Pet Shop Of Horrors Fan Fiction ❯ Predator and Prey ❯ Chapter One ( Chapter 1 )
[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]
By: Sesshy81 
Anime/Manga: Pet Shop Of Horrors Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Angst / Supernatural / Romance | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 04.06.2007 | Updated On: 04.09.2007 | Pages: 2 | Words: 3.5K | Visits: 638 | Status: Work In Progress
Anime/Manga: Pet Shop Of Horrors Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Angst / Supernatural / Romance | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 04.06.2007 | Updated On: 04.09.2007 | Pages: 2 | Words: 3.5K | Visits: 638 | Status: Work In Progress
Predator and Prey
Disclaimer: Petshop of Horrors not mine, someone else's. I just wished I lived there. Also, Lee Sinhg, Coyote, and Entai are the sole property of Akita and Subu-chan, who have graciously allowed me to write my own fic that ties in with their PSOH fics. Any other characters from any other series that may pop up also belong only to their respective companies.
Co-authored by: Kita and Subu-chan.
Warning: Graphic scene of NCS in first chapter. read at own risk.
Chapter One:
Shifting uncomfortably, a pale figure huddled in a recessed doorway, listening intently to the sounds of footsteps as they grew ever closer. The very thought of them catching her terrified her. She had escaped, but only barely. Now they hunted her as others had her namesake, centuries ago. Trembling uncontrollably, she inched farther back into the doorway, making no noise in her shoeless and nearly naked state. The tiny portion of her mind that was still functioning properly pointed out that wandering shoeless in this part of any city was dangerous.
The terrified part pointed out in return that the place she had escaped from was far worse. It was a fate worse than death, for a girl. No, she had been foolish enough to believe the crazy foreigner's words of promise, of a better place, away from war and hunger. Then, when she'd arrived, she been taken somewhere dark, and people, men, started touching her.
They'd enjoyed her screams. She remembered that very well.
She was the lucky one; she was the one small enough to hide easily in an unlocked car trunk at a party her "master" sent her and three others to a few days after she'd arrived.
Still, they'd soon noticed she was missing, and thus she had ended up here, in a remote section of LA's Chinatown, shivering in a stolen dress and a cold rain.
Sometimes, her life sucked. Scratch that, she told herself; her life sucked all the time. But her Irish ancestors would be appalled if she gave up now.
The heavy tromp of footsteps clattered down the stairway and in her haste to avoid being seen she rattled the wrought-iron gateway attached to the entrance of the shop whose entryway she was attempting to use as a hiding hole. Scrambling around she found a length of broken pipe from an old drain that still dripped water down on her from the neighboring building. Clutching it, she froze and waited without breathing frozen breath as a shadow fell across the dimly lit entrance.
***
Inside, the sound of the rattling gate woke only a single inhabitant of the shop. Stretching and yawning languorously, he allowed his shape to shimmer into the human facade he wore so often when he went outside the shop, looking after the detective's kid brother. With the return of conscious awareness came the sharply pungent scent of fear, and something else, something musky. Snorting to rid himself of the distasteful smell, the creature shifted his body so he could watch the door, and waited for an intruder of some sort to make itself known.
***
“So here you are my little fox,” chuckled a low voice as the shadow advanced. “It’s time for you to return home.”
A savage snarl lit her face as she glared at the man before her. “Tha’ hellhole is not me home, bastard.” The thick Irish accent was even more pronounced when she was angry or afraid than it was normally, he noted distantly.
He took a step closer and halted when the cornered girl took swing at him with a length of copper pipe. “Feisty, aren’t you?” He asked. “No matter.” He lunged forward and ducked under the overhand swing she took at him. Coming up inside her guard, he grabbed her free hand and ground it into the wall, making her cry out.
She stomped on his toes, not that it did much more than annoy him, even as she swung the pipe up behind his back to smack him hard in the head. “Le’ me go, ass!”
