"We have to go back. This isn't right, Zero, wewe know it isn't! We can't just abandon him..." Yuki demanded quietly. Her voice was still hoarse, but her tone zaidi collected now. Her eyes alisema she would go back kwa herself if Zero wouldn't help her.
Zero had remained strangely, stoically silent until they were Lost deeply in the maze of turning passages and lifts that led back towards the exit. They hadn't been blindfolded on their way in. Rido hadn't seemed to care whether they knew where they were au not, so Zero was able to navigate the way back relatively well. Once they were safely out of eye and ear shot, he set Yuki down, keeping a tight hold of her hand just so she wouldn't try to go back immediately.
His free hand went to his mouth... and he spit out a small, worn silver key. It had a number etched on one side. "Bus station locker," Zero alisema kwa way of brief explanation as he held up the key. He'd assumed as much, but knew for certain once he actually saw it. "It's where Kaname and I stashed our gear the other night." Including his gun. Zero fixed Yuki with an earnest look. "And we're not abandoning him."
Yuki's eyes registered surprise. "Where did you...?"
"Kaname slipped it to me, when he um... wewe know," Zero explained swiftly, a bit embarrassed to mention the kiss, although Yuki seemed to have taken it in stride au else had simply not felt that it was an appropriate moment to offer much of a reaction. "He's got a plan, Yuki, and I'm pretty sure I know what it is, but we've got to hurry. Come on!"
Squeezing her hand, Zero headed swiftly on down the passage towards the exit. Yuki followed at a mwepesi, teleka jog and Zero slid the key into his pants pocket. He could still feel the warmth of Kaname's mouth against his and something in his moyo that he had no control over ached fiercely. He'd told Yuki the truth, but not all of it. He hadn't mentioned that as he understood it, Kaname's plan did not involve the pureblood being able to walk away from this alive.
No one had paid any attention to Ichiru when he slid out while Kaname, Zero and Yuki were saying their goodbyes. He'd played his part after all, what did they care? To everyone but Shizuka, he had always been expendable and ignorable.
So Ichiru left, winding his way back out of the kusafishia, usafishaji and resisting the urge to look over his shoulder. Purebloods. Strange, perilous... irresistible. Maybe on a few things, he and his brother weren't so different. Could he ever imagine that Shizuka would have done for him, what Kaname had done...? He might never know. au he might never want to try and face the answer. It didn't matter. He'd known who and what she was. He had loved her. He'd never expected her to upendo him in return. He hadn't thought purebloods were capable. Apparently, he'd been wrong.
Ichiru made his way down the kusafishia, usafishaji stairs and headed towards where three cars and a van were parked nearby in the otherwise abandoned lot. He pulled two sets of keys from his pocket, weighing which ones to use. He'd borrowed both from the driver after they'd taken Kaname into the plant. Masking wasn't the only useful skill he'd picked up in his years on the run with Shizuka. One set of keys was to the car the four of them had driven up here, and one was for the vampire driver's personal vehicle, also here, Ichiru knew. It was a newer model. Ichiru chose that one, sliding into the driver's kiti, kiti cha and turning the key in the ignition.
He heard a clatter of feet on the stairs he'd just come down and looked up to see Zero and Yuki running down them at a mwepesi, teleka clip.
Zero seemed to sense they were being watched and he froze at the bottom, throwing a protective arm in front of Yuki to halt her as his gaze slid across the parking lot towards the idling car.
The twins' gaze locked for a moment.
Ichiru saw a muted desperation in his brother's gaze. Poor fool... ever the champion of Lost causes; he still thought he could do something. Could save the pureblood somehow. He wouldn't be able to. No zaidi than Ichiru, had been able to. Ichiru resisted the ruthless, uchungu, chungu tightening in his chest. We come full mduara, duara yet again, Zero.
Not really understanding why he did so, Ichiru picked up the sekunde set of keys from the kiti, kiti cha beside him and winged them out the open window, tossing them to his twin. Maybe Ichiru knew that futile hope was the cruelest punishment of all. au maybe... maybe there was no acceptable explination.
Zero caught the keys automatically, staring warily at his brother as if trying to figure out what his game was this time.
"Those are for the grey one," Ichiru jerked his head towards the car beside his. "So long, brother. I hope I never see wewe again," he called out the window before rolling it shut. Ichiru threw the car into reverse and pulled out of the lot with a squeal of tires and gravel. He headed for the main road and didn't look back. He was done here. Whatever happened, he didn't care anymore. Time to start over somewhere new. Rido could go to hell. They could all go to hell.
Zero's fingers closed tightly around the keys as he stared after the disappearing car for a moment.
"Do wewe think it's a trick?" Yuki asked slowly, not sure she quite understood what had just happened, but giving Zero's arm a small supportive squeeze.
Zero started walking quickly towards the car Ichiru had indicated. He shook his head. "No," he alisema quietly. He didn't know why he felt that way, but it didn't matter anyway. Having better transportation than walking was essential, especially considering he wasn't sure where exactly they were. And not having to take the time to try to hotwire a car gave them a small edge they urgently needed right now. Even if Zero had been suspicious, it was a risk worth taking. The keys fit the locks and Zero quickly tugged the door to the vehicle open.
"Come on," he said, although Yuki was already sliding in the other door. "We've got to find out where we are and find a phone, fast."
Yuki looked out the rear window as they pulled quickly away from the refinery. We'll be back, Kaname. I promise. Hold on.
Rido spared a passing glance towards Zero and Yuki when they left the platform before he turned his full attention back on Kaname. "Well, well, nephew... alone at last. I've fulfilled my half of the bargain... now it's your turn. Come," he commanded as he reluctantly released Kaname, leading him away. The guards followed, watching Kaname closely, but it was unnecessary. Kaname was bound to obey, bound to fulfill his promise kwa a blood oath; he was not capable of breaking it unless Rido broke his word first.
So Kaname followed his uncle out of the building, back out the exit route he had memorized earlier. Rido seemed in no hurry. He appeared to enjoy touching Kaname as they walked – playing his fingers across the pureblood's back, his neck, his hair. Kaname hated it, but of course, that was the point, so he refused to onyesha how much he loathed the other's touch. Rido knew though.
"Don't mind me," Rido murmured cruelly as they at last reached the door that would let them outside. "Just getting familiar with my new body. Open the door for me."
Kaname gave Rido a dark look, but he was bound to obey, so obey he did. Didn't mean he had to be polite about it. He brusquely yanked the door open.
Rido gave him a smirking smile as he stepped out, clapping his hand against his thigh. "Heel boy, let's go," he taunted, intentionally speaking to Kaname like a dog as he trailed down the stairs. Kaname's lips pressed into a thin, tight line as he followed.
The last step of the metal staircase buckled under Rido's feet, tripping him. Kaname's face remained unreadable. He was probably being petty, but then again, so was Rido. Right now, everything in the young pureblood was swirling in anger, loathing and disgust at the prospect of what he knew was to come.
Rido stumbled to his knees, but righted himself immediately. He spun around as Kaname reached the bottom of the stairs behind him.
Kaname expected the blow and didn't flinch as his head was snapped to the side kwa Rido's vicious backhand. In some matters, his uncle was nothing if not predictable.
"Get him into the van," Rido growled to his henchmen, who took the unresisting pureblood's arms and manhandled him into the back of the van that had been used to transport Zero and Yuki here earlier. Kaname could still smell the faint, lingering scent of their blood in here.
He didn't ask where they were going. He knew. He was being taken to where Rido's real body was, because it would be easier for Rido to perform the transfer there. And Rido always was one to take the easy way out – again, predictable.
