-3- Everything Here Is Weird
"No…" Amu whimpered, lost as to what to do.
The tip of the knife gently ripped a thin line on the side of Amu's neck and whilst she was still lost in all the confusion and the smell of her own blood seeping out, she hadn't noticed this man had gotten far too close to her for comfort. He was on top of her, pinning her down with his body weight and his hand securing both her arms above her head. There was a clanking noise as he dropped the knife to the floor and with his free hand grabbed her face, twisting it to the side to expose the wound on her neck better. Then she felt a terrible sensation on her wound as he bought his lips upon her flesh, his tongue rasped and licking her blood.
"ARGH!" Amu screamed, as the pain became unbearable for her. The side of her neck where he kept biting, licking and sucking her blood began to burn and it was agonising as it felt as if her skin was about to tear apart even more. He was mad, mad for her blood like a vampire. Disgusting, she felt disgusted, scared and weak. "Someone help me," Amu tried to shout but her voice was covered quickly by his hand. Dia, Amu thought, where are you when I most need you? You were always there for me when I was in trouble so… In Amu's eyes, she suddenly saw Dia, she was smiling and in her flash back, she remembered the last thing Dia had said to her, "Promise me, you'll give it your all and then when we next meet, it will be in the Duello." Amu closed her eyes and breathed. She felt his grip on her loosening, perhaps he assumed she won't fight back but he was wrong. With all her might, Amu encased her teeth around his neck and bit hardly into his flesh just as he did to her.
"UGH!" she heard him gasp from her sudden attack and taking this opportunity, Amu pushed him away from her. Swiftly she grabbed her umbrella on the floor and without hesitating, whacked him across the head with it, making sure he stayed well away from her. "I'VE GOT a DUELLO TO ATTEND IN 5 MONTHS TIME GODDAMMT," she shouted, pointing the tip of the umbrella towards him, "I'M SUPPOSED TO BE STRONG… I PROMISED I WOULD BE STRONG. I WON'T DIE HERE YOU MONSTER!" She took a few deep breaths and waited to see what he was going to do but he didn't move or say anything. Amu slowly backed away from him, all whilst her gaze never leaving him until she was next to the entrance of the staircase. She took one last look at him, whose face she can't see any more as his lush navy hair covered it, but she remembered those piercing eyes of his and she turned to run. Who was he? Amu pondered as she ran, he had such an immense killing aura around him… anyway this place is not just creepy, it's extremely dangerous. I can't trust that brat to be on his own, where is he that silly Yoru?
Entering into a new level, Amu found herself no longer alone but was now standing in a room full of angered guards. She backed away from them, noticing their urgent behaviour. What's going on? She wondered, but she didn't have time to think as a guard already began approaching her. Amu held out her umbrella in a defensive stance, ready to fight if the guard got any closer.
"Miss, what are you doing here?" the guard questioned but his manner was rather polite and too nice for Amu to believe.
Amu simply didn't answer.
"The party's on the ground floor. Why have you wondered all the way up to the eighth floor? Do you know this is a prison?"
"Pardon," was the best Amu could utter. But she was relatively surprised she had already gotten this far down the Tower, though her journey of running down wasn't particularly short or pleasant.
Another guard spoke up, "Miss, you better make your way down to the party or you'll miss the main part and it's rather dangerous on these upper floors. One Prisoner has escaped from their cell."
An escaped Prisoner, Amu pondered, could it be Yoru's already freed his brother? Are they already on the run… no wait… what if the prisoner that escaped is that…monster I saw…
One guard held his hand out towards Amu now. "Miss, I'll escort you back to the party."
No matter what the situation is, Amu decided, it's convenient these stupid guards are mistaking me for their guest. I might as well make my way to the ground floor where the party is. Yoru I'll find you for sure. Amu took the guards hand and put on a very meek smile, "I'm so sorry. I must've wondered too far."
