Chapter 9

In the total darkness of wherever you were confined in, it was impossible to judge how much time had passed. Your back was starting to ache and you wanted to stretch your legs badly. You supposed you were in the trunk of someone's car, most probably a box.

You were proud to say you stayed awake the whole process. At least, you think you stayed awake, with the total darkness and all. Whoever made this box probably made it specifically for kidnapping.

After an eternity you heard commotion outside. The box jolted, and you felt it being lifted. To carry you off somewhere, like shipping cargo, you supposed. It shouldn't be long until someone tried to open the box. Your hands were behind you, so the blindfold couldn't be helped, but you were confident in your abilities to maybe knock one or two people out by flailing wildly and randomly.

Whoever was handling the box was not gentle in the least. Either they didn't know you were in here, or they did know. One of your hands was squashed between the side of the box and your back and was slowly becoming numb. Your leg was bent at an awkward angle, and it took a lot of shuffling to get back into a comfortable position.

The movement stopped and you could finally relax yourself while trying to find your pinned hand. Your thoughts automatically shifted to Makoto. Shit, is he alright? You hoped so.

You wriggled around, desperately needing to stretch out your legs and back. You felt solidness underneath the box again, meaning whoever had been carrying you had put you down. When you fell silent, you could hear muffled voices near you.

There was a swift ripping sound and you felt air rush in from above you. Finally, someone had opened the box! Before you could even move, though, someone's hands were pressing down on you.

You heard a scraping sound, and concluded it was probably a metal chair. You've scraped a few metal chairs in your lifetime, and wasn't entirely a stranger to it. The hands lifted you out of the box - not a small feat - and sat you on the aforementioned chair. Instinctively, you stretched your back and felt it knock against the panel of the chair. Ropes snaked across your chest, effectively binding you to it.

Your legs were bound to the legs of the chair, and the bindings on your wrists and ankles were cut. Your throat was still dry though, and some water would be good.

You felt the cloth around your eyes loosen, and quickly shook it off. It didn't take long for your eyes to adjust to the dim lighting, and you quickly took in what information you could. You were in a room - obviously - with a single door guarded by two buff men. You let your brain register that they looked familiar before quickly turning your attention to other things. There was a single light in the room, which provided a faint white glow, and the walls had dark stains on them. Not blood, these stains were lighter in color. Perhaps some clear liquid, like water.

There was a shuffling coming from behind you, and you stiffened. There was a third person in this room. It would probably be safe to assume there would be a fourth one as well. You turned your head to where you'd heard the sound and found your neck stiff from the awkward position in the box. It took a few tries but you finally got the angle you wanted.

Behind you was a long table. On it was the cardboard box used to transport you. It was pretty tiny - like a box made to carry fruit instead of a human. There was a figure next to the table. He was carrying a cup. You hoped it was for you, and that it was water and not sulfuric acid.

The man came around in front of you, and you studied him more closely. He was wearing a black hoodie, and a black facemask. His eyes were shaded by his hood and he wore black gloves as well. Actually everything about him was black. Come to think of it, the guards were all dressed in black as well. What was this, some kind of darkness-worshipping cult?

But then again you supposed they did blend pretty well into the shadows.

The cup of liquid was thrust in front of your face and you flinched back instinctively. The hooded man let out an audible sigh and produced a separate cup, poured some of the clear liquid from the first cup into it and took a sip. You supposed they did this often enough to know what needed to be done.

Reluctantly, you let the man trickle water down your throat. It wasn't even stale, like you'd expected. It was actually cool and refreshing, like it'd been directly pumped from a running river… quite the unexpected surprise in this stale, boring room.

Even though you were confident in your ability to make coherent speech, you didn't speak. You wanted them to speak first, and allow time for you to form your response as well as further analyze what this whole situation is.

The man in front of you turned to face the two guards, who nodded and left the room, probably to stand outside to make sure no one got in rather than you didn't get out. If only you could get your hands free… Should be easy enough, it wasn't like anyone was going to keep an eye on your back.

You were extremely curious as to know what this cult was. Or maybe you were underestimating them. Maybe they were part of some huge secret organization that no one could know about.

"We're part of a secret organization that no one should know about," the hooded man in front of you mumbled softly, so you could barely hear it. "Yet here you are."

"Sorry what?" you blinked. Your voice was only slightly raspy and after a few coughs it cleared right up. Whatever was in that liquid could've contained a substance to sooth your throat.

The man pulled down his facemask and gave you a small smile. You couldn't tell if that was meant to be genuine or not but you weren't prepared to take any chances. "What I'm saying is, you shouldn't be here." He looked vaguely familiar, but you just couldn't put your finger on it. You were sure you'd seen him somewhere before.

He gave you a wink before retreating to where the door was, taking the place as a guard and crossing his arms. His comment had baffled you enough that you did not hear the fourth person that was behind you. They strode forward and you noticed he had the same garb as the figure by the door. What was up with all this secrecy?

"You might be wondering what's up with all this secrecy," the figure said, his voice muffled by the facemask. You wanted to kick something. Were you really that predictable? The figure continued talking in the same soft voice. "Well, it's because this is all supposed to be hush-hush, but for some reason the boss wanted you to be brought in."

There was a pause. Perhaps it was a signal for you to speak. Or more likely it was for the person speaking to take a breather. You took the chance to speak anyway. "What are we doing?"

The person in front of you checked his watch. It was black, and seemed to be adapted for some other purposes other than to tell the time and date. "Well," he started to explain. "Just waiting for the people responsible for you to show up. They volunteered to babysit you," he put special emphasis on babysit, his voice raising slightly into a sneer, "and now they're fucking late!"

You stared at him while he paced back and forth in front of you. It was silent for a few minutes, with only the tap tap tap of his shoes on the floor.

"Put your facemask back on!" he snapped at the person by the door, startling both you and the guard. "The boss is gonna give me hell again if he finds you not in proper dress attire in the presence of a guest." At the last word he turned to face you, and for the first time seemed to study you more closely. "What's so special about this girl anyway?" he said, sounding pissed. He was about to speak more but then the door swung open with a loud bang.

You turned to glance at the newcomers, also taking note that the guard had slipped out. A rather wise move, you'd say, and not only because these two looked more well-built than the others. There was a curious glint in the slightly shorter one's eyes that implied he had heard the outburst of the figure who had been waiting for them.

"This girl holds a special spot in the heart of our dear investigator," the one with the gleam in his eyes said. His voice was subtly laced with a threat. "Get out and make yourself useful for once."

The person grumbled quietly but slipped out. The taller guy - you assumed he didn't speak much - went to take the position as the guard, which left the one who had spoken in front of you.

His eyes were shadowed by the hood now that he was directly in front of you, but this man gave you a familiar vibe. Who were all of these people? Why did you feel like you should know them…?

It seemed like he was waiting for you to speak first. For once, you'd indulge in the wants of the opposition. "Alright, I give. Tell me." You leaned back in the chair, wanting to seem as nonchalant as you can. "Who are you, what's this place, what we're doing here." They were statements rather than questions. You didn't want to give them too much of a satisfaction.

"We've met before. I'm surprised you didn't recognize me. Have I changed that much?" He pulled down his facemask and you watched the person's lips and they parted to reveal sharp, shark-like teeth. Your mind made the connection immediately, and in the same instant the figure threw back his hood to unveil his maroon hair and red eyes.

You thought you hid the shock on your face rather well. "Long time no see, Rin."