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Josef



After a while, Josef noticed that Ketki was helping Zuni and he grinned and thought of an idea.

"Hey Zuni, could you come here for a moment?"

He patted the seat next to him, expecting her to sit down.

"You two like helping each other out and being together, right?"

Josef



"It's so good that you guys are sticking together... I mean... times are tough here for slaves."

Josef picked up the scalpel that Zuni had and gazed at it.

"This item, it's very beautiful you know? It can be clean, shiny, and elegant. So elegant it can save lives, also destroy lives. Don't you agree?"

His eyes then shot to Zuni's, expression blank. All of a sudden, he just slashes Zuni's face, cutting her eyes and vision. Blood spattered onto the wall from the force of his slash. Effectively blinding the Kitney.

"Now you guys REALLY need to work together."

At first, things seemed normal. Typical Josef. Just being strange and irritating. She really detested this man… He really only looked upon them like toys… They were human beings. They had hearts. They had souls. But to him they were just like Barbie dolls to throw around.

He had that scalpel… Don’t tell her he was mad about that? She could have used it on him if she wanted. It probably wouldn’t have gone well, but she could. Instead she had saved it simply to defend herself against other slaves or royalty if need be. She had behaved herself and only used it in an emergency, or to cut herself. And she had given it back, obviously. What could he possibly be mad about?

The small scalpel was the last thing Zuni saw. Quite literally. She had not even had time to react, she attempted to pull her head back so that he would miss, but he still managed to swipe the blade across her face. Across her eyes.

The green haired girl let out a pained scream. It felt like gasoline had been dumped into her eye sockets and set on fire. Like she was repeatedly being shanked in the face. Like someone had grabbed them and ripped it right out of her skull. Blood gushed and oozed down her cheeks and face, causing a hot sticky mess. Zuni lifted her hand up to shield herself from another possible attack, in a state of shock. Everything was black. Her eyes had literally been sliced open like grapes. The blood all over smelled like insane amounts of salt up her nose. Everything burned. Her breathe became shuddery. The girl wanted to scream more in pain but she didn’t want to admit to weakness.

Oh f**k did it hurt. She was in ever burning agony. But she was using every ounce of her will power to hide just how much pain she was in. Her body just started to shut down, she flopped down on the floor and laid there shaking uncontrollably. Blood made her cheeks stick to the flooring. She quivered and curled up in a ball, bleeding excessively until she passed out cold.


___________



The eleven year old kitny shivered violently, sitting on a dark violet colored couch in the middle of the dimly lit room. She jumped at the small creaking noise the stairs made at each step the shadowed figure took down the stairs, coming into the same room she was in. Something in the pit of her stomach was making her feel rather sick, even if she was in her own home.

"Hello?" A voice called from the last step in the stair case.

"T-Tosh?" She studdered, as the voice to the figure sounded a lot like her brother.

"Oh, It's you Zuni. For a second I thought you were your brother. No, it's Jale." There was a soft laugh. "Why do you have the lights off?"

She heard a faint click, and the light came on. It was rather bright, so the kitny shielded her eyes with her hand. "H-Hi Jale." Zuni squeaked nervously. She wished very much that it had been her brother.... Jale was the exact person that Zuni was going to warn him about. There had been several murders going on lately, all of them girls. Zu had found reason to suspect Jale, but she would never say why. She looked at him with wide eyes, as if the gentle looking nineteen year old had some reason to just walk over, and slit her throat, or something to that degree.

"Are you okay, Zu?" The teen cocked an eyebrow, walking closer and sitting down on the couch next to her. "You seem kind of jumpy.... Is this because of what happened to Briant, and Tosh?" He was referring to the bloody incident that the kitny had witnessed only days before. Tosh, fortunately, had survived, but most didn't think that her father would make it, as he had lost plenty of blood, and it didn't look like he would get out of the hospital for a long time, if he did even live. Even though they were both alive, they had both been, as the shaman had told the family, cursed. Why? For 'playing God', by trying to fix the lung condition that Tosh had been born with. "They're fine, and so should you be....."

