Living Hell

Living Hell - Chapter 4 Living Hell Chapter 4 It was the constant squeaking sound that woke him up: A rusty metal gate that was swaying with the wind. Soft drops of rain wet his face, feeling cold upon his skin. Heero sat up.   The sky was still pitch black, and he sat in the middle of some courtyard.  Before him was the white wall of the hospital. Heero felt his heart rate increase. That's right... Duo! That bastard had taken Duo! Heero slowly stood up, pain radiating from every inch of his body.  He was filled with both rage and grief.  Rage that Zechs had showed his face, and grief because he failed to protect Duo. You left me. Those had been Duo's last words before he was carried off. You left me. Heero clutched his chest as he gritted his teeth.  His eyes burned with tears crying to be released, and his breath came out in harsh pants. He leaned against the wall with one hand, staring at the ground. He tried to bring his emotions under control. He had never felt like this before, not since. . . not since. . . since Zechs first took Duo. Right? Wasn't there another time? a voice whispered in his mind. Heero shook his head and pushed himself off the wall.  He had to go find Duo, but how? Where to begin?   Heero tried to remember his dreams.  Were there other places that he had seen in his visions? No matter how hard he tried, Heero couldn't bring any more images to mind. And it frustrated him. Heero headed towards the gate. Something launched at him. Blood made it impossible to get a grip of his attacker as he was tackled to the floor.  Not giving a damn, Heero used brute force, using his anger as strength. Duo was taken from him again, and nothing would keep him from bringing him back.  Duo belonged to him!  Duo was not Zechs's! Heero let out a yell of pent up frustration and anger as he took the creature's head and twisted it to one side, relishing in the resounding crack it made before it went limp. The rain came down harder, washing off the blood that now soaked the young man. Heero stood up, panting.  He stared at the creature, willing it to rise one more time so that he could beat it again. But it didn't move. As the blood washed away, so did his fury.   Heero's rage soon turned to horror.  Why had he reacted that way?  It was a lot more than just self defense.  For one brief moment, he actually enjoyed killing the damn thing. Heero turned towards the gate, then fled. It wasn't the rage that scared him. . . it was the satisfaction he felt with killing. X Heero sat inside an abandoned bar on top of the counter, drinking a bottle of beer.  Resting on his lap was a shot gun, something he had picked up behind the counter. He had no way of locating Duo.  No matter which way he went, he wasn't sure where he was.  It felt like he was going in circles. A small sound caught his attention. "Rena?" The young girl stood at the end of the counter, a sullen look on her face.  She held up an envelope and set it down. Then she left. Heero hopped off the counter, almost losing his balance when he landed on the floor. He walked towards the end and picked up the envelope.  It was addressed to him. He set the shotgun down and opened up the envelope.  Inside was a handwritten letter and a map. With a frown, Heero held it up to the nearest lamp to read. HEERO YUY,      IT IS FRUITLESS TO CONTINUE THIS SEARCH.  ABANDON YOUR CURRENT MISSION AND RETURN HOME. FORGET ABOUT 02.      IF YOU DECIDE TO IGNORE THIS ORDER, THEN MAY WHATEVER DIVINE POWERS THAT EXIST TAKE MERCY ON YOU.  YOUR QUESTIONS MIGHT BE ANSWERED AT THE OFFICIAL PENITENTIARY ASYLUM. J. Heero's hands trembled with growing anger. That bastard was still alive? Heero crumbled it up and threw it away.  He would not forget about Duo.  This was one order he would not listen to.  A moment later, he glanced at the map.  A section was circled. The asylum. Now Heero had a destination to reach, and a surge of energy coursed through him. Grabbing the shotgun, Heero ran out of the bar. Duo was somewhere out there, and he would not rest until he found him. X Heero approached the asylum with caution.  The front door was wide open, as if inviting him inside. Heero made his way up the concrete stairs, his footsteps echoing.  The sky was a bit brighter, but the fog remained just as thick. Heero was soon standing inside the asylum's main lobby.  In front of his was the desk, and around him were benches.  Paintings hung over each seat, and as Heero passed them, he couldn't help but wonder why such images were chosen. He came to  a full stop when one caught his full attention. It was the creature that had attackim oim on top of the hospital.  According to the lettering underneat, tt, the painting was called "Judgment." Heero shuddered as he stepped away.  The creature had been painted standing over numerous corpses, blood blending them into each other.  On one of it's spears, a person was impaled.  