A Place in the Darkness

By Oyuki

Chapter Four

Hilde had just finished her shower. She got out of the bathroom and was toweling her long hair. Before she’d gotten into the shower Hilde’d had the stereo on full blast. Listening to it was her only activity. She didn’t want to spend time with the eight other people in the house for fear of... for fear of something. It was mostly fear of getting hurt again. As it was they didn’t think she was too sane, she didn’t want them, or anything they, did to trigger her attacks of hysteria. She had not had one since that day Duo had hugged her, and she didn’t want to risk it. As she finished drying her hair she changed into her pajamas.

She sat in her chair in front of her vanity brushing her hair and singing along with the lyrics of the song.

Hilde continued brushing her dark raven locks now just singing the lyrics by memory more than for enjoyment. ‘You have a beautiful voice,’ she remembered Duo saying when they’d first met. They had been driving home from the grocery store and the radio was on very low. When the song came on she sang along also. It wasn’t the same song, she actually couldn’t remember it, but she’d sung along to it also.

As soon as she’d sung the last words there was a loud sound by her window. The floor shook underneath her feet. The vanity mirror shattered and the large glass doors leading to the balcony broke. Hilde quickly got to the floor and covered as much of her upper body as she could with her arms. She didn’t open her eyes, but she knew there was a fire, she could smell the smoke. The room's temperature began to rise and she started to cough because of the smoke in the room.

In the dining room Duo shot out of his chair and raced up the stairs taking them two at a time. His only thoughts were of Hilde. He was sure the explosion had been in her room, and he was sure it had been an explosion. He could smell the smoke. He stumbled a few times his balance not quite ready for his run, but when he reached the floor she was on he felt relief. He ran down the hall to her room and turned the knob, giving thanks that it was not locked and not yet hot.

When he stepped into the room his eyes stung from the smoke. The room was blazing hot and he couldn’t see anything. He got down on all fours and advanced into the room calling out Hilde’s name.

Downstairs the others were almost in a state of panic. Nobody knew what the hell was going on! Heero took charge of the situation and began barking orders to get Relena, Catherine, and the servants safely out. Another explosion shook the house, this time in another part of the mansion. When he saw only Quatre and Trowa moving he yelled, “Sally WuFei, hurry your asses up!”

“We can’t leave Duo and Hilde! The first explosion was in her room, and Duo went after her!” yelled WuFei angrily.

“Then go and get them! You know where to meet us!” yelled Heero as he took Relena’s arm and dragged her to a safe location.

Hilde was already unconscious. She had breathed in too much smoke and had passed out in almost seconds, her panic hadn't helped.

Duo couldn’t find her and he was beginning to lose consciousness also. He couldn’t find Hilde anywhere on the floor and she didn’t answer his calls. His senses swam, he felt lightheaded and he coughed. He heard the pounding of feet near and he knew it was his friends. He looked around the bed and he found Hilde. He quickly took her in his arms and began to drag her out of the room with the strength he had left. He felt someone take Hilde from him and somebody else stand him up and put his arm around his or her shoulder. He dragged his feet down the long staircase and out the kitchen door. He breathed in the life-giving oxygen deeply.

Wuf Fei place Hilde in the back seat of the car and Sally ushered Duo inside. They had to move fast if they did not want to be caught by the attackers. They could hear smaller explosions from the house. They drove in silence through a back road that you would never find if you didn’t know what you were looking for. The cabin they knew the others would be in was still on the estate, but it was hidden by trees; hard to find. When they arrived at the cabin a few minutes later WuFei looked to where the mansion was to see smoke coming from the general direction and to hear the sirens of the fire trucks. He then opened the door to the back seat and proceeded to take Hilde from Duo’s arms. She was still unconscious, and he hoped she would be okay.

“Sally, get medical supplies, she’s not looking too well,” he said as Sally helped Duo from the car. She grunted her answer and walked Duo into the cabin.

As soon as they walked into the cabin Heero bombarded them with questions. “Did you see anybody, did anybody see you? Were you followed?”

WuFei answered for all of them. “No, we weren’t followed, and we didn’t see anybody. But bombs were still going off when we got them out.” He placed Hilde on the couch.

