• redface AUTHORS NOTE:sorry about the description. I just realised it was terrible


    Prologue
    Duke woke up. She checked her surroundings. A dumpster? Why was she in a dumpster? She flexed her hand. It wasn’t broken anymore. A burnt odour and a sting in her eyes caused her to look up and there it was. Her apartment. It was on fire and something in the back of her mind told her that Derryn was dead.
    “What’s happening?” She asked herself. It was cold. She went back to sleep.

    CHAPTER1:
    Duke didn’t realise she was staring until Courtney was waving her hand in front of her face, trying to grab her attention
    “Duke...Duke!” She cried. Duke finally snapped out of her short lived trance and looked over to Courtney who was currently putting price stickers on the newly arrived CD’s
    “What?” She asked as if she had done nothing. Courtney pointed to the man standing in the corner, dressed as if he was inside of a Quentin Tarantino movie and smiled
    “I think that guy knows you’re staring at him” Courtney said whilst going back to her job. Duke shrugged and thought
    “If he knew I was staring at him, he would’ve said something by now” Duke rested her head on her palm and continued to look at the intriguing man in the corner of the room. He had long-for-a-guy neat black hair and a plain body. In other words he wasn’t buff or anything but he had an elegance that made Duke keep looking. Courtney giggled a little under her breath
    “I don’t know...maybe he likes it” She complimented Duke. Duke hated it. She brushed a long lock of her hair into her face and huffed
    “I doubt it” She replied but mainly to herself. Courtney’s head lifted and her eyes followed something moving outside the store window. She gulped and nudged Duke so she fell slightly off balance
    “What!” She hissed. Courtney pointed to the tall man about to enter the store
    “That guy might like it but your boyfriend sure wouldn’t” Courtney answered and looked busy as the man approached the counter. Duke put yet another lock of hair into her face to hide from the kiss that was soon to come.
    “Hey baby” He greeted Duke with a short kiss on the cheek
    “Hey Derryn” Duke greeted him back sheepishly. Derryn’s face turned shortly from delighted to disgust as he pulled a long black hair from his mouth. After quick inspection he realised whose it was and tucked Dukes hair behind her ear
    “How many times do I have to tell you not to hide that pretty face of yours?” He demanded with a smile. Duke blushed and pushed it back. She really hated it when people said nice things to her. She didn’t know why. Normal people tended to like the odd compliment but Duke would always coward away whenever someone said anything remotely kind. The big deal was that Derryn was right when he said that Duke had a pretty face. Despite the total lack of sunshine she had beautiful smooth skin and lips that were naturally red without the aid of lipstick. She seemed inhumanly beautiful. From a distance you’d mistake her for some supernatural being. Nonetheless Duke denied this. She just hated being called beautiful. She preferred a mystery behind her hair and long coats
    “So anyway...” Duke muttered. Her face was to the ground “What are you doing here?” Derryn put a large Styrofoam cup of coffee on the bench before Duke and answered
    “I was just bringing you your medicine” He said jokingly. A grin spread across Dukes face once she saw her daily grind. The hot beverage hit her lips and almost instantly she was rejuvenated ‘ahh caffeine, the nectar of gods’ she thought. The tall, quiet man from the corner of the store finally picked out a CD and approached the counter. He saw Duke and smiled flirtatiously having not seen the gesture made by Derryn earlier. Derryn huffed as Duke smiled back. She was mainly just impressed by his music taste but Derryn wasn’t having any of it. He grunted and stomped childishly out of the store. The tall guy watched as he left and wondered about his exit
    “What’s with him?” He asked the two ladies behind the counter. Courtney laughed and picked up a new box of CDs ready for shelfing
    “Oh it’s nothing. He’s probably just the only guy who gets PMS” It was obvious that Courtney didn’t like Derryn. These jokes were not rare but they were true. Behind the nice guy visage, Derryn was a jerk. He was controlling and jealous and this is why Duke didn’t feel any guilt as her eyes ran slowly over the customer standing in front of her
    “Hey shut up” Duke told Courtney as if she was standing up for Derryn. Courtney just laughed and began her shelfing duties.
