that looked like a stone. "What the…?"
Natsuki squatted down to get a better look. The thing appeared to have markings on it. Marking that didn't even seem to look like a human language. Brushing away burnt pieces of what used to be here precious lingerie, and picked up the stone.
Holding it closer, she examined the markings. "Take me…"
"Huh?" Natsuki looked around the room to see who said that. "Accept me…"
All of the sudden, the stone glowed bright red. Natsuki try to drop the stone, but her hand was stuck… In thin air! "What the!! Hey, let go… whatever you are!" It was futile. Natsuki couldn't let go, let along move her arm. It's like the was someone holding her limb still.
The stone slowly floated three inches above her palm. "Now, we shall be one!" The voice said. Suddenly, the stone started splintering, then quickly those splintered pieces started to pierce Natsuki's palm. "AHRG!!…" Natsuki screamed in pain as the stone slowly, but surly, pecame part of her hand.
The splintered pieces started making a shape on her palm, but Natsuki was in to much pain to notice. "AHHHHHHhhhhhhh…" The girl let out one more scream of pain as the final splinter entered her hand.
The grip on her limb finally ceased and the girl pulled her hand back. She examined it.
Her palm was covered in blood. It slowly dripped onto the surface of her burnt floor. "D- Damn…" Natsuki quickly got up and headed to the bathroom. Luckily, the sink was okay enough to use. She turned the faucet and let the cool water stream over her wound. It felt as thought someone jabbed a thousand extremely hot needles into her palm.
Soon, the pain turned into a dull burn. Natsuki turned the faucet off and walked over to her bathroom cabinet. She pulled out everything, looking for something that made it from the fire.
Natsuki was in luck. Some surgical tape and gauss made it somehow. Wrapping the gauss tightly around her palm, she took a deep breathe. "I've got to see a doctor or someone. Eh, Mai's place is closer and I'm sure she has some antiseptic."
Natsuki walked out of her former apartment. Everything was gone. Only a few lucky items that were of little use remained. "Nao… What the hell is wrong with you…"
-ZZZZZ, ZZZZZ- Natsuki felt a vibration in her pocket. "Hmm… Who could that be?" Natsuki pulled out her cell phone and answer. "Moshi Moshi."
"Natsuki!" Mai's voice was heard over the phone. "Whoa! What's wrong Mai?" Natsuki asked with a voice of concern. "It's Aoi and Chie. Something-… Something bad has happened." Mai sounded choked up. "Wha-? What happened?"
"Get down to the hospital! Hurry!" Mai hung up. Natsuki put her phone back in her pants pocket. And headed out of the apartment complex.
She quickly hoped onto her bike and started it up. Natsuki reached for the throttle, but she could barely grip it. "Damn… The feeling in my hand is almost gone." She thought.
"Tch… Seems like I'm going to take a cab." Natsuki turned off her bike and headed for the road by the apartment complex. Soon, a taxi stopped for her. She got in and buckled up. "Where to miss?" The man in the front seat asked. "Fuuka hospital. Step on it." Natsuki demanded.
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Mai paced back and forth in the lobby. Her composure was breaking apart. "Onee-chan. Sit down. It'll be alright." Takumi said, trying to comfort his sister. Mai looked over at her brother. "I know… It's just. I don't get it. Why would something like this happen? What did they ever do to disserve this?" Mai sat down in a nearby chair, planting her face inside of her hands. "Onee-chan…"
"I'm here." Natsuki said as she ran through the lobby doors. Mai looked over and jumped out off the chair. "Natsuki!"
"What's wrong? What's all the commotion about?" Natsuki asked. "You better come and see for yourself." Mai said as both her and her brother headed for the elevators. Natsuki followed.
After they reached the floor where Aoi and Chie where being kept, the stood outside the door. For some reason, Natsuki felt a wave of Déjà vu. They walked opened the door and entered the room. Natsuki looked at both of the beds that were in the room. One had a very shocked looking Aoi in it, and the other contained what seemed to be an unconscious Chie wrapped up in bandages. She also noticed that Akira was sitting in the room, reading a magazine. "Oh, you're back." The green haired girl said as she got out of the chair and put the magazine down.
Both Mai and Natsuki approached Aoi's bedside. "Aoi… You okay?" Natsuki asked. "NO!" Aoi jump in shock, pulling the covers over herself. Natsuki was taken aback by this behavior. "She's been like this all day." Mai said. She was admitted about an hour ago after a few policeman found her cradling Chie on the side of the street."
Natsuki looked at Aoi's bandaged head, and some of the bruises she could see on a portion of her arm that was not covered with the sheet. "Aoi. What happened?" Mai asked. Aoi slowly let the covers down. "He… He's going to… No, I can't say… I CAN'T!" Aoi flinched, covering the sides of her head with her palms.
