Silence of the Geisha Horror: Yukis Revenge (15 page)

“That’s Julie!” She cried, vaulting off the couch. She grabbed the receiving before it could disconnect and put it up to her ear. “Julie, it’s me! What’s wrong? Are you okay?”

“Yuki, thank god. I’m at the park. I’m hiding under the bridge. Please, come get me.”

“I’m coming, I’ll leave right now.”

“They found me, Yuki. I don’t know how. I’m afraid they might have found Rachelle too.”

The Asian girl’s stomach dropped through the floor and into the earth’s core itself. “Are you okay? Are you safe?”

“I’m not gonna lie, I’m hurt pretty bad. I managed to get away, but I gotta keep moving. Come to the park. Hurry, please!”

The call disconnected, leaving Yuki staring at the mouth of the receiver.

“What’s going on?” McAnany demanded, already out of his chair and pulling his bat from the coat closet.

“They tried to get Julie.” She answered, running and putting on her shoes. “Apparently they’re still on her tail. She’s waiting for us at the park.”

“Then let’s go, hurry up!”

They barreled out the front door and into the van. Yuki realized that the attackers could be looking out for exactly what car was coming to rescue the red head, and that they wouldn’t be able to use it for surveillance anymore, but she didn’t care. Her heart was thundering out of her chest and her stomach was churning. Julie had to be alright. She
had
to!

They reached the park in record time, and McAnany pulled right onto the grass of the soccer field. As soon as he slowed enough, Yuki opened the passenger’s door and jumped out, taking off for the bridge just beyond the hill.

McAnany was just behind her, and she crested the hill just in time to see Julie bolting across the tiny stream, five hoody-wearing thugs chasing after her.

She reacted before she could think. She slid down the side of the hill on her butt, then bolted towards the stream. Calling on every ounce of athleticism she had, she picked up a rock and threw it at the closest attacker. It beaned him right in the shoulder and he stumbled.

“Hey assholes!” She cried. “You’re so brave with five against one! Why don’t we even it out a little?”

A couple of the others slowed to look back, and that gave Julie enough time to pull ahead, away from danger. When they figured out they had lost their target, they started to close in on Yuki.

She reached down and grabbed two more rocks from the ground. Looked like it was time to see if all of McAnany’s self-defense lessons had done anything.

The one she had hit with a rock reached her first, and she dodged as he lunged at her, kicking at his side as he went sailing past. Unfortunately that put her off balance, allowing the next thug to backhand her pretty viciously. She went down to one knee, but used her disadvantaged position to slam the rock in her hand into his crotch.

She stood as he went down, only for strong arms to wrap around her waist and lift her up. She let out a cry and kicked wildly, but the arms only squeezed harder. That was, until there was a loud thud and the crushing grip fell away. Gasping, Yuki turned to see McAnany standing behind her with his ever-ready baseball bat.

“I am too goddamn old for this,” He spat.

Yuki didn’t have time to retort; the remaining two attackers where launching themselves at their targets. McAnany managed to fend his off with uncannily accurate blows to the hooligan’s shin and face, but Yuki’s didn’t even get to her.

There was a shrill cry, and suddenly Julia was on the back of the final thug, her arms wrapped around his neck in a triangle choke.

She was screaming a stream of curses so thick that even McAnany looked surprised, but Yuki couldn’t help but be impressed as the woman held on until the assailant passed out.

Now that the danger had passed, she got a good look at the red headed woman. Julie was sporting a pretty viscous black eye, cuts on her brow, and lip, rips in her shirt and jeans, as well as what looked like a very nasty gash on her collar. But her smile was still illuminating as she stumbled forward and hugged Yuki tightly.

“I thought I was dead.” She wept, burying her face in Yuki’s hair. “I thought they were going to catch me, and kill me.”

“You’re safe,” The Asian woman soothed, although inside she was raging. Dozens of thoughts and questions flew through her mind. How did they find Julie? How did they even know she was involved? Were they going to hurt anyone who ever helped Yuki? Could they be that powerful? “It’s okay now.”

McAnany was already picking over the groaning gangsters. When he found one that was suitable, he crouched over them and yanked them up by their collar.

“Why were you chasing this girl?”

“I dunno man. We were just paid to rough up some ginger chick.”

