Chapter 7: Flight of the Angel
Usagi noticed Scott taking precautions to ensure her place in the house. He was careful never to leave the door unlocked, the alarm system would be on in the house at all times and when he'd plan on sleeping in the room, he'd handcuff her to him.
She didn't even want to know how he had gotten the goddamned handcuff.
She didn't know how long she had been there, but she knew it had been days and days. And having him around her at all times was slowly and surely driving her insane. He'd lash out at the smallest things, torture her whenever he felt like and then try to engage her in talks.
Thank you very much but she really didn't want to talk about the failing economy with her captor. Or about anything having to do with the outside world. Or at all.
All she wanted was to get the hell away from the guy.
He'd force her to eat twice a day, intent on making sure she didn't lose too much weight- but he didn't know that she could throw up whatever she had eaten. The handcuff had started to become looser and looser, and pretty soon she would be able to squeeze her hand through it. The alarm system was another problem. If any doors or windows to the outside were opened, it would activate, blaring sounds probably loud enough to wake the dead.
She knew that only too well. She had tried it when Scott had been in the kitchen making her food probably on the third day of her imprisonment. He had soundly beaten her that day so she could barely move the whole day after.
Then he had taken her on a tour to all of the rooms and ensured her there was absolutely no way out without the alarms warning him of her attempt. However, he hadn't thought about what happened if she broke through the window. The alarms were made to alert if and only if something was forced open. She had already noted the lamp that would make a perfect window-breaker. Now, the ultimate last problem was making sure he didn't hear the window breaking. He was a pretty light sleeper- unless he was so out of it with hurting her- so her plan was to piss him off enough so he forced himself to hurt the crap out of her, and then she would insert small pieces of cotton from the first-aid kit in the bathroom into his ears. And then she was free.
Now she just had to implement it perfectly.
If he caught her, it'd all be over. She didn't want to know what he would do if he caught her. But she knew it would be the last time she'd ever have the chance to escape.
Finally the day came when she put her plan into action. She allowed her normal 'I don't give a damn' visage to crack when he had been talking to her about some philosophy about a prisoner coming to care about her captor, some crazy syndrome or something, and had cursed him for about five minutes, making him angrier with each and every word she said against him.
The pain hadn't dulled down hours later when he finally fell asleep, but she could still move- if a lot slower than usual. He had tightened the handcuff a fraction of an inch more than he usually did and she knew she'd have to be very careful when pulling her hand out of it.
She set to work, sliding and squeezing her hand, trying to force it out of the hold. The inside of the cuff scratched her painfully, forcing some of the skin to peel off but she didn't let up. After what felt like hours, she had worked most of her hand through, and only had a bit more to go.
Suddenly he coughed and rolled over onto his stomach, pulling her hand harshly towards him, and voila, it yanked her free. She almost laughed out loud. He had just saved her another ten minutes.
She stepped off the bed and onto the cold floor slowly, hoping the bed wouldn't creak. It barely did, since her weight was so small anyway. She must have lost a good ten pounds in however long she had been with him. But thankfully, it hadn't been very, very visible, though he had commented on it slightly the night before, saying how her body was getting even smaller than it already was.
She swayed a little before she got her footing, the lack of food, the pain and the weight loss combining together to make her even weaker. But she managed to make her way to the bathroom. She had left the door open from the last time she had used it, reducing her time and chance of alerting him. The pieces of cotton were already placed on the seat of the tub, waiting for her. She rushed to them and made her way back to the bed. He was snoring lightly, as he usually did when he was deep in his sleep. She inserted them one at a time, holding her breath as she did so. She froze when he scratched lightly at his ear, her heart thudding so loudly that she was afraid if she hadn't gotten the cotton into his ears, he probably would have heard it. He snored once more, and her heart slowed slightly. She tiptoed her way to the door, and it creaked open. She slipped through the small crack and shut it as quietly as she could.
Okay, halfway done. Now for the hard part.
She rushed to the living room, very thankful that the front door was the farthest thing away from her room.
Yech, she'd gotten used to calling it her room.
She grabbed her coat from the hook by the front door, knowing she needed to cover as much of her body as she could. Anyone who saw her as she was would want to take her to the hospital- or try to hurt her, but she pushed that thought out of her mind.
She lifted the lamp, which was insanely heavy, tottering as she did so. The pain immediately shot through her, almost forcing her to drop it- but she grabbed it tightly, hugging it to her. The pang of pain passed, dulling slightly and she made her way slowly to the window that was to be the lamp's victim. It was next to the front door, large enough to force herself out, but not large enough for Scott to launch himself through if need be.
Taking a deep breath, she swung the lamp back and then swung it back to the window, using the force from the back to help her to the window. There was a loud crash and the glass fell in pieces to the floor. She set the lamp down, and with no hesitation – not even to look back- she threw herself out of the window.
