Emergence

Spring flowers lined the edges of the bank of the river that ran outside Kaitown. The ice cracked and flowed downstream as the river filled with the run off from the snow that melted. As the river bends, the debris that floated with the waters caught, creating a pile of leaves, ice and sticks, along with whatever human refuse was thrown to the water. The sun rose, a hand clawed its way above the level of the water, quickly followed by the soaking and filthy form of a man.

“I am back.” He howled into the night sky

It had been days since Arania had done anything outside the house, with the exception of work. It was for this reason MusiKai was pleased to get the party invitation from the leader of the local business organization in the mail. He enjoyed seeing his beloved dressed up, and added with an excuse to get her out of the house, he jumped on the opportunity and presented it to her when she arrived home.

She stood in front of her vanity mirror, looking at him in the reflection as she brushed her hair. “Mus, this is really last minute, I don’t have anything to wear. Besides, even if I did, I wouldn’t know anyone there.”

“You would look beautiful no matter what you wear.” He slipped his arms around her, gazing at her in the mirror. “As for not knowing anyone, I’ll be there. You’ll have the whole evening to spend dancing with me. Maybe you’ll even find a new customer or two.”

She turned in his arms, looking up at him. “You really want us to go don’t you?”

“Of course, it’s a chance to show off how lucky I am to have such a beautiful woman.”

She had to smile at him for that. He was a flatterer, and knew just how to work her at times. “All right, you win.” She chuckled. “I’ll go see what I can come up with to wear.”

The assassin walked across the tile floor until finally standing before the newest employer of this particular skill. He sat with the high back of the chair to the cloaked figure, and spoke calmly from the shadows it cast.

“There is someone I want dead, but first I must be sure you are as good as your references imply. You will accompany me tomorrow evening, and we shall see how good you really are.”

The party was two nights later, and as she had promised, she had been able to find a dress to wear for the occasion. She sat silently in the car as MusiKai drove, her eyes closed as she tried to gather herself for the night ahead. She didn’t mind the dancing, or the food, but she knew at some point there would no doubt be business talk, and that bored her. She ran a business yes, but combining the two is what she hated. She felt the car slow, and turned her head to look at the house the party was happening in.

It was nowhere near as large as Haven, few places were, but it was a very large house nonetheless. It was easy to tell the person that owned it was very well off. She stepped out of the car, holding her overcoat shut as they walked across the drive. She was aware of the clicking of her heels on the concrete, and the pleasant feel of Mus’s arm around her waist.

As they walked in, their coats were taken and rushed away, and they were escorted into a large room full of people. The chandelier glittered in the light, and she gave the buffet table a once over before seeking out the host to thank him for the invite. She was glad she had chosen to wear what she had, a simple black dress, cut to reveal the warm blue flesh on her back, the edges of her tattoo there showing. She liked her own choice even more after seeing the gaudy, peacock like dress the hostess wore. The stone in her necklace had to be the size of Arania’s fist, and the earrings weren’t much smaller. She sighed quietly before plastering a smile upon her face and, taking the woman’s hand into her own, and greeting her.

“Catherine, you look…stunning tonight.” Arania had to bite back a laugh, she did look stunning, the colors in her dress would stun a deer from a mile away. She was wise enough to not be the one to tell her that though. “You must come check out the new party dresses next week, I am expecting a new shipment on Saturday.”

After a few moments of small talk, her clone swept her away onto the dance floor, where they danced elegantly to the soft sounds of piano and violins in harmony. She smiled up at him as he dipped her, his eyes laughing. She shuddered suddenly, pressing into his hard chest as he pulled her back up, and close, the music slowing. He held her tighter as her eyes searched around the room. Standing in the corner by the punch bowl, talking with the host and another man stood a woman who was also dressed simply and tastefully, a tight red sheath dress clinging to her toned figure. She looked at Arania from across the floor, her green eyes narrowing slightly at her before she turned and whispered something into the stranger’s ear.

“Ari?” MusiKai looked at her concerned. “Is everything okay?”

