Chapter 5: Caught Red Handed

  The black bag over her head is stifling. In darkness, Io is escorted through countless passageways and tunnels and down endless stairs until they finally come to a halt in a room where they unceremoniously shove Io onto a chair and strap her to it. What the hell is happening?

  The smell of putrid sewage, stagnate water and rotting wood blankets the air, along with the casual smell of drying blood. The seat to which Io is tethered is still warm.

  What does that mean!? Nothing good, I presume!

  Io’s growing unease is compounded by the realization that once she entered this mysterious room she could no longer feel the vast amount of people strolling around the catacombs.

  A muscular felina dressed in robes and displaying a toothy grin yanks the bag from Io’s head. Io blinks; her surroundings spinning into focus as her pupils expand to drink in the faint light. Countless Silencers have been cut up and stapled to the walls, ceiling and floor, taking away the power of her mind’s eye. Now she understands why she isn’t able to sense surrounding presences.

  Io is flanked by men in black robes, mostly felinas, with a single elf guarding the closed doorway. “So…” wonders Io. “What happens now..?”

  The crooked toothed felina backhands her, splitting her lip. “I notice you all like to dress up and play cult. Tell me… ugly one… Are you still a virgin? You look like you need to get laid.” He sneers.

  He punches Io this time, and there is a loud crack as his knuckles meet the bone right beneath her eye, yet she throws her head back and laughs hysterically. “You won’t break me…”

  “We will see about that, Shadow.”

  “Shadow?” Confusion colors her expression. Then, it dawns on her. “You think I’m Kiro!? Are you nuts?” She spits.

  “Your words mean nothing, for you are a mindless murderer. We know all about you… Damien has done a good job hiding you, but our moles dig deep. Rumor is… you are some kind of monster. Tell me, do monsters bleed red?”

  On a table nearby, the felina rips open a bag of tools; pliers and knives, and an assortment of others that Io doesn’t recognize. He grabs a knife and stabs it through Io’s hand. She screams as tears well within her eyes. But no. She will not cry. Not for them. Never.

  Then, he twists the knife, forcing blood to stream down the blade and pool onto the floor. Io blacks out momentarily before regaining consciousness once more.

  “Who are you working with? Who else did Damien send? Answer me, or I will continue. And I promise to get creative…”

  “Fuck… you…”

  The robed felina slowly extricates the blade from Io’s hand before turning to scrutinize his array of weapons, carefully choosing the next one: pliers.

  “I understand you are a lioness… Now, tell me,” he says with his crooked smile. “Don’t lions value their teeth above all else? Especially… their canines. Can’t tear into prey without them.”

  “No… don’t you fucking dare!”

  A rough hand jerks her head back, prying her mouth open with unforgiving force.

  The cold steel of the pliers against her teeth sends shivers down her spine.

  Just as they secure their hold onto one of her canine teeth, Io’s shadow suddenly ripples and stretches. In an instant, Kiro manifests in the small room, his masked face unreadable, twin blades glinting beneath the folds of his Silencer. A hush sweeps through the room, eyes widening in bewilderment as they all fixate on the figure that had appeared from nowhere.

  The elf looks to the locked door, then back at Kiro. But before he can move a muscle, he collapses to the ground, blood oozing from the fatal gash across his neck. In an instant, the others follow, dropping one after another, each bearing identical wounds across their throats. All except for the torturer. “H-how did you find this place!?” He stutters, backing away until he feels the wall against his back.

  “I simply waited within the girl’s shadow. I didn’t have to find this place. Now, where are the research documents?”

  The felina hesitates and glances back at Io, only to see his own hand hit the floor in a spray of blood, still gripping the pliers. He screams, which just causes Kiro to laugh.

  “You hurt my slave. I shall break you.”

  “Y-y-you… asshole!” Shouts Io, still bound to her seat. You set me up to be tortured! Why didn’t you save me before letting my hand get impaled!?”

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  “Hm…” says Kiro pondering through the sound of the torturer’s screams. “I wanted to see what you were made of. I am impressed. You did well.”

  Io blushes slightly, as Kiro lifts up her hand and inspects the wound, before saying,”This is going to hurt.”

  “What-“ begins Io. She’s cut off by the sudden and searing pain that floods her senses. The smell of burned flesh wafts into her nose as her wound gets cauterized by Kiro’s black flames. She whimpers quietly but allows him to finish.

  “There,” he says. “You won’t bleed out on me.”

  “Fuck, that hurt!”

  Kiro brings his attention back to the robed felina who’s huddled on the ground, clutching his stump of an arm,”Tell me… where are the documents?” Demands Kiro.

  “T-they are down on the lowest level… please, don’t kill me!”

  “Where are the prisoners being kept?”