"Just don't do it again ma'am," the guard said, leading her down. Amu saw how the other guards still desperately searched for their escaped prisoner. Just who is clever enough to escape, Amu wondered as she surveyed her surroundings. There was no sign of Yoru anywhere. It seemed the old man's words were right. The guards were focussed on the lower levels and they increased with each level towards the ground floor.
They finally arrived on the ground floor where surprisingly, it was void of any prison cells. There was unmistakably the main entrance, where a further iron gate was placed before the metallic looking door that led into this Tower from the outside. Directly opposite of the door was the only room on the entire floor. Those massive ebony dyed doors with two guards at either side guarding it and a very glamorous golden door knob to accompany it. Amu gulped, taking big strides towards the door as the guard proceeded ahead of her and opened it, revealing the wild within.
Lights dazzled her sight as Amu stepped into the room that was filled with whispers, cheers, noise and many people, women, men of all ages. The only thing that they had in common though, was they all seemed very wealthy, their attire that from a high social status. The semi-circular room itself was splendid; a bold splash or red carpet against the grey brick walls of the Tower and the elegant ebony furniture with gold curtains hanging around. If anything the setting of this room made it seem like a theatre but with servings of refreshments as extra and the few servants attending the rich guests.
"What is this?" Amu uttered in disbelief, "This is a prison isn't it?"
"Hey newcomer," a middle-aged woman called out, "the girl with the red umbrella. Come here."
Knowing the woman was calling for her, Amu went over, wanting to know what all this was about. "Madam?"
"Which family are you from?" the woman directly asked, "You look very young. Did you accompany your father here?"
Amu swallowed, "indeed Madam. This is my very first time here."
The woman nodded, "where is he? Your father that is."
"Attending to last minute affairs," Amu lied, "he dropped me off here so I could get a head start before he comes back. Very inconvenient won't you say? I always tell father to stress less but he just won't listen."
"Men are most charming when they work, young lady," the woman said, "so who are you going to choose? Have you seen the photos of the goods? I've my eyes set on one already."
"The goods…" Amu repeated, confused, though she already wasn't concentrating on the woman. Instead her gaze was fixed sternly upon Yoru who was sitting very still a few rows down. There was no mistake that was him alright, she recognised him straight away. Ignoring the woman, Amu got up and swiftly made her way towards Yoru; her intention was obviously to grab him, scold him and together they'd leave this weird place.
As soon as she got to Yoru, Amu wasted no time and grabbed his shoulders, angrily saying, "you little brat. Do you know how worried I was about you? Do you know what kind of dangers I got into and how freaking tiring it was to run all the way down to here?"
Yoru didn't move nor did he say something. Assuming Yoru was doing this deliberately, Amu pinched his cheeks hard and he let out a small whimper but she covered his mouth up quick with her hand, not wanting any attention. "Let's hurry and leave before we're found out. This place is weird; this party is weird, everything here is weird. We'll have to think of another way to see your brother." She took hold of his arm and tucked at him but he didn't move.
"I can't go," Yoru simply said, looking at Amu intently. He stared at her hard, hoping she'd realise that something was wrong.
"Why can't we?" Amu questioned, "If you want to see your brother then I said we'll have to…"
The lights suddenly went out and Amu began to panic but looking around her, the other people didn't seem to bother and instead were getting more excited. Then the lights right at the front of the room switched on, illuminating the small stage where a man stood before the red curtains behind him. "Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to tonight's big event."
The crowd cheered and Amu reluctantly sat beside Yoru.
"To start things off," the presenter shouted, "we have the newcomer. The beautiful and shy fit to be dominated, to be used by any of you, or to be pampered by you for its adorable form. The price is set at 10 000 bronze." The red curtains slowly began to rise up, revealing what was behind the presenter. "Ladies and gentlemen, the first good offered to you tonight, the petty thief who had just entered our world."
Amu let out a big gasp as her shaky hands covered her mouth. Tied with chains to a chair sat a prisoner, his mouth sealed with black duct tape. Bare and naked, only just covered with a dirty looking rag that draped loosely over his scarred and bleeding body, it was a hideous sight. Amu instinctively grabbed onto Yoru's hand beside her. "This… this is human auction…" she whispered still unable to believe her eyes. They were selling off prisoners to the rich as slaves in this Tower. This was wrong, this was illegal.
