Chapter 6
"Hey!" Len cut in "Let go of her! What the hell do you think you're doing to Rin?" Immediately Rin and the man looked in his direction. Rin looked relieved, however the man looked suspiciously at Len.
"Who are you?" He asked rather politely for a guy who was practically assaulting a girl in a store. Len noticed his hand tighten around Rin's wrist. She thrashed again but he skillfully maneuvered her.
"I'm Len, and that's all you'll need to know. Unhand Rin!"
"How did you know her name was Rin?" The man looked so surprised, but the way he had asked the question was as if he had the right to know how he knew. As if Len had interrupted some kind of happy reunion.
"What are you talking about? I gave her that name! Now tell me who you are and let go of her!" Len shouted, he was starting to get irritated, tears were beginning to roll down Rin's cheeks he had to do something fast. She was beginning to panic.
"I'm Ted, Rin's caretaker. "Len went silent.
"You're sick! Let go of Rin she's mine." There was a hint of desperation in his own voice now, along with a strong sense of possession. Ted seemed to have ignored him as he looked down at Rin who was still struggling.
"I see you haven't found out yet, Rin," Ted said calmly. "You can escape me anytime you want. When did you get so weak? Don't you remember me?" His voice had a soothing tone to it, as if he really knew her. As if he knew the key to unlocking her seemingly missing memory.
Suddenly Len pictured Ted in a doctor's jacket, and Rin in a straitjacket. As if she was a patient. Despite that she was backing away from him shaking her head telling him no. His mind crashed, and the picture, vivid as it had been, disappeared. In reality, Rin was shaking her head trying to twist free of him. She kept shaking her head violently, and then stared up at him. Her hand twitched as if she was about to do something to him. Even from afar Len saw her eyes, they were a much brighter, almost neon shade of blue, and as he had predicted she did something, she screamed.
It wasn't a regular type of scream, as it should have been. Like a girl screaming in a horror movie. No, it was something else. Something similar to a hypersonic boom. All the glass bottles around them shattered. Either imploding or exploding. Glasses weren't the only thing that exploded. Cereal boxes filled up with the sound of her scream and burst open, just as the glass had done. Everything littered the floor from food to drink which made the floor an impossible runway. Len plugged his ears, they were ringing violently. Thankfully no glass cut either Rin or Len.
Ted on the other hand didn't plug his ears but instantly released Rin shoving her in Len's direction, and she stopped. Ted took a step towards them wagging his finger at them, a rather sharp glare on his face. But there was something else as well, something Len himself was used to striking in people. It was fear.
"Look boy, hand that girl over," He began taking a few steps closer but not in Rin's range of grasp. As if she would hurt him badly if he came near. Len snuck a look at her, but her eyes were locked tightly on all of Ted's movements. Each step he took, any hand that twitched, and any muscle that pulsed she watched intently. As if planning a second move. Examining when and where to strike. She did not lift a single finger, she didn't even move, just watched. Ted spoke again.
"You don't know what she is!" He snapped looking rather afraid, yet still determined. "You don't know what she's capable of...she's a threat to everyone."
When neither Len nor Rin moved he screamed at them. "I said give her back! She belongs to me!" The side of his face cringed as he screamed it. That only made Len grab Rin's hand and tighten his grip on her. Upping his guard.
"She was yours? Hardly," Len began takinging a small step forward. He wanted to intimidate Ted, but getting too close could be fatal for Rin. So he went with just a step. "When I found her she was locked behind chains. You might as well have thrown her in a cage. Who treats a girl like that!? No matter what someone has done, nobody deserves that. I've seen criminals treated better." Len himself knew he didn't treat girls all that well either, but it wasn't to terms that extreme. It was scary how frantically Ted seemed to want her back. As if it was detrimental to his well-being.
"Locked up in chains?" Ted repeated quizzically. "Look kid, she's way too dangerous to walk among us, only I can control her. Hand her over now. Don't be an idiot." By the look in his eyes Len could tell that Ted wasn't off in his words, but that meant he was telling the truth, which was even more terrifying than how much he wanted Rin. So Len squeezed her hand.
"Rin whatever you do, do not go over to that man." She nodded her head. Then Len looked forward into Ted's eyes.
"I'm not giving Rin to anyone who is going to treat her like that," Len said, glaring at him. "Rin is my precious underling and I'm not giving her to anyone." He couldn't imagine the things Ted would do to her if he let her go back there. Still this man Ted didn't stop.
"Rin, come to me." Len felt her grip tighten on his arm. It was easy to tell she was afraid, she shook her head.
Rin stayed put and said firmly "I don't know who you are. Leave Len and I alone." Upon her saying that Ted stood up.
"Come on Len, I'm sure you've noticed already, that girl isn't normal. You've already seen how unnatural she is. Look at all this shattered glass I'm sure you've seen more." His eyes never left Len.
It was obvious that he was trying to coax him into handing her over. The look in his eyes was so frantic, it was terrifying. For once Len found himself afraid. Still he kept a firm grip on Rin. He would never let go of her. Such attempts to get him to were wasted on him.