She took off; running up the street she barely remembered coming from however long ago. It must have been very late at night because there were no cars on the road, and all was silent. She cursed the night, knowing she needed a car to get back to Juuban.
She raced down farther, her hair billowing behind her, the wind awakening her and giving her energy. It had been so long since she had been outside.
Finally a car's headlights hit her and she threw herself onto the road, waving her hands. The car careened to a stop and the driver's door opened. A guy probably no older than her took one look at her and motioned her to the passenger door, "Where to?"
Usagi hurried to the door and climbed in, "Thank you so much. You wouldn't happen to be heading to Juuban, would you?"
There was a calming presence in the car and she knew she had found someone who would help her. The boy was nice looking, someone she knew Minako would immediately go for. His long black hair was tied into a ponytail and his violet eyes sparkled kindly.
"You're lucky," the boy said, "I'm heading up there as well"
"Thank god," she muttered under her breath. "You wouldn't mind giving me a ride there…?" she asked, knowing she should ask
"Of course not, I'd love the company," he said as he pressed on the gas pedal and shot from the street, faster than she'd have thought, "What's your name?" he asked, glancing at her, still driving extremely fast
"I'm Usagi Tsukino," Usagi said, her eyes fearfully on the road, "And um, you don't have to drive that fast"
"I like the speed," he said, shrugging, "And I'm a very skillful driver, don't worry. I won't get you killed"
She laughed nervously, thinking of how sad it would be if she did die in a car crash only minutes after getting away from Scott.
"I'm Seiya, by the way," he said, "Seiya Kou"
He waited expectantly for something, but she looked blankly at him, "Nice to meet you, Seiya Kou"
He frowned, his eyes going back to her for a second, "You don't know who I am?"
"Um, no," she shook her head slowly, "Sorry…"
Seiya let out a bark of laughter, glancing at her, "It's alright, don't worry about it. It's nice to know not all of the girls are crazy about us"
"Excuse me?" Usagi asked cluelessly, wondering what in the hell he was talking about
"The Three Lights, do they ring a bell?" he asked, making a turn onto a highway
She shook her head again, "Is that some sort of constellation?"
His eyes flashed to her for a second, and she swore she saw something, but he covered it with laughter, glancing away quickly, "No, it's a band"
"Ooh," Usagi said, "That's cool"
"Thanks," he said, his eyes remaining attached to the car driving distantly in front of them, "Want to tell me what you were doing out at three in the morning, on a weeknight at the least? Not to mention hitching a ride from a complete stranger?" His voice was soaked in concern and it surprised her. He was actually worried about her. And she'd only met him ten minutes ago.
She bit her lip wordlessly, "My car broke down about a mile from where I saw you," she said slowly, "And I really needed to get back to Juuban, my boyfriend will be worried"
He frowned, and at first she thought it was about the boyfriend part, "But why didn't you just call for help? And still, accepting a ride from a stranger, anything could happen"
She took a deep breath. Dammit, he wasn't falling for her lies. As he shouldn't. She didn't even drive for god's sake!
"I lost my cell phone a long time ago, and…" she droned off, having no idea what to say next
"It's all right," Seiya said, still not looking at her, "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to"
She smiled thankfully, "Thanks. It's sort of hard to explain. I just really need to get aw- back to Juuban"
What the hell? Why had she almost slipped up? She was so comfortable around this person that she couldn't help but relax. But she couldn't let her guard down!
He nodded wordlessly, looking skeptical, but not commenting on it.
The next few miles passed silently, Usagi's eyes closed tiredly, the pain weakening her even more. The weakness of the past days was finally catching up to her and she could barely keep her eyes open.
"Get some sleep," Seiya said, glancing at her, "I'll wake you up when we get to Juuban"
Something deep within herself told her that Seiya was telling the truth. She trusted him already. Maybe it had to do with being trapped with Scott for however long, but Seiya's act of kindness meant the world to her.
"Seiya?" she asked tiredly, "What's the date again?"
He looked at her, taking his eyes off the road completely for it. It felt like he was gazing right into her soul, and she breathed a quiet sigh of relief when he looked away. She had felt so naked under his gaze. Almost as if he could tell her deep, dark secrets just by looking into her eyes. It scared her.
"It's November 20th," he said, an unknown tone in his voice, sounding a lot like concern.
November 20th…it had been ten days since she had been taken.
Her eyes closed gratefully, "Thank you," she whispered before sleep and Seiya took her away from the horrors she had been experiencing for the past ten days.
*
Seiya glanced at the small girl sitting beside him, her hair fluttering as she breathed quietly. She was knocked out.
He shook his head and looked back at the road, easing on the gas ever so slightly. He didn't want the speed of the car to accidentally wake Usagi up.
She was beautiful. Probably one of the most beautiful woman he had ever seen in his life.