Rido gazed thoughtfully towards the two empty places where vehicles should have been. One of his vampire escorts was scowling and patting his pockets, obviously noting that his car was missing, but not wanting to draw his master's attention to the fact.
Rido looked around at those present. Ichiru was missing. He raised an eyebrow. No great loss, the boy had been a good pawn, but he was unpredictable and now unnecessary. It was no skin off Rido's nose. But there were two cars missing, and the other could only have been taken kwa Kaname's pets. Not alarming, but worth noting.
"Toru, blow the refinery. I don't want anyone snooping around here later," Rido ordered simply as he climbed into the back of the van with Kaname. "And ripoti those two cars you're trying to pretend wewe don't know about as stolen." Rido smiled and shut the door.
The vampire named Toru looked slightly chagrined, but simply nodded. He pulled a detonator from his pocket and climbed into the front of the van. Once the van and the remaining car had pulled away, Toru pressed the button.
The loud rumble of an explosion shook the earth and rolled like thunder in the air. Anyone investigating later would assume that it had been caused kwa natural factors. Old refinery, years of un-cleaned sugar dust accumulation coating everything. It'd just been an accident waiting to happen. And it would yield no leads to any of Kaname's Marafiki who might come back here looking for his whereabouts. kwa the time anyone was able to try to pick up their trail, it would be far too late.
Rido grinned unpleasantly at Kaname as the van sped away down the road.
Zero and Yuki both jerked at the sound of the explosion and the car wavered on the road a bit as Zero craned to see what was happening in the rearview mirror. Yuki, still kneeling on her kiti, kiti cha and looking out the back window, watched black smoke and flames pouring into the sky in the receding distance behind them.
"Zero... that wasn't... Kaname's okay, right?" she asked worriedly.
Zero gripped the wheel tightly, leaning harder on the pedal and resisting the strong urge to swing the car around and go back to find out. Why did Yuki think he would know?
The hunter became aware of the faint, disturbed throbbing at the base of his neck. Kaname. The emotions he was feeling through their bond were tense, but he was definitely feeling something, so that had to mean... Zero realized with a small shock that maybe he would know. Maybe he would know if Kaname...
"Yeah, he's okay. I think Rido must have done that intentionally, probably to cover his tracks. I noticed a couple of his goons laying charges when they were setting up that demented sugar-vat thing." Zero's voice was tense but thoughtful. "He wouldn't have risked doing that if he was keeping his original body there, so it's got to be somewhere else. Probably wherever he's heading now."
The hunter resisted the urge to curse under his breath. The fact that they didn't know exactly where that was was an uncomfortable gap in the plan as he understood it. Should they try to follow Rido? No... he'd know they were following, and they couldn't risk tipping their hand, au ending up with a confrontation they weren't prepared to handle yet. They needed to let the others know what was happening, retrieve Zero's gun, and then... then...
Zero resisted the urge to rub at the soft, throbbing ache in his neck. It was a strangely distracting sensation, almost like Kaname was trying to get his attention au something, if that was possible. Was it a signal Zero would be able to follow so they could find where he'd been taken? Maybe. He didn't know. Suddenly Zero wished he understood zaidi about this whole bond situation, zaidi about what he could and couldn't expect from his vampiric abilities. He wished he hadn't spent so much time trying to repress and ignore them, that he'd asked Kaname for zaidi information when he had the chance. Now he was just going to have to fly kwa the kiti, kiti cha of his pants and hope to hell he was doing the right thing.
Yuki was glad to hear Zero's reassurance, but resisted a small shiver as she continued to watch the pillar of black smoke dwindling behind them. "Those charges were probably supposed to be used to hide the body au bodies, wewe know," she alisema quietly. "He intended at least one of us to die in there after all."
Zero glared silently at the road and alisema nothing.
Yuki turned around in her kiti, kiti cha with a quiet, grim expression, glancing across at Zero. "Okay, so what exactly is this plan?"
"It's got to be one of these," Ruka tapped the un-scratched out names they'd outlined on a sheet of hotel stationary. "They're the only ones that fit the profaili and haven't been checked out yet. When we talked with Seirenyesterday, she had her squads combing everything south of this district and east of here," she pointed at corresponding graphs that had been drawn on a map they'd procured from the gift duka yesterday.
"She would have called us if they'd found anything yet, so that leaves us with these possibilities left to check out."
Kain nodded slowly. "Assuming that he's actually using any of the Ichijo au Kuran related properties at all."
Ichijo nodded. "Yes, assuming that. He's on the run and in hiding, and he can't risk touching anything that's in a bank au a watched security anymore than Kaname could. It would have thrown up a flag for us to follow. So he has to use assets and locations already in place in order to mask his activites. Besides... these are the only leads we've got right now."
"I hate to be a kill-joy, but has anyone else noticed that there's 53 names on that list? Some of which are companies that have multiple holding in multiple counties throughout the country?" Aido inquired with a tired sigh, rubbing the back of his neck as he studied the orodha over Ruka's shoulder.
Kain sighed thoughtfully. "It is a rather large orodha for the four of us, but sitting around here any longer isn't going to get anything done. We'd better just run it kwa Kaname and see what he says."
Ichijo's cell phone, resting kwa the TV so it's charging cord could reach the outlet, chose that moment to ring. Takuma leaned over and snagged it, glancing at the caller ID. "Speaking of Seiren..." He murmured as he flicked the phone open. "Yes?"
His eyebrows lifted and he reached for the TV remote, turning the power on and flicking quickly to the hotel's only news channel. The image of what looked like a burning factory of some kind as viewed from a news chopper flickered on the screen for a moment before it cut away to a reporter. Ichijo muted the volume. "Yeah, it's on the news here too. No, we weren't involved, but thanks for the heads up. Where are you? Still there? Okay. Yes, if it looks like it means anything, we'll give wewe a call."
Ichijo hung up. "Some kind of accident at an abandoned sugar plant north of here. Might be coincidence, but it's only in the inayofuata county, so Seirenwanted to check in and see if it was related."
Aido's eyes squinted thoughtfully. "Sugar plant in the inayofuata county? Why does that sound familiar...?" he went back to the stacks of paper they'd left on the kitanda and started quickly looking through them. Ruka joined him and a few moments later held up a sheaf of papers held together kwa a large black paperclip.
"Lamba Sugar Refinery, closed six years zamani when the parent company was bought out and production was shifted to another province," Ruka summarized quickly.
"And guess who bought that company out? Advanta Group Ltd." Aido waved the blue binder he'd retrieved for the sekunde time that day.
"And Advanta is one of the names on our orodha to check out." The lift of Kain's eyebrows alisema that he found this coincidence very interesting.
Ichijo's phone, still in his hand, rang again. He automatically glanced at the caller ID once more. No name this time. It wasn't a number he recognized. He hesitated, then flipped the juu open and pressed it to his ear. "Hello?"
A frown quickly took over the sandy-haired vampire's features. "What? Kiriyu, is that you? Is Kaname with you? What's all that noise? I can hardly hear you."
Zero held one ear plugged, phone to the other as he leaned against the ukuta kwa the bank of pay phones in the bus station. A bus with a loud engine was idling at the nearby terminal, taking on passengers and the echoing din of the mid-day crowd inside the indoor station was only slightly less than deafening. The phones here had seen way too many years of use and the connection buzzed with fits of static.
