Silence of the Geisha Horror: Yukis Revenge (7 page)

The demon encompassing her hissed, growled and spit, thoroughly enjoying the torture before he barked in Buck's demanding voice.

“Swallow it.” Buck ordered. “All if it.”

She obeyed, but Buck was closing in on her again, eyes gleaming with excitement before he too morphed into a giant, devil beast.

She sat bolt upright in bed, heart pounding. Her hand went to her face to realize she had tears pouring down her cheeks. It took several moments of steady breathing before she heard an obnoxious and loud sound coming from very close to her.

Blearily looking around, she saw her alarm clock was going off insistently. She had forgotten she had set that. Sighing, she shut it off and flopped back down into her pillows.

How was she supposed to survive if the past refused to stay in the past where it was supposed to be?

*

Rape Victims are 26 times more likely to abuse drugs.

Yuki drew in a deep breath, staring up at the building looming over her. It was her first day back at school in two weeks and she was so terribly behind. She had spoken to her councilor about whether she should take a medical leave of absence. But they decided she should try a couple of days and see if the gap was surmountable. Yuki was sure it would be.

She headed to her class, still a little slow from the intense bruising on her ribs, but otherwise mostly healed. She kept her eyes focused forward, but as she passed a couple of other students, she thought she heard them whisper something about escorts.

She paused, and turned around, but they had already passed behind the corner of a building. She was probably just being paranoid.

She continued on, but as she walked she became increasingly aware of multiple pairs of eyes on her. Surely she couldn't be imagining all of it? Could people know? How could they possibly know? She had told no one, and only Mandy had ever visited her.

Suddenly each step was weighted so heavily, she had to struggle to lift her foot. By the time she reached her classroom, she was breathless and her heart was racing. Sure enough, as she started walking to an open desks, she heard more whispers and saw more pointing out of her peripheral vision.

Oh god, they knew. Somehow they knew.

She had no choice but to pretend that everything was just fine, but she sat with her spine ramrod

straight. The whispers continued, building upon each other, ringing in her ears, until the professor walked in. Finally, she had a moment of peace as he started the lecture.

But she couldn't focus on his lesson. Her senses were on high alert from all the stares directed at her back. Maybe after a few days the novelty would wear off and she could go back to being a normal med student.

As soon as the class ended, she practically bolted from the room. She rushed through the halls, looking for some sort of escape from the eyes still boring into her. She darted into the girl’s restroom, and fled to one of the stalls. Pulling her feet up, she tried to get a hold of herself.

She had told herself that she wasn't going to let this affect her, but how was she supposed to pretend that she was just another boring, run of the mill med student when everyone else was trying to remind her of what she was supposed to forget?

The door creaked open and Yuki held her breath. She just wanted to be alone. Was that too much to ask?

“Hey, did you hear about that girl?”

“What girl?” A second voice questioned.

“You know,” Great, a third voice. “The one that was raped.”

“Oh yeah.”

“I dunno, I heard she was a hooker. If you rape a hooker, is it really rape? It's more like theft of property, right?”

“I mean, if she was selling it, she kinda put herself in that position.”

“I don't think so. Guys, sex workers deserve basic human rights just like us.”

“Oh Maya, you're so cute when you get all PC like that.”

“I'm not being PC. I'm serious. She's a woman just like us. She's a student. Just like us. And someone violated her and beat her into an inch of her life. If people did that to you, wouldn't you want people to support you instead of saying it's her fault?”

“Whatever. Just saying, when you go out with strange foreign rich men for a job, you're just putting yourself in a bad position.”

“How do we know she didn't just regret a bad transaction? I mean, she gets paid for sex. That's kinda indicative of her morals.”

“Wow, Jessica. Really? I can't believe you.”

“What?”

“You know what, I don't need to be around this. I'll see you guys later.”

“Wow, what's your problem, Maya.”

“If you don't get it, I doubt I can explain it to you in a women's bathroom.”

