Marked (fanfiction by Ryaque)

[Ryaque]

One:

The cold wind chilled me to the very core of my soul. Winter was just starting to set in and already the air was malicious with it's frigid attacks. The city was alive though, despite the cold, and the familiar sounds of engines roaring and impacient honks lingered in the air.

I walked home from my father's house. He is very sick and needs someone to look after him, and yet he refuses to go to a hospital. Such a stubborn man. Before the divorce, my mother would've made him go. She was the only one who could ever make him do anything, and yet he couldn't keep her happy. Who knows why? The alcohol, the drugs, or maybe just the lack of interest now a days...

My parents did agree on one thing though. They hated it when I walked alone after dark in the city, but nothing has happened to me yet, and I didn't think anything ever will. Everything about me screams poverty: the torn and dirty jeans, the three-sizes-too-large green jacket, and the dirty and disgusting greasy black hair. My brother always tells me the only attractive thing about me is my eyes; blue as the ocean and just as deep I suppose.

The wind began once again to chill me and I shivered and turned my back to the gust and that's when I saw him. A man standing several feet behind me, just starring at me. I couldn't see his features in the darkness, but I felt his eyes upon me, examining me. My mother always warned me there were "loonies" in this city, but until tonight I haven't ever met one, but I do know it's best to just ignore them and turn away. Intent on doing just that, I turn away and continue on my way. I still felt his eyes on me...

I heard soft footsteps behind me. He was following me. Images ran through my head of newspaper headlines "girl found in alleyway, raped and murdered" and my heart pounded so loud I feared he heard it. Throwing caution to the wind, I take off running through the alleyways and streets that I pass. Aggitated honks and rude profanity greets me, but the most terrifying sound is the heavy footsteps booming behind me, crunching in the new-fallen snow.

The fear coursed through my veins, chilling me far colder then the winter air ever could. My lungs were on fire and my legs felt like lead. A voice in my head told me I should pay attention to where I was going, but it was drowned out by the frantic screams of "run run run!!!" However, I soon find myself facing a brick wall with no way out. The footsteps behind me are calm. He knows I can't escape. I'm completely at his mercy.

I turn to face him just and part of his face becomes illuminated by a streetlight overhead and the fear increases ten fold. The sneer on his face reminded me of a feral animal about to pounce on it's prey and his eyes were colder then the wind that blew wildly around the two of us. "What do you want?!" I scream at him and get ready to defend myself, but I receive no response.

He slowly steps forward, mocking me, playing cat and mouse and the cat is going to win. Mercifully, the light passes over him and I can no longer see his face, but I can still see his eyes as if they are glowing in the dark. Wait...they do glow! They're yellow!

I open my mouth to scream but before I can make a sound his hands are clamped over my mouth and I can feel blazing hot lava burning my neck. Blinded by the pain and confused by it, the only thought I can manage is "I'm going to die! This is the end!"

The burning continues and then my body drops to the ground. The last thing I see before death takes me is the disappearing figure of my attacker. I'm dying...

[Ninja of Cao]

This sounds like an exciting story
Very well written.

[Ryaque]

Two:

I am flying. Or am I floating? Or am I just suspended in nothingness? Is there truly or a Heaven or Hell? Which one will I go to? Will I see anyone I know there?

So many questions bombard my mind and the pain constantly has me sliding in and out of consciousness. I must be going crazy. The first time, I see a black shirt. The second time, I see a face looking straight ahead then seeing I'm awake and looking down at me with yellow eyes. The fourth time I see a blinding light. Heaven? Then fifth time I feel the same scorching burn on my neck. Hell? I don't know...

When I fully wake up, the first thing I hear is the sound of the most beatuiful voice I've ever heard. "...he do that to a human? Has he lost his mind?!"
"Calm yourself," another voice answers, "it's not the first time this has happened. There are only two options..."
Very weakly, I open my eyes but see only the bright white of Heaven. Wait...no...I'm in a hospital. Turning my head slightly, flinching from the pain on my neck, I see a monitor next to me, measuring my heart beat. On my other side is a stand with a telephone and a window that looks out into the city. The sun is up. How much time has passed? Hours? Days? I don't know...

