With the furious thumping of his heart becoming so prominent, I became hyper aware of the zipper enclosing my dress around my figure. With that, his racing heart rhythm had become contagious. My own pulse had begun to quicken once more, mimicking what I could only assume was anxiety of having my frame on his lap, facing away from him. With the reappearance of my anxious, labored breathing came my fingernails nervously digging themselves into the skin of my shaven thigh. His keen turquoise gaze must've taken notice, as his right hand enclosed itself over my own to alleviate my nervous tick. The somewhat compassionate gesture stung, however. Relaxing my back against his broad chest, I allowed his long fingers to weave themselves in between my own. Despite his quirk not currently being active, his resting body temperature caused my own hand to begin to perspire.
"First you hand me a somewhat veiled threat, now you're here quelling my anxiety?" My voice managed to utter just above a whisper, the words being for his ears only. No verbal response was given at first. My dark eyes watched intently as his thumb stroked the outermost side of my hand. A soft scoff escaped my throat. "You're a puzzle, you know that?" I added. Over my left shoulder, his chin rested and caused my head to lean gently to the right, subconsciously gifting him room to rest his head. All the while, his thumb continued stroking the outside and underside of my right hand. Due to the excessive volume of the club's speakers just underneath us, the excited rhythms and drumming of The Spencer Davis Groups' Gimme Some Lovin' could be heard, and felt. Completely bypassing my inquiry, Dabi whispered directly beside my ear, "Why can't you just 'give me some lovin'?" No cell within my body could manage to withhold the eye roll that ensued. "Perhaps I would if you didn't ignore my questions," A slow exhale reverberated through his nostrils, causing some strands of my dark hair to brush against one another.
"Takes a puzzle to know a puzzle, sweets." Another roll escaped from my eyes, mainly towards the nickname and the enigmatic answer. "I wish you'd drop the new nickname already." I muttered, mostly towards myself. But deep down, I was accepting of the fact that he'd definitely heard my wish. Squeezing my hand lightly, I felt his heard turn, his lips becoming eerily close to my ear. "I'd say your wish is my command, sweets, but the name just fits." Even with the mild arrogance leaking through the softly spoken words, this man was causing such intense belly flops that I hadn't felt in years. The same vermillion hue graced my cheeks once more as his lips reconnected with the lobe of my ear. The contact caused my right hand to tighten around the fingers of his own, effectively trapping them in my grip. A deep chuckle rumbled through his chest, rippling across my back and causing a chill to tingle down my spine. "Besides, I bet the name fits in more ways than one," His follow up statement prompted my blush to amplify, and my head to turn in a feeble attempt to avoid his piercing gaze. Upon witnessing my utterly transparent reaction, another sinister chuckle rippled through his chest and glided towards my ear. "Thought so." Those were the only other words that left his lips that night.
Throughout the next two hours, what seemed like countless patrons began their departures from the night spot underneath us. As the innumerable amount of intoxicated college students, business people, and other bar hoppers and thrill seekers began evacuating, Dabi and I remained nestled in our little hideout above. More sweet nothings from his lips graced my ears, all the while his hands continued their exploration along my own. After a little while, they had become more brave, venturing up and down my arms, across my shoulders and upper back, to which occasional sharp gasps fled my lips. After a moment of hesitation, Dabi's hands abandoned my upper back, merely focusing on my arms, shoulders and hands. Never for a moment, did he dare to explore below my waistline. Despite the fact he seemed like someone to test those boundaries, he recalled our first meeting. Dabi knew not to cross those lines without my permission.
