“What…?”
I had misheard him. I had to have! My mind had turned his words around and made them turn my most terrible fear into reality. No…that couldn’t have been what he had said. He was wrong! Mom would be okay! She’d be waiting for me at home…yes, I knew it!
“She’s dead. My father made sure of it.”
I shook my head. No…he was wrong. There was no way he could possibly be right…he was wrong!
“No. You’re wrong. You’re so wrong. My mom isn’t dead. You’re just saying that to scare me. She’s not dead…she’s not dead!” I argued adamantly.
“Who are you trying to convince? Me…or yourself?” came his silky-soft reply and I refused to believe him. He was lying…he had to be!
I noticed the car slowing down to a mere crawl and although I couldn’t actually see anything out of the back windows, I could hear people yelling, shouting…sirens blaring. Where the hell were we? Almost instantly, a bead of sweat formed on my brow and I felt it fall down on face, even though it was cool in the car.
What was this feeling…? This feeling of unease that made me feel sick again…?
A small panel on the separator slid to the side with a barely inaudible mechanical whir and the action allowed a fairly thick stream of sunlight to filter through the darkness. Even though I had to first wince at the sudden stream of light, I lunged for the panel and stuck my head through the hole, desperate for a sight of where the hell we were.
“Sir…the street is a bit packed…must be all the spectators, I suppose.” said Akahito right next to my head and he was right. The street was packed with people, milling around with identical expressions of anxiety.
I heard people shout and my heart leapt into my throat, making me wonder if I was going to choke to death.
“There’s a big fire at the Elyss Village Complex!”
“I hear that they can’t put the fire out!”
Through the windshield, I suddenly saw the fiery inferno that my home had become and I felt my breath leave me.
“Well…Father certainly made sure to cover up his tracks…and rather well at that…” I heard Tsubasa mutter behind me but it was like I was hearing his voice from a million miles away.
My home…my dolls…my clothes…my photos…my memories were going up in flames…
“No…no…no…no…” I moaned, still unable to grasp reality. What…what was going on…? Why…was my home in flames…? Where was my mother? Suddenly…I felt like a little abandoned girl at a park whose mother told her “to be a good girl” and then walked off with a male stranger and never ever came back.
The car slowed to a stop. I could see a cop was standing at the front of the car and had prevented it from plowing anymore in the road. I saw ambulances stationed a few meters ahead of this sedan and I found myself wondering, ‘What ambulance is my mother in…?’
I saw the cop walk around to the right side of the car…to Akahito’s side. Akahito started to roll down his window and I wasn’t quite sure what had brought me back to reality like a slap in the face or a punch to the guts. Maybe it was the sight of the police uniform that the man was wearing. Maybe it was the blaring of an ambulance as it inched out and roared back to the hospital. Perhaps it was the people screaming, crying, shouting…when they could not find their loved ones in the crowd and wondered if their loved ones weren’t still in the fourteenth-story apartment complex. But whatever it was, I was galvanized into action.
I dove for the door handle…or at least, I tried too. Unfortunately…the hole in the separator was only big enough for my head and when I tried to wrench through, I felt like I was trying to push my body through a steel wall. Not exactly pleasant, don’t you think?
“HELP!!! I’M BEING--!”
Just then, I felt strong arms close around me and the panel was slammed shut right in front of my face, leaving me in complete darkness. My eyes were still adjusting from being thrust from mild sunlight to darkness and as I opened my mouth to scream again, Tsubasa’s hand closed down over my mouth, making it impossible to whisper anything much less scream my lungs out like I should’ve.
He held me hard against his chest, his right arm holding me across my chest so that my arms were anchored at my side and when I struggled, his arms pressed harder, making it hard for me to breath.
“If you want to breath, I’d suggest that you quit struggling.” He whispered in my ear, vehemently. His breath on my skin caused an odd reaction…shivers ran up and down my spine and I stopped breathing altogether for a moment. What was…this feeling…? Tsubasa let go of me…enough to let me breath…but not enough to the point where I could release my arms and attempt to strangle him.
I realized what kind of position we were on. I could feel his heartbeat on my back and his head was nestled on the crook between my neck and shoulders. I could feel his warm breath on my neck and my face grew red in the semi-darkness as I realized that I was sitting in his lap…and my face got hotter as I saw that my skirt had hiked up to the middle of my thighs. Not that I could’ve done anything about it though…
‘Oh…shit…’ I thought with embarrassment…but that was quickly dispelled when I heard Akahito and the police officer conversing.
“No cars allowed here.” The police officer said and I head Akahito’s voice filled with worry.
“But…sir! My sister lives here! Can you tell me what the hell happened here?!”
Good god…he would’ve made a killing as an actor. Guess being a bodyguard to the heir of the Tofukuji electronics company brought in more money.
I heard the police officer sigh. “Sir…you’re going to have to move your car. There needs to be more room for ambulances…quite a few wounded and hurt, you know.”
The swish of paper … money? I knew that I was right when the police officer yelled out that he couldn’t possibly accept any money. Then, I could faintly hear Akahito placating the man.
“Please…just for some information. Can you tell me if anyone died…? I just want to make sure that my younger sister is alright and out of the building…please.”
“He’s good, don’t you think?” whispered Tsubasa and all I could do was nod, since he still had his hand clamped over my mouth.
“Well…we don’t know anything for certain, but we’re positive that everyone has left the building and right now they’re just confining the blaze to the complex. The fire is too big and has damaged too much so we’re just going to get it burn down. As long as it doesn’t spread to the other buildings, they tell me that it’ll be okay.”
“My sister.” I heard Akahito prompt with just the right note of desperation. Yes…he was good. Oh, he was good.
“Ah…yes. Well…there has only been one casualty…but I’m pretty sure that you have nothing to worry about. It was a woman, older than yourself. Poor woman…”
Akahito feigned a loud gasp that I could hear through the thick panel. “My god…what happened? Smoke inhalation?”
“No…if it had only been that. Apparently…she WAS the source of the fire. They tell me that her next-door neighbor saw the poor woman engulfed in flames as well as her home. Gruesome, isn’t it?”
That was the final straw. I closed my eyes and let the blessed darkness take me away on its silent and velvet wings.
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