A Taste Of Freedom

Part 3

Animals.

They were all animals. Monsters. How could they disregard her so much, when they were fouler than any living creature she had ever come across? It made her stomach knot in nausea just thinking about how these creatures were. She could no longer call them Human, no; they were far beyond that point by now. Hell, she was more Human than they would ever be. Disgusting. She could see how their eyes lit up with blood lust and hunger as they cheered with satisfaction. How their voices took a different tone of greed and insanity. No, they were the ones who were Oni now, not her. She let out a strangled gurgle for air as the wire has jerked forward, the wire slicing open her skin. Thick scarlet ooze pooled around the thin metal, a stinging that was impossible to bare throbbed around her neck. Was this really how she was to die, in such a pitiful and degrading way?

A shot resounded throughout the night.

Everything seemed to halt in that brief moment, all the festivities ended. Silence took hold of the crowd. There were murmurs throughout the sea of men; they stared off into the forest, before attention geared back to the male who had been dragging her. He fell limply to the ground; the sound of impact seemed to scream out in the dead of night. She lay there motionless, frozen trying to figure out what had happened. What had been that noise. Soon the voices picked up in the crowd, this time it was that of fear and horror. The villagers slowly moved away from her body, as if she was doused in some sort of rancid stench. Their eyes were wide with horror, some covering their mouths in shock.
"She killed him," one stated in a shaky tone.

"The Oni killed him!"

"How is that possible? She has been restrained!"

"She has powers, you fool! We should no longer tamper; Kami-sama wishes to torment her longer before he sends her to Hell."

"She killed him," a young boy wailed out.

The group of men ushered the younger ones away, before slowly retreating from her. She continued to lay motionlessly on the ground, trying to stay calm. Though it was hard not to. Whatever was out there had either saved her or was going to get the satisfaction of killing her when the villagers were gone. When she was sure that the villagers were away, she struggled briefly with the wire around her neck. Frail fingers dug the wire out, her restricted breathing was no longer an issue. Oxygen rushed into her lungs as if it were a wave crashing into the shoreline. She gasped and wheezed for what nature provided for her. Pulling the wire over her head, she flung it away before pulling herself to a sitting position. For a while, she rubbed her neck tenderly, continuing to take deep, slow breaths.

Once she removed her hand, the wound had already sealed, only appearing to be a bright red line around her neck. She struggled for a second time with the wire around her ankle; this one had cut much deeper, though she did not care. It would heal, just all the other wounds and bruises had. It would not leave even a scratch on her milky complexion. She hissed lowly as she brutally yanked out the wire from around her small ankle. The pain would go away soon enough; she just had to wait a while. Letting out a small sigh of relief, she looked back over at the male who had been dragging her up until a few moments prior. He was certainly not going anywhere. Well, except for Hell. She scrunched her nose slightly, realizing that she smelled of blood, which was not uncommon to her, just still the metallic smell made her cringe. How ironic, seeing how she was to be a bloodthirsty mongrel, which reminded her of her unseen savior. That was what she would call him for now.

She snapped her attention back over to the forest line.

"Who sent you," she called out.

Her voice was soft and weak, gentle even. It perfectly matched the doll like look she had been forced to achieve in her childhood, though it was hollow, almost void of all emotion, though it was to be expected. From all that she went through on a daily basis, it would be...rather insane if she were an optimistic person. Vermilion hues peered into the night, holding as soft illumination to them, the moonlight providing little light. Though that was hardly necessary, she could see clearly without light. Blinking a bit, she felt a bit shaken. Unnerved. However this unknown person was put her on edge. It was obvious that he had a weapon that was worthy enough of scaring off the people of her village, then again they were not used to foreigners and what they carried with them.

This village was still stuck in the past.

She moved to her feet quickly, taking a few steps back from where the other hid. It was either face the stranger or go back into the village, both options did not appeal to her. She would have rather just run, but she was in no condition to do so, not with her ankle still healing. She had to wait a few more minutes and she would be free to run. She would hideaway in the forest, in the small cove that she used from time to time. Trembling a bit, she cast her eyes all around making sure the other was alone. She could only smell that acrid smell of something burnt along with the taste of metal in the air, though that could be due to the blood that had been shed. She pressed her lips together, a frown coming to her face. The other was definitely male, she could tell by the scent that came off of him. She recoiled from such a smell.

Men always hurt her, as did women.

Men used and abused her frail body.

Men were just as much as an Oni as she was.

She took another step back. "Did my father send you? Is this some sort of game you are all playing with me? I cannot offer you what he has promised you," she said in an almost defeated tone, she shrank away from the male even more. "What you have done, I am most grateful for, but this is only the first night, your efforts have been wasted. I apologize."