Puppet

CHAPTER 29:


Luke awoke to the soft raising of Kiyoshi’s chest. Luke had fallen asleep in a sitting position. His stronger arms were wrapped cautiously around Kiyoshi’s sleeping form. When a tiny snore escaped through Kiyoshi’s nose, Luke couldn’t resist chuckling. He chuckled a bit shakily, though, and this startled Kiyoshi awake.

“Wha,” Kiyoshi rubs his tired eyes, “Where am I?”

“I’m sorry,” Luke apologizes, “I did not mean to wake you.”

With confused eyes, Kiyoshi stares up at Luke. He then remembered the night before. With no idea as of why, a small blush crept over Kiyoshi’s cheeks. He was not lying in his apartment, within his bed. He was in Luke’s bedroom chamber.

“Luke,” Kiyoshi speaks, “How did you break free of my bondage?”

“Well,” Luke fakes coughs, “In all honesty…” Luke took a pause. He looked over Kiyoshi’s face, knowing he couldn’t tell the truth. He knew Kiyoshi would not enjoy hearing that Luke could’ve easily broken his bondage from the tie; knowing that he could’ve easily taken over the fun game they had by having his own way with Kiyoshi. He could not tell Kiyoshi that he allowed Kiyoshi to have his way, “It came loose,” Luke lies, “So I was able to get my hands free.”

“Oh, that’s good,” Kiyoshi smiles, “Sorry I dozed off like that. I didn’t mean to leave you bonded.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Luke holds Kiyoshi closer, “Everything turned out perfect.”

Kiyoshi nods in agreement. He moves his own arms tighter around Luke. The moment was perfect. The room was quiet; peaceful. Though surrounded by an old factory, Kiyoshi could hear the soft chirping of birds outside the tiny window in Luke’s room. Kiyoshi didn’t want to move. He was happy where he was. He enjoyed hearing the soft rise of Luke’s chest against his own. Kiyoshi was saddened when Luke pushed him away. He was sure Luke was about to rise to dress, but something even better happened.

A kiss was shared. Though his lips were attached to Luke’s, a smile still spread over Kiyoshi’s face. He let his lips part to let in Luke’s sweet tongue. The moment was magical, and Kiyoshi did not want it to end.

Both he and Luke were nearly embarrassed when the door shot open and Ivalyn came bursting in.

“Luke,” she cries, “Something…” Ivalyn pauses. A tiny smile spreads over her lips as she watches Luke struggle to keep Kiyoshi and his self covered by the white sheet. “I’m sorry,” Ivalyn giggles, “I did not mean to interrupt. But the news I have is urgent.”

“What,” Luke spoke, displeased with the sudden intrusion by Ivalyn. He held Kiyoshi close, wanting her to get that they wished to be alone.

“Luke, Kiyoshi,” Ivalyn sighs softly, her expression suddenly turning sad, “It’s been weeks since an accident like this has occurred.”

“Accident,” Kiyoshi whispers, “What happened?”

Ivalyn lets her eyes gaze from Kiyoshi to Luke. Lowering her head to the ground, Ivalyn speaks with a chill in her voice. “Luke, t—two bodies were discovered dead outside our factory this morning, by me and Teo.”

Luke and Kiyoshi both became full alert. Kiyoshi’s own blue eyes widened from the shocking news. He turned to look up at Luke. Luke’s eyes were cold looking; almost freezing with this almost antsy expression.

“And the two bodies,” Ivalyn finishes, “Were women. We have no clue as to where they came from. They seemed to be two teenagers, maybe went to some bar and never went back home. Who would brutally murder someone just for the fun of it? I don’t understand…” Ivalyn trailed off. She waited just in case Luke wanted to speak. He never did, so Ivalyn asked, “What should we do? Shall we leave it up to the officers…oh; you are one now, aren’t you?”

“Take me to the bodies,” Luke speaks, startling Ivalyn and Kiyoshi, “I want to look at them.”

Ivalyn nods her head; though she feels queasy about seeing those bodies again.

“Sure…”

--

The smell of splattered blood and wasting flesh made Kiyoshi wobbly. He stood behind Luke as Luke kneeled to examine the bodies. When they first arrived, rats had begun to savage around the dead bodies; expecting for themselves as flies flew to nest in the hollowed out stomachs.

“Damn I knew it,” Luke whispers to his self, though the others could hear him, “These women were murdered the exact same way as those ones from weeks ago.” Standing to his feet, Luke takes a step back, but curses when his shoe touches the dribbled blood running from the dead bodies. “Fuck…”

“Luke,” Kiyoshi whispers from behind Ivalyn; his head popping out from behind her, “What’s going on? Why is this happening?”

Kiyoshi received no answer from Luke. Kiyoshi could see Luke’s back straightened from being tensed. This aroma of anger could be seen heating off throughout Luke’s body.

“Luke,” Kiyoshi whispers again, “Luke are you alright?”

“Let’s head to OOP,” Luke hisses, even though it was their day off, “I’m sure Sir Wakehiko will want to investigate in this.”

“But how would we tell him,” Kiyoshi begins, “Of this? How on Earth would he react? What we’ll tell him we were just strolling through the factory early together? He wouldn’t buy that. No, we can’t tell him, Luke! We can’t!”

Though Luke didn’t want to believe so, he had a feeling Kiyoshi was correct. Officer Wakehiko wouldn’t buy into a story such as that, but there had to be some way of letting the man know. Luke needed to think. Perhaps it’d be for the better if his mortal friends didn’t find out about this mess. If only he and Kiyoshi could keep it a secret, no other officers would get hurt, or worse, murdered. Officer Talakani and Yaichiro were great men, and they suffered the same fate as these two girls.

