Days like this

He could hear the loud bangs of gunshots, getting closer and closer. Feet pattered frantically around the house as he ran up the stairs into his room. The door almost flew off its hinges when he barged through it, panting. He grabbed a rucksack that sat on his bed, shoving anything important into it haphazardly. 

"Computer, USB, passport, money," he ticked them off the list. 

There was a loud thumping of feet up the stairs. The wood creaked underneath their feet. He swivelled around, producing a small hand gun that he always kept around him, ready to shoot anyone. His bright ember eyes met with dark brown ones. Clad in brown and black the person stood their ground. Weapons readied in both of their hands. 

"Mortemer," he let out a sigh of relief, lowering the handgun.
"We have to go!" She said, reloading the assault rifle.

There was a loud battle cry along with a stampede of feet heading their way. A dark figure ran up the stairs, knife in hand. He raised the knife and was about to drive it into Mortemer when there was a bright flash of light. The figure twitched like a marionette on strings for a second and fell to the ground.

"I thought the kamikaze died out," a gruff voice grumbled. 
"Those who survived joined the Yakuza, Lutz," a baritone voice laced with slight anxiety answered.
"Mortemer, escort them!" Lutz ordered, firing his gun once more.

She nodded, dark eyes glittered with determination. She ran down the stairs, firing the black assault rifle, mowing down the attackers. He was about pull his father along behind her when he was stopped. He looked up meeting his father firm strong black gaze. 

"What are you doing? We must-" 
"Take care of your mother," 
"What!? You can't-" 
"I'll be fine. I have Lutz with me. Now go!" His father shoved him down the stairs.

He tumbled for a minute but managed to pull himself up. Running towards the faint sound of gunshot, he spotted the brown and black figure in the moonlit night who was gunning and slashing anyone who wandered too close to the woman next to her; his mother.

BOOM

Half of the house collapsed and the other was set ablaze. His eyes widen in horror as he made out two human figures lying in the debris. He rushed to the bodies, despite Mortemer's protests. Feeling his knees growing weak, he pushed his ear against his father's chest. He felt his heart dropped when there was no sign of life. Worse, neither of them survived. Pearly white tears flowed down his cheeks as he refused to believe that they are dead. Suddenly, he heard a soft clicking sound that was all too frighteningly familiar. His bleary amber eyes widen as he stared down at another corpse's hand. Suddenly, a body was thrown at him followed by a deafening blast. He felt searing white pain in his left eye and fell into a sea of darkness.

Kazuhira snapped his eye wide open and shot out of his bed. Cold sweat beaded down his forehead causing any stray strands of brown hair to stick. His hands trembled violently. His heart was racing ninety kilometres per minute, chest rising raggedly. He felt a pounding pain in his left eye. Days like these he wished that it was a dream, a terrible one. Days like these he wished he was dead. Kazuhira closed his eye and took a deep breath, counting to ten slowly.

"One, two, three-" he stopped.

Kazuhira suddenly felt a presence in his room. It was moonless night, so he had to rely on his other senses. It was silent except for the raindrops that hammered down on the window. He sniffed the air, noticing an extremely faint calming yet dangerous smell in the room. Kazuhira breathed in the scent once more. It was bitter and burned his nostrils but at the same time it was sweet and soothing to his nerves. His amber eye scanned around the darkness. If one looks around, they would say everything was in place. However, he noticed a dark figure sitting in the corner of the room blending almost too well in the darkness. Kazuhira let out shaky breath at the sight of it.

"Mortemer," he acknowledged.

The figure materialised from the darkness, slowly. A flash of lightning streaked across the night sky, illuminating the room for a split second but it was enough to see Mortemer. Her fiery red hair was short and choppy. Scars littered all over her battle-scarred face and body. Some were faint and were almost gone. Others were fresh, branching out like silvery pink snakes. However, there was one that stood out the most: a menacing long red scar that streaked across her left eye to the bottom right of her jaw. Her right arm was wrapped with a clean fresh bandage, hiding more cicatrices. Her dark brown eyes were filled with pain and worry.

"Nightmare?" Mortemer asked though it came out more like a statement.
"Yes," Kazuhira nodded, wiping the last drops of the sweat away. 

Days like these the two do not need words to speak. They know when one is suffering without the other saying. Just by looking at each other, eye to eye, a conversation has started. 

"My eye hurts," Kazuhira looked away.
"It is a phantom pain," She pulled a chair over and sat backwards with arms crossed at the top.

Kazuhira looked over at his nightstand. There sat the digital clock showing it was one in the morning with bright yellow numbers. He picked up a small piece of rough black fabric. It was an eyepatch. The brunet glided his fingers over the course fabric, remembering that day. Mortemer shielded him from most of the fragments but some managed to destroy his left eye. They fled to an old friend's house who tended to them but at the same time, his mother passed away. The shock had killed her. 