The presenter walked over to the silently still prisoner and slowly lifted his head so that everyone in the room can inspect the good. As soon as Amu saw his face, she felt her body shiver from fear. "It's him…" she gasped again, "that man who sucked my blood but why?" She couldn't breathe for a few seconds, her gaze fixed upon the man tied on the stage. That navy blue hair, those piercing blue and crimson eyes… "His eyes," Amu stammered, "they're both sapphire blue. His left eye isn't red?" Amu calmed down a little and studied his expression, his face. Indeed it resembled that monster that had attacked her before, but he was different. She didn't feel the same killing intent, nor the wild aura and even his eyes, they were weak, vulnerable, and not the piercing ones she was scared of.
Hands began to rise up and shout from the crowd. The bidding had already begun. The price had already risen quite a lot from 10 000 bronze to 10 000 silver. It was mainly the women in the room calling and Amu understood why. That man was beautiful, his shivering form beckoned for sympathy and his scared face and hopeless expression simply made women crave to comfort him. He just simply had a pretty face, but Amu won't be fooled by it. Are they the same person? Amu wondered, this prisoner looks way too weak and defenceless. He's so different but I can't shake it off that they are the same person. Doesn't matter, this place is giving me the creeps. It's not safe staying here.
Amu stood up and pulled at Yoru, "hurry, we're going to leave this place."
Yoru didn't move.
Amu got more desperate, "please Yoru, I promise we'll find a way to get to your brother later ok?"
Yoru still didn't move so Amu sat back down trying to grab both his hands but she stopped. "Yoru," Amu whispered, seeing the tears drop down his face. "What's wrong?" Amu asked worried as she wiped his tears. "I know this might be a shocking scene to a kid like you but…"
"Brother," Yoru cried in a faint and strained voice, "Brother…brother Ikuto…"
Amu paused in her actions again. She stared at Yoru then looked at the prisoner being sold. The same blue hair… how could I not notice before, Amu thought, they're brothers. No way…
"Help my brother…." Yoru whimpered through his sobs. "Brother…Ikuto…"
"I can't process all this now," Amu began, "I'm sorry Yoru, we're going to have to leave now. Please understand…"
Amu tugged at Yoru again but he still didn't move.
Yoru held back his tears, "I can't move. Can't you tell? I'm stuck. You run away before…"
"Before I get to greet you," a woman's voice suddenly whispered into Amu's ears.
The woman clasped her hand around Amu's neck, "so you must be the other witch. The scent of magic that came from the boy is the same as yours."
Amu didn't move but she sensed magic coming from this woman. She was a witch too. Why was she here? Now that she took a good look at Yoru, she finally understood why Yoru wouldn't move. This witch must have casted a spell on him. Amu gritted her teeth, she was too careless.
"What are you going to do?" Amu asked, "Kill me or cast a spell to get me into trouble? You'll be breaking the rules if you did that here in front of all these commoners."
"Oh," the Witch mused, "honestly speaking, if I killed you and the boy here now, I doubt the commoners would notice until the end of the auction. Look, the lights are dim and all attention is focussed on that prisoner on stage. Really now for a high level witch as me, it's easy."
"Leave the boy out of this," Amu said, "he's not a witch. You won't gain anything from harming him. If you want to illuminate me from the Duello then at least give me a chance to properly fight instead of killing me off through such a way."
"What makes you think I'm doing this for the Duello?" the witch asked. Her grip on Amu's neck tightened, "I want to know why you are in this Tower. You're after it too aren't you?"
"I don't know what you are talking about-"
The witch dug her nail into Amu's neck; right on the spot where the knife wound was and Amu gripped onto the withes hand hard, supressing her voice from the pain.
"You're after the seventh treasure aren't you…" the witch hissed into Amu's ear, "I won't let you take it. The seventh treasure is mine."