  I don’t kno-“ Kiro grabs his other hand, wrapping his own around one finger and bends it backward until he hears the satisfying snap of broken bone. The felina screams again as Kiro takes off his mask, smiling menacingly. “Are you sure you don’t know?”

  “I-I swear! No one knows where the dig sight is! The location is highly confidential, I’m not even certain that lord Luther knows exactly where to go…”

  Kiro realizes he is telling the truth, and slashes his throat open.

  “Jeez…” says Io, amazed by Kiro’s brutality. “You really are dangerous.”

  “Yes, I am.” Kiro tears through Io’s bonds, before he continues,”Let us go. We must find the documents.”

  Io cradles her wounded hand and lets out a resigned sigh before glumly agreeing,” Yes, master!”

  Kiro grins before turning to leave, Io following closely behind.

  ***

  Even from behind, she knows it’s him. His towering stature and honed muscles compliments his lion’s mane of golden hair that spills over his shoulders just like the first time she laid eyes on him. The day he stole her innocence.

  From behind the safety of her mask, Io stares motionless as this warrior - only known as ‘boss,’ - instructs lower ranking officers and robe-wearing cult members on the progress of the dig sight.

  Kiro and Io search through the documents within the main office that overlooks the commons area where the scores of men and women congregate and discuss further plans.

  Io shakes violently, grabbing hold of her vibrating hands and breathing in deeply. There he is. Right there.

  “I’m going to kill him…” she says under her breath. Kiro gently puts his hand on her shoulder,”Not yet… There are dozens of them down here.”

  Io bites down on her lower lip so hard she draws blood, before composing herself and letting out a deep sigh. She steps over the body of the scientist at their feet, and Kiro hands her a stack of papers. She puts it into Kiro’s backpack, which he suddenly removes, handing it to Io.

  Io takes it, looking at him quizzically.

  “Why me?” She asks.

  “Because I,” begins Kiro, pausing to pull a lever on the wall that immediately initiates the alarm. Then he continues,”am about to be busy getting caught.”

  “‘Getting caught?’ What are you talking about!?” She says, her eyes wide,”We have to get out of here!”

  “No…” says Kiro, as he pushes Io out the door, hissing in her ear “Trust me!” The atmosphere is heavy with panic as frantic eyes dart, searching for the source of the commotion. “Run!” Yells Kiro, drawing everyone’s attention to him.

  Without another thought, Io slips into the shadows and runs back the way they came, up hidden stairways and through tunnels and doors. She Shifts into her lioness form mid-stride, blue aura gushing out of her and encompassing her whole body. Still running at full speed, Io’s muscles tear and grow as golden fur erupts from her skin. The backpack remains on her back, yet now she is faster, more agile with heightened animalistic senses. Kiro… you idiot!

  ***

  Bugs crawl all over her, and branches carve into her flesh, but Io stays perfectly still, blending in with the treetop canopy. Waiting.

  The cellar door Io came through seems to be the only entrance and exit from the catacombs, yet the possibility of Kiro coming through a different door scares her. She can’t lose him. She has to follow wherever he goes.

  Io isn’t stupid. She knows that the boy can take care of himself, but if she is going to get her revenge, she must know her enemy. And for this, she needs him.

  She doesn’t know if Kiro will come out. She doesn’t even know if she can keep up with them if they do depart to the dig site. But she does know Kiro is special. He has the potential to change things in this world.

  How? Yet again, she doesn’t know. It’s an instinct. A feeling. Kiro is hiding something profound and Io would kill to know what it is.

  Her attention quickly turns as she hears voices coming from the other side of the door.

  Finally!

  She lifts her head and focuses her eyes just as the latch swings open and soldiers come flooding out, flanking the sides of the entrance in two straight lines.

  “This kid is tough…” says their leader - Io’s tormentor. “His healing abilities are off the charts. I’ve never seen fingernails grow back so fast.”

  The boss pulls on a chain, yanking Kiro out into the summer sunlight. He has a bag over his head and his ankles and wrists are bound by iron chains.

  His hands are drenched in his own blood, and what little clothes remain draped over his body are also covered in his blood. They tortured him. He knew that would happen, so why get caught? Kiro is methodical and tenacious, but still… the mind can only handle so much, right? Then, Kiro’s Abyss comes to mind, and she feels relieved. At the same moment, a chilling realization strikes - despite the blood pooling around him, his body bears no visible wounds…

  Down the road, Io hears a wagon making its way towards them, alongside almost a dozen horses. This is it. They are taking Kiro to the site.

  “Let’s get moving, people!” orders the leader. “Eclipse is in three days! That gives us two to make it to the pyramid!”

  I knew it… This involves the eclipse.

  Wonderful. Now, all she has to do is follow, staying out of sight and waiting patiently for her chance to strike and claim that man’s head.

  Victory shall taste sweet. The wait simply ripens the kill.