Kazuhira clenched the eyepatch in his hand. Vengeance and hatred burnt in his right amber eye. Even though Mortemer slaughtered most of them, he wanted every single one of them dead. He felt a hand rubbed small circles around his tense shoulder blades. He looked up, meeting a pair of guilty eyes.

"I did not protect you well enough," Mortemer looked ashamed. ;"I am a fai-"
"Do not even finish that sentence. You stand by my side every single day, looking out for me. Protecting me when I am in trouble and punished those who hurt me. Just because you were unable to protect my family and bring me back in one piece does not mean that you've failed me. Your father was the most feared man on earth wouldn't be able to bring back my father in one piece as well. Does that make him a failure?" Kazuhira cast a firm gaze on her.
"No,"
"Exactly. You are not a failure. You are the closest and bestest friend I've ever had,"
"Really," Mortemer opened one dark eye.
"Really," he nodded, smiling softly. ;"And if I hear you saying that again, I will bash some sense back into you,"

Mortemer let out a soft chuckle, nodding. The nightmare began to loose its grip on him for he felt the pain subsiding. The brunet lifted up his hand and ran through her red locks, attempting to comfort her. She let out a happy sigh, leaning into his touch like a cat. 'Has it really been twenty seven years since they've met?' Kazuhira wondered about their friendship. Days like these, he wanted to stay forever. He was about to tell her something when suddenly, there was a muffled sob. Mortemer let out a low growl of annoyance, flickering one eye open.

"Excuse me," she got up from her seat. 

Her feet made no sound as she left the room. Kazuhira quickly pulled out a tablet under his bed. Tapping in the password, the screen lit up revealing a cold dim metal room. There sat a woman bounded to a metal chair in rusty chains. Bruises and cuts littered all over her pale sickly skin. Ugly black stitches tattooed across her stomach. Her blond long hair was mattered with dirt. Tears stains streaked across her sickly face. An odd looking container of freezing water hung above the blond, dripping water on her forehead. A trolley covered in black stood at one corner. There was a soft thud and the metal door was shut. Mortemer stood there, holding a black sheath. 

"So what's new?" She hummed coldly, playing with the covered weapon. 
"Mortemer... please I'm.. sorry, I didn't know," the woman choked.
"Didn't know what?" 
"I didn't know that it would drive you to this," 
"Drive me to this!? Killing my parents! Wiping out Kazuhira's family! You've tormented us since we were young! And YOU DIDN'T KNOW THAT IT WOULD DRIVE ME TO THIS!?" Mortemer's voice getting louder and sharper at every word.

The woman let out a whimper of fear. Mortemer pulled out a sharp long thin blade with a evil metallic hiss. A blizzard of ice and snow swirled in her soulless dark brown eyes. The red haired looked at the contraption that hung above the woman in front. A small sad twisted smile tugged at her lips. 

"Have you ever heard of the Chinese water torture?" She asked casually. 
The woman shook her head, terror in a bright blue eyes. 
"It is a type of torture in which water is slowly dripped onto a person's forehead, allegedly driving the restrained victim insane," She stalked closer to her victim.

The blonde began to squirm and sob under her hard cold gaze. Kazuhira felt his heart thumped loudly in his chest with excitement. Days like these, he felt good. He felt right. Mortemer truly lived up to her name. She dragged the blade gruellingly slow across the pale arm, skinning the blond alive. The blond let out a shrill cry of pain as she writhed in her bonds. 

"This was one of my dad's personal favourite," She said sombrely. ;"He would go out at night, find some pretty or handsome fellow in the street and bring them in. Hook them up the chair for weeks sometimes months. Then, he would call his mates over and took turns with their own torture," She lets out a bitter chuckle as she skinned the blond's face, savouring every scream and whimper. ;"I would spend time with him, watching him 'clean' them, sometime teaching me some techniques," her voice cracked a bit.

Kazuhira felt his heart break. He was like a second father to him. Mortemer was extremely close to Lutz. They did everything together like a father and daughter would and were almost inseparable until that day. Mortemer would laugh and grin every now and then but she had lost that smile and shine in her eyes. Suddenly, there was a loud yelp of pain and a sharp smack, bringing Kazuhira out of his thoughts. The blond now had tears rolling down like a waterfall across her exposed muscles. Her bright blue eyes filled with terror and was that slight defiance? Her other cheek was bright red and blood coughing out from her mouth. Mortemer had the same liquid splattered on her face. She flicked out her tongue, tasting it. 

"Y-You're the Night Stalker's child!" She choked out. 
"Damn right and I am also your demise!" Mortemer snarled out.

