EGOiST (Ayato K x OC)

Part 11

"Damnit, Anri!" Ayato yelled, throwing his sweatshirt across the room angrily. The clock showed that it was three o'clock in the morning, and he knew that the party was over at midnight.

He was very aware that the source of his anger was worry. He didn't question his trust in Anri, but he was worried for what may have happened. He had no idea of the possibilities, but just being a ghoul of Aogiri is dangerous.

He leaned on the windowsill and tapped impatiently, muttering, "When are you going to be home?"

Out of the corner of his eye he saw the white border of the photo they had taken the previous day, slipping from the pocket of the sweatshirt he threw. The same photo he had lied about throwing away; the same photo where the girl seemed so comfortable around him.

"Gah!" He grunted, retrieving the book she had been reading from the bedside table. "Why do I care so freaking much?" He threw the book on the mattress.

The pages fell open, slowly falling one by one until it closed, the back cover facing the ceiling. Yet, the simple, anger-driven action made him take notice of a discrepancy in the way that the pages fell. There was an odd gap between the last sheet of tinted paper and hard back binding.

He sifted through the pages again, hurrying to the back cover where a small folded piece of paper was pressed into the folds. He unfolded the scrap and read the tiny hiragana characters, taking note of the fact that he could read it more easily than before.

"Shit." He cursed, and without even taking time to grab a jacket or lock the door behind him, he rushed to the streets and frantically searched for the missing girl.

++++++++

Anri's screams were muffled by the duct tape, and one of the three attackers held her wrists together and kneeled on the bend of her knees, keeping her from moving as the primary assailant asserted dominance by beating her.

From her own conclusions, she realized that two of the ghouls were S~-rated, while the dominant one had to be at least SS-rated, if not higher.

After beating her down with deep bruises that hadn't yet healed and surely damaged bones, the powerful ghoul pinched her chin between his fingers, and with only a twist of his wrist, he could've snapped her neck.

She tried to find red eyes to glare into, but they were covered by a white mask in the shape similar to a spade, with pointed curves and sharp angles, the point of the mask stretching over his nose. The other two wore similar masks, but they were black in color, clearly signifying that they were 'the Spades.'

"I'll let you speak, Silver Fox, but don't scream." The ghoul ordered, quickly ripping the thick tape from her mouth, leaving red imprints from where it had been pasted to her skin. "Or do you prefer to be called 'Anri?'" A sickening grin spread on his lips.

But she spat on him. "Like hell by you."

He slapped her across her cheek and cursed, "Damn woman."

"What are you trying to do with me?" She growled.

"You're going to join us." He said matter-of-factly. "Or we'll kill you."

"I choose death."

"Oh, I won't let you go that easily."

"You know, you're not very intimidating with your mask still on." She commented in a bored tone, trying to seem like she was completely stable and confident despite the circumstances.

"Fufu..." He chuckled heartily and placed his hand over his mask. "Say, remind me how your parents died."

"You don't need to know shit." She spat.