In His Blood

In His Blood

The wind rustled her auburn hair as she ascended from the cold ground. The New York cold was chilling her skin, never mind the fact that she was in a cemetery. The white roses she left on the headstone danced in the wind with remorse. Her eyes held tears in time, never allowing them to see her agony. She rested her hand on the coolness of the grey monument, tracing the words with her jade eyes.

Kei Nigawa
July 22, 1980 - December 24, 2010
Forever Missed By Those Left Behind

She read the words over and over, unwilling to believe that they were actually true. The man who had saved her life, made her stronger…who had loved her was now gone, dead beneath the frozen ground. Although his death was now well passed over 5 five years the pain in her soul had not subsided. The sweltering hurt and hate in her heart had only grown in that amount of time.
“Audrey, we need to get going.”
She retreated her hand from the headstone and said a silent goodbye. The time for this day’s mourning now had to pass and the beginning of her plan of revenge had to begin.
Audrey turned from her lover’s grave and went to the side of her dear friend Hilde. Hilde smiled wickedly as she placed her arm around Audrey’s shoulder.
“So…tonight’s the night, huh?”
“Yes,” Audrey replied softly. “We’ll be meeting with the other associations about the oil shipments at midnight.”
“But, we’re not in that business Audrey. You know we only run Kei’s areas.”
“We’re not going for that discussion Hilde. We’re going about Takashi’s involvement in Kei’s murder.”
Hilde sighed and tousled her short dark hair and twirled a piece over her azure eyes.
“…We do have proof that he did it, don’t we?” she asked.
“Not that he did it, but that he was a part of it. His men were the ones who broke through the guards, but as for the true killer…well, we’re still at a loss.”
A sharp, quick whistle took the attention of the two women. They looked to the car just outside of the cemetery that was patiently waiting for them. A slightly tall Japanese woman took her two fingers from her mouth and waved to the duo, informing them of the task at hand.
Hilde turned to Audrey and smiled, this time with a hint of innocence.
“So I suppose we’re just going to have a friendly little chat with Mr. Takashi and his goons?”
“Oh, I suspect a lot more,” Audrey responded coyly.
Hilde smirked to her friend’s response then went along to the car. Audrey turned to the graveyard, scanning the eternal home of her dear Kei. The wind blew against her tiny body causing her to clench the oversized leather jacket that Kei had left for her. She wiped a tear away that dare tried to escape and then left the cemetery, tired of the memories of the dead.
Kazuko, the whistling woman, was leaning against the cool grey of the car. Her ebony hair drifted about her waist; prey to the wind. She tilted her sunglasses to expose her dark eyes and offered a look of concern to Hilde, who only shrugged it off. The emotions of their boss was something they knew not to discuss especially when she was standing so close.
“Are you ready Miss Nigawa?” Kazuko asked Audrey.
“Yes. I expect our reservations at the hotel are in order and our belongings are already in our rooms?”
“Of course, Eliza took care of everything this morning.”
“Good. It’s near the arrival time so let’s get settled in and prepare ourselves for the meeting.”
Kazuko opened the back door of the luxury car and Audrey gathered the leather coat into her hands and stepped in with Hilde close behind her. The cool leather felt good against the skin Audrey had showing, calming her before what she knew was going to be a gruesome bloodbath.
The brunette in the driver’s seat handed Audrey a cell phone.
“Naoko called you earlier. I told her you would be seeing her and Kyo very soon. She sounded delighted and wanted me to tell you that Kyo has already started reading some of Edgar Allen Poe’s works.”
“He sure does take after his father,” Audrey grinned. “Always reading those horror novels…”
Kazuko sat down in the front passenger seat and nodded to the brunette. “It’s all clear Eliza,” she said sternly. “You do know the way to the hotel you assigned us in, right?”
“Oh quit treating me as if I’m a child!” Eliza screeched. “I only got us lost one time in Tokyo and even then I got us to the meeting on time!”