I hear footsteps approaching my room and turn to see a doctor in a long white robe and a tall man behind him. The doctor smiles kindly at me and I notice his teeth are remarkably shinny, almost like polished glass. His hair is short, a buzz cut, and appears to be brown, but my eyes become glued to the man behind him. His hair is long, past his muscular shoulders, and glossy black with slight curls. His skin is pale, like he doesn't see the sun much, but only makes him look exotic to me. He's wearing dark black sunglasses, a leather biker jacket, and jeans. It was his footsteps I heard because of his loud clumping boots.
"How are you feeling?"
I open my mouth to speak but the words don't come. I try again, managing to let out a strangled gargle, but nothing more. Why can't I speak?
The dark man turned towards the doctor and his eyebrows furrow in an expression of worry or frustation. "What's wrong with her voice?"
"It's possible her voicebox suffered enough damage to be temporarily unusable. We can fix that. Until then, I'll just ask 'yes' or 'no' questions, alright?"
I nod and somehow manage to struggle into a sitting position.
"Do you remember what happened?" I shake my head. "Do you know who you are?" I nod. "Do you have parents we can contact?" Here I hesitate. Mom and Dad! They must be so worried about me! I'm so overcome with anxiety I start hyperventalating and I hear the heart monitor speed up to what I assume to be dangerous levels.
The doctor turns his head to the open doorway and shouts something to someone I can't see while the dark man strides forward and gently pushes me down into bed. His hands are so cold...
"Relax, we'll take care of you."
A nurse dressed in white injects something into my arm and I feel the darkness of sleep start to consume me. Slowly, I close my eyes and the last thing I see before I sleep in the dark man remove his glasses and I see the same yellow eyes as the one who carried me...

[Luna]

AMAZING!!
I LOVE IT!!!
Hehe can't wait til the next part
XP hehe :3
<3 ya sis <3

[Ryaque]

Originally Posted by luna

amazing!!
I love it!!!
Hehe can't wait til the next part
xp hehe :3
<3 ya sis <3

Yay!!!

[Luna]

Hehe it's true
You're such a good writer
Love ya sis

[Ryaque]

Sorry for the delay! HUGE projects for school have kept me so busy but I promise I'll get the next chapter up relatively soon. (I hope)

[Ryaque]

Three:

My eyes opened after enduring what felt like several eternities of nightmares involving yellow eyes and teeth and I found myself once again in blackness. The burning sensation on my neck was still there, but considerably lessened. I was not sure if it was late at night, or very early in the morning for there was no indication of time other then the blackness. Then, my eyes focused on what I thought was a distraught lightning bug. The light radiating from its bottom was faint and more of a tainted orange then the customary yellow I was used to seeing, and it flew unnaturally through the blackness. Then I realized it wasn't a lightning bug, but the lit end of a cigarette.

"Who's there?" Only silence replied, but the light from the cigarette floated towards my bedside and the suffocating smell of smoke almost made me choke. "Who are you?!"
"I see your voice is back. Tsuyoshi was concerned like a mother hen when you couldn't speak." An umistakably female voice said. I knew I never heard it before in my life, and yet something about it made me think "angel."
"Who are you?" I repeated more calmly and sat up in my hospital bed.
The mystery woman snapped her fingers and a tiny flicker of candle light illuminated her face though I did not see the source of the flame. I saw eyes that copied the blushing red of roses, and her hair mirrored the color of the flames. She pulled the cigarette away from her mouth and exhaled away from my face.
"The name's Ryaque."
"Ryaque?"
"Yup, named after some dead chick from ten billion years ago."
I had never heard the name before, but at the moment I wasn't really inclined to ask. The name she had mentioned before stole my attention away from hers. "Who is Tsuyoshi?"
Ryaque laughed and snuffed her cigarette out on the nightstand beside my bed. "Have they told you nothing kid? Man you're deprived."
Something told me I should've felt insulted, but instead I was just confused. Then my burning worsened and I flinched.
Ryaque moved the flame closer to my neck to have a look and tsked. "He really went deep on that one. Kid, you have a rough battle ahead of you."
"My name isn't 'kid.' It's Audriana."
Ryaque chuckled, "well Audriana, knowing your name isn't going to help your situation. Want my advice? Go home, and spend what remaining time you have left with the people you care about." Without another word or a further explanation, Ryaque extinguished the flame and vanished into the blackness.

I lay in my bed, starring up at the ceiling I couldn't see, wondering what the mysterious woman had meant until sleep overtook me once more.

[Ryaque]

Four:

I awoke once again and was greeted by the warm rays of the sun. I sighed happily, momentarily forgetting where I was, and sat up from bed and stretched. It was only when I saw the unfamiliar surroundings I realized I was still in the hospital Tsuyoshi took me to. I thought hard about the night something, or someone, had injuried me and gave me the now burning wound on my neck, but my memory was sketchy at best. The only hope I had of remembering that night would be to ask Tsuyoshi.

