GARO Fanfic – Exiled’s return, 3

Chapter 3: Abduction


A lot of kilometres away, Rei, which illusion gets above his concern every time that his beautiful guest smiles, ceremoniously serves her a large piece of homemade chocolate cake. He feels happiness, and fears talking about the reason for her presence. He does not want any misunderstandings. He does not want to hurt Kouga. He does not want throw off Kaoru. And he is alone. I'll tell her tomorrow, he decides for the umpteenth time.

“... Then he pushed me an I fell and got hit with ...”

His inner conflict has prevented him from hearing all the talk of the girl, but these words penetrate his heart like arrows.

“What?” He rises from his chair. "Kouga batters you?”

“It wasn’t the first time”.

Rei takes his seat, brings it close to her, and sits with a gentleness very different his screams inside himself, but the girl has a hint of this when he talks with clenched jaws.

“I’ll kill that arrogant prat”.

“No...” Kaoru responds quickly. Her eyes wander his face, and soon her pale fingers do the same. “For me it’s enough what you intended”.

The young man takes that hand that tortures him and dares to kiss it.

“You can stay as long as you wish”.

*     *     *

When Kaoru goes to work next day, her mind barely registers traffic lights, people and various obstacles that her bike circumvents. Being so difficult to communicate to Kouga, she knows being helpless to deal with anything annoying him. Also, she also knows that her heart should not be so vulnerable, since he is like this. How is she going to be able to fix anything, if he does allow? She is begining to doubt that both of tham might have a chance as a couple, when she sees there is something in her way.

One person. A woman. A duplicate of herself! Her bike stops so abruptly that she is about to fall down. The look coming back from her ‘alter ego’ is hard, and her lips twist in a grimace from a nightmare.

As soon as she may leave her astonishment, her survival instinct warns her that running away is the best thing to do. But the stranger embraces and pushes her behind some bushes in the next garden. And everything becomes dark.

*     *     *

On waking, Kaoru hears noise. Stones, earth, vibration, snorts. She has a headache. She open her eyes to discover that she sees nothing.

“Who's there?”

An almost animal growl is replied from a distance. She is lying on round and her arms and legs are tied. Then, she remembers that strange woman, an exact copy of herself who met her... something is very wrong.

“Who are you?”

This time, her captor ignores her. But, as her eyes adjust to the darkness, she see someone in motion, as if digging in a rocky wall with bare hands, a strange gray one. When that being looks back, attracted by her movements, she uncovers its surprisingly circular eyes, a mouth without lips, no ears and a pair of very long and thick filaments in his head, apparently very flexible. What’s that? An alien?

“What are you?” Her voice trembles.

Only a lot of grunts answer her. Somehow, the girl knows they were trying to tell something. Just she begins to wonder what kind of language it may be, an shock shakes her whole body. Not again!

Her screams alarmed the horror, enough to plug the mouth hastily, after it teared up her shirt, and it was left in tatters. She can do nothing else, exceptint watching as the bug completes its work. Where is Kouga?

Kaoru is thrown into the fresh wall hole unceremoniously, which brings her several bruises over her body. Then, the horror destroys the bandage of her arm. It growls, annoyed. It rips more fabric off her shirt and cleans her wound thoroughly but uncaringly, from the remnants of disinfectants and reinvigorating medical substances there, and ignoring her tireless efforts by screaming in pain.

When she thinks that torture is over, one of the very long gray antennae bends forward to her. After removing cloth piece from her mouth, it forces its opening and introduces itself almost to her throat, and secretes something that she only can swallow up and almost drowns her. Then, the end of the other antenna downs to her wounded arm and places itself inside the big bruise. Kaoru feels as it touches everything there, but her heart is too horrified to allow another reaction than crying, and she even not notices that her wound bleeds again. After removing the antenna, the being from another world pours its own saliva, causing a severe nausea to the unfortunate young woman, but it cuts through the bleeding.

Upon completion, the horror unleashes her and clogs the place with stones, together with a mortar made with other drainage from its antennae. The living space available to Kaoru is very narrow, with a hemispherical shape with a hole in its center of the newly built wall, head-sized.

Kaoru looks out shyly, and watches the gradual transformation of the horror to become... herself!

Shortly, after the fake Kaoru turns and smiles, with that devilish grin that showed to the first time they met.

“At last I can talk like a human!”

While dressing with the cloths that had been prepared, it goes on talking.

