How the Night Hides Scars

Chapter 4 | 'A'

Cw: swearing, violence, guns, sexual content

It had been a month since I heard the call from the strange man. I didn't think much about it, my dad was a smart man surly he paid the man the money.

I was setting the table for dinner when I heard Takumi call out. He was playing video games in the living room and was adjacent to a window facing the driveway.

"Dad," Takumi called out.

"What's wrong Takumi ?" my dad asked.

I saw my dad walk into the living room and heard the conversation.

"A black SUV just pulled into our driveway." My brother said confused.

My dad looked outside and froze. His face turned pale and he looked like he just saw a murder.

"Everyone upstairs now! Go to your rooms and don't come out no matter what you hear!" My father yelled.

Without question, I saw my mother turn off the stove and go upstairs. Takumi and I followed suit. I didn't know what was going on but I was scared. I ran into my bedroom and locked the door behind me.

I heard my father open the door and start to have a conversation with someone.

"Artemis! What are you doing here? Oh, I see you bought your attack dogs. " My father said in a scared voice.

I heard a voice Similar to the one on the phone I heard a month ago.

"Pastel. It's been a month since our conversation and you haven't made a dent in the loan you took out." the man, who I assumed was Artemis growled

This intrigued me so I unlocked my door and went to the top of the steps hiding behind a wall. I peeked out just enough to see two odd-looking people. There was a woman with black hair tied up in a long ponytail. She wore a red dress with a foreign-looking design she had sleeves that went from her mid-arm to over her hands. There was a black fabric wrapped around her waist and a silver folding fan strapped to her side. What made her look odd was the fact that she had a pair of fox ears sticking out from the top of her head and six fox tails sticking out from the dress. She also had bright yellow eyes and red streaks of what I hoped was paint on her face.
"I think you know why we're here Pastel," the fox woman said.

Her voice was sweet sounding but the way she said the sentence made her sound insane. I saw her grab her fan and unfold it. It was bladed on the end.

The man standing next to her put his hand on her shoulder.

He had spiky brown hair that seemed to have a red tint to it. His eyes were blood red with a scar that looked like a claw mark over his left eye. He wore a black blazer over an opened button-up showing the gray shirt underneath. His jeans were ripped below the knee. The thing that made him stand out was his ears. They were pointed almost like an elf.

"Not yet Akemi, let the boss explain then we can have our fun," he said with a wicked grin and a voice that sounded uncanny.

I heard Artemis chuckle

"Usually I'd let you two have your fun but his family is upstairs and I'm going to take a shot in the dark and say he'd rather have a quick death" he laughed wickedly.

I heard my father cry out "No! Please!"

I silently pleaded and saw Akemi's ears twitch. She turned her head towards me and smiled evenly nudging her partner.

"Looks like we have someone peaking in on our conversation" She giggled.

I tried to run but turned around to see her partner right behind me. How did he get there so fast?

"Hello, there little Lady. Where do you think you're going?" he said grabbing the hem of my shirt.