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I have a confession: I tweaked the chapters a little. Nothing plot related. Just a few inconsistencies.
Chapter 9
Live to Die Another Day
Allen's breath cut into his lungs with enough burn to diminish the pain in his shoulder. He could hear Road somewhere not far behind, cackling with her sadist's smile and wicked candles. He wanted to get away from that creepy girl, but escape from the Ark was impossible.
Allen turned on a corner, mind racing and not paying attention to what was in front of him. He ran face first into the wall of the dead-end. The boy fell onto his back. The force jarred his shoulder and agony lanced through him. A cold shiver ran up his spine and he slowly turned his head in fear of what he would find.
Sure enough, Road stood at the entrance of the little alcove. Her pink tongue lapped at the broken tip of the candle covered in Allen's blood.
"Allen~" she sang in a voice that had been pitched too high and too sweet. "You poor thing; it looks like you failed."
The boy scrambled back against the wall, frightened like a caged animal.
"Leave me alone!" He snapped. The Noah of Dreams gave him a pitying look as she kept advancing towards him.
"We thought you might have some fight in you but I suppose you're simply another causality in this war."
Road now stood in front of Allen. Her arm was raised above her head and her eyes were cold. He squeezed his eyes shut as that candle stick fell down towards him, about to end his life.
A moment passed but no pain accompanied the blow.
"Time is up Road," said an amused voice. "The boy will live to die another day."
Allen blinked up at his savior, already recognizing the voice. There stood Tyki Mikk, staying the girl's hand and therefore the deadly candle.
"But Uncle Tyki," she protested. The man shook his head firmly.
"Earl's orders," he replied. He let go of Road and used the same hand to grab Allen's collar and haul him up. The boy yelped in pain.
The girl gave a reluctant sigh of defeat. "Fine!"
She stomped off through the streets, leaving the two enemies alone.
"So you aren't going to kill me?" Allen asked weakly. He was still in shock after coming so close to being among the ranks of the dead.
Tyki looked down at the boy for a long moment. "Not yet. But you are going to die if we don't get your wound bound up and taken care of."
::+::+::+: ϒ :+::+::+::
Allen didn't trust Tyki as far as he could throw him (which meant he didn't trust him AT ALL), unfortunately he didn't see any other choice except to let the Noah treat him.
Before he did anything, the Noah passed his hand through Allen's shoulder. The boy forced down a shudder as the man withdrew the broken tip of the candle, surprised that it did not hurt.
"So what would you like to talk about, Shounen?" Tyki asked conversationally. He had just brought with him a bowl of water, a bottle of wine, a few rags, bandages, a needle, and thread. He calmly dipped one of the rags into the bowl, wringing out the excess water.
"What is there to talk about?" Allen growled. He immediately hissed in pain as the Noah put the rag against the bleeding wound.
"Sorry," Tyki apologized without looking particularly apologetic. He wiped the red stain from the pale skin and gently washed out the wound. "You have nothing you want to say to your captor right now, Shounen?"
"A few insults maybe," muttered Allen. Tyki put down the water rag and picked up another one. He poured wine into it and firmly grabbed the junction between neck and shoulder.
"What are you—" Allen broke off in a scream of agony. The wine soaked rag was over the gaping wound. He began to thrash in pain. Tyki forced the boy down in a singular motion and continued to disinfect the wound.
After a few moments the initial burn diminished and the boy slowly relaxed.
"You're pretty lucky," Tyki told him. "The alcohol will damage some of the nerves and make the stitching less painful."
"It won't hurt?" Allen asked hopefully. The Noah laughed as he discarded that rag and threaded the needle.
"It will still hurt," he assured the boy. The Noah of Pleasure pressed the needle into the pale skin with malicious intent.