As if my thoughts were a summonce, he opened the door to my room and nodded a "good morning" to me. He once again wore his sunglasses and switched out his leather jacket for a simple black t-shirt and camo pants. "Feeling better?"
"Yes, thank you."
He visibly sighed with relief, "your voice is back."
"Thanks for the concern, Tsuyoshi."
He paused for a second and his dark eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "I don't remember telling you my name..."
"Ryaque told me it."
This time his brows raised in surprise. "'Ryaque' came to you and told you my name? Impossible."
"But she was here last night! Look!" I pointed to the black circle that proved a cigarette had been crudely put out on my wooden nightstand. Tsuyoshi walked over and ran his index finger over the burn mark as if testing to see if it was really there. His back was turned towards me, but from his stance it appeared he was very angry.
"She introduced herself as Ryaque?"
"Yes, I'd remember such a strange name, and such a," I paused to find the right word, "eccentric woman."
Tsuyoshi shook his head while clenching and unclenching his fists. "Come on, out of bed. I need to take you home."
Home... In all the excitement, if you could call it that, I had forgotten about my parents. What would they think if I show up with this wound on my neck? What would I tell them? Will they have even noticed I was gone? How long have I been gone?

The door opened again and a woman I didn't recognize poked her head in, "Rin's causing trouble again, Yoshi."
Tsuyoshi groaned and rubbed his eyelids with is right hand and gestured with the other in small circles, "can't you take care of it? I'm kind of busy."
The woman looked at me, then back at him, and a devilish smirk crossed her face, "oh, I see."
"Not like that!" Tsuyoshi yelled after she closed the door. He groaned again then turned back at me. "What are you looking at?! Get up I said!"

The hallways to where ever I was were sparkling white, like freshly-fallen snow. We didn't pass anyone on the way to where ever it was Tsuyoshi was taking me, and he didn't try to talk to me. I wanted to thank him for saving my life, to tell him how grateful I was, but the words seemed to get stuck in my throat. Though I was excited to go home, a small part of me wished I could stay longer. I winced when he opened the door and the sunlight shinned into my eyes.

Before us was a sort of giant basketball court/outside auditorium. In the far left corner up against a brick wall was a stage where a large group of people were gathered round as a woman with black hair sang on stage. The band members wore masks so I couldn't see their faces. What I found strange however was the fact that the singer had her left eye covered by a eye-patch, almost making her look like a pirate.
"Who's that?" The words were out of my mouth before I could reconsider ever speaking them. From the way his face reddened, I could tell Tsuyoshi was furious.
"Rin," he hissed through clenched teeth and stormed towards the stage. As soon as the crowd noticed him comming, they stopped cheering and make a clear path to the stage for him. The members of the band and Rin kept performing as if nothing was happening. Only when Tsuyoshi lept up on stage and tore away the microphone did Rin acknowledge his presence.
"Old Yoshi, what did I do now?"
"You know damn well what you did Rin!" He yelled and threw the microphone to the ground. "What part of 'no visitors' didn't you understand?!"
"Chill-lax will ya? I just wanted to talk to the kid. Besides, you should be more upset with yourself. You haven't told her anything, have you Yoshi?"
Tsuyoshi's face turned three different shades of red and I began to wonder if Rin was insane. If I was in her place, I would not be egging Tsuyoshi on like that.
Instead of responding, Tsuyoshi turned and jumped off the stage and addressed the crowd of fearful spectators, "what are you all looking at?! Don't you have jobs to do?!" Instantly, the crowd scattered like the cockroaches in my father's bathroom when the light is turned on. Tsuyoshi waited until the last person went inside the building to turn back to Rin. "When I get back, you and I are going to have a chat, little miss."
Rin trembled in a mock impression of fear, "oh no, oh no, I'm so scared! The old man is going to hurt me! No!"
"Quit calling me old!"
"Old man! Ancient bones! Bag of dust!" Rin taunted and laughed when Tsuyoshi tried to grab her leg and pull her off the stage. She jumped down and sprinted towards me and winked. "Hey kid, come with me."
Without really being presented a choice, Rin grabbed my arm and yanked me towards the gate to the open courtyard. It flung open on its own and slammed shut just as Tsuyoshi was about to follow us through.
"Rin, you have to take her back home! She's an innocent!"
Rin stopped and turned to yell back at him, "you should've thought of that before you brought her here Father Time!" She pulled me onto a black motor cycle, handed me a helmet, and took off with me hanging on for dear life and wondering what the hell I had just seen...

