Empty Eyes: The Sequel

Chapter 37

I shouldn't have taken those days of starvation for granted. That's all I could think about as agonizing jolts of pain climbed my spine, bounced through my head, and shot back down repeatedly. Hidan stood against the closed cell door with his arms crossed and a glare as he waited for me to give in to his orders.

It's been two hours since I awoke in the dungeon after fainting. Screams echoed off the walls around us that I couldn't even comprehend as my own anymore.

As a bit of dark humor, I broke my time record for how long I could resist a glowing. Previously, it was just under five minutes, but it's been over ten now, and neither of us has relented.

Blood was dripping from my ears, nose, eyes, and lips. Heat enveloped my head like a stove burner continuously rising in temperature. The chains rattled as my body trembled with the effort to keep itself from falling apart.

"You're about to fucking die. Give up already!"

Then there was nothing: no pain, no thirst, no hunger, and no inner turmoil. It felt like I simply blinked, and then I was conscious again.

"-don't have a choice. Keep going until she-" A familiar voice was speaking nearby, but their words blurred in and out as my ears rang.

Moving any part of my body was impossible, as though the blood in my veins had been replaced with cement. All I could do was stare at my arms lying dirty and unmoving against the bloodied cell floor. My vision was unsteady, as though it was a candle flickering in and out of focus.

"-will have sensed her death. You need to just glow her and-"

Something moved within my blurry vision, and I slowly blinked, but it didn't help clear things up. When someone spoke again, I finally recognized it as Nagato's voice but didn't have the energy to do anything but listen, "I can have someone else do this if you need a break, but that's all I can do. You'll have to come back."

Suddenly, I was rolled onto my back, and blood met my lips. I groaned, feeling weak and queasy, but the liquid was helping.

"Are you sure you should be doing that?"

"She's just gonna fucking die if we don't give her a little. We need her to actually be awake to feel it." That was Hidan's voice. Against every fiber of my being, I spat out the delicious substance in my mouth and shoved his arm away.

I met the man's glowing eyes. It wasn't his irritation that stunned me, but the almost frantic glint in his expression as he barked at me disgustedly, "Fuck you, then, bitch."

I followed him with my eyes as he got up and pretty much stomped out of the room. Missing the dried blood around his eyes, nose, and lips was impossible. What I suspected was true: I died. What I don't understand is why he's the one doing this to me.

Actually, that's a lie.

Yahiko ordered him to do it to verify the strength of his loyalty to Amegakure. Torturing me is also torturing himself, and he did it without an argument.

What I truly don't understand is why Hidan would want to remain under the control of someone who'd ask him to do something like that. It goes against everything I've come to know of his character. He's kind of like what Madara was after I discovered the Uchiha family secret when he no longer hid his awful personality. There's no way either of them would do this kind of thing just because someone told them to. There has to be another reason he's putting himself through this.

Nagato followed the silver-haired vampire upstairs, leaving me in a bloody heap on the floor without a second glance. I was alone, so I took the chance to get some sleep. At least, that's what my plan was. What felt like just minutes later, I was shaken awake. When my eyes shot open and landed on Kisame's, I knew I wouldn't be getting rest anytime soon.