“Well, your luck could just run out this time.”
“Then why don’t you drive Kazuko?”
“Not my job,” the Asian sneered.
Hilde just sighed and turned to Audrey who was fiddling with the cell phone. The light illuminated her young face and showed her sadness as she sifted through the pictures she had taken with that old phone years ago. Hilde nudged herself closer ignoring the arguing going up in the front half the vehicle.
“Shibuya, right?” she asked as she pointed to a picture of Audrey and herself in a crowded shopping district.
“Uh huh, right before we left Japan for Paris. Remember how badly you wanted to get a designer kimono?”
“We lived there for five years and not once did I get one before! I knew it would have bugged me if I didn’t get one then.”
“We should go back one day,” Audrey said very melancholy. “I would love to feel the ocean again…visit the shrine…show Kyo where he was born….”
Suddenly the car jerked forward and onto the main street. Eliza was already tense and had her knuckles gripped tightly around the steering wheel. Kazuko had her forehead gently on her fingers, shaking her head back in forth in a “oh no, here we go again” fashion.
Audrey sighed at their behavior but also chuckled. This was something she had become very used to. Although they acted like Audrey’s lackeys she knew that deep down they felt like family. After Kei’s murder and the individual deaths of the other male members of the gang they were the only ones left. Audrey gave them all the choice of staying and avenging their comrades or leaving the association once and for all. To her surprise they all stayed, vowing to keep the name of the Nigawa gang alive and to get revenge for Kei. Audrey was from then on out eternally grateful for her four closest friends.
“Make a right!” Kazuko screamed just a car nearly clipped them.
“A right? That will take to the opposite side of town that we need to be on! We need to go straight!”
“Who the hell gave you directions Eliza?” Hilde called from the back.
“The manager at the hotel you blokes were bitching to get reservations at! Now just relax and let me get us there, okay?”
A few nearby vehicles beeped excessively at the foursome causing Audrey to be a bit nervous. Cars were something she deeply despised. She had gone on a mission once with Kei, who had been very reluctant to even have her presence there in the first place, and was almost killed in an accident when an enemy of Kei’s deliberately smashed into their car. The other driver was instantly killed and Audrey herself was in a coma for a week. Kei came out of it with only cuts and bruises. He was usually lucky like that….
“Um, I hate to interrupt…but isn’t our hotel the one with huge glass windows and has a roof made to look like a garden?”
“Yes, it is. The Conservatory Chateau,” Eliza replied.
“Well,” Hilde sighed. “We just missed it.”
The brakes yelled like a masochist as Eliza slammed her heel onto the floor. Audrey braced herself against the back of the seat, sweat beginning to flow down her temples. Hilde grasped Audrey’s arm, using her quick reflexes to protect her from impact.
“Is everyone okay back there?” Kazuko asked white knuckled.
“Y...yes, we’re okay,” Audrey panted. “Please be more careful Eliza. I don’t want to die before tonight.”
“Sure thing boss, sorry about all of this…you know how I get.”
“Just get us there.”
Eliza managed to turn around and get into the opposite lane without being smashed into by oncoming traffic. Audrey held her breath until she knew that most of the danger was gone then let out a sigh of relief and pent up anxiety. Hilde handed her her phone, which had flown from her hand during Eliza’s sharp turn.
“Thanks Hilde.”
“Yeah, you might need it.”
Eliza swerved directly into the parking lot, almost clipping a nearby vehicle and nearly destroying a shrubbery. Audrey shrieked as she held onto the handle of the car and grabbed on to Hilde’s arm.
“What the hell are you doing Eliza?” her boss yelled. “I thought I you were hired as a driver?”
“Sorry boss, but we’re on a schedule, right? I just want to make sure that we get into the meeting on time.”
“At least get us there in one piece,” Audrey growled.
“Didn’t I just do that?” Eliza smirked.