Shaking the slight disorientation away, he finally managed to grab her other hand and wrenched the makeshift weapon away from her. “Stupid!” he hissed, throwing her from him.
Sparks appeared behind the girl's eyes when her head met the concrete as the man ruthlessly shoved her down onto her hands and knees. Dazed, her sense of up and down reeling, she only dimly felt the tattered remains of her dress being ripped away.
He leaned over her body to whisper harshly in her ear. "We were told to make sure you never try to escape again. You belong to us, and we will do with you as we please. Now, I think you owe me something for the trouble of having to catch you, little seal." He reached around to her front and a callused hand roughly grabbed one of her breasts, while the other was busy pushing down his own pants. Groaning at the brush of his cock against her core, he quickly thrust forward, sighing happily when she screamed in pain. Pulling back and thrusting in again, he realized that the screams could bring down the wrong sort of people and stuffed the torn, dirty garment he'd ripped off her into her mouth, stifling the sounds. Keeping the shuddering girl impaled on him, he carefully scooted their joined forms back into the deepest shadows and once settled, rammed himself as deeply as possible into the body beneath him. Eager now, he kept one hand on her hip to steady her as he thrust and the other busily roamed her front, first toying with one breast, and then the other, before wandering down to between her thighs and rubbing the little nub hidden in her folds.
Grunting, he suddenly realized that the tensing of the body beneath him that went with the screams, and felt so good while he was deep within her, had stopped. Grabbing a fistful of hair, he wrenched her head around, disgusted by the tears smearing tracks in the dirt on her face. He knew how to get her screaming again, he thought as he let go of the hair and slid a small knife out of his belt. Smirking, he stabbed it into one of the hands holding her body off the ground. There, that did it, he mused as he continued stroking his length inside her, holding back groans as each stroke or stab of the knife brought forth new screams. As the girl collapsed under him, eyes vacant and blood dripping off her body, he never noticed the slender form that slid up behind him and yanked him off of her.
"Get lost, boy," he snarled at the intruder.
A harsh and malevolent chuckle rattled the air around him as the human pulled his pants up. "Oh, I think not, disgusting thing. Rather, it's you who should leave. Before I change my mind and eat you anyway." The creature stepped smoothly past the bloody girl into the dim lamplight from the street to reveal a small but very compact body dressed rather oddly in what he would later refer to as "Aladdin garb", a light, embroidered vest and loose, baggy pants. Meeting the seemingly young man's eyes startled him as they revealed a cold and bloodthirsty desire to rip him to bite-size shreds. Gold around his neck and wrists shimmered in muted colors that matched the strange amber eyes that glinted with cruelty as their owner took another step forward, and he saw a clawed hand tracing its way across the creature's bottom lip as a dark pink tongue darted out to test the sharpness of each claw.
Turning, he fled, shaken to his soul by an unnatural fear of the strange boy.
With a disappointed huff, said boy shrugged and glanced down at the small girl on the ground, her life bleeding away from several chest wounds. No doubt from the knife, he mused. Kneeling, he put two fingers to the pulse in her neck. It was weak but steady. Shuddering out a sigh, he licked his lips and pressed the tips of his clawed fingers into the blood pooling beside her and then brought them to his mouth and licked them clean. Hissing in pleasure, he dragged his tongue across one fang and closed his eyes to savor the flavor for a moment before returning his attention to the immediate problem of the still-living girl.
Sticking his tongue out and huffing in a very childish manner, he began to grumble. "Now why did I have to go and get involved? D'll never forgive me if I just left her here, or ate her. Nuthin' for it, I've gotta take her inside." Shoving his desire for more than just a taste to the side, he lifted the limp body, slipped past the gate and locked it behind him. Also closing and locking the main door, he waited a moment before lifting his voice in a shout loud enough to wake the dead. "COUNT D!"