"Yes, this is Zero; I can't talk any louder, so just listen!" the hunter hissed quickly, raising his voice a little, but still wanting to use the cover of the crowd. Once he and Yuki had found the highway and figured out where they were, it was a straight shot back into the city. The bus station where he and Kaname had stashed their gear was near this end of town. The hotel where they'd left the others this morning was in the out flung urban sprawl on the opposite side of the city.
Zero and Yuki had stopped at a gas station on the way here to try and place this call, but the station's pay phone was out of order. It was surprisingly difficult, in this age of cell phones, to actually find a functioning pay phone. The gas station attendant had been eyeing them with too much curiosity for comfort. In their disheveled states, traveling alone, they looked at best like a couple of runaways. Yuki and Zero had shared a near scare when they saw a police vehicle troll kwa slowly. They had left as quickly as they could without being obvious. Conscious that they were driving a stolen car, that Zero didn't actually have a driver's license and that Yuki looked a lot zaidi underage than she actually was, they were afraid of being slowed down kwa minor details like being arrested. So they had opted to head for the bus station immediately. They would fit in with the rest of the sometimes dubious crowd there and could retrieve their gear and call the others. They could also leave the car with all the other commuter vehicles, where it wasn't likely to be spotted for a long time.
Thus far the plan had worked and no one was giving them a sekunde look. Zero was pretty sure they hadn't been followed au anything like that, but he was still being careful anyway and didn't want to shout his news across the bus station.
"I'm at the East Park bus station with Yuki... never mind how we got here!" Zero alisema hurriedly, cutting Takuma's curious maswali off. The call was already taking all the change that Yuki had had in her pockets and that wasn't going to buy them very long.
"Rido has Kaname." The other end of the line fell deathly silent and Zero knew he had Ichijo's full and undivided attention now. "It's a long story, and we don't have time. But basically he... he traded himself to Rido, for us," Zero forced his voice to stay steady and not crack. The others needed to know the situation.
"Rido wants Kaname's body, and he's agreed to give it," Zero ploughed on doggedly into the glaring silence. "We were at an old sugar factory, but they're probably long gone kwa now."
Aido, Kain and Ruka stared at Ichijo in concern. The noble's face had gone almost completely white and he was gripping the phone tightly, not speaking, just listening. As their sharp ears strained to pick up jagged bits of the voice on the other end around the static and background noise, their faces also paled, apprehension gripping at every moyo at the horrible, unthinkable news.
Zero was still speaking. "I think he's taking Kaname wherever his original body is, but I'm not sure where that-"
"Zero, hold on a minute," Takuma interrupted suddenly, making a quick, grabbing gesture towards the others. "Give me those Advanta papers!" They scrambled to provide the desired documents.
"What?" Zero made a face, not understanding what the other had said. "Ichijo, we're running out of time on the call, just-"
"Wait!" Takuma snapped with uncharacteristic brusqueness as he snatched the requested folder from Aido and flung it open, balancing it on juu of the TV with his free hand, flipping pages and scanning it quickly. There.
"Kiriyu, listen, that kusafishia, usafishaji was bought out kwa a company called Advanta a few years ago. Advanta is a well-hidden subsidiary of Ichijo enterprises," Takuma explained rapidly, speaking so fast Zero had to pay close attention to keep up. "Aside from the refinery, the only thing owned kwa Advanta in this area that isn't still in busy, functioning order, is a closed down winery about 80 miles from here on Ume Blossom road, near Highway 12."
Aido pushed Ichijo's hand over a little so he could ruffle quickly through the loose sheets in the back of the binder, pulling out the copy of the credit card statement he was looking for. "Despite both those locations being listed as nonoperational, Advanta's merchant accounts recently paid to have power and water restored to the winery."
"Winery's have dark, underground cellars... perfect place to preserve a pureblood body in stasis," Kain pointed out. The pieces were starting to click into place and they were all almost talking over one another in their urgency.
"That's it then, that's got to be where Rido's taking Kaname!" Zero cut in, he wasn't quite catching everything the others were saying, but he heard enough to get the idea and dare to hope that they might actually have a lead.
"Kiriyu, wewe and Yuki sit tight, we'll pick wewe up and head over there right away," Takuma started to say, but Zero cut him off, shaking his head as he held the phone tightly.
"No! No time. It'll take wewe over an saa to cut through city traffic between here and the hotel at this time of day. Highway 12 isn't that far from here. Yuki and I have a car; we'll head for the winery. Meet us there as fast as wewe can!"
"Kiriyu!" Ichijo's voice obviously alisema he protested the idea of Zero and Yuki going into that situation alone, but he never got to finish his useless argument because he was cut off kwa an overly polite recording of a female voice requesting that Zero deposit zaidi money for additional minutes.
Thinking that that was about perfect timing for once, Zero just hung up the phone. Nothing Ichijo could have alisema would change his mind. He didn't care how dangerous it was. Time was of the essence. They had to get to Kaname. Fast.
Zero stooped to pick up the backpack kwa his feet. He and Yuki had already retrieved the gear from the bus locker and he was now a little zaidi dressed, wearing a black t-shirt that had been stashed in the back of Kaname's pack. It smelled like the pureblood and Zero was trying very hard to pretend that that wasn't affecting him at all. There'd been a pair of canvas shoes in the bag too. They were soft soled and Zero had a feeling that they were meant for climbing, rather than everyday wear, but they beat continuing to go barefoot.
Zero hitched the pack onto his shoulder and looked towards Yuki. She'd only heard one side of the conversation, but it had been enough for her to know that they had a destination. She already had the backpack she was carrying hooked on both shoulders and looked anxious to be off.
"Looks like we're gonna have to play grand theft auto a while longer," Zero alisema to her in an undertone as they quickly threaded their way back to where they had intended to abandon the car. It was their only mode of transportation right now and it was worth the risk.
"Yuki..." Zero paused as they reached the car, looking at her with an expression that Yuki swiftly recognized.
"Oh no," she forestalled him with a shake of her head. "If you're about to tell me I should wait here for the others, au stay somewhere salama while wewe go after Kaname kwa yourself, wewe better just forget it." Her tone brokered no disagreement as she tugged open the car door, tossed her backpack into the back and settled immovably into the passenger seat.
"Get in the car, Zero. And don't give me any guff about it being too dangerous. It feels like all my life I've been letting wewe and Kaname protect me and fight for me. It's my turn now, so let's quit wasting time!" Yuki's brown eyes flashed with willful determination that Zero knew all too well.
Maybe he should have argued, but Zero knew better than to try to get Yuki to budge once she'd made up her mind. "All right, little miss stubborn," he muttered with resigned fondness as he got in the car and turned the key in the ignition.
Yuki smiled faintly at the old, familiar childhood barb as they pulled out of the bus station lot. She and Zero had stood side kwa side for a long time. Maybe this was significantly different than being Prefects together at the Academy, but at the same time, in some ways it wasn't.
"Kiriyu! Zero!" Ichijo called into the phone, but the line had clicked dead. He snapped the phone closed in frustration. Admittedly, Takuma knew that in Zero's position, he would have done the exact same thing, but knowing how Kaname felt about those two, Takuma felt responsible to try to protect them, even as he would have Kaname.
Chairman kuvuka, msalaba had roused at the sound of his adopted son's name being spoken in such tones and he quickly pushed up to sit, blinking as papers slid off him with small, fluttering motions. He hadn't meant to fall asleep, and he was rather chagrined that he had.
"What's wrong, what's happening?" he inquired, straightening his glasses and blinking the four Wanyonya damu into focus. They all looked alarmed and pale. His instincts instantly told him that something was horribly wrong. He looked around and noted who was still missing, despite the fact that it had obviously been several hours since he fell asleep.