At some point during our wait to venture back down the stairwell, I had become turned back around within his lap. This oral exchange had become more heated than the last; my hands had once again found themselves entangled in his jet black tresses, with his hands braving the idea of firmly gripping my waist, my legs found themselves at either side of his waist once more and every once and awhile, his lips would entertain the idea of peppering kisses down my neck. But he wouldn't linger, tracing his way back upwards to reunite with my lips. However, with every single kiss that lingered across the skin of my neck, a sense of longing accompanied the feeble whimpers that would escape. The music continuing through the open doors of the club below us had become nothing but white noise. Our impassioned make out session continued until the very last available moment. When that very last second was upon us, and our heated encounter came to an end, a foreign feeling washed through my senses. This feeling that felt so incompatible with my soul continued as I snuck back downstairs with my new, close friend. The club was finally deserted as Dabi awaited me, my hands hurriedly collecting my belongings from my locker.
Once outside of the establishment, his hand found its way to wrap itself around my thin upper arm. Gently, Dabi guided me only around the corner and into a shallow alleyway. This was where our lips exchanged the final kiss of the night. All the while, through my hazed mind, I felt him slip a small bit of paper within my hand, curling my fingers around it for safe keeping.
"Keep that number safe in your phone, sweets," His words grazed my ear before, within an instant, Dabi had become a memory in my mind. Before long, I finally placed that emotion flooding through my chest with a name; yearning.
My hands quickly acted on autopilot, harboring his phone number within my contacts list on my device. As if I were carrying precious cargo, my hands gripped the outside pocket of my bag after stowing both the phone and loose-leaf within. Afterwards, however, my feet felt as though they were walking upon the fluffiest clouds belonging to Cloud Nine. This feeling of yearning had not been present within my soul for far too long. And simply because of his past actions, despite the person he was now, Dabi had reignited those lost emotions.
Due to this realization, the faintest glimmer of a dorky smile lingered across my lips. The same song that boomed through the speakers of the club whilst we made our daring escape to the roof begun playing through my mind. Perhaps this was the after effects of a night with a man. Or at the very least, this man.
The lyrics continued humming through my lips, with the occasional, "Where are you, girl from Rome..." gently breathing through my voice. My lips repeated the same, overplayed line as my hands fiddled with the house key. The melody continued humming through my voice as the key was slid inside the lock, turned to the correct side, and the front door gave way. As I quickly stepped inside, shutting the door behind me and securing the lock once more, my volume lowered considerably. I continued to hum the melody as I cautiously tiptoed upwards the spiral staircase. The flats covering my feet softened the steps I took down the hallway of doors through to my bedroom door.
The exact moment I glided through my doorway, a sigh of relief and what felt like happiness breathed through my lips. The same dimwitted grin remained plastered across my lips as I gently closed my door, hanging my purse on its respective hook. Gently kicking off both my flats beside the bedroom entrance, I turned and began fiddling with the zipper at the back of my neck. Facing the bedroom mirror, the smile became reflected in the glass back to my vision as my fingertips found the zipper. I began pulling it downwards, freeing my form from the protective clothing. Just as my zipper reached a quarter of the way down its tracks, a wide yawn escaped my throat, whilst my hands still began pulling the dress downwards.
Just a moment before my chest could be revealed to the bedroom, what felt like a cold bare hand encased itself around my right shoulder. The exact moment a sharp gasp ripped through my throat, the opposite matching hand enclosed itself around my mouth, stifling any sound I could manage to make.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk," Had been whispered into my left ear as the hand slowly begun leaving my lips. "Naughty girl. Didn't think to check the room before stripping?" The words seethed through a smooth, nonchalant sounding voice. A voice that I sadly recognized.
"It's not every night you're in my room, Chisaki." I managed to mutter back. Given the fact I was nearly half naked, an crimson hue flushed through my cheeks, giving away my rather obvious uneasy, humiliated emotions. From the shadows that shrouded my bed, Chisaki's five foot, ten and a half inch frame towered over me from behind. Donning a rather flamboyant olive green bomber jacket with thick, purple colored fur collar and a rather ridiculous looking plague doctor like mask, his right hand remained encasing my small shoulder, his left slowly beginning to wrap itself around my thin throat.