She flinched again at the 'are you okay?' No, she was not okay. Not at all. First of all, her step-mother had gotten worse with hitting her, when father was off for weeks at a time for work. Second, her father and brother both had tried forbidden magic, and nearly killed themselves. And three, she had just discovered that one of her friends, or her brother's friend, rather, had been the murderer of all three of those girls. She shuddered harder now. The rumor was, the killer had raped them, whatever that meant, and then killed them... By cutting them to pieces. She swallowed. She was in her own house. She was safe. R-right?


He kept his eyebrow raised. "Zuni..... You look pale, are you sure you're okay, hun?" Jale rested his arm onto her shoulder, looking down at the kitny with a suspitious expression, though he forced it into a concerned look instead.

She was at home, and brother was here in the house somewhere. She would be fine if she just hinted at it just a little, just to see if it was really him that had done it, even though she was sure. "No...I'm not okay, Jale." She admitted quietly.

"And why's that?" His voice wasn't as kind this time, but rather demanding.

"Well...." She wasn't sure of how she was going to word it. "I've been hearing stories about that killer.... You know, the one who's been sawing his victim's to death?"

"Stories? Of what kind?" She could hear the perk of hidden interest, which aroused her fear even more.

"Nothing of detail really... Just some side comments here and there." She swallowed. Hard. And then continued, her pretty silver bangs draping in front of her face, "One person claimed it was someone from our village..."

"Why would anyone from here want to do that?" He asked lightly. Most people here were a follow-the-rules kind of folk, so it was very, very rare that anyone committed any kind of crime at all.

She was starting to shake a little now, and she was trying to stop, but him having his hand on her shoulder was making her nervous system rattle and rack up in her stomach. "T-They say that it's a man, of 'younger' looking age, I heard, and he's just doing it out of sport, I suppose, I-I wouldn't know." The kitsune-usagi was having an awfully bad habit of studdering now. Her velvet ears folded back, flat against her head tightly. "I heard he lives right around here too, right under our noses. I'm surprised that no ones figured it out yet."

"I heard it was a woman..." Again, it was if there was a double meaning.

"I d--" She stopped herself, almost making it from her point of view. "I heard that too. But I also heard that woman can't do stuff like that by themselves...They can't sneak into houses of people that they know well, kidnap a girl-" She let 'girl' stand out, un-intentsionally. "-and rape them by themselves." She still didn't know what that word meant, but it was true, woman couldn't exactly be the one forcing someone else to have sex at all, let alone if the person they were forcing was also a girl. "Where could they possibly get all of the objects to do such things?" That, again, un-intensionally stood out, big time. Especially because Jale just happened to be a wood-worker, and had the nessecary things to saw and carve.... Her heart was pounding erratically, and she thought she was going to stop breathing. Not to mention... "Lastly, word is that the murder is some kind of demon. The real kind."

"We have a problem, Zuni, my dearest..." His eyes narrowed, and a slight half smile pursed onto his lips.

"W-What's that?" She stammered, preparing herself to jump up, and run for the door.

The teenager could feel her straining against his grip, and he held on tighter, his smile seeping into a snarky smirk.

"I forgot my tools."


Fear, cold and hard was the only thing that sprang into the vixen's gray eyes, as she tried to move for the stairs, but she was pushed back by a force she couldn't see. She tried to yell, or scream, or-- something, but she found that she couldn't.

"Looks like I'll just have to use old fashion tricks this time." He purred, and she could feel his strangely cold breath hiss past her ear.

She felt his hand hold up against her face, over her eyes with a small flash, and then, suddenly, she found that she couldn't even move, and not because she was struck with a sensation of building fear. She couldn't move, she couldn't cry for help, hell, the kitsune's eyesight even started to fade in a stupor of a daze. It was if she was lying limp, trying to go to sleep, but not able to, and not able to get up either.

And then everything went black.


Zuni awoke to the murderous screaming of what sounded like a girl.

