My head...it hurts. There's this intense ringing in my ears. Will it ever stop...? My arms feel limp. My back...aches. Have I been drugged? It feels like I've been drugged. Oh, that's right. Jean...
I pried open my eyes to a blurry, yet oddly colorful view. I was lying in a very uncomfortable position; on my side, the entire weight of my chest on my left arm. My right arm was draped over my side, fingertips just brushing against the soft, velvet-like floor. I had to untangle my legs from each other just to sit up straight. And once I had taken a look around myself, I realized that I was alone.
The room I found myself in upon waking up was very cozy, to be honest, but simply knowing that I had been drugged and brought to some strange place against my will made me extremely uncomfortable...as most would understand one would feel in this position. Just as I had felt by my fingertips, the carpet was indeed velvet. A dark red velvet to be exact. It reminded me of cake. My stomach growled angrily at me. I scowled at it to be quiet, and instead directed my attention ahead of me. In this large boxed room, the sleek, black walls were anything but bare. Decorations, candles, and paintings of all sorts ornamented the space. I even saw a painting of the twins.
The twins.
My heart dropped like a rock as I found myself unable to tear my eyes from their regrettably familiar faces. The chestnut and dark brown-haired demons were standing back to back, both with a devilish smirk on their face. Their hazel and sapphire eyes shot a painful arrow into my chest as I remembered the time when I had first met them. And Edith. And Nathan and Eliana.
And Jean.
I clenched my fists tightly, my eyebrows arching in aggravation as I recalled once again how I ended up here. "How could he have done this to me?" I asked aloud. "I thought he was on my side."
"Hanako. I'm glad to see you're awake."
My eyes shot open at the sound of the traitor's voice in the room. Standing by the now open door, leaning against the doorframe and crossing his arms, was Jean. The short blonde male lifted his chin and stared down at me pitifully, as though I were nothing more than his pathetic slave.
"Welcome to the Twins' Mansion, Hanako."
Without saying a word, I sprung up from my seat and rushed at Jean, but I didn't get far. After just a few feet, I became aware of the weighty metal latched around my ankle, and it caused me to trip head-first into the floor.
"You...Jean, how could you?"
"I'm sorry." Jean's voice held sincere sympathy, but there was some other emotion I couldn't quite identify as well. "I already told you. I had to do this to save Sebastian. Despite his idiocy, he's always been there for me when I needed him, and he's never abandoned me. Unlike a certain someone..." His nose twitched noticeably, and I knew immediately who he was referring to.
"Niall only left you because he cared about you," I said calmly, situating myself upright again to look Jean in the eye. "He's still hurt, ya know. I can tell just by looking at him. He thinks the whole incident with your scar was his fault-"
"You think I don't know that?!" Jean shouted, his eyes seemingly burning with intense rage. "I was there, I witnessed everything! Watching him walk out that door was far more painful than the scar. Don't you dare act like you know how it feels...don't act like you understand and can relate to what it's like...to have a burden on your shoulders of someone else's pain...of someone else's suffering. If Niall and I had never met, his life would have turned out better." Tears formed in the boy's eyes and streamed down his face as he paused, allowing that painful memory to once again be revealed to him in his own mind. "Every time I look at him...it makes me wish we had never met. I wish...we had never met. He would've...he would've turned out better..."
He hasn't moved on in the slightest, has he? I sighed, remembering how he had acted when he first told me his story. But in truth, I could relate...to what he said about having a burden on your shoulder.
"I can relate," I whispered. "I...I killed his sister. I killed Reiha."
Merciless silence followed my words, and it felt as though a million pairs of eyes were fixed in me, when in reality, it was only Jean. But that was no better.
"You killed the one person...that meant the most to him in his life...and he still chose to follow you?" There was a clear sense of shock and disappointment in Jean's tone, and I expected him to start shouting again. But he didn't. "Okay, so I had you all wrong. The almighty Shadow Keeper, huh? I suppose your name does suit you. You may like the darkness, Hanako, but you should've done the world a favor and kept everyone out of it. What happened to Edith, huh? Did you kill her, too?"
"Edith is still alive."
"And the cyborg? How is he doing? Have you dragged him into the darkness, too? Have you taken him away from something he cares about?"
It was at that moment that I suddenly thought of Levin—Jeremy's little brother, whom he had left at home to come and protect me. I mean, sure, Gabriel was still there, but what could a talking cat do to care for a child? Probably more than I'd give him credit for, but that was beside the point. Had Jeremy been going out of his way all this time for me? And Morgan...he ran away from home to follow me. But I was only putting him in danger. Was I really causing this much trouble for everyone?
All these thoughts were twisting around in my head like an uncontrollable tornado of guilt, but the only words that came out of my mouth were, "Am I...trouble...?"
"Yes. Yes you are."
It was then that I heard footsteps approaching from outside the room. The next thing I knew, Karm was standing beside Jean, gazing down at me with a malevolent gleam in his eye. "Hey there, Shadow Keeper," he said, laughing ever so softly. He then faced Jean and whispered something in the boy's ear—after, of course, bending over to accommodate the boy's height. Jean nodded firmly after Karm pulled away, and soon the blonde had removed himself from our presence.
"Sorry about leaving so soon the last time, Hanako. Something came up."
Just listening to the chestnut-haired demon speak made my blood boil. I struggled to reach out and grab his ankle, nearly forgetting my own ankle was chained to the wall. "You better have at least given Jean what he asked for..." I muttered bitterly.