"Where are Zero and Yuki? Kaname?" Somehow he just knew that whatever was wrong, it had to do with them. kuvuka, msalaba tried to get up and faltered, having to grip the nightstand for balance. Damn... his condition was degrading so fast lately, he couldn't afford this right now!
Ichijo was kwa his side swiftly. He wrapped his arm around Cross's shoulders, helping steady him. The others were already waiting kwa the door. "We have to leave, quickly. I'll explain on the way," Ichijo promised.
Kaname followed Rido down a winding passage that led them deeper and deeper into to the subterranean depths of the old winery where his uncle had taken him. The sugar plant, now the winery... Kaname had already sensed the pattern. These were probably connected locations on some level. He wondered if any of the others would pick up on that fact. Maybe he should hope that they wouldn't. Kaname didn't want to meet any of them again, after this... not unless it was Zero, and he had come to fulfill his silent promise.
They reached their destination in one of the underground rooms that had once been used to age fine wines. Save for a few wooden shelves along one wall, the room had cleared out and re-purposed. It now contained a long, stainless steel drum that looked like a bathtub on an upraised platform.
Rido led Kaname up the few stairs to the juu of the platform where Rido's real body floated like a ghastly, gristly apparition in a sustaining pool of blood. Kaname glanced dispassionately at the horror that was his uncle's former shell. He could still hear the other's shrieking screams echo across the years as he burned alive beneath the rubble. Too bad it hadn't lasted longer. Rido deserved to burn forever in hell. If things went as he hoped... maybe Kaname would at least have the pleasure of dragging him down there himself.
Rido glanced down at his original body with a faint look of disgust. "Enjoying your handiwork? Not very pretty, is it, Nephew?" Rido's gaze was hard and filled with icy hatred as it flicked back towards the brat who had made him suffer so much and go through all this trouble. It was fittingly ironic that Kaname should also provide him the means to recover what he'd lost. And his nephew would suffer in the process. Oh yes... he would suffer.
"In a few weeks I won't even need to keep this abomination around anymore. My adorable little Shiki's body would wear out too quickly under a full transference, so I have to keep this hulk around. But once I have you..." Rido smiled. "I will soon be able to transfer fully, and no longer be bound to my former shell."
Rido paced slowly around Kaname, looking him over appraisingly, like a prize horse on the auction block. He was enjoying dragging this out. He fingered Kaname's hair and cupped his cheek, turning his head slightly as he examined him. "Seems wewe inherited the family looks. Not a bad body to spend eternity in..." he conceded in cruel amusement. "I shall enjoy breaking it in." Rido leaned close, whispering in Kaname's ear. "Maybe I'll even let wewe watch sometimes."
Kaname endured Rido's taunting words and touches in stoic silence. He would not give his Uncle the satisfaction of seeing anything but his cool, disinterested contempt.
Rido did not seem pleased that he couldn't get a rise out of the younger vampire, but he shrugged carelessly and drew Kaname over to stand directly beside the tub. Rido held him again from behind, using Shiki's body for the last time.
As faint tendrils rose up out of the bloody tub towards him, Kaname closed his eyes, silently praying to whatever God existed for strength as he felt Rido's presence flare and wash over him. Rido's consciousness penetrated his body, clawing its way into his skull, wrapping around his thoughts and burrowing into his body like a ruthless parasite.
Pain unlike anything physical Kaname had ever experienced washed through him at the complete mental violation. Rido was everywhere, wrapping and twisting around all his thoughts like an octopus prying open a mtulivu, clam as he ruthlessly pulled apart his nephew's barriers.
It wasn't a complete merging of minds; the two distinct selves remained present and separate. Rido did not gain access to everything that Kaname knew, nor visa-versa. But if he so desired, Rido would have plenty of time in which he could pry and violate into any and all corners of Kaname's memories and thoughts to eventually carve out anything he might want.
Bound kwa his oath to not fight the hideous invasion, Kaname retreated into a dark corner in his mind, giving way and pulling back quickly in order to save some shred of himself from being ripped open and exposed to his uncle's vicious invasion. Normally, it was in this utter blackness that he would have had to remain. Sleeplessly slumbering, uneasily unaware of time, of space, of self... trapped forever in limbo as Rido's consciousness suppressed his. But as Kaname had suspected, and indeed, counted upon, Rido obviously considered this far too easy a fate for him.
Kaname was dimly aware of his eyes fluttering open again. He felt odd, disassociated as if he were dreaming, au drunk. His body moved, his head turned, but not at his command. Kaname could do nothing, effect nothing... it was like being paralyzed and placed in front of a televisheni screen. He could see everything, even feel everything, although sensations somehow seemed remote and disconnected, but he was powerless to do anything – even change the channel.
Kaname heard his own voice laugh, but it was Rido laughing as he stretched his arms and rolled his head, getting accustomed to the feeling of his new body. Out of the corner of periphery vision, Kaname noticed Shiki's body lying crumpled on the floor on the stairs leading up to the tub, but Rido didn't spare his son a sekunde glance, so Kaname had no idea what kind of condition the other vampire was in, au even if he was still alive.
Rido seemed to sense that Kaname was aware again, and his attention turned inward. wewe didn't think I'd let wewe get off that easy, did you? The unspoken words and the weight of Rido's attention came to Kaname clearly inside his own head.
Oh, no, nephew... wewe cost me too much. I intend to enjoy myself before I let wewe slink off into the oblivion where wewe so rightly belong. wewe will watch as I destroy everything wewe care about with your own hands. All your little Marafiki – Ichijo, Aido, Kain, all of them, one kwa one... even those insufferably ignorant humans at the school. We'll go to kuvuka, msalaba Academy with a few E's and have ourselves a nice little feast, shall we? But desert will be the best... so we'll save your two human pets for last. Oh, I know, I promised, but it won't matter kwa then. We'll wait until you're too weak to even try to fight me anymore. But you'll still be aware, and wewe can still watch. Can still listen to their screams and feel the way their flesh gives under your hands as wewe devour them. The boy is strong, I think he'll last a long time... Rido's mental voice dripped with evil delight and the raw pictures of everything he imagined assaulted Kaname's consciousness with horrible promise.
The girl may not last so long, but she'll be so much fun... we'll make her scream your name, shall we? As we ravish her and drain her blood. She's a pretty little thing, reminds me of your mother. I wonder if she'll feel as good and scream as nicely?
Rido opened the gates of his mind upon the captive presence in his head, flooding Kaname with the intense, vivid memories of his mother's last few minutes. Fed straight from Rido's thoughts, it was a million times worse than seeing it in the little picture created kwa the memory stone. Kaname was experiencing it firsthand, from Rido's perspective. Feeling his mother bucking and struggling as he held her down. Feeling every horrible shiver of Rido's raw delight.
Kaname howled silently at the agony of being forced to live his Uncle's depravity. Helpless hate and rage swirled with disgust and horror. Kaname tried to pull away, to escape... but there was nowhere he could flee that Rido wasn't already there, no place to find relief from the raw mental torment. He was shapeless, powerless, and as long as Rido merely intended to hurt Zero and Yuki, but hadn't done it, Kaname's vow still kept him from fighting back. This was what Rido intended for him, Kaname knew. To torment him like this, until his will crumbled and continued oppression finally wore away his soul. Eventually, he would become so weak, would slip so far away from the surface that he no longer had the power to return, and it was then that Rido would no longer need to keep his original body around, because Kaname's would truly be his.