    “Don’t worry about her. She thinks she’s funny” Duke leaned over and said to the man in a faux top secret manner. He half laughed and stroked a badge on his jacket. Duke spotted the piece of jewellery and read the simple hiragana on it ‘Hide(Hee-day) it wrote
    “Hide?” She asked pointing to the small silver spot on his jacket “Is that your name?” He looked down and realised what she was talking about. He nodded then put out his hand intended for a formal greeting and continued
    “Takahashi” He revealed his last name. Duke shook his hand and blushed
    “Ishihara” She procrastinated, contemplating whether or not to tell him her first name “Duke” She finally finished. He smiled and let her hand go. He grabbed the CD and his change and before leaving the store, he turned to Duke and said
    “Nice name” And he disappeared into the crowd. Duke took the last couple of sips of her coffee and tossed it basketball style into the small bin situated beside her feet. He seemed interested in Duke. There was no doubt why. Duke was probably the most beautiful woman he’d ever met. She and Derryn were a charming couple. They’d been together since just before they left high school which would have been 5 years from next month. Duke’s parents had convinced her to move in with Derryn and forget about college. You see, Derryn came from a wealthy and successful background. This thrilled Duke’s parents because Derryn got his father’s high paying job right out of school and was damned good at it. Yep, life was turning out pretty swell for Duke but she wished she could have built a career instead of a job at a CD store to keep her occupied during the day. Duke was bored and her thoughts about becoming a trophy wife someday were growing stronger and stronger each day, each loveless kiss, each over sized cup of coffee brought to her before he disappeared for the day and most of the night. You could assume that this was the reason that Duke kept herself hidden from the world but her mystery would keep you from being sure of anything. Duke whistled to Courtney to grab her attention
    “Yes?” She turned her head in Dukes direction. Duke put a book beneath her elbows and put her eyes on the pages though keeping her words directed at Courtney
    “How come you always have to be so mean to Derryn?” She asked. She started fiddling with a strand of her long brown hair. Courtney gave Duke a ‘are you kidding me?’ look and huffed, changing her tone to serious
    “He’s an absolute jerk. I don’t even know why you’re still with him” Courtney was nearly yelling as she wandered back over to the counter. Her short blonde hair bobbing behind her. Duke gave a monologue of gibberish before finding some words that were understandable
    “He’s sweet” Was all she could say. She was blushing. She was always an awful liar and bad at hiding emotions
    “You never see him anyway. He spends his entire days and most of the night up in the office doing god knows what...”
    “Working” Duke retorted before Courtney had a chance to suggest anything. But she had always wondered why Derryn kept Duke locked up in his high rise apartment like a Guinea Pig if he never took her out to play. Duke and Courtney were like the odd couple. Courtney was loud, bubbly and joked at any moment possible even if it was a tad inappropriate and Duke was shy, reserved and didn’t speak much. They found a friendship in their boredom and loneliness. Duke kept the job at the CD for a hobby. She didn’t need to be making any money. Derryn made enough as it was and Courtney was the opposite. She was much younger than Duke and was only fresh out of high school. She’d taken the first half of the year to party before college but now was the time to break a leg and make some money so she wasn’t living in poverty while she studied. How Duke envied Courtney. They were probably the only friends that one another had but that was also sad in itself. They never hung out outside of work nor did they know much about each other even their music preferences despite working together in a music store. Duke was an inch away from going insane. She desperately needed a life.
    Another weekday, another bore. Mainly the only people who came into the store were teenage kids on the weekends or maybe sometimes in the afternoon. Today was a Monday and the only interesting customer that came by today was an old woman of about 80. She told a story about how she used to have a lovely singing voice once upon a time (then demonstrate the after picture) Talked of the tragic sickness she got when visiting Fiji that ruined it and said to Courtney that she reminded her of her daughter before going off onto a story about how she’s a successful writer and lives in a nice building in Shinjuku near Disneyland. How nice the view is at night. But now it was nearing closing time and Duke and Courtney had succumbed to leaning idly over the counter playing ‘eye spy’
    “Money?” Courtney guessed
    “No” Duke replied in a catatonic voice. She couldn’t wait to get home. Courtney who had boundless amounts of energy looked around the room hoping to find something beginning with ‘M’
    “Moose?” She guessed again referring to a poster on the opposite wall. Duke pulled on her coat and answered whilst in the middle of doing up her buttons
    “Sure why not” She scratched her head before quickly putting her hair back into place. If Courtney had a tail, now would have been the time that it shot up