"You mean Jeany boy's idiot friend?Yeah. I kept my end of the bargain." Karm raised his eyebrows with amusement, taking a few steps forward so that he was close enough to grab a handful of my hair. "Now...it's your turn."
+++
Karm had unlocked my ankle chain and was now leading me down a dimly lit hallway to a room he described as "the soul of the mansion".
Down a seemingly endless flight of stairs we went, and all the while Karm was gripping my wrist as tightly as he could, proceeding to raise it over our heads the second we reached the last step. I knew what he was trying to do. Despite it being nearly pitch-black, Karm was showing off to someone that I was in his possession. That was when light flooded the room, granted to us by the crystal and gold chandelier hanging in the direct center of the ceiling.
"You can come out now, Charis!" The demon shouted, his words resounding. The darker-haired twin revealed himself from the top of the staircase adjacent to the one we had come down, and I noticed that he, too, was holding someone by the wrist. The halls were still somewhat dim, so I couldn't make out the face of the other. But once Charis had at last reached the end of those stairs, I could see...it was a girl. She appeared just a tad older than me, and her hair matched the color of Morgan's—a bright, carrot-orange. Her ghostly pale complexion was stained with dirt and bloody bruises and scars.
"Hanako, meet Rachel."
The sound of that name sparked a faint memory.
I found this room and there's this girl here and she says her name's Rachel. Is that the girl I was supposed to find? Cuz I found her.
RACHEL JUST DISAPPEARED AND I HEARD HER SCREAM JUST NOW
THOSE TWINS MUST HAVE DONE SOMETHING TO HER
"Say hello, Rachel," Charis teased, shoving the girl forward. I stared into her eyes and saw a terrified little child staring back at me. That was when Karm released his grip on my wrist, and Rachel threw her arms around my neck. Her entire body was trembling, and I was afraid that if I hugged her back, she'd break.
"You two will be getting to know each other very well soon, Hanako," Karm said with a snicker.
I shivered, feeling unable to resist the urge to hold Rachel closer. "Whatever you do, you had better not hurt her, you monsters..."
"No promises," Karm said, smirking. He then reached into the pocket of his black trench coat and slowly pulled out a cellphone. My cellphone. "Hanako, you want to know what's so great about your friends? I'll answer that for you: they're idiots."
Karm began dialing a number and was soon holding a buzzing phone to his ear. In just a few seconds, I heard a faint 'click' sound, and several familiar voices came from the other end.
"HANAKO, YOU SNEAKY LITTLE SON OF A-!!!"
"Jeremy, please don't shout. My head hurts..."
"Shut up, you lousy, arm-wrestling blueberry! I'm not finished with you yet-...HANAKO WHERE THE HECK ARE YOU?! ARE YOU OKAY? Your bratty little friend won't shut the heck up!! Where. Are. You??"
"Why, hello Ironmage..."
The noise of pure, unadulterated terror that came from Jeremy painted an image in my mind of what his face must've looked like at that moment.
".....no.....that's impossible..." I heard him choke out. "I thought we got rid of you a long time ago...how could you be...?"
"I'm here with Hanako," Karm informed him. "Hanako, would you like to say hello to Ironmage?"
I didn't hesitate to shout, "Jeremy! Don't listen to him! Don't come after me!!"
"Like heck I'm gonna leave you there!!" He yelled back. "Where are you Han-"
"A-a-ah...time's up," the demon interrupted. "If you want to get back your precious little friend, I suggest you start looking. I'd say you've got roughly...three hours before something awful happens. Well, awful in your opinion. Charis and I will simply find it delightful, won't we, Charis?"
"Ah, yes, delightful indeed..."
"You twins sicken me," Jeremy spat.
"Brothers, may I have a word?"
"Niall? It's good to hear from you!" Chimed Charis, leaning towards the phone with a smile on his face. "Yes, of course. What would you like to say?"
I heard a deep intake of breath, followed by a heavy sigh. "Karm, Charis, I just wanted to let you know, you have officially crossed the line. But it's never too late to step back. However, sadly, I know you two all too well, and you will never take that step. That being said, there's another thing you should know. Hanako is my friend. I have had too many important people taken away from me, and I'm not about ready to have that happen to another one. I will find you. And if Hanako is harmed even in the slightest, then you will hear from a side of me I never wanted to reveal again. Especially not like this. I never wanted to hurt you, but if you hurt my master, then I will have no choice. Goodbye, my brothers. And be prepared."
Beep...beep...beep...
Karm and Charis were rendered speechless. This not only amused me, but it also made me feel somewhat worried. My thoughts were soon, however, interrupted.
"No matter," Karm scoffed, closing the phone and tossing it to the side. "Niall wouldn't dare to anything to get in our way. He couldn't possibly be that attached to this boy anyway...could he...?" He blinked once and gazed into his brother's eyes. Charis simply shrugged. "...We'd better not take any chances. We should proceed with our plans immediately."
"I agree," said Charis. The hazel-eyed twin smirked evilly, that familiar, malevolent gleam returning in his gaze. "That's a wise idea, Karm. But aren't you even the least bit worried about Niall? You know, he's much stronger than we give him credit for."
"Yes, but keep in mind, Charis, we have the Shadow Keeper at our mercy. If Niall poses any threat to us at all, we could always simply...release the demon, if you know what I mean."
"But are you sure that's a good idea?"
"No, of course it's not a good idea. Why do you think I suggested it?"
Both twins began laughing again, sending uncomfortable shivers down my back. I had never felt more on edge in my life.
Niall, you had better watch your step...please...don't you dare get yourself killed. If that happened, I don't think I'd be able to live with myself.