A/N: OMG! Let me just say I ended were I didn't even want to end! But I knew I needed to get this posted for you guys and if my computer wasn't such a jerk I would have been able to post all that I wanted! I typed over 3 pages for this chapter and my computer decided that even though I pushed the save button, it didn't want to save it. So I had to start all over. Anyways I hope this chapter is good. Enjoy!
Ichigo grimaced. Her head was pounding with each beat of her heart, body sore and ached with the slightest movement. Opening her eyes she was met with complete darkness. Trying to mover her arms, she found herself stuck.
Bright lights flashed on, blinding her sight momentarily causing her to shut her eyes and grimace as her head began pounding even harder. Hearing a heavy door screech open and close quickly only added to her headache. She felt her chin grabbed harshly, forcing her head up.
"Hehe, well it seems you're finally awake." Forcing her eyes open, she glared as best she could while her eyes adjusted to the sudden brightness and the pain that racked her head.
"Ha, ha, wouldn't you look at that boys, the little bitch has spunk." Hearing laughter all around her, she couldn't help but scowl harder while her heart began pounding with fear. Her chin was released, allowing her to look around taking in her surroundings. Her hands and legs were bound to a hard wooden chair that sat in the middle of an empty room. Men lined the rooms walls all dressed in black uniforms armed with semi-automatic rifles.
Looking at the man that had first addressed her, she wasn't impressed. A man that stood just short of her five foot six frame, only he had huge pot belly and was dressed in a pin stripe suit with a silk shirt. To Ichigo it looked as if they man was trying his hardest to portray one of the mobsters that you would see in a bad movie. What he had different from those men in the movies though wasn't a knife or a gun, Ichigo saw the man held a cat of nine tails loosely in his right hand.
Noticing her gaze, a sinister smile crept onto his face and he held the whip higher for Ichigo to see it more clearly. Gaze widening as she took notice of the bits of glasses embedded in each leader strap.
"Imagine what luck I felt when me and my boys saw Pantera' car driving down the street. You see doll, my Master doesn't care too much for the fucker. Been trying all year long to get him out of the picture, but it seems nothing can slow him down and my time limit is coming to an end. So here we are doll, you are going to be my ticket to getting Pantera six feet under, because if he isn't I will be. So you are going to tell me how I can get a hold of the bastard."
With disgusted look on her face she glared at the man. "I have no idea who Pantera is. You've been mistaken, I can't help you and I want nothing to do with you." Laughter filled the small room from the men that looked on and the man that stood in front of Ichigo. The man through his head back letting out the loudest laugh of all, "No idea who Pantera is, do you really find me that stupid bitch? We see a car with his rank making its way down the road and you're in it."
Glaring at the man in front of her, Ichigo shakes her head. "No, I don't know who Pantera is." The man's smile fell from his face, "Alright, enough playing. I don't have time for games." Eyes widening in disbelief as he watched the young woman continue to shake her head. With his anger rising he raised his hand and snapped the whip against one of Ichigo's bare shoulders.
Pain raced up and down her arm as the leather strips tore into her sensitive skin and the pieces of embedded glass tearing additional chunks of skin as he yanked the whip back. A cry was ripped from her lips and tears began to gather in her eyes. She returned her attention to her kidnapper.
"Now to me, that just sounds like you asking to die," stepping forward, the man's hand shot out to grab her by the throat, squeezing just enough to constrict her air flow, "I'm only going to ask one more time, where is Pantera? If you don't give me what I want I'm going to make sure that the fucker finds you skinned and cut into little pieces."
Leaning in closer to her face she could smell his breath tainted with tobacco and alcohol, blowing warm against her ear, "Of course that will be after I'm done playing with you myself and I can assure you, the whole time you'll be wishing for death."
Trembling Ichigo's mind began to race. Her throat was released, allowing her to breathe more deeply. It didn't escape her notice that her Master and this Pantera were most likely the same person. However, her telling the man that she simply doesn't know who her Master is wouldn't be doing her any favors.
'As if I would give this bastard any information on Master, even if I had it.' She thought bitterly. Eyes darting off to the sides again as she did a quick head count of how many men were in the room? Obviously they had drugged her, she could possibly pretend to faint, and making them think that a high dose of the drug was still in her system and the added stress of her interrogation wasn't helping.
Before anyone could say or do anything a beeping began to fill the room.
Turning her gaze to her lap, Ichigo noticed her phone still remained in one of the front pockets of her dress. Grinning, the man leaned forward and grabbed the device. Not even sparing her a glance the man pushed the button to accept the message. His grin quickly fell to a deep confused frown, "What the fuck is this shit? All it says is 'Gotcha'."
Looking back at the young woman as if expecting an explanation for the message, his gaze was met with equal confusion. Before the man's rage allowed him to start swinging the whip toward the poor girl again, a large explosion rang out from outside the door, shaking the entire building and causing the light inside the room to flicker.