“Hmm…Oh, yeah, fine. Just saw someone new talking to Frank over there. She’s got better taste then Frank’s wife too.” She said with a laugh.

“Come, let’s get some food into you before we dance more.”

The evening passed quickly and uneventfully, and MusiKai, after being sure to say good-byes to the hosts, led her back out to the car.

Parking the car in the garage, MusiKai swept her into his strong arms, planting soft kisses over her neck and ears.

“You look ravishing my love.” He whispered huskily into her ear. His voice sent pleasant shivers up her arms as he carried her from the garage to the room. Her dress fell to the floor in a heap as the door swept shut behind them, leaving them to their own private party for the rest of the night.

He cowered in the large walk in closet, hoping the racks of clothing would hide him from the eyes of the one who sought him out. His heart pounded in his chest, thudding loudly in his ears. He was confused, why was he being hunted, just an hour ago he was sound asleep in his bed, his wife snoring beside him.

They were awakened by the sound of shattered glass, and he rose, going downstairs to investigate. When he returned, he found his wife still in the bed, well, most of her was. Her head, toes and fingers were scattered over the floor of the room, the thick carpet and quilt soaked through with the red of her blood. He hid himself away in the closet, praying that whoever had done this to her would take what they wanted and leave. In the hour that he had been hiding, he had heard his home torn apart. Somewhere in the other end of the house he heard the screams of the butler and other servants as they were killed.

Finally the closet door slid open, thumping against the edge of the frame. A dark form was silhouetted against the light from the room.

“Come out come out wherever you are,” the voice taunted him, stepping into the forest of clothes. One by one the clothing was ripped from its hangers, thrown into the disarray of what once was a beautiful room.

He cowered there, trapped like a mouse by a cat as the hunter came closer, the thick coppery scent of blood hitting his nose. He screamed once as his head was torn from his shoulders, his face freezing into a grimace of terror at his death.

The shadowed form slipped back out the way it came in, leaving to report to its master that the first task was complete.

Arania sat at the kitchen table, sipping a cup of hot tea when Blade came in with the paper.

“Morning Blade. Can I see that, I ordered a new ad for the shop and want to see if it started running today or if it’ll be tomorrow.” She reached and took it from him as he pointed it her way and set to making breakfast for the rest of the mansion.

A sharp gasp a few moments later drew his eyes away from the quiche he had been making. “Lady Arania, is something wrong?”

“Oh my…umm, kinda Blade. Remember the party Mus and I went to last night? Well, it appears that Frank and Catherine, the hosts, were murdered last night. The police think it was a robbery, done by some sicko.”

“Some people in this world are horrible.” He commented, turning back to whisk the eggs into the quiche, leaving Arania to her own thoughts.

After grabbing a quick bite to eat and finishing her tea, she folded the paper so others could read it and went on to work

“You did well.” He stated simply, dropping the newspaper onto his desk. “They suspect nothing.”

“I took nothing, but it looks as though I did.” Was the simple reply.

“It is time to move on to the next task.”

The hood moved mere inches in a nod, and the form slipped back into the shadows

Arania dressed conservatively to attend the calling hours for Catherine and Frank Smith. She brought a small bundle of blue roses, leaving them in the casket for Catherine.

“Julie, I am so sorry about your parents. It is horrible what happened to them.”

“Thank Miss Arania. They spoke very highly of you, they would be glad to know you came.”

Arania smiled gently, giving the oldest daughter of the dead couple a hug. “If you need anything, feel free to stop by the shop or give me a call. I mean it.”

She slowly walked outside. She had come after work, since she had not had time during the day, and was one of the last people leaving the funeral home. A full moon shone overhead as she slipped into her car, starting up the vehicle. The purring of the engine turned into a soft roar as she pulled out onto the road.