"Please, Aoi." Natsuki said. "What happened?"
Natsuki rested her hand on the girls shoulder. Aoi looked over at the girl. "N-… Nao… She's…"
"Nao?" Natsuki question.
"She's… In danger. That man. He's going to kill her." Aoi said, shaking. Suddenly, she quickly turned towards Natsuki and grabbed her black shirt. "Save her! You have to… save her." Aoi began to break out into tears as she collapsed onto the bed.
The doctor then walked into the room. He was pretty old. His hair was gray and he wore slim glasses that were pushed up to the highest point of his nose. "Well, it seems we need to run a few tests. We will ask for you to take your leave now." The man said as he approached Aoi's bedside.
"Y-Yes, sir." Mai said as she and the others walked out of the room to the hallway.
"What was all of that about?" Natsuki asked. "Apparently Nao's been kidnapped by someone." Akira stated. "The only thing we could get out of her till now, was the persons name." Mai added
"And that is?" Natsuki asked with her eyebrow cocked. " Masaru Kenji." Takumi said.
All of the sudden, Natsuki felt a shock run up her spine. She's heard that name before, but she couldn't remember where. For some reason, there was a feeling of ease in her stomach Why did she feel this way? Nao was going to be killed, wasn't she?
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Nao walked down what seemed to be a never ending flight of stairs. Kenji slowly led her down. Her eyes were as lifeless as a corpse. She felt as empty as a shell, like there was nothing. The girl only followed this man. What dangers were ahead of her, didn't concern her much. Nothing could.
"We're here." Kenji said as they stopped in front of a metal door. Nao watched as the man unlocked it. What if it was a gang pit? Was he going to sell her off to bunch of low lives like some piece of meat? Nothing. No feeling of fear appeared. She just stared at the man's back with a lifeless stare as he unlocked the door.
The door slowly creaked open, and he lead Nao into the room. It was a pretty big room with a circular table at the end of it. There were a series of doors that ran along the back. On the left side of the room, looked to be something of a living area. With a coffee table and two long sofas that made an 'L' shape.
The entire room had the appearance of a cave while that one area looked like something from an apartment room. There was also a large stairway up to a door at the other side of the room. "Christ Kenji! You think it could take you any longer to get here!?" A women's voice was heard. It came from on of the sofas. The girl had short purple hair and wore dark clothing.
"Ah shut your trap. Finding this piece of baggage was hard enough. I don't have the patients to deal with your crap Lily." Kenji stated.
"Hey asshole! I told you not to call me that!" Nao stared at the strange girl. "What the hell are you starin' at, bitch!?" Lilium barked as she got up off the couch and approached the two. Nao just looked away.
"Now, now. Don't be so rude to our guest, Lil." And old man in a butler suit walked over. He had gray hair that went down to his neck and wore small glasses. There was a tall, yet slim man that wore a long black coat and a mask that looked to be a red demon mask from a Japanese festival behind him.
"Can it, Hayato!" Lilium barked. The cloaked man just stood behind and watched the three.
"Damn it Lily, do I always have to come home to your little hissy-fits!" Kenji stomped his foot on the ground. "I said don't call me that!" Lilium shoved Kenji. "Hey!" Kenji barked as he shoved the girl back.
"Enough. Do I always have to break up your miserable fights?" A man said at the top of the staircase asked. Nao and the others switched their attention to the man. He stood pretty tall. He had short, strait brown hair that appeared wet from a shower. He was wearing a black shirt with a brown vest. He was also wearing camouflage pants.
He rubbed the back of his neck with a towel. "Nakamura! Tell this wench to back off! She's beginning to get on my nerves." Kenji barked.
"Oh, then do something then, tough guy!" Lilium retaliated.
"Silence, before I make both of you." Nakamura gave a cold glare. "Y-Yes, sir." Both people quickly stopped.
"Kenji… Man, what took you. I thought you got lost or something." Nakamura said as he walked over to Kenji. "Hey, don't look at me. My flight was delayed." Kenji said, walking over to the living area and sitting down on one of the couches.
"Hmm…" Nakamura directed his attention to the redheaded girl. "So this is her eh?" He said as he took a closer look at the girl. Nao just stood there, looking at the ground.
"Yep. I actually had to beat the living hell out of a couple lesbos just to get some information." Kenji said as he rested his feet on the coffee table.
"By the way. Lilium, did you deliver the stone like I asked?" Nakamura asked, changing his attention to Lilium. "Hmm… Oh, yeah. About that." She said as she rubbed the back of her neck.
