House of Ghouls

Chapter Seven

     The dark and red light background in the room full of old pictures and hunting collections on the walls. Three years ago, I wore a very provocative white virgin dress, ankle brace, Gucci choker, white socks, thong, and my hair half shaved. Pandy requested my hair to be short and half shaved because I was property of the Hakujin's. I wasn't allowed to speak to anyone or leave his family home. I screamed at Pandy that week because I wanted know what did they do to Claire. Pandy grabbed my upper arms and slammed me against the wall as he slapped me across the face. My arms close to my shoulders were marked with bruises, face still red, and back had markings from being slammed. The guards in the red hats and angry white masks are outside on duty in front of the house. I saw Pandy walking another woman inside as I stayed in the room. Takers had a welcoming house party here. Ambrosa walked into the room with her tall cigarette holder between her fingers.
"Come downstairs and serve your husband. Just because Pandy invited his mistress, you don't need to be jealous and rude. A man needs to be treated with love by every woman." Ambrose demanded.
"Yes, Mrs. Mercury." I said as I walked with my head down. I noticed his mistress was high on something as she caressed his face, giggled with him, and he gave me the smirk.
"Good evening, Mi Amor. Don't be shy. Introduce yourself to Angie, nothing wrong with inviting new woman to help me tonight in bed." Pandy said with evil smirk on his face.
"Viola's punishment for disrespecting her husband. While you and Angie enjoy your sexy time together, she will be taught a lesson in her room alone." Ambrosa blew smoke in my face as she grabbed my jaw and forced me to watch the woman kiss and grab his crotch.
"Viola, be a peach and bring us two whiskeys please?" Pandy asked as the woman played with her jewelry.
I walked into the kitchen as his elderly father at the table playing cards with his men with cigars in their mouths. His mother cooking meals for the guests and passed the whiskey bottle for me to pour in those empty classes on the counter. I served to Pandy and his mistress first, then all the men at the table playing cards and talking about politics and trash talk about women. After I served beverages, Ambrosa sent me back to my room for hours. I kept my head down without a word. I remember starring at the window alone trying to find answers of how I was going to find Claire before she passed away. I couldn't sleep how loud Pandy fucked his crack head mistress all night. I laid on the floor by the window watching the full moon. Sleep always been a problem at the Hakujin's due to distress and fear.

I woke up from that nightmare damn flashbacks again. I try not to think about those flashbacks, but they show up in my sleep every night. I avoid talking about them. Dragon brought coffee upstairs from the kitchen as Shae jumped on the bed to check on me. I start petting her head as Shae as she starts licking my face. She's a sweet husky always trained to check on everyone in the house.
"You overslept. I didn't want to wake you up. It's everyone day off from training today." Dragon said as he gave Shae more petting and he kissed my forehead.
I peaked through the curtains as I saw snow flakes sticking on the window. Snow blowing through the trees on a gloomy day. Dragon gave me his navy blue long sleeve last night before I fell asleep on his lap watching our favorite animes together. I already knew it would snow on a Thanksgiving. I realized it is Thanksgiving. A traditional feast is happening at the pit under the huge tent on the Aogiri Tree Reservation pit tonight. It's huge every Thanksgiving year.
"Hi Viola, may I come in?" Seika asked as Dragon stepped out to let us alone.
"Seika, how are you feeling?' I hugged her carefully.
"I'm feeling better. My kagune is still healing. I have to go to physical therapy every week." Seika said as she sat next to me on the bed.
"Happy Thanksgiving." I smiled
"Happy Thanksgiving to you too, Vi. Do you think this might be our first Holiday gathering after being imprisoned in The Sawyer for years?" Seika asked.
"Probably. I see it as a fresh start for us." I said as I held Seika's hand.
"We were servants in the house of our abusers." Seika said.
"True. I was locked in the master bedroom. Hakujin's fed me scraps." I mentioned.
"Noah used to scream in my face. If I didn't cook the potatoes right, he slapped me super hard. If I didn't make his drink on time, he would throw things at me." Seika explained.
"Ambrosa forced me to eat a person in front of everyone in the house. It was a punishment for disrespecting her husband Chuck and his best friend Pandy." I explained to her.
"We had the worst Holidays and events at The Sawyer." Seika said as she holds her coffee.
