[center][b]Kenan at the Guesthouse on Darius’s estate, Midnight[/b][/center] 

[b]Emmet[/b]

At first, Emmet felt nothing but pain. Sharp needles, thicker than they should’ve been, jabbed into his skin and sank beneath the flesh into the veins below. He impulsively screamed into the darkness, despite his mind acknowledging it was pointless, even when the blood had begun to be drawn from him. It was sloppy as he could tell when small trickles had started to trail down along his burning surface. His flesh flickered in disgust and alarm, fighting the strap that held him in place while Emmet wanted desperately to rip each needle from his arms, legs, and torso. He fought it naturally. He pressed his hand against the coffin. His fingers had just started to tingle and made an attempt to decay before the next sharp pain surged into his neck causing him to growl in anger. 

[i]Damn Darius, damn that son of a bitch![/i]

Already the drugs started to pour in and his eyes, unable to see through the darkness, felt heavy. [i]Fuck…[/i] he mentally spat, his struggles renewed again as his wrist was rubbed raw, now bleeding and chaffed from the friction settled in waves with each strain on his restrains. It felt worse then rope burn. His skin hot and painful with each tiny move, the burn settled within his fibers, becoming a part of him and refused to be ignored. Emmet’s teeth grounded slightly to bear through the ache in his limbs but didn’t stop. Sweat poured over his skin and sent him into a shivering mass while weakness started to creep into his head. 

 Moments passed into minutes, then hours while slowly, time no longer had the same meaning to him as it did before. His chest felt filled with sand whenever he inhaled, and his body seemed unable to hold up anymore while the numbness found its way in. For a time Emmet just dangled there. Left isolated and cold, sucked into the darkness surrounding him. Each sense-outside sight- sought some comfort to keep sanity as it usually did. Any tiny piece of evidence that he was still alive and not just consumed into death’s bony grip, his body forgotten and decomposing alive. Emmet thought it was rather bitter irony to die in this manner causing his lips to curl into a half ass smile, the trail of blood dried from his temple down to his chin crinkled and flaked during the gesture's movement. It wasn’t the only trail skirting the contours of his surface. Each place where the needles had pierced long ago crusted over, leaving his arms, torso and legs itching against the clothes he wore. Now his shirt seemed to stink of sweat and the copper stench made by his bleeding, mingling in and out of his floating focus. He idly wonder how long Darius would keep him contained this time but the question slipped through his mind’s grasp like smoke through fingers, the drugs kicking in to make him more weak. Emmet imaged the fox enjoyed this far too much, savoring each image of his suffering while the demon slept within in the master suit night after night. 

[i]Was Darius even looking for his sister?[/i] 

The question scared him, even while he knew the answer, to dwell on as he continued to hang in the darkness. It didn’t help the pounding in his head refused to be ignored, making it seem like hammer had laid siege to his brain and would never leave. In a chance he could work his mind out of his current haze Emmet once again tried to work more feeling back into one wrist when he jerked it hard. The strap strained and seemed to protest, yet didn’t release. All it did was create a faint pain then nothing. 

So much for that idea... Unable to consider anything else to do, his eyes drifted close though he never realize they were ever open. 

[i]He was back in that damn apartment. 

Zi still silently biting her lip, her head nodded against his chest while her arms tightly wound about his waist. Nothing mattered outside their little space. Not the attack, the danger or the fact Juan was likely slaughtering the shooter on the opposite roof. Just she and he was all that was important for his mind. Why back to this memory? Regret and guilt seemed to pour into his heart while her head leaned against his heart, listening to his heartbeat ever quick and unsteady. Emmet knew deep inside he wanted to be with her. His head settled upon her head top, his nose inhaled her scent and let it take away the numbness in his body. Eyes didn’t dare to close for fear this memory would simply fade away like the fragile illusion it was. 

Like back then, his phone buzzed. It demanded his attention with its infernal ring while he merely hugged tightly to Zi, his teeth gritted to ignore it. No… not this time, he growled at his instinct. However there was only way to stop it. Giving Zi a slight hug, he gently stepped back. Anger and regret filled his body language while his hand reached to retrieve the phone from his pocket then flipped it on. But unlike before, he merely flicked it off and threw it. It went a few feet. The black, sleek item made a sharp crack against the wall before it dropped, disappearing into a dirty clothes pile within the corner. The damn noise ceased and now the device was no longer important. 
 
