Taryn’s mind was groggy. Limbs felt like they were made of lead, her neck muscles screaming as she raised her head. Her arms were above herself, tied together, resting on a type of hook that was embedded into the earth above her as her feet dangled helplessly off the ground.
Hanging off the ground like a slab of meat.
Glad to be alive at least, only to dread what would come next.
No, she couldn’t let herself succumb to that kind of thinking. She was alive, a bit out of it but awake. She was suspended with her hands tied above her head.
Faintly shaking her head, ignoring the pain from the muscles in her neck, she tried to remove the grogginess from her mind.
Going so far as to bite the inside of her cheek to try and wake herself up. It worked, to some extent. Her tongue tasted of copper; she had bitten herself so hard it caused herself to bleed, not that she cared. Swallowing, she closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths. In, out, through her nose to bring her mental focus, to wake herself before opening her eyes.
And who she saw standing in front of her didn’t surprise her in the slightest.
“You’re awake. You really are full of surprises.”
Taryn didn’t say anything as she stared at Toya, anger and disappointment mixed together; she didn’t want to be right.
“I wish you hadn’t awoken so soon. Had you remained asleep, the process would have been better for you. Painless even.” He then moved closer, his hand extending to her arm, to move near what was now bandaged where Sato stomped on. A look of disapproval rested heavily on his features. “And to have you hurt further, this was something I wanted to avoid. I’ll have to deal with Sato later.” His gaze then shifted to her ankle; it, too, had been bandaged. She winced when he touched it. The pain, much like the rest of what she felt, was bearable. It didn’t mean it wasn’t painful.
He examined it for a moment, touching it along with her foot, as delicate and lightly as possible. Treating her like she was made of glass. “You’re lucky it wasn’t dislocated. But you will have to bear with it, at least for a time. Soon though, it will be of little consequence to you.”
She frowned, choosing to stay silent.
Toya stood, facing her. They eyed each other in silence for a long moment before he asked. “Won’t you say something?”
“Would it matter if I did?” she answered him.
He glanced away, placing down objects that originally belonged to her on a nearby crate, which consisted of her hip pack that held her phone, asthma medication and her compact mirror. “No, I suppose it wouldn’t,” he says before looking back at her. “I do apologize for treating you so roughly. It wasn’t supposed to go this way.”
“Then why do it in the first place?”
“Because you were trying to leave.” He says it in the simplest of ways, before looking her dead in the eye. “And I didn’t want you to leave, not after finally having you here.”
“If that’s the case, why didn’t you do something when we first met? Why didn’t you grab me at any of the other times? They would have been perfect.” And they would have, and she would have been caught unaware.
“Because I wanted to know you and not some idealized version I could have easily conjured up after all this time. That would have been easy, but I know how layered people can be; it’s something I’ve always known even when young. No matter what we may preserve, we may never really know until speaking to one another on equal ground. Though originally, I did plan on taking you, that night when we spoke in the garden.”
“Then what changed?”
“Several things, you have both Kurosawa-san and Yoko to thank for impeding your eventual obduction.”
“My fever…” a feeling of regret coming over her recalling the last time she saw either woman before vanishing. “That’s why you got rid of them?”
He held no hesitation or even remorse in his answer. “Yes, Kurosawa-san was very dedicated to a person’s health. Something that we had to be careful of, but it had given me a clearer perception of modern medicine and the effects it has on the body. While Yoko-san, her choice to act now is something even I cannot understand. But she seemed to have a connection with you in some way. She was always a strong woman, even in the end.”
Taryn didn’t respond to that; she couldn’t bring herself to ask what he had done. “Why are you doing all of this? What’s the purpose of it?”
He was silent for a moment. “To get what I want. I’m afraid it really is that simple.”
“And I’m what you want.”
“Yes.”
She still couldn’t understand. Why? “That doesn’t make any sense.”
Toya looked at her with a quizzical expression. “No? Can you not understand? Even after you saw it, the painting in my room?”
Taryn stilled, her gaze remaining locked on him. He’d seen her in his room, but from where? Where was he hiding from? “You were there?”
“Yes, I was there, in the back behind the screen. I was immerging from one of the underground tunnels when I overheard you. You seemed to understand it then. Or perhaps, you merely don’t have the answers, but all the clues were simply jumbled up like a puzzle you wanted to solve.”
“Would you tell me then?”
He smiled, not in a malicious way, but one of what she could only describe as genuine joy. “I would be happy too.” Only for his smile to vanish. “But first, there is something I must ask of you.” his eyes bore into her with such intensity and desire. “What were you talking about with your friend?”
Shit…What did he hear from me? She thought doing her best to remain composed so as to not give away her worry. “You’re going to have to be a bit more specific. After all, there have been plenty of times I spoke to her alone.”