Laying the nameless girl on the couch, he darted quickly into the bathroom D kept for customers and grabbed a handful of washcloths. Carefully pressing them into the largest of the seeping wounds, he noted wryly from a predator's perspective that at least the knife hadn't hit any major blood vessels. Hearing soft footsteps coming down the hall, he turned his head to look up at the proprietor of the shop. "D."
Chin length black hair swayed as a frown snaked its way across the cool and almost femininely attractive face. "Don't tell me you went out to hunt, T-chan. It's far too dangerous..."
Shaking his tawny head, the being turned his attention back to the girl. "No. There was a disturbance outside the front door. When I went to investigate, she was being attacked, so I scared the idiot off and brought her in. Couldn't very well let her die after going to the trouble of saving her from another."
"Ah." Then D smirked gently. "Your 'good deed' for the day?"
Snorting T-chan leaned back from the figure on the couch. "I think you're gonna need Lee Sinhg to patch her up. Bastard had a knife, and knew just how to use it to cause the most pain without killing her." He glared up at D. "Disgusting. Much as I may hate humans, and wish the entire race would just vanish into my belly, no one deserves that done to them."
Eyes growing wide, D processed that sentence coming out of his Totetsu's mouth. "You mean she was..."
"Being raped? Yeah."
A nod was directed his way even as the taller man glided over to the phone, one of the few pieces of modern technology he permitted inside his petshop. Dialing, he had to wait several minutes before it was picked up on the other end. "Lee Sinhg? I am most sorry to disturb you so late at night. There has been something of a disturbance ... No, it is not the Detective. T-chan heard something outside and investigated, discovering a young girl being assaulted. She's bleeding rather badly ... Yes, he's doing what he can to stop the blood flow ... Yes I know it is against his normal nature. He said it would have been a waste to rescue her and then let her die. ... Very well. I will see you soon. Thank you." Hanging up the phone D walked over and settled himself on the end of the couch. "He'll be here soon. How bad is she?"
"Bad enough. Moron missed the stomach, but I think he punctured a lung. Her heartbeat is steady but weak, and her breathing is pretty ragged." Tetsu looked up at D again, seeing the intent expression. "Something wrong?"
"No. I am surprised at how you've restrained yourself."
Flinching slighty in guilt, the Totetsu looked away quickly. Her blood had tasted so good.
A soft chuckle wrapped around him. "Ah, I see. You did taste her."
Shrugging away the comment, he watched the pale face below him carefully. "Only a taste. There was so much blood on the ground I couldn't resist." Licking his lips in remembrance, his hands trembled where they held the cloths against the worst wounds. "We'll have to clean it up before the shop can open tomorrow."
"It will be done. Tetsu ... what made you decide to intervene?"
Shifting uncomfortably, T-chan hid his eyes from D for a few seconds. D let him collect his thoughts before placing a hand on the slightly shuddering Totetsu. "Tetsu?"
"She was screaming," he whispered so quietly D had to lean in closer. "I couldn't stand her screaming." He turned wide eyes up at his guardian. "I'm a predator, I like fear in my prey, but she was plain fucking terrified. There is no joy in such a hunt, only death. Even if only of the spirit."
"I understand. As I told Detective Orcot, most animals show more compassion than any human. They know the laws of survival, while humans have forgotten them in their arrogance. You kill only to live. There is no shame in enjoying the hunt, but to hunt without need, only for the pleasure of killing ... that is wrong. And you are correct, to kill the spirit yet leave the body living is a terrible crime." Slender hands pressed against those of the over-strained Totetsu, taking over the job of applying pressure to the girl's wounds. "Go. Let me do this. I can see you trembling. Go, and eat something before you return."
Rising, Tetsu almost sprinted to the double doors leading away from the main areas of the petshop. D looked down on the girl, noting with mild interest the faint glimmer of magic that surrounded her. Was she ... no, she smelled human. "Who are you, little lady? Where does this magic come from?" He sighed, knowing the only way to get his answers was to wait for her to heal. Now he just had to keep her alive long enough for Lee Sinhg to get here.