“How is she?” asked Heero for the first time noticing that Hilde wasn’t standing up.

“She’s breathed in a lot of carbon dioxide, but she'll be okay,” Sally said checking the rest of her body. “Aside from the minor burns I think she’ll be okay,” she said standing up.

Duo hadn’t said anything. How could he have failed to get her out of the house. He had been the first one in the room and he couldn’t get her out. Sally’d had to help him get out of there!

Sally saw the look on Duo’s face and said reassuringly, “Don’t feel bad, Duo. You got to her as quickly as you could and she isn’t hurt badly.”

‘Sally always seems to read our minds,’ Heero mused.

“Duo, keep your mind clear. We have to find out how they got passed security.” How had then gotten passed his security system? How? Who? and most importantly, why?’ Heero’s soldier mind connected the bombing to the letter left in Duo’s apartment. He doubted that there had been anybody at the mansion. the bombs had probably been timed and placed on different sides of the house. ‘But how did they know it was Hilde’s room?’ That much he did know. It was no accident that the first bomb was placed there. He tried to recall if any strangers had come to the mansion at any time during the last three weeks. Before and after Hilde had arrived. No, there had been no one, absolutely no one. Except for Relena’s brother there had been no one.

He was baffled. They all were. No one could recall anybody coming to the house.

Hilde opened her eyes slowly. They stung an she felt tears forming in their depths. Whe she inhaled her lungs felt weird. Like when you have a bad cough and you can breath but it is kind of restricted, you are short of breath but not really. She took deep breaths but it was uncomfortable.

“She’s waking up,” said Relena as she noticed Hilde moving.

Hilde felt groggy. She looked up at the ceiling and for the first time noticed she wasn’t in Relena’s mansion. Before she could say anything, however, there was a loud noise coming from the direction of the door. They all looked up to see the door knocked from its hinges and in seconds they were surrounded by at least twenty men all dressed in the same black outfit.

There wasn’t any mark on their uniforms to distinguish one from another and they all wore black ski masks. The black clad men seemed somehow familiar to Hilde. She had seen them somewhere, some time. The mist of a memory flowing like fog at the edges of her memory. It was too fuzzy, she couldn’t see anything. Trying to recall the fragment of memory as like trying to remember an elusive dream you know you’ve had right when you wake up. It didn’t seem like she was trying to remember. She couldn’t really say she remembered, it just made sense to tell herself that she remembered.

They five pilots readied their guns. The explosions hadn’t given them enough time to get more weapons except for the ones they always carried with them. Relena might be a pacifist, but they certainly were not. They looked at the men that surrounded them and the large machine guns they all carried, each thinking he had been in worse situations during the war.

Heero stepped in front of Relena. They had to protect her above all else. They would have to get through him and every one of his friends, including Catherine... and Hilde.

“Stand up against the far wall. All of you!” A large man. There was no way to differentiate, they all looked the same. When they all hesitated, especially Heero, he added loudly, “Now or I’ll start by shooting the girls! And give me your weapons. I know how sneaky you guys can be.”

The guys didn’t want to hand over their weapons. Heero looked at his friends and without any movement or word they all started shooting. Heero tackled Relena to the floor and emptied his gun of bullets. He shook his head. It was up to Duo, Trowa, Quatre, WuFei, and Sally. His top priority was Relena. He wouldn’t let anybody hurt her, even if it cost him his life.

Hilde knew the boys would be impulsive. She just knew it and when she’d heard the first few gun shots she’d flung herself to the floor. She was behind the couch and the men were on the other side. Beside her was Sally, her own gun in her hand, waiting for an opportunity to help. After a few more minutes of gun shots Hilde knew her ‘side’ was out of ammo. The guys’ faces were not of defeat but of determination.

“Drop your weapons!” said the same man who’d spoken before. “We know you have nothing more to fight back with! Now move to the wall.”

They all complied, reluctantly. When they were all against the wall the black-clad men moved to let another, much smaller, figure pass. It was a girl, it was evident by the way her black clothes fit her.

