Kunō no Merodī [Stimulant]

Summary: Her mouth was split open, golden eyes sparkling. Part 3 of Accomplice: Rise

If you didn't know already Part 3 is going to be on the short side. It's only going to have five chapters, and they'll be on the short side, because of reasons. Basically it's word count will be less than Part 2 in entirety. This also means it should be updated quicker, though.

The other good news: is I don't even know where to begin to figure out the chapter count for Part 4, so you can expect that - whatever I'll call it - to be pretty long until we get to Part 5, which should also be pretty long. So far Part 5 is the final 'part' in the series, unless something causes my plans to change. After that I'll put out the three seperate endings: the Bad End, the Good End, and the True End; in that order.

Her head hurt.

The relentless pounding at the back of her skull was really hard to ignore, even if it seemed to be lessening as time went by. It was certainly the first thing she noticed when she became aware of her own body and surroundings again, no longer in some fuzzy inky blackness.

Really, that's what it had felt like, even asleep she hadn't been able to dream. Not with the back of her head hurting like it was, that is. Or her shoulder for that matter.

Now that she was coming out of unconsciousness she became aware of that as well; the way her whole right shoulder felt like it had been set on fire; twice. She could feel the bruise forming no matter which was she tried to adjust her body so that she wasn't putting so much weight on that shoulder.

The floor was cold, so she could only guess that she had fallen off the bed. A plausible reason for her pounding skull and flaming shoulder by all accounts, really.

Really.

If she had gone to bed just a few hours ago she would believe it within a heartbeat, but it all came racing back at her as soon as she began to think about it. She had been in the storage unit next to the kitchen, not her room, answering a call only to have someone sneak up on her, shove something that smelled like ethanol into her mouth... and then her head was pounding, her shoulder on fire, trapped in darkness.

No, that didn't seem quite right. She just needed to open her eyes-

Her blood plummeted below zero when her lashes fluttered against a piece of fabric when she opened her eyes, only to see nothing. A shiver traveled through her entire body. No... no, she had to try again.

But when Rise just closed her eyes she could feel her lashes rub against the fabric again, and now that she knew it was there she could feel how the fabric was wrapped all the way around her head, presumably tied into a knot at the end.

Her fingers shook as she began to raise her hands only to have them lock up on her. Because her hands were behind her, one folded over the other, fingers pointed downwards, curled in. Even if her arms could raise higher, there was no way for her hands to reach the knot. She could feel the cord tied around her wrists as well now; that wasn't a flimsy piece of fabric. It wouldn't just rip if she pulled hard enough.

Another shiver ran through her body, only this time it stayed with her for a few seconds after the initial chill came.

Her fingers continued to shake even when the rest of her body was frozen in place. Rise was taking in small quick breaths of air now, her heart hammering away in her chest each time she felt the warm air of her breath press to her skin every other second. The same smooth fabric pressed over her eyes was also present over her mouth, not neccessarily sealing it shut, but it stretched far enough that when she parted her lips she could feel it dip into the curve her mouth made. It wasn't tight, but it was secure enough to serve a purpose.

One that didn't include getting snagged in her teeth.

Rise swallowed, slowly, trying to keep her breathing even as she tested her vocal chords. Her ears weren't covered, so she could hear her attempt with perfect clarity.

"Mffph."

And this time her body didn't stop shaking, even if she wanted to she couldn't make it stop. There was just no way. No way. None at all. This was a bad dream. This had to be a nightmare. This just couldn't be happening.

She sucked in a breath through her teeth. It isn't real. Her lashes felt heavy as they pressed against the fabric, again. Not real. The skin around her mouth was no longer warm, but hot; even more so than her shoulder. Her fingers stretched out only to connect with cold tile. As for her legs...

"Hrn!"

She could move them just fine! There was no restraints on her legs. No fabric locking them together, no cord wrapped around her ankles or along her thighs, just above her knees. There... wasn't a single thing on them. That, seemed like an oversight by whoever had done this to her. Unless they weren't worried about her walking around...

Rise's whole body shook for five agonizing seconds before she curled her free legs inward, until her forehead could rest against her knees. She tried to take a breath, but stopped when she felt the fabric tighten over her mouth when she sucked the air down so quickly.

It wasn't an oversight; it couldn't be. Not with the way her hands were bound, made blind and unable to cry for help. Even if she did get up and walk around she would just run into things she couldn't see, and there was no guarantee that the door would be unlocked. Who would leave a door unlocked after kidnapping an idol? Not someone that used a cord to bind one's hands, she was pretty sure of that.

Her body was shaking again, but this time it wasn't stopping as she felt even her skin go cold, her veins made of pure ice.

She held herself still for one whole second before she screamed through the fabric over her mouth, her warm breath hitting her thighs. If they were really made of ice steam would have covered her body; that was now squirming over the tile: legs kicking at the air around them, arms pulling at the binds, back arching only to snap back into place a moment later.

Rise was in an endless cycle of irrational movement, up until she heard something besides her own skin and clothing sliding over the tile.

Then her body froze, breath halted as a pair of shoes squeaked against the tile with every step. And the sound was getting louder, getting closer. Her body shook, legs slowly sliding back up so her knees met her forehead.

Now what? After all these hours of lying here had her kidnapper finally gotten bored? Or had he been taping her freak out the entire time? Because it made him excited? Or was she being filmed? The feed hopping through a bunch of proxies before coming onto the screens of similarly minded people? She couldn't believe her - true - fans would just sit there, seeing her struggle and not do a thing about it.

The footsteps had stopped behind her and a whimper escaped her throat as she heard a rustle of clothes as the man must have crouched down behind her. There was a snip in the air, followed by another, and suddenly the strips of fabric loosened, laying flat on her skin and hair.

It only caused her heart to speed up, though. If she was being untied they must have grown bored, and she had no idea why they had taken her yet. Just that she wasn't dead, and it was too soon to know if that was a blessing or not.

Her hands were wrenched back and she yelped; the sound clear and filling the room this time. It echoed back at her and she tried to pull her hands back when the length of her arms protested the angle at which they were being held. A hiss escaped her when they were pulled further up. The cord seemed to shift along her skin before she heard a snap and suddenly it sprang free, uncurling from her wrists to hit the underside of her arms.

Those shoes squeaked against the tile again as clothes rustled once more and Rise forced herself to stay still: arms hanging behind her, breath shifting the loose fabric laying haphazardly across her mouth. It was like she was made of stone as she listened to the footsteps head back the way they had come, before it became silent again.

It remained that way for a second, and then the creak of a door assaulted her ears. Not that she could remember hearing a door before.

Was this room soundproofed?

The sound had come from in front of her this time and Rise raised her head past her knees before she opened her eyes; that expanded into the size of saucers a moment later. She was standing in the doorway, in that bikini, standing the way she did, swaying from side-to-side, mouth split open into a grin, golden eyes sparkling.

She must have been hit over the head again, or this really was a nightmare. Whether that was true or not didn't concern her though, as she screamed.