[takuya]

Hurry up and post the next part with some action!

[Jonesy]

Originally Posted by takuya

Hurry up and post the next part with some action!

This. ^

[Ryaque]

Again, I apolgogize for the long delay. My school is letting out soon and that means I have a whole army worth of exams to study for and state tests. However, I thank you for being pacient and I will have the next part up relatively soon. I promise. Thanks for reading!

[Shinagami]

Yet another amazing story by the one and only Ryaque can't wait to read more!

[Ryaque]

Five:

I had never been on such a wild ride in my entire life. Rin was insane to put it kindly. She swirvled, weeved, and made last-minute turns that made my stomach cartwheel inside my stomach. Aggitated honks and vulgar comments greeted us as we zoomed past but I didn't dare turn my head to look from the fear of throwing up. I simply kept my head tucked against Rin's back, my eyes closed, and hung on to Rin as if she was the only thing tethering me to this life, but if her driving got anymore chaotic, she'd be the thing to send me into the next life!

When Rin finally idled to a stop, I lifted my head and saw through the screen of the helmet that she brought me to what appeared to be an old abandoned and dilapidated factory. The smoke stacks towered over us like kings and queens upon their iron thrones, scrutinizing our every move. "You still alive kid?"
"Barely," I replied, gingerly climbing off the bike and feeling like I would never be able to sit down for the remainder of my life. "Where are we?"
"Don't really know." Rin replied, put down the kickstand on the bike, and dismounted, "but it's a nice place isn't it? Real cosy and all that jazz." She headed towards the factory enterance door that looked about ready to fall off its hinges.
"I think that eye-patch is effecting your eyesight," I muttered to myself before following her.

The inside of the factory held nothing but skeletal remains of long-dead machines and paint chipping off the walls. The constant plop, plop, plop of water dripping was the only sound. The sun shined weakly through the filthy windows providing the only source of visible light. "Yup, definitely home sweet home." Rin chuckled and turned back towards me. "Careful, you're about to trip over a rusty pipe."
I looked down and true enough there was a rusty jagged pipe that would've cut me like wet paper. Carefully stepping over it, I caught up with Rin as she lit a flame once again, though I saw no lighter once again. "Where are you taking me?"
"Somewhere we can talk kid, you need to me caught up." She replied and looked around for something. She disappeared for a second then came back with three chairs dragging behind her. She gave me the most comfortable looking one then took one for herself.
I looked at the third chair, empty. "Is someone else here?"
Rin shook her head and fingered her eye-patch. "Not yet, now tell me, do you believe in ghosts?"
My jaw hit the ground. "G-ghosts? No!"
"Good, then I'd call you an idiot if you did."
"Um... so ghosts don't exist?"
"What? Who told you that nonsense? Very few things go bump in the night. Ghosts happened to be one of them. Amoung other things..." Rin trailed off as she pulled out a cigarette from her pocket and lit it with her seemingly invisible lighter.
"'Amoung other things?'"
Rin took a huff and exhaled before replying, "I'm talking about what you humans would call 'monsters.' The creatures in horror films who always seem to kill the girl with the biggest boobs."
I was too flabergasted to reply.
Rin sighed and made small circles with the hand that held the cigarette, making smoke rings in the darkness. "Vampires, werewolves, Frankenstein... work with me kid! The Hollywood Horrors."
"W-what about them?" A chill ran up my spine though it wasn't from the cold.
Rin looked at me with her good eye like an owl might stare at a mouse. "You, Audriana, have been bitten by one of these 'monsters' and now, you're turning into one."
"I-I-what?"
Rin gestured to my neck, "what did you think that was? It's called being Marked. Really you have a very limited amout of options when a human is bitten."
"W-what are the options?" My voice came out as a whisper.
"You either suffer the most painful and agonizingly slow death imaginable, or," Rin grabbed my chin and met my fearful eyes with her one red one that seemed to glow, "Or, you will transform into one of the most powerful monsters around, and one of the oldest." She paused for a second, gauging my reaction, then grinned malevolently, "a demon, kid. A demon."

[Ryaque]

Hey it's me everyone! I just wanted to thank all of you for reading! I enjoy writting, but it's even more amazing to receive such kind and encouraging comments! I also noticed some of you have commented on my previous story Beyond Forgiveness and saying you enjoyed it, so I'll make a promise right now, after this story has ended, I will finish that one if enough people wish me to. Thanks again for reading!!