Audrey rolled her green eyes and focused her attention on the building ahead of her. It was very tall and white. The entrance was adorned with roses rising up on the columns and a luscious red carpet laid peacefully, leading out from the door. She was impressed, Audrey had a thing for architecture and design.
The garden on the roof, which she barely make out from the angle, looked gorgeous. Green seem to overflow down the top of the building as if it was water and millions of lush flowers in a wide variety of colors looked like falling stars amongst a dark jungle.
“Takashi sure can pick extravagant hotels, can’t he?” Hilde commented.
“He loves the fact that the rest of us have to pay as much as he does for elegance,” Audrey replied.
“He loves it even more this time around,” Eliza began.
“Yeah, since he set up such a large gathering he gets a huge discount on his suite,” Kazuko said dreamily as she gazed up at the garden.
“Cheap bastard,” Hilde laughed
Eliza pulled into a parking spot near then entrance then got out of her seat to open Hilde‘s door. Kazuko did the same and got the door for Audrey.
“Don’t go in with that on Miss Nigawa, it’ll show your remorse and anger and they may suspect something,” Kazuko whispered to her boss about the leather jacket.
“Right.” Audrey tossed the coat into the back seat with a melancholic expression. She felt naked without it nowadays…in the days of planning Kei’s revenge.
The four women joined together at the hips and stared up to the roof at the setting sun over the jungle. Hilde put her arm on Audrey’s shoulder and signaled for them to enter the building. It was time to get this started, to finally get the satisfaction they deserved.
A doorman awaited them at the entrance. He was wearing a dark navy suit with a gold trim and a tiny hat that barely fit his oversized head..
“Good evening ladies,” he said with a slow deep voice. “I certainly hope you have your reservations.”
Eliza got in his face and smirked.
“Oh, most certainly we do chap,” she smiled.
Kazuko smacked the English woman from behind and passed by her. Eliza scoffed it aside and lead Audrey and Hilde into the hotel. Audrey offered the man a “I’m so sorry my child is acting like this” sort of look and strolled into the lobby.
The carpet was of the same navy as the doorman’s with a large balcony ceiling overlooking it. Soft lighting shined down from above and gave the room a soft romantic feel.
“This seems like a place to propose to someone…not have a meeting over oil,” Kazuko commented.
“A nice place to die though, don’t you think?” Audrey asked.
“I suppose people like us need a little piece of Heaven before going to hell, no?” Hilde grinned.
Kazuko walked to the front desk and got the key to their master suite on the top floor and was handed a envelope very secretly. She nodded then returned to the others.
“We better hurry,” she said. “You know how Takashi gets when someone is late.”
They nodded, remembering the time a foolish man from Italy arrived late at one of the meetings that Takashi had arranged. He left without his ears.
The women went to the elevator and Hilde pressed for floor fourteen. The upward jerk of the elevator made Audrey uneasy and she grasped the bar on the wall of the metal contraption. Eliza grasped her boss’s shoulders and chuckled.
“You’re about to interrogate a man who may have had something to do with your husband’s murder and an elevator ride is giving you the willies?”
“…I hate being surrounded by metal,” Audrey growled. “Especially one that is up so high….”
The numbers above them glowed one by one until finally illuminating on the final digits of one and four. Audrey let out a sigh of relief and when the doors opened, very slowly at that, she hurriedly got out of there. The other three looked at their boss and all laughed.
“Oh, ha-ha,” Audrey sneered. “Let’s just get this over with, all right?”
The remaining three in the elevator strolled out and Kazuko motioned to the right. They walked down upon the lush carpet to room 767 and Kazuko opened the door. A slight gush of cool yet escaped from the suite and welcomed the women in. Hilde went in first to make sure that everything was in order then instructed the rest to come in. Audrey gasped at the beauty of the room. The ceilings were very high as they were in the lobby but had more lighting. Intricate lamps and delicate roses were placed on all the individual tables and antique artwork adorned the walls. She was highly impressed.