The man turned toward his soldiers. "What the fuck are you all looking at? Go see what the fuck is happening!" The rage in his voice quickly sent the soldiers on their way, the door wrenched open and they quickly began filing out.
It was a breath stalling moment later that gun shots started to sound throughout the building. "Shit," the man turned toward his captive yanking a small pocket knife out and cutting her out of her restraints. Shouting and gun shots became louder as they got closer. With a firm grip on Ichigo's upper arm, she was yanked from the chair and pulled out of the room into the open area of the building.
The building itself was an abandoned warehouse with windows barricaded shut all around. Making their way down three flights of stairs, Ichigo's mind was still in a panic. What exactly in the hell was going on, she wasn't sure, but glad for the distraction.
Both were met on the first floor by one of the soldiers. "Sir, it's the Ghost. He took out the armory and our men are dropping like flies."
Fury could be seen on the man's face as he took in the information. Before he could say anything to the man, a bullet had made its home in the middle of his forehead, throwing him backward to the ground.
Before Ichigo's mind could catch up to what she had just witnessed in front of her, she was yanked along again, following the man as he made his way toward the exit.
Out front an armada of cars were parked and they began making their way toward one of the many black vehicles. Looking behind her, shocked coursed through her body as she witnessed black smoke rising from the building and flames making their appearance in some areas as well.
Stumbling as she was yanked to move faster she was snapped from her thoughts. If there was any way for her to escape, this hell, it was now, and she would either succeed or go down fighting. Forcing the man to falter in his steps, she quickly brought up her left hand, slapping him across the face. She was able to wrench her arm from his slackened grip, allowing her to throw a right hook into the man's face. With any luck it broke his nose and would give her a few seconds head start.
Turning and running as fast as she could to one of the vehicles hoping to get into one before she could be caught again, bare feet burning as she stepped on rocks and scrapped the bottoms of them. With a driver door within reach of her she was suddenly stopped. She heard the crack in the air first and as she fell forward, she began to feel the burning and biting sensation that coursed through her back as all nine tails hit her with full force.
Landing harshly on the pavement below, she felt her legs and arms scrape the harsh unforgiving ground. A second time all nine tails marked her back, making her scream in pain and forcing tears to run down her face.
"You little bitch! You'll pay for striking me!" The whip snapped forward, wrapping itself around her neck. As leather was pulled tight cutting off her airway completely, the shards of glass bite into her neck painfully. Ichigo could feel the small rivulets of blood make their way down her neck. She was yanked forward, toward the vehicle she had intended to make her getaway in.
Though the pain was excruciating in her back, she pulled back, making the man fight with all his strength to get her in the car. She was losing the fight, her vision beginning to blacken as the whip cut off air and blood supply to her head. 'This is where my journey ends,' she thought. 'The only regret I have is not being able to meet Master and thank him. Thank him for everything he's done for me and the kindness he has showed me.'
Suddenly her face was splashed with a warm liquid. Opening startled eyes she had not realized she had closed, she was faced with her kidnapper. He sat slumped on the ground, propped up against the open vehicle, eyes wide as blood from a newly formed bullet hole dripped down in between his eyes.
With renewed slack in the whip, she was able to tear it off from her throat. Leaning forward and coughing violently her body trying to full in what it was deprived of as blood began flowing quickly to her head. Eyes opening after several minutes to allow her body to adjust to its new freedom, her vision was met with a pair of black shoes that stood to her right.
Looking up to see who her savior was, she was met with another nightmare. The man that stood before her was dressed in all black, except for the white mask that covered his face. The mask itself was skeletal in nature, with three distinct red slashes just above his left eye.
A black gloved hand began to reach for her, causing her to flinch away from the figure. Instead of grabbing her like she expected the figure to do, he gently grasped her hand as another gloved hand cupped her elbow, pulling her up to stand.
Eyes never leaving the mask in front of her, she was startled when a female voice spoke up. Looking just beyond the man she saw three other masked figures. Each mask taking on a different shape, but the one thing remained the same, they all held the same skeletal and dead feeling as the one in front of her.
"Poor thing looks like she took a good beating." "Yeah, I'll inform Tessai to be standing by when we get to base. She'll need medical treatment as soon as we get there. Thankfully we got to you in time, Ichigo, otherwise your injuries could have been worse."
Startled when her name passed through the lips of one of the other masked figures, she couldn't help but become suspicious of the four in front of her. They didn't sound like familiar people she knew and the fact that all of them were armed didn't escape her notice.
The masked man brought a gloved hand to her face to regain her focus. Cupping her cheek, he drew her into his chest and rested his head atop hers. Standing like that for a few seconds, he allowed her to pull back and stand up straight. Gently tugging on her hand, he silently asked her to follow him.
However, before Ichigo could take more than two steps, exhaustion along with the extreme pain in her back had caught up to her consciousness. With her vision quickly blackening, she felt herself drawn into the man's chest again. Just before she completely succumbs to the darkness she can't help but notice the slight trembling in the man's frame.