Chapter Six

Reiji stood outside the elevator, his briefcase tucked under his arm, eyes narrowing and wary of the darkness that greeted him. Down the hallway, slightly ajar, was his office door. It was obvious the bolt had been unlocked, but there was no light within.

For a moment, Reiji contemplated calling Crawford. He was lethargic and weary after such a long day of work, and had slowly come to realize that he lacked neither the patience or endurance to sit through another meeting. Instead, reluctantly, the CEO of Takatori Incorporated glanced down at his gold, Rolex watch and let out a low, disapproving hum. As he walked, an unsettling sensation rose in the air around him but, not one to rely on superstitious intuition, Reiji ignored the hint of danger and continued on.

“He couldn’t have already left.” He mumbled to himself. He started to move down the corridor slowly, annoyance boiling up through his veins. He nudged his office door open with the tip of his shoe and glanced into the empty room. There was a slight breeze from an unfastened window to his far left; the smell of rain lingered behind the surprising scent of…

“Kobanwa, Takatori-sama.”

Reiji jolted at the sudden voice. It bled out of the darkness, a condescending whisper filled with sharp, venomous humor. The hair on his neck pulled free of his skin as a slick, salty sheen of sweat trickled down the edges of his temples.

“Elise?” Reiji turned to face the door, his hand patting his chest as he let out a low, arduous sigh. “Did you just get here?”

Silence answered him.

“I didn’t know that Crawford asked you to come as well.” Reiji pushed a few papers to the side of his desk, his suitcase nesting in the clear spot he had created. “Why is it so dark in here?”

With a flash, the room was immersed in a blue, translucent light. Seconds later, the crisp rumbling of thunder clashed above.

“Do you know when he’ll return?” Reiji glanced sideways at his secretary while his fingers unhooked the brass locks on his case. He paused when he saw the look in the woman’s face, and slowly straightened his head. Elise’s eyes were the color of black opal, large and polished like weathered stone. “Is something wrong?”

Silence.

“What is that smell?” Reiji abruptly frowned, his body twisting around to glance down the length of the office. “It smells like…”

He then saw the red jar of gasoline by her feet, its black lid dangling freely down the side.

“What is that?” The irritation in his voice rose, his hand movements became faster and more powerful. “Where’s Crawford?”

“He should be here soon.” A callous grin grew on Elise’s lips as she took a step towards him, her arm raising. Set off by a slight glint of silver, Reiji finally saw the polished metal barrel of a pistol aimed his way.

Elise paused when she noticed that the reaction from him was melancholy, almost comical. Her face and the gravity of her appearance must have been hilarious because, without warning, Reiji cracked a smile. He chuckled, the sound deep within his chest, and waved his hand her way. As his mirth grew louder, his held lowered, and his hand fell through the air and slapped the top of his desk. She watched him, his mocking, guttural laugh echoing through her head. It tugged at something within her mind, taunting her.

“Baka yaro.” He tilted back his head, the whites of his teeth visible in the moonlight. “What the hell are you going on abou--”

She squeezed the trigger.

For a moment the room went silent. Reiji’s face was frozen in a smile, his eyes slowly dropping as the shot echoed into nothingness. An unnaturally vile gurgling sound welled up in his throat, and, as he reached for his stomach, he realized that he was unable to silence the quivering moan that had started to leak from his mouth.

“Wh…Wh..” His body started to convulse, his hands trembling as he felt an abnormal pull deep within his gut. He gasped for breath, his sight blurring as his knees buckled under the strange weight he felt on his body. Seconds later, even while he fought for balance, he collapsed backwards.

“Feels nice, ne?”

Through the haze that had coated his eyes in white, he could see a rough silhouette of a woman overhead. Her voice was unclear; his ears had been overcome with a deafening whistle, so thick and sharp that his vision blacked. He suddenly felt a liquid wash over his legs, then his arms, then over his torso--

The scream that ripped through Reiji Takatori’s throat once the gasoline touched his disemboweled stomach was animalistic. It sounded raw and ancient, a pure, unsullied noise that could never be mimicked nor falsified. If it wasn’t for the heel that pinned his neck to the floor, he would have coiled over into a ball and wept.

“Do you want to know a secret?” Elise’s voice was calm, almost dull. Reiji was unable to answer much less move as she pressed her foot harder into his throat. “I killed Masafumi.”