Internally cringing from the sudden physical contact, I watched as my porcelain skin begun to shimmer from underneath his fingers. His thin, gold irises took notice of my quirk coming to life. "Huh, I'd almost forgotten," Chisaki seemed to mutter to himself. My eyes winced and my body began outwardly cringing as his forefinger and middle finger belonging to his right hand began tracing a small track from where they'd been resting on my right shoulder, down across the back of my shoulder. Almost delicately, the fingers glided along my shoulder blade, skimming the most sensitive area of my back, the center of my ability. Another sharp gasp threatened to rip through my throat as Chisaki's fingertips continued grazing my skin, prodding the unique scars that were embedded in between my shoulder blades, the skin surrounding them brightly shimmering as if diamonds lined the inside of my epidermis.
"Your quirk can do this," He added, his continued physical contact causing my cheeks to light up red, my heart to pound violently, causing my breathing to become erratic. Because of the fact that his left hand remained encasing my throat, Chisaki of course took notice. "Is this embarrassing you? Or is it something else?" Chisaki's words seeped through his lips like poison as his leaned the absurd mask over my shoulder. At the end of the mask, closest to his face obviously, were his lips, coated in venom due to his sentences.
"What the hell do you want? That dumb bastard has been out of my life for awhile now, so why come back to torment me?" I managed to pant out, my dark eyes meeting his own gaze through the glass of the mirror. I also took notice of how precariously the collar of my dress hung from my body, moments away from slipping, and revealing more sensitive areas of my figure.
His already narrow eyes squinted ever so slightly at my inquiries. "Typical August. Always wanting to get straight to business." A slow exhale breezed through my nostrils as his gaze and my own remained interlocked.
"You call this business? Breaking and entering, and now touching me without my okay?" As my words continued breathing through my lips, I distinctly felt his cool hand graze down my back. After several seconds of tracing down my spine, the feeling of his fingertips had departed my skin, granting me temporary relief. His left hand continued guarding my airway. Within several seconds of his hand departing and my sentence ending, the feeling of an ice cold, circular metal object being pressed harshly into my lower back became evident.
The muzzle of a gun. A handgun specifically.
Goosebumps raised across my clammy, pale skin as the muzzle roughly prodded my lower back. "Now, it's business." My eyes continued holding his ice cold gaze through the glass of the mirror. Trying my best, I forced myself to swallow back the lump that had formed in my airway to no avail. "Businesses normally require transactions." I noted quietly, my heart continuing to race at the mere sensation of the muzzle continuing to guard my back.
"Smart girl," Chisaki bestowed a rare, albeit half assed compliment. In that moment, unfortunately, my eyes flickered to the photo booth reel that contained my daughter and I's images. One of the happiest days in my life, captured on film, stared back at me whilst I was experiencing what I could safely call one of the worst days of my life. His observant gaze caught the flicker of my own.
"Sweet little girl, she is," With every syllable that seeped through his lips, my heart pounded furiously. "Do not talk about her." I ordered as firmly as I could manage. With the end of my statement, the muzzle further pressed into the small of my back.
"You're in no position to make demands, dear." With that, Chisaki's left hand slowly began lowering, guiding itself towards the faltering neckline of my dress. The ever racing pounding of my heart begun ringing within my eardrums as I felt his fingers tease the skin of my collarbone. With the rapid thumping within my chest came accelerated, furious huffing through my nostrils. Squeezing my eyes shut, I fully expected to feel my dress being ripped further off, fully exposing me to this God awful man.
However, the neckline of my dress had begun to lift, reuniting with the skin just below my neck. My eyes snapped out to witness the sight of my fully concealed chest, the sound of the zipper lining the back of the dress' opening becoming enclosed once more. The handgun now resided within his left hand, the muzzle being pressed firmly into the base of my neck. His right hand now retained its signature white glove as it finished zipping me back up.
After displaying the slightest shred of humanity, Chisaki's golden stare reunited with mine, witnessing the dumbfounded expression plastered across my face. Stepping forward once more brought his broad chest firmly against my back, the muzzle remaining firmly squeezed against the side of my neck.
