The Hell's Spot - Chapter 8
Chapter 8.
The following night, they met at the nightclub.
He arrived a bit late and Masaki was already sitting at one of the tables. He gestured at him, smiling, with his usual pyjamas and a coloured hairband.
-Long time no see!- Nino heard his friend exclaiming.
-Indeed…- he sighed, sitting down.
Notte came immediately for the first order, while Aiba was already drinking a tea.
-Then, news?- asked Masaki, with the look of a conspirator.
Nino brought Aiba up to date on the most recent discoveries, intentionally forgetting to talk about the previous evening.
Nino looked around and noticed that he had already researched on all the presents.
He sighed. Then he stared at Kage, while Aiba’s monologue went on: Jun had his hair tied with a long red strap, a black t-shirt and the usual bartender suit’s trousers. He adored the fact that Kage’s style changed from time to time.
-What are you watching?- asked Cute suddenly, distracting him form his contemplation.
He shook his head and smiled at his friend.
-In the end, what’d you like to do tonight? You’ve interrogated all the presents…- asked Masaki, without insisting on the previous question.
That was the problem. Nino sighed.
-Our man of the black door, Arashi, has entered a short time ago. But he usually doesn’t stay there for a long time- Cute informed him, finishing his cup.
-Thank you for telling me. When he goes out, I’ll tail him- decided the detective, gesturing to Notte in order to tell him to leave his glass on the counter. He said goodbye to Masaki and sat down at his usual place, just in front of Jun.
They stared at each other.
-If you don’t stop immediately, I’ll start screaming that you are a maniac- the bartender informed him.
-What do I have to hear! To say that yesterday it was you who kissed me!- protested Nino, speaking quietly.
Kage tightened his lips and didn’t say anything.
-I’m sorry, again…- Jun murmured, putting two glasses on the tray that Dark was about to bring to the tables. The two bartenders smiled at each other briefly.
-You don’t need to feel sorry. You fell asleep so soundly that I didn’t want to wake you up for work…- Nino sighed.
Jun shook his head and resumed preparing glasses of cocktails.
-Hear, I’m sorry I have to tell you this, but… I’m not going to give up on Arashi. All my suspicions are about him, now I only have to check on him- said Kazunari, swallowing a sip from his glass.
-I understand…- sighed Jun.
Their eyes met, they smiled.
In that instant the black door opened and Arashi came out, greeting Notte, Dark and Kage.
Nino waited for a breath, then he quickly greeted Jun with a nod and went out in the candles’ corridor.
The man’s back, dressed in one of his usual suits, preceded Nino a little.
Together, they entered the elevator without saying a word, not even in the long dark distance to the exit-door.
Arashi turned right, Nino turned left. He got in the car and waited to see the man going on, after lighting on a cigarette. He prayed that Arashi would not took the subway or a train.
Thanks to his fortune, he saw the man getting in a blue car parked a little further from his - with dark glasses - and starting the engine. He followed cautiously on the road, without even losing the sight of his car. He suddenly remembered all the times he and Toma had tailed somebody: because of their job, it was a frequent action. They had always had fun, together.
Now, however, he had a bad sensation: the perception of something done wrong, or to be about to make a mistake.
The car went on in the large streets, in the slow rhythm of the city’s traffic, although it was late at night. Then it took a street on the left and he noticed Arashi stop a little far from him and get out. He did the same, quickly, just in case he lost him, still behind the corner.
He saw the man enter a ordinary café, judging from the bright shop-window. Arashi greeted another man who was already there and sat down with him, without calling the waiter.
He noted down the name of the café: “Aozora Pedal”.
He waited for almost two hours, while the two men were discussing on various topics, bent down on some sheets, reading or writing. Arashi’s friend was quite tall, with fine brown hair and was wearing glasses. He was wearing an elegant suit, too.
Finally he saw the two men tidy up their works, stand up and greet the café’s owner.
He flattened himself more against the corner, putting out the nth cigarette and checking that there weren’t other people in the street. Thankfully, it was desert.
The two men talked a bit more, in a familiar tone, next to the entrance of the café.
Then they took separate directions.
He was already ready to go on, when Arashi turned abruptly and called: -Tomohisa!-.
The other man turned to him.