It almost looked like him. Heero stepped behind the counter and rifled through.  He spotted a map and did his best to memorize it.  He had no idea where to begin looking for answers.  He wasn't even sure of his questions. A noise caught his attention. It sounded like someone was throwing up in one of the rooms. Heero stepped towards it, shotgun in hand. He pushed the door marked "Records" and spotted a woman hunched over a bin.  In between gagging sounds, it was obvious that she was crying. She looked up at him, eyes bloodshot, greying hair falling over her face. "It's horrible," she wheezed out, before throwing up again.  "They're just everywhere.  I didn't do it, I didn't do it I swear! But I'm the last one left." "Didn't do what?" Heero asked, warily. He was beginning to believe that no living person in this wretched town was completely sane.  One had to be crazy in order to survive this place. "Those people, those poor people! They were just misunderstood, that's all.  They didn't mean no harm!  So why were they harmed?  Those doctors, it's those doctors I tell you!  They drove them to it, they did!"  Her voice began to rise.  "Leave this place before they come for you too!  Or are you already a resident of this hell hole?" Heero backed away from the increasingly rabid woman.   He decided it would be safer to ignore her and just go further into the asylum.   But when he pushed the first set of double doors, he was assaulted with the strong stench of blood and death. The metallic scent ran down his nose and throat, burning it. Bile crept up and he forced himself to keep it down. Before he even reached the security room, Heero could make out the blood that coated the glass.  It looked fresh for it was still a reddish color. But the stains on the floor looked old, a dark red-brown. From the smell of it, a massacre  had occurred. Taking a deep breath through his mouth, he moved forward. No matter what it took, he had to find Duo. X Heero winced as the counted yet another injury to the multiple ones he had. For the first hour of searching room the room, he had seen nothing but dismembered bodies, insane amounts of blood, and strange pictures and equipment that OZ would not even have considered using as torture devices. For an asylum meant to house the mentally ill, Heero couldn't help but wonder whether or not the doctors themselves were not all there. Not that it should be a surprise. Heero paused near a door, suddenly hesitant about going through. He slowly pushed it open and looked around. His heart stopped as Heero walked into what looked like a shrine. Photos were scattered on the floor, all featuring his comrades, the pilots. But each was missing only one pilot. Duo. Covering one entire side of a wall were hundreds of pictures of Duo in various poses, some more intimate than others. In bloody letters, "My Duo" was written over many of them. Heero's hand was over his mouth as  he was overcome with a sensation of fear. How odd that during the times of war he never felt such fear.  Briefly he pondered whether it was because he was attacked as a pilot, an enemy to a war. Now everything was much more personal and his heart was the one being attacked. If this was Zechs's handiwork, he was even more afraid of Duo's safety. He had felt for a while that something was wrong with the people here, and now he wondered whether it was the actual place that made people wrong.  If so, how did Duo survive all this time without becoming one of them? Heero backed up and ran into something soft. Whirling around, he cut back a yelp of startlement as a dead body swung from the ceiling. Where did it come from?  It wasn't there just a moment ago. He spotted a badge. This person use to be a doctor. Was it suicide, or murder? Heero moved past the body, keeping a wary eye on it.  He didn't trust anything at all anymore.  How could he when even dead bodies rose on their own? Heero stumbled away. Was that was he was suppose to see?   How much of an obsession Zechs had? He couldn't see how Dr. J thought that would help. Thinking back, Heero felt another wrench in his stomach.   Some of those pictures were suppose to be one of a kind.  And only he had access to the negatives and the one copy.  How did Zechs get them? A chill ran down his back as Heero continued to go through the halls.   If Zechs had been a patient here, when did it happen?  Or did he decorate the wall after he took Duo.  But if so, why bother?  By then, he had taken Duo and really had no need for a shrine.  And there was that year between White Fang and Marimei.  But he doubted that Lady Une would have allowed Zechs to be part of the team if he had been committed. Unless she didn't know. All the thinking beganto make him feel dizzy.  None of it made sense, and Heero found himself wishing for the simpler days when he was just given an order to carry out. He felt that he was floundering, and that made him insecure in his capabilities. Shaking his head, Heero decided the best course was to try the file room.  