This is the second part of the trilogy's second part. I hope I didn't screw
anyone up.

Warnings, warnings, for language & content. I don't have any right to write
this.

Daughters of Darkness II: Shina (chapter 2 of 4)

Rowen sat beside Sage, watching over his serene rest. He hadn’t even so
much as twitched in three days, and there was no real reason for this slow
recovery. A blister had started to form on his right hand, but that did
nothing to snap him out of his coma. Rowen checked the bandages again. The
blister seemed to get larger and larger, but no real blood ever appeared.
The whole situation just seemed wrong. Kento’s silence didn’t help; every
attempt to get an answer met with the same confused apology. All anyone
could do was wait, but this had been too much. Three doctors said let him
rest, and one said commit him as a catatonic. Someone had to stay home with
him constantly, but between work, school, and other matters, it was hard.
Something had to give and soon.

“Sage,” Rowen whispered, trying to wake his friend yet again. “Sage, I
don’t know what to tell you. You’ve heard everything else. You’ve always
been able to let us in on everything, but why can’t you
do it this time? It’s getting bad. No one can stand it anymore. Why can’t
you wake up?” Rowen picked up Sage’s uninjured hand and held it between
his; the chill of his friend’s flesh was horrifying. “You’re never gonna
wake up, are you? You’re gonna stay like this until....” Warm tears
started to flood his vision. “Sage, you can’t do this...” He closed his
eyes, letting the cascading tears burn down his cheeks. Slowly, he released
Sage’s hand and quietly wept. Only the knock on the doorway frame managed
to draw his attention away.

“Can I come in?” Ayame asked, still in her pale yellow work clothes. Rowen
swept away his tears and nodded. “Is he any better?”

“No,” Rowen whispered. “His hand’s worse, too.”

Ayame stepped into the room and knelt alongside the bed. “What’s wrong
with his hand?”

“Here. Sorry, Sage.” Rowen picked up Sage’s right hand and peeled away
the bandages. A welt the size of a kiwi had formed, but a membrane of flesh
covered it. “See? It doesn’t bleed, but it’s bigger every day.”

“Can I...” Ayame leaned forward and barely touched it with her fingertips.
The skin separated into an eyelid, and a eye of the clearest, coldest blue
stared at her. As it opened, Sage’s eyes shot open. Ayame staggered back
and raised her hand to her mouth; a look of gaping, uncontrollable horror
spread on her face. “Oh.......”

Sage glanced around at the room, understandably dazed. “What did she do to
me?” he moaned. Rowen shot an accusing glance at Ayame, who began shaking
her head in denial.

“Don’t move,” Rowen commanded. He stood up and stared straight into Ayame
with an ire that made her blood run cold. “Don’t you dare move.” He
slammed the door shut, trapping her in with him.
“What did you DO to him?!”

“I didn’t do anything, Rowen, I swear,” Ayame pleaded.

Sage sat up and walked towards the confrontation, resting his hand on
Rowen’s shoulder. “Rowen, leave her alone,” he said. “She didn’t do this.”

“But she knows what’s going on, right?” Rowen countered, glaring at Ayame.
“Good, then you can tell everyone.”

Ayame shook her head. “I can’t. I don’t want anyone else to get hurt.”

“Get hurt?! If you tell us, we can guard ourselves against it. You want
us all to die, ‘cuz that’s what’s gonna happen!”

“Rowen, calm down. She DIDN’T do anything,” Sage repeated. Rowen withdrew
his advance with a sigh and stepped aside; Sage reached forward and opened
the door. “Why don’t you two leave for a while? I need to rest.” The two
left; Ayame, in her haste to get upstairs as fast as possible, failed to
notice Rowen following her. “Leave her alone,” Sage demanded, catching both
of their attention. “I’ll talk about this later.”

Sai carefully handed Sparkle over to the sobbing girl and sat on the bed,
watching Ayame hug the giant plush dolphin to her chest. He stroked her
hair, even though he knew it would do nothing to assuage her distress. She
peered up into his eyes, her gaze riddled with fear and confusion. It
galvanized him, and he swallowed hard, unsure what could possibly leave her
so shaken. He ever so carefully wrapped his arms around her and let her cry
against him; her tears soaked through his shirt in no time.

A knock echoed at the door. Sai half glared at it, still cradling the
weeping girl. “Not now,” he sighed.

