WestSide Story From Hell

Chapter 23

Orihime laid on the floor, listening to her heartbeat. He had left only moments ago, but she couldn't forget the feeling on his fingers gently grazing her skin or the way he continuously proceeded to play with her hair. Shivering at the memory, she let out a ragged breath. She was still face-planted on the cement floor, and tied to the chair. Her eyes were tired and every time she blinked, she could feel herself starting to nod off. But there was no way that she'd fall asleep now; she didn't know what could happen.

Taking in a breath, she forced a sob back down her throat as hot tears slid down her face, touching the little cuts on her cheek from falling to the floor. Her shoulders started shaking, as she felt her chest tighten.

"Somebody… " She whispered harshly, sniffling.

"SOMEBODY!" She screeched as she felt her hopes begin to dwindle.

Ulquiorra parked his car outside Nel's house at the curb. Turning his key out of ignition, he looked up at the house. His eyes suddenly narrowed as he saw the top window open, the lights spread erratically through the house and the front door slightly ajar. Instinct kicked up, making him jump out from his car, across the lawn, and slamming the front door all the way open.

He took in his surroundings- the broken lamp, papers everywhere, the tables turned, glass shards embedded in the carpet. A tickling feeling began to probe the back of his head.

"NEL!" He shouted as he ran towards the hallways to her bedroom. As his voice resounded around the house, he could hear the bumps and footsteps of someone on the second floor. Rounding the corner, he took two steps at a time up the stairs before he saw the turquoise colored hair dived back into the bathroom.

He froze, staring blankly ahead of him. Carefully, he walked towards the bathroom, peeking in. He looked closely at the area surrounding him. Where did she go?

Taking a cautious step inside, he caught the sudden movement of the shower curtain. Another quick step later, he had flung it open. He held his breath as his eyes trickled down to the small shaking form at the bottom of the shower.

He reached down to touch her; to pick her back up when he really caught on to what he was looking at. At her torn clothes, the gashes and cuts on her body. Everything.

Suddenly, anger started to course through his body. He was angry, furious even. Then the fear took hold of his mind. What did Orihime look like? Was she this beaten? Was she this bruised? He felt a cold shiver go down his spine. He wouldn't think this way. He wouldn't allow himself to be this scared. She was fine. Just a little missing, but fine nonetheless.

Reaching down, he picked up Nel and carried her down the stairs, out the house, and into his car. Setting her down in the passenger seat, he took notice of the dull, dead look in her eyes.

Brushing her hair back away from her face with the back of his hand, he looked more closely. It looked like she was really gone.

"What happened to you?" He whispered, trying to find a response or a recognition of his voice in her eyes.

Getting no response out of her, he walked around the car and got in. Giving her one last look, he started the engine and headed back the apartments. Turning the corner, he kept making glances at Nel.

Who could've done it?

Why?

Was Orihime in a much worse state than this?

Hundreds of questions ran threw his mind, all without ever giving an satisfying answer. What was going to become of the woman he held dearly to his heart? He asked himself completely lost in thought.

Suddenly, Nel yelled at him, pulling his arm to the side as he slammed on his brakes hearing a little "bunk" as his car hit something. He whipped his head around, staring incredulously at the woman beside him.

"The hell, are you?" He started before following her gaze to in front of the car. Nel's eyes widen and then slowly, they started producing unwanted tears. Ulquiorra stared in front of him, neither in shock or happiness.

Grimmjow stood in front of the car, placing his hands right on the hood, making a little dent in the car. He had came out of nowhere-meaning that he had flash-stepped himself following Nel's scent. Neither a good or bad idea considering one, he had no foot and was recovering, and two, he wasn't going to go to completely insane worrying about Nel.

Grimmjow took the sight in front of him, and wiped the sweat off of his brow. One more time, he thought as he flash stepped into the backseat of Ulquiorra's car.

As Grimmjow lay huffing and puffing in the backseat, you could feel the murderous intent slowly peeling off of Ulquiorra. Turning around, he opened his mouth to say something before catching the sight of Nel desperately trying not to sob as she looked from his missing foot to his face. Ulquiorra could hear all the thoughts between them without even trying. He sighed as revved the car back up and headed towards Huenco Mundo, letting his thoughts wonder about the love he was missing.

"Okay, really Rukia. I'm serious. One of our friends is missing!" Ichigo said rather quite loudly.

The gang was all there- Rukia, Ichigo, Chad, and Ishida. They were all spread out in the room. Ishida with his arms crossed in the corner. Ichigo leaning against the wall across from Rukia who happened to be sitting cross-legged on the arm of the couch with Chad being the only one who actually sat on the couch.

"Why should we care if she's missing? She turned her back on us." Rukia practically yelled at him.

"But she was always there for us." Chad said quietly. Silence filled the room as Ichigo looked away and Rukia rubbed her arms.

"Then she turned her back on us. When it all came down to it, she picked them over us. How long have we been there for her? How long have we looked after her? Helped her? Put her back on her feet?" Rukia stopped, taking a deep breath trying to calm her nerves. "I just wanted her to stay with us. She was our family. What could they have offered that we didn't?" She finished with her voice dying off at the end.

No one knew what to say after that. Rukia had finally said her feelings about the matter, something that didn't happen very often. Ishida let a sigh before speaking.

"We may never know the answer to that question if we don't get her back." He said slowly standing up straight up and adjusting his glasses.