She opened her eyes, blinking to try and remove the curtain of blackness that shielded her eyes, though she found that it wouldn't go away. She attempted in moving away from a chair that she was propped onto, but she was bound with tight, thorny wire that laced around her chest and waist, ankles, and wrists tightly behind her.

The screaming continued, this time louder, as if who ever was tormenting the girl was approaching her again.

The kitny heard low, slow foot steps across the creaky flooring that must have been heading to the victim who was crying out. It finally hit her. Jale had really--- He was really going to---

A loud roaring of a buzz saw started up, drowning out most of the girl's shrieks.

"Jale--!!" Zuni cried out, struggling against the binding around her ankles, wrists, and chest. "STOP IT--! JAAAALLLEE--!!!!" She screamed out, trying to be heard over the loud racket. "Jale, leave her alone-!!" She couldn't think of what else to say, but she felt like she just had to keep yelling at him, as if maybe, just maybe, he would leave the poor girl alone. "LEAVE HER ALONE--!" She screamed out into the blackness.

Suddenly, the buzzing stopped abruptly.

She swallowed harshly when she could hear the heavy foot-steps heading her direction. They stopped suddenly, but she could feel him right in front of her, so he must not have been that far away to begin with.

Jale smirked, kneeling down to the kitny's level, the automatic saw in one hand, as he lifted his free hand, placing a finger under her chin and raising her face to look at him, even though she couldn't see him anyways.

"Jealous that she gets to go first, are we?" His voice was dripping with mockery, and he chuckled faintly. "Don't worry, I'll play with you next." He left her there, and as he walked away, he started the saw up again.

Still, all she could do was stay there, trying to wrench her hands from the binding that held her. "JALE--!! D---"

Screams that reeled over the loud buzzing hurtled into the air, filling the vixen's ears, as the saw met the victim's shoulder, easily cutting through the girl's arm like butter. Blood went splattering everywhere as the saw wrenched through the rest of her, making gritting sounds as it met tougher bone, though it sliced through that too.

Zuni flinched when a good amount of warm, salty tasting blood splattered over one side of her face, some of it seeping into her lips and down her neck because it was so thick. Her gray eyes widened dramatically, and she started yelling again when she heard a low, hard thunk as pieces of the victim hit the floor, "W-Why are you doing this?!!" The kitny jerked hard at the bindings, gritting her teeth as some of the thorns on the wire tore into her skin. "WHY-!?"

"You're going to tear your arms off if you keep that up...." Jale's voice was calm now, as he licked off the blood around his lips. "It's enchanted, and if you pull at it too hard......" He paused, approaching her again. "Let's just say you won't be a very happy bunny."

"You b*****d-!" She hissed, relaxing her arms a little more, though they still stayed locked stiffley. "When Tosh finds you, he's going to freakin' k---"

"Oh, But you brother isn't going to find me, little one." Jale purred, leaning down to her velvet ear. "I forgot to tell you, didn't I?" She could just feel the sickening smile burst across his lips. "He's dead."

A sickening feeling whelled up into her throat. "Y-You liar--!!" She spat, jerking her face away from him. "He's not dead-! HE'S NOT--!!"

He ignored her screaming, and continued talking in a light, swift tone. "Heh h-" He started chuckling darkly. "Not yet." Jale ran his pale fingers through her hair, toying around with her a little, just to watch her jerk with rage. "Really, Zuni, I've never seen you like this. Maybe that's why it turns me on so much."

That really pissed her off. She wasn't going to take this s**t, even if he was supposedly her friend. "You b*****d-! Don't ******** with me o--" But the girl didn't get to finish her sentence.

"An interesting choice of words, Zu, my pet." He said with an excited smile, untying her wrists behind her by leaning over her. While he was at it, the demon pressed his lips rather greedily against her's, mocking her all over again by ruining her first kiss as easy as that.