Sage opened the door, his right hand now heavily bandaged. “Can I talk to
Ayame?” Upon hearing her name, Ayame peeked up and sniffled in Sage’s
direction.

“Now really isn’t goo--” Sai started before Ayame pushed him away and wiped
away her tears. “Ayame, you don’t have to. Sage, she really shouldn’t....”

“It’s okay,” Ayame whimpered. “He’ll understand.” She slipped her hand
around Sai’s and weaved her fingers between his; he tightened his grasp with
his free hand. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think she’d ever show up again.” She
sighed heavily, her breath shaking. “Shina’s my big sister. She’s all
demon ‘cuz she doesn’t wanna be human. She enslaves people and uses them to
get her fodder and then takes them as fodder. And there’s really no way to
fight her or anything...”

“But what about this?” Sage asked, unraveling his bandages.

Ayame slammed her free hand over Sai’s eyes. “Don’t!” She stared at the
eye, studying it. Slowly, her hand pulled away from Sai’s face. “Wait...
That’s not Shina’s mark. It’s on the wrong hand.” The eye blinked, but
nothing happened. Sage studied it again, still confused. “That’s the
strangest thing.....It’s not Shina’s.” She gave Sage a slightly relieved
smile. “You’re safe, I-I guess. But how’d you.....when did you.....get
that?”

Sage paused for a moment in thought, then looked right at the two. “Let me
think....Kento came back from his date, then......he got scared about
something, so I went to talk to him, and then.......I woke up in my room and
heard you and Rowen fighting. Huh. There’s a blank somewhere, isn’t
there?”

“You were out cold for three days,” Sai emphatically explained. “We
thought you were dying.”

“That’s not possible,” Sage protested. “Are you saying I was in some kind
of limbo and never knew it?”

“I don’t know what happened. I’ve never seen anything like this before,”
Ayame said, her fear giving way to confusion.

Sage scowled, hit with an odd inspiration. “Ayame, how old are you?”
Ayame stared at him, almost wounded by the inquiry. “If you’re only
sixteen, there’s no way you could know all this.”

“Ayame, how long have you been human?” Sai asked, drilling his stare into
hers.

Ayame sighed and tightened her grip on Sai’s hand. “I don’t really know.
I’m only as old as I’m human, so I really don’t know. I’m sorry.”

Sai caressed her face, receiving a weak smile. “It’s nothing you can
help,” he consoled.

Sage sighed and did something no one ever saw him do before--run his hands
through his hair. “This seems benign enough. Maybe if we find Kento we can
get some answers.”

Kento sat in the breakroom, picking at his soup. Normally, all those fresh
veggies and tender pieces of chicken and that warm stock would be gone in
under a minute. For the past few days, everything seemed to rot at his
touch. He was too confused and frightened to seek help; if he did anything,
that nagging voice would return to dog him. He could hardly stand it
anymore; that voice was about to drive him to madness. So help him, he
would do anything to silence it at this point.

“Kento?” Ryo asked as he closed the door. Kento looked up at his friend,
who was holding his empty tray against his waiter’s uniform. “Your mom sent
me back. Are you okay?”

“Yeah, same as always,” Kento lied, forcing a laugh.

“Then how come there’s still soup?” Ryo placed his tray on the table and
sat next to his friend.

<Take him. He’s good.>

“Stop it,” Kento hissed under his breath.

“Stop what?”

<What are you waiting for?>

“I won’t do it, I won’t!” Kento’s voice grew louder.

“Kento! Who are you talking to?”

<If you don’t take him, I’ll take you instead.> A surge of pain ran up his
arm and into his body. He doubled over, gritting his teeth.

“Ryo...run,” Kento moaned, tucking his left hand into the fold of his
elbow. “Just look away and run....” Ryo stood up and staggered away,
watching his friend’s growing agony. His left hand started to pull away,
now devoid of its dressing. “Ryo, run!” Ryo sprinted from the room and
hurried out the door, giving Kento a final glance as he heard him topple
from his chair. He slammed the door and listened, a scream of misery and
rage clearly audible through the wood. “WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME?!”

The gathering at the kitchen was noticeably tense. Mia found herself ready
to play mediator to the bickering and accusations of the others, something
she was regrettably good at. The table was divided on the sides of the
argument: Sai, Ayame, and Sage sat along the right of the table, while
Rowen, Kento, and Ryo countered them on the left. White Blaze had opted to
hide in the living room, using the sofa as a barrier; even if he was only a
domesticated tiger, he knew enough to avoid the impending argument.

