I Am Deaf

Chapter 30

Rin POV

I.

Am.

Gonna.

Die.

Not an inch of my skin wasn't bruised, I was totally malnourished, and I couldn't even think straight anymore. Hallucinations seared through my mind as I struggled to comprehend what was reality and what was imagination.

"Rin..."

A boy came in.

Or was it a girl?

God, I couldn't even tell.

I made a noise of comprehension.

"Here...some...water."

I gaped at the bottle like it was a jewel.

When had I last drank water...?

Don't think about it, Rin. You'll give yourself a headache.

C'mon, hands, work.

I managed to sit up and take the bottle. I drank a sip before my stomach rebelled and then set the bottle down.

Why won't I let myself die?

I should beg Dell to kill me.

I was going crazy, for real.

Oh yeah.

I still remember Len's warm touch, his cocky grin.

It had been almost a week and a half since I'd been kidnapped.

Or had it?

Meh.

More or less.

My eyes shut, or had they been shut this whole time?

I slipped out of consciousness.

Dell POV

"She's in a highly tensed emotional state."

I looked at the girl.

"How?"

"It's hard to tell... Many things could have aggravated her. She refused to eat or drink, and looks at everything like she can't differentiate reality and imagination. Sora tried to give her food yesterday and she started screaming her head off."

Good, I thought. I don't have to kill her. I'll just let her wear herself into insanity.

I was...

Cruel.

Sadistic.

Heartless.

Yeah, that pretty much sums it up.

"Rin?" I shook her. She didn't move, and it hit me then just how fragile and pale and abused she looked. Like a doll that had taken ten too many hits.

"Why won't she get up?"

The girl just shook her head.

What were my plans? Rin was like a goldfish in a net, and I was like a little kid fishing with his dad. I notice her, but I just let her suffer and flop around. I don't let her go, either.

ARGH. WHAT ARE YOU DOING DELL THIS WAS YOUR PLAN ALL ALONG.

"Maybe I should... take her... back..."

The girl sighed and massaged the bridge of her nose. Then she gave me a determined smile.

"Sounds like a plan to me."

Len POV

Miku spilled.

Everything.

How she loved me, how Dell came to her looking for Rin, asking Miku's permission to kill her.

It was cruel, insane, and VERY creepy and stalker-ish.

I shuddered and then glared at her.

"You are TOTALLY not getting that date."

Then I took off after a brief glance at her betrayed face.

"Mom mom mom mom mom."

She looked up.

I related everything and Mom looked bewildered. Then, she looked thoughtful.

"Honey, do you think Dell might not kill her?"

"Mom, he's like a serial killer. I refuse to believe that he can control himself."

She was silent, and then I lapsed into silence myself.

"Sweetheart, everyone has some good in them."

Her hand slipped over mine.

"It just takes time to find it."