She clenched her fists against her temple, pounding hard to drive the voice out of her head. Perhaps with enough force, she could make herself believe that this was just another nightmare, or a small case of dementia. But the more she smacked herself, the louder he laughed, deafening her senses to the harsh raindrops that plummeted around her.
“It’s not me talking,” Tawnya mumbled to herself, unconvinced. “Ignore it, just ignore it.”
She hesitated for a moment, feeling thick incessant raindrops roll down her face. Her hazel eyes squinted into the piercing darkness, hoping that someone would find her in time, but the vast emptiness seemed to have her surrounded. After just two hours of downpour, the small Japanese countryside north of Kansai was near to flooding. She staggered forward into the sloshing puddle, watching flooded trees bend in the wind against hot air. Her breath was short but the humidity was nothing compared to the evil darkness she felt overpowering her.
“Follow him. Make him feel pain.”
“I won’t,” she sputtered at the voice, her words barely audible. “I...can’t...”
“We are one,” he yelled at her. “It is a fact you cannot control.”
There was an explosion, followed by billowing dark gray smoke. She halted at the distraction, but only for a second.
“RUN!” the voice commanded.
Tawnya obeyed. She had to in order to survive. She clutched at her chest, wanting to at least control the harsh thumping of her racing heart, but it was useless. Her body was merely a tool.
“He is close,” the deep voice rumbled. “Bring him to me.”
Her panting grew louder and more desperate for air in the stiflingly muggy atmosphere. Her arms flailed wildly as she turned her head this way and that, only to see nothing but darkness. She turned, darting in the opposite direction on a different path where the clouds of smoke were thickest. The cardigan around her waist slapped against her wet jeans. It was almost impossible to run through the flood.
“His name is Ryu...Call for him.”
“RYU!” Tawnya cried in terror, trying to overpower the sound of her solitary voice to a near scream.
Then something ferocious sizzled towards her. Tawnya held herself stiff as she watched a great fireball speed by her, a scalding tangible energy that exploded against the wooden bridge. The flames shot up high into the air, producing a burning heat that would have been welcomed in the cold season. Tawnya thirstily sucked precipitation from her lips, then opened her parched mouth to the dark falling deluge.
She suddenly smiled at the burning bridge, feeling an unnatural excitement at the enviable control she had over Ryu. It was only a matter of time before the Dark Hadou would eat away at his soul, little by little, all and completely. Only then would he be ready to fight.
She shook her head, exasperated and frightened by these alien thoughts.
“Get outta my head,” Tawnya said aloud, pounding at her temples again. She felt frightened of this thing controlling her actions and using her body to do its bidding beyond the burden of exhaustion.
“No, no!” she screamed, lifting her hands to her ears to silence him, but the vicious stab of his voice forced her to collapse into the deep puddle.
“Please…” she begged, “don’t make me do it again…” but her shaking hand had already retrieved the knife from her back pocket.
Biting her lips hard, Tawnya found herself peering at the weapon with a horrible lack of remorse. The veins on her arm appeared prominently as her gloved right hand gripped the knife tighter, drawing the jagged blade against her clammy skin. She swallowed hard, lost in the sickening conflict that swelled like an infection inside her. Despite her conscience screaming to rebel, he would make her do it.
“Something to remind you of this night.”
“This night...?” she echoed him dazedly.
“The night of your true connection with Ryu.”
“To mark this night, for my own good,” Tawnya said in an even clear tone. Her mind blanked out from her own thoughts, as the pointed edge pierced her skin to engrave Ryu’s name. The throbbing wound gushed an abhorrent red as the blade sliced out another uneven letter. Her expression had become wickedly amused. She knew from the way Ryu had looked at her that he finally felt that connection with her too. An association. A relationship. Something. The sharp pain only made her chortle.
“For tonight.” His laughter echoed, mocking her.
Tawnya hurled, looking away from the blood that broke her out of the trance. Her fingers trailed into a lukewarm puddle, letting the knife slip with a loud plop. The trickling blood escaped down her fingers as she gripped the pounding wound tight. She stood to release the stiffness in her knees but her sight blurred from her light-headedness.
For a moment, there was complete silence. Tawnya tried to relax but her body froze, petrified, hearing a haughty laugh that was followed by a loud finger snap. She hoped it was only a hallucination caused by the evening heat. Yet she held her breath ready to scream, in case she was met by the man that controlled her.
“Tsk, tsk. A murky green aura. You should be ashamed.” The voice was evidently female with a faint Italian accent. Her voice had almost an echoing, hallucinatory air to it.
Tawnya turned to find a tall figure looking down at her. Her long legs were shapely, and the tautness of her calf muscles suggested she wore heels that withstood wet pastures. Her presence was almost celestial.
Rose spoke softly, protected by a large umbrella that casted a shadow over her face. Her fingers were slim, gripping the umbrella rod like a glass of fine wine. “Emotional conflict, dependency, passiveness... I see you are consumed.”
Tawnya’s body was limp. She looked so afraid, quivering like a child lost in war that it was all too easy for Rose to tower majestically over her. It was difficult to breathe. Tawnya felt a sense of smothering that was almost asphyxiation. Light-headed, she noticed the shallow flooding that surrounded them resembled blood. Her gaze quickly shifted to the yellow satin scarf that fluttered around Rose’s arms, which was the same color as the large buttons on the side of her mauve dress.
“You are an easy target,” her vibrant cherry mouth whispered. “Fear is a stumbling block to both development and self-awareness. It is the ego that has been hurt and feels vulnerable, not you.”
“Get away from me,” Tawnya commanded with a shaky tone. “I’ve got a knife,” she warned, patting the back of her jeans. Her eyes widened in horror. The pocket was empty.
“Shit,” she gasped, and splashed water at the stranger, but suddenly she felt her throat constrict as shoots of blue sparks rhythmically smacked into her chest.
Rose pulled back the yellow scarf, which flickered and buzzed with electricity. She raised her head, her face now fully showing from the shadows of darkness. Her sudden smile seemed silently threatening. Her emerald green eyes glistened against the flames from the bridge up ahead.
“You will go after him, just as the devil goes after you,” Rose cautioned, her face serious.
Tawnya shrieked, holding her bloodstained hands to her ears while Rose laughed haughtily. There was a high-pitched vibration, and it was becoming agonizingly loud as the strident thump of her beating heart was thrusting her senses into panic. She felt her skull ache as image after image of Ryu entered her helpless retinas. His red headband flickered wildly against the wind caused by the growing orange fireball that was encased fearsomely within his palms. His eyes leered dangerously back at her. The heavy crease in his brow made him look crazed.
“GO AWAY!” Tawnya screamed in pain, almost crouching.
She squeezed her eyes shut, pressing her fingers into her lids until the images would vanish, but something forced them open. Tawnya drew one long breath, refocusing her gaze at the yellow scarf that draped over Rose’s chest, but her sight blurred into a sickened double vision. She huffed and puffed, trying to breathe in as much oxygen as she could, but felt herself grow weak.
“Keep running,” his demonic voice y
elled at her, but she was beyond listening. The pain was too much to bear. She tried wiping the blotches of blood from her gray tank top, but the harder she rubbed, the more pain she felt on her chest from the constant friction. The bleeding wouldn’t stop, the voices continued to blare.
The street was quiet, except for the patter of rain. Tawnya felt another sharp twinge in her chest. It was silent for only a second before her screaming began again.
*****
Chapter 2:
DARK HADOU