House Cat [temporarily complete]

[c.h.a.p.t.e.r t.w.e.n.t.y n.i.n.e]

Isiel felt a horrible creeping sickness wash over his shuddering frame as he watched with wide-eyes. Even though he wanted to scream at their vile captors to get away from Eiji no muffled sounds emerged from behind the gag restraining what protests he might have launched. Instead he began to struggle again with renewed vigor and takes their momentary distraction as a prime opportunity to do something he didn\'t know he was capable of.

With a gut-wrenching crack he slipped one wrist from the cuffs and freed himself, going for the gun without hesitation or concern for his own worthless life.


\"Oi, oi, look at this!\" one of the thugs laughed as he heard the noise and looked over to see the neko holding a gun. \"The little flower is trying to rescue himself!\"

The others laughed as well. \"Do you even know how to fire that thing?\" Ido smirked, arching his eyebrows. \"Come on now, hand it over... and I\'ll go easy on your Eiji.\" He held out his hand slowly, waiting to be given the gun.

Eiji watched Isiel silently, no real emotion registering on his face other than suppressed pain. He wasn\'t sure if the boy was capable of aiming to kill, or saving himself. Every example he had ever been shown had been fluke at best; the boy was simply too soft.

\"Come,\" Ido said again, taking a step closer and reaching out slowly, darkness flashing in his eyes as his smile faded. \"Hand it over now,\" he growled, getting ready to tackle and murder his wily little captive.


Isiel flicked off the safety, finding that the gun\'s weight in his hand didn\'t feel as peculiar as he might have expected. Fueled by adrenaline that pulsed through his battered system he found the courage to shift his aim to one of the thugs who dared to brutalize Eiji and fired without a second thought. Yet his eyes returned to Ido in an instant, caution directing him towards the greatest threat as he exclaimed defiantly, \"I\'ll do n-no such thing. We\'re leaving now.\"


Eiji watched with a sort of blank, detached interest-- he had lost too much blood and was in too much pain to be able to see reality with full clarity, but he could have sworn he\'d just seen Isiel kill two men and injure another, and was now aiming his gun at Ido.

\"That\'s enough!\" a familiar voice called from the top of the stairs, followed by the sound of safety being thumbed off on a large shotgun. Pale hands lifted the gun slowly, and flashing eyes took aim at the boy. \"Put the gun down, Isiel,\" Dorian said firmly, tightening his finger on the trigger.


Isiel\'s eyes flickered to the head of the stairs and he backed away from Ido, allowing himself to keep an eye on both him and the newcomer. Someone he\'d forgotten in the flurry of frightening activity and whose presence did nothing to calm his ragged nerves, \"....D-Dorian?\" He murmured, not lowering the gun trembling in his hand even an inch.


\"I said put it down,\" Dorian growled, still aiming. \"I don\'t want to but I will shoot you Isiel. Or would you prefer to be called Chibi? I don\'t care which. Put it down or I\'ll peg you off then fill Eiji\'s gut with lead.\"

Ido grinned, still holding his hand out and waiting for the gun. \"Good boy Dorian,\" the old man sneered. \"I could use somebody like you on my side. We\'re going to have to talk about employment arrangements once this is done.\"


Isiel shook his head, barely hearing Ido\'s comment. Dorian\'s words froze his heart and for a moment the gun wavered yet still he refused to lower it. All the times they\'d shared together passed through his mind; how he\'d disappointed them all, yet most of all it was Dorian who he\'d wronged....and still his shock was palpable, \"....why? W-why Dorian?\"


\"I said put it down!\" the black neko snapped. \"Why do you never listen to me!\" He pulled the trigger, and a few pellets of buckshot sank into Isiel\'s shoulder and arm, and several grazed along Eiji\'s stomach and chest as well. Dorian cocked his gun and took aim again. \"I won\'t miss this time!\" he snarled, holding up the gun and closing one eye, bringing Isiel into his sights. \"Give Ido the gun Isiel.\"


Isiel yelped and almost dropped the gun, but somehow he clung to some slim hope that this was just a horrible nightmare and shook his head. Glancing back at Eiji he whispered an apology so faint it barely materialized as sound at all. With the same careless abandon for his own existence he crossed over to Ido and slipped behind him, aiming the gun squarely at his head, \"I won\'t let you hurt Eiji any more!!\" There was a hysterical edge to his voice, but an equal measure of determination.


