okay, here is chapter 7. im lazy and out of it, so please just read the following words...yeah...and sentences..until you reach the end...im gonna go take a nap...zzzz.....
Red Rose
Chapter 7
The next day
"Hey, is everything okay with Zoe?" Tommy asked Nana as they made their way to school.
Nana sighed, a sad expression on her face. "No, not really. She's having trouble sleeping and keeps having nightmares."
"About the facility?" He inquired, curious.
"I'm not sure, but I think they're about the people she's killed. She hasn't told me this, but I think that's the cause of her nightmares. It comes back to haunt her every day," she told him. "This is why I'm so against killing....I don't know if I could handle the guilt...."
The boy hesitated for a moment, then asked her another question. "Do you....do you know how many people she's killed?"
Nana shook her head. "No, I don't have an exact number. I think it might be over a hundred though.... Papa told me a little about her while I was in the facility, but not much."
"Wow....." Tommy's voice trailed off.
"Yeah...." Nana looked uncomfortable, but then smiled. "Oh, hey. I can see the school."
"Well, at least we're almost there," he replied.
Just then, they heard a loud beeping noise coming up from behind them in the distance.
"What's that?" Nana asked, stopping dead in her tracks.
"Sounds like someone honking the horn in their car," Tommy said. "And whoever it is, they're coming down the street fast. We better move just in case they don't see us."
He pulled her off the side of the road, and onto the grassy lawn in front of someone's house. In the distance, he could see a silver car speeding down the road, and he could also hear angry cursing.
"Shit!" Tommy dragged Nana next to a nearby bush, huddling down with her.
"Tommy? What are you doing?" Nana asked him.
Instead, Tommy put his finger to his lips, signalling for her to keep quiet. A moment later, the silver car whizzed past them, bulleting down the road. After a few seconds, Tommy gently pulled Nana up, his face pale.
Nana gave him a worried look. "Who was that, Tommy? Who was in the car?"
"My stepfather, Kiyoto...." Tommy replied sullenly. "I recognized his car and his voice as he was yelling. It was definitely him."
They began to walk down the street again, making their way to the school.
"Sorry I dragged you into the bush," he apologized. "I just didn't want him to see me, or even you for that matter. If he finds me, I'm screwed."
Nana took his hand into hers, giving it a light squeeze. "Don't worry, Tommy. He won't be able to find you."
"I hope so," he said, his face still lacking color. "I can't let him see me, no matter what. Now let's go to school."
Tommy led her to the building, his eyes constantly scanning their surroundings. Minutes later, they were safely inside the school building, safe from the dangers outside.
Unbeknownst to him, the same silver car was parked down the street, hidden behind a pick-up truck.
Kiyoto smirked, then lit a cigarette. "See you soon, kid...."
With that, he peeled out of his parking space and bulleted down the street again.
At the facility
Director Kakuzawa stared at the two Dicloniuses, his expression stern.
"I want the both of you to return by six o'clock tonight," he told them in a firm voice. "If you are so much as a second late, I'll detonate the explosives. Do I make myself clear?"
Kanae rolled her eyes. "Yeah, sure. Whatever...And why can't I just wear the clothes that I was wearing when you fucking kidnapped me? I like those better."
"Don't argue with me," he hissed. "What you're wearing is fine, so stop complaining."
Kanae sighed, looking down at her outfit. She was wearing a pair of white jeans, a light blue tank top, and white sneakers. Two white ribbons were concealing her horns.
"But I don't like white and light blue!" She complained. "I like red and black. Besides, Masaki gets to wear something that looks okay."
Masaki had on a pair of dark blue jeans as well as a black hooded sweatshirt. He had pulled his hood up to conceal his horns, as he had refused to wear the baseball cap that they offered to him.
"Quit whining and let's just go," he said in a bored voice.
Kanae gave him a rude gesture, then looked back at Kakuzawa. "So, let me get this straight. All you want us to do for now is find that girl and then try to figure out how powerful she is, right?"