He seemed to contemplate that. “Right, I suppose so. Well, then, let me clarify. What was it that you talked about with your friend in my room when you discovered the painting? I heard how you spoke of the artist, yet, how could you have known that?”
“By following June, and whatever notes were left behind. I followed her clues and discovered that one of the missing people who came here during the second world war was a painter. His signature was on the painting.”
Toya was silent for a moment. “But that isn’t why you ran, is it? Not long after that conversation, you ran with your friend from the room. As if something was chasing you. Yet, nothing was there. Tell me,” He moved closer now inches away from her face as his dark jade green eyes bore into her in an unblinking stare. “What did you see?”
Taryn kept her mouth shut. The way he looked at her, his gaze boring into her soul as if trying to reach his answer. Only for Toya to move away.
“No, I suppose it doesn’t matter knowing that. Besides, you wanted to know some things about me. And I’d be happy to share.”
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“You’ll tell me?”
“I have no reason to hide anything from you anymore.” He says simply. “Ask away.”
She thought about it for a moment, something else she wasn’t expecting, but then, he didn’t seem the type to gloat or even boast. One of the many things that nagged at her came to the forefront of her mind.
“Are you really who you say you are?”
“Yes, why would I be someone else? I have no purpose for that. What brought you to ask that question?”
“I ask because of what I found, you once told me you had a grandfather, but the only mention of a man who looked like you was from nearly two hundred years ago.”
He didn’t even look surprised, instead, he seemed amused. “Ah, and here I thought that information was lost. Those who are determined will find what they are looking for, I suppose. But I am who I am, I have never gone by any alias, or changed my…” he paused. “No, never mind. My surname was different, but that was before I was taken in. I suppose I should have said that my given name had never changed.”
“Why was it changed?”
“Well, that’s what happens when you’re adopted. Even though, legally, I was already considered an adult at that point.”
Taryn fell silent, the gears turning quickly in her head, yet Toya didn’t notice. He merely continued unaware of her unblinking stare as slow realization fell over her.
“Even still, she took me in. Chiyoko had known my birth mother and had been searching for me. Wishing to keep to an old promise. She, along with Nezuko, cared for me as though I were family. I never really knew what a family was like, not really. But that tends to happen when you lose whatever family you had at a rather young age.” He paused, noticing her expression. “You seem surprised, was what I said…” he stopped, realization reaching his green eyes. “Ah… looks like you put something together, haven’t you?”
She swallowed, a sudden feeling of dread resting heavily on her heart. “Toya… you said you’d be truthful with me. That you would not lie.”
“I did, and I haven’t.”
“Then answer me this, Toya. Just how old are you?”
Upon hearing that, a smile reached his lips.
* * *
The first thing that Rachael felt was that of tatami and the heavy smell of earth. Opening her eyes, she was greeted with what looked to be a lattice of wood. No, they were wooden bars.
Making her realize that she was trapped in a cell.
Slowly, Rachael pushed herself up off the tatami mat. Her limbs felt like they were made of lead as her mind was filled with fog. The last thing she could remember was waiting for Taryn, waiting near the gardens.
Then quickly recalled what happened after.
Hiding in the Hydrangeas from men searching for her, finding bones of someone, only to have someone come up from behind her and have the smell of chloroform fill her nose. It was Toya who had done it.
Her mind snapping awake, now pumping her full of adrenalin, Rachael looked around the confines of her prison. Her body shook as she hugged herself, gripping hard at her sleeves.
Where was she? Where was Taryn? Was her friend alright? Shit…
Breath… breath Rachael… she thought to herself as she closed her eyes. Recalling something that Taryn told her.
“…I won’t tell you to stop worrying about me but believe me when I say I’ll always do everything I can. I will never leave you to fight off those you can’t see. I promise you that.”
Remembering that eased her anxiety, she felt as though Taryn was there, a hand resting along the back of her head, Taryn’s forehead pressed up against her own.
“Now breathe, Rachael, calm down and think. What’s the best thing you can do in this situation? Right now, at this very moment?”
“Find a way out of this cell.” Rachael’s voice came softly.
“That’s right, don’t think too far ahead. One step at a time. You’ll be fine…”
Slowly, she inhaled through her nose and exhaled the same way before slowly opening her eyes. Taryn, of course, wasn’t with her. She only imagined what her friend might have said. But it was enough for Rachael to regain some composure.
Grey eyes scanned the small confines and what was in it with her, other than the mat that she was on, there wasn’t anything else. Standing up, she extended her hand and touched the ceiling. She could place her whole palm up, her elbow slightly bent, meaning that even at her height of five foot two, the height of the cell wasn’t all that large. It looked to have been dug almost in a semi-circle shape, judging from how the wall of earth curved slightly outward. She could see that there had been signs of several attempts to escape, possibly by several people, with scratch marks from people clawing at the stone trying to escape.