This time the door slammed open and then there were only two.

“What the hell is her issue?”

“I dunno. Getting all defensive about hookers and social justice whatever.”

“But still, it is kinda sad though.”

“Sluts reap what they sow.”

“I uh...let's just go get some iced coffee before our next class.”

“Okay, lemme just finish putting on my lip gloss.”

Yuki endured the remaining few seconds they were there, practically radiating shame and rage from where she was huddled on the toilet. They...they thought she had asked for this? They thought she deserved it?

Just because she chose to profit off of rich men's misogyny and took advantage of a system that was skewed against her, didn't make her
deserve
her assault. Nothing could have made her
deserve
her assault. And the thought that it was fellow women spewing such hateful, file beliefs made her sick to her stomach. How was she supposed to survive this?

Breath increasing rapidly, she did the only thing that helped her calm down nowadays, and whipped out her cellphone.

“Yuki, are you alright? Are you safe?”

“I'm at college, Detective White. I was wondering if I can come down to the station, discuss any updates in the case?”

There was a strange pause on the other end. “How about I come meet you there?”

“No. No definitely not. I need to get away.”

“Are you sure everything is alright.”

“I just...I....there's a small cafe down the road from campus. Let's meet there.”

“Alright. I can be there in about forty minutes.”

“Perfect. See you there.”

She tucked the cellphone back in her messenger bag and uncurled from her hiding spot. She had a lab period in ten minutes, but she didn't care. She had never skipped a class before, maybe now was the time.

Steadying her breath, she steeled her chin and headed back out into the hall. She could feel the oppressive gaze and opinions of others almost instantaneously, but she pressed on as if nothing was wrong.

The closer she got to the edge of campus, the faster she walked, until she was all out sprinting for the road. Once she was out onto the street, she stilled and pulled the hood of her sweater up. She slowly shuffled down the sidewalk. The cafe was only a ten minute walk at most and she didn't want to end up there so early that she was stuck waiting with nothing to fill her mind but the awful words of her fellow classmates.

She still reached the place before Detective White, and stood in line to order a hot chocolate. The air was just slightly beginning to turn crisp and cool, a bit of warmth would definitely hit the spot.

When they asked her for her name for her drink, she almost gave it out of habit before thinking better of it. The last thing she wanted to do was alert anyone who might have heard about her that she was here. They could figure that out for themselves.

Maybe today it would be better to be a Mary. Yeah. Mary was a good name.

When she finally got her drink, she headed to an unoccupied mini-booth for two near the back of the cafe. Once she settled herself, she allowed herself a long sip of her drink. It was warm, and comforting and exactly what she needed.

She set it down and looked out the window. The shop was run by locals and quaint, with a large mural painted across one of the walls. A mural of the forest just outside of the city.... a forest that I knew all too well.

“You like that? You little slut? You like the feel of that cock?”

Crying, grunting, rocking. The glint of starlight reflecting off the camera. The dry laughter from Thomas.

She was biting her hand, trying not to rupture a vocal cord. It hurt. The whole world hurt. Why were they doing this?

Her legs. Weak. Shaking. They were going to give out. Thrust. More thrusts. Too fast, too fast for her to handle. She was going to rip in two. This was how she died. No human could survive.

“Scream my name,” That voice. The voice that haunted her dream. Her own personal boogey man. A demon from hell who dug his nails into her scalp. He wanted to devour her. To use up every little piece of her until there was nothing left.“Scream it like a little whore.”

No. She didn't want to scream. She wasn't a whore. She was Yuki. She was a smart, intelligent woman who had never had anything handed to her. She worked hard, dammit!

“Scream it!”

But that didn't matter. In his eyes, in his grip she was nothing. Less than nothing. She was just a plaything. “…Julian.” She breathed, practically biting her tongue as he gave a particularly vicious thrust.

“Julian, please.”

