Blarg. No more cliffhangers for a while. I am so sorry for the late updates. I had a terrible accident back in early June and had to have surgery and was bedridden until mid-September. But I'm better now and ready to being forth the angst!

Shock shock shock.

X X X

Topaz managed to kick it off of her with her strong uninjured leg and then she got a good look at it.

Pale scarred skin and bruises, beaten to a bloody raw pulp, dark chocolate hair, glow-in-the-dark eyes, split lip, battered skeleton-thin body…for a moment, Topaz's heart turned to lead in her chest and skipped a few beats.

Law…

Oh God, please, no…

The man leaped for her, mouth falling open, teeth bared in a snarl of rage and pain. He grabbed Topaz by her shoulders and slammed her into the wall brutally hard. Her head knocked against it, bounced, and stars danced in front of her eyes.

"Traf–" Her voice cracked off as he drove his fist into her stomach and she doubled over, heaving and retching. He got his foot on her chest and shoved her back into the wall, pushing all the air from her lungs with a whoosh. Their bodies were so close, she could feel the burning heat coming off of him.

Then, she looked up into the young man's face, managing to cradle it between her palms. His lips pulled back over his teeth.

Law-!

It wasn't him…!

Topaz shoved her gun into the young man's ribcage and fired off a round. He staggered back, howling and screaming in agony. Blood gushed across the floor, spreading in a thick waxy pool across the tile. Her leg gave out, slamming her to her knees.

"Shit, no," Topaz swore as her leg spread limply out in front of her. She grabbed it by the brace and tried to heave herself back to her feet using the wall for support.

Bellamy was laughing. "Jeez, sweetheart, that was powerful. Go on, slave, get her. Finish her off!"

The young man launched himself at her again. Topaz scrambled to avoid him, but her leg gave out again. She slammed into the tile and the slave rammed through the wall. If she had been between him and the wall, she would have been crushed like an unripe fruit.

In the cloud of plaster dust, Topaz saw Bellamy pulling a knife from a sheath in his boot.

She scrambled to her feet again and tried to run but Bellamy caught her by her caramel hair and jerked her back. She felt the ice-cold edge of his knife digging into her side, pressing between her ribs. She got her elbow into his gut and his breath rushed from his lungs. He shook her by her hair, lifting her from the floor.

A scream welled up in Topaz's throat and she was forced to drop her gun. It clattered and spun, sliding beneath the kitchen table, out of reach. Bellamy had her other gun shoved in the waistband of his jeans just above his crotch. She squeezed her eyes shut and allowed her body to dangle by her hair. Then, she reached for her second gun and was squeezing the trigger even as she was pulling the weapon free.

Bellamy screamed in pure agony and dropped her. He fell, gripping the bloody remains of his crotch and trying to stem the rush of blood.

Topaz landed on her good leg at a strange angle, wrenching her ankle. She was unable to stand anymore but Bellamy couldn't get up either. She had blown off his cock in a way he didn't enjoy.

Somewhere in the house, Topaz could hear the slave crashing around. Quickly, quietly, she dragged herself into a sitting position and leveled the gun at Bellamy's writhing form.

"Where is Law-kun?" Topaz demanded. Despite the bruises, grime and blood that covered her, she looked dangerous, clearly ready to put him down if she had to.

Bellamy started laughing almost hysterically. "Are you going to shoot me, Topaz?"

She nodded.

He laughed again.

The slave slammed into her from behind, smashing her face into the cold tile with a crack. Her teeth plunged through her lip and blood flooded her mouth. Choking and gagging, she tried to fight her way from beneath the young man.

"Stop, please!" She screamed. "I don't want to hurt you! Stop!"

He got his hands around her throat and squeezed. Black dotted her vision and she squeezed her eyes tightly shut. She got her gun between them and fired a burning bullet directly into his heart. The slave collapsed on top of her, crushing the air from her lungs and smothering her.

Gasping, Topaz struggled beneath him.

Bellamy got up, holding himself and blood dripping between his legs. He stood over Topaz so that the hot blood splattered on her face.

"Well, well, sweetheart, I guess we die together." He said with a throaty sound of pain. "You shot off my dick."

She spat. "Sucks to be you."

More blood dripped on her face, got into her eyes. Bellamy reached down his pants and there was a horrible sound as he pulled his cock free from whatever tendrils of flesh that had been holding it to his body. The bloody meat barely resembled a body part. It was just a lump of flesh and he fell to his knees by Topaz's head. She turned her face away when he tried to put it into her gasping mouth.

"It's worse to be you, Topaz," He said. "You don't know where you're slave is, do you?"

She turned and looked at him.

His face was pale and his eyes were without light. "All I wanted was you to be with me, Topaz. I just wanted you, but you wouldn't have me."

"You hurt me!"

Bellamy slapped her and then laid his severed dick on her chest. "Sticks and stones, love. You broke my heart and I broke yours. Let's see if your Law will ever look upon your face again with those eyes of his," he snarled. "You know where he is…"

Then, Bellamy died, the blood loss too great. He slumped over Topaz's exposed face. The rest of her body was pinned beneath the dead slave. Each breath was more shallow and coppery with spilled blood. Unable to breathe, darkness once again took her, as it had when Bellamy destroyed her leg in the little shack in the woods…

…

Kuronue and Ryou pulled up the drive, parked, and quickly dashed through the rain to Topaz's's porch. Ryou rang the doorbell and they waited. Topaz did not come to the door and there was dead quiet inside the dark house.

"Topaz-chan!" Ryou shouted.

Kuronue pounded his fist on the door.

They exchanged glances.

Something was wrong! With a ferocious snarl and mighty kick, Kuronue beat down the door and they rushed inside.

There was a pile of bodies in the kitchen–Bellamy and his tormented slave, in a spreading puddle of blood. Topaz was laid out on the tile, unconscious and covered in dark blood. Sitting beside her and quietly smoothing her caramel hair was Bellamy's abused female slave. She looked up when Ryou and Kuronue entered the kitchen. Terror crossed her face and she grabbed the fallen gun. She put it into her mouth and her eyes rolled white with fear.

"Don't!" Ryou shouted.

She pulled the trigger and the chamber clicked empty.

Ryou managed to capture her in his arms and he shushed her, rocking slightly, back and forth, back and forth. "Kuronue! Topaz is…?"

Kuronue knelt beside her and pressed his fingers to her throat. "Alive. She's alive." He went to fetch a phone and call an ambulance, leaving Ryou with Topaz and the slave girl.
Bellamy was dead. His reign of terror on Topaz's life was over. Dead and gone.

She gripped the front of Ryou's shirt in her beaten hands and made a gun with her hands. She put it to her temple and looked imploringly at Ryou. She pulled the trigger finger, pleading for death, begging.

Ryou shook his head. "No, it's alright. It's alright now. You don't need to die."

She just kept pulling the trigger.

X X X

Questions, comments, concerns?