The minutes passed by as slowly the flow of blood slowed and D needed to change the cloths less frequently.
Across the room the front door opened and closed, admitting a man dressed in a long raincoat, which he immediately removed. “D?”
“Lee Sinhg, I am grateful you have come so quickly. I have not the skill the treat these wounds.” Shifting to the side, D let the doctor in to examine the girl. As the next few moments passed the frown upon Lee Sinhg’s face became more and more grim. Finally he looked up from his new patient. “If you ever find who did this, let me know. I want a piece of him. Whoever did this was someone who knows how to use a knife in the worst possible way. If this wound on the side of her chest had been an inch higher, it would have struck her heart and she’d be dead, not clinging to life here, with a hole in her lung.”
A dark voice spoke from the doorway into the depths of the petshop. “You’ll have to beat me to him. If I ever see him again, I’m going to eat him. Slowly.” Tetsu flashed the two men a blood drenched grin. Dangling from his hand was a rabbit, half of it gone, most likely down his throat, they knew. He was grateful the bloodlust had been sated by the quick hunt, with a meal in his stomach, he’d be able to help the other two get the girl settled. Quickly gulping down the rest of the unfortunate rabbit, he walked into the kitchen to wash his hands while Lee Sinhg and D bent to the task of putting the poor girl-creature back together.
“D? I’m going to get the room next to Chris’s ready for her. If I have to I’ll wake him, though I don’t think I’ll need any help with it. Get her patched up, I’ll be ready by the time you’re done,” he called as he headed back down the rear hallways, now in a much better mood than he had been in before. Gathering a couple extra blankets from the cupboard where D kept them, he turned a corner and stopped before a door carved from two pieces of solid oak. It held a picture of high cliffs and perching sea birds overlooking a family of seals as they played in a moon-shaped bay. It was a remarkable piece of work. D had told him that it had been a gift from some king long ago.
Half an hour later, while Tetsu was still preparing a room for her, Lee Sinhg sat back from the girl, put his needle and thread away, and sighed. “That’s the last of them. Keep them dry, but don’t cover them, they need to drain to keep out infection. Let her rest as much as possible, but don’t keep her from moving about. She probably won’t want to get out of bed more than necessary, at first. She also has a mild concussion from that bump to her head. Don’t worry about it unless she starts having dizzy spells.” After putting all his tools in a small black bag he motioned D away from her. “D, have you noticed anything unusual about her?”
“You saw the shimmer as well?”
“Of course. Let her speak and see what you find. Magic like that is difficult to bind.” He stopped and laughed wryly. “There I go again, rhyming. There is a binding spell on her, but it is not magic I am familiar with. Perhaps you can discover something of importance. If any of those get infected, call me. Now, if there’s nothing else, I’ll take my leave.”
D saw him out the door then turned to look at the girl laying quietly on the couch. After a moment he sighed and glided forward to pick her up. Tetsu was just coming out of the room he’d chosen for her when D came around the corner carrying her.
“Damn, D! Why didn’t you let me that? I’m the one who woke you up after all.”
D shook the protests away with a shake of his head. “Do not worry so, T-chan. She needs her rest, so turn the bed down for her and let’s get her settled. We may worry about everything else later.”
When D closed the door to the unknown girl’s new room, he turned to find Tetsu staring off into nothingness a thoughtful frown on his handsome face. “T-chan?” he called softly. Once the Totetsu was looking at him he continued. “For what it’s worth, I believe you did the right thing. To leave her to her fate is not a cruelty you have in your nature.”
Smiling ruefully, Tetsu ran a hand through his hair. He was about to answer when a sleepy yawn interrupted him.
*Tetsu? Count D? What’s goin’ on? Why’s everyone awake?* Chris stood in his doorway, rubbing sleepy eyes with the back of a hand.
“Everything is well, Chris. The shop merely has a new guest that will be staying here for an indeterminate amount of time. She needs to rest, and so do you. Go back to bed and you may meet her in the morning.” D ushered the little boy back into his own room and made sure he got into his bed before leaving.