She began to kick and punch the woman, relishing every howl and shriek of pain. Her eyes were burning with rage and hatred. Thunder and lightning accompanied every strong strike with their sharp cracks. Several minutes passed, the woman was now a wheezing and crying mess in the chair. Mortemer stood there panting slightly after her venting. The victim was breath's began to slow down, slipping into unconsciousness. Mortemer picked up the kettle of boiling water she prepared earlier, scalding her victim awake, screeching. She tore the black cloth off the trolley, revealing an oversize looking dynamo generator. Two metal rods were attached to it by a pair of black cables. The red haired picked them up carefully by the insulated handles. There was loud crackle and sizzle; tiny sparks being emitted and illuminating her scarred face briefly when she made the rods touch. 

"This was-"

She did it again feeling the hazardous voltage in her hands. Her victim gave a fearful whimper, recognizing the noise and what it meant.

"The very first technique he taught me," 

Mortemer closed the distance between them like a predator on its prey, simultaneously ramming both rods into her sides. Electricity was released into her body causing her to causing her to shake and convulse and burn up from within. Her eyes rolled to the back of her head. Her head flew back. More gargling, unintelligible, muffled screeching.

"Beg!" She growled ,sounding more like a rabid animal than a person. ;"Beg for mercy!" 
"M...er..ssh""

"I have none! I don't have any mercy left! None at all!" Mortemer roared furiously. 

With one final jolt of electricity, Mortemer raised the metal rods in the air and brought it down on to the victim's skull with a loud crack, beginning to bludgeon the victim to death. Kazuhira let out a quiet "ouch" at the display. What felt like eternity, she stopped, letting the two discharged rods, now coated crimson, drop to the ground with heavy bangs. It was eerily silent. Blood splattered everywhere across the room staining everything including the woman herself. Kazuhira listened closely and heard a faint wheezing, it sounded wet. She was still alive but dying slowly. Mortemer fished out a cigarette, which was now stained red. Lightning it up with her zippo, there was a knock at the door. 

"Enter," She exhaled a plume of smoke.
"Ms Mortemer" a silvery voice greeted. 
"Good morning, Lewis. How may I help you?" 
"Nothing at all Ms. I just wanted make sure you're alright," Lewis the butler answered. ;"Would you like me to clean up the room?" 
"No thank you, I will clean it up by myself. However could you call Dr. Phoenix for me? Tell him that he has some cleaning to do," 
"Very well, Ms,"

Kazuhira turned the tablet off. He made a mental note on buying an air freshener for the room.; he won't be able to stand the smell of burning flesh. Putting the tablet down, the brunet shifted in his bed. He looked at the clock: it was now two in the morning. Well, looks like he won't get any sleep tonight. Kazuhira dropped his head into the pillow, groaning. Suddenly, the door creaked open letting a bit of light in. The faint scent of metallic blood and nicotine filled his nostrils. The door was closed with a soft click and soft footfall were muffled by the carpeted floor. He looked up from his pillow meeting a grinning Mortemer. Her hair was slightly damp probably from the quick shower she just had. Days like these, the two talk in two languages they didn't know and yet understood each other.

"You're drunk," he commented in Japanese.
"Didn't drink any alcohol," she replied in Russian.
"You're drunk on her blood. Strange though, you rarely finish them off like that." He felt the other side of the bed dipped. 
"Didn't like her," she stated, nuzzling into another pillow. 
"How many more?"
"Twenty nine. Do you want me to stop?"
"No,"

Mortemer let out a pleased hum. She snuggled down into the sheets warming herself up. The rain died down into a gentle drizzle with an occasional grumble of thunder. It felt calm and a little weird, not that sharing a bed with a woman was weird; Kazuhira loved Mortemer like his sister. It's just that Mortemer rarely slept; she would stay up all night, on the sofa with her eyes close in deep thought or sometimes walking on the streets and come back in the morning like she stayed here the whole night.

"Kazuhira," She spoke softly, snapping him out of his train of thoughts. ;"Sleep,"
"What?" thinking he didn't hear it properly.
"I'll be here when you wake up,"

The brunet blinked owlishly and complied, nestling into the blankets. Raindrops pattered gently on the window, creating a relaxing melody along with the rhythm of the thunder. Kazuhira felt his eyelid getting heavy, the natural lullaby and the warmth Mortemer was giving off was lulling him to sleep. He slowly closed his eye, drifting off into a peaceful slumber. 

Author's Note

If you don't like gore, please DO NOT read it. I am serious. Also I am most likely going to toss this in the bin. Please comment

Reviews

[Kristiekc]

HI,
Just read it. Not a lot of gore to be honest. That is not hard core gore. Sorry I am just navigating my way around this site. It's pretty good, don't toss it. Never toss anything you shouldn't burn bridges. There may be something in here you would wish to keep for later. Since I am only seeing one chapter it would be unfair to review apart from, Amber eyes I presume you meant. Best wishes.

[Winter]

Thanks for the review :D! I might turn off the mature filter then. Kazuhira lost his left eye during the attack on his family so he only has one eye.