Zuni's eyes widened greatly, and she tried to jerk back from him, clearly disturbed and offended by such a dispicable action. That didn't seem to work, so she lifted her hand like she had once previously seen other females do, and rested it against his cheek like she was going to caress his face. But, instead, the kitsune took the wrong turn, so taken up by her anger and the thought of the heaping bloodied carcass of the girl on the floor, that she dug her sharp nails into the side of his face, easily causing him to bleed, as she scratched all the way down the side of his face in just seconds.

"b***h-!"

He let out a low hiss, raising his hand and smacking the kitny hard across the face, causing her to fall to the opposite side, still attached to the chair.

Jale was over her at once, his leather-booted foot stepping down hard on her arm.

She heard the sickening snap of her joints in her elbow, before she had even felt it. But, then, she did feel it, and she couldn't hold back a small, whispery scream of agony. She twisted herself to reach over to her arm, but she didn't dare touch it. He was standing over her, she could tell, even though she still couldn't see, and she could feel him smiling still, and it sent a waved of shiver up her spine.

He nudged her surely nearly broken arm, and she heard herself yelp without realizing it until moments later. And then it was too late, because he was already over her, and with a flick of his wrist, she was already out cold again.



She awoke for the third time, shivering violently, curling her damp tail around herself. At this point, if the kitsune could produce tears, she would have drown herself in them. What ever Jale had just done to her the last time she was concious, she didn't like at all. He had touched her, and make her feel really sick inside, a sickness that she could not describe at all, and that she had never before felt in her life. She felt dirty. Sick, and dirty, and sweaty.

A numb, dead feeling was spreading throughout her arm, and she had learned to ignore it over the past few hours. The kitny head lead herself into an unthinking stupor, holding with all of her strength to the numbness that kept her from realizing what she didn't want to know. She didn't want to know that she was going to die soon.

She listened intently to the quiet foot-steps, which were much to silent to the boisterous noise they had been making earlier, and it didn't sound as though they were speeding up, or getting any closer to her. Until they took a turn, and headed straight at her.

A knot swelled up into the girl's throat again, and she nearly coughed from the heavy tangy smell of the blood from the stains that were still around near where her feet were tied to the chair. This was it. He was going to kill her. And surely he was going to take his time on her, for her knew her well, making it even more enjoyable on his part. She wasn't ever going to see her father again, or Tosh, if either of them were even still alive. But, oddly enough, she wasn't feeling as upset about as she had been before.

Zuni could tell that he was standing in front of her now, because the footsteps stopped near her. She tried again to lift up her shadowy shield that kept her from seeing that bound over her eyes. She wanted to see his face. She wasn't sure why, but she just had to. Was he really even the same person anymore? The sweet, gentle, kind, demon that she had once known as well as she had her brother?

"Jale....Why? Why are you doing this?" She asked, not a drop of fear or agony in her voice this time.

"Why?" The words echoed back at her, but in Jale's voice rather than her's.

"Because, I love watching people suffer. I enjoy inflicting pain onto other's as they have done to me. I love hearing them scream." There was a pause. "And I especially love being their last hope of living, last hope of mercy." Now his tone was no longer plain, now, it had a sick, dark, laughter-like ring to it, which made her shudder. "I love being their God."

The girl wasn't even listening to him anymore. He was sick. Just flat out sick. She couldn't believe that he was the same person anymore. But, the fact was... he was the same person. Suddenly, she no longer cared about dying. She was going to die. So now she just wanted him to get it over with. She was done fighting to fit in with everyone, done trying to earn her right out of being called hateful, wretched names. She was done trying to make him stop.

"........" She turned to look up to him, only knowing where his face was because of his voice directory. ".....Then.." She paused again, her face blank. She was giving up. Giving in. "Then have fun with me, o'kay, Jale?" Zuni smiled just a little, her smile showing that she really was giving up all together, no other questions asked.

This took the demon by surprise, even though the girl couldn't see it. W..what did she just say? Have fun with her? Had this girl gone insane?

She was lying, she was just playing with him. That was it. He was going to make her eat those words.

Jale flipped out a knife, holding it up against her throat, just to make her squirm.