“So...” Mia began, rapping her fingers on the table. “Sage, how are you
feeling?”

“Fine,” Sage said, a note of sarcasm tingeing his response. “My fever’s
gone, but there’s the whole third-eye thing.”

“Yeah, AYAME, the third-eye thing,” Rowen bitterly started, letting the
frustration of the past few days boil up from inside him. “Why don’t you
tell everyone about that?”

“I told you, I can’t!” Ayame responded, surprised at her sudden ill
treatment. “I don’t want you to get hurt!”

“Yeah, you’ve done GREAT keeping us safe! Don’t you agree?!” Rowen
directed his attention to Sage.

“I told you before. She’s not at fault here,” Sage calmly countered,
tracing the contours of his third eye. “It’s Shina.”

Kento stared forward at his securely bandaged hand. He closed his eyes and
waited for the voice again. <Kento...> He winced his eyes shut. <You let
him get away once. Now you have such a selection. Wow, I don’t know where
you should start.>

Ayame reached across and rested a hand on Kento’s arm. “Kento, ignore
her.”

“It’s so hard...” Kento whined from between his teeth.

“I don’t think you know what she does to him,” Ryo interjected. Ayame
looked at him, slightly confused. “He couldn’t help it. She tortures him.”

“I know, I’ve seen it before. Stronger men than him have caved in
quicker.”

<You know, I’ve had just about enough of you and your attitude, sis.>

{Leave him alone, Shina. I won’t let you hurt any of them.}

“Could you and her argue in someone else’s head?” Kento complained. He
started to double over again, grimacing in agony.

“Stop it!” Rowen jumped to his feet and tried to help Kento through the
pain, even though his searing gaze was on Ayame. He felt his friend’s left
hand thrust into his stomach. “What the--” Ayame
climbed over the table and shoved Rowen away, letting the hand and its third
eye rest against her. A duet of agonized shrieks echoed through the
kitchen, and both Ayame and Kento collapsed to the floor. Rowen
placed a hand on Kento’s shoulder, getting his attention. “What did you
do?”

Kento slowly sat up, still shaken from his attack. “I didn’t do it.......
it was Shina...” he moaned. He looked over at Ayame, who was still sprawled
out on the floor. “ ‘Yame?” He reached over to touch her, but her eyes
shot open, glaring out in pure aureate anger.

Sai raced to the other side of the table, eyes wide in dread. “Is she
okay?” he asked breathlessly. The only response was having his knees
knocked out, and he fell to the floor, hitting his head against the counter.
Ayame sprang to her feet and hastily ran off, heading for the front door.
“Ayame...?” Sai stood up, rubbing the back of his head. A look of wounded
confusion came across his face. His pathetic silent search for explanations
was answered by Kento’s still recovering, sympathetic stare; he shook his
head with a sigh. “Oh, no...........no............”

The search extended well into the evening, eventually spreading into the
more isolated, less reputable areas of the city. Sage and Sai wandered
uneasily; they knew they were the easiest of targets at this hour. Sage did
little for the search, fascinated with his exposed third eye; he’d trace his
finger around it, pet the closed eyelid, and gaze into it out of boredom.
Sai let his anxiety overrun his efforts; every possible alley, cul de sac,
or shadowy area was a possible location, and every one had to be checked.
The two hardly spoke, too captivated with their own preoccupations to put
any effort into a conversation. Their silence served as their greatest
resource.

{Sai?}

“Ayame?” the two spat out in unison.

Sage tore his attention away from his eye and looked at Sai. “You heard
that?” Sai nodded.

{Sai, I’m scared,} Ayame said, her voice suddenly quiet and childlike.
{What’s Shina doing to me?}

“It’s okay, Ayame,” Sai said out loud. “We’re gonna help you. Just tell
us where you are.”

{No, I can’t. I don’t wanna hurt you.}

“Ayame..”

{If I see you, I’ll have no choice but to hurt you. Shina won’t let me...}

Sage glanced down at his third eye, then placed a hand on Sai’s shoulder.
“Sai, why don’t you go home? I’ll go find Ayame.”

