The abrasive female yell kept making Tawnya flinch. Upon waking from the nightmare, her nerves were more on edge than ever. For a minute, she held herself stiff, concentrating on catching the voices of the couple, but the constant mechanical drilling next door made it impossible to hear anything clearly.
Tawnya blinked her eyes and moaned. Her face felt enflamed, and the worst feeling was in her stomach, but she could feel nothing below her waist. Uncomfortably, she dropped her leg onto the chair in front of her, wishing she could get out of this strange house. Tawnya frowned. The martial arts oil painting made her feel uneasy. It served as a horrible reminder of how she had started the fight, despite her conscious efforts to stop. The bookshelf was stacked with ancient ninjitsu encyclopedias, with one or two odd additions on Japanese values and weddings. Everything about this place troubled her. Even the photographs on the coffee table captured snapshots of two men fighting, a Japanese man in red and a blonde American in jeans and a white t-shirt.
Gingerly, Tawnya placed a hand on her stomach, sensing the bruises on the entire right hip.
“I dare you,” she heard him whisper in her ears. Her eyes then widened in shock. Tawnya choked on her own breath, feeling her throat strangled by his command.
“Dare to do what?” she wheezed, glancing ever so slightly over her shoulder, hoping that someone real was talking to her.
Except for the droning voices from the TV in the corner, the room was vacant of people.
“Is someone there?” she asked, just in case the voice was coming from another room. She was only answered by silence.
Tawnya’s gaze shifted around the room, from the TV to the entrance of the kitchen where Maki and Guy could be seen fighting through the window.
“Get up and walk.”
Tawnya shivered. His looming voice was enough to frighten her half to death. She clutched hard at her chest, feeling her heart race suddenly. The room was still empty. She felt too afraid to believe that this was just an illusion, that she was just going crazy.
“I said WALK.”
The will to agree to this menacing command was overpowering, but she tried hard to resist.
“Complete your mission.”
Tawnya felt the urge to walk, walk as far away from this house as possible, in order to reach Sakura. She suddenly knew that Ryu would be with her, and she was supposed to bring him to Ryu.
“I can’t do it,” Tawnya whimpered in protest, holding the side of her stomach with both hands now.
Her leg felt as if iron bounded by an invisible wire. When she tried to lift her leg, the pain shot through her. Keeping still was required, but his instructions kept repeating. She wanted to yell, scream, anything, but her mouth felt glued shut.
“You do not think. You are nothing. Do as you are told and you will live,” he said, with an unexpected kindness in his tone.
Tawnya nodded and found the will to stand, ignoring the shudders of her aching muscles. Her eyes were blank, drawn to the invisible power of his commanding voice. Her mouth was open as she shakily stepped forward. She blinked her eyes, wanting not to see the red patterns on the wall, but the more she blinked the more red the room turned.
“Pain is all in the mind. Overcome and conquer.”
Tawnya took another step forward. Her leg was as rigid as if no suppleness had ever existed. The more he spoke, the more her head filled with an intensity of heat. Tawnya squeezed her eyes and clenched her teeth. Her body was rigid with fear. She saw images of herself enticing Ryu, using her nails to carve his name into his own skin, all in an effort to awaken his inner demon. Ryu was trying to resist, but he wasn’t strong enough.
Her head was heavy with a pain that made her see hazy grey swirls. Something brushed against her arm, and she opened her eyes wide, startled. A yellow scarf clutched at her arm tightly.
“You fool. Do you think you will get far?”
Panic-stricken, Tawnya tried to shake it off, but the material bound itself to her. The scar of Ryu’s name shone brightly, as if it had been re-cut. The lines of his name had a sharp pink outline.
“Bring him to me,” the male continued to yell.
“Sit back down, and be a good little girl.”
Tawnya was stunned and unable to move. The second voice belonged to a woman, different from Maki’s voice yelling outside. The buzzing in her head grew more frantic.
