Running
Focus: Jess/Hikaru
One-shot
Terror.
Jess was running, stumbling through a twisting passageway, bare feet slapping against the cold stone beneath her. Jutting rocky spires flashed by on both sides as she ran through the cold, dim cavern.
She was hopelessly lost.
She barely regarded her exhaustion, the ache in her feet, the wheezing of her lungs. Such physical issues were of no concern. All that mattered was that she had to stay ahead of him, the looming horror that shouldn't have been given the grace of a name---Roland.
She could hear the slow, calm footsteps echoing in the darkness behind her. It defied her logic.
How did he manage to keep up??
Regardless of the speed at which she fled, her pursuer kept only a short distance behind. The surrounding air grew cold as the figure approached, as if the life was being sucked out of the air itself. Jess continued her futile attempt at escape, ducking around corners, through twisting corridors...never taking the chance to look back. Shadows snatched at her as she flew past. Half-blinded by the darkness, she almost didn't even see the pit until she was on the edge of it. She skidded to a stop at the edge, a rain of small pebbles and dust clattering down into the fathomless depths below. A cold sweat trailed down to her chin as she swayed dizzily at the lip of what nearly claimed her...
...and from the sound of the deep, mocking chuckle behind her, she almost wished that it had.
Soft footfalls came closer, each one causing an erratic jump in Jess's pulse. She felt a chill of steel drag along the smooth flesh of her neck, causing her skin to crawl and hair to stand on end. Then a warm weight on shoulder, gently squeezing. Her crystal eyes went wide in horror, the color draining from her skin.
“Now why would you run, my dearest pet?” A thick, syrupy whisper breathed hotly into her ear. Her mouth fell open, quivering, trying desperately to find words. But she was frozen in fear, claimed by the limitless terror that this being inflicted upon her soul. She could feel the sadistic grin of the monster at her back, reveling in the control that he held so effortlessly. The hand was removed from her shoulder, teasing its way up her neck and into her golden locks, damp with perspiration. Fingers worked their way through her hair, sending shivers down her spine.
Suddenly the hand clenched, violently snatching a handful of her hair and forcing her to her knees. A sharp downward yank forced her to face her assailant. Roland's eyes burned into her own, filled with fury and a frenzied, uncontrolled lust that promised a pain that she knew all too well. The wretched tattoo on her arm begin to throb, viciously sending spikes through body, making her well-aware of each and every nerve she possessed. She felt the coldness again, this time pressing between her shoulder blades.The man just smiled, a wicked and cruel thing plastered on his lips, parting to deliver a stern message.
“Don't you ever forget,” the crooked grin took on a new form as he jerked up, the movement accompanied by a sickening crack and sharp agony shooting through her spine.
Jess's head shot up in a panic, the momentum nearly sending her and the chair tumbling backwards. She stumbled, regaining her balance, and shortly thereafter her composure. She wiped the sweat from her brow with her sleeve, blinking the sleepy blurriness out of her eyes. Upon glancing around her surroundings, she remembered where she was---Hikaru's kitchen. She propped her head up on her hand, elbows resting on the black mirrored surface of the probably quite expensive table. She looked down at the neglected cup of coffee, it had long since grown cold. Sighing, she forced herself to stand, grabbing the cup and setting it in the sink before making her way towards the stairs.
If I'm going to fall asleep like that, I might as well do it in a proper bed...or on that nice bathroom rug...
Before she even reached for the railing she noticed something aside from the snoring metis, furry limbs sprawling and dangling over the edges of the couch. The sheer ebony curtains that framed the slightly-opened balcony door were fluttering softly from the breeze. Just beyond that, a figure, silhouetted in the moonlight. She approached cautiously, gingerly pushing aside the curtains and sliding the door open a little further.
“You're up late.”