    “Okay. My turn” It took her a couple of moments and Duke now had to use full force to keep her eyes opened. Courtney grinned and looked at Duke “I know! I spy with my little eye something beginning with ‘G’” She waited for Dukes guess but instead she just shook her head and pulled the keys out of the drawer. She wasn’t in the mood for games anymore
    “I don’t know” She said. Courtney sighed. Duke was never any fun but she still had a look of pride on her face when she pointed out the window to a woman standing beneath a lamp-post and said
    “Goth! Get it? ‘G’ and she looks stupid...Goth”
    “I get it Courtney” Duke looked out of the window. At first she thought nothing of it. That maybe that woman was just waiting for a bus and decided to go window shopping whilst bored but once she really looked at that woman she realised that was staring right back at her. Her eyes were ablaze. Not angry or anything but she was really concentrating on looking at Duke. Duke got what Courtney meant by Goth once she studied her a little more. She was wearing a tight black skirt that left little (or to a man, more) to the imagination, a corseted shirt, knee high boots and a long black trench coat that resembled the one that Duke was wearing. She had put a lot of effort into her make-up. Her whole body looked white. If Duke didn’t know any better she would’ve swore she’d seen a ghost or something. Duke peered at the woman a little harder. She hoped she didn’t seem rude or anything but she just wanted to figure this person out
    “She looks dead” She said to Courtney who was only half interested in the woman by now. Courtney smiled and pulled her sleeves down past her hands
    “Maybe she is. WOOOOOO!” She ran around the room, arms flailing in imitation of a ghost. Duke took her eyes off the woman for a split second. It was only a split second so she could see Courtney’s ghost cosplay but as soon as she returned her stare to the woman out front of the shop, she had disappeared
    “She’s gone” Duke gasped. Courtney ceased to be a ghost and laughed once more
    “Good. I wouldn’t have wanted to get any closer to her. What a freak” She commented as she opened the door. Courtney waited beside the doorframe until Duke had left and locked it up “See you tomorrow!” She called out to Duke who was already halfway down the street. She wasn’t a talking sort of person. She lifted her arm in a half hearted wave without stopping or turning around.
    The bus-stop was always interesting for Duke. There were so many different types of people you could meet in a bus-stop. Not that Duke intended on meeting these people. She kept her MP3 player up at ear ache level so that she wouldn’t have to deal with the old ladies who would always ask whether or not if this was the right bus regardless of the bus time table on the wall behind them. She had always contemplated talking to them and sending them on the wrong bus. Although she seemed pretty sweet on the outside, her inside sometimes couldn’t help but be a little evil,
    especially when it came to entertaining herself. She smiled once she turned her head and saw ‘Mt. Gum-more’ on the corner of the seat. This was the result of a daily bus-trip and a daily stick of gum for past couple of years. She was nearly proud of her creation and added to it after a few short chews on the spearmint piece of gum she was currently eating. All of a sudden Duke froze still. Her piece of gum had been added but he hand still hovered over the putrid mountain in the corner of the bus-stop
    “Excuse me” Said a woman. She had a velvet voice and an old fashioned accent. Dukes head turned ever so slowly and her eyes ran up the knee high boots, tight black skirt and finally to the face that stared at her earlier. She lacked the ferocious stare from before. Instead she sported an inquisitive look and an unlit cigarette hanging loosely from the side of her mouth “Got a light?” She held one hand out to Duke to take the lighter that she just might have
    “I don’t smoke” Duke replied. Her voice seemed shaky although she didn’t know what she was afraid of. The woman smiled and turned to leave
    “I know” She muttered to herself while turning her back to Duke. The wind whisked her red-brown hair around to her face before she left. Duke shrugged her shoulders ‘I know’ the words confused Duke greatly. If she knew she didn’t smoke then why did she ask Duke for a lighter? And better yet. How did she know that Duke didn’t smoke? This woman was scaring Duke but she tried her hardest not to think much of it. Maybe this woman was just crazy or the fact that she knew that Duke didn’t smoke was just a hunch. Maybe she didn’t have the yellow teeth of a smoker and it was easy to tell that she hadn’t smoked a cigarette in her life. Maybe Duke just had a crazy look in her eye that said ‘hey, I like to light things on fire. I don’t smoke but I carry around a lighter’ who knows? Dukes train of thoughts were distracted by the screeching sounds the bus breaking at the stop. Her legs were slightly shaking as she put them on the stairs of the bus. This was for two reasons. The first was obviously because she had a suspected stalker and the second was because it was extremely cold. She pulled her coat tighter around her as she took her seat on the bus. Right up the back. Duke’s choice. The bus trip, although fairly short always seemed long to Duke. The horrible smell, the uncomfortable seats, the shaky corners. This was Duke’s nightmare but something else was bugging her this particular night. The woman from the bus-stop. Yes, she was still wondering how she knew that Duke didn’t smoke and whether or not she was stalking her but something made it so much worse. Duke turned her head to look out the window when she saw...