Eliza went to the middle of the room and checked the bags. She handed them out accordingly, except for the largest one, which was Audrey’s, which she had to drag.
“What the hell is in this thing boss?”
“My clothes, jewelry and my hat box.”
“And it’s this bloody heavy?”
“Well,” Audrey smiled, “You can never be sure of what’s going to happen so I always pack a little more.”
“You call this a little more?” Eliza asked with a grunt.
Audrey smirked defiantly, almost as payback for the ride to the hotel and the elevator. She dropped to her knees to open the gigantic leather box and sifted through garments to pick out a long black dress and also a pair of very tiny black shorts and a matching strapless bra. The other girls were also getting ready, except for Eliza who found the idea of redressing for a meeting to be completely bizarre.
Audrey threw off her outer layers and strolled into the bathroom. She flipped the light switch and found the room to be decorated in a very Victorian fashion. She stripped off her final layers and put on the new ones and then the dress. Her long arms reached to the back and pulled up the zipper completing her look of simple elegance. She looked in the mirror and tousled her hair. That’ll do she thought. No use for looking pretty when I’m going to be covered in blood later.
When she returned to the room the rest of the girls were also done. Eliza had on her classic white suit, something Audrey always told her not to wear simply for the fact that it would get filthy, but Eliza would always go out and buy a new one after every mission. Kazuko was in a long black trench with very tight pants and big boots. She had her hair pulled back and in a high pony. Hilde was showing off her legs in a revealing skirt with tulle underneath and a very tight mini jacket. She was tossing her knife in the air and catching it, always coming close to cutting her skin.
Audrey turned to pick up her hat box off the floor when Kazuko spotted her bare back. She immediately took off her trench and draped it on her boss’ shoulders.
“They cannot see your flesh,” she told her sternly.
“They can and they will Kazuko. Kei gave me these scars and the fact that they’re visible will disrupt their thoughts. They’re staying out,” she said as she politely handed the Asian her coat back.
Numerous scars were etched into Audrey’s back as if she was herself a cutting board. When she was first inducted into Kei’s group he didn’t trust her. He found her to be a softie American who would eventually cause him to break. He needed a way to test her and to see if she was truly capable of what he needed her to be. This sadistic ritual of slicing her back open, with a knife, katana, or whip, was what he devised and Audrey pushed through all of it to prove her loyalty to him. The final scar, the one that proved to Kei that she was to be a part of his world, was his name eternally carved into her left shoulder. Now that he was gone those scars meant that she was Kei’s woman and that she would still do anything for him, including bloody and horrific vengeance.
Hilde opened the door and Eliza brushed past her, keeping an eye on the halls. Audrey grasped her hat box with both hands and followed Kazuko out the luxurious room. The four women then proceeded back to the elevator and Eliza pressed for the button to go up to floor fifteen, the second to highest floor. Audrey gulped as the door opened wide and had to have Hilde nudge her inside.
“Don’t be such a pussy boss,” Hilde smirked.
“I hate these things.”
The machine loudly grunted and pulled quickly upward. They watched as the numbers above the lighted up, causing a nervous excitement in each of their guts. They had all gone on dangerous missions before, ones involving world leaders and devilish occults, but this was different. Those had been for money, orders from their leader that they had to carry out, but this…this was nothing but simple revenge and something that would harshly thrust them into a situation that could very easily get them all killed. If they didn’t survive this night then most assuredly every gang in Takashi’s regions and control would be after them.
But, deep down in all of their minds, they all thought that none of that mattered. The man who had given them freedom, strength, and for Audrey a new life and love, had been ripped out of their lives so maliciously and they would go to the ends of the Earth to avenge him.
As the doors opened Audrey, now calm with a determined plan in her mind, stepped out of the elevator and turned to her comrades.
“This is it everyone. Remember what must be done.”
They nodded in unison and followed their leader done the long corridor.