“Yeah? Who paid you? Huh?” He slammed the bat down next to the kid’s head for emphasis.

“Man, I dunno. Igs just tells us who we’re supposed to hit and we do it. I don’t know nothing.”

“Don’t know
anything
.” Julie corrected under her breath.

“Were there any other hits ordered?”

“Yeah, I think so. Maybe? Some broad downtown.”

Yuki looked sharply to Julie. “Do you know mother’s address?”

“Yeah, I’ve been there a couple times since everything went down.”

“Good. Let’s get there. Fast.”

“Yeah,” McAnany muttered before hitting the informant in the side of the head with the bat. The two women stared, surprised, but he just shrugged. “He had it coming. Let’s go.”

They peeled out in the van. There were only the two front seats in the surveillance van, not counting the rolling chairs in the back, so Yuki insisted the injured Julie sit up front to give directions while she crouched between the two of them, behind the gearshift. McAnany sped through the streets expertly, only slowing down in school zones. Within fifteen minutes, they were pulling up to a split house but each moment was drenched in painful anticipation. Was Rachelle okay? And what if she wasn’t?

They were pouring out of the car before Yuki really had an answer to that question, but her stomach dropped when she saw the door had been busted open. She dashed in, only to see an utter whirlwind of destruction. Tables were overturned, cabinets smashed, everything that could be broken was.

“Rachelle! It’s Yuki! Are you home?”

There was a faint, garbled cry from another room. Focusing, Yuki ran in its direction. She found the woman on the floor in the kitchen. For a moment, the med student’s heart stopped, but she quickly noticed the woman was breathing steadily despite her mashed face.

Yuki automatically slid into medic mode, kneeling down beside the battered woman. “Rachelle, we’re here. We’re gonna take care of you, okay.” Now for the orders. “McAnany, you call the cops and an ambulance. Julie, get me any sort of clean dish cloths lying around and ice packs.”

“Gotcha.”

“Now Rachelle, I know this is gonna hurt, but I need you to tell me if you can feel all of your limbs.”

“Yes,” She wheezed between badly split and swollen lips.

“Do you remember them hitting your back at all? Did you fall on it?”

“No, I don’t think so.”

“Alright, if you can, just wiggle each finger and toe for me. I know it sounds silly, but it’s important. Okay, honey?”

Her eyelids fluttered, but she managed to move them all. Concentrating, Yuki felt along her spine for any injuries. As far as she could tell, there wasn’t much trauma to the woman’s back. But if she was wrong…

There was no time to worry. Judging by blackish-purple bruising on Rachelle’s forearm, the woman had at least a fracture. And the side of her head was still bleeding too profusely to ignore.

“Alright Rachelle, I need you to take a deep breath. I need to roll you onto you back, okay?”

“Mmm-hmm.”

She took in a long exhale and Yuki used all of her strength to gently rock the woman prostrate. Even still, Rachelle let out a terrible wail of pain.

“I know, I know. It hurts. But we’re going to start fixing that now. Okay? We’re gonna make it all better.”

Yuki moved her injured arm into as natural a position as possible. Rachelle winced slightly, but the med student was able to gently adjust the limb without causing too much discomfort.

Julie crouched down beside her, setting down a bowl full of ice packs and dish cloths. Yuki wrapped one of the cold bags in the protective fabric, and set it on the swelling arm as softly as she could.

“Alright, Julie, I need you to find me two long wooden spoons. Or any sort of utensil really. Just make sure they’re at least eight inches long and roughly the same size.”

She scurried off to do that, and Yuki busied herself with tearing one of the cloths into long strips. When Julie returned, Yuki asked her to hold the spoons on either side of the broken arm, and began trying them in place in a makeshift splint. Once it was secure enough, she padded the splint with the rest of the dish rags to prevent skin injury.

“I don’t know how you’re staying this calm,” Julie breathed, her voice shaking.

“I’m not calm,” Yuki hissed. “I am so angry, I’m having a hard time not biting through my lip. But now is not the time for that. This is Rachelle’s time. We owe that to her.”

The woman muttered something that sounded a lot like
you better believe it
, and Yuki gave her the warmest smile she could muster.