Maybe he could find some records about Zechs. X The room was too quiet. Way too quiet. Heero tried to ignore the silence as he looked over the sheets in front of him. No name was on the folder, just a number.  However, what caught his interest was that a photo had been sticking out.  A photo of Duo. Everyone else on the picture had been blotted out with black marker.  No records was inside, but a bunch of hand written notes. Heero couldn't tell if they were done in paint or blood. But what made his hair stand on end were the explicit details of what Zechs wished to do with Duo. He even discussed kissing the birthmark in the pelvic area. How did Z kno know that was there? It was much to small to be noticeable in photographs. Then he found a picture of a building.  It looked like either an apartment complex, or a hotel.  Stylish. With it was a receipt. ZECHS MARQUISE ROOM 306 An key was taped to it. Heero pocketed both receipt and key, then pulled out his map. There were only two hotels in the area. One was by the park, but if Heero remembered correctly, there were several building around it.  The one in the photo looked like it was in a secluded place. The other hotel was across the lake, which made a bit more sense. He would have to exit the back of the asylum, as it seemed that was the only way to get to a small docking area that was shown on the map. Heero stood up, pocketing the map. X Heero cursed his luck as he made his way through the drainage pipes. Figured that it wouldn't be a simple matter to get to the exit. Floors were missing and doors were jammed, and Heero had to resort to drawing his own map as he made his way through different rooms and halls, some leading to dead ends. Then he came across a door. A door in the middle of the sewers? Heero pushed it open, mildly surprised to find that it opened with little problem. He stepped inside, first noticing the bars. A cell underground? Then he saw that it held an occupant. A figure rested on a small cot on the other side of the bars, and past that another door wasiblsible. Heero stepped in and the figure sat up and turned around. Prussian eyes met colbalt as Heero's jaw ped ped slightly. "You bastard!!" shouted Duo. X It was a long while before Duo started speaking softly. "I don't remember any of it.  I never can.  He takes me every time and. . . and then I just can't remember.  I don't know how long it's been that way." His haunted eyes looked up at Heero. "I just wanted to be happy.  I still do.  But I'm stuck living in this nightmare, and I don't know for how long." "I'll get you out," murmured Heero, reaching a hand through the bars. Duo looked doubtful as a tear ran down his cheek.  "I can't stand hoping for release anymore.  Each time I come so close, only to be thwarted.  Forgive me if I don't have faith in your words." He closed his eyes as Heero's hand carressed his wet cheek. Heero stared with sorrowful eyes.  "I'm sorry," he whispered, not quite sure what he was apologizing for. Both young men stared at each other, and then leaned forward. Through the bars they shared a chaste kiss. Both rested their forheads against the bar, Heero's hand now resting on the back of Duo's neck. They stayed like that for a while. Then Heero pulled away.   "I'm going to find a way around this room," he said. "Please, hurry.  This is just my temporary cell. Who knows how long they'll keep me here," Duo whispered, glancing back at the door behind him. Heero nodded as he stepped back towards the door in his side. He walked through and shut the door. He turned around and placed a hand on it. "I'll be back soon, koi," he whispered, before turning and running. X Forty five minutes. That's how damn long it took him to fight and find his way to the other side of the cell. If his calculations were right, then Duo's cell should just be around the corner. He turned left and stopped. There it was! With his heart beating fast, and a smile on his face, Heero surged forward.  He jammed a piece of wire he had found during his journey and hoped that he would be able to pick the lock with it. The door, however,ng ong open. Heero stood still, his hope quickly fading to fear. He slowly stepped through the door and turned to face the cot. A moment later, Heero had slammed the door shut and was sitting on the wet floor, tears pouring down his cheeks. Why?  Why was he being tormented like this? He clenched his eyes tight as his fists pressed against his sockets, trying to stop the tears. And to keep him from facing reality. He listened to the lapping water of the sewage, forcing himself not to cry out loud, holding back the sobs in his throat. He didn't want to think about what was behind the door. All that blood. A body ripped open. Intestines spilling out onto the floor. Eyes gouged out. And chestnut hair that had been hacked into shoulder length. tbc. . .