WestSide Story From Hell

Chapter 19

Two hours after disappearance.

"She just disappeared." Rukia said out loud, leaning back against the couch. Ichigo stood against the wall across from her.

"I don't think she just disappeared." Ichigo said softly, running his fingers through his hair. Chad and Uryuu had went out to inform Nel of Orihime's disappearance. They wanted to avoid any confrontations about it at school where anyone could listen in.

"You mean she wasn't here to begin with?" Rukia questioned him. It was an outrageous idea, having someone there but not there in the first place.

"The bruises she had. Where did she get them?" Ichigo pondered out loud, ignoring Rukia's question.

"It's something Kisuke probably knows." Rukia grumbled.

"It's something that'll be kept secret until the very end, too." Ichigo sighed. "Weren't you mad at her?" He asked curiously.

"Well. Yeah." She started, crossing her arms. "We were friends since the beginning and then he comes along and she chooses him over us. We've been there for her the longest. I just don't understand why she would leave us like that." Rukia vented at him.

"Maybe it's because you went psycho on her?" Ichigo openly suggested. He didn't see her coming with marker in her hand. She glowered and right when he looked up, she jumped on him.

Ichigo was finally able to have a mustache.

Nel sat in her living room in shock. She was gone? Only minutes ago did she hesitantly let them inside her house and then they spewed out this…this nonsense?

"You're messing with me." She said softly, grasping onto her elbows in terror. "You want her back. All to yourself, right?" She said louder, accusation after accusation forming in her head.

"No. She's really gone." Uryuu said, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. He was getting irritated. Why couldn't this woman understand? What was there not to understand?

Chad stood in the doorway watching this interaction. He didn't want to get in the middle of Uryuu's frustrations and Nel's denial, but he still wanted to help her.

Shinigami or Espada.

Right now, those were nothing but mere memories.

Grimmjow growled angrily at the sky outside of the Huenco Mundo apartments. She wasn't at her home and she wasn't with Nel. The Shinigami's wouldn't take her back in without some kind proof that she wouldn't turn against them and Gin had threw her at the curb only hours ago.

Slamming his car door, he sauntered towards the office where Gin would be at. He was already pissed that he couldn't find her and he was fed up with being in the dark.

Slamming the door opened, the bell that was supposed to chime, flew off and rolled on the floor several feet away from him. Turning his attention to the desk next to him, he glared down at Gin.

"What brings you here at this time?" Gin inquired, his tone filled with malice and an overbearing cheerfulness.

"What the fuck is going on?" Grimmjow yelled at him no longer able to hold in his rage. He walked to where he was sitting and flung everything off the desk to the floor. Putting his weight on his hands, he crouched over, towering over Gin bearing his canines.

"Now. Now. Calm down, Kitty." Gin responded with a sly smile. "What is this 'fuck' you speak of?" He asked, leaning forward, challenging Grimmjow to do something in spite.

"What do you think I'm talking about?" Grimmjow sneered. Gin chuckled under his breath, still smiling at the tempered cat.

"Why, I do believe that is my question."

"Don't fuck with me, Gin. I want to know what's going on!" He roared, slamming his hands repeatedly down on Gin's desk. Gin watched in amusement, he flicked his eyes to the phone that had miraculously survived Grimmjow's rampage and was still on the desk only by a few inches. His fingers made his way to the drawer as he continued to watch Grimmjow throwing a fit.

"What is going on?" Gin said, continuing to get on Grimmjow's nerve.

"I'm not here to PLAY GAMES!" He bellowed, reaching over to lift Gin up. As soon as he made the move to grab at him, Gin had already placed the gun he held in his drawer upon Grimmjow's shoulder, right above the pressure point.

Grimmjow froze as he felt Gin's finger graze the area behind his ear. The barrel situated itself on the pressure point of the arch of his shoulder and neck. One wrong move and it would be over.

"Now, Grimmjow, why don't you sit down?" Gin said, waving at the chair behind Grimmjow that somehow made his way over to them.

"How?" Grimmjow mouthed as he sat down watching the gun that was now just pointing at him.

"Useless question for another useless day." Gin replied, before turning to the phone.

"Waiting for a call?" Grimmjow asked, still wary of the person behind the gun. Gin raised his finger to his mouth, and picked up the phone right when it went off. Grimmjow's eyes narrowed, How did he know when to pick it up?

"Speak." Gin instructed into the mike. His finger still laid on the finger with his eyes going into a distant state. If Grimmjow wanted to, he could've made a move. But he stayed still, knowing not to underestimate him.

Gin's eyes turned a darker color as the he listened into the phone. Flaring his nostrils, he eyed Grimmjow. He didn't know what to do with him. Grimmjow was one of his prized possessions on the squad, but he kept pestering him. Pestering is what kitties do and if he kept it up, he'd find the rat.