“You did amazing, Rachelle. Now your only job is to just lay here, nice and still until the ambulance comes. Think you can do that?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Awesome. Now Julie is gonna get a nice, cool damp cloth for you, and we’re gonna try to get all this blood all your face so you don’t feel so gross. Okay?”

She breathed out heavily in response.

Julie jumped up, rushed to the sink, and was back within a breath. Slowly, Yuki dabbed at the worst of the stickiness. She revealed a few deep gashes as she went, that must have been where all the blood was coming from. Yuki nodded to Julie, who took one of the few remaining dish cloths and pressed them to the wounds while the med student continued to gently clean.

Finally, the faint echo of sirens sounded in the background.

“Do you hear that, Rachelle? The medics are here now. They’re gonna take care of you.”

Even still, it was hard to let go of her as the actual medical professionals streamed in. It wasn’t until they put her on a stretcher that Yuki relinquished her grip.

“What if they target her in the hospital?” Yuki murmured. “She can’t be alone.”

“I’ll ride over with her, then make sure she has only officers I approve of on guard.” McAnany offered.

“Really?”

He nodded. “You girls jump in the van and drive straight home. Lock the doors. Don’t answer them for anyone but me and White. It’s not gonna be long before they figure out who I am and where I live. Your plan is working, but we have to finish it fast before they finish us.”

Yuki nodded. “Please, be safe.”

“Are you kidding me? I’m too old and too angry for this cowardly assholes. I’ll be fine.”

Yuki stood on tiptoe to kiss his cheek, before grabbing Julie’s still bloody hand and pulling her to the van. They peeled out despite the shouted protests of the ambulance staff, and headed straight for McAnany’s brick home.

Now that Rachelle was safely being transported to the hospital, Yuki’s tears started flowing freely. She was so infuriated, she could hardly think. How far were these cretins willing to go? Every time she thought they had done their worst, they just did more.

They didn’t deserve the police sting she had been planning. They deserved pain. They deserved to be tortured and hurt like they did to everyone Yuki cared about. Her hands gripped the steering wheel so hard her knuckles cracked. Something within her snapped. She no longer wanted revenge through justice.

She wanted blood.

They pulled into McAnany's driveway, and Yuki helped Julie out of the car. She barely got the injured girl in and seated on the couch to be treated when Detective White burst in.

“McAnany just called me. They attacked your coworkers?”

Yuki raised an eyebrow, waiting for more. But when there was no continuation, she figured that the retired Detective had kept true to their plan and not divulged that they had been antagonizing Buck and his crew.

“Only the two who stood up for me at the club.” She answered half-heartedly, heading to the kitchen to get some ice packs and a damp cloth.

“We couldn't just stand by and see them malign her character and pander to those rapists.” Julie supplied. “That seemed to make them think we were worth hurting.”

“I'm so sorry,”

“Don't worry about it. Kinda makes me feel like an action hero or something. Wait until my little brother hears about this.” She winked. “Besides, now I get to be taken care of by you, so that's a definite perk.”

Yuki rolled her eyes. “Just shut up and put these ice packs where it hurts. I'll get all that blood off your face.”

“Finish up with that and then I'm taking you out to the countryside.”

Their heads both snapped to Detective White. “
What?
”

“You heard me, it's too dangerous here. They're escalating at a rate that we can't react fast enough to. You're endangering everyone you know and yourself. I'm taking you to a hideaway where you can lay low until I can crack the stone wall they’ve built.”

“But-”

“No buts. I'm drawing a line, Yuki. It's too dangerous here.”

The Asian girl glowered at him. She couldn't have her revenge in the middle of nowhere! Running with her tail tucked between her legs was just letting them win and go one to terrorize another woman. But she recognized a battle she couldn't win and her mind spun with a solution. Looked like it was time to call upon all her hostess-bred lying skills. “Fine. But can we at least wait for McAnany to come home? I...I need to say goodbye to him. We've grown close.”

White's permanently professional expression faltered. “Fine. I think I can allow that.”

Yuki gave him a blinding smile. “Thank you. There's leftover meatloaf in the fridge if you're hungry.”

“Oh, grab me a plate!” Julie called after him. As soon as he was out of the room, she dipped her head next to Yuki's. “If I know you, which I do, you just lied straight to his face.”