Elise pulled the half-empty gasoline jar to the side. She took a step back, her eyes gleaming as she watched Reiji tried to shake the liquid off his face. He abruptly jolted, his chest heaving from the fumes that slowly engulfed his face.

“I would have killed you last,” She set the jar down, her free hand pulling out a silver lighter from her pocket. She ran her thumb against the notched wheel and watched the small flame grow against the flint. “But that decision wasn’t up to me.”

Reiji’s eyes were swollen with blood, so broken and inflamed that he was unable to blink. Red tears inked down the side of his cheeks as he tried to move away from the choking gasoline.

“No loss to me though” She grinned to herself “After this, I’ll kill Hirofumi...”

Reiji opened his mouth in a silent, retched howl as Elise’s fingers loosened around the metal flask.

“And after that, I’ll kill Sofi--”

“Oto-san!”

The hysterical voice caused Elise to frantically turn mere seconds before the room exploded with flames. The extreme heat scorched the side of her face, her eyes tearing as she saw a dark shadow suddenly rush by. With a desperate growl, Elise tried to push herself away from the earsplitting blaze, her hand latching onto the nearest thing she could find.

Her fingers touched curls.

The moment she tried to look down, Elise was met with a violent blow to her jaw. She was unable to make out the girl that was tearing away from her. All she could see and feel was the blinding amber-red hue of the fire that had started to engulf the room. She refused to relax her grip on the person’s hair even as she was viciously thrown into the hallway.

Outside the office, the air was cooler, sweeter. There was no more choking smoke to pillage her eyes or mouth. However, her vision had been shaken from the second explosion so severely that Elise was hardly able to make out the figure sprinting down the hallway before her. She was forced to avert her attention as a sharp pain rattled her side. Alarm filled her eyes as the edges of her suit started to singe from the heat, her skin below turning red and raw. Quickly, Elise patted the area with her free hand, her other arm balancing herself against the hallway wall. As she slowly stood, her hands a bloody mess of burnt flesh, her memory lapsed. The brunette curls, the strength, the speed…

A grin grew on Elise’s soiled face; she started to search for her gun.

Sofia stumbled into the side of the wall as she hastily turned the corner. A jolt ran up her body from the impact, but, with a defying huff, she ignored it. As she ran, an opaque smoke had began to descend down the hallway, its solid and billowy form crawling forward across the ceiling. Unable to see clearly, Sofia raced towards the stairwell, the sleeve of her coat constantly rubbing the buildup of soot and tears from her eyes.

Her mind had started to babble, her thoughts incoherent and repetitive. A vile unease had risen in her gut, whispering, nagging her to go back and fight. The flames had caused her to panic, to run. Fear had clouded her mind, literally forcing her body to retreat. She was on autopilot at the moment, and was unable to control her body.

She slid to a halt at the end of the corridor, her chest heaving from the choking dust being pushed forward by the flames. As she glanced around, her eyes catching a metal door to her left, Sofia’s mind repeated the question over again, this time louder, angrier, more ashamed.

She pried the door open just as a gust of soot crashed into the wall. Her vision unexpectedly blurred; she held her breath, and fell forward.

It took a few seconds for the smoke to disperse in the large stairway. Sofia had collapsed into a squat by the door, her fingers still clutching the knob as she hung her head and heaved. Slowly, as she sat back, a calming, cool air tickling her bare legs, her valor returned.

The stairwell she sat in was completely white. It had been cleaned recently, and gave off the slight soapy smell of detergent. She looked up as her hand fell away from the warming knob, her back pressing against the metal door. There was a numbing sensation between her eyes. She felt blank, listless, utterly confused.

“What am I going to do?” She brushed her fingers over her face, gently touching the reddened, tender skin with the cool palms of her hand. She wanted to cry and scream, but all that came out was a small, forlorn sigh. “Oto-sa--”

The area behind her shoulder suddenly exploded, the metal bending inwards as the blast shook the door’s hinges. Sofia was forced forward, a startled sob escaping her throat as she stumbled to gain her footing. An excruciating pain started to build within her shoulder as the door give way. Instantly, the heat returned, and another deafening bang tore through the air. Sofia, as she clutched her arm in agony, suddenly caught a glimpse of a blackened silhouette, arm raised, through the smoke.

