Date Written: 1/5/05
Rating: T
Characters/Pairings: Dee/Ryo
Warnings: Homosexuality, murder, hoodoo use, mentioned NC (non consent or rape) and the issues that go with it (I'm not going to write it, though, the closest I'll go is memories)
Disclaimer: Same as Chapter Zero
Spoilers: All the way up through book 7
Notes: Sorry this one's taken so long! The blurb before this is where I got the name for Joe. Big props to totally4ryo and deeryofan for help with this chapter. Girls, this one's for y'all.
THIS IS THE CUT VERSION OF THIS CHAPTER. IT HAS BEEN EDITED TO MEET FF.N STANDARDS. TO READ THE UNCUT VERSION PLEASE VISIT AFF.N
The Axeman of New Orleans was a serial killer active in New Orleans, Louisiana (and surrounding communities, including Gretna, Louisiana), from May 1918 to October 1919. Press reports during the height of public panic about the killings mentioned similar murders as early as 1911, but recent researchers have called these reports into question.
As the killer's name implies, the victims were attacked with an axe. In some of the crimes, the doors to the victim's homes were first bashed open with the same tool. "The Axeman" was not caught or identified at the time, although his crime spree stopped as mysteriously as it started. The murderer's identity remains unknown to this day, although various possible identifications of varying plausibility have been proposed.
Not all of the Axeman's victims died, but the savagery and utter randomness of his attacks terrorized much of the populace. Some early victims were Italian American, in particular the son of Pietro Pepitone who had killed Black Hand extortionist Paul Di Christina (Paulo Marchese) several years before, leading the newspapers to assume the killings were somehow Mafia related (similar to New York's Black Hand assassin "Shotgun Man"). However later crimes clearly did not fit this profile, and the apprehension of the general public grew. His victims included a pregnant woman and even a baby killed in the arms of its mother. The Axeman also seemed to draw direct inspiration from Jack the Ripper: he (or someone claiming to be the Axeman) wrote taunting letters to city newspapers hinting at his future crimes and claiming to be a supernatural demon "from Hell."
Most notoriously, on March 13, 1919, a letter purporting to be from the Axeman was published in the newspapers saying that he would kill again at 15 minutes past midnight on the night of March 19, but would spare the occupants of any place where a jazz band was playing. That night all of New Orleans's dance halls were filled to capacity, and professional and amateur bands played jazz at parties at hundreds of houses around town. There were no murders that night.
Not everyone was intimidated by the Axeman. Some well armed citizens sent the newspaper invitations for the Axeman to visit their houses that night and see who got killed first. One invitation promised to leave a window open for the Axeman, politely asking that he not damage the front door.
Crime writer Colin Wilson speculates the Axeman could have been Joseph Mumfre, a man shot to death in Los Angeles in 1920 by the widow of Mike Pepitone, the Axeman's last known victim. Pepitone's widow, who served only three years for the killing, claimed to recognize Mumfre as the man she saw fleeing her home the night she discovered her husband's body. Though there is no direct proof of Mumfre's guilt, Wilson notes that Mumfre was in jail during all of the Axeman's "dormant" periods (including the period from 1912-1918), and free at all times the Axeman struck.
--from Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia
Dee was quiet as the two of them made their way back to the hotel room. Ryo knew that Marie's words were bothering his lover, but he didn't say anything yet, opting to take Dee's hand into his and squeeze it affectionately.
Dee sat on the bed when they got back, avoiding Ryo's gaze. Ryo simply chuckled, moving around the bed to crawl up behind his lover.
Dee smiled and looked over his shoulder at Ryo as his lighter-haired lover began to trail kisses up his neck. Ryo leaned his cheek against Dee's almost absently, running his hands over his lover's shoulders. "You okay?"
"Yeah," Dee replied, brushing a kiss into Ryo's hair. "I just wasn't expecting... well, that."
"I know, baby." Ryo kissed Dee's cheek, pressing their cheeks again and rubbing their cheeks together.
Dee looked back down at his hand, running his fingers over the blue vein in his wrist. "Baby? Was it hard for you growing up?"
Ryo sighed, putting his chin on Dee's shoulder. He knew exactly where this was going. "No more than usual. I have no complaints."
"So no one picked on you for being half-Japanese?"
Ryo put one hand on Dee'schin, turning it towards him. "Dee... look at me--really look at me. Do I look Japanese?"
Dee's eyes tookin his lover's face: chestnut colored hair, pale skin, slightly oval eyes.
Dee shook his head.
"Outside of the house I was Randy, not Ryo," the other man explained. "A select few knew I was half. For the most part I was considered white, like you."
Dee looked a little sad and he touched Ryo's cheek. "But you missed out on half your heritage."
"Not really," Ryo replied with a smile. "I really wish you could have met Mom and Dad so you could have seen that I didn't miss anything." Ryo stroked the hand that he was holding with his thumb. "Elena and Rick see you as family, so in a way you're part Scottish."
Dee smiled a little at that. "And Mother's part Spanish, so I guess I'm part too."
"Exactly," Ryo agreed, taking Dee's hand from his cheek to kiss the back of it. "But whatever your birth parents are, they had a beautiful baby."
Dee chuckled as he pressed his forehead against Ryo's, remembering how Mother had hauled out the baby pictures not long after they had become lovers."
"And he grew up to be a beautiful, loving man," Ryo finished with a smile. He leaned in to brush his lips against Dee's in a feather-soft kiss. "Do you realize how exotic you are?"
"Exotic?"
"Yeah," Ryo agreed, running his fingers through Dee's thick hair. "Gorgeous jet black hair..." Ryo pressed the hand he was holding against his cheek, nuzzling the warm palm. "Soft, beautiful olive-toned skin," he continued, kissing Dee's wrist. "And those amazing deep green eyes," Ryo finished, moving around Dee to strattle his lover's lap, his fingers still tangled in Dee's hair. "You are amazingly, astoundingly gorgeous."
"Flattery will get you nowhere," Dee teased, wrapping his arms around Ryo's waist to hold him in place, their lips milimeters apart.
"'s the truth," Ryo countered, feeling the nerve endings in his lips tingle with anticipation.
Neither one of them knew who moved first but soon they were kissing softly, lips gently moving against and caressing each other,their eyes closed to concentrate on one another.
Ryo moaned low in his throat when Dee's tongue slipped through his lips, the delicious taste of his lover spreading over his taste buds.
The two of them made love twice before snuggling in to sleep, Ryo cradling Dee gently in his arms. Just as they were about to fall asleep again, Dee looked up at Ryo. "Baby?"
"Hmn?" the blonde replied sleepily, running a hand over Dee's shoulders.
"Never leave me?"
Ryo opened his eyes. His lover was apparently going through an insecure phase and Ryo pressed a kiss to his lover's forehead. "Never."
"Promise?"
"Promise, Love. Promise"