Unsurprisingly the streets of Kaitown were quiet as she drove, the occasional thump of bass from a nightclub heard through the open window. She made her way through the streets, pausing to check that the store and theater were locked up tight for the night, smiling at the poster hanging in the marquee. A small band of Kais were due to perform within the next few nights, she had signed them for a month long run, with an option to lengthen it if the tickets sold well enough. She had found them playing for free in the park and their blend of folk, traditional Brunnen, and rock had enchanted her. She adjusted the closed sign in the ticket window before returning to her car and setting out onto the road once more.

She finally got out of the city proper, taking the turn onto the country road that led to Haven. Humming along to a CD in the car’s stereo she almost hit it. Slamming on her brakes her head hit the steering wheel hard as her seatbelt did not lock in time. She lost consciousness to the shadowed form of a hooded figure leaning over her.

Mus spent the next three days searching for her, after EagleKai came across her car when heading into his shop the next morning.

For hours her body had been sore. She shivered in cold from being stripped naked at some point, she could not remember when it had happened. Her head throbbing from the collision in her car, her muscles twinging and aching from how roughly she had been removed and borne here. Her leg was sore where she had been injected with a sedative to keep her from fighting back as she was thrown, quite literally, into a black van with tinted windows. She had been given more injections since then. Each one had made her progressively dizzier, her head swimming far too much for her to think, nonetheless do anything. Her arms were chained tightly over her head, feet spread eagle. In the room with her were unspeakable toys of torture, ranging from a rack to the simple whip and riding crop.

“Hello?” She called softly, her throat dry. “Please..someone…anyone..”

Loud laughter filled the room as a shadow filled window in the only entrance to the room. “Am I good enough?”

She shuddered as she recognized the voice that filled the dark dank prison in which she was held.

“Y…you….” She muttered, not having the strength to speak all the curses and hatred that filled her mind.

“Yes, me, you didn’t think I would be quite so easy to be rid of did you? If so, I truly have overestimated your intelligence. No matter. When this is all done, you will have no mind anyway.” He laughed again, and stepped away as the door swung open, and two huge men stomped in. “Play with her all you want boys, for now though, no permanent damage.”

She shuddered as she looked at the leering faces of the men approaching her. One of them reached for her wrists as the other undid her ankles. She tried to summon her strength to fight back, but each thought dissolved into pain and a wave of head spinning dizziness.

The next thing she knew, they had her tied down on what once was a medical table, again spread eagle. Her body jerked up as the whip was brought down hard across her stomach and chest, leaving bright red and purple stripes across her breasts. She screamed as loud as her throat would allow as she felt the weight of one of the thugs upon her, his disgusting smell making her gag as she was violated brutally. The other man watched, cheering on his friend, repeatedly bringing the whip and crop down upon her flesh until her once perfect skin was a mass of bruises and cuts, blood seeping from the wounds onto the table before her.

Over and over this happened, until she fell unconscious from the pain and brutality she was forced to endure.

She didn’t know how long she was out, in a place with no windows, time has no meaning. Once more she hung by her wrists against the cold stone wall. Blood was caked over the welts on her chest, the damp stones pressing into matching wounds upon her back. The dull ache between her legs drew her eyes down, mind recalling the last moments of consciousness. Fresh tears ran down her face, a mournful moan emanating from her.

“So you are awake.” His voice echoed from the hall outside her cell. “And you are finding out what happens to those who displease me. For example, the Smiths.”

Her eyes widened, her voice a croak as she tried to speak. “Wha…why?”

“Why did I have them killed? Oh, that is easy. They owned some property I wanted, and they refused to sell it. Fortunately their daughter was more reasonable. Don’t worry, you’ll see them again, but not until I decide you can.”

Once more the door swung open, the cloaked figure from the road stepped through, a syringe held up in a gloved hand. Silently they crossed the room, plunging the syringe into her neck, pressing the plunger until every drop of the fluid contained within flooded their prisoner’s system. Dizziness washed over her as what little strength she possessed was robbed from her, head swimming.

“Bring her.” And she was unshackled, her light form draped over the shoulder of her tormentor. She hung limp, head bobbing up and down with each step, body hitting the wall as they carelessly turned a corner.