Jess sighed in relief at the voice she immediately recognized as belonging to Hikaru. The Bastet was resting, carefully balanced on the edge of the balcony. He was clad in a simple pair of loose, black silk pants that strikingly contrasted with pale flesh that adorned his slender, sculpted frame...only made to seem lighter by the moonlight that bounced off of him in a bluish hue. Even in the dim light, she could make out the long scars that streaked across his eyebrow, along with the myriad of others that decorated his chest and abdomen. She felt a pang of remorse, knowing that he had gotten a good number of those through protecting her. He turned his head to face her, a hint of the emerald glow in his eyes still visible in the darkness.
“Can't sleep?” He asked, any emotion removed due to his own exhaustion. Jess shook her head.
“Since when is that something new?” She managed a hint of a smile, Hikaru returned the same.
“Well, don't just stand there,” he gestured to the papasan chair right below where he was perched, “might as well make yourself comfortable.”
Jess nodded and ambled over, falling and letting herself be engulfed in the large chair. She pulled in her legs and looked up at him. “I take it that you're not planning on getting any sleep either.”
He replied with a humourless laugh.
“Not when there're things still out there that go bump in the night.” He gazed off into the skyline again. Jess knew that she didn't need to reply. He had recently informed her of the malevolent burden on his back, his twin brother. Kaoru, this sinister entity had made it his unlife's mission to torture Hikaru in the most unspeakable ways. That was undoubtedly the reason he was awake now, waiting for the safety that the rising sun offered.
Of course, there were worlds more behind that statement than he let on. Hikaru was a stubborn one, and getting him to open up was a useless effort. For all of his dashing bravado and smug hero antics, she knew that something darker lay beneath. Sure, the existence of such a wretched mirror-image was the foundation of all of it, but unknown to Hikaru, Jess was far more observant than he gave her credit for. She took note of the way he acted towards people, realized the defense mechanism for what it actually was right from the start. He didn't flirt to denote any true attraction, or even simply to be a cheeky git. He did it to protect himself, to further remove himself from any sort of attachment. She also took note of the more subtle things. For example, as he was sitting there, he was mindlessly running his fingers over a pendant, one that he always wore. She sometimes noticed that right before a fight, he would reach into his shirt, bring the same pendant up to his lips to kiss it. Anyone else would shrug this off as something he merely did for luck, or perhaps some dogmatic practice carried over from his homeland. Again, Jess saw it for what it was. The twisted ornament made of platinum and onyx was more than just a trinket...it was his last link to something that gave him happiness at one point...something that was taken away from him in the most brutal fashion.
She didn't have a name to go on, but she knew that regardless of what type of shallow facade he put up, Hikaru mourned deeply.
Jess ruefully wondered how many sleepless nights like this had plagued the werecat.
In a lot of ways, we're the same, Hikaru.
It was true, though she would never admit it to him. He wouldn't accept it. His pride was sometimes far beyond the realms of irritating. But she could relate to him. She knew the fear that he possessed, and the pain of losing someone who meant the world...
Yes, she could relate to him in many ways, not just the insomnia. In that way, she knew some form of trust in the cat. She could rely on his actions and intent, knowing that they were stemmed from something rooted so deeply that there was no room for failure. Around him, she could relax a little....and she did, letting her eyes slide shut as she curled into the delicate embrace of cotton and down. It was safe for now...the pale violet blooming in the Eastern sky assured her of this.
Not a minute later, Hikaru let his eyes fall upon Jess, smiling at the sight of the petite blonde nestled so seemingly helplessly in the oversized chair. He let out a faint chuckle and hopped down from the stone and steel perch, wandering inside and returning a moment later with a luxuriously soft blanket. He took no time in carefully draping it over Jess's form, then pausing to tenderly brush the few errant strands of golden hair from her forehead. A gentle smile played on his lips before he turned to head back inside. He paused before he reached the door, watching as Jess stirred slightly. She mumbled something sleepily, almost incoherently as she turned over.
“I'll make you some pie later, Kitty..."
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