“Actually, you humans are weak and paranoid, I’m surprised that your species was able to propagate so much. For you to know, I’have done you to swallow is human food, particularly apple, chips and Coke, which I predigested especially for you”.

A violent spasm of revulsion shakes Kaoru’s stomach. She vomits.

“Just as I said: full paranoid”. The horror shrugs and, having finished dressing, put a patch looking as hers on tits arm to make the resemblance completed. “Well, I’m going with your two boyfriends. Don’t look at me like this, I know how to manage them. It’s you who should learn! When I need to copy you, I’ll feed you again. Your DNA is so loose that it remains very few time. It’s unbelievable that nature had allowed all you to survive!”

She needs Kouga. Why he’s not here, with her?, She thinks, as her stomach is getting empty.

*     *     *

“I’m collecting my things. I’m leaving”.

A stunned Kouga looks at her, who crosses the threshold quietly after dropping this bomb, and at Rei Suzumura, who follows her.

“What?”

“I'll explain ...” Rei says, falsely helpful.

“You stay out!” he interrupts.

Kaoru goes upstairs, out of the sight, but Rei remains in front of the homeowner, thus preventing he to follows the girl in demand of explanations.

“Rei!” she shouts from upstairs.

“You see, I can get involved”, the visitor turns to smile, but a strong hand grabs his arm when he heads to the stairs.

“What hav’you done to her?” Kouga's tone is dangerous.

“It’s me who you’re talking about? Better you’d ask to yourself!”

The unwitting host grabs the lapels of his black trench coat, ready to fight for what is his, and pushes him until hitting twice the wall that stops them, and achieving a slight moan by his opponent.

“Stop your guessing! Why Kaoru suddenly decided to leave this house?”

“Apparently, you're not man enough for her”.

The owner's fist flies into the face of the visitor, which dodges, and responds by raising his knee, to hit air.

“Rei, why don’t come upstairs? You don’t expect me to carry everything by myself!

“Coming!” he answers, and gets away from Kouga.

Both men see her at the top of the stairs, oblivious in front of the witnessed scene, and that surprises them. But, being excited one of them, and dazed the other one, both ignore this signal.

Kouga climbs the stairs after Rei, and watches them collecting clothes, tieing boxes, cleaning brushes, while he feels a dagger poking into his heart. And, as he understands that nothing can be done, his spirit is fading.

“Why?" is all he can tell when she walks past him to leave the house. She stops to look at him.

“D’you ask me? Your memory is very bad, you’d go to the neurologist”.

“Kaoru ...” Kouga holds her arm, still refusing to believe what happens before his eyes.

In turn, Rei grabs him.

“Don’t touch! How dare you!”

Kouga goes against him, all his prostration disappeared suddenly. One of his hands flies to the visitor's neck, while the other tries to get free from Rei’s hand.

“Damn you! What hav’you done to her? What Makai tricks or not Makai tricks have you resorted to brainwash her?"

Rei does not feel easy to respond by the pressure of his opponent on his neck. Locked like this, no one notices Kaoru slightly smirking.

“Enough!" She squeals a bit later. She forces her to release themselves with an amazing strength, and faces Kouga. “Don’t you still have a memory? I’ll refresh it. I'm sick of being treated like a little girl. I'm sick of you shaking me, hitting me, pushing me ...

“What...?” Kouga can not even hear his own voice. His eyes have been opened excessively.

“... Keep your house and decorate it like a cemetery, if you like, so I can’t to see you again. I can’t bear you anymore!”

Kaoru turns around and drags Rei. Kouga watches them leaving, his heart become ice. He does not understand why she has lied, nor why she has left. Now it is hard for him to believe that Rei was able to do anything about. The girl did not seem at all influenced by anyone, by contrast, he has seen her more secure than ever before. Now, she is someone who does not need to be protected: in other circumstances, he would been happy. But something has changed too much, she no longer has affection for him. Even, he begins to feel her far. He has lost his beloved one, and this is the only real thing.

“Kouga,” the little metal head on his finger says, “don’t let this to get you”.

Zaruba pauses, but seeing that the boy does not even seem to have heard it, he adds:

“Why Kaoru has spoken like this? Something serious is happening to her, I know!”

Kouga drops his head forward. Probably she remained with him only because she was grateful. And this was the only way she saw to get rid of him. His feelings have blinded himself to the truth.