"And the worst forced marriages and imprisonment." I said.
"Freedom?" I asked with our coffee mugs up.
"Freedom from the shit hole." Seika and I clicked our mugs lightly and drank our coffee.
Dragon returned back into our room as Seika laid back on the bed for a moment.
"Moira wants everyone downstairs for a meeting before feast tonight." Dragon said as Seika took her coffee and walked downstairs.
Dragon took my hand as he pulled me off the bed and kissed me in the lips. I wrapped my arms around his waists.
"We found the culprit." Dragon mentioned as he held both my hands.
"Really?" I questioned with my eyes wide.
"You will find out at the meeting. Hang in there, my love." Dragon reassured as he walked me downstairs.
Ezra brings his laptop and paperwork to the coffee table from the underground data center of the night watch. Kaye and Moira sat down together on the couch. Moira invited Ivan and his husband Malcolm from the Ravens household.
"Thank you for coming guys. A suspect has been captured by Ivan and Malcolm took him into custody." Moira announced.
"It indicates the suspect had a tattoo on his right hand that he is associated with the Takers. One of our night watchers from my household followed his tracks for months. He had Claire Juuzou's scent on clothing. The man was found in a cabin further up North by the boarder. He goes by the name Tim Coward." Ivan mentioned as I stood up.
"I know that fucking bastard!" I blurted in rage.
"Do you know this man?" Ivan asked.
"That's the prick who wouldn't leave Claire alone six fucking years ago! Now he turned out to be a Taker!" I snapped.
"Calm down, Viola! Tim is taken into to custody. If you need to step outside for a cigarette, please do so now." Moira sternly said as she offered me a cigarette. I took a cigarette and slowly sat down to take couple deep breaths before I could step outside.
"Are you going to be okay, Vi?" Ivan asked.
"I'll be fine. I will step out after the meeting. I apologize for cutting off." I said as I calmed down for a moment.
"No worries. Let's continue here." Ivan said as he passes the file to Malcolm.
"We did a search warrant on Coward. It turned out that he did snuck into the boarder. Coward pretend to be a civilian. We interrogated this man in the secure room. Coward was paid to murder Claire Juuzou in the home. The individual who paid him was Pandy Hakujin." Malcolm shared.
My fists clenched to hear that Travis was hired by Pandy to murder my girlfriend. I wanted to fly to the correctional center and tear Tim fucking head off. I could feel the rage inside. This man took away my girlfriend's life. I want to fucking tear his insides and show him how it feels to tear someone away from their loved ones. Dragon walked me outside for a couple minutes while everyone is also on their breaks. I stand outside on the patio with my cloak on from getting snowed on my head.
"You can't let rage get the best in you, Vi." Dragon said as he lit his cigarette next to me.
"Do you have any fucking idea how much I want to murder Tim? He's the butt fucker who used to harass Claire at work so many times when she made that clear that she wasn't interested six fucking years ago." I snapped again.
"Tim is going to get his sentencing on next court day. It is upsetting. Think about it. The culprit will get what is coming to him. I want to kill him too, but we can't murder Tim. If we murdered the culprit, the Takers would start more problems than a war threat in Detroit." Dragon said as he rubbed my back.
"Yeah, you do have a point, but it's not going to make the pain go away." I said as I finished my cigarette.
"It's funny how the prick gets busted on a Thanksgiving day." Dragon chuckled.
"No shit, hun." I laughed as I calmed down.
"Justice for Claire, babe." Dragon said as I smiled at him.
Both of us threw away out cigarette butts in the trash can and went back inside to the living room. Ezra turns on the screen to show images of the cabin Tim lived in the woods. Images of stolen items from Claire's house on the day she was murdered. Tim will be on trail on the first week of December. Let's hope the Takers do not start a war during court day. Moira is setting up a memorial for my girlfriend on a Thanksgiving night before feast.