The valor that had so graciously returned to her minutes before abruptly disintegrated. Sofia, wounded and bewildered, lunged for the first flight of stairs as a set of hands snaked out of the flames. Her feet flew over themselves as she descended the stairs, the inferno mere seconds from her heels. She felt a clump of her hair ripping away from her skull as a single hand snatched at her from behind. With a cry, Sofia was tugged sideways, her balance faltering. She was twisting around and, as she started to tumble backwards, she found herself face to face with Elise Karen.

The moment was short lived. Seconds later, Sofia plunged into a cloud of dust and disappeared. She could feel the stairs hitting the edges of her boots before finally collided with the floor, her back taking the entirety of the impact. A weight pressed against her as she slid back against the banister, a rake of nails rapidly flying at her face. Sofia, as a resonating scream left her throat, kicked out her knee with all the energy as she could muster. Her leg hit something solid and, as a inhuman screech filled the small stairwell, Sofia reeled away freely. Dazed, and with her shoulder shredded from the gunshot earlier, she rolled to her side and gabbed for the second railing.

The sound of sirens caught Sofia’s attention as she sprinted down the next five stories. Taking the stairs two at a time, she was able to bypass the flames that had started to coil down through the shaft. She was alone now, this much she knew, and the adrenaline had started to drain out of her system. Her legs became unsteady, her breathing frantic and irregular. The pain that assaulted her shoulder was overpowering her, causing her to slow and lean heavily on her free arm. She had taken a quick look at the bullet wound around floor three, and was astonished to learn that the entire front of her shirt was a mass of crimson shreds. The actual shoulder itself was immovable and numb. All she could do was block the blood flow with the tips of her blackened fingers.

The noise from the fire trucks outside had finally gotten to be too much as Sofia staggered out into the desolate lobby of Takatori Incorporated. Her knees buckled as she tried to run across the main floor and, with a gurgled grunt, she fell forward. She landed on her side, a dark trail of blood smearing the small distance that she had slid. With her brain screaming at her to move, Sofia defiantly closed her eyes and pressed a cheek against the cold floor. Gulps of clean air flooded her lungs; tears dripped around her nose to splash against the marbled floor. She felt the earth under her quiver as another explosion vibrated throughout the building.

“Oto-san’s going to be pissed.” Sofia said softly to herself as a blank expression overtook her face. There was a ringing in her ears that masked the squeal of the sirens. She glanced towards a row of glass doors that signaled the entrance, propping her chin up on the cool floor. A flash of red caused her to blink, the next blue light brought a relieved smile to her face.

“I’m over here.” She mumbled under her breath, hardly audible for even her ears. She laboriously propped herself up with her left arm, her head cranked towards the large figures walking past the front doors. “You come get me. I can’t mov --”

A chime filled the air, the metal clang of elevator doors echoed in the empty lobby. Sofia’s grin melted from her face as she turned.

There, with clothes burnt and caked with blood, was Elise, gun raised, safety already cocked.

There had never been a time when Sofia had been jolted so violently. Her heart skipped; a prickling torrent of adrenaline suddenly coursed through her veins. Her senses slowed, quieted, until she could neither hear nor see anything except a yellow spark as the colt pistol discharged. The bullet missed her face by a breath. Instead, it sliced through her hair, sending frayed curls fluttering out behind her. She pushed herself up, frantic, and dart towards the doors. The next bullet nicked her heel. In response, Sofia lurched forward. She frantically reached out and grabbed the edge of the reception desk with her free hand, crying out as the force twirled her sideways. Her back crashed into the mahogany counter as a third bullet shattered a panel of glass lining the lobby doors. Quickly covering her head with her unscathed arm, Sofia bolted forward, a low scream threatening to rip through her throat. She cleared the front entrance and, suddenly, a gust of cold rain hit her in the chest. Her arms fell to her side as, seconds later, a pair of gentle hands pulled her forward. She tried to struggle, her neck cranking upwards to see who was pulling her away. What she saw was her own reflection, startled and beaten, in the visor of a red and yellow helmet.

As Sofia started to drift away from reality, as her mind slowly gave in to the exhaustion that had surmounted her body, she saw a figure standing within the lobby of Takatori Incorporated. Leaning against the secretarial desk, gun hidden, eyes like dead spheres of alabaster, stood Elise Karen, her two fingers raised.