Sweet Burden (14 page)

Obi’s nostrils flared and he flung his head back knocking Domitori’s head. There was a loud crack and Domitori cursed. Deiman stepped forward with his hands clenched in fists. He punched Obi in the stomach. As Obi doubled over forward, Deiman landed an elbow on the back of his skull. Obi’s legs wobbled and gave out. His knees crashed to the pavement. Behind him Domitori swiftly kicked him in the back and then Deiman’s foot cracked against his jaw. Obi’s head flung back and whipped forward.

Domitori let out a sinister laugh. “You definitely don’t look like much now.” He pulled Obi’s arms back tighter. Obi lifted his head up and licked at the trickle of blood coming from the corner of his mouth. “Tell me; is it true that all of this is over a girl?”

Obi tightened his lips but said nothing.

“I don’t know what you’re thinking. She’s just an insignificant human.”

“Stop talking about her,” Obi grumbled.

“You’ve formed some sort of attachment to her. Interesting.” Domitori pulled Obi up from the ground. “I’m sure they will fix that. Let’s get out of here. I hate this place.” He nodded to Deiman, who quickly injected a syringe full of thick green liquid into Obi’s neck.

“Are you going to be a good boy now?” Deiman patted Obi’s cheek. Obi took the opportunity to build up a good amount of saliva and spit it in his face. Deiman raised his fist and landed a punch right in his mouth. Obi’s head slumped down and Deiman and Domitori each took a hold of one of his arms.

They didn’t remove their grips until they stood outside the Savetto’s doorway. Domitori opened the council door and shoved Obi in. He landed on his hands and knees and heard the two of them snicker as the door shut. Obi’s skin was tingling from the effects of the poison given to him. The poison was a way for Obi to feel pain intensified to unimaginable levels. A combination of two plants, Stinging Tree leaves and Angelica root were used when conducting punishments among his kind. He had never been given the concoction, but he had heard that it brought about the worst pain conceivable.

“Obsidian, on your feet,” a member said.

Obi pulled himself up and straightened his body. He moved closer to the cloaked figures.

“You continue to defy us.”

Obi felt it was wise just to keep his mouth shut. Anything he said would just further enrage them at this point.

“Considering your most recent defiance, we will be altering your punishment,” the female said. Obsidian nodded.

“Your sentence will be as follows; you will be required to ingest the Angelica root which will stop your ability to heal. You will be taken to the lower chambers where you will endure 100 hours of torture. Upon your release, you are to complete your list within 72 hours.”

Obi scanned the shadowed cloaked figures from left to right and then nodded his head.

“Your sentence begins now,” the female stated. The doors behind him opened and Domitori and Deiman walked in. They grabbed his arms, but he knew it was pointless to struggle. He only hoped that he was strong enough to endure everything so that he could keep his promise to Hitomi.

They dragged him to the lower chambers where he was given another dose of the Angelica root and Stinging Tree leaves mixture and then strapped to a chair. Domitori tightened the leather straps around his wrists and then stepped back.

“Pathetic. I really hope she was worth it,” he shook his head.

Obi began to sweat feeling the effects of the plants. He could feel the poisons working their way throughout his body. His wrists were aching from the leather bindings. He lifted his head and glared at him. “Worth every second.”

With that, Domitori slammed the door on the small room leaving Obi in complete darkness.

It was the beginning of the third day without Obi and every hour Hitomi’s worry was mounting. She had spent the rest of Sunday in her room. She couldn’t bring herself to eat. Her mother hadn’t been home so it made it easier for her to wallow. She had attempted to do some homework to occupy her mind, but it didn’t work. She ended up spending most of the day staring out her window at the empty bench.

She relived every second she had been in his arms. She replayed every word he had said. She hardly knew anything about him, but she missed him.

Hitomi had woken up Monday morning with hopes that Obi would be back. But still the bench was empty. Bradley had come to pick her up again without a warning from Kerry. He asked her mind numbing questions about her weekend, adding in a comment about how she never called him. The rest of the conversation consisted of the dance. Hitomi divulged the color of her dress so that he could coordinate and they discussed the best dinner options.

Once at school the rest of the day was a blur. She trudged through her classes and hardly spoke at lunch. She could see a bit of concern from Kerry, but she never pushed the issue until the next morning. Kerry picked her up Tuesday morning with the intent of having a ‘talk’. Hitomi wanted to tell her about Obi, but she wasn’t exactly sure what to say. She decided just to say that she was upset with her mom for her lack of freedoms. The Saturday shopping trip was supporting evidence. The rest of the day Hitomi had to hear Kerry talk about how Regina was just protective and caring.