Sighing into the phone, Grimmjow decided that that was the right time to catch his eye. He gripped the handle of the gun tighter. Grimmjow sat up straighter, staring into the barrel of a .45. Sweat trickled down his neck as he watched Gin's eyes light up. The simple task of talking was now lost to him. How was he supposed to get out of this?

Gin cackled in delight as he set the phone down. It had happened. All he had to do was get rid of the loose ends.

"Grimmjow." Gin said, rolling his name of his tongue.

"Gin." Grimmjow said sternly, still trying to look tough. He'd get out of this. He would.

"It was a success." Gin said cheerfully, before getting up and standing behind him. Grimmjow rubbed his hands together nervously as he felt Gin put his fingers on his shoulders. "A success." Gin whispered into his ear.

"What was a–," Grimmjow started only to be interrupted by the ringing in his ear. Intense pain shook through him as the bullet fired from the gun lodged itself into his foot. Writhing in pain, he crouched over and fell onto the floor. His eyes are blurry with tears while silent screams came out of his mouth.

"I missed any vital organs. You no longer have a foot, though. Completely shattered your bone and if no one comes and find you, you'll die of blood loss." Gin muttered, standing above him.

Grimmjow started hyperventilating, staring at his foot in shock. How was he supposed to walk? To fight? Fighting was his passion.

Gin stared down at Grimmjow for a few more moments before walking out the door.

Little things happen. Things happen for a reason. There's always a reason, they said.

An Espada was rendered useless in the fight that had yet to come. There was no given explanation for that luck.

Nel watched the two Shinigami's leave her house. How could they do that to her? Arrive out of nowhere and spew out this nonsense. Orihime wasn't gone. There's no possible way for something to just disappear. They were hiding her. They set this up. They were taking her away from her.

Angrily, Nel started screaming at the walls. Locking her fingers in her hair, she roared. Anger blinded her vision as she started ripping apart her living room. Flipping the coffee table, ripping the cushions off the couch, throwing her school papers and books out the window. Her vision became blurry as tears threatened to fall.

Sinking to the floor, she cried. Cried for the friend that was missing. Cried because that was the last person that was left for her.

Roughly wiping her eyes, she looked around. Her living room was in pieces with walls already stripped bare from the years of having nothing on them. Empty picture frames hung from in the hallway, she had removed the light bulbs from the hallway years ago.

Getting up, she started to walk around her home.

The kitchen had no color, the cabinets holding only two plates, two bowls, and two cups. All consisting with the dull color of white. The island was empty except for the aroma-therapy candles that she collected.

The hallway down to her bedroom was a dark corridor. Empty picture frames hung from the wall. Some frames had the glass so clean and pure that it was almost like a mirror. Others had broken glass holding onto the frame for dear life.

No photos. No knowledge of anyone ever living in that house until you got to her bedroom.

Pushing her bedroom door open, every corner was shrouded in the cloak of darkness. Closing the door shut behind her, she started trailing her hand across the wall. Flicking switch by switch by switch.

Three coherent clicks were heard before the room came to life. Gold Christmas lights hung from the ceiling, a silent toy train on tracks started running in a circle around her bed; a merry-go-round night light toy spun in circles in the opposite corner of the room, making moving lights on the walls while singing its little song.

The only reason anyone would be able to tell that this place was inhabited. She walked over to her bed and imagined herself sinking into the sheets. Her heart was no longer angry, but instead replaced with a certain kind of sadness.

It had been a few weeks since the incident in the bathroom. She always stick around, reading the walls in the broken bathroom and lately she'd see the Shinigami girl enter from time to time. They hadn't really spoken since then. Just little hellos and little looks.

She watched her mingle with her friends during lunch while she sat alone at her own table. She'd notice her stealing glances at her from where she sat, but didn't act on it. We were dancing around each other. Like little ballerinas in their pristine new shoes. Maybe she'd change that today.

And so, Nel took it upon herself to get closer to Orihime.

After months on trying to become one of Orihime's close friends, Nel crossed paths with Nnoitra. At first, she was shy. Nnoitra was an awkward lanky teenage boy at this age in time and she didn't really know how to handle him. Whenever Orihime was close by, he'd be nowhere to be seen. But whenever she was alone, he'd be following her. Watching her closely, and it was unnerving. She didn't really know what his problem was.

Soon Orihime had caught on to her discomfort, and in a frantic state of mind, she waved off Orihime's observation. She didn't want to tell someone her problem, especially if that someone had only been there for so little. She wanted to build this friendship, not lose it all at once.

So she kept quiet. One of the following Fridays, she brought Orihime over to spend the night. They had stayed up well into the next morning talking about nonsense. To this day, she still couldn't remember what they had talked about. Other than the fact that it was nice. Really nice.

Around the delusional time of four in the morning, Orihime started asking serious questions. Questions she had to seriously answer.

"Why is no one else home?"

"Why are there no photos in the frames?"

"Aren't you lonely?"

Nel had answered them carefully. Trying not to scare her away. With vague answers but satisfying ones.

"No one else leaves here."

"I have no one worth remembering for picture frames."

