Chapter 3: Let's Introduce the Jailor
The car stopped and I got out of the car. Without waiting for my parents. Without looking back, I went to the front gate and rang the doorbell. This lady came out. "Hello, who are you here to see and your name is, Miss?" she said with a smile in her face.
I politely smiled at her. "I'm here to see Akito and my name is Akira." I stated to this lady.
"Okay. Will your parents be joining you along?" she as ked me.
I looked behind me and they don't even look up and that makes me sad. I just looked away and covered my sadness. "No, I'm going by myself."
The lady nodded and motioned for me to follow her into the house. She closed the door behind me. Leaving my parents in the outside of the Main House gates. She led me towards Akito's room. When we go their, she look frightened to knock on the door, but either way she knocked.
"Mr. Akito. Akira has arrived for the meeting." She said through the door. I can't believe a grown woman can be scared of a ten year old.
Then this other servant opened the door. "You can come in and wait, Miss Akira." He told me.
I walked in and surveyed my surroundings. It looked like any regular room. I saw a small boy outside; he was playing with a small bird. He looked like he was a little sick. I just kneeled and waited until this kid acknowledges me.
He looked up and the bird flew away. He walked toward me. "So you are Akira the Fox Zodiac." He said as a statement not a question.
"Yes, I am." I answered him.
"You will be living here. Your parents don't want you at their house anymore. It's such a pity to be hated. To have so much on you shoulder since you were born, Akira. I know that the Fox Zodiac remember everything that has happened to it in all their previous lives. Don't you hate that this time your parents don't love? Don't you?" he tells me like he wants me to break or something.
"I don't want to stay here with you. I would rather stay out in the street fighting to stay alive than staying here with you. I already know that my parents hate me and you know I don't care. It seems that you like breaking people and still haven't succeeded, but you want to try it first with me. But it won't work because I taught myself not to depend on others because it could kill you." I tell Akito with a serious tone.
He looks at me and walks to a corner. He has something in his hands, it looks like a whip. I know he would not dare hit me. I see him look at the whip closely. "Akira, I have deal with you?" he ask me.
"What is the deal?" I answer him.
"Be my prisoner. And I won't put the entire Zodiac into confident when the last of them Graduates. I will not be like the other Head's and confide them into a room so they could stay close to their God. That is me." He tells me.
I look at him and I can't make up my mind. If I say yes to the deal, I will be stuck here forever. Even if I am here stuck, it will mean that the other Zodiac can have a good life away from Akito. Even though the life without Akito would be after high school. It still would mean their freedom. Something I had always longed for them in my previous lives. But if I say no, he will lock them up and they would die alone and never knowing love or care. I don't want that for them. I would hate to see them like all the other times. This is what I always wanted. For them to be free. I will do it just for them.
"Okay, I will do it." I tell him.
"Well is that your decision, but could you keep on with the deal. If I told you that you will not see them and they will never know you. That you will never tell anybody that you can break the curse of the Zodiac. That you will not protect them from my anger and other things I do to them." He tells me.
I hate to agree with this but it means their freedom. "Yes, I will still take the deal." I tell him and kneel in front of him to show my loyalty.
With my head down, I did not see that he grabbed the whip again. He looks at me like he won a victory against me. The first hit with the whip is so much pain, but I don't cry out. It seems like forever until the beating is done. I hear Akito call out for somebody. I hear footsteps and a gasp come toward me.
"Pick her up and follow me." He demands form the servant.
I feel somebody picking me up and then we are moving. I feel after 5 minutes or something we stop.
"Put her in their and get a doctor to my room. And do not tell anybody about this or you will be fired. Do you understand?' he tells the servant.
"I understand." The servant says and walks away to find a doctor.
"Akira, you are my prisoner from now on. Nobody will ever help you form this prison. You can't leave me because you have a deal with me. But you will be allowed to roam this house without the Zodiac knowing who you are." He tells me with authority in his voice. Then with that he left to probably find a doctor he can pay for his silence of this act on me.
I just lay their still, wondering why I made a deal with the devil itself. Now I can never leave the Souma name behind. Now I'm a prisoner of that name for my whole life. I knew this ride to the Main House was going to be an alternate change that I would never forget. This is the day everything in my destiny changed. This day is where my torture began. I will never know when it will end. The only good that came out of this is, is that the Zodiac's will be free, so they can live freely without caring what Akito thinks about it. I put my head on the pillow thinking, trying to make sleep take over me. I know the pain in my back would fade away. When darkness took over, I knew this pain was just the beginning of a cycle of pain in my new life.