In the dark corner of his mind that Kaname still possessed, he curled into a mental ball, trying to survive, to block out Rido's cruel assault. But he had no ears to plug and no eyes to close. In this twisted purgatory, he didn't even have any tears to weep.
Zero had remained strangely, stoically silent until they were Lost deeply in the maze of turning passages and lifts that led back towards the exit. They hadn't been blindfolded on their way in. Rido hadn't seemed to care whether they knew where they were au not, so Zero was able to navigate the way back relatively well. Once they were safely out of eye and ear shot, he set Yuki down, keeping a tight hold of her hand just so she wouldn't try to go back immediately.
His free hand went to his mouth... and he spit out a small, worn silver key. It had a number etched on one side. "Bus station locker," Zero alisema kwa way of brief explanation as he held up the key. He'd assumed as much, but knew for certain once he actually saw it. "It's where Kaname and I stashed our gear the other night." Including his gun. Zero fixed Yuki with an earnest look. "And we're not abandoning him."
Yuki's eyes registered surprise. "Where did you...?"
"Kaname slipped it to me, when he um... wewe know," Zero explained swiftly, a bit embarrassed to mention the kiss, although Yuki seemed to have taken it in stride au else had simply not felt that it was an appropriate moment to offer much of a reaction. "He's got a plan, Yuki, and I'm pretty sure I know what it is, but we've got to hurry. Come on!"
Squeezing her hand, Zero headed swiftly on down the passage towards the exit. Yuki followed at a mwepesi, teleka jog and Zero slid the key into his pants pocket. He could still feel the warmth of Kaname's mouth against his and something in his moyo that he had no control over ached fiercely. He'd told Yuki the truth, but not all of it. He hadn't mentioned that as he understood it, Kaname's plan did not involve the pureblood being able to walk away from this alive.
No one had paid any attention to Ichiru when he slid out while Kaname, Zero and Yuki were saying their goodbyes. He'd played his part after all, what did they care? To everyone but Shizuka, he had always been expendable and ignorable.
So Ichiru left, winding his way back out of the kusafishia, usafishaji and resisting the urge to look over his shoulder. Purebloods. Strange, perilous... irresistible. Maybe on a few things, he and his brother weren't so different. Could he ever imagine that Shizuka would have done for him, what Kaname had done...? He might never know. au he might never want to try and face the answer. It didn't matter. He'd known who and what she was. He had loved her. He'd never expected her to upendo him in return. He hadn't thought purebloods were capable. Apparently, he'd been wrong.
Ichiru made his way down the kusafishia, usafishaji stairs and headed towards where three cars and a van were parked nearby in the otherwise abandoned lot. He pulled two sets of keys from his pocket, weighing which ones to use. He'd borrowed both from the driver after they'd taken Kaname into the plant. Masking wasn't the only useful skill he'd picked up in his years on the run with Shizuka. One set of keys was to the car the four of them had driven up here, and one was for the vampire driver's personal vehicle, also here, Ichiru knew. It was a newer model. Ichiru chose that one, sliding into the driver's kiti, kiti cha and turning the key in the ignition.
He heard a clatter of feet on the stairs he'd just come down and looked up to see Zero and Yuki running down them at a mwepesi, teleka clip.
Zero seemed to sense they were being watched and he froze at the bottom, throwing a protective arm in front of Yuki to halt her as his gaze slid across the parking lot towards the idling car.
The twins' gaze locked for a moment.
Ichiru saw a muted desperation in his brother's gaze. Poor fool... ever the champion of Lost causes; he still thought he could do something. Could save the pureblood somehow. He wouldn't be able to. No zaidi than Ichiru, had been able to. Ichiru resisted the ruthless, uchungu, chungu tightening in his chest. We come full mduara, duara yet again, Zero.
Not really understanding why he did so, Ichiru picked up the sekunde set of keys from the kiti, kiti cha beside him and winged them out the open window, tossing them to his twin. Maybe Ichiru knew that futile hope was the cruelest punishment of all. au maybe... maybe there was no acceptable explination.
Zero caught the keys automatically, staring warily at his brother as if trying to figure out what his game was this time.
"Those are for the grey one," Ichiru jerked his head towards the car beside his. "So long, brother. I hope I never see wewe again," he called out the window before rolling it shut. Ichiru threw the car into reverse and pulled out of the lot with a squeal of tires and gravel. He headed for the main road and didn't look back. He was done here. Whatever happened, he didn't care anymore. Time to start over somewhere new. Rido could go to hell. They could all go to hell.
Zero's fingers closed tightly around the keys as he stared after the disappearing car for a moment.
"Do wewe think it's a trick?" Yuki asked slowly, not sure she quite understood what had just happened, but giving Zero's arm a small supportive squeeze.
Zero started walking quickly towards the car Ichiru had indicated. He shook his head. "No," he alisema quietly. He didn't know why he felt that way, but it didn't matter anyway. Having better transportation than walking was essential, especially considering he wasn't sure where exactly they were. And not having to take the time to try to hotwire a car gave them a small edge they urgently needed right now. Even if Zero had been suspicious, it was a risk worth taking. The keys fit the locks and Zero quickly tugged the door to the vehicle open.
"Come on," he said, although Yuki was already sliding in the other door. "We've got to find out where we are and find a phone, fast."
Yuki looked out the rear window as they pulled quickly away from the refinery. We'll be back, Kaname. I promise. Hold on.
Rido spared a passing glance towards Zero and Yuki when they left the platform before he turned his full attention back on Kaname. "Well, well, nephew... alone at last. I've fulfilled my half of the bargain... now it's your turn. Come," he commanded as he reluctantly released Kaname, leading him away. The guards followed, watching Kaname closely, but it was unnecessary. Kaname was bound to obey, bound to fulfill his promise kwa a blood oath; he was not capable of breaking it unless Rido broke his word first.
So Kaname followed his uncle out of the building, back out the exit route he had memorized earlier. Rido seemed in no hurry. He appeared to enjoy touching Kaname as they walked – playing his fingers across the pureblood's back, his neck, his hair. Kaname hated it, but of course, that was the point, so he refused to onyesha how much he loathed the other's touch. Rido knew though.
"Don't mind me," Rido murmured cruelly as they at last reached the door that would let them outside. "Just getting familiar with my new body. Open the door for me."
Kaname gave Rido a dark look, but he was bound to obey, so obey he did. Didn't mean he had to be polite about it. He brusquely yanked the door open.
Rido gave him a smirking smile as he stepped out, clapping his hand against his thigh. "Heel boy, let's go," he taunted, intentionally speaking to Kaname like a dog as he trailed down the stairs. Kaname's lips pressed into a thin, tight line as he followed.
The last step of the metal staircase buckled under Rido's feet, tripping him. Kaname's face remained unreadable. He was probably being petty, but then again, so was Rido. Right now, everything in the young pureblood was swirling in anger, loathing and disgust at the prospect of what he knew was to come.
Rido stumbled to his knees, but righted himself immediately. He spun around as Kaname reached the bottom of the stairs behind him.
Kaname expected the blow and didn't flinch as his head was snapped to the side kwa Rido's vicious backhand. In some matters, his uncle was nothing if not predictable.
"Get him into the van," Rido growled to his henchmen, who took the unresisting pureblood's arms and manhandled him into the back of the van that had been used to transport Zero and Yuki here earlier. Kaname could still smell the faint, lingering scent of their blood in here.
He didn't ask where they were going. He knew. He was being taken to where Rido's real body was, because it would be easier for Rido to perform the transfer there. And Rido always was one to take the easy way out – again, predictable.
