Chapter 16 - Trapped in a desperate situation (Part 3)

It was dark. We were in the parking lot underneath the mall. Xykoss was staying close to me. The bulky man kept trying to hit me or grab me, but he would come in between us. I had to come up with a plan to get out of here. My stamina was at its limit. It was getting mentally and physically exhausting. Not only was I worried about not being able to control Xykoss but also about the others who were still fighting. I couldn’t keep up with the man’s speed.

“What a waste. You have such a nice Paroxys but you’re not using it the right way. Imagine how many people you could kill with it if you would know how to properly control it.”

He appeared from behind me and Xykoss didn’t manage to get to me in time. I was flung into a car. The windows shattered and its alarm went off. It hurt. It hurt a lot. I was losing my grip on Xykoss.

“Shut up. What do you know about me or my Paroxys?”

The man laughed out loud and grabbed me by my hair. He dragged me all the way over to where Xykoss was standing, motionless.

“I’m pretty sure that I know more than you.”

He threw me in the air and kicked me in the stomach. I bounced off the floor several times and landed in front of him. I coughed up some blood and could feel that several of my bones were broken. It hurt like crazy. I looked up at him.

“Please move. Please do something.”

Xykoss would not move. The bulky man was getting closer and closer.

“Imoris. Confine thy enemies.”

An orange room appeared and with it two Dobermanns.

“I have taken a liking to that girl on the floor. So, if you could get the hell away from her, I would appreciate that.”

My eyes were filled with tears.

“Sorry, Ayumi, for taking so long.”

I shook my head and fell into Toshiko’s arms.

“What about the others? Is someone helping them as well?”

“I don’t know. There was an annoying veil covering the entire mall, preventing us from getting inside. I was able to get in, but I don’t about our other comrades.”

The two Dobermans whined as they were tossed around. Toshiko helped me stand up and told me to stay behind Xykoss and under any circumstances to not come out.

“I’ll handle it from here on out.”

She gave me a smile and walked towards the bulky man. He tore the two dogs apart and threw them in the direction of Toshiko.

“You really have no heart.”

The dogs disappeared, or what was left of them and instead a huge speckled, black and white snake appeared. It hissed at the bulky man and went in for a bite. Its body was quickly wrapping around him and was getting tighter and tighter. But that was not enough to make that man immobile. He screamed out loud and pushed the snake off him to free himself. Toshiko anticipated it and went in for a kick to his face. He flew and crashed into the room’s wall. I knew that Toshiko’s Paroxys was durable but not to this extent. She was strong, really strong. I was in awe.

“Wow, miss you are quite strong. Your Paroxys is not too bad either, but I prefer playing around with the missy behind you.”

“As long as I’m here, you’re not going to lay another finger on her.”

“We’ll see about that.”

The bulky man’s smile had returned. It made me uneasy. The snake went in for another bite and pushed him into the ground. He was not moving. Toshiko was standing still as well. I walked out of my hiding spot and stood next to her. Was it just my imagination or was I really seeing another man in the mouth of the snake?

“Ah, look what you have done. I didn’t mean this to happen, but you left me no choice.”

The bulky man forced the snakes mouth open and kicked it out of the way. He then tossed the man towards us. I wasn’t understanding what was happening. And why was Toshiko just standing there? Her eyes were wide open.

“I thought you might want to see him, so I switched places with him, but I guess my timing was a bit off. Oi, Kentaro, aren’t you going to say hello to your wifey?”

“Wifey?”

I looked over to Toshiko. She wasn’t moving. Don’t tell me that this man was really her husband?

“Wifey? I don’t know what you are talking about.”

The man who was wearing a simple white t-shirt and some black jeans stood up. His dark brown hair was a mess, and he had an unkept small beard. He looked very frail and skinny. His t-shirt was slowly getting soaked with his own blood. He was hurt. I took a step forward, but Toshiko stopped me.

“Don’t.”

“But why? Isn’t he your husband?”

“Yeah, he is but not at this moment.”

I didn’t say or ask anything else. Toshiko’s face looked furious. The fight restarted with me and Toshiko’s husband just watching them. I kept trying to get Xykoss to move but he wouldn’t listen. The feeling of dread was slowly creeping up on me. Toshiko felt off and I was proven right when the bulky man actually managed to grab her. With one swift move, he broke her arm and then stepped on her leg to do the same with it. She didn’t scream. I was choking on my words and kept punching Xykoss.