“Alright,” Luke whispers, “Then we won’t tell them of this. Let’s clean up this mess…”

“What,” Kiyoshi blinks, “But Luke…”

“What now,” Luke almost yells, causing Kiyoshi to take a step back, “Do you want to tell your little mortal friends or not! If you do not want to risk them getting hurt, then I suggest you shut up and go with my plan!”

Ivalyn’s own eyes widened to see Kiyoshi cowering back in fear from his own puppet. She has seen that before, and she grew angry. “Luke,” Ivalyn began, “What are you thinking…” Ivalyn takes a pause.

Luke sharply turns his head to glare at Ivalyn. His eyes, they were almost black. How was that possible? Brown eyes became black eyes. Ivalyn took a step back herself, almost afraid of Luke’s sudden darkness.

“Sorry…” Ivalyn could only whisper this, and is received with a nod from Luke.

Luke lets off a small groan. He turns his attention back on the two rotting corpses. “Go and fetch Teo, Rod, and Gil. They’ll take care of this mess.”

“Yes sir,” Ivalyn quickly moves back into the factory.

Kiyoshi keeps his eyes on Luke’s back. Luke held still, his lowered head never leaving the corpses. Taking a gulp, Kiyoshi tries to move forward, wanting to help Luke fix this. “Luke, I…” Kiyoshi, however, was interrupted.

“Kiyoshi,” Luke said, “Go back to my bedroom.”

Growing nervous, Kiyoshi fiddles with his fingers, rotating his two pointers around the other. “But…”

“Go now,” Luke shouts, once again making Kiyoshi step back, “Or else I’ll fetch Ivalyn to take you home!”

Without speaking another word, Kiyoshi swiftly turns on his heel and rushes into the factory.

--

Kiyoshi allows his weakened body to fall upon the soft, cold white sheet. The bedroom had turned from a heated love chamber to a dampened room full of emptiness.

“Why,” Kiyoshi asks as he weeps into the pillow, “Why did this have to happen now? Everything is going wrong!” Turning his head, Kiyoshi stares up at the tiny window. Outside he could see a small blue bird resting upon the broken pipe. Was this a sign? It was the one thing that enlightened Kiyoshi’s heart. He smiled at the bird, watching it for many passing minutes.

--

“Did I fall asleep?” Rubbing his eyes, Kiyoshi sat up on the bed. He was still in Luke’s bedroom. He let out a tiny sigh, wondering how much time has gone by. He decided to investigate the group’s main dining area. Before leaving, though, he turned his head back to the window. The little blue bird was gone.

--

“Luke,” Rod speaks with his arms crossed, “Everything has been taken care of. The bodies have been disposed of.”

“Fine then,” Luke sighs, sitting on a stool, “Let’s not speak of this again.”

Though he wanted the conversation of the corpses to be over with, Luke could sense that his group did not want to end it. They all stared worriedly at him, wondering what exactly he was thinking.

“Stop looking at me,” Luke speaks softly; his eyes now closed, and his chin resting neatly on his right palm, “It’s annoying.”

“We’re only worried about you,” Jewels growls while pushing back her loose purple hair, “Sheesh!”

At the sound of padding bare feet, each immortal turned to watch Kiyoshi come in from the dark hallway. He spots Luke, and silent shifts against the wall. In his own angered tone, Kiyoshi says: “Can I come out now?”

Each immortal was surprised by Kiyoshi’s attitude. He talked to Luke as if he were Kiyoshi’s own father.

“What happened to those bodies,” Kiyoshi asks, “What’d you do with them?”

“They’ve been taken care of,” Rod speaks, “We got rid of them.”

With his hands in fists, Kiyoshi makes his way over to Luke. Luke has his eyes turned from Kiyoshi; still leaving his head resting on his palm. Kiyoshi comes up next to Luke and gives his best angered glare, though it didn’t seem that scary to the immortal group.

“Luke,” Kiyoshi whispers angrily, “What was with you? You didn’t seem like yourself…”

“I’m fine,” Luke turns his head to Kiyoshi, “I’m fine…”

Kiyoshi was about to protest, but he and the others were all taken back by a sudden crash of glass breaking. They all stood alarmed by the breaking of the large window. Luke pushed Kiyoshi behind them as the group stared up at a dark shadow. The only thing visible was its blood covered hands; staining the remaining few pieces of window that hadn’t been struck.

“What the fuck,” Teo shouts aloud, “Who the hell are you?”

The creature did not answer immediately, but soon its dark, inhuman voice spoke. “You,” the creature speaks with a ruptured voice, “Having a little party, are we?” The creature allows its lips to come into view. With a smile, the creature allows fresh blood to ooze out from its gums, leaving the mouth and dripping off its chin, “Wait one second. You all look familiar to me. It’s bad enough you stole the bodies I was feeding on, but now that I see—I recognize this place.” Using its white hand, the creature wipes away the blood off his chin. “Oh yes now I remember who you are,” the creature’s head comes into view, and all immortals gasp.

Luke and Kiyoshi couldn’t believe their eyes. The creature was one they knew, and they were both struck terrified.

“I’ve been waiting a long time for this,” the creature hops into the room, making each immortal, including Luke and Kiyoshi, take major steps back, “Should I introduce myself again, or do you know me well enough?”

With clenched teeth, Luke lets the creatures name slip past his lips. “Ra…”

*End of Chapter 29*