Rido gazed thoughtfully towards the two empty places where vehicles should have been. One of his vampire escorts was scowling and patting his pockets, obviously noting that his car was missing, but not wanting to draw his master's attention to the fact.
Rido looked around at those present. Ichiru was missing. He raised an eyebrow. No great loss, the boy had been a good pawn, but he was unpredictable and now unnecessary. It was no skin off Rido's nose. But there were two cars missing, and the other could only have been taken kwa Kaname's pets. Not alarming, but worth noting.
"Toru, blow the refinery. I don't want anyone snooping around here later," Rido ordered simply as he climbed into the back of the van with Kaname. "And ripoti those two cars you're trying to pretend wewe don't know about as stolen." Rido smiled and shut the door.
The vampire named Toru looked slightly chagrined, but simply nodded. He pulled a detonator from his pocket and climbed into the front of the van. Once the van and the remaining car had pulled away, Toru pressed the button.
The loud rumble of an explosion shook the earth and rolled like thunder in the air. Anyone investigating later would assume that it had been caused kwa natural factors. Old refinery, years of un-cleaned sugar dust accumulation coating everything. It'd just been an accident waiting to happen. And it would yield no leads to any of Kaname's Marafiki who might come back here looking for his whereabouts. kwa the time anyone was able to try to pick up their trail, it would be far too late.
Rido grinned unpleasantly at Kaname as the van sped away down the road.
Zero and Yuki both jerked at the sound of the explosion and the car wavered on the road a bit as Zero craned to see what was happening in the rearview mirror. Yuki, still kneeling on her kiti, kiti cha and looking out the back window, watched black smoke and flames pouring into the sky in the receding distance behind them.
"Zero... that wasn't... Kaname's okay, right?" she asked worriedly.
Zero gripped the wheel tightly, leaning harder on the pedal and resisting the strong urge to swing the car around and go back to find out. Why did Yuki think he would know?
The hunter became aware of the faint, disturbed throbbing at the base of his neck. Kaname. The emotions he was feeling through their bond were tense, but he was definitely feeling something, so that had to mean... Zero realized with a small shock that maybe he would know. Maybe he would know if Kaname...
"Yeah, he's okay. I think Rido must have done that intentionally, probably to cover his tracks. I noticed a couple of his goons laying charges when they were setting up that demented sugar-vat thing." Zero's voice was tense but thoughtful. "He wouldn't have risked doing that if he was keeping his original body there, so it's got to be somewhere else. Probably wherever he's heading now."
The hunter resisted the urge to curse under his breath. The fact that they didn't know exactly where that was was an uncomfortable gap in the plan as he understood it. Should they try to follow Rido? No... he'd know they were following, and they couldn't risk tipping their hand, au ending up with a confrontation they weren't prepared to handle yet. They needed to let the others know what was happening, retrieve Zero's gun, and then... then...
Zero resisted the urge to rub at the soft, throbbing ache in his neck. It was a strangely distracting sensation, almost like Kaname was trying to get his attention au something, if that was possible. Was it a signal Zero would be able to follow so they could find where he'd been taken? Maybe. He didn't know. Suddenly Zero wished he understood zaidi about this whole bond situation, zaidi about what he could and couldn't expect from his vampiric abilities. He wished he hadn't spent so much time trying to repress and ignore them, that he'd asked Kaname for zaidi information when he had the chance. Now he was just going to have to fly kwa the kiti, kiti cha of his pants and hope to hell he was doing the right thing.
Yuki was glad to hear Zero's reassurance, but resisted a small shiver as she continued to watch the pillar of black smoke dwindling behind them. "Those charges were probably supposed to be used to hide the body au bodies, wewe know," she alisema quietly. "He intended at least one of us to die in there after all."
Zero glared silently at the road and alisema nothing.
Yuki turned around in her kiti, kiti cha with a quiet, grim expression, glancing across at Zero. "Okay, so what exactly is this plan?"
"It's got to be one of these," Ruka tapped the un-scratched out names they'd outlined on a sheet of hotel stationary. "They're the only ones that fit the profaili and haven't been checked out yet. When we talked with Seirenyesterday, she had her squads combing everything south of this district and east of here," she pointed at corresponding graphs that had been drawn on a map they'd procured from the gift duka yesterday.
"She would have called us if they'd found anything yet, so that leaves us with these possibilities left to check out."
Kain nodded slowly. "Assuming that he's actually using any of the Ichijo au Kuran related properties at all."
Ichijo nodded. "Yes, assuming that. He's on the run and in hiding, and he can't risk touching anything that's in a bank au a watched security anymore than Kaname could. It would have thrown up a flag for us to follow. So he has to use assets and locations already in place in order to mask his activites. Besides... these are the only leads we've got right now."
"I hate to be a kill-joy, but has anyone else noticed that there's 53 names on that list? Some of which are companies that have multiple holding in multiple counties throughout the country?" Aido inquired with a tired sigh, rubbing the back of his neck as he studied the orodha over Ruka's shoulder.
Kain sighed thoughtfully. "It is a rather large orodha for the four of us, but sitting around here any longer isn't going to get anything done. We'd better just run it kwa Kaname and see what he says."
Ichijo's cell phone, resting kwa the TV so it's charging cord could reach the outlet, chose that moment to ring. Takuma leaned over and snagged it, glancing at the caller ID. "Speaking of Seiren..." He murmured as he flicked the phone open. "Yes?"
His eyebrows lifted and he reached for the TV remote, turning the power on and flicking quickly to the hotel's only news channel. The image of what looked like a burning factory of some kind as viewed from a news chopper flickered on the screen for a moment before it cut away to a reporter. Ichijo muted the volume. "Yeah, it's on the news here too. No, we weren't involved, but thanks for the heads up. Where are you? Still there? Okay. Yes, if it looks like it means anything, we'll give wewe a call."
Ichijo hung up. "Some kind of accident at an abandoned sugar plant north of here. Might be coincidence, but it's only in the inayofuata county, so Seirenwanted to check in and see if it was related."
Aido's eyes squinted thoughtfully. "Sugar plant in the inayofuata county? Why does that sound familiar...?" he went back to the stacks of paper they'd left on the kitanda and started quickly looking through them. Ruka joined him and a few moments later held up a sheaf of papers held together kwa a large black paperclip.
"Lamba Sugar Refinery, closed six years zamani when the parent company was bought out and production was shifted to another province," Ruka summarized quickly.
"And guess who bought that company out? Advanta Group Ltd." Aido waved the blue binder he'd retrieved for the sekunde time that day.
"And Advanta is one of the names on our orodha to check out." The lift of Kain's eyebrows alisema that he found this coincidence very interesting.
Ichijo's phone, still in his hand, rang again. He automatically glanced at the caller ID once more. No name this time. It wasn't a number he recognized. He hesitated, then flipped the juu open and pressed it to his ear. "Hello?"
A frown quickly took over the sandy-haired vampire's features. "What? Kiriyu, is that you? Is Kaname with you? What's all that noise? I can hardly hear you."
Zero held one ear plugged, phone to the other as he leaned against the ukuta kwa the bank of pay phones in the bus station. A bus with a loud engine was idling at the nearby terminal, taking on passengers and the echoing din of the mid-day crowd inside the indoor station was only slightly less than deafening. The phones here had seen way too many years of use and the connection buzzed with fits of static.
"Yes, this is Zero; I can't talk any louder, so just listen!" the hunter hissed quickly, raising his voice a little, but still wanting to use the cover of the crowd. Once he and Yuki had found the highway and figured out where they were, it was a straight shot back into the city. The bus station where he and Kaname had stashed their gear was near this end of town. The hotel where they'd left the others this morning was in the out flung urban sprawl on the opposite side of the city.