“You are a mere tool.”
“You are stronger than this.”
“Walk.”
Tawnya grabbed her head and smacked it hard with her wrist, in a vain attempt to silence these thoughts. The scarf around her arm released abruptly. Feeling unsteady on her feet, she collapsed forward, heavily pounding her nose. Blood trickled from it. Tawnya spluttered out a gurgling cough, feeling her body drained of any energy. The hazy swirls around the room lingered, soon merging to form a face - a man, whose demonic eyes looked down at her. Tawnya scratched out at his face, but he didn’t shift an inch. She growled, frustrated and frightened by the harshness etched in his features, but her efforts were futile. She slapped herself hard, and the man laughed.
“I see you are still fighting with yourself.”
“Where’s that voice coming from?” Tawnya barked, feeling dizzied and light-headed.
“Your mission will destroy you.”
Rose stood in the middle of Guy’s living room, her feet near Tawnya’s head. Her shoes were beautiful, a decorative exclusive set which displayed well against the soft white rug. Tawnya didn’t have the energy to look up. Instead, she tried to swallow to build up a decent scream, but the voices around her terrified her to the point of incapacity.
Rose stared with her sharp green eyes, then clicked her fingers. Tawnya opened her eyes, confused by a sudden clarity. The buzzing in her head vanished, and her body stopped aching. Her vision was no longer cloudy, and the silence eased the turmoil in her chest.
“You did something,” Tawnya said, aware of the bloodied white carpet that was stained from her dripping nose. She choked, and once again found it difficult to breathe.
“I am not a magician. I am not a witch,” Rose laughed, mocking her. “I cannot help you the way you want me to.”
Her laughter was almost contagious. Tawnya laughed too, her chest heaving up and down in submission.
“Steer clear of him, and he will stay away from you. Submit to the will of the darkness and you will never regain control of your own destiny.”
With a graceful twist to the wrist, Rose released a small tarot card, which spiraled through the air and landed near Tawnya’s anguished face. She stayed still, staring at the woman leaning down to her.
Rose gazed with intensity into Tawnya’s pale orange aura.
“Indecisiveness...I see,” she said too assertively.
There was a peculiar silence, and Tawnya realized she was alone again.
“...don’t go,” she mumbled, with a sudden pang of agonizing loneliness. The blood from her nose dripped uncontrollably, making her retch.
“DON’T LEAVE ME!” she screamed, grabbing at the carpet.
“TAWNYA...!” Upon hearing her scream, Guy had run into the room. He was stunned to catch her so close to the front door. He struggled to lift her from the floor and place her back onto the sofa.
Tawnya didn’t seem to respond to the aches and pains that revived in her body. Even the blood didn’t bother her. She shivered uncontrollably.
“Are you okay? Where’re you hurting?” Guy asked gently, trying to keep her head upright.
“Fei...Fei,” Tawnya muttered, seeing a blurry vision of Guy’s face. “I need to tell you something, Fei,” she continued.
Guy looked shrugging at Maki, who kept herself at a safe distance. She clutched at a box of tissues, unbothered that she was still half-naked.
“Tawnya, I’m not Fei,” Guy hushed, glancing with worry at Maki. Tawnya seemed to have no idea what she was doing She seemed oblivious to Maki and Guy. Her strange, dissociative behavior was similar t
o that of Ryu’s in the park.
“I’m Guy, a friend of Ryu’s.”
Tawnya’s eyes flicked wide open, startled to hear that familiar name. Her behavior was compellingly strange. Guy had never seen the harsh melancholy hit Ryu in the face, and now Tawnya wore the same look of despair.
“I don’t like her being here,” Maki whispered into his ear, her voice stern with discomfort.
“Neither do I,” he whispered back, holding Tawnya at arm’s length.
“Fei,” Tawnya said again. “I’m not crazy. I’m not crazy.”
*****
Chapter 21:
PLANS