She moved to stand before them with no weapon gracing her hands. She lifted one of her slim hands to lift up the black ski mask from her face. A pointed chin was revealed, then a small equally pointed nose, crystal blue eyes, and finally eyebrows in the shape of a fork. She smiled at them all and said, “Well, hello everyone. You do remember me don’t you? After all, I was your friend at one point or another.”

“Dorothy!” exclaimed Relena moving forward.

Heero took her arm and pulled her back. “You--”

“Now Mr. Yuy, you don’t want to move unless you want us to shoot your little friends,” she said with a sick smile.

“Why are you doing this?” asked Quatre. No, Dorothy couldn’t be doing this. She couldn’t be the one behind all of this! No!

“Why? Well, is there a reason to do anything? Why does Relena keep up her little peace talks with the colonies and the people of earth? Why is Heero Yuy still here with you guys? Why is Trowa so silent? Why is Duo Maxwell feeling sorry for himself every minute of every day? See, Quatre? So many questions and no answers to any of them!” she explained. She didn’t need a reason to do anything. All she did was because she felt it needed to be done. It needed to be done to teach the world not to take anything for granted. "But if you really want a reason, I'll give you one! It is because I hate Relena Peacecraft, or whatever she's calling herself these days! I hate her and all she stands for! I hate you! You took away war, you took away everything that made sense in my life!" she yelled. She had gone insane, she was completely psycho!

“Dorothy... you... it was you who sent those pictures...?” said Relena confused. She took a couple of steps back. She’d considered Dorothy her friend at one point or another, why was she doing this?

“Oh yes! I must tell you guys it was fun watching you turn your backs on Hilde for something she didn’t do. But all you guys did was put her in a jail and not look for reasons. You didn’t look for all the clues we left you!” she said and put a pout on her lips.

“You bitch! You helped them take five years of my life! It was you who made Duo turn against me! I’m going to kill you!” Hilde said and threw herself at her.

“Hilde!” she heard Duo yell after her but she didn’t care. She knew that killing Dorothy wasn’t going to get her anything but she would feel extreme satisfaction at watching her suffer.

She didn’t get too far because strong arms pulled her roughly from her feet and away from the smiling psycho. An arm with a black sleeve was put around her neck and cut off her air supply. Her vision started to blur and she was still until Dorothy’s order gave her back her ability to breath. She took deep breaths and struggled to get away from the arms. She knew now why the men looked so familiar. They were the same men that had attack her and Relena. The same men...

Duo was held back by Trowa and Quatre. If one of them was going to die then it would be because of something worth it, not something trivial. They five boys were itching to kick some ass. There had to be a way to get them. There had to be a way to distract them! They saw their chance when Dorothy turned her head a little to bark an order to one of her men. Heero brought Relena forward a little and left her side to tackle Dorothy.

Then the chaos started. The pilots then noticed that not all of the men had weapons and they went for them, some of the men had already been killed because of the shooting a few minutes earlier.

Sally shot some of them men. She had to spare her ammo, she was the only one with a gun and she had to be careful not to shoot her friends. She only disabled the men in black. She didn’t want to cause any unnecessary deaths.

Dorothy’s plan was backfiring. She never saw this coming. They were not acting according to what she’d planned. They were going into battle feet first! She took a gun from one of the men nearest her and took careful aim at Relena, she then fired three shots at places that would not just harm her, but kill her.

Hilde had been let loose by her captor who had joined the big brawl that had broken out. She looked around desperately for something... anything that would mean anything. She didn’t know what to do. She just wanted to find a way to escape all of this violence. When she glanced at the door she saw Dorothy take a gun from a man. She noticed the insane look in her eyes and the way she looked at Relena. Hilde ran towards them when she saw her take aim. She knew that she was too far away from Dorothy to reach her before she fired. The only thing she could do was try to get Relena before the any of those bullets reached her. She felt, rather than heard, the three bullets strike the air. No... they hadn’t struck the air. She’d felt them pierce her soft skin. Felt the three embed themselves into her shoulder, her chest and her stomach.

Hilde and Relena hit the floor with a thud. Relena felt herself being crushed by Hilde. There was something warm on her stomach and for a second she was afraid she’d been shot, but there was no pain. Only the hot sensation on her stomach. No, she’d seen stars when she’d hit the floor but she hadn’t been shot. It had been Hilde. Hilde had pushed her away before Dorothy could kill her.

