Sour Hearts

Chapter 10, dinners ready.

A loud bang came from my bedroom door, it startled me awake and Akai nuzzled into my armpit a bit more, annoyed at the sound as she squeezed her eyes tight. She'd climbed into bed with me while I'd slept. Sigh. Why did she look so.. cute? I sighed as I pulled myself from the bed and her head dropped onto the bed dramatically. I stood up and threw a hoodie on lazily. The loud banging at the door returned, this time I was awake enough to notice the impatient clicking of Ryuketsu's heels. "Get up, I've got news. Meet in the kitchen." She said, with a sense of urgency and energy as if she'd been awake for a while before this. It was only 6:15 in the morning. Her heels clicked away into the distance of the hall and down the stairs. I got dressed and shook Akai awake. She squirmed and yawned and whined about how early it was. I didn't feel anything in my mind; But a small twist in my gut told me other wise. I wasn't sure what I felt. I coldly left the room while she continued to squirm in bed.

The hall way was cold and circled around and above the downstairs. I made my down the cold echoey marble stairs and into the kitchen. The cabinets were painted a bright white and the handles were thin rectangles of gold. I sat at the newly placed dark wood table. The chair made a frustrating screech as I pulled it out from the table and sat. Neru sat next to me with a curious look on her face. She smirked slightly, hm. Out of character.

   "So.. does she know there's a room she can take?" Neru giggled. As she scratched at the bottom of her chin. "Akai..? I.. uhm.." I shuttered a bit as I thought of Akai sneaking into the bed with me. "Yeah, I.." I trailed off, not sure how to finish. Ryuketsu walked over, plates in hand. She set one in front of me, then Neru, then one for her self as she pulled out a chair. She said quietly. I examined the plate. It seemed to be just.. a normal plate of eggs and bacon. I sat hesitantly, I didn't dare touch the food. Neru looked skeptical as well. "Well? Eat up." Ryuketsu pressured casually as she bit into a piece of bacon delicately, to avoid smudging her lip stick.

  I anxiously reached for a piece of bacon and bit down. The meat was a bit more tough than it usually would be.. or what I thought anyways. It'd been god knows how long since I'd had bacon. We never ate.. "normal" food; just whatever we could scavenge without being caught at the store or having faces recognized. I usually grabbed packaged goods from the school cafeteria while I could. The bacon tasted... normal, however. Nerus shocked face told me she felt the same. We both dug in, enjoying the fresh food for once. The eggs were perfectly cooked. Salty and peppery, with crisp outsides with runny yolks. I devoured it all within seconds. Ryuketsu glared to me and grinned. Akai made her way down the stairs and into the kitchen. "Ah, Akai, your plate is on the counter, please take a seat next to Yukki." She said pleasantly. "Thanks!" Akai smiled and took the plate of food, she sat next to me with no hesitation. I suddenly lost my appetite. Akai ate the bacon and began on the eggs, while Neru was nearly done with her food. Ryuketsu cleared her throat.

  "So, as you all know I woke you up so we could speak." She began, shifting from her seat and sat up and the head of the table. There was an uncomfortable silence. "Let's start off light, how was the food?" she smiled. "Good..?" Neru said, confused. Everyone silently nodded in agreement. "Good? That's good. Think you could stand to eat that and similar foods every morning?" She asked, with a seemingly kind tone. Everyone looked at each other confused and nodded in agreement once more. "Good, I'm glad you all can agree." She said, followed by a long pause. "Now, then, onto business, yes?"

   "This is a nice neighborhood. Cops watch like a hawk because of old people constantly filing complaints. If we're caught doing anything suspicious, we're out. We're the new young group without a man in sight coming here with fresh identities; any potential slip ups and they'll be right on our ass.— that leads me to my next point. We have no way to hide bodies. Yet we have such a high amount of customers here, we'll be generating a large amount of bodies. So.. how will we dispose of them?" She asked, leading into her next statement. She grinned. "Everyone, today I have cooked for you, a meal you will never forget.— not only because you'll be seeing it every day- well, not this meal, but.. more so.. an ingredient, everyday from now on. This "bacon" you've eaten today.." she backed up towards the cooler and opened it as she continued to speak, "—is non other than human flesh." The cooler she opened revealed a bloody mess of human remains.

  My stomach twisted. "Y..you're joking" I muttered. "Indeed I am not; unfortunately for all of you, the only way we can safely dispose of the bodies is by eating them."