Tetsu was nowhere to be found. Shaking his head, D sighed and decided to go back to bed and wait till morning to deal with the rest of the problems. Casting a look back at the elegantly-carved seal door, he hoped her rest would be easy.
Disclaimer: Petshop of Horrors not mine, someone else's. I just wished I lived there. Also, Lee Sinhg, Coyote, and Entai are the sole property of Akita and Subu-chan, who have graciously allowed me to write my own fic that ties in with their PSOH fics. Any other characters from any other series that may pop up also belong only to their respective companies.
Co-authored by: Kita and Subu-chan.
Warning: Graphic scene of NCS in first chapter. read at own risk.
Chapter One:
Shifting uncomfortably, a pale figure huddled in a recessed doorway, listening intently to the sounds of footsteps as they grew ever closer. The very thought of them catching her terrified her. She had escaped, but only barely. Now they hunted her as others had her namesake, centuries ago. Trembling uncontrollably, she inched farther back into the doorway, making no noise in her shoeless and nearly naked state. The tiny portion of her mind that was still functioning properly pointed out that wandering shoeless in this part of any city was dangerous.
The terrified part pointed out in return that the place she had escaped from was far worse. It was a fate worse than death, for a girl. No, she had been foolish enough to believe the crazy foreigner's words of promise, of a better place, away from war and hunger. Then, when she'd arrived, she been taken somewhere dark, and people, men, started touching her.
They'd enjoyed her screams. She remembered that very well.
She was the lucky one; she was the one small enough to hide easily in an unlocked car trunk at a party her "master" sent her and three others to a few days after she'd arrived.
Still, they'd soon noticed she was missing, and thus she had ended up here, in a remote section of LA's Chinatown, shivering in a stolen dress and a cold rain.
Sometimes, her life sucked. Scratch that, she told herself; her life sucked all the time. But her Irish ancestors would be appalled if she gave up now.
The heavy tromp of footsteps clattered down the stairway and in her haste to avoid being seen she rattled the wrought-iron gateway attached to the entrance of the shop whose entryway she was attempting to use as a hiding hole. Scrambling around she found a length of broken pipe from an old drain that still dripped water down on her from the neighboring building. Clutching it, she froze and waited without breathing frozen breath as a shadow fell across the dimly lit entrance.
***
Inside, the sound of the rattling gate woke only a single inhabitant of the shop. Stretching and yawning languorously, he allowed his shape to shimmer into the human facade he wore so often when he went outside the shop, looking after the detective's kid brother. With the return of conscious awareness came the sharply pungent scent of fear, and something else, something musky. Snorting to rid himself of the distasteful smell, the creature shifted his body so he could watch the door, and waited for an intruder of some sort to make itself known.
***
“So here you are my little fox,” chuckled a low voice as the shadow advanced. “It’s time for you to return home.”
A savage snarl lit her face as she glared at the man before her. “Tha’ hellhole is not me home, bastard.” The thick Irish accent was even more pronounced when she was angry or afraid than it was normally, he noted distantly.
He took a step closer and halted when the cornered girl took swing at him with a length of copper pipe. “Feisty, aren’t you?” He asked. “No matter.” He lunged forward and ducked under the overhand swing she took at him. Coming up inside her guard, he grabbed her free hand and ground it into the wall, making her cry out.
She stomped on his toes, not that it did much more than annoy him, even as she swung the pipe up behind his back to smack him hard in the head. “Le’ me go, ass!”
Shaking the slight disorientation away, he finally managed to grab her other hand and wrenched the makeshift weapon away from her. “Stupid!” he hissed, throwing her from him.
Sparks appeared behind the girl's eyes when her head met the concrete as the man ruthlessly shoved her down onto her hands and knees. Dazed, her sense of up and down reeling, she only dimly felt the tattered remains of her dress being ripped away.