"Correct," Kakuzawa replied. "Don't attack her or even make yourselves noticable to her. Just watch from the sidelines and report back to me tonight."
"This is going to be fucking boring," Kanae muttered.
Masaki glanced at her. "For now at least."
"So do you you understand the mission?" Kakuzawa asked impatiently.
"Yes," they replied unanimously.
"Good, now go," he ordered them. "And remember, six o'clock."
Kanae snorted. "I think we can remember six o'clock seeing how you've already said it a hundred times."
Before Kakuzawa could say something in return, Masaki sighed.
"Let's just go already," he said to Kanae. "I want to find this girl."
"Fine," Kanae huffed.
"Itami! Silverman!" Kakuzawa called out.
The two scientists rushed over. "Yes, Director Kakuzawa?"
"Please escort Numbers Forty-Five and Fifty-One to the front exit," he told them.
"Yes, sir," they replied, then turned to the Dicloniuses. "Right this way."
Silverman and Itami led them to the front of the building, where a large set of metal doors awaited them.
"Right out through those doors," Silverman said, jerking her head slightly to exit. "It will be about a half hour walk to town, where you will begin your mission to find Zoe."
"Wait, we have to walk to town?" Kanae asked unbelievingly. "That's ridiculous! Why can't we get dropped off?"
Masaki raised an eyebrow. "You act as though you've never walked that distance before. Are you really that high-maintainence?"
"High-maintainence?! I'll show high-maintainence!" She raised her hand to slap him, only to be slammed into a wall by his vectors.
Itami and Silverman exchanged nervous glances, but were too shocked to say anything. Coming between two Dicloniuses was not a very intelligent idea.
Masaki made his way over to Kanae's fallen body and crouched down in front of her, his navy eyes dark. "Don't you dare screw this up for us. If I have to put up working with you, then you better control your temper and stop being so wreckless. Do you understand?"
Kanae glared at him. "You fucking bastard! You can't tell me what to do!"
"I can't tell you what to do, but I have no problems ripping your head off if you blow our cover or purposely cause attention to yourself. If you do something like that, you'll regret it...."
The girl was still glowering at him, but she looked terrified nonetheless. "....Fine....Just don't touch me again!"
She shakily rose to her feet, brushing herself off. With that, she stormed out of the building, letting the doors slam shut behind her. Masaki looked at Silverman and Itami.
"See you tonight," he said, a tiny smirk curling on his lips.
He then followed Kanae out of the facility, on a hunt for Zoe.
Silverman let out a pent-up sigh. "That Kanae girl might be an annoying little brat, but the guy....he creeps the hell out of me..."
"Me too," Itami replied. "I hope they don't cause any trouble while they're out."
"For some reason, I don't think they'll be all that docile while they're out in public," Silverman speculated.
"Just as long as they don't get caught or noticed," the man said.
An hour later
"Kouji, where the hell are the chips?" Takuya asked, rummaging through his cabinets.
"....Uh...what?" Kouji responded from the other room, intent on a movie. "What did you say?"
Takuya sighed. "The chips! Where are they?"
"How the fuck do I know?" Kouji shot back. "Now shut up, I'm trying to watch this!"
"Bastard probably ate them all....dammit...." He sighed, looking through the rest of the cabinets. "Come to think of it, we are running a bit low on food. Better run into town and pick some up."
He made his way into the other room and grabbed his wallet. At the moment, Kouichi, Kouji and Zoe were sitting on the couch, watching Scarface.
"Say hello to my little friend!" Kouichi said loudly, quoting the movie.
"Can we watch anything without you quoting it?" Kouji asked, annoyed. "Now shut the hell up..."
Takuya shoved his wallet into his pocket and glanced at them. "I'm running into town to pick up some groceries. Does anyone want to come with me?"
"No," Kouichi and Kouji replied absently.
"I'll go," Zoe said, getting off the couch. "I'm tired of watching this movie. I think they've already watched it four times in the past week."
Kouji turned up the volume. "Hey, what can I say? Scarface is a classic and never gets old."