    “It’s her!” Duke gasped and turned her head away. The woman stood at the corner and looked into the bus window at Duke. This was not the only incident that this bus trip brought along. Every couple of minutes Duke would look out the window and she’d be standing in an even more ridiculous spot. On a rooftop, on a high window-sill and even on a flagpole. Duke shuddered and decided she was going to keep her eyes shut
    “Have a good night” The bus driver said to her as Duke ran without replying off the bus. Keeping full speed she soon met the door to her apartment building with a crash. It opened and she saw Derryn about to step out
    “Watch out” He said and kissed Duke on the cheek. She was expecting a calming embrace. She was obviously much shaken but instead Derryn just stepped past her and continued off into the shadows. Duke huffed and walked into the building. The elevator was waiting at the ready. She felt safe once she was in her own home. She hung her coat on the pine hanger standing tall beside the front door and kept walking down the hall towards the bathroom.
    “Tonight with David Letterman”
    “The masked crusader...”
    “Last night a tragic accident occurred when a bus collided wi...”
    Duke flicked through the TV channels brainlessly. Her thumb pressed down on the channel button without conscious thought. She turned the TV without the intentions of being interested in anything it was showing. She just found a thrill in pressing the remote button until one day the TV just exploded. Maybe then a handsome fireman would rush into the building and sweep her off her feet...and then out of a burning building. ‘Damn’ Duke thought to herself. Even her imagination wasn’t very imaginative. She stopped changing channels when she came across a news report that caught her ear
    “Last night a man by the name of Yamada Takeshi died this evening in his office. The case was particularly curious when police found him dead over his desk...drained of blood. Another woman was found dead in her home that night with the same outcome. The police are saying that a serial killer is a possible answer for these deaths and that people should remain careful and vigilant. Residents of Tokyo are calling him the ‘vampire killer’ and that he probably would only attack at night to keep up this costume”
    Duke leaned forward and listened harder. This story made her feel a little more edgy than what she already was. ‘Damn news’ she thought before switching the TV off and slinking off into bed. People in these situations always went to bed and pulled the covers up over their head and that’s exactly was Duke did until she found herself drifting off into sleep.
    Derryn returned several hours later. He took off his coat and hung it on the rack along with all the others and then undid his tie. His footsteps were soft and inaudible once he slipped off his loafers and began to tip toe towards the bedroom. Duke was asleep
    “Damn” He whispered to himself as he began to unbutton his pants. Once he was down to his singlet and boxer shorts he climbed into bed and got comfortable. Derryn rolled over so he was facing Duke and slipped his arm over her waist. Her eyes opened
    “Oh, hello” She said in surprise. She hadn’t expected him to come home tonight but here he was lying next to Duke demanding his share. Derryn kissed Dukes neck, giggling in between. Duke rolled over so she was facing away from him
    “What?” Derryn wanted to know why Duke was refusing. She ignored him and tried to get back to sleep. Derryn shook her slightly to get an answer out. He persisted for a couple of minutes until Duke sat up in frustration
    “Why do I have to do anything for you?” She hissed. Derryn gave a look of confusion. He wasn’t used to being said ‘no’ to. He sat up also so the two lovers sat eye to eye
    “What do you mean ‘why do I have to do anything for you’?” He quoted Duke. Duke rolled her eyes as if the answer was obvious
    “You never do anything for me” Duke alleged. This seemed like a heavy blow for Derryn. He leant back and gasped
    “I do everything for you! I give you a home. I give you...”
    “I do these things for me. I look after myself. All you do is give me someone to call ‘honey’” Duke was furious. She was sick and tired of Derryn paying absolutely no attention to her except late at night when he had his hand up her dress. He was no good. Derryn tensed up. He couldn’t get his head around how Duke could insult him like that. He was getting what he wanted one way or the other. Derryn put his hands on Dukes shoulders and with great force pushed her back down so her head was once again on the pillow. Duke tried to scream but as soon as her mouth was opened Derryns hand blocked it again. She tried biting his hand, kicking him, scratching his free wrist with her long female fingernails but most of the time these things failed. Derryns weight on top of her was too great for her to just roll away but soon a window of opportunity opened. Derryn sat up again for a second to take off his singlet when Duke escaped. He grabbed a lock of her hair before she had locked herself out of the bedroom. This wasn’t the first time something like this had happened. He never succeeded when it came to this situation. Duke knew all of his moves and managed to get away once he got violent. The next step for her was to get away in a long term sense but at the time it seemed impossible. Derryn was rich and powerful and had countless friends who’d do nearly anything for money and Duke was just a small young woman who wouldn’t know how to go about these things anyway. Derryn loved Duke in a sick way. He wanted to own her and Duke just wanted to be free. Duke knew that the only way this could happen would be if Derryn was dead.