He leaned over her body to whisper harshly in her ear. "We were told to make sure you never try to escape again. You belong to us, and we will do with you as we please. Now, I think you owe me something for the trouble of having to catch you, little seal." He reached around to her front and a callused hand roughly grabbed one of her breasts, while the other was busy pushing down his own pants. Groaning at the brush of his cock against her core, he quickly thrust forward, sighing happily when she screamed in pain. Pulling back and thrusting in again, he realized that the screams could bring down the wrong sort of people and stuffed the torn, dirty garment he'd ripped off her into her mouth, stifling the sounds. Keeping the shuddering girl impaled on him, he carefully scooted their joined forms back into the deepest shadows and once settled, rammed himself as deeply as possible into the body beneath him. Eager now, he kept one hand on her hip to steady her as he thrust and the other busily roamed her front, first toying with one breast, and then the other, before wandering down to between her thighs and rubbing the little nub hidden in her folds.
Grunting, he suddenly realized that the tensing of the body beneath him that went with the screams, and felt so good while he was deep within her, had stopped. Grabbing a fistful of hair, he wrenched her head around, disgusted by the tears smearing tracks in the dirt on her face. He knew how to get her screaming again, he thought as he let go of the hair and slid a small knife out of his belt. Smirking, he stabbed it into one of the hands holding her body off the ground. There, that did it, he mused as he continued stroking his length inside her, holding back groans as each stroke or stab of the knife brought forth new screams. As the girl collapsed under him, eyes vacant and blood dripping off her body, he never noticed the slender form that slid up behind him and yanked him off of her.
"Get lost, boy," he snarled at the intruder.
A harsh and malevolent chuckle rattled the air around him as the human pulled his pants up. "Oh, I think not, disgusting thing. Rather, it's you who should leave. Before I change my mind and eat you anyway." The creature stepped smoothly past the bloody girl into the dim lamplight from the street to reveal a small but very compact body dressed rather oddly in what he would later refer to as "Aladdin garb", a light, embroidered vest and loose, baggy pants. Meeting the seemingly young man's eyes startled him as they revealed a cold and bloodthirsty desire to rip him to bite-size shreds. Gold around his neck and wrists shimmered in muted colors that matched the strange amber eyes that glinted with cruelty as their owner took another step forward, and he saw a clawed hand tracing its way across the creature's bottom lip as a dark pink tongue darted out to test the sharpness of each claw.
Turning, he fled, shaken to his soul by an unnatural fear of the strange boy.
With a disappointed huff, said boy shrugged and glanced down at the small girl on the ground, her life bleeding away from several chest wounds. No doubt from the knife, he mused. Kneeling, he put two fingers to the pulse in her neck. It was weak but steady. Shuddering out a sigh, he licked his lips and pressed the tips of his clawed fingers into the blood pooling beside her and then brought them to his mouth and licked them clean. Hissing in pleasure, he dragged his tongue across one fang and closed his eyes to savor the flavor for a moment before returning his attention to the immediate problem of the still-living girl.
Sticking his tongue out and huffing in a very childish manner, he began to grumble. "Now why did I have to go and get involved? D'll never forgive me if I just left her here, or ate her. Nuthin' for it, I've gotta take her inside." Shoving his desire for more than just a taste to the side, he lifted the limp body, slipped past the gate and locked it behind him. Also closing and locking the main door, he waited a moment before lifting his voice in a shout loud enough to wake the dead. "COUNT D!"
Laying the nameless girl on the couch, he darted quickly into the bathroom D kept for customers and grabbed a handful of washcloths. Carefully pressing them into the largest of the seeping wounds, he noted wryly from a predator's perspective that at least the knife hadn't hit any major blood vessels. Hearing soft footsteps coming down the hall, he turned his head to look up at the proprietor of the shop. "D."
Chin length black hair swayed as a frown snaked its way across the cool and almost femininely attractive face. "Don't tell me you went out to hunt, T-chan. It's far too dangerous..."
