CHAPTER SEVEN – Fear and Jealousy

Tai stood in the dark hallway of his parents' apartment, listening to Kari's voice coming from his mother and father's bedroom.

'Please take them, Mom, they'll make you better,' Kari pleaded.

'NO! You don't think I know what you're doing? You don't think I know that you, your brother and your godforsaken father are trying to poison me?' their mother spat.

Tai cringed, and walked to the kitchen to get a glass of water, unable to listen to Kari's pleas and sobs. A funny noise escaped his throat as he raised shakily raised his glass to his lips and took a drink. He choked as he heard the unmistakable sound of glass smashing on a hard surface and a loud thud, and turned to look down the hallway, listening for Kari to give him a sign that she was ok. Silence. Nerves threatening to make his legs give way, he started to move towards the bedroom when suddenly a figure appeared in the dim light coming from the open door. Squinting, Tai clenched his fists defensively.

'Kari?' More silence. 'Kari!'

As the figure approached Tai, he realised that it wasn't his little sister, but in fact his mother. She walked past him as if he wasn't there, and Tai turned as he noticed a dark patch on the sleeve of her dressing gown.

'Mom? What's going on? Are you ok? Where's Kar?'

She stood still, her back to Tai, not moving to answer his question.

'Where she should be. And where you should be.' Her voice was cold, emotionless.

The blood drained from Tai's face as he realised that something wasn't right. He walked to the bedroom and peered round the door. Clasping a hand to his mouth, his eyes landed on Kari. She was bleeding. Everywhere. She lay on the blood soaked carpet, motionless, and her eyes were half open, half closed. Tai dropped to his knees beside her and shook her.

'Kari? Answer me, Kar, please! Please Kari, don't leave me, please no, no, no…' His voice trailed off as sobs escaped his throat and hot tears coursed down his face. Turning his head slightly, saw his mother, who had reappeared in the doorway. A glint of light caught his eye as he looked at the knife she was holding. He stared at her through his tears and jumped back, almost landing on his dying sister as his mother lunged, blade pointed at his chest.

'NO!' Tai woke with a start, dripping with sweat and shaking uncontrollably. He was breathing heavily and his heart felt like it was going to jump out of his chest. He steadied himself, slowing his breathing and reassuring himself that it wasn't real. It was just a bad dream. It was just a bad dream. It was just a bad dr… Tai looked at his phone. 7 missed calls – Mimi. Still shaking, he ignored it and scrolled through his contact list. Kal, Karen, Kari. He tapped her name and the call button, holding the phone to his ear, resisting the urge to throw up.

'Tai?'

'Kari.' Tai let out the breath he had been holding the whole time he was listening to the dialling tone.

'Tai? What's wrong? Are you ok?'

Tai smiled at the concern in his sister's voice.

'I'm ok, sis, just checking up on you.'

'At five in the morning? Shit Tai, your overprotectiveness is getting too much,' she joked. 'Go back to bed and let me sleep or I'll be at yours in ten minutes with a pillow ready to smother you.'

'I'm sorry. Night.'

'Night bro.'

'Oh, Kari?'

'Yeah?'

'I love you.'

'I love you too, douchebag.'

Tai hung up, lying back onto his pillow and, still attempting to control his breathing, closed his eyes, partially bracing himself for another one of the dreams that had plagued him ever since his mother became ill.


'Tai, where the hell are you?' Izzy's voice came through the speaker in Tai's phone as he sat up, rubbing his eyes and running his hand through his wild hair.

'What?'

'It's ten thirty, idiot. You're supposed to be at work. I'm going crazy here, I don't know how you cope with so much paperwork!' Izzy was panicking, and Tai found it amusing.

'Usually it all goes in a junk drawer,' he chuckled. 'Or through the shred… ten thirty? Fuck!' he jumped out of bed and dressed himself as quickly as he could, brushed his teeth with lightning speed, dragged his fingers through his wild hair and fled his apartment, snatching his car keys off the kitchen counter as he went.

Halfway to the offices, Tai's phone started ringing. Izzy. He answered, making sure to use the hands-free kit Kari had bought him out of paranoia for his safety, and groaned loudly.

'I'm coming now, I'm nearly there, keep your pants on!'

'Tai.' Izzy sounded solemn.

