Final chapter! Dun dun dun! How will it all end? Well, read and find out. Then let me know if you liked it ^_^

From the Shadows

Chapter 11

Clutching onto the knife tightly in one hand, Takuya gently used his other to slowly twist the doorknob. Zoe was close behind him, still pressing the bloody shirt against her throbbing chest.

"Stay behind me," the brunette whispered to her.

"I know," she replied softly.

Takuya had originially intended to leave Zoe in the room while he hunted down Kyrie. However, that option put Zoe at risk if Kyrie snuck into the room while he was looking for her. Either way, Zoe had refused that option, not letting Takuya find the girl himself. She had deemed it to be too dangerous if he was alone, so they decided to go together. Takuya had also told Zoe to run out of the apartment if Kyrie suddenly came out to attack them. Again, Zoe shot down that idea, vehemently refusing to leave her fiancee behind. Takuya had decided to give up on convincing her otherwise, finally accepting the fact that they would do everything together.

"Alright, let's go," he said after a moment. "Ready?"

"Yeah," the blond responded. "Be careful."

Taking a deep breath, Takuya twisted the doorknob entirely and gingerly pushed it open. He was gripping the handle of the knife as tightly as he could, ready to slash it out if Kyrie attacked. Despite the windows in the next room, the surroundings were still mostly dark, making it difficult to see clearly. Takuya took Zoe's hand into his free one, then pulled her after him as he snuck towards the hallway that led to the front door.

"Trying to escape?"

The couple nearly jumped out of their skin as they heard Kyrie's voice echoing off the walls, followed by a sadistic chuckle. Pushing Zoe behind himself protectively, Takuya narrowed his eyes as he looked through the pitch black corrider. She could be anywhere at the moment, whether it was ahead of them in the hallway or hiding in the living room.

"Where are you?" He demanded.

"If I tell you, that would be no fun at all," she replied, though her voice seemed to be coming from the living room. "By the way, the front door has been...well, let's just say that it is no longer usable."

Takuya groaned. "What the fuck did you do to it?"

"Just some maintainence work on it," Kyrie joked. "So it looks like you'll just have to turn around and come back the way you came."

"Fuck," the brunette grumbled, his heart sinking as he realized that their only escape option was gone.

However, Zoe suddenly tugged him down the corrider, making him break out into a run.

"Hey, where do you think you're going?" Kyrie called out in an amused voice. "You can't get out through the front door."

"Yeah, where are we going?" Takuya asked his fiancee, confused as well.

Zoe glanced back at him. "She's too dangerous to fight, even with the two of us and that knife you have. We can go to the roof to fend her off."

Located at the end of the short hallway was a staircase off to right corner. It was a private set of steps that allowed the couple access to the roof in case of an emergency. Takuya and Zoe had never used it before, as they had never seen a use for it and usually forgot about it altogether. They could hear Kyrie's footsteps echoing down the hallway as she pursued them, causing them to quicken their pace once they had reached the stairs. At the top of the steps was a door that would lead them to yet another staircase. Rushing up the the steps as fast as they could, they constantly looked over their shoulders to see how far behind Kyrie was. Seconds later, they reached the awaiting door.

"Hurry," Takuya urged, keeping an eye out for Kyrie as Zoe unlocked the door.

"Got it," she replied after a moment, pulling the it open. "Let's go."

They hurried through the door and slammed it shut, noticing that Kyrie had reached the first staircase and was now ascending the steps ominously.

"You can run," she taunted them. "But you can't hide..."

Takuya and Zoe bolted up the second staircase as fast as they could, wishing that there had been an inside lock on the door. After a few seconds, they heard their tormenter entering through it, putting them into deeper panic.

"Almost there," Takuya mumbled. "Just through that door up ahead."

They reached it a it a few seconds later, yanking it open so hard that it was nearly ripped off its hinges. Kyrie was drawing closer and closer, no doubt armed with some type of weapon.

"Go, go, go!" Takuya ushered Zoe through the door, then followed her in immediately.

Upon stepping out onto the roof, Zoe frantically looked around. "Is there anything to barricade the door with?"

