A/N: Nothing new to really report here.
College is taking up a lot of my spare time.
Yada yada yada.
And that whole song and dance.
Anyway, sorry for yet another slow update.
Thank you for reading and please review if you have more free time than I do.
Chapter Seven
It was cold.
Cold and dark.
Sora hated both of these things but not as much as she did when they were combined together.
Like they were right now.
All around her there was nothing but darkness, and hidden within that darkness was something.
Something with fangs.
Fangs that would leap out of nowhere and slice through Sora's skin, draining her of her warmth. Try as she might, Sora could never catch whatever was attacking her; couldn't even see it.
Soon it felt as if every single drop of warmth had been completely and utterly stolen from the girl's body.
But still she fought on against her unseen foe.
Suddenly-everything turned white and Sora found herself strapped to a table. Looking into a bright light, she could just make out the outline of someone standing over her. Someone in a white coat…
With a scalpel in his hand that was bearing down on her chest!
Sora jerked and pulled against the straps, but they wouldn't budge.
She opened her mouth to scream, but no words would come out.
Resigned that this was happening yet again, the tourist squeezed her eyes shut and braced herself for the inevitable first looonng slice.
...
But it never came.
After a few long terrifying minutes, Sora slowly became aware that she was warm. And not just her normal temperature either; she was toasty warm.
Opening her eyes, the girl found herself staring at the ceiling of a room she had never seen before. Looking around as much as she could without moving her head, Sora noted that no one else was in the room with her.
Relieved, Sora tried to sit up but froze when found herself racked with pain.
Thumping back down, the tourist took a few steadying breaths. After most of the pain had passed, she raised her right arm, which hurt, but not as much as her chest, and pushed away the comforter that had been on top of her.
With the thick blanket finally moved, Sora noticed that most of her chest and stomach had been wrapped in gauze. Further exploration revealed more bandages on her arms and legs, and one on her face.
And also that she was only wearing a bra and underwear.
'What the hell?' the girl thought, 'Who put these on me? AND WHERE ARE THE REST OF MY CLOTHES!'
Fuming over her near nakedness, Sora suddenly remembered what had happened: she had arrived in Ikebukuro, gotten chased by a headless chick, beat up some bullies, had sushi, got chased again, fell into a gang meeting, and had kicked the gang members butts.
Ignoring the pain, the girl gingerly sat up on what she now knew was a futon.
As she examined her bandages and felt each injury hidden beneath them she wondered, 'Well, the fight explains where all of these wounds came from, but then who-AH!' Sora winced as her fingers found the gun shot wound on her left side. The pain made her remember the gang leader who had hidden behind the couch, pointing a gun at Shinigami-san…and Sora pushing her out of the way!
'That's right! I saved Shinigami-san. Then there were sirens coming…. we talked…I agreed to go with her, and then…. I must have passed out.'
Looking at her injuries, Sora said aloud, "She must have done this. But where is she now? More importantly, where am I?"
Now that she could see the room better, the girl saw that it was pretty bare. Judging by the light that she could see through the window it was some time in the morning. A clock on the wall confirmed it to be almost ten. She also noticed that there was a folded up futon to her left.
And just beyond that, sitting against the wall, was her backpack.
Thrilled to see something familiar, Sora forced herself onto her feet, and crossed the floor, one step at a time.
Finally reaching her bag, the girl dropped to her knees and began rummaging through it, checking to see if anything was missing.
'Okay, here's my spare set of clothes, my hat, my maps,' she thought as she checked things off of her mental list.
"My tonfa!" She cried lifting the wooden weapons up. Inspecting each one carefully, she noted that besides a few new nicks, and the distinct smell of disinfectant, her pride and joys were just fine.
Breathing a sigh of relief, Sora placed her tonfa back into her bag and proceeded to get dressed in her spare clothes.
Now dressed in a black t-shirt and jeans that had been cut off just below the knee, the tourist padded quietly over to the door and slowly opened it. When it was wide enough, she stuck her head out and listened.
Hearing only silence, she left the room and found herself in what appeared to be an apartment. Walking down the short hallway, she discovered a living room/kitchen/dining room. To her far right was a sliding glass door that seemed to lead outside.
Curious to know where the heck she was, Sora moved over to the glass door, slid it open, and took a step through it.
The girl found herself standing on a small patio, overlooking the city.
"Wah! Check out the view!" Sora exclaimed.
For sure, the view was a breathtaking one. The morning sun glinted off of the various buildings of Ikebukuro, making them sparkle like diamonds.
After taking a few minutes taking in the sites, Sora reluctantly came back inside and closed the door.
"Well, the view is great and the place looks sweet, but I still don't know where Shinigami-san is," she said seconds before she spotted the kitchen again and heard her stomach rumble.
Patting it, she chuckled and said, "Can't wonder on an empty stomach!"
Making her way to the fridge, Sora opened it and began to pour over the contents.
'There's not much in here. Mostly just random ingredients and such,' she thought as she moved on to the pantries. 'Guess she doesn't eat much. Wait…how does she eat? Does she just drop it down her neck?' Sora pondered, not knowing that Celty, in fact, didn't eat at all.