-Don’t forget about the CD!- Arashi exclaimed out loud.
It was the first time Nino had the occasion to hear Arashi’s voice so clearly.
Tomohisa nodded and waved, before turning around the corner.
He sighed and asked himself if it was worth it to go on: that had surely been a work meeting between two journalists. Now where would have Arashi gone? Surely he had gone home, at 2:37 am.
He decided to continue for a little bit, hoping the wandering around of the man wouldn’t take him too far from his castle.
As soon as the blue car with dark glasses restarted, he slipped in the street as well.
He was expecting to arrive soon in a residential area, but the car turned violently and continued a little more around the side streets.
When he stopped in front of the cemetery gates, Nino’s eyes widened.
He saw Arashi get out, set off on the stone’s lane.
Nino got out of his own car and followed him, checking where he had stopped and in which line. Arashi stayed there for some minutes, in silence. Then he moved to another grave on the left. He spent some minutes there too.
Then Arashi went back and Nino let him go, on his car.
Kazunari entered the cemetery, reached the first grave that Arashi had observed so long.
He made light with his phone.
Kazunari noticed the white marble, the fresh flowers in the vase, of beautiful colours.
Then the photograph: the smiling face of a little girl of about 10 years old.
He read the name.
Sakurai Miki.
He saw the dates of birth and death and remembered what Jun had told him: Arashi was one year older than them. So he was 26.
And the girl had died 3 years before, when she was 11. She couldn’t be his daughter.
Maybe the younger sister... or who knows.
Then he looked for the second grave and sighed immediately.
He knew it.
It was Lilith’s.
It was new, in black marble. There were no flowers. There was just the date of her death and there wasn’t even the photo.
His heart clenched because of the pity.
How it was to die like this, without an identity?
Arashi, that night, had gone to visit his victims? Little Miki too had died because of him?
He returned to the car and drove home, in silence, without smoking.
The next morning he forced himself to return to his study, at least to tidy up.
Unfortunately, he didn’t pay Mary for doing the cleaning.
He tried in vain, as usual, to open the windows. Then he tidied up the desk, cleaned it from the dust and swept, recollecting all the waste papers in a plastic bag. After an hour of intense work, the study was finally tidied up.
He sat down on his chair, worn out, and found it hard to restrain himself to light on a cigarette: he just could not fill the ashtray again right away, now that he had just brought back its original colour.
He stopped, trying to think, closing his eyes.
Images of the previous night, of the graves enlightened by his mobile phone’s light, were still alive in his mind: Miki and Lilith. Who were they?
He started the personal computer and looked for the little girl’s name.
He found many, only homonyms.
Who was Arashi? Why should he go visit those two graves in the middle of the night?
Nino felt strange, like he should have had other things onto which reflect.
The same sensation he had from the previous night, that fear of making mistakes… why didn’t it go away? It was a horrible foreboding.
At lunch time he went to eat at McDonald’s. Healthy food.
He wasted his entire day like this, in a state of hypnosis that didn’t let him perceive anything, that didn’t permit him to think, do things.
Until he received that phone call.
He was about to get in his car, when he heard his phone ring.
He answered, sitting on the seat, closing the door.
-Hello?-.
Nobody answered.
In the silence of his car, he could hear broken sounds from the receiver.
Like sobs.
-Who’s there? Hello?- he asked again.
He checked the number and his heart stopped.
-J…Jun?- he asked, voice trembling.
The sobs intensified, they seemed to come out with difficulty, as if the person on the phone was having troubles in breathing.
-Kazu…nari…- Nino heard him murmur.
-What’s happening, Jun??? Where are you? Why are you crying?- he asked, without managing to calm himself down.
-Kazu… I’m scared. I’m a… I’m at home- he heard Jun say.
Frightened, he put on the speakerphone and started the engine, turning the steering wheel violently.
-I’m coming. Talk to me. What’s up?- he telegraphed, careful on the road.
Maybe trying not to think about other things.
-They… had me… Kazu, please… forgive me… should I… I… I should have warned you before…- he heard Jun cry, gasping for breath.
-Jun, what’s going on??? Don’t make me worry so much!- he screamed. He almost didn’t stop at the traffic lights.