It was her eyes that drew him to her however. They were a beautiful shade of blue. But when he looked at them, he saw something stir. They were dark and slightly lifeless. Something horrible had happened to her, he knew that much.
Her lie about her car breaking down had been so obvious that he had wanted to ask her to direct him to her car so he could fix it up- but that look in her eyes had kept him from doing it. She needed this.
And he'd do it for her.
Plus, he had been heading to Juuban. His interview had gone on longer than he had expected it to, and now he was heading back. Him, Taiki and Yaten had just gotten their apartment in Juuban and would be starting the high school in two days. He wondered if Usagi went to the high school too. She did look around his age.
But she was so small.
When he had first seen her in the middle of the road, he had been sure she was an angel. Her long blonde hair had been billowing around her, looking almost like wings. Her body so pale that she was almost pure white.
But then he had seen the bruises.
She had obviously thought she had hidden them well enough. But her coat only went down to her mid-thigh. The bruises below it were easily visible. Not to mention her face and neck were visible. The bruises on those were just…
He closed his eyes tiredly.
Was this what this world was like?
Innocent young girls being abused?
He didn't like it much already, this just added to it.
They arrived at the small town of Juuban at almost four. His speed and the emptiness of the roads got them back almost a whole half hour than it would have taken any other time. And he was thankful.
He glanced worriedly at Usagi again, as he had been doing the whole car ride. She looked way too pale to be healthy and the bruises on her face stood out even more so because of this.
He had the desire to drive straight to the hospital and admit her there.
But something stopped him from doing so.
She had trusted him enough to fall asleep in his car- when she didn't even know him. He didn't have the right to betray that trust.
Sighing at his messed up logic, he roused her, "Hey, Usagi, we're in Juuban"
She yawned tiredly, her eyes flickering open slowly. She looked so cute and cuddl- um…he hadn't just thought that.
The right arm of her coat fell slightly, giving him a look of the wrist. It was bruised a deep purple. He immediately gasped and she immediately lowered her arms, covering them by crossing them.
"That's nothing," she said quickly, "I fell down some stairs"
He didn't bother to say anything about how falling down stairs wouldn't make bruises finger shaped but instead, he just nodded, looking away again.
His hands gripped the wheel tightly as he had to force himself to keep driving and not pulling over and forcing the girl to spill her story to him.
"Where to?" he said, gritting his teeth as the urge to pull over increased, he needed her to take his mind off of it. Or he didn't know what he might do. Maybe drive back to the place they had come from and beat the shit out of whoever had done that to her. She aroused his protective side- something he hadn't felt for what felt like millennia.
She recited an address in the lower part of Juuban- where him and his brothers lived too, and he drove quickly, "So, what grade are you in?"
She must have realized he needed something to focus on because she quickly answered, "I started tenth in September, at Juuban Crossroads High"
He smiled slightly, his grip easing ever so slightly on the wheel, "What do you know? Me and my brothers just applied for there"
She gave a gasp of pleasant surprise, seeming honestly pleased, "That's awesome! We can hang out"
He smiled at her, her brightness immediately easing the tension from him, "That'd be great. I'd love to get to know more about you"
A shadow passed over her, her eyes dulling for an instant, but before he could place it, she had brightened, "And I can find out more about these Three Lights"
He grinned, ignoring the shadow, although something told him he shouldn't, "Oh, that'll be fun. Be ready to be amazed"
She laughed, "I'm not amazed easily"
"You won't have to be," he boasted, not understanding what was happening with him, "We're pretty amazing"
"I can see that," she said quietly, looking away from him, "Thank you, Seiya"
He waved it away, pulling up to the apartment building she had named off for him, "It's no problem"
She opened the door and he quickly reached over to the dashboard and pulled out a small piece of paper and a pen, "Wait!"
She paused, turning back to him surprisedly, "What's wrong?"
He quickly jotted his cell number down and address and handed the piece of paper to her, which happened to contain a small photo of him, "In case," he said, his voice catching dangerously. He was trying to tell her he was willing to help- in anything. He had the need to know she was safe at all times, her innocence like a beacon in the dark.
She looked down at it and smiled slightly, "Thank you, Seiya"
He knew she had gotten the message, but apparently wasn't very pleased, but she pretended to be, "I'll see you at school!" she cried thankfully as she shut the door behind her quietly.
She waved as she set off running to the building, not pausing to glance back. She was obviously very eager to get to wherever she wanted to. He waited till she was safely in the elevator before he headed out to his apartment, his head lost deep in the thoughts of the bruised angel.
*
Mamoru stared up at the ceiling blankly- something he had been doing for almost the last four hours- and the nights before this. He was turning into an insomniac. He couldn't turn off his thoughts to fall asleep- ever. The past ten days had been hell on Earth for him. He threw himself into helping Ami find a way to locate Usagi. But it was as if she had been wiped off the face of the Earth. His bond with her was present, but when he attempted to follow it, he'd always end up losing it halfway there.