Zero and Yuki had stopped at a gas station on the way here to try and place this call, but the station's pay phone was out of order. It was surprisingly difficult, in this age of cell phones, to actually find a functioning pay phone. The gas station attendant had been eyeing them with too much curiosity for comfort. In their disheveled states, traveling alone, they looked at best like a couple of runaways. Yuki and Zero had shared a near scare when they saw a police vehicle troll kwa slowly. They had left as quickly as they could without being obvious. Conscious that they were driving a stolen car, that Zero didn't actually have a driver's license and that Yuki looked a lot zaidi underage than she actually was, they were afraid of being slowed down kwa minor details like being arrested. So they had opted to head for the bus station immediately. They would fit in with the rest of the sometimes dubious crowd there and could retrieve their gear and call the others. They could also leave the car with all the other commuter vehicles, where it wasn't likely to be spotted for a long time.
Thus far the plan had worked and no one was giving them a sekunde look. Zero was pretty sure they hadn't been followed au anything like that, but he was still being careful anyway and didn't want to shout his news across the bus station.
"I'm at the East Park bus station with Yuki... never mind how we got here!" Zero alisema hurriedly, cutting Takuma's curious maswali off. The call was already taking all the change that Yuki had had in her pockets and that wasn't going to buy them very long.
"Rido has Kaname." The other end of the line fell deathly silent and Zero knew he had Ichijo's full and undivided attention now. "It's a long story, and we don't have time. But basically he... he traded himself to Rido, for us," Zero forced his voice to stay steady and not crack. The others needed to know the situation.
"Rido wants Kaname's body, and he's agreed to give it," Zero ploughed on doggedly into the glaring silence. "We were at an old sugar factory, but they're probably long gone kwa now."
Aido, Kain and Ruka stared at Ichijo in concern. The noble's face had gone almost completely white and he was gripping the phone tightly, not speaking, just listening. As their sharp ears strained to pick up jagged bits of the voice on the other end around the static and background noise, their faces also paled, apprehension gripping at every moyo at the horrible, unthinkable news.
Zero was still speaking. "I think he's taking Kaname wherever his original body is, but I'm not sure where that-"
"Zero, hold on a minute," Takuma interrupted suddenly, making a quick, grabbing gesture towards the others. "Give me those Advanta papers!" They scrambled to provide the desired documents.
"What?" Zero made a face, not understanding what the other had said. "Ichijo, we're running out of time on the call, just-"
"Wait!" Takuma snapped with uncharacteristic brusqueness as he snatched the requested folder from Aido and flung it open, balancing it on juu of the TV with his free hand, flipping pages and scanning it quickly. There.
"Kiriyu, listen, that kusafishia, usafishaji was bought out kwa a company called Advanta a few years ago. Advanta is a well-hidden subsidiary of Ichijo enterprises," Takuma explained rapidly, speaking so fast Zero had to pay close attention to keep up. "Aside from the refinery, the only thing owned kwa Advanta in this area that isn't still in busy, functioning order, is a closed down winery about 80 miles from here on Ume Blossom road, near Highway 12."
Aido pushed Ichijo's hand over a little so he could ruffle quickly through the loose sheets in the back of the binder, pulling out the copy of the credit card statement he was looking for. "Despite both those locations being listed as nonoperational, Advanta's merchant accounts recently paid to have power and water restored to the winery."
"Winery's have dark, underground cellars... perfect place to preserve a pureblood body in stasis," Kain pointed out. The pieces were starting to click into place and they were all almost talking over one another in their urgency.
"That's it then, that's got to be where Rido's taking Kaname!" Zero cut in, he wasn't quite catching everything the others were saying, but he heard enough to get the idea and dare to hope that they might actually have a lead.
"Kiriyu, wewe and Yuki sit tight, we'll pick wewe up and head over there right away," Takuma started to say, but Zero cut him off, shaking his head as he held the phone tightly.
"No! No time. It'll take wewe over an saa to cut through city traffic between here and the hotel at this time of day. Highway 12 isn't that far from here. Yuki and I have a car; we'll head for the winery. Meet us there as fast as wewe can!"
"Kiriyu!" Ichijo's voice obviously alisema he protested the idea of Zero and Yuki going into that situation alone, but he never got to finish his useless argument because he was cut off kwa an overly polite recording of a female voice requesting that Zero deposit zaidi money for additional minutes.
Thinking that that was about perfect timing for once, Zero just hung up the phone. Nothing Ichijo could have alisema would change his mind. He didn't care how dangerous it was. Time was of the essence. They had to get to Kaname. Fast.
Zero stooped to pick up the backpack kwa his feet. He and Yuki had already retrieved the gear from the bus locker and he was now a little zaidi dressed, wearing a black t-shirt that had been stashed in the back of Kaname's pack. It smelled like the pureblood and Zero was trying very hard to pretend that that wasn't affecting him at all. There'd been a pair of canvas shoes in the bag too. They were soft soled and Zero had a feeling that they were meant for climbing, rather than everyday wear, but they beat continuing to go barefoot.
Zero hitched the pack onto his shoulder and looked towards Yuki. She'd only heard one side of the conversation, but it had been enough for her to know that they had a destination. She already had the backpack she was carrying hooked on both shoulders and looked anxious to be off.
"Looks like we're gonna have to play grand theft auto a while longer," Zero alisema to her in an undertone as they quickly threaded their way back to where they had intended to abandon the car. It was their only mode of transportation right now and it was worth the risk.
"Yuki..." Zero paused as they reached the car, looking at her with an expression that Yuki swiftly recognized.
"Oh no," she forestalled him with a shake of her head. "If you're about to tell me I should wait here for the others, au stay somewhere salama while wewe go after Kaname kwa yourself, wewe better just forget it." Her tone brokered no disagreement as she tugged open the car door, tossed her backpack into the back and settled immovably into the passenger seat.
"Get in the car, Zero. And don't give me any guff about it being too dangerous. It feels like all my life I've been letting wewe and Kaname protect me and fight for me. It's my turn now, so let's quit wasting time!" Yuki's brown eyes flashed with willful determination that Zero knew all too well.
Maybe he should have argued, but Zero knew better than to try to get Yuki to budge once she'd made up her mind. "All right, little miss stubborn," he muttered with resigned fondness as he got in the car and turned the key in the ignition.
Yuki smiled faintly at the old, familiar childhood barb as they pulled out of the bus station lot. She and Zero had stood side kwa side for a long time. Maybe this was significantly different than being Prefects together at the Academy, but at the same time, in some ways it wasn't.
"Kiriyu! Zero!" Ichijo called into the phone, but the line had clicked dead. He snapped the phone closed in frustration. Admittedly, Takuma knew that in Zero's position, he would have done the exact same thing, but knowing how Kaname felt about those two, Takuma felt responsible to try to protect them, even as he would have Kaname.
Chairman kuvuka, msalaba had roused at the sound of his adopted son's name being spoken in such tones and he quickly pushed up to sit, blinking as papers slid off him with small, fluttering motions. He hadn't meant to fall asleep, and he was rather chagrined that he had.
"What's wrong, what's happening?" he inquired, straightening his glasses and blinking the four Wanyonya damu into focus. They all looked alarmed and pale. His instincts instantly told him that something was horribly wrong. He looked around and noted who was still missing, despite the fact that it had obviously been several hours since he fell asleep.
