23
"Haruka!" Michiru yelled out to the tall blonde woman laying on the grass.
And a sigh of relieve escaped her when she saw her opening her eyes, and looking up back at her for a second, before she stood up, running away.
"Damn, crazy woman!" she cursed, turning around.
But she knew she couldn't really blame her. She would probably do the same in her place...
She looked at the black haired girl, still froze on her spot on the floor, and she walled up to her. Her stomach hurt, but she didn't care. She knelt next to Hotaru, softly caressing her silken hair.
"Are you alright?" she asked, fully aware of just how stupid that question sounded.
Hotaru blinked at her, silent tears running down her pretty face "What's gonna happen to Hikari?" she asked, her voice a trembling whisper "To Haruka....?"
"Nothing!" she assured her, wanting so much to believe her own words, but failing miserably "Nothing's gonna happen to them" she said, feeling more scared than ever before in her entire life.
She swallowed her own tears, standing up and walking to the door. She tried the knob a couple of times, already knowing she wasn't going to open it by just pulling from it. She let out a frustrated sigh, and took a look around the room, searching for something, anything, that would help her open the damned door.
...
"What are you doing?" Makoto asked the concentrated looking brown haired man. She was getting desperate by now, and he seemed to be doing only God knew what, asking her to trust him...
She growled at him when he didn't provide any answer to her question, and was about to say something to the damn dense man, when she felt the woman next to her starting to wake up.
"Welcome to the world of the living" she said, sarcastically, the moment big, confused blue eyes looked back at her.
Nephrite cursed profusely, and when a scream coming from somewhere on the house reached them, he cursed again.
Minako's eyes went wide open then, as Makoto started desperately to try to free herself, only to get her wrists hurt. She knew she was going to start bleeding any moment now, but she didn't care. She had to get up there! She had to help Haruka!
"Damn it!" she exclaimed, as the robs sunk deep into her flesh, blinking the tears the pain caused away.
"Got it!" she heard Nephrite exclaimed, and she looked up at him in time to see him bending down, cutting off the robs that were tiding his legs to the chair with a pocket knife.
She saw trails of blood coming from his hands, and she winced, guessing he had cut himself more than once. But when he finally stood up, making his way to her, kneeling down and working on her robs, she smiled at him.
"I swear, I could kiss you right now" she said, excitedly.
He glared at her "If I untie you now, you have to promise you'll stay here until I say so" he said to her, pointing a finger at her.
"Hell no!" she said "I'm gonna kill that asshole!"
"Makoto!" he exclaimed, getting exasperated now "Promise you'll stay here" he insisted, now looking at the young blonde woman too "Both of you!"
The brunette girl narrowed her eyes at him, and was about to say something, when the sound of desperate screams reached their ears, along with the sound of someone running down the stairs right above them.
Makoto panicked then, looking at Nephrite.
"He's taking Hikari" she said, her voice a trembling whisper "He's taking her..." she blinked once, before looking back at Nephrite's eyes "Hurry up, do something!" she demanded.
With one swift motion, he cut the robs holding the brunette girl, and then he threw the pocket knife at her.
"Help her" he instructed, pointing at Minako, and making his way up the small stairway.
He stood by the door for a moment, looking at it, testing it with one hand, before he took one single step down, and lifted his leg, swinging the door open with one hard, strong kick. Broken wood flying everywhere.
He ran out, his eyes quickly searching for any sings, any clues that could lead him to Asuke. He stepped into the living room, and he stumbled into something. He frowned, looking down at his partner, wincing at the nice, pretty bruise starting to form on his forehead.
He bent down then, noticing Kunzite slowly coming back, so he shook his shoulders "Come on, man!" he demanded "Where is he? What happened?"
Kunzite groaned, but something else had already got Nephrite's attention.
First, the scared screams coming from somewhere outside. And then the sound of a door being savagely hit at, from one of the rooms upstairs.
And when he heard Minako and Makoto running inside the living room right behind him, he played his cards, deciding Asuke must be outside.
He stood up, looking at the women "You, stay with him" he said, pointing at the blonde young woman, as he bent down, searching for the gun he had hidden under the couch "You, go upstairs and help them" he said, looking at the brunette girl.
"Them? Who?" she asked, confused. But the glare the tall brown haired man gave her made her shut up, and follow his instructions.
She ran up the stairs, the sound of a door being hit at getting stronger now, and guiding her to Hikari's and Hotaru's bedroom door. She frowned, worried over what exactly she was going to find in there. But when a soft whimpering reached her ears from over the strong hitting sound, her green eyes went wide open, recognizing that sound.
"Hotaru?" she asked, hands up against the wooden door.
The hitting sound stopped then, and she heard a familiar voice coming from the other side.
"Makoto? Get us out if here!" was Michiru's desperate yell, as she was obviously pulling from the door knot over and over again.
"Ok, ok, just stop it before you break the lock!" she yelled back "Wait here!" she said, and almost laughed when she heard Michiru's answer to that last comment.
"And where the hell do you want me to go, exactly!"
The brunette ran inside Haruka's bedroom, right to the blonde's wardrobe, opening the second drawer on the left. She silently thanked the car racer's habit of always making copies of all the keys, as she found the set she was looking for.
She ran out again, fighting briefly with the keys on the lock, before the door flung open, and a desperately scared looking Michiru ran right out, grabbing the teenage girl by her arms.
"Where is she?" she asked. But when Makoto blinked at her, she shook her by the shoulders "Haruka! Where is she?"
Makoto frowned, really worried now "I... I don't know..."
The distant sound of a gun being fired reached them then, and they looked at each others eyes, panic evident on their faces by now.
And when a second shot soon followed, the tears Michiru had been fighting against filled her eyes, as her heart stopped beating, and she started trembling.
"Ruka... Hikari... oh God..." she breath, before she started running down the stairs in a desperate chase, praying to any and all gods up above.
"Michiru, wait!" Makoto yelled after her, ready to follow her.
But the soft crying that had first got her attention, made her turned around. Hotaru was now openly and desperately crying, still knelt down on the floor, shaking and gasping. "Shit!" the brunette cursed, before going to hold the girl.
...
She ran around the house, her heart beating hard in her ears.
Pure, raw panic forcing her to run faster than ever before in her entire life. She could hear the high pitch screams she knew all too well. Only this time, the screams were more scared, more desperate than ever.
She ran faster then, nearing the corner of the house, and spotting a white van on the entry road. A van that shouldn't be there. A van where Asuke was throwing a screaming and kicking little blonde girl, before closing the door.
Without even thinking it twice, without even caring if he was still holding that gun or not, she threw herself towards that van. Haruka didn't even knew how exactly she did it, but before she knew it she was jumping up to him.
He saw her coming, and pointed his gun at her. But the blonde woman jumped him before he could have a clear shot, making him fall down, hard on his back, as they both fought for the gun.
Somewhere in the middle of it all, the trigger got pulled, and a deafening, strong sound pierced the midday air.