“Yuki? Yuki are you alright?”She jerked suddenly, wrenching herself from her flashback. Blinking hurriedly, she looked up into the blurry, but concerned face of Detective White. “Oh, uh. I'm fine.”

“You're crying.”

“I am?” Her hand went to her cheek, and sure enough there were a few errant tears there. When had that happened. “Oh. It's allergy season. I was daydreaming and didn't realize I got a little leaky.”

“I am a Detective, you know. Lying to me not only wastes time, but also tells me that you don't think I'm good enough to figure out that you are lying.” He took off his coat and sat across from her. He was still just as well dressed as he was before, but this time his pants were blue instead of black. It looked good against his complexion.

“Ah. Sorry.”

“I understand.”

“So, got any updates on my case?” His face took on an odd expression. Just like the silence on the phone, I could tell that it was not a good pause. “What? What's going on?”

“You didn't mention that one of your rapists was a Judge. A very powerful judge.”

Oh...right. We had talked about that. Had she really not mentioned that? She tried to be thorough. “So?”

“So he's got a lot of connections in our precinct and circuits. I'm trying my best, but I'll be honest, they're stonewalling me. Luckily the Sargent is on our side, but he's busy fight off the theft charge.”

“Theft charge?”

“They wanted to charge you with a felony for absconding with his car.”

“Absconding? I think you mean escaping!”

“Look, you don't have to explain it to me. I know those sick sons of bitches are twisted and need to be put away. But we have to tread carefully here. I'm sorry, Yuki, but you got involved with some big man who've got very, very long shadows.”

“Well that's all well and good, but what am I supposed to do in the meantime? Someone spread the story all across campus! They're saying that I
asked
for it!”

He grimaced. “I'm sorry, Yuki. I really am.”

She groaned and let her head sink into her hands. “I know, I know. I just...I thought I could get away from it. But I can't. But at the same time, they seem to be getting away with everything.”

“Is there anything I can do to help?”

“Yeah. Solve the case.” He gave me another look and she rolled her eyes. “Fine. You're right. I guess I wouldn't mind a walk home.”

“What about the rest of your classes?”

“I'm not really feeling it today.”

“Well, I brought my car. Would you like an actual lift?”

“Sure, yeah. That'd be nice.”

She threw her now cool coffee away and exited with the older Detective. She knew that she probably should have been anxious to be alone with a man considering all that she had been through, but there was something about the serious man that put her at ease.

His car was actually pristine, a far cry from the coffee and paper littered ride she had been expecting. But she just shrugged and gave directions.

They reached her place in about twenty minutes or so. She was all set to just walk from the entrance of her apartment complex, but Detective White was having none of it. He insisted on walking her to her door.

“You want to establish a perimeter, don't you?”

“Perceptive girl.”

“I try my best.”

She directed him to visitor parking, secretly appreciative of the extra security, and showed him to her place. She was on the third floor in the west building, and they took the stairs. The extra exercise made her feel better. Like she could sweat out all her troubles and be normal again.

Just as they reached the last landing, Xavier's phone went off. He held up a finger. “Just one minute, I gotta take this.”

“No problem. I'll go set my stuff inside.”

He nodded his consent and she went ahead. Yuki was just putting her key in the lock when a shadow moved at the edge of her vision.

She gasped and jumped nearly a mile in the air, but was relieved to see it was just the landlord. She had the occasional run in with him and he seemed like a nice enough man.

“Oh hey Chris, what's going on?”

“Hey Yuki.” He said. Something about his demeanor sent warning bells off in her head. That had been happening way too much lately. “Look, there's no easy way to say this, but I'm going to need you out by the end of the month.”

“What!? Why?”

“There have been complaints about your cat-”

“What complaints? Why was I not notified of this before? He's a house cat! You can't just kick me out without giving me any sort of warning! And no thirty day notice?”

He paled, as if he hadn't expected her to know her rights as a tenant. “Look, it's just not working out. You need to leave.”