"I've more or less learned how to be alone without being lonely."

With those answers, I could tell she wanted to ask more, but she decided against it. She was grateful for that. Orihime knew when to pry and when to stop. A trait not people her age had or even considered.

Not a week later, did a series of misfortune unfold around her. Nnoitra had cornered her after school, making threats that if she didn't comply, he'd hurt Orihime. She obliged at first, letting him bring her to one of the empty classrooms, but when he started playing with her hair. Things took a turn for the worse. She vaguely remembered running out the classroom, clutching her sides as she ran home. She ran inside her home, slamming the door shut, coming into her bedroom, and collapsing as a pile on the floor.

She started crying and sobbing on the floor when it happened. The room came to life. Orihime was standing by the switches as her room was covered in light.

"I knew something was up when you didn't walk home with me today. So I waited for your return. After an hour, I knew something went wrong. So I made something you could come back to." She stared at Orihime when she said those words. The few hours after that Nel had spilled everything. What had happened, how her parents had abandoned her, everything that had been kept inside.

Nel let out a breath in agony. She wasn't going to suddenly believe that she could bring her back.

Instead she did something she knew she could do.

She would wait for Orihime to return. Just like she did for her back then.

Ulquiorra had left the hospital, leaving the promise of coming back in the air. He was feeling frustrated as he started speeding towards town. He had called Grimmjow a total of six times, and that damn cat wouldn't answer the phone. Ulquiorra promised to beat him over the head the next time he saw him.

He was only minutes from pulling into town before he decided to go to Huenco Mundo Apartments to make sure Gin wasn't there. That accident with Rangiku made his question his loyalty to Gin and being one of the top people of the Espada's, it wasn't a good idea to have trust issues with the man in charge.

Soon, he pulled into the parking lot of the apartments. Getting out of his car, he felt something was out of place. He looked at the office door and took note of it being left ajar. He looked around the parking lot, finding stray cars of other members, but one stood out.

Grimmjow.

Feeling alarmed, he slammed his car door shut, and jogged over to the office. He looked around before looking inside. His eyes widen at the sight of his teammate on the floor. He went over and turned Grimmjow over on his side. Looking at his pupils, he noted the dilation and his ragged breathing.

Then the metallic smell hit his nose. He looked around Grimmjow's vital parts before checking everywhere. He stared at the Grimmjow's foot in horror. It looked like he tried walking over to the door but had finally fell down as a heap on the floor.

He walked over to Gin's desk, picking up the keys that opened every room in the Apartments. He took Grimmjow arm and put it around his shoulders. Dragging him across the floor, he left the office to Apartment building C. Knocking on the first floor door, he was greeted by a pink haired Espada also known as Szayel.

Szayel looked down in him in pure annoyance.

"What?" He growled out at Ulquiorra.

"Help me." Ulquiorra said in a firm tone. It was then that Szayel took a look at who he was holding. Ulquiorra watched as Szayel went ghostly white at the sight of Grimmjow's foot.

He knew now.

That Grimmjow, one of the strongest, had been forced out of the game.

I woke up in the middle of a dark room. My body was in a bind, making it absolutely impossible to move. Dread ran through my veins as I tried to wiggle out. I bit my lip thinking of the worst of the scenarios.

Laughter started echoing through the room. I froze, feeling an odd sense of familiarity from the laugh. I jerked sideways as I felt someone touch my hair.

"How about we go back in time?" A voice whispered in my ear before I saw glowing purple eyes only a few inches in front of my face.

Somebody, please help me. I thought to myself before being thrown inside a nightmare.

READ THE NOTE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE CHAPTER.

Thanks to those who have reviewed/alerted/favorited.

ladycifer: Worry not, there will be some ulquihime action. And I went as little Nel :)

Tuliharja: Things are speeding up :) Mysterious...that's the word for it :)

fallenangel320: Loneliness is baaaaaad. :P :)

splitheart1120: You never know. Maybe he'll find her.

Strawberry-Chappy Forever: I have sooo many typos. D: But you're the Edward Elric to my Neliel. :D

Hey guys. I know I haven't been updating a lot like I used to. I've just been feeling lousy about myself lately and I've come to terms with this. I feel like if I keep updating in this state of mind, I'll only disappoint you or even rage quit and kill everyone off.

So, I hope you guys don't hate me, but I've decided to go on a break for a month or two. Just for myself, because I really need to get better. Lousy is a loose term for what I've been feeling and it really is more than just that.

I promise when I get back, that the story will be finished and I will be able to update every week like I used to. Because, quite frankly, I miss being able to do that.

Why a month or two? Because I have moved. I'm going to a new school as the new kid as a sophmore and when school starts, I'll need you guys more than ever. Your love for this story, your support, it makes me feel good about myself and I'll really need that extra boost of confidence you guys give me when I become surrounded by people I don't know. You guys don't know how much you mean to me.

I'll be back soon. Back with a new update, and hopefully with a new attitude.

Thanks for being here. Thanks for sticking with me.