-Are we friends?- asked the bartender.
-Of course we are, baka! I’m almost there, you must resist! Talk to me!- he exclaimed.
The tears were coming up in his eyes, and he didn’t even know why.
But it was that stupid foreboding, that horrible sensation.
-I… I love you… thank you for all…-.
-What are you saying???- he shouted.
-It’s… the last time I can… tell you this. Because they’re… here. Thank you… thank you for everything… Kazu…- cried Jun, against the phone. The blows at the door got more violent.
He closed his eyes shut.
-Who’s there?- Kazunari asked, slowly.
He took the right street, without slowing down in the bend. Someone honked.
-Say it again…- Jun sighed: -I… beg you…-.
-You’re beautiful, Jun- Nino smiled, while a tear escaped his eyes.
It seemed like he could feel the smile between Kage’s tears.
Then the line went mute, and he felt lost.
But it wasn’t the time to slow down, to cry.
He wiped away the tears and the sensation of fear and drove desperately until Jun’s apartment. When he arrived, ten minutes had passed since the end of their phone call.
He cursed himself for working so far away, for having left Jun alone… he hoped to be still in time.
He hurried up on the stairs.
When he arrived on the landing and found the door wide open, broken and ruined, however, he slowed down. There was no one inside. Was it too late?
He entered the apartment that had been so welcoming two nights before, and that now made him sick. He briefly looked in the kitchen, in the bathroom. Everything was in order.
Then he noticed the open window in the bedroom. The white curtain that was floating because of the wind.
But the air wasn’t reaching his lungs.
Kage’s body lied on the floor next to the bed.
The cuts on his neck and hips, the stains of blood everywhere on the carpet, on the sheets, on the fallen objects. The room was all upside down, like he had had to fight.
The blood was still fresh, but… he just couldn’t think anymore.
He kneeled down on the floor, dirtying his trousers.
He gently caressed Jun’s face: the soft skin, the red lips, the scared eyes that were watching him. That tear on his cheek.
He wasn’t there anymore.
And it was all his fault.
He hugged Jun tightly, lifting him from the floor.
He keep calling him, softly.
A/N: OMG! What I've done??? çOç
The following night, they met at the nightclub.
He arrived a bit late and Masaki was already sitting at one of the tables. He gestured at him, smiling, with his usual pyjamas and a coloured hairband.
-Long time no see!- Nino heard his friend exclaiming.
-Indeed…- he sighed, sitting down.
Notte came immediately for the first order, while Aiba was already drinking a tea.
-Then, news?- asked Masaki, with the look of a conspirator.
Nino brought Aiba up to date on the most recent discoveries, intentionally forgetting to talk about the previous evening.
Nino looked around and noticed that he had already researched on all the presents.
He sighed. Then he stared at Kage, while Aiba’s monologue went on: Jun had his hair tied with a long red strap, a black t-shirt and the usual bartender suit’s trousers. He adored the fact that Kage’s style changed from time to time.
-What are you watching?- asked Cute suddenly, distracting him form his contemplation.
He shook his head and smiled at his friend.
-In the end, what’d you like to do tonight? You’ve interrogated all the presents…- asked Masaki, without insisting on the previous question.
That was the problem. Nino sighed.
-Our man of the black door, Arashi, has entered a short time ago. But he usually doesn’t stay there for a long time- Cute informed him, finishing his cup.
-Thank you for telling me. When he goes out, I’ll tail him- decided the detective, gesturing to Notte in order to tell him to leave his glass on the counter. He said goodbye to Masaki and sat down at his usual place, just in front of Jun.
They stared at each other.
-If you don’t stop immediately, I’ll start screaming that you are a maniac- the bartender informed him.
-What do I have to hear! To say that yesterday it was you who kissed me!- protested Nino, speaking quietly.
Kage tightened his lips and didn’t say anything.
-I’m sorry, again…- Jun murmured, putting two glasses on the tray that Dark was about to bring to the tables. The two bartenders smiled at each other briefly.
-You don’t need to feel sorry. You fell asleep so soundly that I didn’t want to wake you up for work…- Nino sighed.
Jun shook his head and resumed preparing glasses of cocktails.