"Um..." The brunette scanned the rooftop. "I don't see anything."

"Shit!" Zoe cried out in dismay. "Uh...maybe there's a ladder we can climb down."

Takuya nodded in agreement. "You look for one while I hold the door shut."

He slipped the knife into his pocket and pressed his back up against the door, keeping his feet planted firmly on the ground. He was grateful that there was no glass in the door for Kyrie to attack him through. The doorknob jiggled and Takuya twisted his body to grab hold of it. He held it firmly to keep the schoolgirl from opening it.

"Come on, open up," Kyrie said with a laugh. "You can't fend me off forever, you know."

While Takuya kept the door barricaded, Zoe feverishly looked over the sides of the building, praying that there would be at least one ladder. To her horror, there was not a single one.

"Shit!" She exclaimed. "There aren't any ladders!"

"What?" Takuya couldn't believe it. "No ladders at all?"

Zoe shook her head, but picked up a single wooden plank that had been resting on the rooftop. Rushing to Takuya's side, she jammed it under the doorknob to keep it from being twisted open.

"That won't hold her off for long," she said as Takuya moved away from the door. "Dammit, it was a stupid idea to come to the rooftop. I'm sorry for royally screwing us..."

"No, it's better to be up here as oppose to a pitch black apartment where Kyrie can pop out of nowhere. At least out here, she can't hide behind anything and we have some light to work with," he told her.

The moon shone down from the sky, casting an eerie glow to the roof, and the surrounding streetlights added to the illumination.

"Alright, I'm done playing with you two," Kyrie called through the door. "Enough games already."

With that, a long blade stabbed through the wooden door, causing the couple to jump in surprise. Kyrie continued to hack away at her obstacle, determined not to let it stop her.

"Fuck, we gotta think," Takuya mumbled. "So there are no ladders..."

"No, and we can't jump down," Zoe added. "The building is three stories high, so the chances of us escaping without serious injury are low."

The brunette cursed under his breath, his heartrate speeding up as the blade continued to jab through the door.

"Wait a minute," Takuya suddenly said. "I'll hide behind the door and when she opens it, I'll stab her with my knife."

"Takuya, no. You're not doing that," his fiancee replied firmly.

He groaned. "What else can we do? If we surprise attack her, then we'll be at an advantage. We can't just stand here and let her hack us into pieces. Just stay where you are and the second she gets through the door, start taunting her. She'll get pissed off and go to attack you, but then that's when I'll jump out and surprise her."

"I'll attack her instead," Zoe offered. "I-"

"No," he interrupted. "I'm stronger, so I can overpower her more easily. We're doing it, okay? We don't have any more time to talk this over."

Zoe pulled him down to her level, planting a quick yet passionate kiss on his lips. "Be careful."

Takuya flashed her a smile and nodded, rushing over to take his post next to the closed door. He gently removed his own knife from his pocket, getting ready to strike the moment he needed to. Kyrie's blade had by now taken out a large chunk of wood, severely weakening the door in the process.

"I'm almost through," she teased, before giving the door a harsh kick.

Zoe held her breath as the door finally gave away, giving Kyrie access to the rooftop. The girls' eyes met, exchanging looks of contempt to one another.

"Took you long enough," Zoe ridiculed her.

"I like to go nice and steady," Kyrie replied, the moonlight gleaming against her blade. "As I plan to do with your torture."

She took a step forward, giving Takuya his cue to jump in and attack her. He swiped his blade downward to jab through her shoulder, but the raven-haired girl ducked away at the last moment. Kyrie's agility and reflexes made him realize that he had bitten off more than he could chew. Kyrie immediately countered his attack with her own blade, successfully slicing him across the chest.

"Takuya!" Zoe screamed, terrified of what was to come.

"Zoe, stay back!" He yelled over to her, grabbing his bleeding chest.

Takuya attempted to stab at Kyrie, only to miss again. Kyrie snickered, easily evading his attacks with precise movements. She took this opportunity to thrust the blade deep into his thigh. Takuya screamed, feeling the blade puncture through his muscles.

"Come on, Takuya. Do you honestly think that I haven't done this before?" Kyrie quipped. "You can't beat me, so don't even try."