Tonight, I put on my dark long sleeve short blouse with straps around my chest, flex leggings, and my cloak. Dragon helped put the necklace on for me. He puts on his flex long sleeve, jeans, and his cloak. I help him put his necklace around him. All of us walked to Claire's memorial grouped together at night before feast. The ground felt so cold from snowing this morning. We held our hands and send our thoughts to Claire in heaven. We lighten our candles and dropped flowers onto her grave in front of her home. Claire used to work with the ravens for night watch. I didn't know about Claire being part of the ravens on night watch while I was in The Sawyer at the time. Dragon took out old photos of Claire, Dragon, and I at the Anteiku in Midtown of us hanging out together playing cards and drinking our favorite beverages. He gave them to me before I placed one of the photos on her grave as I saw Claire's brother Suzuya and his partner Hanbee Abara.
"I want to thank all of you for coming to my sisters funeral. Claire always been so brave, dedicated, hardworking, and protective with those she cared the most in her life. Now the suspect is taken into custody and faced for a possible long sentence. She deserved a peaceful rest in the sky." Suzuya shared his speech as they light the candles. We all bowed for her respect as few of us walked for miles to the pit for the Thanksgiving feast.
After everyone shared their speech, I remember walking in the dark woods long summers ago when I mentally broke down long time ago. Some strange reason I love the sounds of howling and smell of cool breeze in the woods. My brother Ezra told me do not whistle in the middle of the night or you'll wake up the spirits. Ezra and I used to joke about creepy shit in the woods when we used to roam at camping sites.
Moira wore black, white, and blue beaded ear rings, Aogiri symbol cloak, viking hairstyle, long dress with skin shown patterns on her waist side, and wolf masked hook on her belt. Kaye had a camouflage suit, black tie, and black dress pants. Shae roaming and sniffing around people as Moira and Kaye held hands to the festival together as Ivan and Malcolm found us a table to sit, eat, drink, and socialize together. Moira and Kaye sat with the other leaders and mentors from different households. Dragon pats a spot for me to sit next him and Ezra sat next to me right after I seated. Three of us were in the middle of joking a little bit as Ivan clicked his wine glass with his ring on his finger. We all turned our attention to them.
"My husband and I want to give a toast to Claire Juuzou for her honor of the Ravens and send a Thanksgiving to our hardworking night watcher. She would make a great leader of the Ravens. If Claire were here, she would be honored to teach you how to be resilient. Happy Thanksgiving and Rest In Peace, Claire Juuzou. You will be missed." Ivan raised his glass.
"To Claire Juuzou!" All of us raised our beverages and drank our cups.
Few of the Aogiri Tree member went hunting for giant elks and turkeys for our feast tonight. Homemade blood wine in barrels brewed by the members on the reservation. Beverages available for humans who decide to join for Thanksgiving. We welcome everyone at the Thanksgiving festival. The drums pounding, and dancing at the pit. Dragon and I walked together to check out the venders and possibly dance later. I haven't danced for years. I might be terrible at dancing. It won't hurt to give it a try and dance with Dragon if he offers me to dance in the pit. The drums stopped as the instruments start to change to slow Japanese music as a female vocalist from Shibuya sung a song calming and peaceful for winter. Dragon took my hand and slow danced with other citizens.
"Are you okay, Vi?" He asked as I stopped for a moment.
"I haven't danced for years." I explained.
"Do you want to step out and relax together?" He asked.
"Sure." I said as we sat and talked.
"I haven't had a great time for so long. Four years of imprisonment, I wasn't allowed to have fun." I cried.
"Hey, it's okay. You are free to do what you want to do. You are slowly getting some enjoyment. If you don't want to dance, we can sit by the fire or watch the stars. You enjoyed chilling by the fire when you and Claire went camping at a DnD event six years ago. It's okay if you don't want to dance. I don't have a problem chilling by the fire or star gazing." Dragon reassured me.
We took a walk to the fire pit with our drinks and meals together. Dragon brought a blanket with him. He wrapped it around my shoulders as my eyes starred at the fire moving and smoke blowing up the dark sky. Ezra drank four cups of red booze and kept dancing in the pit as he passed out on the table. Seika met a guy at the pit name Allan Hercules Zen. He likes to go by his nickname Hercules. Moira and Kaye walked home with Shae running to ketch up with them and few of us stayed at the festival until 3:00 in the morning. I bet most of us might wake up with a hangover before we go back to our training before shit hits the fan by Takers. Seika's kagune might still need more physical therapy. My doctor asked if I am sure if this is what I want and I made it clear to them that I want to fight for justice. If there is no justice, then there is no peace.