Ikuto woke to the sounds of screams, which sounded too girlish to be Amu but worried him still. What if it was her? Then what would he do, the blood kept him from weakening too much but not enough to let him escape, and he found it kind of cozy here. Relatively dry and warm enough to keep him from freezing, plenty of blood to feast on and a halfling princess to terrorize. He grinned madly, his fangs glistening in the darkness. Maybe it was another meal coming.
There was a muffled thud and the screaming stopped abruptly, replaced by quiet sobs and hiccups. It surely wasn't Amu, she might have screamed, but not cried, never cried. He leaned his head on the metal bars, as far as he could, to look at the approaching light. Heavy footsteps rang through and a sound of something being dragged met his ears.
He watched quietly as a man he had never seen before, draped in fancy clothing, passed through the corridor doors, dragging behind him a girl. He pulled her arm and her knees scraped on the rough stone floor. Several blood drops fell to the ground and he watched them hungrily. She had long hair of some light colour and a nightgown on her, which fell from one shoulder like it was ripped. Her face was tear-stained and she was sobbing, not struggling anymore.
They did not notice him, because he hid in the shadows, intently listening for any sound of scuffle. There was some rustle of clothes and the girl screamed again, which was followed by a loud slap and more sobbing.
After what seemed like eternity the man finally spoke, his voice rough with age.
„You will fucking do as I say or he dies."
„NO!"
„Am I understood?" The voice was sleek, but it held an undertone of authority, and Ikuto finally recognized the slight stench he had smelled when the man had dragged the girl in. One of those two was a halfling, and not a demonic descent either, but angelic. He did not like to mess with angels, they tended to give him a hard time before he finished them off.
„No, I w-won't do it, I-I can't." A growl was heard and the slam of doors alerted him to the man.
„You will have some time to think about it, and if you don't choose wisely, you might just end as someones dinner." The man jerked his head towards Ikuto's cell and walked away. His footsteps fading until the disappeared.
He could smell the salty water in the air, and he knew the girl was silently weeping. His chest suddenly tightened and he felt some sort of feeling pass through him. He shuddered, it was an ugly feeling, he tought it was called...pity?
He didn't know, he never learned to properly feel and recognize these things. They usually passed of their own accord.
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
Amu upturned the whole castle and it's surroundings, searched by the horses and even by the pond to find her friend, but there was no trace of the girl. It was as if she had vanished into thin air.
In the morning, when Amu had woken up, something felt off, and it took her a second longer to realize that she had woken alone. No squealing girl and no bouncing pigtails. Just the chirping of birds and a soft breeze.
Amu walked back to the stables, intent on finding the stable boy. She couldn't remember the name. Kuki perhaps? It didn't matter in the end, because if he knew something he better prayed to god he wasn't guilty, because she would castrate him. And she really would, literally.
Whistling pierced her ears and she ducked behind the wooden planks, observing the boy, young man, brush a horse. She hissed and the animal suddenly rose to its hindquarters, neighing loudly. The caretaker jerked back in surprise, falling over onto the floor, and Amu was upon him before he could blink.
There was something in those eyes that rubbed Kukai the wrong way, but he could ponder about it later when there wasn't a mad princess straddling him in a really awkward position, which she didn't seem to realize, or just didn't care.
„Where is she?" Amu growled out, her hands sneaking around his neck to choke the answers out of him.
„Where did you take her, you bastard?!" Kukai was never more confused in his life, well maybe there was that one time...
„Huh?"
„Don't you fucking huh me, where is Utau?!" Oh, the blonde gothic angel that visited him yesterday.
„You mean the blonde girl?" Amu barred her teeth at him, and he watched a pair of fangs glisten in the light.
„Yes, I know you did something to her, now tell...me..where...she..is." She ground out, her teeth clenched.
„I swear I didn't do anything to her, but I promise I'll help you find her."
„Liar."
„No, I really want to help you find her, to make sure she's, you know..." Amu raised an eyebrow.
„Safe." He finished meekly, suddenly blushing. And that was answer enough to Amu, the boy was guilt free. She grumbled and stood, dusting herself off.
„Just stay here, lumphead." She turned and ran, wishing to find her friend.
„H-Hey." Kukai spluttered behind her, some of his dignity returning.
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
Amu couldn't sleep that night. She kept turning and rearranging her pillows, trying to ease her mind from worries. And finally, after she had fallen asleep, nightmares plagued her mind.
Two girls were running around the garden, their dresses fluttering as they played. The pink haired one caught up to the blonde and they fell to the grass, both giggling madly.
„Utau, Utau let's play once more!" The blonde smiled at the pinkette and giggled again.
„Okay, you're it!" And they run off together again.
Suddenly the scene changed and an older Amu was running towards a fallen form, her screams echoing around her. She fell to her knees next to the figure and sobbed into their chest, their blood staining her clothes.
„Utau! Utau! No!" Tears streamed down her cheeks and a deep, choking ache settled against her heart. She shook the dead girl but she wouldn't wake.
„Don't leave me Uatu!" Her screams subsided but salty drops still freely fell down her face.
„Not you too." She whispered before falling face first into the blondes stomach.
And Ikuto got a good look at the fallen girls horror stricken face, her azure eyes and matted, blonde hair.
Ikuto woke up gasping for air, his heart beating rapidly. That was not normal, he had never ever before even seen the girl, much less dreamed of her. But something struck him as very odd. She very much resembled both the girl he had seen yesterday and, surprisingly, his mother. Such a shade of silvery blonde was very rare, especially that long and silky, and those eyes, they were also like his mothers, just a few shades lighter and more violet than his own.
And the probability that he would get this girl tomorrow for lunch was also very high.
I am so sorry for not updating earlier but I had like eleven tests in the last three weeks and then those blitz tests, I hate those things, anyways I spent my weekends and afternoons studying to not get any Fs, because that would suck. I next four weeks I have only three tests so an update or two should come(but I'm not promising anything) and then about twelve test in December until Christmas and winter holydays...so yeah you know my schedule
I hope you liked the chapter, please R&R, that's what keeps me going...and tell me what you think, that's very important to me because when I finish this school of mine I'll have a certificate to prove that I am an elligible speaker of English language and I'll be able to write what I want in English...
Love ya all guys!
Kuroneko :3