-Hear, I’m sorry I have to tell you this, but… I’m not going to give up on Arashi. All my suspicions are about him, now I only have to check on him- said Kazunari, swallowing a sip from his glass.
-I understand…- sighed Jun.
Their eyes met, they smiled.
In that instant the black door opened and Arashi came out, greeting Notte, Dark and Kage.
Nino waited for a breath, then he quickly greeted Jun with a nod and went out in the candles’ corridor.
The man’s back, dressed in one of his usual suits, preceded Nino a little.
Together, they entered the elevator without saying a word, not even in the long dark distance to the exit-door.
Arashi turned right, Nino turned left. He got in the car and waited to see the man going on, after lighting on a cigarette. He prayed that Arashi would not took the subway or a train.
Thanks to his fortune, he saw the man getting in a blue car parked a little further from his - with dark glasses - and starting the engine. He followed cautiously on the road, without even losing the sight of his car. He suddenly remembered all the times he and Toma had tailed somebody: because of their job, it was a frequent action. They had always had fun, together.
Now, however, he had a bad sensation: the perception of something done wrong, or to be about to make a mistake.
The car went on in the large streets, in the slow rhythm of the city’s traffic, although it was late at night. Then it took a street on the left and he noticed Arashi stop a little far from him and get out. He did the same, quickly, just in case he lost him, still behind the corner.
He saw the man enter a ordinary café, judging from the bright shop-window. Arashi greeted another man who was already there and sat down with him, without calling the waiter.
He noted down the name of the café: “Aozora Pedal”.
He waited for almost two hours, while the two men were discussing on various topics, bent down on some sheets, reading or writing. Arashi’s friend was quite tall, with fine brown hair and was wearing glasses. He was wearing an elegant suit, too.
Finally he saw the two men tidy up their works, stand up and greet the café’s owner.
He flattened himself more against the corner, putting out the nth cigarette and checking that there weren’t other people in the street. Thankfully, it was desert.
The two men talked a bit more, in a familiar tone, next to the entrance of the café.
Then they took separate directions.
He was already ready to go on, when Arashi turned abruptly and called: -Tomohisa!-.
The other man turned to him.
-Don’t forget about the CD!- Arashi exclaimed out loud.
It was the first time Nino had the occasion to hear Arashi’s voice so clearly.
Tomohisa nodded and waved, before turning around the corner.
He sighed and asked himself if it was worth it to go on: that had surely been a work meeting between two journalists. Now where would have Arashi gone? Surely he had gone home, at 2:37 am.
He decided to continue for a little bit, hoping the wandering around of the man wouldn’t take him too far from his castle.
As soon as the blue car with dark glasses restarted, he slipped in the street as well.
He was expecting to arrive soon in a residential area, but the car turned violently and continued a little more around the side streets.
When he stopped in front of the cemetery gates, Nino’s eyes widened.
He saw Arashi get out, set off on the stone’s lane.
Nino got out of his own car and followed him, checking where he had stopped and in which line. Arashi stayed there for some minutes, in silence. Then he moved to another grave on the left. He spent some minutes there too.
Then Arashi went back and Nino let him go, on his car.
Kazunari entered the cemetery, reached the first grave that Arashi had observed so long.
He made light with his phone.
Kazunari noticed the white marble, the fresh flowers in the vase, of beautiful colours.
Then the photograph: the smiling face of a little girl of about 10 years old.
He read the name.
Sakurai Miki.
He saw the dates of birth and death and remembered what Jun had told him: Arashi was one year older than them. So he was 26.
And the girl had died 3 years before, when she was 11. She couldn’t be his daughter.
Maybe the younger sister... or who knows.
Then he looked for the second grave and sighed immediately.
He knew it.
It was Lilith’s.
It was new, in black marble. There were no flowers. There was just the date of her death and there wasn’t even the photo.
His heart clenched because of the pity.
How it was to die like this, without an identity?
Arashi, that night, had gone to visit his victims? Little Miki too had died because of him?
He returned to the car and drove home, in silence, without smoking.
The next morning he forced himself to return to his study, at least to tidy up.
Unfortunately, he didn’t pay Mary for doing the cleaning.
He tried in vain, as usual, to open the windows. Then he tidied up the desk, cleaned it from the dust and swept, recollecting all the waste papers in a plastic bag. After an hour of intense work, the study was finally tidied up.