The brunette fell to his knees as blood seeped from his wounds, staining his clothes. However, he threw his knife across the roof, letting it clatter in front of Zoe, who stood watching in horror.

"Quit being an idiot, Takuya." Kyrie rolled her eyes and gave him a sharp kick in the side. "As I said before, you can't overpower me."

The doorframe had an old, broken chain hanging off of it, which had gone unnoticed by Takuya and Zoe. Kyrie grabbed it and wrapped it around Takuya's neck, tightening it enough to cut down his oxygen intake. Once the chain had been wrapped to her liking, she left him to sit in front of the destroyed door, unable to move. Takuya frantically attempted to pull it off, but his fingers were slick with blood and made the situation even more of a challenge.

"You fucking bitch!" Zoe snatched the discarded blade off the rooftop.

"You don't learn, you you?" Kyrie raised an eyebrow as she drew closer. "And no offense, but if Takuya can't take me down, I seriously doubt that you can."

Zoe's green eyes darkened and narrowed. "We'll just see about that."

"I guess we will." Kyrie began to make her way over to the blond. "And for the record, I don't plan on killing Takuya as long as he stays where he is. You're my main concern, so once you're out of the way, I won't have anything to worry about."

The engagement ring glittered on her finger, mocking Takuya's fiancee. Zoe tightened her grip on her own knife and drew closer to Kyrie, her face emotionless.

"Zoe!" Takuya writhed and tried to untangle the chain. "Kyrie, stay the fuck away from her!"

"Be quiet," the raven-haired girl said dismissively. "It'll all be over soon."

She broke off into a run, charging at Zoe with her blade held out. Zoe jumped away in surprise, barely missing injury as the blade sliced through the air beside her. Kyrie laughed, whirling around to attack Zoe a second time. She swiped her blade at the direction of her neck, intending to slit it. However, Zoe bent backwards to evade the knife, using her leg to whip Kyrie's legs out from under her.

"Shit!" Kyrie crashed to the floor, her ruby eyes ablaze.

She leapt up before Zoe could stab her with her knife, and tackled her to the ground. Lying on top of Zoe, Kyrie raised her blade over her head to ram it down through the blond's eye. Zoe cried out and jerked her head to the side, narrowly missing the blade by mere centimeters. She tried to retaliate with her own weapon, but her position made it difficult to get a clean shot. Kyrie stabbed her blade down a second time, this time succeeding in injuring her target. Zoe cried out in agony as the blade sank through her shoulder, but found the strengh to punch the schoolgirl away.

Kyrie fell off of her, pulling her knife out in the process. Takuya cursed, feverishly yanking at the chain around his neck. He didn't know what Kyrie had done to it, but it seemed to be tangled in knots, considerably slowing down his progress.

Heaving herself off the floor, Zoe tried to ignore the steady flow of blood that was coursing down her arm. Luckily, it was her left shoulder that had been wounded, still giving her the ability to use her knife with her stronger arm. She slashed the blade at Kyrie, slicing the girl's stomach. Kyrie screamed in pain, then angrily kicked Zoe away. She sprang to her feet and jabbed her knife at the blond, grazing Zoe's side in the process. Zoe hissed in pain, but drove herself forward to slam into the other girl. Kyrie simply grabbed onto her shoulders and roughly dug her fingers into them, burying her thumb deep into Zoe's wound. Zoe screamed, swiping her knife at Kyrie to get her to release her hold. Although she had missed, Zoe was brutally shoved away a second later, landing hard on her back.

Takuya felt the chain loosen, knowing that he was getting close. "Come on, dammit... Come on!"

With a sadistic grin, Kyrie tried to pounce on Zoe to stab her through the neck. However, Zoe's legs shot out and tripped the girl, knocking her off balance. Kyrie stumbled and fell to the ground on her stomach, immediately letting out an ear-shattering wail. Zoe nervously crawled away from Kyrie, wondering what had happened, as she had not cut the schoolgirl on her way down. Upon rolling over onto her back, Kyrie revealed the reason why she had screamed in such a manner. The tip of her blade was buried in her left eye, blinding her. Apparently, she had accidentally stabbed herself while trying to lessen the impact of her fall.