"You want her to live, correct?" Chisaki questioned, lowering his face to my right ear. His words cascaded through my ear canal and as they registered within my mind, my gaze once again met the photo booth spread of Clara and myself. Tears threatened to spill over, to stream down my face and reveal every single ounce of weakness within me to this man. This man who now held my life within his hands.
A feeble nod motioned from my head, no verbal response mustering whatsoever. "You want your brothers, and your adorable nieces and nephew to live as well. Right?" With every word, it seemed as though the muzzle of his weapon wished to become part of my body. The threat of either a quick, painless death or an agonizingly slow release loomed over my being like an ominous storm cloud. Coercing my gaze to reunify with his, yet another silent nod motioned from me.
In an instant, the gun backed away and jabbed harshly into the side of my neck, causing a sharp hiss to seethe through my teeth. "Then I'd suggest you get moving." Chisaki's somewhat vague order, coupled with the sudden jab of the gun, caused audible huffs to be pushed through my nose. Inhaling and exhaling harshly in a futile attempt to control my anger, I slowly turned to face the exit of my bedroom.
Time seemed to slow to a stop as I trudged towards my enclosed doorframe. My heart pounded deep within my ears as I eased my left, then right foot into the flats I had only minutes before discarded. Even though it felt as though time had been slowed considerably, somehow it also felt as though everything was happening too quickly. Like if I had done anything just a nanosecond slower, perhaps there was a chance that this entire situation would cease to exist. That everything would return back to normal.
There was no chance of my being able to take my belongings with me; only the clothes on my back and the shoes adorning my feet. As I began moving towards the doorknob, my eyes stared upwards at the pocket where my phone resided. One text or phone call to anyone would end this. But Chisaki was smart enough to not allow me out of his sights for even a second. And alas, I knew better then to cause a squabble that would only result in my family's demise.
Seconds before my fingertips could even grace the knob, the metal fixture twisted, coming alive on its own. Chisaki almost gracefully lunged to stand menacingly behind the door as the dark hallway revealed my late night visitor; Clara.
Rubbing her sweet eyes with one hand, her half lidded gaze turned upwards to me. Using both hands, she signed the two words, that overflowed with childhood innocence, "Bad dream." As best as I could manage, I smiled and knelt downwards, hugging my sweet daughter and whispering, "You'll be okay, sweetie. Remember what I taught you?" Clara pulled away and tilted her head curiously, not remembering my teachings about nightmares. The smile remained plastered across my lips, despite the fact the same menacing, loaded handgun maintained its dangerous aim at my temple.
"We tell them, stop! And that they're not allowed here," My hands followed expertly with the signs that matched my words. And through her sleepy haze, Clara comprehended every single word and her big toothy smile returned. The mere sight, given the circumstances, caused an overwhelming urge within me to allow the sea of tears to flood downwards. But fearing that her intelligent mind would catch on that something was wrong, I fought that urge with every fiber of my being.
"I love you, Mommy," Her little hands signed along with the four words that I had always wanted to hear from her, that I loved consistently hearing from her. I only wished that those little words would keep me there with her...
Without a single second thought, my arms enclosed her in the strongest, warmest hug that I could manage. "I love you too, sweetheart... So much." I whispered in response. With my reply, Clara pulled away and sleepily walked to her bedroom once more. Once the click of her bedroom doorknob was heard, several minutes of silence followed, with my awaiting my next orders, and of my captor making sure that my innocent daughter had fallen back asleep.
"How sickeningly sweet. Makes me nauseous." His nonchalant voice breathed through my dimly lit room. The strong urge to roll my eyes had surfaced but to avoid further punishment, I resisted.
Chisaki walked one step behind me through the entire trudge down the staircase and to the front door of my residence. Due to the distance between the bedrooms and the front door, there was no conceivable chance that anyone had been awoken by the turning of the lock and the door opening. Fortunate for Chisaki, and the complete opposite for myself.