At least during the day Hitomi had school to numb her mind. The evenings were much harder. She couldn’t concentrate on her homework instead she would fantasize about going to the dance with Obi. After which she would fall back into analyzing all the interactions she had with Obi. She was even starting to think that some of her dreams had been real.

Wednesday morning was shaping up to be the worst day yet. Hitomi pulled herself out of bed clenching her chest. The pains had been intensifying every day, but now they were no longer going away. They were constantly present only fading in and out of full concentration. She got herself dressed and went into the bathroom. She examined the dark circles under her eyes as she pulled her hair back into a braid. When she got downstairs, her mother called her into the kitchen. As she walked in, her mother was sitting at the table holding her coffee cup in both hands.

“Hitomi, sit down. I want to talk to you.”

“Mom, I have to get to school.”

“Well, you’re ride isn’t here yet. Sit down.”

With a sigh, Hitomi moved over to the table and sat across from her mother. She kept her head down waiting for Regina to say something.

“Sweetie, I am worried about you. Are you feeling alright?”

“I’m fine.”

“I don’t think you are. This isn’t about some boy is it?”

Without thinking, Hitomi snapped. “He’s not
some
boy!”

Regina quickly leaned back and her eyes widened. “Who is he?”

“Never mind. I don’t want to talk about it.” Hitomi abruptly got up.

“Hitomi, have you been sneaking around with him?”

Hitomi narrowed her eyes. “How can I sneak around mom, when you’re never home? I know you drown yourself in your work to forget about dad.” She watched as hurt overwhelmed her mother’s face. She immediately regretted what she said. “I’m sorry. I’m just going to go to school.” Regina nodded as a horn honked outside.

Hitomi hurried outside and became instantly irritated it was Bradley who was picking her up again. She was getting tired of Kerry deciding everything for her and trying to push her into something she didn’t want. Although the entire situation could have been easily avoided. If her mother would have just let her get a job when she turned 16, she could have saved money to buy a car. But her mother had been so terrified that she’d get in a car accident. Hitomi was still surprised she was allowed to get her license.

She hiked herself up into the SUV quickly shutting the door before her mother had a chance to come running after her.

“Everything okay?” Bradley asked.

“Yah. Peachy. Can we just go?” Hitomi replied holding her bag against her chest. She thought somehow the pressure would take the pains away.

“You’ve seemed different the past couple of days,” he commented as he backed the car out into the road.

“I haven’t been sleeping well. I just want to get this day over with.”

Bradley was quiet for awhile and then started talking about his upcoming soccer game that just happened to be the same day as the dance- this Saturday. As they arrived at school her pains were getting even stronger and lasting longer. She trudged from class to class until lunch which she spent in the nurse’s office. She was exhausted and just wanted to avoid having to deal with anyone. The nurse left her alone in a small room with a cot and she laid down curling herself into a tight ball. She easily drifted off into sleep.

Hitomi opened her eyes, but she wasn’t sure they were actually open. The room was in complete darkness. She blinked her eyes to make sure they were actually open. The room was cold and damp. It smelled of sulfur and metallic blood. She could practically taste it on her tongue.

Her arms were bound above her head, her upper arms tight against her ears. She wiggled her feet realizing they were bound as well. She was hanging in the air, held by something unseen. She started moving her body to break free. She opened her mouth to yell, but nothing came out.

Suddenly there was a loud crack. Her back stung and she tried to cry out from the pain. A second crack sounded and she felt the skin on her back slicing open. Her body twisted and squirmed as the blows continued slicing her over and over again.

She screamed as she sat up in the cot.

“Hitomi, dear you were dreaming,” the nurse held her by the shoulders.

Hitomi glanced around the white sterile room and immediately felt at her back. Her skin was intact. She wiped away the sweat from her forehead. The dream had felt so real.

“You don’t look so well. I’ll write you a pass for next period,” the nurse said.

“No, I’m fine,” Hitomi shook her head. She shrugged the nurse’s hands away and swung her feet around. “I don’t want to go back to sleep.” She got up grabbing her bag and trudged off to her next class.

The dream disturbed her and by the time she got home from school all she wanted to do was crawl into bed. She didn’t even bother to change her clothes as she pulled her comforter over her and buried her head in the pillows. Hitomi laid there listening to the tapping of the rain against her window. Each drop sounded like a crash of thunder against her skull. Her mind wandered back to her dream and she worried about Obi. She knew he said he was in trouble, but after her dream she couldn’t help but think that he was in more trouble than he let on.

Hitomi heard her mother come home late that night before she was finally able to drift off to sleep. By that time, she had fully convinced herself that her dream had everything to do with Obi. Somehow she was feeling what he was feeling. She tried to flood her mind with good thoughts hoping that he was able to feel her emotions too.