Blood stained Marik’s hands. The repulsive stench of iron thick to the air as he stepped back to get a better look at his handy work. The blade in his hand soaked with crimson to the hilt. The officer on the floor lay dying. His breathing garbled by the blood his lungs were filling with.
“What have I done?” he muttered. It was unlike Marik to question his murders or motives for killing but this time had been different. This time he had killed a pig. Some copper that had been a little too wise. Wise enough to find him but not enough to protect himself. As if gun and badge were enough to protect the fool. Still, Marik had a problem.
There was a body and an abundant lack of time for disposing of it. Dragging it off into a ditch just would not do. Leaving it where it lay in the motel parking lot was not much better. Time was running out. Sooner or later someone would come to their car and stumble across the marvelous mess the blonde had made.
“Disgusting,” the Ishtar mumbled. He slipped the bloody weapon back into it’s seath. He needed to vanish. To disappear like smoke in the wind. It was almost amusing really. To see just how close this officer had come to catching him. It only seemed fitting that he would die with this information he had come across. Alone. But then again, Marik knew deep down that everyone was alone when it came to their untimely end. All they could do was seek comfort in someone else until that time came.
Hearing the sharp crackle of the cop car’s radio unit, Marik decided it was time to split. Forget finding a decent hiding hole for this freshly made corpse. He needed to run before the other pigs would come looking for their lost comrade.
Sparing one last glance to the fallen man in uniform, the Ishtar quickly took to the shadows. His blood splattered clothes mostly hidden by the darkness that cloaked him. Streetlamps only briefly revealing his crime as he made way back to his home.
Time moved by like a thief in the dark. Marik punched in the gate code and slipped past the rod iron steel and then into the apartment complex. The bright lights in the hall exposing his misdeeds the the time of day lured almost everyone into the clutches of sleep. Video cameras were not a concern since he knew some time ago that the ones residing in the hall were dummies set up just to scare the residents into playing nice with one another.
“Where have you been?” Called the soft and familiar voice. The blonde turned after locking the door behind himself to find Ryou standing in the hall. One arm bent across his chest, holding the other’s elbow while he held the side of his own face as if he were worried.
“Out, taking care of some loose ends,” he replied hoping that was enough information.
“I see,” the white haired male mused. His gaze flickering over the bloody mess that was his roommate. “Were they important?” He paused for half a second. “And were you seen?” He watched as Marik shook his head to the questions. “Good. But I have to ask. Who were they?”
Shrugging off his jacket, Marik shook his head. “Some cop.”
“I see. Marik, give me your knife.” the other demanded. He held out his hand for the weapon only to snap his fingers to encourage the blonde to act faster. He snapped his thin digits once more as he watched the Egyptian unsheath his blade. The handle put into his hand and he curled his fingers around it. “Now kneel,” he ordered.
Letting his jacket fall off somewhere behind himself, the Ishtar slowly bent down onto one knee and then the next. Their eyes locked on one another while Ryou slowly waved the knife in his hand. The blood on it now dry though still an excellent shade of crimson.
“You killed a police officer. What did I tell you about that?” He waited for an answer and spoke along with it. “Not to do it unless if you had no other options. Ut-t-t!” he silenced the kneeling other by gentle pressing the side of the blade to his cheek. “No excuses, Marik. I’m afraid you have to be punished.”
“But it was-”
“Shh!” Ryou encouraged. “I say when it’s necessary. You don’t,” he corrected. “Now how to punish you?” He lightly tapped the blade against the killer’s cheek as he thought. “Hm… Yes, I know how.”
“I’m sorry,” Marik insisted. He remained on his knees though reached up to grab Ryou’s arm in hopes for forgiveness.
“I know you are and I forgive you.” He smiled when he looked into these perfect violet eyes. “But I’m doing this for your own good.” He used his left hand to cup the Ishtar’s chin and held him in place. “Now don’t blink.”
Marik stared in confusion until the blade turned and neared in his vision. The tainted steel getting uncomfortably close till he could not bare to look at it any longer.
“What did I tell you about blinking?” Ryou inquired. His left hand letting go of Marik’s chin to part his eyelids. The blade slinking in and under the orb, pushing it up as it slipped deeper in.
“Ryou, please,” Marik begged. His hand gripping tighter around the other’s arm. His eyes watering on their own despite his will. “I didn’t mean to!”
“You need a reminder to not slip up again. Now held your breath.” Again the blade pushed deeper. Marik’s breath hitching at the intense pain that pierced him. His scream caught in the middle of his throat as he felt the sickening sensation of his own eyeball being removed. Blood running down from his socket as the still seeing object popped free. “Good,” Ryou purred. The rigged metal soon slicing through the small bundle of nerves, making everything go dark on Marik’s right.
A low whimper still stuck in the blonde’s esophagus. The pain still intense and gnawing at his skull though he remained on his knees.
“They really are beautiful.” Marik remained mute as he swallowed down his own suffering. The pain still heavy though he knew how justified it was. He had made a mistake and now he had payed for it.
“…Thank you,” Marik replied. His voice feeling rusty in his own throat, as if he didn’t trust himself to speak. “I…” Eye. His eye. “May I see it?”
“Eyes are the windows to the soul,” Ryou quoted as he held out the stolen good. The violet eye held out in front of his own, as if he were looking through it. A small bit of the optic nerve hanging out from the back though he was unphased. “Lucky for people like you and me, we don’t have to worry about people peeking into our souls.” After all, neither of them had one as far as Ryou was concerned.
Marik stayed on his knees. His right hand now covering the newly made hole in his head where his eye used to be. The vacant socket still burning as blood seeped out over his palm and fingers. “I didn’t mean to,” the spiky haired blonde apologized. The surreal feeling of looking into his own empty soul lingering within himself as he stared down into his dead eye.
“I think you did.” Ryou moved the dislocated eye out from in front of his face so he could look down at his companion. “You wanted to kill the cop. So you did.” it was as simple as that. “The problem is that you might have inadvertently tipped the others off into what direction they should be looking at.”
“No,” Marik insisted. “I would never do that. I would never lead them to you. To us.” He moved his hand away from his face. His blood soaked hand shaking as he did so. “Believe me.”
Turning the eyeball around so he could stare into it’s dilated pupil, the white haired male weighed out his options before speaking. “I’ll give you one more chance to prove your love to me.” He kept his gaze on the black pupil but could tell Marik was shifting in place uncomfortably. “But this time, you do everything I tell you to do. None of this gallivanting off to slay whoever you please.”
“Done,” the Egyptian replied without hesitation. His one good eye following his partner as he moved across the room. His stolen eye still resting behind Ryou’s curled fingers. “I’ll do anything for you.” His voice strangely soft spoken though he meant every word.
“I know you will.” A smile crossed the British boy’s lips as he drew near to other male. “That’s why I’m keeping you.” Pale lips caressed the Egyptian’s in a brief kiss before pulling back to reveal the same cheerful smile Ryou often wore. “Now go to your room, Marik. I need time to think.”
Without wasting time, the blonde rose up to his feet and made way to his empty room. He had done a terrible thing but Ryou had forgiven him for it. Ryou had shown him mercy and better yet. Ryou had proven that he still loved him…