Rukia flared her nose a little and looked down. She could feel the room adjusting their posture. She could tell they were getting ready for a fight. Digging her nails into her fist, she let out a breath. Ichigo moved away from the wall to place a hand on her shoulder and lowered himself to her height. He brushed away the hair in her face, making her watch the movement, catching his eye.

"Everything will be alright, I promise." He whispered loud enough for the two of them. They stared at each other a little while longer before she nodded her head.

Making their way out of the room, Ichigo led them upstairs to the shop. Climbing up the stairs, he stared at Kisuke as he tipped his hat and walked past him. Ichigo faltered in his steps, staring oddly as he watched Kisuke disappear from sight. Shaking his head, he ignored his gut and entered the shop.

He squinted his eyes as the light shining through the front windows momentarily blinded him. The first thing he saw was how empty it was as usual. The next thing he noticed was Jinta and Ururu by the counter. Walking over to them, he tried to start up a conversation. But before he could reach his destination, someone yelled over to him.

"Oh, Ichigo!" Turning around, he saw Kisuke smiling smugly at him. "Even the whole gang," he said as he waved his fan to the rest of them. "Are you finally going after her?" He said leaning closer to the gang, almost closing the space.

Ichigo shook his head as he began to have a bad feeling.

"Weren't you just going downstairs not too long ago?" He asked impatiently. Kisuke's smile left his face and the look in his eyes went serious.

"What are you-," Kisuke begun to ask, only to be interrupted by a rather large rumple coming from the basement. The ground shook violently, his store items fell off their shelves, some even broke as they hit the ground. The gang, horrified, looked toward the basement door right as dirt, smoke, and fire busted through the door.

A loud crash rung in their ears.

Everything went dark after that.

I laid on the floor. My sniffles had stopped and I felt like I could cry no more. My powers were useless in this situation. Healing, I said to myself snidely, what use are you to me?

I laid on the ground, concentrating on my breathing. My eyelids slowly started to close as my breaths got deeper. Suddenly, I felt my body tense. Someone was in the room with me.

I bit my lip. I wouldn't show I was scared, not in the likes of him. I could feel the air around me change. Little soft footsteps resounded gently against the walls. Whoever this person was, was not Aizen.

I felt them kneel down behind me, with their fingers roaming down my elbow to my wrist trying to find where the knot started that held my hands together. It was an excruciating process as I tried being as quiet as possible as the person began to free what kept me bound.

With my hands free, I debated on keeping them there or to move them in front of me to massage the irritated skin. With the person still oblivious that I was awake, I kept my hands there. I didn't want them to change their mind when they began to tear the chair off my back.

Soon everything was lifted off of me. The chair, the bounds, even the person stepped away from me to give me some space.

I pushed myself up to a sitting position with my hands. Already, I felt the tired weighing pain on my wrists. I turned to the person who helped me. I opened my mouth to speak only to have their hand cover my mouth.

I tried to focus my eyes on their face, but to no avail. I could only see their body outline.

"We need to get you out of here." I recognized the voice instantly. Gin pulled me up to my feet, and made way to the door of the compartment.

The air in the room changed again, making my knees buckle and freeze. I sucked in a breath. Gin already knew who it was, I didn't have to tell him as he pushed me to the side. I immediately heard a clanging noise as I stumbled backwards onto the floor.

"You think I wouldn't know every move you'd make?" Aizen said, his purple already glowing. He was playing the puppet master, I thought to myself as I begun to shake.

"You think I didn't know where you would hide her?" Gin said harshly back as another clang resounded in my ears.

"And you told no one else." Aizen responded, I could almost hear the smirk in his voice. "This will be the end of you." He said as another clang resounded. "This will be your downfall!" Aizen said even louder.

Silence ensued.

Someone fell with a thud.

I could feel warm blood on the floor start to seep onto my toes.

I heard my mind shatter.

All hope was lost.

"Remember this, Orihime. Anyone who tries to help you will be killed by my hand."

And then he left.

Left me alone as I broke inside.

I'm honestly sorry that I left you hanging. It's so close to the end, and I don't know what was wrong with me. I just couldn't write.

But if you're still me, thank you. Thank you all for following, favoriting, and reviewing.

Tuliharja: The purple man controls people. Using their eyes. So when Szayel got swallowed up by the shadow, he basically suffocated. It's my fault, but I honestly don't remember what happened to his eyes. I'm sorry. :/

Strawberry-Chappy Forever: Maaaaaaaybe :D and maaaaybe not.

ulquihime7980: The Hueco Mendo Arc in the anime. I don't remember when it starts but it ends around 310.

Michiko Burel: Hello, new person. XD I think I like you :3

Battenburg507: Yes! FEAR MY DEAR!

LoveMulan: So much Korean Yaoi XD OhGod.

BlessedRain: I'd love to go back to my old school. I could imagine my future clearer there. At my new school, my path's a little fuzzy. THE KISS WILL HAPPEN, CHILD XD

ILoveMnMs: DON'T REMEMBER IF I DID OR NOT.

k: Dear k, do you know there's an anime named after you? I hear it's pretty good, but I haven't check it out myself yet.

datkarKatass: updated ;) You're welcome. :3

And, I don't know if all of you are still here, but I'm back. And this time, I promise to stay. If I break my promise, you can tell me to do something embarrassing in public and I'll send you a picture of it as proof.

Til next time, my friends.