Shaking his tawny head, the being turned his attention back to the girl. "No. There was a disturbance outside the front door. When I went to investigate, she was being attacked, so I scared the idiot off and brought her in. Couldn't very well let her die after going to the trouble of saving her from another."
"Ah." Then D smirked gently. "Your 'good deed' for the day?"
Snorting T-chan leaned back from the figure on the couch. "I think you're gonna need Lee Sinhg to patch her up. Bastard had a knife, and knew just how to use it to cause the most pain without killing her." He glared up at D. "Disgusting. Much as I may hate humans, and wish the entire race would just vanish into my belly, no one deserves that done to them."
Eyes growing wide, D processed that sentence coming out of his Totetsu's mouth. "You mean she was..."
"Being raped? Yeah."
A nod was directed his way even as the taller man glided over to the phone, one of the few pieces of modern technology he permitted inside his petshop. Dialing, he had to wait several minutes before it was picked up on the other end. "Lee Sinhg? I am most sorry to disturb you so late at night. There has been something of a disturbance ... No, it is not the Detective. T-chan heard something outside and investigated, discovering a young girl being assaulted. She's bleeding rather badly ... Yes, he's doing what he can to stop the blood flow ... Yes I know it is against his normal nature. He said it would have been a waste to rescue her and then let her die. ... Very well. I will see you soon. Thank you." Hanging up the phone D walked over and settled himself on the end of the couch. "He'll be here soon. How bad is she?"
"Bad enough. Moron missed the stomach, but I think he punctured a lung. Her heartbeat is steady but weak, and her breathing is pretty ragged." Tetsu looked up at D again, seeing the intent expression. "Something wrong?"
"No. I am surprised at how you've restrained yourself."
Flinching slighty in guilt, the Totetsu looked away quickly. Her blood had tasted so good.
A soft chuckle wrapped around him. "Ah, I see. You did taste her."
Shrugging away the comment, he watched the pale face below him carefully. "Only a taste. There was so much blood on the ground I couldn't resist." Licking his lips in remembrance, his hands trembled where they held the cloths against the worst wounds. "We'll have to clean it up before the shop can open tomorrow."
"It will be done. Tetsu ... what made you decide to intervene?"
Shifting uncomfortably, T-chan hid his eyes from D for a few seconds. D let him collect his thoughts before placing a hand on the slightly shuddering Totetsu. "Tetsu?"
"She was screaming," he whispered so quietly D had to lean in closer. "I couldn't stand her screaming." He turned wide eyes up at his guardian. "I'm a predator, I like fear in my prey, but she was plain fucking terrified. There is no joy in such a hunt, only death. Even if only of the spirit."
"I understand. As I told Detective Orcot, most animals show more compassion than any human. They know the laws of survival, while humans have forgotten them in their arrogance. You kill only to live. There is no shame in enjoying the hunt, but to hunt without need, only for the pleasure of killing ... that is wrong. And you are correct, to kill the spirit yet leave the body living is a terrible crime." Slender hands pressed against those of the over-strained Totetsu, taking over the job of applying pressure to the girl's wounds. "Go. Let me do this. I can see you trembling. Go, and eat something before you return."
Rising, Tetsu almost sprinted to the double doors leading away from the main areas of the petshop. D looked down on the girl, noting with mild interest the faint glimmer of magic that surrounded her. Was she ... no, she smelled human. "Who are you, little lady? Where does this magic come from?" He sighed, knowing the only way to get his answers was to wait for her to heal. Now he just had to keep her alive long enough for Lee Sinhg to get here.
The minutes passed by as slowly the flow of blood slowed and D needed to change the cloths less frequently.
Across the room the front door opened and closed, admitting a man dressed in a long raincoat, which he immediately removed. “D?”