"Where are Zero and Yuki? Kaname?" Somehow he just knew that whatever was wrong, it had to do with them. kuvuka, msalaba tried to get up and faltered, having to grip the nightstand for balance. Damn... his condition was degrading so fast lately, he couldn't afford this right now!
Ichijo was kwa his side swiftly. He wrapped his arm around Cross's shoulders, helping steady him. The others were already waiting kwa the door. "We have to leave, quickly. I'll explain on the way," Ichijo promised.
Kaname followed Rido down a winding passage that led them deeper and deeper into to the subterranean depths of the old winery where his uncle had taken him. The sugar plant, now the winery... Kaname had already sensed the pattern. These were probably connected locations on some level. He wondered if any of the others would pick up on that fact. Maybe he should hope that they wouldn't. Kaname didn't want to meet any of them again, after this... not unless it was Zero, and he had come to fulfill his silent promise.
They reached their destination in one of the underground rooms that had once been used to age fine wines. Save for a few wooden shelves along one wall, the room had cleared out and re-purposed. It now contained a long, stainless steel drum that looked like a bathtub on an upraised platform.
Rido led Kaname up the few stairs to the juu of the platform where Rido's real body floated like a ghastly, gristly apparition in a sustaining pool of blood. Kaname glanced dispassionately at the horror that was his uncle's former shell. He could still hear the other's shrieking screams echo across the years as he burned alive beneath the rubble. Too bad it hadn't lasted longer. Rido deserved to burn forever in hell. If things went as he hoped... maybe Kaname would at least have the pleasure of dragging him down there himself.
Rido glanced down at his original body with a faint look of disgust. "Enjoying your handiwork? Not very pretty, is it, Nephew?" Rido's gaze was hard and filled with icy hatred as it flicked back towards the brat who had made him suffer so much and go through all this trouble. It was fittingly ironic that Kaname should also provide him the means to recover what he'd lost. And his nephew would suffer in the process. Oh yes... he would suffer.
"In a few weeks I won't even need to keep this abomination around anymore. My adorable little Shiki's body would wear out too quickly under a full transference, so I have to keep this hulk around. But once I have you..." Rido smiled. "I will soon be able to transfer fully, and no longer be bound to my former shell."
Rido paced slowly around Kaname, looking him over appraisingly, like a prize horse on the auction block. He was enjoying dragging this out. He fingered Kaname's hair and cupped his cheek, turning his head slightly as he examined him. "Seems wewe inherited the family looks. Not a bad body to spend eternity in..." he conceded in cruel amusement. "I shall enjoy breaking it in." Rido leaned close, whispering in Kaname's ear. "Maybe I'll even let wewe watch sometimes."
Kaname endured Rido's taunting words and touches in stoic silence. He would not give his Uncle the satisfaction of seeing anything but his cool, disinterested contempt.
Rido did not seem pleased that he couldn't get a rise out of the younger vampire, but he shrugged carelessly and drew Kaname over to stand directly beside the tub. Rido held him again from behind, using Shiki's body for the last time.
As faint tendrils rose up out of the bloody tub towards him, Kaname closed his eyes, silently praying to whatever God existed for strength as he felt Rido's presence flare and wash over him. Rido's consciousness penetrated his body, clawing its way into his skull, wrapping around his thoughts and burrowing into his body like a ruthless parasite.
Pain unlike anything physical Kaname had ever experienced washed through him at the complete mental violation. Rido was everywhere, wrapping and twisting around all his thoughts like an octopus prying open a mtulivu, clam as he ruthlessly pulled apart his nephew's barriers.
It wasn't a complete merging of minds; the two distinct selves remained present and separate. Rido did not gain access to everything that Kaname knew, nor visa-versa. But if he so desired, Rido would have plenty of time in which he could pry and violate into any and all corners of Kaname's memories and thoughts to eventually carve out anything he might want.
Bound kwa his oath to not fight the hideous invasion, Kaname retreated into a dark corner in his mind, giving way and pulling back quickly in order to save some shred of himself from being ripped open and exposed to his uncle's vicious invasion. Normally, it was in this utter blackness that he would have had to remain. Sleeplessly slumbering, uneasily unaware of time, of space, of self... trapped forever in limbo as Rido's consciousness suppressed his. But as Kaname had suspected, and indeed, counted upon, Rido obviously considered this far too easy a fate for him.
Kaname was dimly aware of his eyes fluttering open again. He felt odd, disassociated as if he were dreaming, au drunk. His body moved, his head turned, but not at his command. Kaname could do nothing, effect nothing... it was like being paralyzed and placed in front of a televisheni screen. He could see everything, even feel everything, although sensations somehow seemed remote and disconnected, but he was powerless to do anything – even change the channel.
Kaname heard his own voice laugh, but it was Rido laughing as he stretched his arms and rolled his head, getting accustomed to the feeling of his new body. Out of the corner of periphery vision, Kaname noticed Shiki's body lying crumpled on the floor on the stairs leading up to the tub, but Rido didn't spare his son a sekunde glance, so Kaname had no idea what kind of condition the other vampire was in, au even if he was still alive.
Rido seemed to sense that Kaname was aware again, and his attention turned inward. wewe didn't think I'd let wewe get off that easy, did you? The unspoken words and the weight of Rido's attention came to Kaname clearly inside his own head.
Oh, no, nephew... wewe cost me too much. I intend to enjoy myself before I let wewe slink off into the oblivion where wewe so rightly belong. wewe will watch as I destroy everything wewe care about with your own hands. All your little Marafiki – Ichijo, Aido, Kain, all of them, one kwa one... even those insufferably ignorant humans at the school. We'll go to kuvuka, msalaba Academy with a few E's and have ourselves a nice little feast, shall we? But desert will be the best... so we'll save your two human pets for last. Oh, I know, I promised, but it won't matter kwa then. We'll wait until you're too weak to even try to fight me anymore. But you'll still be aware, and wewe can still watch. Can still listen to their screams and feel the way their flesh gives under your hands as wewe devour them. The boy is strong, I think he'll last a long time... Rido's mental voice dripped with evil delight and the raw pictures of everything he imagined assaulted Kaname's consciousness with horrible promise.
The girl may not last so long, but she'll be so much fun... we'll make her scream your name, shall we? As we ravish her and drain her blood. She's a pretty little thing, reminds me of your mother. I wonder if she'll feel as good and scream as nicely?
Rido opened the gates of his mind upon the captive presence in his head, flooding Kaname with the intense, vivid memories of his mother's last few minutes. Fed straight from Rido's thoughts, it was a million times worse than seeing it in the little picture created kwa the memory stone. Kaname was experiencing it firsthand, from Rido's perspective. Feeling his mother bucking and struggling as he held her down. Feeling every horrible shiver of Rido's raw delight.
Kaname howled silently at the agony of being forced to live his Uncle's depravity. Helpless hate and rage swirled with disgust and horror. Kaname tried to pull away, to escape... but there was nowhere he could flee that Rido wasn't already there, no place to find relief from the raw mental torment. He was shapeless, powerless, and as long as Rido merely intended to hurt Zero and Yuki, but hadn't done it, Kaname's vow still kept him from fighting back. This was what Rido intended for him, Kaname knew. To torment him like this, until his will crumbled and continued oppression finally wore away his soul. Eventually, he would become so weak, would slip so far away from the surface that he no longer had the power to return, and it was then that Rido would no longer need to keep his original body around, because Kaname's would truly be his.
In the dark corner of his mind that Kaname still possessed, he curled into a mental ball, trying to survive, to block out Rido's cruel assault. But he had no ears to plug and no eyes to close. In this twisted purgatory, he didn't even have any tears to weep.