The Start of Pain

Chapter 11

Still not claiming ownership for The 39 Clues XD

Chapter 11

After falling asleep on a dingy, dark corner, Dan has been on the run almost immediately. He felt like he has been running from Texas to Canada with Buffy hot on his heels. Come to think of it, how is that crazy mutt? Dan shook his head, his dirty blonde hair flying in all directions as he willed his legs to go faster. He can’t afford to be distracted over his best friend of a dog, no matter how much he owes Buffy for completing a job he’s been trying to do: humiliating Ian Kabra until he declares the threat of suing. “I’ll sue the landscape architect!”  Dan laughed for what it’s worth and looked for other warehouses that happens to be abandoned and near a long array of pretty, blooming cherry blossoms. He deftly looked behind him to see if he was being followed and slowed into a jogged when he wasn’t. Obviously, he was mistaken about the warehouse, but in his defense, that was the only abandoned warehouse in the vicinity.

He’s completely lost now. He didn’t even know this part of Japan existed! A part where everywhere are trees and weeds. No people. A handful of building that with just one huff of breath, would crumble to bits and pieces. Dan let out a long, huge whine as he hit his forehead repeatedly with his palm. “People just have to be complete –“ Dan was cut off when he realized just what he had passed through. He jogged backwards, stopped and tilted his head to the right. There, on top of an abandoned, scary-looking-to-the-point-of-haunted warehouse, is a cobwebbed sign written in hiragana. Thank goodness, because Dan really didn’t bother with all the kanji. It was way too hard and hard work is Amy’s job. Sa-ku-ra Ya-shi-ro.

“Yashiro?” Dan asked, his face crinkling in concentration. That sounded familiar, but all that’s registering is a blurry anime dude. “The freak does that – Oh!”

Sakura Company. Cherry blossom.

It didn’t make much sense, but the pieces seemed correct, so what the heck. “Well, that solves it!” Dan, with more caution than last time, twisted the (unsurprisingly) unlocked doorknob. He looked around the dimly lit warehouse and entered with the lightest of footsteps. “Helping Hand?” Nobody’s home. Don’t tell me, I’m in the wrong place again! Dan groaned, glaring at the dark room without bothering to step inside. He’d have enough disappointment in this place. Now all he has to do is use whatever Japanese he knows to ask directions. “Yeah... That’s not gonna work out pretty good,” he told himself disgustedly, remembering that all he knows of Japanese words are martial arts and food. Oh yeah, and anime. He doubts that asking about the Dugtrio would get him to find Natalie. He was about to slam the door back in place, probably send it swinging pathetically on its hinges when...

“You’re very late.”

xxxOOOxxx

A raven-haired teenage boy clad in a V-neck, dark blue sweater, greeted Dan at one of the rooms of the warehouse as he finally managed to barge past the freaking maze of corridors. Lying at a makeshift bed behind Raven Hair is none other than Natalie Kabra.

Dan panted, catching his breath before thinking of something smart to say. But the other guy beat him to it. "Where are the others?" Raven Hair asked, looking at the door with which Dan came in, probably expecting Jonah, Hamilton and Ian to come running next. 

"They're... Not... Here," Dan said in between gulps of air. He coughed abruptly, slapping a dangling cobweb out of his hair. "Give her to me now." He pointed at the sleeping figure of the girl Kabra.

The black-haired boy regarded him expressionlessly. "A few pointers first, if you don't mind," he said blankly. Dan could only glare at him, but his muscles tensed, anticipating an attack. Raven Hair noticed this and said, "I'm not going to attack you. As I've said in all my messages, I'll give you back the girl... and the antidote you need for that blonde one."