My eyes wandered throughout the empty house, not gazing on anything particular. My fingers idly traced the curve of the arm on couch before stopping in place once more.
Had it always been so quiet in this house…and lonely?
Sighing I pushed the hair out of my face and readjusted my position on the couch. While Ikuto was slaving away at work and Ami and everyone else were at school, I was at home…alone with nothing to do because of Ikuto and Tsukasa's belief that I was much safer at home rather than doing my job.
I threw the pillow that had been resting on my lap to the side.
For God's sake, I wasn't some helpless little girl who had never seen a crime before in her life. I was a negotiator who had been through much worse than some pathetic bastard whose idea of entertainment was harassing me with notes and phone calls laced with threats. Letting out a breath of air, I calmed myself once more.
Just as I came to stretch my limbs, the house phone rang, alarming me slightly. Pulling myself away from the couch, I got up and picked up the phone.
"Hello?"
"Amu, thank goodness you're still at home. I need you to do me something."
I rolled my eyes ever so slightly.
"It's not like I was going to be anywhere thanks to you and Tsukasa…what do you need?"
Ikuto let out a small intake of air.
"We did this for-
"For me," I know I finished resisting the temptation to completely start ranting. "What did you need?"
"Can you check the mail? The SWAT chief was supposed to send me some documents to go over."
"Again? Aren't there like 800 other SWAT officers?" I asked in utter outrage. "Tell him to find some other guy."
He let out a strangled sigh.
"Believe me Amu, I sincerely would if I could but my hands are tied behind my back. I just-
"Ikuto! What are you doing talking on the phone?! I have another set of papers for you!"
Ikuto's voice came back on, and this time I could hear the heavy fatigue lingering in his voice.
"So Amu, will you-
"Don't worry about it, just go do your work and I'll get it."
"Thanks I-
"Tsukiyomi! Didn't I just tell you to get up from phone?!"
"Amu, I have to-
"Just go."
"Bye."
"Bye."
Sighing, I set out to check the mail. Sticking my feet in my flip flops, I opened the door only to fall backwards with a startled scream. Blood was splattered all over the front step and a small mutilated mouse lay in the middle of it all. Oxygen didn't seem to be reaching my lungs fully, causing me to take in quick raspy breaths. My heart pounded with such tremendous force it felt as if it would tear itself away from the cavity in my chest any minute. Bit by bit, I felt the bile forcing itself up my throat. I pushed it down my dry throat somewhat successfully, but then the smell of decaying flesh reached my nose and I was unable to contain it anymore.
I turned my head and threw up on the floor, the acidic fluid burning the back of my throat and my nostrils. When I was done, I sucked in an unsteady breath and wiped my mouth with the underside of my shirt.
Pushing my hair out of my face, I raised a shaky hand to the door, and as I came to close it, I noticed something with frightened eyes. In front of the mouse was an un-splattered area of blood; it was in that small rectangular space that my name was written with the blood of mouse.
I slammed the door shut, locked the door, and pushed myself away from the door. My back pressed against the wall, I sat there breathing heavily, my eyes unable to tear themselves away from the door. I wasn't sure how long I sat like that, as if waiting for the suspect to force the door open, but eventually I pushed myself away from the wall and stood up.
The blood, the mouse, and the bile needed to be cleaned up before Sasuke and others came home. Before stepping out of the house, I ran upstairs and grabbed my gun. I checked it for ammunition before sticking it in its holster around my waist and returning back downstairs. I managed to find some rubber gloves in the cabinet below Ikuto's sink; with those on, I opened the door, stepped around the mouse, and went to grab the hose.
The bile was easy to wash off, though the blood proved to be just a bit more difficult; it eventually came off however. All that was left was the mouse. Refusing to breathe while I was holding it, I sucked in as much air as I could fit in my mouth, grabbed the mouse by its tail and raced for the garbage can.
When I was finished with the gruesome task, I sat down on the couch – the gun sitting on my lap – and stared at the wall in front of me. This was a sick prank. It was inhumane, foul, and disgusting; and there was no doubt in my mind of who it could be.