P.S. Don't let the demons bite

[takuya]

Great chapter. I can't wait to see how this plays out.

[Ryaque]

Six:

My entire body went cold. I starred at Rin with wide eyes, scarcely breathing and my heatbeat so faint it was almost non-existant. She starred back with a look of complete seriousness. Somewhere, deep inside my mind, a voice told me she wasn't lying. She couldn't be lying. Could she? "No..."
Rin stood up abruptly and her chail flung backwards. "You don't believe me?! Fine, I'll prove it!" She grasped my hand with a grip like iron and suddenly a violent gust of wind overtook us both. I saw nothing, could hear nothing but the roaring of the wind. I closed my eyes and screamed.
"Open your eyes kid!"
Against my better judgment, I obeyed Rin and found myself standing on the very top of the old fatory. A blood-curtling scream ripped through me, but Rin laughed histarically.
"Watch this kid!" Rin jumped over the side of the factory, taking me with her, and I knew I was going to die. I continued to scream, but Rin just laughed and laughed. The ground came crashing towards us, then suddenly we haulted in mid-air. I heard a sound unlike any I've heard before, like the sound of giant wing beats, and looked up at Rin to see two billiant red wings easily flapping and keeping us both in the air.
"Believe me yet?"
I nodded and looked down at the ground and gulped. "C-c-can you p-put me d-d-down?"
Rin dropped me and I fell rather ungracefully the remaining three feet to the ground. The wish rushed out of my lungs and the cold winter air made my throut burn. I watched terrified as Rin landed gracefully next to me and removed her eye-patch. Her right eye was bright yellow, the color of the sun, but had a terrifying coldness to it. My heart froze.
"My name is Rin the Cold, Demon of Darkness, and I am going to teach you how to survive, Audriana."

______________

He paced back and forth, constantly clenching and unclenching his fists. Long ago, he had shed his mask and resumed his true form. His black horns curved wickedly from the top of his head and the black flames that served as his hair blew wildly. His golden eyes only seemed to glow more and his fangs bit deeply into his lip. Long claws left gashes in the white walls where he struck them, and his hooves broke the floor more and more with every step.
"Rin has returned," the only one who dared approach him like this, known only as "the Shadow" reported to him.
"Good! Time for me to ring her neck..." Tsuyoshi spat in a voice far too deep to possibly be human. He followed the Shadow through the halls and once again took on his human appearance. He hoped dearly that Rin didn't reveal the truth to Audriana, but he knew she did just to spite him. Putting on his sun glasses, he walked outside and saw Rin talking calmly to the human girl; her eye-patch was missing and the girl, Audriana, looked like she'd just seen a ghost.
"Rin!" He spat and stormed towards her, "explain yourself!"
"She knows the truth Yoshi, no point in hiding anymore." Rin replied calmly and stood protectively infront of Audriana as if she thought he would harm her!
"You traitor! She has no hope of a normal life now!"
"She lost that hope when she was marked by your forsaken brother!" Rin countered.
I cowered behind her and heard the soft sound of feathers rubbing against feathers. Rin was very,very angry.
Tsuyoshi was so furious he was speachless. He turned away from Rin and grunted. His fists clenched so hard he began to bleed. Black liquid oozed out and burned the ground like acid.
My eyes widened and I backed away.
Tsuyoshi turned back towards me and his teeth elongated to become savage fangs. "Now we have to kill her!"
"Over my dead body!" Rin screeched and opened her wings to create a protective barrier infront of the human.
"Traitor!" Tsuyoshi roared like a beast and charged forward, horns growing from his head, preparing to ram Rin straight through the heart.
"Come here, you little beasty, beasty." Rin grinned.

[takuya]

Rin seems like she loves pissing people off. xD I wonder how Tsuyoshi expected Audriana to have a normal life if she was going to become a demon anyway. I also get the feeling that thse two have had many fights in the past.

[Ryaque]

Originally Posted by takuya

Rin seems like she loves pissing people off. xD I wonder how Tsuyoshi expected Audriana to have a normal life if she was going to become a demon anyway. I also get the feeling that thse two have had many fights in the past.

Yes. He's strange. Yes they have, many times. Lol. I'm glad you like it. Rin's a very fun character to write about.

[cherryflower]

OMG SO AWESOME!

Ryaque, You are AMAZING at writing! I love this story!