"Trust me, it does," Takuya muttered. "Alright, let's go Zoe. It's a nice day out so you don't need a jacket or anything."
"Okay," she replied, following him out the door. "See you guys later."
"Later," the guys replied monotonely, almost in a trance.
The couple walked outside, where Wanta was excitedly bouncing around. He yipped, clearly in a playful mood.
"Later, Wanta." They gave him a quick pat on his head, then took off.
Takuya and Zoe made their way towards town at a leisurely pace, enjoying the warm breeze. Takuya couldn't help but notice the way the light wind rustled Zoe's tank top, giving him sneak peeks of her cleavage. Without realizing it, he had walked straight into a telephone pole.
"Ow! Sonofabitch..." He rubbed his aching forehead, feeling like a complete fool.
The blond didn't laugh, however, and gave him a look of concern. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a small bump," he grumbled, too embarrassed to look up.
Zoe placed her hands on either side of his head, and leaned up to gently kiss his forehead. "Do you feel any better?"
Takuya smiled. "Actually, I'm feeling much better already."
Just as he was about to close in for a kiss, a loud voice called out to him.
"Hey, wait up!"
Annoyed, he turned to see Kouichi running over to them, a wad of cash in his hands.
"Come to add requests for the groceries?" Takuya asked dryly.
Kouichi shook his head. "Nah, I'm gonna come with you."
"Really? What happened to Scarface?" He inquired, a bit disappointed that he was not going to be alone with Zoe.
"You know how Kouji gets while he watches movies. He points out everyone's flaws and then says what he would've done differently. It gets really damn annoying," Kouichi replied.
Takuya raised an eyebrow as they continued to walk towards town. "As oppose to your endless quoting?"
"Hey, it's still not as bad as him," he defended himself. "Besides, now I can pick out some other stuff while we're at the store. And you won't have to pay as much."
"Yeah, true," Takuya mused. "The least you guys can do is pay for your own damn food....it's not like I have a money tree in the backyard...."
"I stole some cash out of Kouji's wallet, too. That way, he contributes to the food bill as well," Kouichi added.
Twenty minutes later, they were coming up to the center of town, the grocery store in sight. Zoe yawned, her eyes heavy with exhaustion.
"You okay?" Takuya asked her, knowing all too well about her lack of sleep.
"Yeah, I'm fine," she said. "Just a bit tired."
Kouichi glanced at her. "What exactly happened last night? I mean, if you don't mind me asking...."
"No, it's okay. I just had a nightmare, that's all," she told him.
"Yeah, a nightmare so bad that you cried for almost an hour," Takuya said with a look of concern. "What was it about?"
Zoe's eyes darkened and she couldn't bring herself to look at him. "I....I don't want to talk about it right now, okay?"
Takuya opened his mouth to say something, but thought better of it. Instead, he gave Zoe a comforting smile and took her hand into his.
"About time you got yourself a girlfriend," Kouichi said with a laugh.
"You're one to talk," Takuya shot back.
The raven-haired teen shrugged. "Eh, eventually. I'm not in the process of looking for one any time soon."
"Suit yourself," the brunette replied.
The store was close by now, only about two minutes away. As Takuya dug into his pocket for his wallet, it fell out and dropped to the ground. Before he could pick it up, Kouichi swooped by and grabbed it.
"Haha! I'm going to buy myself a Playstation 3 so that I don't have to share with you and Kouji!" He teased, running off.
"Hey, get back here, you little bastard!" Takuya ran off in pursuit of him, half-amused and half-agitated by his friend's antics.
Zoe rushed after them. "Hey, wait up!"
As they drew closer, they barely noticed a group of men cutting down a tree. The tree began to fall, right where Takuya and Kouichi were heading. By the time they noticed, the tree was well on its way to crushing them.
"Oh, shit!" They exclaimed, the tree only a few feet above them.
"Takuya! Kouichi! Look out!" Zoe cried out in horror.
oh! first real cliffhanger! no, there wont be a million cliffhangers, but i decided that this was a good time to end this chapter. so let me know what you think and the next chapter will be out soon.