Eventually she was thrown into a modified chair, shackles on the arms and the legs, and she was tied there.

“You my dear, have something I want, and all the trouble you have put me through has been very inconvenient. You and your…clone.” He chuckled as he walked to a counter on the far side of the room, pulling out a needle the length of her forearm. “Of course, that means my methods of retrieving what I want shall be even more pleasurable for me, and my employees.”

She shrieked as the needle pierced her skin, drawing first blood, then marrow, her screams turning to incoherent moans as her throat gave out. The needle was eventually withdrawn, the sample tested before her eyes.

“My best work, if I must say so.” He gloated to the cloaked one, who merely inclined their head. “Return her to her…room…and tell Bubba and Joe Bob they can have some more fun, but again, no permanent damage, not yet anyway.”

And so it went, long periods of unconsciousness, followed by shorter period of torment and rape. Every hole in her body had been used and abused. Her face was a mass of bruises and contusions from when she had desperately tried to fight back, clamping her teeth into one of the men who tortured her. It had resulted in him brutally beating her with his bare fists, she had even heard four of her ribs breaking under the assault. She could barely breathe, each intake of air a shallow painful event. Her eyes slipped closed, swollen tongue brushing over cracked and bleeding lips.

She didn’t know how long it was, but soon she heard the sound of metal crashing against metal in the hall outside her cage. “Help..” She croaked out, her voice no more then a hoarse whisper, unheard mere inches from her lips.

The sounds of conflict grew closer and closer to the room, and the door crashed open, a dark form crashing backwards through it, knocking over a sawhorse. The fallen form was followed quickly by the cloaked form holding a large staff of metal.

“This is the most fun I have had in a long time.” Arania was startled to hear a female voice coming from the shadows within the hood, and watched as it was removed and thrown to the side. Standing there was the woman from the party, a tall toned woman with long, braided, black hair and green eyes. On the wrist of one hand was something similar to a brace, but it was in the form of hawk’s talons. She smirked, stretching her fingers as the form rose, standing to face her. He clutched a sword in his hand, and even from the back she knew who it was.

“Mus..” She croaked, but he did not hear her, launching himself at the female assassin. The fight was once more taken into the hall, and she slumped against her chains, her strength leaving her, lapsing into a state between wakefulness and the blessed, pain free darkness of unconsciousness.

"Snick” She heard on the edges of her awareness, the clank of metal hitting stone followed quickly. She was able to force one eye open, finding herself carefully clutched in the arms of Valerian as MusiKai cut apart the chains that held her. Her lips managed a small painful smile before she lost herself to the pain once more.

Bright lights, hurting her eyes. Voices, distant, familiar murmured around her.

“broken……healing…hard….” Ben’s sad voice drifted to her as on a breeze. “Sleep….won’t feel….not all MusiKai….raped….brutally.”

A sharp gasp from a female as the voices slipped away again.

Lights dimmer this time, a hand clutching hers. Gentle squeeze, even that painful. Needle in her arm. Her eyes too swollen to open, a soft beeping filled her ears as she lapsed again.

Her eyes slowly opened, the lights still dimmed, the noises of the machines around her filled her ears with a strange earthly comfort. Her tongue was still swollen from thirst, and her body was weak.

“Mus? Val?” She turned her sore stiff head to find herself alone in the room, letting out a soft whimper. “Please…..”

The sound of soft footsteps drew her eyes to the curtain and she shivered, sure that their arms had been a dream, that she was still a prisoner. The curtain seemed to move forever as her eyes stared intently, her breath held within her chest.

The air rushed out of her chest, causing a moan of pain and sigh of relief as she saw Ben standing there. She let the tears come, as his fatherly arms held her, knowing she needed to get it all out.

“You’re safe little lady, don’t you worry none. You’re healing, but you’re safe here.”

It took weeks for her ribs to heal, but finally they did. She had slept alone in her room, MusiKai had tried to slip into bed with her one night after a shift in the security room, and she had woken screaming. Her body may have healed, but her mind would take a lot longer.