"Score!" she cried as she happened upon a cup of instant ramen noodles. Setting it on the counter, she dug through the lower cupboards for a teapot. Finally finding one, she filled it with water and set it on the stove. While the water warmed up, Sora began the hunt for a pair of chopsticks. She found a pair just as the teapot started to whistle.
Pouring the hot water into the cup, Sora stared at the microwave's clock, counting down the three minutes until the noodles were done.
When time was up, the strange girl tore the lid off of the cup and began to shovel the noodles into her mouth, not waiting for them to cool down first.
She was just finishing off the last of the broth when she heard something.
Pausing, Sora stood stock-still and listened carefully.
It was only a second before she realized she was hearing footsteps, followed by the distinct sound of a key being inserted into a lock.
Specifically, the lock of what she assumed was the front door.
Shinra, exhausted after an emergency call from one of his top patients, unlocked the door of his apartment and opened it.
Closing it, the young doctor slipped off his shoes and made his way into his home.
Stretching he thought, 'Well aren't I Mr. Popular lately. Between Celty bringing Shinobu-san here and the call I received at four in the morning, I've provided medical assistance to almost a dozen people.'
Tossing his bag on the sofa as he passed it, Shinra recalled the fact that he had a house patient.
'I better go check on her,' he decided, making his way to Celty's room.
Opening the door slowly so as not to wake her, Shinra was shocked to find that the futon that Shinobu-san had slept on was now empty.
Pushing the door the rest of the way open, the young doctored looked around the room, only to find it empty of anyone beside himself.
Crossing his arms and resting his head on his right hand, Shinra thought nonchalantly, 'Well, this isn't good. Shinobu-san is in no condition to move around. So where did she go?' He spied Sora's bag leaning against the wall, opened.
'She must have woken up and gotten her spare clothes out of her bag,' walking over, Shinra opened the bag further and discovered the girl's tonfa still inside it.
'I doubt she would leave without her weapons,' he realized, 'So she must still be in the apartment.'
Knowing this, the doctor stood up and walked out the room, moving slowly and calmly so as not to startle Shinobu-san.
As soon as she become aware that someone was home, Sora had made a mad dash out of the kitchen and to the only place she thought she could hide-
The balcony.
She had closed the door just seconds before someone entered the apartment.
When they finally entered her field of vision, Sora realized that this wasn't Shinigami-san like she had hoped, but instead was some guy in glasses-
And wearing a lab coat!
The sight of the coat caused Sora to have a slight flashback to her previous nightmare, and made her remember things that she dearly wished she did not.
'He's one of them! Crap! Shinigami-san must have lied and taken me to them anyway!' Heartbroken at the betrayal, Sora fought to control her breathing.
'Calm down, calm down,' the girl thought as she watched the doctor, 'You're not caught yet. You can still escape!'
As the doctor began to make his way towards the back hallway, Sora cursed.
'Damn it! He's going to find out I'm not there! I need to leave now!' as soon as he was out of sight, Sora quietly opened the door and began to move towards the front door.
Halfway there, she froze.
Her bag was back in the bedroom.
Along with her tonfa.
Torn between leaving her weapons behind or going back for them, Sora thought over her position.
'I'm injured, but not so badly that I can't take down one guy. But he might call for back up before I can fully take him out. There's no way I can fight highly trained thugs in this state. Crap!'
Logically, the girl should have made a run for it right then and there. But the thought of leaving her beloved tonfa behind was just too much to bear.
'Ah, screw it!'
Throwing all common sense to the wind, Sora turned her back on the front door and instead crouched down next the couch, right around the corner of the hallway, and waited.
Beyond the threshold, she could hear the doctor enter the room, heard his gasp of surprise when he discovered her gone. He walked over to where she had left her bag.
'He knows I'm still here.'
He came out of the room, and began to slowly walk down the hall towards her.
'Here we go!'
Just as the doctor was about to walk in front of her, Sora stood up, spun around the corner, grabbed the left side of his head with her right hand, and slammed his head against the wall as hard as she could.
Before he even had time to register what had happened, the girl dropped her hand to his shoulder and pulled him down as she drove her left knee into his stomach. The young doctor left out a gust of air before his eyes rolled into his skull and he went limp, falling ungraciously to the floor.
Sora stood over him for a second, holding her own stomach. The knee strike had pulled her wounds painfully.
After making sure none of her wounds had reopened, Sora kneeled down and rolled the doctor onto his back. Now that she had a closer look at him, the girl saw that his left glass lens had cracked, probably from the impact on the wall.
'He's out…but not for long,' she thought before scurrying back to the bedroom to get her bag.
On her way back, she stopped at the end of the hallway and looked down on her victim in thought.
'I really should take him out…. he would have done the same to me, given the chance….'
Staring down at his unconscious face, Sora pondered a few seconds longer before shaking her head vigorously.
Aloud she said, "No. If I kill him now…. then I'm no better than they are."
With that, the girl placed her hat on her head and padded over to the front door.
Slipping on her sneakers that were left next to it, she unlocked and opened the door, walked down the hallway, entered the stairwell, and began the long descent away from the apartment and its sleeping occupant.
A/N: And there's chapter 7!
What could have happened to Sora to make her fear guys in labcoats so much?
Is Shinra okay?
What's Celty going to think of all this and where is she anyway?
Stay tuned to find out!^^
Please R&R.