My breath sucked in immediately. The mouse on the doorstep – it couldn't be…but it had to be. Did he really find out where I was now? He must have or else the mouse wouldn't have been there.
I remained there – sitting on the couch, my head tilted back a little so that I was staring at the ceiling, with the gun placed on my lap until the little hand was on the three.
x
"So how was school?" I asked trying to relieve myself the grotesque image of the mouse that had been stuck in my head since morning.
"Fine," replied Ami.
"It sucked," mumbled Sasuke bitterly leaving me only slightly curious.
"I had the best day ever!" exclaimed Mayumi. "At first I thought I was going to be all alone since I'm the new kid, but I've made a lot of friends. Oh and guess what?"
"What?"
"Sasuke and I are in the same dance class and –
"I thought I told you not to tell anyone," he seethed.
Ami let out a soft gasp of air, unable to hold back the laughter.
"See what you did!" he exclaimed whirling around on Mayumi.
Mayumi and Ami's laughter soon filled the car as we turned onto our street. As I parked the car in front of Ikuto's house, Ami and the rest of them raced for the door.
"You need the key!" I shouted behind them knowing that it was futile.
Just as I shut the door, I heard a shriek. When I finally got to the front of the house, Ami and Mayumi had a look of pure terror on their faces. Following the direction of their gaze, I took a sharp intake of breath. I had only been gone away from the house for hardly ten minutes…why was this happening?
Clearing my throat, I noticed Sasuke watching me with a careful eye.
"Get inside guys, I'll clean this up."
"Can we stay outside with you?" asked Ami.
"I said go inside," in a clear authoritative voice.
Unable to say a word, Mayumi and Ami stumbled in inside with Sasuke following behind them slowly. Instead of disappearing into the house like the girls, he stopped midway, his hand on the frame of the door, and turned to look at me. His eyes dark with a complicated expression.
"You're hiding something from us. I won't press you on it and I won't tell the others. But be careful Amu, okay?"
And with that he headed inside.
I dragged my hand through my hair in sheer frustration and set out to cleaning up the corpse on the floor.
9:57 p.m.
I was sprawled out on my bed staring up at the ceiling blankly.
What was I going to do?
I couldn't let it continue like this. If things kept going like this Ami, Sasuke, and Mayumi would be dragged into unnecessary danger. I raked my hands through my hair.
"I need to talk to Ikuto…"
How?
He was already so busy with work. How could I possibly add another burden onto his responsibilities?
Ikuto…?
"Shit!" I exclaimed jumping off the bed in sudden panic. "I forgot to check the mail!"
Pulling on a jacket, I hurried downstairs and grabbed the keys off the counter. Sticking my feet into my sandals, I rushed out the door only to stumble backwards and nearly fall down. Rubbing my forehead vigorously, I looked up to see Ikuto standing at the doorway with a frown on his face.
"Welcome home," I mumbled slowly.
"We need to talk."
"The mail…I need to check-
My gaze was suddenly alerted to the white note in his hand.
"Oh did you get it already."
"No."
"Uh I…should go and get-
My sentence was cut off with the slam of the door and Ikuto's firm grip on my arm.
"I-Ikuto," I mumbled kicking off my shoes quickly as he dragged me away.
As if unable to keep the thoughts in his head for a moment longer, he whirled around, the midnight in his eyes portraying a conflicted storm.
"I…I thought you trusted me."
"I do," I answered slightly unsure where he was heading.
"Do you?!" he countered back with such ferocity that I stumbled back a step.
"Of course I do."
He held up the piece of paper that had been tightly clenched in his hand.
"You promised me that you'd tell me if something happened to you. You promised me…yet you never brought up the fact that you were being threatened!"
"Damn it Amu! Don't you understand that I care about you? That I don't want to see anything happen to you ever?"
"I was going to tell you."
"When?! When it would be too fucking late? There is some sick bastard out there waiting to get his hands on you; who is basking with joy as he mentally breaks you down, Amu. And as he is threatening you, you never once thought that it might be a good idea if you told me?"