Sai returned with a look of confusion and just a note of jealousy. “It’s
okay. I can prob--”

“Sai, look at this.” Sage held up his hand, staring into his companion
with the third eye. “This is the only way anyone can defend themselves from
that succubus, I know it. You’ll be helpless if--”

“WHAT did you call her?”

“I didn’t call Ayame anything. I was talking about Shina. As far as I see
it, I’m looking for Shina. I don’t know if Ayame even exists anymore.”

“Don’t say that! Ayame’s still alive, I--”

“Sai, I’m saying this for your safety. Shina could use Ayame to get you.
I really don’t wanna lose two people tonight.”

“What are you saying?.....You can’t honestly think you’ll have to KILL
Ayame!” Sai stared daggers through his friend, although the anger was
tempered by a dammed flood of tears.

“Ayame as you knew her may already be dead. How do even know that was
really her speaking to you? You can’t just blindly accept that it’s her.”
Sai’s ire faded, giving way to grieving shock. “Why don’t you go home? If
she’s fine, then she’s probably waiting for you.”

“Are you sure?” Sage nodded. Sai turned away with a nervous sigh and gave
his friend a very forced smile. “Okay. Take care of yourself.” He walked
off, vanishing into the shadows of the night.
\Ayame, where are you?/ he thought, letting a solitary tear stain his cheek
as no answer came.

The mud on the path to the duck pond was worse at night, especially under
the dim, clouded slimmer of a moon that adorned the sky. Sage managed to
keep the level of mud damage to a minimum
and continued on his way towards the lovers’ usual hiding place. The scene
was, as always, tranquil; nary a ripple disturbed the vacant pond. A single
figure stood on the banks, staring into the expanse of the deep blue. Sleek
blonde hair trailed down in a smooth cascade to her waist, ending a little
above her navy blue hot pants. The night breeze jostled the blonde veil,
revealing a white tank top that exposed part of her midriff. She shifted
her weight from one leg to the other as she stepped, the dew dampening her
thigh-high black boots. She turned around as she heard a rustle in Sage’s
vacinity, scanning the foliage with her cold heliotrope gaze. Sage
shuddered slightly, took a deep breath, and stepped out.

“Shina,” Sage said, addressing the figure.

The figure smiled. “You’ve come to give yourself up?”

“Sorry. I want to know what you’ve done to Kento and Ayame.”

Shina approached him, smiling cruelly; Sage swore he saw a set of tiny
fangs. “I’m sorry, sweetheart, but I don’t give up my servants until I’m
done with him--and I’m nowhere near done with that
oaf.” She kept with her approach until she was practically against him.
“And my sister’s in good hands. Don’t--” Poke. “--worry.” Poke.
“So......surrender?”

Sage steeled his nerves, ignoring the iciness of Shina’s close presence.
“You let them go. Now.”

Shina laughed. “Are you actually trying to threaten me?”

“You heard me. Let them go.”

She seized his left hand, which had clenched into a fist. “Look, you have
my mark. You are MINE.” She pried his fingers apart, revealing...a
perfectly normal palm. “The hell...?!”

Sage raised his right hand to Shina’s face. “Wrong hand.” Shina’s eyes
widened as she saw the third eye. A strange numbness overtook Sage’s entire
body, and the feeling of faintness swallowed him. The eye blinked, and
everything blacked out for a moment. He staggered back slightly, hitting
the trunk of a large tree. As he finally regained his bearings, he saw
Shina knelt down near the banks, trying to avoid the water.

“Sonofabitch...” Shina mumbled, trying to stand up. “How the hell did
YOU......” She stood up and resumed her posture as best she could. “Never
mind. I don’t know what that dumb girl’s done to you,
but I’ll get you back. There’s more than one way to get a surrender.”
Shina vanished in a rippling burst of light, shaking Sage’s rib cage and
disturbing the calm pond.

Sage tried in vain to shake away the vertigo but nothing worked; he lowered
himself to the ground, paying little heed to the moisture soaking through
his trousers. He was right to send Sai off. If he had heard what that
succubus said, he’d be gone now. He and Ayame....and soon Kento.....and God
knows who else after that. He couldn’t stop Shina by himself, even if he
had to. He studied his third eye again, finding comfort in its constant
presence; why did this have to fall to him? Surely there was someone else
out there who was better equipped to possess this thing. Someone stronger,
older, with less to lose if they failed...... There had to be. But
something deep inside him told him the truth. No, there was no one else.
He would have to stop Shina. Alone.