Then again, in another part of his mind something nagged at him. Rin definitely wasn't normal, and he had done what he had not wanted to do. That day he had promised himself that he wouldn't get involved in whatever this was. Then a voice came to him.
"If you let her go now…this can all be over."
Len felt his breath slowing down, and a calm came over him.
"That's it Len, this can all be over. Then we can go back to our regular life. Now doesn't that sound good?"
Just as the calm had come the warmth followed. It wasn't Rin's warmth but the voices warmth. Whoever's voice it was, it was calming him. It was as if he was slipping into it. Accepting all it was. He felt himself staggering, rocking melodically side to side. Everything in front of him started to blur. Ted started to blur and slowly Len felt himself slipping, something was slipping.
"That's it Len. Now let go." Whose hand had he been holding? He had forgotten. Whoever's hand it was he was letting go of it.
"No!" A new voice screamed, but it wasn't new it was Rin's voice.
"Len, snap out of it!" He tried to but his eyelids felt heavy, impossibly so, and they were closing, fast. Since when had he been on the ground? A few bits of glass were nipping him. But nothing too serious. By now he could barely lift his head. He heard more talking, and the voice was the only he couldn't hear.
"Get the girl out of here already!" One said. Ted's voice answered.
"I'm trying but she's squirming so much, I don't want to be killed, you know."
"Quit your blabbering. What should I do with this boy?"
"Did you take care of the employees yet?" Ted asked, ignoring the question.
"Yeah," The voice scoffed. "Where have you been?"
"Trying to secure Rin." Ted retorted rather sarcastically.
"Well, just shock her already so we can go."
"We can't risk it. Bosses orders." There was a long drawn out sigh from the mysterious unidentifiable voice.
"So about this boy?" It asked again.
"You're really rowdy today aren't you?"
"I want to be able to kill at least one person." The voice answered sounding rather ominous.
From the sound of his voice Len could tell Ted was smiling, as he had said it "Go ahead and kill him, I don't mind."
The voice that had come over him earlier did not tell him to move. It had not been his own conscious. He needed to move or else his life would end. Right here, right now. He couldn't move and mentally swore. At a time such as this his body was failing him, possibly because he had so easily succumbed to the voice.
"Just stay right there I'll take care of you." He heard the voice whisper again. Right now he was a prisoner of his own mind, and he desperately needed to escape else...
Earlier the truth was that he had not wanted to let go of Rin's hand but the voice had picked at the 'what if he had held in his mind. And now here he was on the floor about to reach his death. He heard the unsheathing of a sharp weapon, whatever it is, was bound to be lethal.
Come on, move! He yelled at himself but still his body did not respond. All he could do was lay there and accept it. If he died what would happen afterwards? His belongings, his enemies, Rin? Please, he begged himself. We need to move now or else. If I still have something to live for then move!
"That's right just stay right there, everything will be fine I'll take care of you." The voice came back, creeping into his mind.
"The hell you will!" He was finally able to yell and he was able to roll out of the way. It wasn't a very smart idea but it was better to have glass splinters than be stabbed through. He pushed himself off of the tile floors and glass was mincing him but it could have been worse.
Ted was frantically trying to make his way to the door with Rin in his arms, but she screamed and kicked at him. Thrashing about violently, which meant he didn't move more than a few centimetres each step. The voice had come from a beautiful woman with long blonde hair, she was dressed in all black head to toe and had white lilies woven through certain strands of hair. The fragrance didn't fit her murderous attitude.
"Seems like you had time to get up boy I'll commend you for that one." She said, her voice had been the one inside his head, giving such instructions. The one that had soothed him only moments ago but now felt like a dagger of betrayal in his side.
"Give Rin back! Where are you taking her?" Len yelled, trying to rush at Ted. The woman stopped him as she thrusted her sword at him in sharp stabbing motions, he dodged them all being used to people using weapons and playing unfairly in fights. Though he was used to a lot less length.
"You're pretty good." She complimented, but Len didn't let his guard down he only repeated himself.
"Where are you taking Rin?"
"Don't be mistaken. As long as she is still weak we can still take her." Then she got a cut in, it only sliced a bit of his finger no deeper than a paper cut but she got him, and boy did it start to bleed. The rest of his injuries too, started to ooze blood, all the glass splinters, shards, and his finger.
Served him right for talking instead of fighting. Since when had he been one to talk things through? Or ask questions. He reminded himself that he was a punch, hit, kill kind of guy. And it fit him.
Readying his stance, he never thought it was possible, but he saw it, his own eyes had not deceived him. He had seen quite a few fainting people but never all at once. Ted and the girl instantly dropped to the floor. He'd barely registered it when Rin was by his side tugging him away. When he did not run she tugged harder till both of them were at a sprint hastily making their way out until the store was behind them.
Len was expecting both of them to come barreling out but nobody came after them. Nobody was anywhere outside the store. It was deserted.
Through it all Rin held his hand the entire time, and never let go for even a second, they just ran. Both had not known who those people were but, whoever they were, they sure knew a lot more about Rin than she knew about herself.