“Emmet?” 

His eyes turned back to spy her confused, boarding on concern, expression at his abrupt action. Emmet merely smiled lightly. Then he stepped in to close the distance, his arms cupped about her face as he planted a passionate kiss on her lips. At first she froze, surprised by his suddenness, but slowly she began to thaw. Her body pressed against his, his breath stolen by her, and each emotion seemed to swirl an endless depth within his numb mind. In the heat of the moment, his kiss deepened. His desire shown in his advancement, strengthened with the return of her own affection, her enjoyment. His hormones seemed to seize control of his body. Gently, he cupped his hands under her legs and pulled to carry her about his waist. Lips still fixed in his kiss, he carried her towards the messy bed, gorging himself on her sweet taste. The moment he reached the edge he lowered himself to lay her upon the surface. Their bare skin seemed to twitch in static, flooding him with heat, causing Emmet to break away just to look up into Zi’s amazing eyes. It wasn’t hard to become lost within the color and shimmer. It was a light that he felt foolish for overlooking so easily. He ignored his foolish mental prattle then once more reach for her jawline, his kisses laced upon her neck leaving small, budding bruises, his mark, on her milky white skin. [/i]

During the dream’s blissful moments, his eyes still closed and rotating underneath the lids, Emmet quietly muttered one single word. “Zi…” 

[b]Darius[/b] 

Darius lazily stirred the wine glass within his hand. The red swirled and danced within the cup’s transparent hold, around and around, staining each bout slightly redder. Like blood. His golden eyes darted to the meter his minions had set up, noting the numbered ounces to date had grown to half a pint already within the few hours. At this rate, it would be a pint then two by morning. Darius’s eyes paused and closed, his breath inhaled for a moment while he twisted to set his glass down. It made a heavy clink reflecting his rather sour mood. So much had happened this day, he couldn’t help but wonder if this was just the beginning and began to wonder where he stood in the thick of things. He had little doubt this series of events would bring about its changes, but in what way, Darius wasn’t able to predict exactly. He could only prepare and wait. 

He rose upright and reached for the cellphone. His thumb flipped it on revealing a smiling image of Olivia and him as his other claw scratched the surface, flipping through to seek out Aeris’s number. He finally found it, his body settled backwards, then stared. It was nearly midnight noted by the clock’s display in the small corner. Olivia would’ve been upset with him for staying up so late and likely tried her hand at making him breakfast, though how with her slight germ phobic behave would surprise him. Darius felt his heart tighten at her memory. Quickly he dismissed the image, shutting it out, aided by the cell’s saver screen swallowed by the empty screen. Olivia’s current situation wasn’t the only one which had caused the fox concerns. His head moved from the phone to Emmet’s prison, his whiskers twitched in irritation at the problem this would end up becoming in the future. The boy was gaining power, like Juan had predicted, which made him a powerful asset for the hassle caused. However, Emmet had also grown bolder. Often Emmet was pushing his luck with Darius’s patience, questioning the fox’s strength even in front of subordinates, and over all challenging him in small, slight acts over the recent months. A reason Darius had tried to avoid using the boy lately. In the end, the effects were clearly shown in his overreaction with bashing Emmet’s face into the dirt. Anymore and the boy would’ve died. 

Darius had to admit being a demon was rather annoying at time. Even if it did have some perks that outweighed the negativity like strength and a long life. 

Now, after Aeris’s last mention, he found his mind gently ticking. Chances, options, and more rapidly ran though his mind though he hesitated slightly to call on them just yet. It wasn’t that he lacked faith in Aeris and her brother. Namely in making the culprit suffer and retrieving Olivia back safely, returning her home once more. No, rather it was an old habit he never bothered to break for it had its uses. Wheel within his mind deliberate, controlled step which brought him to just outside the coffin’s closed lid. Even if he couldn’t sleep he would end up wasting away to nothing sitting here in his own thoughts, his paw gently touched the coffin surface though he knew Emmet would neither sense it nor hear his farewell bid. 

“Sleep well Emmet. It wasn’t supposed to be like this, but I doubt you would ever understand why it must.” He removed his paw and turned, uttering one last phrase as he moved out. His paw snatched up the phone on his exit. “I will not let her go so easily, as her brother, you can understand why.”