The cool night breeze gently caressed both of our faces as I closed the front door of the residence shut behind us. His grip remained firm on the handgun as he motioned for me to begin walking down the street to the right of my home. Reluctantly, my feet obeyed his orders and the moment my figure was in front of his own, Chisaki wrapped his arm around me in a way that easily concealed the firearm. So as to not alarm any late night bystanders that just so happened to be strolling past. The few that did walk right on past only equaled out to small stings deep within my chest. So many stings, so many lost chances to where this nightmare would have ended sooner rather than much later.
At a certain point during our stroll, my home was certainly no longer within a safe distance. I was now alone with one of the most dangerous, threatening people that I could think of. The sheer thought caused such an overwhelming sense of dread to form deep within my stomach, that could only be compared to an ever growing, seemingly never ending abyss. If you fell within, there was no end to it. Just darkness.
The darkness swallowed my field of vision as he guided me towards a dark, unmarked vehicle. A henchman adorned in hooded, long white raincoat awaited us, sitting in the driver's side with the keys resting within the ignition. Chisaki's gloved hands bestowed the firearm to his henchman, and the gun was soon replaced by a long, solid black slice of fabric. My body gave no effort in turning to escape or even to try to engage Chisaki in any sort of combat. It had become apparent to both men that all hope of escaping any time soon, or at all, had been leeched from my pale, slender shoulders.
Within minutes, I found myself sitting upon the plush leather seating of the back of the unmarked vehicle. Little to no banter was exchanged between the men as I felt the car begin to take motion. For most of the journey, we remained going straight with the occasional right or left turn.
When our trek finally ended, the car came to a gentle stop and the sound of two car doors opening, then slamming briskly shut filled my otherwise deaf ears. Judging from the distinct breeze that invaded my personal space just moments later meant that one of the men had opened my door before a hand enclosed itself around my upper right bicep. Pulling me from where I sat upon the cushioned backseat, I was then guided forwards by my escort.
From there, I had been led down a long set of stairs, and then through what God could only describe as the most complicated maze ever created. It also seemed as though no decorations cluttered the hallways, as our three sets of feet had created near deafening echoes that put the volume of my pounding heart to shame.
Not before long, the same hand that had taken solace around my right bicep had halted my solemn trudging. A small gasp threatened to escape my lips but for the fear of once more being assaulted, especially within new, unfamiliar surroundings, I shoved it back downwards, deep within my throat. A solid lump had formed down the center of my airway as the sound of a heavy door being swung open filled my ears. With the hand remaining firmly around my arm, my guide escorted me forwards. Judging by the change in volume and pitch of our footsteps, it sounded as though we had exited whatever wide hallway we had been traipsing around within to a much smaller space.
Within several seconds, the sound of that same door closing once more came to my ears. My heart remained heavily pounding within my chest as I remained still in what I could only assume was the center of the new space. For a single minute, I began to think I had been abandoned by my two escorts. The second I even thought of raising my hands to remove my blindfold, however, the sound of footsteps circling my figure like a vulture quickly silenced the temptation.
The footsteps rounded my being and seemed to stop to face me. Keeping my hands intertwined together in front of me, I remained quiet and what one could say, submissive. I was in no shape to argue, fight or give orders; not within a new space, around complete strangers except for one individual. I was not in any way, shape or form, able to do anything at that moment.
At that next moment, a light only comparable to the blinding morning sun penetrated my vision as the blindfold was lifted off of my head. As the fabric brushed upwards, it sullied my brunette locks, with my wincing harshly due to the bright fluorescent lights.
The sight of the same henchman, bound in white, adorning a similar, ridiculous looking mask to Chisaki greeted my sight. Not a single inch of this person's face was made visible. The only giveaway of their gender would be their voice. My dark eyes bore into the sockets where I could only assume darker, colder eyes were resting behind.
"Overhaul wants you in here for right now." Those were the only words spoken by the individual, a male voice sheathing in the words. Gripping the used blindfold firmly within his grasp, the individual turned and passed by me without a single second thought. Within seconds, the door was once again open and shut behind me, the swift clicking of a lock echoing through my new residence.