Dorian\'s eyes flicked over to Ido, who was now frozen in place and appearing more than enraged, but unhallowed to move. The neko smiled slowly, a wide, vicious smile that showed off his fullgrown fangs. \"Shoot him, by all means,\" the boy purred. \"Then I won\'t have to give up either of you. The deal was, I get to keep one, and the other dies... but if I get to have both under me, all the better. Please, go ahead, shoot him,\" Dorian laughed.

He walked down the stairs slowly, gun still aimed. \"In fact, I order you to shoot him.\" He lifted the end of the shotgun to a point-blank target of Eiji\'s head. \"Do it.\"


Isiel stared at Dorian, utterly confused by the sudden shift in events - so much so in fact he barely realized he\'d pulled the trigger once more - shocked into action by the sight of Eiji at Dorian\'s mercy. The muted bang made him jump like a frightened kitten and the gun slipped from his fingers, hitting the ground with a harsh clatter of metal upon stone.


Ido was gone; his body lay in a bloody mess on the floor, bits of skull spattered onto Dorian\'s leg and blood pooling out slowly. The elder neko laughed uproariously, aiming his gun at Isiel once more and battering the boy upside the head with it, knocking him to his feet.

\"YES!\" he declared at the top of his lungs. \"YES! I\'ve done t! Both of you will be mine!\" His laughter rang in the basement dungeon, almost mad and soulless. Dorian put his gun down and lunged at Isiel, wrapping his arms around the boy and nuzzling his throat. \"Oh Isiel,\" he whispered, licking at the boy\'s wounds fondly, \"Don\'t you see? Both of you, I can love both of you now... I love you so much...\"


Isiel was so stunned by the mixture of yet more pain and sudden affection littered with Dorian\'s crazed words that he couldn\'t find the strength or will to move, to free himself from Dorian\'s embrace even to check upon Eiji and just sat in a broken heap with fresh tears of shock and confusion streaming down his cheeks. Every inch of his body ached, but none so much as his heart which felt as if it might crumble at any moment. Somewhere within his fractured spirit he found only the energy to whisper, \"....Eiji?\"

Dorian froze, and backed away slowly, a crazed, disbelieving expression on his face as he stared at Isiel with wide eyes, pleading and almost insane. \"Wh-what?\" he stammered. \"What did you just say?\"

His hands trembled. He lifted both slowly and placed one on either of the boy\'s shoulders, looking him in the face as he laughed a little, uncertain. \"You... you couldn’t have just said what I think you said. Isiel... I love you. I do! I am the one you should be begging for... After all the times he has hurt you, and all the times you have cried upon my shoulder because of him.. you call his name?\" He looked over at Eiji then, the crazed expression deepening. \"And you! I love you so much, yet you ignore me, and put all your attentions upon Isiel who wounds you and despises your love! Yet you would go so far for him! I don\'t understand either of you...\"

His hands slid up the boy\'s shoulders slowly and closed around his throat, trembling and tightening. \"But I have to make you understand my love! I have to!\" Dorian turned to look at Isiel once more, baring his teeth. \"Don\'t you understand!\" he screamed at the boy as he began to choke him. \"I did all this for you! Because I love you! Because I wanted to be with you! Now I have both of you!\"



Isiel woke from his dazed state as he felt his airway begin to constrict, each breath becoming more and more of a struggle which was only enhanced by his already feeble state. With eyes still brimming with tears he gazed back at Dorian and lamented the madness he\'d helped cause, \".....I-I just wanted to k-know....is h-he alright....? I s-still...still....D-Dorian...still...l-love you....\" The fragile boy\'s eyes fluttered and his voice trailed to blend with the silence surrounding them.