Looking at it, the ground, surrounding wall, and ceiling all looked to be a mix of stone and dirt. If she had a tool, then it might have been possible to try and dig her way out, but from the looks of things, it was on the side of the impossible. And even if she did, there was no telling where digging could lead her.
Making her way over to the lattice, she looked at the wooden bars. They were sturdy, each bar carved in a rectangular shape for each one was connected to the other, intertwined in an almost artistic fashion if she wasn’t locked inside. Not too thin or thick but spaced evenly enough that a person couldn’t squeeze through. If she was a kid, she might have been able, or possibly Taryn, since Rachael had seen her crawl through holes that looked to be too small to get through for a regular person and still manage to do it with some effort. She did notice that a person had tried to dig down where the bars ended, possibly to squeeze themselves out, only it was far too small for her.
I doubt even Taryn could manage to get through that. She paused in her thinking. Wouldn’t stop her from trying it, though. If worse came to worse, she’d probably try and dig. From there, she looked at the door. It was small and square-shaped, like several small doors Rachael had seen throughout the mansion’s interior. Looking at it, she could see that there was a padlock, keeping it shut. Lifting the lock, Racheal could see that it was rather old and somewhat simple. She knew that if Robert were here, he’d probably be able to open the thing within a matter of minutes or less. As much as she hated him for what he did to Taryn, even after his death, however cruel that might be, she understood the handiness of such a skill.
A feeling of self-disgust rested in the pit of her stomach, she shouldn’t even hate him now, yet that stubborn part of her persisted. It made her wonder just how long it would even last before she would finally put it to rest. Setting her personal feelings aside, Rachael continued to try and find possible ways of escape, only to find that there were none.
Think, come on, there must be something you can do. Rachael thought only for that train to come to a halt when she heard voices in the distance, making their way over to her. There were two people.
Quickly, Rachael went and lay back down on the mat, pretending to be still out cold.
“Are you still on about that?” it was Sato’s voice. “Look, he wanted the girl, and now he has her. Our job is done. I don’t understand why we still have to play along with this whole tourist business anymore.”
“Because of the police, you fool.” Another voice Rachael recognized; Ayako. “You have no reason to gripe. When Kitsutsuki-sama realizes how you’ve treated that girl during her capture, you won’t get off easy.”
Sato scoffed. “As if that changes anything, or any of this, for that matter. Besides his creepy fucking obsession with that foreigner. If he just wants her that badly he should have just fucked her senseless already and quit acting so chivalrous about her feelings given what he plans to do to her—” The rest of his belittling was cut short when he gasped for breath.
Rachael couldn’t look up to see what was happening if she wanted to keep up her charade, but she didn’t have to, for the flames from the torches cast light along the walls of her cell and gave her a shadow play of what was taking place as the sound of something scratching at her eardrums. Like rusted hinges of a gate.
And what she saw, she instinctually covered her mouth with both of her hands to remain silent as her eyes remained locked on the wall as it played out before her.
Of Ayako lifting Sato off the ground with the greatest of ease. As though he weighed nothing at all.
Ayako wasn’t that far from him, yet from the looks of the shadow, she had lifted him far exceeding the length of her arm by several feet.
What in the world was she?
“You will shut your mouth,” Ayako hissed, her voice sounding almost unnatural to Rachael’s ears. “Both you and Shoko… you both should know your place. I’ve loathed the two of you since you both hoped to join our ranks. So, let me put this as simple as your ignorant self can understand. If it is the girl that Kitsutsuki-sama wants, then she will be what he gets. What happens after is of little consequence to you. I have been in his service since before you were even born. I have been indebted to him for over the counting decades, and I will not allow anyone to impede on his only desire.”
Sato then hit the ground with a heavy thud gasping for breath as it looked as though Ayako stared him down.
“Do your job, Sato. You won’t last long otherwise.” And then merely walked back the way she came.
“Intolerable bitch…” Sato spat bitterly after regaining his breath as he stood back up only to move a few feet and sat back down with a faint groan. “Do you even know what you’ll get out of that blind devotion? Nothing, that’s what!” he then grumbled more profanities to then suddenly say. “You can stop pretending now, girl.”
Rachael fought the urge to flinch and remained utterly still.
Sato scoffed. “C’mon, I know you’re faking. Do you think you’re the first person to do that? Pretending to still be out cold?”
Slowly, Rachael sat up and looked at him. Her hands balled into fists along the tatami mat as she kept her eyes on the man who sat on a wooden box across the lattice prison. She could see the redness along his throat where he had been grabbed.
He smirked. “There we go, now was that so hard?” Sato then leaned forward with a rather arrogant smug grin. “Now, then, why not have a chat between us?”