But, she didn't. She didn't even flinch. She just kept the same dead look on her face, not caring at all that she had a blade being pelted to her neck.

His tilted his head at her, raising an eyebrow. The vixen was serious. He had never seen this in his entire long life. He'd been doing this for generations. He had sawed girls to pieces, he'd hurt them in everyway he could think of.. and yet... he always got the same thing. Scream, and struggle to the end. Not one had ever stopped squirming, ever stop pleading for him to stop. Never.

He pulled back, almost in shock, before he calmed himself, before he got into doing something foolish. What was the point is she was just going to let him do things to her. Really? What was the point?

Jale, if that was even his real name, placed his hands over the girl's eyes, sending her back into un-conciousness before he thought any-other about the words she had just said.



She was only barely concious this time around. Zuni felt completely dazed, and dizzy, as if she moved too far one direction she was going to fall over.

Wait--- She was laying down now. On a.... couch? This place, it smelt of the familiar, unmistakable smell of home. What the--

She didn't have enough strength yet to sit up, so all she could do was lay there with her eyes open, still blinder than ever.

You're not alone...

She could feel those words pasted in the back of her mind. No, someone had really said them aloud.

The kitny forced herself to sit up, using up all of her strength just to do so, nearly falling over to one side. She felt his cold hand over her eyes again. She was... alive... He didn't..

The same words were whispered into her ear, and then she blinked. The hueless shade of color was returning to her eyes, and every time she blinked it came in clearer. She blinked again. Then once more. How did she end up here?

Once she could finally see well enough to tell that she was back home, she looked up to see Jale's face, before she snapped back. By the time she had done so, he was already gone. Gone... Why had he let her live? She didn't understand. She just wanted him to kill her, to get it over with... and now she was....?

The kitny turned to look out of the window, seeing her brother heading towards the house from outside, in a wheel chair. She blinked, sitting up more.

Was it really good to be alive?


__________


Zuni awoke back on her shitty mattress, drenched in cold sweat. Everything was still black... She couldn't see...

It reminded her of all the times Jale blind folded her. Over and over. For years of torture.

All she should do was shiver from the cold and cry in the pitch black, making the dried blood on her face get sticky all over again.

Josef



The malign doctor stared at them both, wordlessly moving towards Zuni. He took great joy in Zuni's suffering. It ate at him on how delicious and how much joy it filled him to see her struggle, to see people react to his horrible deeds. He should never be forgotten for his deeds by now. Even if his demise will in turn cause him to be removed from the cycle of rebirth and reincarnation, it was worth it if he could at least be feared for all time.

He crept up to Zuni, his hands cold and smooth slowly encroached upon her neck and he suddenly grabbed her there. Aim to freak the crap out of her, to scare her. No make her know that she will NEVER EVER beat him, never EVER leave him, and never EVER think that she is not his. Never. She is his property down to the very concept of existence. The doctor will make sure of it. The world be damned, the royals be damned. Zuni is HIS play thing, Zuni is HIS enjoyment. He has never had as much fun as he had now tormenting, torturing, and just being all around cruel to the Kitney.

"Boo."

Josef



"Oh no you don't."

Josef brandished a knife from his back pocket and literally stabs the hand that has the keys into the wall.

"It's not nice to misbehave in front of your master. You should really, REALLY learn how to not be a little S**T."

The doctor then twisted the knife, hoping to make her yelp.

"You are to stay in bed for at least two more days. Doctor's Orders."

Josef then turned to Ketki.

"It's time to wake up, Zuni needs bed rest. You need to do your chores now. Go to the laundry that I put in the basket and fetch us some food please. You need to do them or else.... there will be repercussions. "

With a quick motion, he grabbed the keys that have since fallen from Zuni's hands and unlocked the steel collar on Ketki's neck.

"Unless... You wish to be in the same predicament as Zuni, your new sister or mother. Your choice how you wish to see her. I quite frankly don't care. Poor Zuni, being blind. It must REALLY hurt."