"You fucking bitch!" Kyrie yelled, pulling the blade out gingerly.

The tip was covered in bloody goo, and her left eyelid was fused shut tightly. Screaming in rage, she threw herself forward and sank her blade deep down into Zoe's left arm. The blond slashed her own knife out and cut into the area near Kyrie's collarbone. Kyrie fell to her knees and sliced Zoe's calf, spraying the rooftop with blood. The burning pain caused Zoe to drop her blade and sink to the ground seconds later. However, the knife fell directly on Kyrie's left hand, the razor-sharp blade cutting off her ring and pinky fingers in the process. Kyrie shrieked, tightly cradling her maimed hand in her good one. Both girls were crying in agony, their blood running down their bodies in rivlets and puddles. The engagement ring had slipped off of Kyrie's severed ring finger and was now laying on the rooftop. Both knives were within reach, but the raven-haired girl opted not to use them.

Instead, Kyrie rose to her feet and began to kick Zoe in the side, her intent to push the blond off the edge of the building. Zoe cried out, clutching her body protectively. Yet no matter where she blocked, Kyrie was able to find a way around it since Zoe couldn't protect her stomach and back at the same time. Seconds later, she had edged Zoe dangerously close to the side of the apartment building, threatening to kick her right off.

Takuya suddenly freed himself from the restricting chain, running over to the pair of girls as fast as his injured leg would allow him. Just as Kyrie drew her leg back to deliver a final kick to Zoe, she was roughly grabbed around the waist. Before she knew it, she was swung right off the building and plummeted down to the ground below.

Takuya took Zoe into his arms and the two of them peered over the edge. Kyrie had grabbed onto a telephone pole, but lost her grip a second later. Nevertheless, it drastically cut down the impact of her fall. She landed on her back right in the street, laying there motionless for several seconds. Yet to the couple's horror, she began to move her right arm. Flashing them a sadistic smile on her bloody face, she sat up slightly. At the same time, an oncoming truck zoomed out of nowhere, driving right over the girl.

Zoe let out a surprised cry, clinging onto Takuya. The truck's breaks squealed, trying its best to stop as quickly as possible. A bloody trail was left on the street, with Kyrie's body caught underneath the large vehicle. The truck driver rushed out of his vehicle and cursed loudly, clearly traumatized. He frantically pulled a cell phone out of his pocket, dialing 119 a moment later.

Takuya held Zoe tightly in his arms, planting a passionate kiss on her lips. In return, Zoe buried her face in his chest and began to sob harder. They stayed in that position for a few minutes, grateful that they had finally escaped from their nightmarish ordeal.

"I'm so sorry," Takuya whispered. "I didn't think that she was like that... It's all my fault..."

Zoe wiped her eyes. "No...I'm sorry. I should've let you explain what happened instead of storming out like that. Maybe we wouldn't have been in this position if I hadn't walked out on you."

The brunette shook his head. "Either way, she was going to do something soon. I'm just glad that it's finally over."

"Me too..." Zoe leaned up to kiss him. "I love you."

"I love you, too," he replied. "Now let's go...we need to get to a damn hospital..."

The couple shakily rose to a stand, using each other for support. On their way to the ruined rooftop door, Zoe stopped momentarily to pick something up.

"What's that?" Takuya asked.

Zoe smiled, then slipped her engagement ring onto her finger. She gave Takuya another kiss, before the two of them continued their way to the destroyed door. In the distance, sirens could be heard roaring down the road, rushing to get to the grisly scene below. The trail of blood on the street was gut-wrenching, and beneath the truck, a single hand was poking out, unmoving. It was missing two fingers.

And that is the end of the story! So, did you like it? Did you like it? Huh, huh, HUH? *gets hit over the head with a broomstick* ...I'm okay! Well, anyway I hope everyone enjoyed the outcome and I will now begin to work on several upcoming stories, most of which are one-shots.

Also, I DID NOT make a mistake when I wrote '119'. In Japan, 119 is the emergency number, not 911. Just figured that I'd point that out so that you guys don't think that I'm a moron.