He sat down on his chair, worn out, and found it hard to restrain himself to light on a cigarette: he just could not fill the ashtray again right away, now that he had just brought back its original colour.
He stopped, trying to think, closing his eyes.
Images of the previous night, of the graves enlightened by his mobile phone’s light, were still alive in his mind: Miki and Lilith. Who were they?
He started the personal computer and looked for the little girl’s name.
He found many, only homonyms.
Who was Arashi? Why should he go visit those two graves in the middle of the night?
Nino felt strange, like he should have had other things onto which reflect.
The same sensation he had from the previous night, that fear of making mistakes… why didn’t it go away? It was a horrible foreboding.
At lunch time he went to eat at McDonald’s. Healthy food.
He wasted his entire day like this, in a state of hypnosis that didn’t let him perceive anything, that didn’t permit him to think, do things.
Until he received that phone call.
He was about to get in his car, when he heard his phone ring.
He answered, sitting on the seat, closing the door.
-Hello?-.
Nobody answered.
In the silence of his car, he could hear broken sounds from the receiver.
Like sobs.
-Who’s there? Hello?- he asked again.
He checked the number and his heart stopped.
-J…Jun?- he asked, voice trembling.
The sobs intensified, they seemed to come out with difficulty, as if the person on the phone was having troubles in breathing.
-Kazu…nari…- Nino heard him murmur.
-What’s happening, Jun??? Where are you? Why are you crying?- he asked, without managing to calm himself down.
-Kazu… I’m scared. I’m a… I’m at home- he heard Jun say.
Frightened, he put on the speakerphone and started the engine, turning the steering wheel violently.
-I’m coming. Talk to me. What’s up?- he telegraphed, careful on the road.
Maybe trying not to think about other things.
-They… had me… Kazu, please… forgive me… should I… I… I should have warned you before…- he heard Jun cry, gasping for breath.
-Jun, what’s going on??? Don’t make me worry so much!- he screamed. He almost didn’t stop at the traffic lights.
-Are we friends?- asked the bartender.
-Of course we are, baka! I’m almost there, you must resist! Talk to me!- he exclaimed.
The tears were coming up in his eyes, and he didn’t even know why.
But it was that stupid foreboding, that horrible sensation.
-I… I love you… thank you for all…-.
-What are you saying???- he shouted.
-It’s… the last time I can… tell you this. Because they’re… here. Thank you… thank you for everything… Kazu…- cried Jun, against the phone. The blows at the door got more violent.
He closed his eyes shut.
-Who’s there?- Kazunari asked, slowly.
He took the right street, without slowing down in the bend. Someone honked.
-Say it again…- Jun sighed: -I… beg you…-.
-You’re beautiful, Jun- Nino smiled, while a tear escaped his eyes.
It seemed like he could feel the smile between Kage’s tears.
Then the line went mute, and he felt lost.
But it wasn’t the time to slow down, to cry.
He wiped away the tears and the sensation of fear and drove desperately until Jun’s apartment. When he arrived, ten minutes had passed since the end of their phone call.
He cursed himself for working so far away, for having left Jun alone… he hoped to be still in time.
He hurried up on the stairs.
When he arrived on the landing and found the door wide open, broken and ruined, however, he slowed down. There was no one inside. Was it too late?
He entered the apartment that had been so welcoming two nights before, and that now made him sick. He briefly looked in the kitchen, in the bathroom. Everything was in order.
Then he noticed the open window in the bedroom. The white curtain that was floating because of the wind.
But the air wasn’t reaching his lungs.
Kage’s body lied on the floor next to the bed.
The cuts on his neck and hips, the stains of blood everywhere on the carpet, on the sheets, on the fallen objects. The room was all upside down, like he had had to fight.
The blood was still fresh, but… he just couldn’t think anymore.
He kneeled down on the floor, dirtying his trousers.
He gently caressed Jun’s face: the soft skin, the red lips, the scared eyes that were watching him. That tear on his cheek.
He wasn’t there anymore.
And it was all his fault.
He hugged Jun tightly, lifting him from the floor.
He keep calling him, softly.
A/N: OMG! What I've done??? çOç