Eiji watched what the neko was doing with a helpless kind of horror, trying to move and push the neko away from his boy but only managing to make the chains clink a little and groan. He spat out the mouthful of blood filling on his tongue and groaned something that was supposed to have been an order for Dorian to stop.

The black neko paused as Isiel muttered his love, his hands staying firm but stopping their squeezing for a moment as Dorian nodded enthusiastically. \"Yes!\" he agreed. \"See, I know that! That\'s why I did this1 I know that deep down you love me Isiel. You always will. And I can teach Eiji to love me; it will just take some time. We can live together in the mansion like it used to be... we can all have such a good life together! Nobody will keep me from the both of you because I love you so much. Ok?\" He nodded again. \"Yes, that is how it will be. Me and you, and me and Eiji. Then I don\'t have to choose!\" Dorian began to laugh again, an insane, desperate laughter as he yanked his hands forward and spun Isiel to face Eiji. \"Look, Eiji! I\'m strong! I did it, Master! Both of you are my Masters, and I did it! I\'ve showed you how much I love you!\"


Isiel gasped, stumbling slightly as Dorian spun him round to face Eiji. The sight of his former master strung up made him choke once more and he knelt down, reaching blindly behind himself to find Dorian\'s hand, \"W-we have to g-get out o-of h-here...help me...D-Dorian *please*\" He managed to croak as he tried to free Eiji, drawing strength from his fear and sadness which seemed almost limitless right now, \"...t-then we can a-all go h-home...\"


His left eye twitched. The black neko looked down at Isiel, his smile fading again.

\"...Isiel,\" he said quietly, his trembling hand reaching out to the side once more. \"Isiel, why... why do you keep turning to him? It is me you should pay attention to. Why do you look at him that way even when he has hurt you so many times?\" His fingers closed around the gun slowly. \"I have to admit something to you Isiel,\" Dorian continued, as he lifted up the shotgun. \"As I said before, I was only expecting to keep one of you. I was only going to have Eiji for myself. Sure he\'d be a little wounded, but he would be mine... I was willing to give you up for him.\"

He lifted and aimed the gun once more, hands shaking. \"So I understand what you\'re feeling right now, I do. You want to sacrifice me for Eiji... because you love him. You love him more than you love me. I think I\'ve always known that. So... so I forgive you, Isiel. Because I understand what you are feeling. But...\" He looked up at Eiji for a moment with a smile before down at Isiel once more, tears welling in his maddened eyes. \"But I don\'t think this is going to work, now that the three of us are here together. You love him too much and it would get away with my relationship with Eiji. Because I love him more than you, just like you love him more than me. So I understand. And so you should understand why you have to go now.\"

He pressed the muzzle of the gun to the boy\'s temple. \"I forgive you, Isiel,\" Dorian whispered hoarsely.


Isiel closed his eyes, feeling fresh tears trickle down his cheeks; cutting a path through the grime and blood coating his skin. Death no longer scared him, the madness ingrained so deeply into Dorian\'s demeanor almost made him wish for its comforting embrace yet still he fought against it, \"....let me help you escape with Eiji...\" He uttered softly, finding a slim measure of courage despite the chilled metal pressed to his head, \"....then you can do what you wish with me....whatever you wish...\"


\"No,\" Dorian said softly, barely a whisper. \"I don\'t think I can do that. You would betray me for him; you have done it before. Goodbye, Isiel. I forgive you.\" He pulled back the hammer, and curled his finger tighter on the trigger. \"Are you watching, Eiji? Are you watching me prove how much I love you?\"

Eiji was watching; he was also struggling against his chains and making soft, weak noises in his throat, trying to plead for Isiel\'s life. Tears rose in the man\'s eyes as he stared at the boy on his knees before him with a gun pressed to his head. \"Don\'t...\" he rasped weakly, staring at Isiel.

\"I\'m sorry. Goodbye! I love you!\" Dorian whispered. He pulled the trigger.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
{e.n.d c.h.a.p.t.e.r t.w.e.n.t.y n.i.n.e}