58–Alex
We
had to do that more often.
Spending the whole day together, doing nothing but fucking, and talking and enjoying each other’s company. Nothing to do with work crossed either of our minds, or lips and it had been fucking amazing
What hadn’t been amazing.. Talking about jake,
Fuck that rabbit hole was deep as hell.
We talked about what it was like when they were growing up, after 1 left; and while there were a couple of brigh Joey’s stories.. more often than not, there were the tales of the way he treated her like a possession, a fall
In the end, she had sat on the sofa, staring at the floor for a good ten minutes, before I took her mind off my brother and his shitty personality.
Now I was sitting in my office, while Joey slept in bed, trying to catch up on some work emails. Because even though I told her we weren’t to talk about work. it still carried on without us.
My phone buzzed at my elbow, and I picked it up, lifting it to my car. “What’s up, Ollie.”
“Oh, so now you’re taking my calls huh?”
I rolled my eyes, knowing there would be a long line of missed calls from him.
It was a Tuesday. Which meant a meeting first thing in the morning, then one at the Dragon later that night. We usually drank until we couldn’t walk straight and regretted it the next morning. But it was a Tuesday night thing.
“Sorry man, just had to spend the day with Joey. She’s just realizing what an ass my brother has been his whole life. I had to help her through it.”
“Uh huh.” Ollie sounded a little more pissed than usual, for this time of night, and I turned away from my laptop and provided hirm my fullest attention.
“What’s happened?”
There was a bit of a pause on the other end of the line, and I almost knew what was coming.
Someone broke in the Dragon.”
I stared at the wall, my mind trying to process the information. “What? Again?”
“Yep, fuckers. This time, they managed to knock out Kai. They got into my office and jimmied open the safe.” Fuck..
“And the bold fuckers didn’t even bother to disable the cameras either. There were three of them inside, two outside, keeping watch.”
I stood and walked toward the bedroom door, peering in, to make sure Joey was still asleep. She was there, curled up, her hand out as if reaching for me, satin sheet laid over her curvy frame. Closing the door, I walked down the stairs toward the ground floor. “Ok, I’m on my way over.”
“Good. I’ll be here. We have a couple guys here looking for clues.” Ollie paused. “But Alex, there’s something you need to
sec.”
That statement sent a chill through me, and I stopped on the bottom flight of stairs. “Excuse me?
“Just get your ass over here.” The line clicked and I frowned. This was not going to be a good night, I could feel it in my gut. Twenty minutes later, I was standing, staring at the jimmied safe, my stomach in knots
“What the fuck?”
Nothing was missing from the safe. Nothing had been moved.
But sitting in the middle, on the book we used to track Yuka’s movements and meetings, was a single Kokeshi doll.
While most Kokeshi dolls were cute, and represented abundance and good fortune, this one didn’t
This one was dressed as an Oni
A japanese demon
“Yeah, that’s what I thought, when I saw it.” Ollie said, stepping up to my side. “Nothing has been touched, nothing taken: Just that.. thing–put in there.”
I pulled my phone out of my pocket and started to snap pictures of it, before I dialed a number.
“Who are you calling?” Oliver asked.
1 grimaced, knowing I was going to get my ass kicked, for calling at this time of night.
“Alexander Kazumi, you better have a damned good reason to be calling me.”
“Pearl, my darling.”
“Hehe, this is going to be good.” Ollie chuckled and I flipped him off.
“Can I send you some pictures-”
“Alexander Kazumi! You have a perfectly beautiful woman at home. I don’t want any di-”
I stopped her before she could finish what she was going to say. “Pearl Sweetheart. Focus and listen. Someone broke into the Dragon again. I need to send you a couple pictures.”
“Fine”
I held my phone away from my ear and sent the photos. “Okay, please have a look at them. I will call back in ten minutes.” I hung up the phone and turned to Oliver.
“Do you have any Ziplock bags?”
Oliver nodded and left the room, coming back with one and I took it. Opening it, I turned it inside out, then picked up the Oni doll with it, and quickly sealed it inside, as my phone rang.
Putting the doll down on Oliver’s desk, I looked at the caller, and frowned, picking it up again. “Pearl?”
“Alexander, where is the other doll?”
I blinked and looked at the safe. “Other doll?”
Ollie looked at me, holding up his hand and the people in the room fell silent. I moved my phone, putting it on speaker. “Pearl, sweetheart, you’re on speaker phone.”
“There should be another doll. That one is an Oni. Yes, but it is a three–eyed Oni Usually, they’re pretty harmless. But when sent as a message, which this no doubt is, they are the first to be seen. Telling the receiver they are being watched. What is it sitting on?”
I frowned. “Yuka’s travel book.”
“Ok, it probably doesn’t mean what we think. Yuka is always being watched, yes. But who is the one who writes that book?”
The question hung in the air, and I looked at Oliver, as he replied. “You do, Alex.”
“Alexander, you’re the one being watched.” Pearl’s statement hung heavily, and I looked at Oliver. “Alex, the other doll is going to be black. The Black Oni is one of the most dangerous. It symbolizes impending death.”
My stomach dropped to my feet, and I turned, looking around the room, until my gaze fell on Sota. “Take me home!”
We raced out of the club, as I yelled at Oliver to check my office and the rest of the club.
Sota couldn’t drive quickly enough, and I almost yelled at him to go faster.
My phone rang and I answered it, my hopes were that he had found the other one. “Oliver?”
“We’ve checked your office and the rest of the club. It’s not here, Alex. I’m on my way to your place.”
“Fuck Sota, step on it.” As he pulled up against the curb, I jumped out, and raced up the path toward the door, and skidded
to a stop.
The front door was ajar.
I put my arm back, clicking my fingers and a gun was placed into my hand. I lifted it, pointing it at the door and gingerly
walked forward.
If something had happened to Joey..
Nudging open the door, I checked around the corner, and through each doorway, before moving to the stairs, knowing Sota
38–Alex
would have my back. Up the first flight, I kept going, until I got to my office.
The bedroom door was ajar, and the soft lamp light bled out and my stomach hit the floor. “Joey?” No answer and I suddenly had that sinking feeling in my stomach.
Jolene?”
As I neared the door, I could see the foot of the bed.
Joey was still lying in it, a sheet thrown over her and I nudged open the door, lifting the gun. “Joey?”
She stirred and I almost sank to my knees in relief, as she opened her eyes and looked at me.
“Alex?” Her gaze moved to the gun, and she sat bolt upright, clutching the sheet to her chest, covering her see–through nightie. “What’s going on, what happened?”
I lowered the gun, resting it against my leg. “It’s okay doll, 1-”
Something was on her dresser, facing her.
Black.
Horns.
My stomach dropped to my feet as I stared at the little doll on Joey’s dresser.
Joey turned her head to look at where I was staring, and she scrambled off the bed and ran over to me. I pulled her into my arms and cradled her head against my chest as she questioned
“What the fuck in
s that?”
I could hear footsteps on the stairs behind me, and the waft of Oliver’s cologne as he stepped into the bedroom. “Oh…
fuck
We had found the Black Oni.