Heero’s sharp ears picked up the sound of the gun being fired. He quickly punched a man that stepped in his field of vision and ran to where Relena was. All he saw was Relena on the ground. He didn’t care about anything else. He reached them first and carelessly pushed Hilde away from Relena. All he saw was the blood. ‘Just like last time....’ was the only thought that entered his mind. ‘No...’

Duo and Trowa knocked out the last four men that were standing. Duo looked for Hilde but he couldn’t find her. He spotted Heero kneeling on the floor with Relena cradled in his arms. There was blood all over her front... he moved his eyes and he finally spotted Hilde. She was on the floor on her side and there was blood on her hands. He ran.

Heero felt helpless. He didn’t hear Relena calling his name telling him she was okay and to please check Hilde. All he saw was the blood. The thing that brought him back from his trance was Duo’s scream.

“No! No, Hilde. Hilde wake up,” said to her. He gently slapped her cheeks, he shook her, he brushed her face with his hands but she wouldn’t wake up. “Please,” he begged her. “Don’t leave me now that I got you back. Wake up!”

“Duo,” whispered Heero.

Hilde was floating on a cloud of pain. She couldn’t escape it so she opened her eyes. “Duo,” she said weakly before she coughed. It racked her small frame and blood came out of her mouth. The pain brought her back to an unresolved event in her life. She’d never gotten to ask Duo to believe her so she pleaded him now. “I-- I didn’t do it. Believe-- believe me.”

“I know, babe. I believe you, but please don’t close your eyes again. We’re going to take you to a hospital--”

“It hurts, Duo.” She was crying now. The tears on her cheeks mixed with the blood. Her breaths were coming in short little gasps due to the bullet in her chest, it had probably ruptured one of her lungs. “I can-- I... can’t breath and it hurts...”

“Shh... Catherine is calling the ambulance and Trowa and Quatre are tying Dorothy up. Don’t worry about anything, just be quiet and please don’t close your eyes... okay?” His tears slowly mingled with the ones on her cheeks. He didn't hear or see anything else.

“It hurts... and I’m so sleepy.”

Sally had been slowly examining her. The wounds were deep and were, she was sure, lethal. The bullets had not connected with their targets but, nonetheless, one of them had hit a major artery, the other had probably pierced her lung, and even if the last one hadn’t done much damage the first two would surely kill her. She looked up at Duo with sadness in her eyes. She looked down a little and shook her head at him saying, without words, that there was nothing else to be done.

That only made him sob harder. “Hilde? Can you hear me baby?” he asked her.

“Yea-- yes.”

“I wanted to tell you that I love you, that I never stopped loving you. No matter how much I thought I hated you I loved you with all my heart. Do you believe me?”

She nodded her head slowly. It hurt to talk and it hurt to breath but she said, “Me too... I lo-- I love you. I never... ever hated you.” She coughed again, more of her blood coming out of her mouth and her nose.

“Oh God!” sobbed Relena in Heero’s arms. She looked up at him with pleading eyes, as if asking him to do something for them; for their friends. Heero wasn’t looking at her, though. He was watching his best friend hold Hilde in his arms and telling her he loved her; making sure she knew just how much he loved her despite everything else.

He looked down at his girlfriend and their eyes connected. Relena saw something she’d never seen in his eyes before. Heero Yuy was crying for his best friend. She hugged him tighter as they cried.

“Oh God, Hilde! Watch you’ll be okay, and then we can be together and make up for lost time. Just don’t close your eyes. Please,” he sobbed. He couldn’t lose her now that he knew she still loved him. He wiped the blood from her face and held her hand tightly in his. “See, Hilde? I’m right here with you, holding your hand.” Where was the ambulance? Where the hell was it?

“Duo...?”

“Yes?”

Her eyes were beginning to grow heavy. “Duo... I can’t feel anything... anymore. I want to sleep, Duo. Let me sleep.” And with those last words Hilde’s eyes closed and her breathing stopped.

“No, no! NO! Hilde wake up!”

Outside the cabin the wail of ambulances and cop cars could be heard.

Tbc…

Hmmm… should I let her die? What do you think?