Chapter Two: Awakening

-Kacie-

	Kacie, after what seemed like ages, came to consciousness. As her eyes crept open, she noticed her surroundings were
just as dark as the bedroom had been back at Katie’s. Had she dreamed the whole thing?

	Then, she noticed she was lying on a stiff bed sitting four feet off the ground. Slowly swinging her legs over the
edge, she saw a door in the far corner and began creeping toward it. Until.

	Her foot hit something. Looking down, she saw a blonde boy, his hair falling lazily over half of his face. His visible
eye was trained on her as he lay on the floor.

	Him! He was the guy who had first grabbed her back at the party! So it wasn’t a dream after all, she thought. 

	The boy smirked.

	So you’re finally up, un?” he said.

	In a quick motion, he swept the lank hair away from his face. But underneath, instead of another normal eye, was a
bright red one, attached to a chopped piece of metal crudely put onto his face with nails and screws.

	All it took was one look at the grotesque thing.

	Kacie fainted again.
---------------------------------

-Katie-

	Stirring a little, Katie shifted over to her left side. Then, realizing she was awake, she shook her head and blinked
her eyes. She was surrounded by silky maroon sheets. Sitting up in the ocean of soft fabric, she took a look around the
room.

And saw the most terrifying thing she had ever seen.

     A man with bright silver hair and fair skin was sprawled on his back on the ground. A large, silver sword was
stabbed clear through his mid-section. Blood was creeping out of the wound onto the floor, oozing down in a small river
to the foot of the bed.

     “Ah…erm…excuse me?” she asked timidly. The man’s eyes remained closed: no response. Katie decided to take the more
dramatic approach.

“AIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!” she screamed.


     Like a flash of lightening, his eyes shot open. Pulling the spear-like sword out of his own chest, he stood up and
brandished it towards her, its metal dripping red rubies of blood.

     “What the *pomegranate* are you doing in my room?” he growled, leaning his arm forward so that the weapon was
inches away from her face, drops of red sprinkling her glasses.

“Erm, I sort of woke up here, y’know?” she gestured to the room around her.

     The man wiped his eyes and shook his head jerkily. Slowly, he let his arm holding the sword fall limp to his
side.
He sat down on the bed next to her, shifting his body so he faced her head-on. Deftly, he lifted her head, holding the
base of her chin and tilting her face upward. He stared deeply into her eyes for a moment, and then suddenly exclaimed,
“Aha!”

     He stood back up, brushing off the back of his dark pants and pushing his silvery hair away from his face. “So
you’re the girl I picked up!” he grinned, tossing the still bloody sword back into a corned, “*date*, you’re different
in the light! Sorry, I thought you must have been someone else, like Tobi,” he sighed, “The blood loss makes my focus
all *figged* up.”

  “…so then, why stab yourself?” she asked in disbelief, her eyes widening. This guy was creepy, yeah.

     “All in due time, dudette,” he said, walking over to his closet, “But first…”

      He began rifling through its contents, and finally finding what he sought, pulled it out and brandished it.

   “Put this on,” he said in a commanding tone.

     It was a fishnet shirt, tight pants, and a long black cloak with crimson red clouds embroidered on it. She took
the clothes from him and stared at how finely they were made. But she did not, however, make a move to get dressed.

  “…so?” he said impatiently, waiting for her to do something.

  “Um, I have to change.” she said.

 “I know, duh,” he said, staring at her.

    “Could I have a little bit of privacy?”

“Oh!” he exclaimed, blushing slightly. Quickly, he walked over to the maroon door. “Well, come out when you’re ready,
then!” he yelled, grinning, then left.

  Katie blinked. Then, slowly, she began putting on the outfit.

--------------------------

-Courtney-
 
     Yawning, Courtney stretched her arms and lazily opened her eyes. But, the first thing she noticed was that it was
totally pitch black. Next, she realized she was half-lying on a large, cushiony couch with leather upholstery. 

“Ah, so you are awake,” said a voice from across the room.

     Courtney tried to decipher the figure sitting in an armchair on the other side of the darkness, but since there
were no lights, she could not seem to make him out. The only glow came from a pair of bright red orbs in his
directions; those must be his eyes.

     Why are we all sitting in the dark Courtney thought.

“Well, the night is my preferable domain here. I tend to keep it as dark as possible.”

What? Courtney thought, Not only can he see me, but he can read my mind?

     “Yes,” the man answered, lifting out of his chair and moving toward the wall by the door. He swiftly flicked the
lights on, casting a dim light upon the room.

     The man had dark black hair that fell choppily to his shoulders. Now, his eyes were not red anymore, but a dark
all-over charcoal. Courtney now confirmed that this was the man who had captured her back at Katie’s house.

     “So, put that on,” he said, gesturing to a neatly folded pile of clothes stacked steadily on the bed; a cloak,
top, and tights. “Then, meet me outside this room.”

The man swept out of the room. Courtney just began stripping off her old clothes for the new ones. Best to just follow
what they were saying, anyways.

---------------------------------

-Rachel-

     Now, if you considered the way Rachel fought her captors, the other girls technically went without a hustle. Once
they got into the headquarters, however, it took three members (Zetsu, Sasori, and a little help from Konan) to subdue
her enough to knock her unconscious.

     When Rachel finally awoke, she was sitting, bound to a hardback chair and wearing a cloth gag around her mouth.
She tried wiggling out of the bonds on her wrists, but to no avail.

“We could help get you out, you know,” said a man’s voice. One look his way told her all; it was her captor, the
monster!

     The man walked toward her, the large Venus flytrap shrinking until it became a mere green collar around his neck.
Half of his face was a milky white; the other half was midnight grey.

     "Might as well let her struggle a while,” said another voice. Rachel looked around, but could see no other
person. The deeper, darker voice had come from the same man.

     “Come on, stop trying! You’ll hurt yourself!” the white half said, sighing and drawing a pocketknife from his boat
pocket. "Alright, mortal” “We have to get something straight before we get ya loose.” 

     Rachel stopped pulling at the ropes. Looking up, she saw that both eyes were trained on her, concerned. She let
her body fall into a stiff stillness.

     “Okay, there you go!” the white half smiled, "If we cut you free, you promise us no funny business. We can tie
you right back up with twice as much rope.”

Rachel nodded to show she understood, and the man began to saw away at the bonds. In less than a minute, she was free
of the restraints.

     Instead of doing the normal thing Rachel would do, running or fighting back, she let the creature pick her up and
carry her out of the room.

They walked down the dark hall until he reached a bright green door marked ‘Uniforms’. Pushing the door open, he set
out to find her an outfit.

     Rachel dropped down from the man’s arms and took the spare uniform into the other room. Just as she emerged, fully
changed, a loud voice was heard from a loudspeaker over their heads.

“All members, please meet with all neophytes in the main room.”