"Seems that the Hierarchs got a little hasty. They sent one of their 'pets' to get her… But the stone was still delivered as planned." Lilium just said. Nakamura just gave her a blank stare. "The thing ate the stone… Didn't it?" Lilium flinched at his question. "Well, no matter. The stone was successfully delivered."
Nakamura just pondered a little about what Lilium had just told him. "Hmm… Their actions are a little premature. We won't be able to monitor them as well if they act to hasty."
Nakamura looked in Nao's direction. He grabbed her hand and led her to the end of the closest couch and sat her down. The tip of his index finger began to glow. "Listen, Nao. I can't have you be like this. I know you've been through quite a bit, but I want you to know, I'm here for you, and you're here for us, alright." Nakamura said in a soft, warm voice.
Nakamura poked the girl on her forehead. There was a small flash of light where the man poked Nao's head. The life returned to her eyes. Suddenly, a swarm of emotions hit her like a truck. Tear began streaming down her eyes. "No… Please stop it…" Nao sobbed as she cradled herself.
"Nao, look at me." Nao looked up into the mans eyes. "We'll help you. I promise. So please, let it all out. We're here for you." Nakamura said in a soft tone. "Heh… I'm not." Nakamura heard Lilium's smug remark, but just ignored her.
Nao then let out a loud sob and collapsed into Nakamura's arms. She couldn't stop. The tears just kept flowing. "That's it. Let out all the regret. All the anger and pain. Don't let it cloud your soul any longer." Nakamura wrapped his arms around Nao, comforting her.
Soon, Nao began to calm down. Nakamura pulled out a handkerchief out of his pocket and handed it to her. Nao began to wipe the tears away, but some of them still flowed. "Take it easy, Nao." Nakamura said, resting his hand on Nao's shoulder.
"How… How do you know me?" Nao demanded to know. "Let's just say, we're one in the same." Nakamura said and gave a warm smile. Nao just looked down at her feet and wiped away all her sorrow. "Lilium…" Nakamura stood up. "Go get some decent clothes for Nao to wear."
Lilium just nodded and headed up the stairs on the other side of the room. "Oi, Nakamura-san." Hayato said.
"What's up, Hayato?" Nakamura said as he approached Hayato on the other side of the living area. "Phone. Seems urgent."
Nakamura took the phone from Hayato and started conversing with someone on the other line. Nao could barely hear the conversation. She didn't have a clue what these people wanted, all she knew was that all of her sorrow was disappearing. The chains were finally lifted off of her shoulders. What Nakamura told her, she believed it. She didn't know why, but she trusted them.
Nao looked up at the masked man as he stood over her. "Wh-What?" Nao questioned. The man handed her a glass of cold water.
Nao took the glass and guzzled the water down. All this time, she never realized how thirsty she was. After she was done, she handed the glass back to the strange man. "Thanks." Nao said as she wiped the water off of her upper lip with the handkerchief. The man simply bowed his head and strolled away.
Lilium then walked over to Nao's side with a handful of clothes. "Here, put these on. You look like some midnight sally." Lilium said as she plopped the clothes onto Nao's lap. "What, no dressing room?" Nao sarcastically said. "Oh please, don't flatter yourself." Lilium said and walked away.
Nao put on the clothes. There was a red blouse, along with a black skirt and striped stockings with some tennis shoes.
Nakamura walked back into the living area and handed Hayato the phone. "So, what was the call about?" Kenji asked. "Well, seems the Hierarchs are getting a little to… irritated at the situation. Apparently someone leaked information that we have the girl. Now their furious and their planning on striking at their convenience." Nakamura said.
"That's not very good." Kenji stated and rested his chin on his fist. "Hey. What exactly is going on?" Nao asked as she approached the two men. "Ah, Nao. You look quite lovely in those." Nakamura said with a smile. "Oh really. I bet you think I would look even lovelier wit them off." Nao said with a seductive tone. Nakamura was taken aback at her statement. Kenji just gave a loud whistle.
"Heh… Nice to see you're back to normal." Nakamura said. "Now, I think It's time we informed you on everything that your mother wished to protect you from."
"My… My mother? What does she have to do with anything?" Nao demanded and answer. "Please stay calm." Nakamura said. "Sit down and listen."
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Seems everything has taken a strange turn. Who are these people and what do they want with Nao? What is this story about? Who are the Hierarchs? Find out in the next chapter of Endless Darkness.
A/N: Well I can gleefully say that I actually wrote this entire chapter in about 2 ½/3 hours. I guess it's safe to say my tail bone hurts from this very uncomfortable desk chair. Nothing but a half and inch of fluff with metal cushioning. Well, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Remember to drop me a review. I would appreciate it if you would post any kind of spelling/grammatical errors if there are any. See you later!