The Broken Doll

Chapter 8

Days passed. Yuma kept seeing Shing outside, following him but never daring to approach. Whenever he made attempts to try and befriend her, he would be denied. Even though he was determined, it never shook Shing from her sorrow. He didn't know why she was so sad, though. He was trying to get close to her; wasn't that what she wanted? That was why she always liked being close to him when she controlled him. This was going to be basically the same thing except with free will involved.

One day, while Yuma was walking with Astral, who finally got rid of the nagging headache, they both saw Shing. She was standing at a distance, cloak on and hood up, hidden from everyone but them. Astral, who could sense her desires for the boy, seemed uncharacteristically ruffled at her presence. Yuma ignored his friend's almost aggressive body language and approached her again.

"Hey there!" Yuma called with his usual grin.

Shing stiffened at his approach. Her nails started scratching at her arms. The mere sight of Yuma was enough to nearly drive her to his arms, but she stopped herself as usual by digging her nails, which sharpened into claws, into her flesh. He was only being friendly to make her feel better. She knew that deep inside, he hated her. He just never showed it. After all, Yuma was forced to attack his friends when they didn't know what was going on! Who would forgive her for that?

So she ran. As soon as he started approaching, Shing whipped around and ran.

Yuma was used to this, though. She always seemed to run as if afraid of him. Was she scared of hurting him? Or was she scared of how he felt toward her now? He felt nothing but pity for her. He didn't hate her for what she did. If anything, it only showed the boy that she was probably very lonely. That's why he was trying to befriend her. She needed a friend, right?

Her trail led Yuma to a burned, rundown building that looked somewhat familiar. The surrounding buildings were burned as well, but probably as an aftermath of the fire on this building. He stepped inside warily; a feeling of familiarity washed over him.

There was the chair he was strapped in when he first arrived. Next to it was the machine Shing used to check brainwaves. Both were melted down to almost nothing, but what Yuma saw was their intact forms. He shook his head quickly; the images disappeared. Melted figures replaced the intact ones. Out of the corner of his eye, Yuma saw Astral physically shiver and rub his arms. The Astral Being curled into himself, as if recoiling from something evil in here.

With what happened during his short stay here, Yuma didn't blame his friend.

They pressed on, though. The deeper in they got, the colder everything was. Astral's keen ears picked up a sound. They twitched one way, so his head jerked in that direction. In his mind, he heard Dark say something about a cat, a big one.

"There's something over there, Yuma," Astral said, pointing down a different hall. "Should we investigate?"

"What are you asking me for, Astral? I thought you made the smart decisions here!" Yuma joked. He started walking in that direction.

Astral rolled his eyes, but he was smiling. He followed his dear friend down the hall, around some corners, and into a dark room with something moving in it. The both of them froze. There were growling sounds and snarls. Both sounds were pained, though.

Yuma started walking toward the sounds against Astral's protests. "Make me a light, Astral, please," the boy said in a hushed tone. "I want to see what this is."

"It is dangerous, that's what it is," Astral hissed, but he made the light all the same.

They both froze again when they saw a black panther on the ground, its claws deeply gouging its own flesh. The arms were dripping with blood. The panther looked up. The green eyes were all too familiar, especially the sadness in them.

That look was quickly replaced by anger. The panther got up and went to swipe at the intruders. While Astral jumped back even though he wasn't solid at the moment, Yuma remained where he was. If it was who he thought it was, then she would never hurt him. 

Just as he thought, the claw stopped swinging as soon as it reached his chest. The boy was unharmed.

"What are you doing here, boy?" the panther growled through pained pants.

"Why are you hurting yourself?" Yuma retorted. "What's got you so bothered that you need to do this?"

The panther paced around the boy and the spirit. It seemed to be staggering, though. "That is none of your business."

"Then why I'm here is none of your business, too."

The panther growled and was about to swipe again when it suddenly fainted. The form of the big cat shrank down to a form in a tattered cloak. Her blond hair poked out of her hood, but her arms were clearly visible. Blood was quickly pooling around them.

Yuma went to action quickly. Determined not to let a friend of his die like this, he tore up some of her cloak to use as bandages. Sure, they were a little dirty and soaked in blood, but it would do as a temporary fix. With that done, he picked Shing up and carried her as fast as he could to the nearest hospital.

Shing woke up in the middle of their journey. She looked up and saw Yuma's determined face above her own. Immediately, she started panicking, squirming to get out of his grip. Yuma only tightened it, though.

"Stop struggling," he said. "You need help right now."

"I'm fine!" Shing retorted. "Let me go!"

"Do you want to die that badly!?"

"Yes!! It would be better for everyone if I just died!"

Yuma looked down at her in shock, but he didn't stop. "Why?"

"I caused you so much pain...I don't understand why you don't just leave me to die!"

Yuma shook his head and looked ahead again. He entered the doors of a hospital. "You're my friend, Shing. I don't like seeing my friends hurt like this."

The girl started slipping in and out of consciousness. She heard what he said, but it never registered. She allowed herself to relax for the moment. In her haze, she was finally happy.

But something snapped her out of her happiness. People were taking her away from Yuma. She started screaming, reaching out to the boy, but he did nothing. He didn't reach out to her until she started to physically fight back, injuring doctors and nurses in the process. That was when Yuma finally reacted. His eyes widened, his mouth opened to yell at her, and his hands tried to pin hers down. His voice swam; he was trying to tell her something. His mouth formed her name several times, and his tone was slightly panicked.

And then she was knocked out with a sedative.