He wanted nothing more than to gather Usagi into his arms and assure her that she was safe and that he'd never let her get hurt again- but as Makoto had said on that night, he let her get hurt constantly.
How had he not realized what that bitch had been doing to Usagi? She had never acted normally when she had been in his presence and that should have been a dead giveaway.
He knew if he ever caught Scott, it wouldn't be pretty. He wouldn't hesitate to chop the guy's head off- actually, he wanted more to rip him to shreds with his hands.
But what broke him more was the fact that Usagi had hidden it from him. She had outright refused to tell him when he had asked her what was wrong.
…but could he rightfully blame her?
If he hadn't seen it right off, what right did he have to ask her?
He knew her better than he knew himself- and yet, he hadn't seen what was right in front of his face.
Suddenly a light knock came at the door, and he glanced quickly at the time. It was almost four, who the hell was bothering him at this time? It was probably one of the girls. They had known he hadn't been sleeping- since it was pretty much obvious from his crankiness and the dark shadows under his eyes. He got up, slipping his slippers on and trudged to the door, yawning as he did so.
He pulled open the door, "What-" he froze, his eyes widening, "USAKO!"
She threw herself at him, her hands immediately wrapping around his hips. He buried her in his arms, holding her tightly, ensuring himself that it was really her.
He didn't know how long they held each other silently, his heart, his mind and every nerve in his body crying out in joy. She detached herself from him with difficulty and kissed him.
He had never felt a more desperate kiss in his life from Usagi. He returned it just as desperately, needing once more, to ensure himself that she was truly there and that she was kissing him.
God…he loved her so much.
The second he had seen her, it was almost as if every pain in him vanished.
They separated to catch their breath, and breathing deeply, they looked deep within each other's eyes, their eyes saying what they couldn't voice just yet.
Finally, she broke their gaze, a look of desperation crossing her eyes, "Mamo-"
"It's okay," he whispered, "I don't care"
She looked at him, confusion in her eyes, "You…you don't?"
"Usako," he said, brushing her hair from her face tenderly, wincing slightly as he saw the bruises on it, "I love you, nothing else matters"
He knew he needed to say these words. She needed to know that he didn't hold what happened against her. And he never would.
"But- but," she whispered, "He-he raped me-" tears filled her beautiful eyes.
He wiped them away tenderly, "Yes, he raped you," he said, his voice catching at the horror of the words, "It wasn't your fault, Usako. He did it to you, you were only protecting Shingo and- and-" he couldn't say his future daughter's name, the pain lancing through him even at the thought of her.
"I'm so sorry I didn't tell you," she whispered, tears still falling from her eyes thickly, the speed increasing slightly as he mentioned Shingo and –
"It's all right," he said, knowing it wasn't, but that was a problem they would deal with later, first he had to make sure she was okay.
"Is it?" she whispered
He didn't answer, just gathered her in his arms and, shutting the door, carried her to the couch.
He pulled the coat off of her slowly and she didn't make it any easier. She was gripping it tightly, looking down fearfully.
"Usako," he said, leaning down to his knees so he was looking in her eyes, "Your wounds need to be taken care of"
Sighing resignedly, she let go of the coat and he pulled it off.
He gave a growl of pure rage as he saw her body, his hands gripping the coat so tightly he could hear the seams ripping.
She looked away from him, "I'm so sorry"
He grit his teeth, "It's not your fault"
He would kill Scott. He would rip him to shreds and then he would rip his shreds to shreds.
"It is…" she whispered, "I should have told someone from the start"
He looked at her, wondering if she actually, truly thought that, "Yes, you should have. You should have told us- we would have protected you"
"He..." she whispered, "I…" she buried her face in her hands, "I don't know!" she cried, "I was so ashamed!"
Horror rushed through him, "You have nothing to be ashamed of!" he cried, "Nothing at all!"
She sobbed tiredly and he hurriedly gathered her in his arms, rocking her as she sobbed into his chest for her lost innocence.
*
Miles away, Scott awoke with a start. He yawned tiredly in the darkness, stretching-
-Wait!
He looked at his hand and the handcuff dangling from it, spots of blood around it. He felt a scratching at his ears and he pulled out two cotton balls. What the fuck!?
"NO!" he roared, jumping up as fury washed over him. He rushed to the door, throwing it open and ran down the hallway. He came to the front door, the window beside it had been broken.
"BUNNY!" he roared.
A scream of anger forced its way through him and he roared continuously as he destroyed the house around him.
He stopped, breathing heavily after clutters of mess lay around him, "I'll get you," he whispered, "If it's the last thing I do"
He wouldn't rest till she was his and his alone.