'What is it?'

'Did Mimi call you last night?'

'Err, maybe, I can't remember, I think I had a couple of missed calls from her.' Tai frowned, wondering what Izzy was getting at. 'Why?'

'Something's happened. Just put your foot down, but try not to kill yourself. That's the last thing she needs.' Izzy hung up.

Tai panicked, worry rising up in him so much so that he barely saw the car in front brake quickly and had to swerve to avoid it. Overtaking the useless driver, he put more and more pressure on the pedal, desperate to know what had happened to Mimi. Was she hurt? Was she dead? Tai shook his head, and on pulling into his parking space, leapt out of the car and not bothering to wait for the elevator, took the stairs two or three at a time, dragging his blazer behind him. Reaching his office, he swung open the door to see Mimi sitting near his desk, head bowed. Izzy stood beside her and Matt sat in front of her, a supportive hand on her arm.

Tai steadied himself as he caught his breath and gasped. 'What's going on?'

Mimi lifted her head. She had been crying again, Tai noticed, but there was something else. Fear. It was written all over her face, and when her eyes met with his, her expression cut him deep. He walked over and kneeled in front her, holding her clasped hands in his. When she dipped her head again, he lifted her chin with his finger and silently begged her to tell him what had happened. It was Matt who spoke first.

'She has nowhere to go.'

'What? Why?' Tai frowned. Why was everyone being so fucking vague?

Mimi sniffed and spoke quietly.

'My house is crawling with police.' She coughed and hiccupped, and Matt returned his hand to her arm. Deciding that she was in no fit state to talk about it, he explained the situation to Tai.

When Sora had finished work, Mimi had called round to see her, and ended up staying til quite late. At about one in the morning, she had pulled up outside her house and approached the door, only to find it open, and the window near the top of the door smashed. Nervous, she had stepped inside and almost fainted at the sight that greeted her. Dark red paint was splashed up the walls and on the huge picture of Mimi and her brother that hung in the hallway. 'Slut' was sprayed onto doors, and several windows were smashed. She had stood in shock for a few moments before getting out her phone. She contemplated calling the police, but there was someone else she needed to call first. She needed to see someone she knew, a familiar face so that she could relish in the tiny bit of security she had left while police scoured her home. Shaking and crying, she dialled said person's number and listened. No answer. She tried again. And again. After calling seven times, she had given up and called Matt. She was thankful that he answered quickly and promised to be there as soon as he could, and that he would call the police for her. Knowing that Matt was on his way made her feel a little braver, and so she decided on going upstairs to survey the damage. She picked up a vase for protection, not knowing if she was alone or not, and slowly made her way upstairs. Opening her vandalised bedroom door, she screamed in horror. It looked as though a bomb had exploded. Everything was ripped, torn, splashed with paint, but the thing that horrified Mimi the most was the photo pinned to her bedpost. She had seen it as soon as she had entered the room. A photograph of herself and Tai when they were about fifteen years old, at the beach. It was a photocopy, enlarged to at least three times its original size, and pinning it to the bedpost was a knife. In fifteen year old Mimi's neck. Fifteen year old Tai's face was smudged with something dark. Wiping her tears, she focussed on the stain. Blood. Not just the red paint that had been thrown all over the rest of the house. Actual, real blood. Whether it was human blood, she didn't know, but shock, confusion and utter terror flooded though her veins and she fell to the floor.

'When I woke up, I was in Matt's car and there were police everywhere,' sobbed Mimi. 'I stayed with him last night and came looking for you earlier.'

'Meems.' Tai wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close to him, wanting to keep her there forever, wanting to keep her safe. Then he remembered. She'd called him. And he hadn't answered. He reasoned that he couldn't have heard his phone while he was asleep, and that there was nothing he could have done to stop it from happening, but the guilt still overwhelmed him. He held her as she cried silently, stroking her hair and feeling as though he could cry too, but his natural instinct to be strong had kicked in, and he sat wordlessly, wishing he could take it all away.

'There's something else,' Matt broke the silence.

'There's more?' Tai looked up at Matt.

'They've arrested Miya Tanaka.'

Oh dear, poor Meems. And poor Tai! His nightmare does tie in with the story later on, and Kari has an important part in that. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, thank you for reading :)