“Lee Sinhg, I am grateful you have come so quickly. I have not the skill the treat these wounds.” Shifting to the side, D let the doctor in to examine the girl. As the next few moments passed the frown upon Lee Sinhg’s face became more and more grim. Finally he looked up from his new patient. “If you ever find who did this, let me know. I want a piece of him. Whoever did this was someone who knows how to use a knife in the worst possible way. If this wound on the side of her chest had been an inch higher, it would have struck her heart and she’d be dead, not clinging to life here, with a hole in her lung.”
A dark voice spoke from the doorway into the depths of the petshop. “You’ll have to beat me to him. If I ever see him again, I’m going to eat him. Slowly.” Tetsu flashed the two men a blood drenched grin. Dangling from his hand was a rabbit, half of it gone, most likely down his throat, they knew. He was grateful the bloodlust had been sated by the quick hunt, with a meal in his stomach, he’d be able to help the other two get the girl settled. Quickly gulping down the rest of the unfortunate rabbit, he walked into the kitchen to wash his hands while Lee Sinhg and D bent to the task of putting the poor girl-creature back together.
“D? I’m going to get the room next to Chris’s ready for her. If I have to I’ll wake him, though I don’t think I’ll need any help with it. Get her patched up, I’ll be ready by the time you’re done,” he called as he headed back down the rear hallways, now in a much better mood than he had been in before. Gathering a couple extra blankets from the cupboard where D kept them, he turned a corner and stopped before a door carved from two pieces of solid oak. It held a picture of high cliffs and perching sea birds overlooking a family of seals as they played in a moon-shaped bay. It was a remarkable piece of work. D had told him that it had been a gift from some king long ago.
Half an hour later, while Tetsu was still preparing a room for her, Lee Sinhg sat back from the girl, put his needle and thread away, and sighed. “That’s the last of them. Keep them dry, but don’t cover them, they need to drain to keep out infection. Let her rest as much as possible, but don’t keep her from moving about. She probably won’t want to get out of bed more than necessary, at first. She also has a mild concussion from that bump to her head. Don’t worry about it unless she starts having dizzy spells.” After putting all his tools in a small black bag he motioned D away from her. “D, have you noticed anything unusual about her?”
“You saw the shimmer as well?”
“Of course. Let her speak and see what you find. Magic like that is difficult to bind.” He stopped and laughed wryly. “There I go again, rhyming. There is a binding spell on her, but it is not magic I am familiar with. Perhaps you can discover something of importance. If any of those get infected, call me. Now, if there’s nothing else, I’ll take my leave.”
D saw him out the door then turned to look at the girl laying quietly on the couch. After a moment he sighed and glided forward to pick her up. Tetsu was just coming out of the room he’d chosen for her when D came around the corner carrying her.
“Damn, D! Why didn’t you let me that? I’m the one who woke you up after all.”
D shook the protests away with a shake of his head. “Do not worry so, T-chan. She needs her rest, so turn the bed down for her and let’s get her settled. We may worry about everything else later.”
When D closed the door to the unknown girl’s new room, he turned to find Tetsu staring off into nothingness a thoughtful frown on his handsome face. “T-chan?” he called softly. Once the Totetsu was looking at him he continued. “For what it’s worth, I believe you did the right thing. To leave her to her fate is not a cruelty you have in your nature.”
Smiling ruefully, Tetsu ran a hand through his hair. He was about to answer when a sleepy yawn interrupted him.
*Tetsu? Count D? What’s goin’ on? Why’s everyone awake?* Chris stood in his doorway, rubbing sleepy eyes with the back of a hand.
“Everything is well, Chris. The shop merely has a new guest that will be staying here for an indeterminate amount of time. She needs to rest, and so do you. Go back to bed and you may meet her in the morning.” D ushered the little boy back into his own room and made sure he got into his bed before leaving.
Tetsu was nowhere to be found. Shaking his head, D sighed and decided to go back to bed and wait till morning to deal with the rest of the problems. Casting a look back at the elegantly-carved seal door, he hoped her rest would be easy.