“Please, save her.”

I was going to run over to her but stopped when I saw Toshiko’s husband grabbing the bulky man by his arm.

“That’s enough.”

“What do you mean? We were told to kill everyone except for that girl.”

His finger was pointing at me.

“Ken-chan.”

Toshiko was laying on the ground and stuttering a name. Her husband’s eyes widened. He would not let go of the bulky man’s arm. Toshiko took that opportunity and kicked him in the stomach. He stumbled back but did not lose his balance. A chopstick materialised in his hand, and he flung it towards Toshiko.

“Watch out!”

But instead of hitting her, it hit the husband. It went through his chest. They both fell down. Toshiko was clearly in shock. She held her husband’s head close to her chest.

“Oh, what happened here? Don’t tell me he remembered who you are?”

I stumbled my way over to them.

“Ken-chan? Ken-chan?”

Toshiko kept calling out to him. His hand was trembling as he was stroking her cheek.

“I’m sorry, Kei. I’m sorry that I had forgotten about you. But I never forgot about our Mio. I have done horrible things. Please forgive me.”

His hand fell down to the floor and you could see the life leaving his body.

“Ah, he died. What a tragic story. At least he was somewhat useful to us. Always putting up his barrier for us. If only I could have told him that it was me who put his child in a coma.”

Toshiko’s body twitched after hearing that.

“He kept going on and on about his daughter and how she got into an accident, and he only came to us to find a cure. To get her back to normal. He completely lost his mind and even forgot about his wife. What an idiot.”

“Shut up! Shut your mouth!”

I felt so helpless. There was nothing I could do.

“Imoris. Confine thy enemy.”

The room started shining in an orange light and disappeared. Metal gloves with chains appeared on both of Toshiko’s hand. She carefully placed her husband on the floor and vanished. Chains wrapped around the bulky man’s neck. I saw Toshiko reappear behind him, pulling on the chains to make them tighter and tighter. He was struggling to breathe and kept trying to punch her but would miss every time. The chains were cutting into his skin. He grabbed the chains and flung Toshiko up into the air. Her face was telling me that she was in pain. One of her arms was broken but she was still fighting. He wouldn’t let her get on the ground and kept flinging her up again. She twisted her chains and pulled him closer to land a kick on his head. He took that chance and grabbed her by her leg to toss her to the ground. Her back hit the floor but she still managed to get up immediately.

“You’re really persistent.”

The bulky man let go of the chains and rammed a chopstick into Toshiko’s shoulder. She still wouldn’t let go of her chains. He then proceeded to break her other arm too. It made a loud snapping sound. If this pattern continued on any longer, Toshiko would die. I couldn’t let that happen.

“Just in a minute, you will be able to see your husband again in hell. I’ll make sure to send your daughter as well.”

Toshiko looked over to me.

“I’m sorry, Ayumi.”

Tears were running down her smiling face. Something snapped in me in that very moment. I didn’t care what would happen to me or what the consequences were. All I thought about was that I didn’t want her to die. It felt like I was moving in slow motion, but it probably took a millisecond to get into the bulky man’s face.

“You just made me angry. You shouldn’t have done that.”

I could feel his intense bloodlust. It was overwhelming me. Shadowing my mind. I was furious. The chains were ripped apart by me and I punched the bulky man in his face. The impact was so strong that he flew across the room while smashing the stone pillars in his way. Toshiko fell to the ground.

“Ayumi? What happened to you?”

“Nothing. I am feeling completely fine.”

“No. Wait. Stop. There will be no return. Don’t do it.”

“Don’t worry. Everything will be fine. And you were going to do it too, weren’t you?”

I looked down. Toshiko seemed horrified.

“It will be over soon.”

I walked past a car and saw myself in the reflection of the window. Xykoss was right there next to me. No, he was merged with me. I was made half out of him and half out of myself. He was devouring me. The bulky man was underneath a pile of rubble. He was still alive and breathing but before I could get to him, lightning struck. The room was engulfed in a white light.

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