"How?!" I countered back defensively feeling my throat tighten and angry tears sting my eyes. "How can I possibly add more burdens onto you? Don't you see that I care about you too? That's why I can't tell you! How can I tell you that I'm being threatened when you come home every night and immediately fall asleep on the couch?!"
"Amu-
"I wanted to tell you everything! Like how there was a mutilated mouse on the doorstep this morning with my name written in its blood? Like how I receive phone calls describing to me in detail on how I'm going to die. I want to be selfish and cry and tell you how frightened I am, but I can't! I can't okay," I shouted wiping the tear that had slivered down the curve of my cheek angrily.
"I keep telling myself that I'm a negotiator…that I've been through much worse than this; that I'm stronger than this, but every time something happens I crumble down on the inside. And yet as something happens, I-I can't do anything about because if I do then I'll worry Ami, Mayumi, and Sasuke."
The paper fluttered to the floor as Ikuto's hands wrapped around me – my face pressed into his chest.
"I'm sorry," he began. "I understand…you were scared and I was being selfish again."
"Let go of me," I muttered, my words muffled by his shirt.
My words fell to deaf ears.
Struggling, I grabbed his arm and tried to pull away but it was to no avail.
"Let go of me! I'm not weak…I-
"Even strong people have moments of weakness."
"…"
"Not me. I have to be strong."
"How many times have you told yourself that?"
"Ikuto, I…. don't want you guys to get hurt."
"We won't."
"He might…to hurt me."
"I won't let anyone hurt you Amu, ever."
He was always doing this. He was always trying to protect everyone else even at his own expense.
He would always be here to protect me. Yet what good would it do if I couldn't even protect myself?
"Ikuto," I said pulling myself away from him when his grip loosened. "I'm going to go back to work."
"I won't let you."
"The choice is not yours to decide."
He pushed himself away from the counter, his eyes blazing another storm.
"Have you forgotten how you were when you found that note in your office and you held me at gun point? Because if you have, I haven't."
"I haven't forgotten, but he'll continue to terrorize me whether I'm here or I'm at work. The least I could do is keep the three of them out of it."
Ikuto watched me with wearily cautious eyes. He released and exasperated sigh and stuck his hands into his front pockets.
"You won't listen to me either way, but just please be careful. I don't know what I'd do if he did anything to you."
"I'm practically invincible," I replied back with a small smile.
A ghost of a smile faintly traced his lips.
"I need to go work on some stuff that need to be handed in tomorrow. Oh and Amu, if you're going to work, I'll be driving you."
"No exceptions?"
"None."
"Fine."
"Good. Goodnight Amu."
"Goodnight…Ikuto."
Ikuto POV
As I was heading upstairs, I noticed a figure lurking behind the shadows of the staircase. Freezing midway, I turned to face the figure.
"I see you."
Stepping out of the shadows with his arms folded over his chest, Sasuke grinned.
"You're a creep," I muttered shaking my head.
"You should've kissed her too," he said following behind me quickly.
"There's a word for people like you."
"What?"
"Goodnight Sasuke."
"Wait Ikuto! Seriously you should've kissed her."
"Since when are you the relationship guru."
"Well I do have a girlfriend."
"Goodnight Sasuke," I said closing my door behind me.
A/N
Hello my lovelies!
Before you all ambush me with profanities and pickaxes, let me assure you that the delay of this chapter was not entirely school related. So aside from slaving away at school every day, it seems like another problem has been added to my life. Apparently, when I bought my laptop, I was sent a stupid hunk of plastic. It hasn't made my life or my writing life easier at all. One and a half months ago, I had two chapters of Scars Hidden ready to publish until I got a virus…there went my blood, sweat, and tears. So I wrote another chapter and saved a back on my USB device. That took a total of three weeks…and guess what? Then I got the FBI virus (-.-)t There went my retyped chapter. At least I had my USB right? WRONG! It was destroyed by my aunt's dog.
T^T
So without further ado…here it is at long last.
I feel bad for leaving you guys with a boring chapter after so long, but this needed to be written. The next chapter, I promise, will have more action/drama. So bear with me!
Thank you so so so so so much to lovely patient reviewers!
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Well, until the next chapter (Which I promise will be before thanksgiving break ends)
Neko-Meme