DVD
One Saturday afternoon, Leon was at a party in a bar for one of his
partners. Next to him was a long time friend of Leon and almost everyone on
the police force. His name was Paco. He was very short, as thin as Count D,
Mexican and gothic. Paco moved his long black hair out of his face and
stared down the martini glass and the olive twirling inside. He held the
thin bottom of the glass gently between two fingers. Then, in seconds flat
all of the drink was gone. Leon looked over at his friend. Paco's gothic
exterior made Leon remember Taki. He looked away so to not over worry about
the strange girl he had seen at the pet shop.
"Know what?" Leon asked. Paco turned to his friend. "Help me out here, help me get my mind off this girl I saw" he said.
"You like her and can't have her?" Paco asked. Leon shook his head. "Suspicious looking?" Paco asked.
"Sure is" Leon said. "And the way you dress isn't helping" said Leon jokingly. Paco raised an eyebrow. "She's gothic, I mean. She looks sort of Hawaiian, and she has this German shepherd with her. Long black hair, dark brown eyes, and crazy as hell too" he said. Just then, a look came over Paco. A look that told Leon, Paco knew who she was. "Who is she?" asked Leon. "I know you know! I can tell!" he finished excitedly.
"Taki Lau, my best friend growing up. In fact, around sophomore year of high school, she asked me to make a video of her since I was good with a camera. It's a long video; it basically has everything from sophomore to senior year on it. Not all of it, but plenty of highlights and believe me, there were a lot of highlights" said Paco.
"Anything bad?" Leon asked.
"Oh yeah" Paco answered.
"Let's go get that tape" Leon said.
"It's a DVD. And why do we need it?" Paco said. "You'll see. And while we're at it, to play it safe, let's get the DVD player too" Leon said getting more enthusiastic by the minute.
Moments later, the two men arrived at the pet shop. "D!" Leon called. "D, come out here! You too Taki!" The count opened the door slowly and gave the detective a displeased look. "Where's Taki" Leon asked looking around the shop.
"She's not here detective. She had some business to attend to. Something along the lines of cat rescue I believe" the count said.
"Oh yeah, she used to do that all the time with Trisha" said Paco behind a bulky DVD player.
"Oh yes, that was the woman's name!" said D. "Oh, pardon me. Who might you be?"
"I'm Paco, one of Taki's old friends. You sure the girl she went with was Trisha?" replied Paco. The count nodded. "Well I'll be damned, Trisha's' still alive" Paco said. Leon and the count looked at him strangely. "Anyway, so Leon, where is this thing supposed to go?" asked Paco gesturing to the DVD player.
"Detective, what exactly is all this for?" D asked, obviously confused.
"It's time for you to see who your new little friend really is!" Leon said proudly.
"This is supposed to be something to 'expose' Taki? Fine, whatever you say Leon, but all this happened a long time ago and anyway, I bet she won't ever do the stuff we used to do again" Paco said.
"Hook it up to the TV. You said it was long right Paco? Well just skip to the bad parts and stuff" said Leon, completely ignoring Paco. Paco rolled his eyes and began looking for a TV.
"Detective, I'm sure all of this isn't necessary. Taki is a lovely person and her past won't change what she has become" said D calmly. D noticed Paco's struggle. He sighed. "It's over there he said" pointing to an old TV. Paco placed the DVD player in front of the TV. He dusted it off.
"Man, this thing hasn't been used in years, has it?" Paco asked.
"No, I only watch it occasionally to see the news" the count answered.
Paco began hooking everything up. "Okay, it's ready" Paco said after a few minutes. "Okay, this was filmed by me and a girl we called Roo. Whenever I couldn't be around to film, she filmed and we joined the two videos" Paco explained. "I'm just saying so whenever you see a bathroom scene I wasn't there, it was Roo" finished Paco. Leon gave Paco a weird look. "What? I don't want to look like a pervert. Stop looking at me!" answered Paco. Leon laughed and turned his attention to the TV. The count sat down unwillingly and watched as well. "Well, nothing much happened during sophomore year except a few parties with drugs and alcohol" said Paco occasionally stopping at wild party scenes in which Taki or a friend was doing drugs or drinking.
Suddenly, the picture began to stop. "Junior year" said Paco. "My birthday really sucked that year. You might want to close your eyes" he said.
Soon the camera was viewing Taki. "Paco, what's wrong? It's your birthday" she said.
"You know how I said my mom threatened not to get me anything?" he asked. Taki nodded. "Well, looks like she wasn't kidding. She just said some stuff about not caring so I just left" he said. "So, for my birthday, I want a slashing party." A look came over everyone there. They all knew what he meant. They had done it so many times before. Taki reached under her bed and pulled out a mahogany box. She opened the box and what was inside gleamed. They were knives, intricate knives with spectacular patterns. Taki pulled out one with a silver bat resting on top of the handle. A group of hands hovered over the box and in a flash the knives were gone. Then, splatters of blood came from all directions. This celebration of self destruction turned into a wild festivity. Drinks found in a cabinet under the TV were passed around. People pulled cigarettes out of their pockets. The gathering of morbid souls ended with everyone smashed. Taki's friends stumbled out into an empty living room. That's were Paco ended the scene.
"Taki's parents were never home he said. We got away with parties like those all the time. No one ever cared so it never mattered to us" he said slow searching again. "Oh, here's the start of the anarchy club" he said.
The scene began with Taki standing behind what was supposed to be a podium. The anarchy flag hung loosely behind her.
"I want to be the minority. Down with the moral majority 'cause I want to be the minority" said the stereo. The song "Minority" by Green Day was chosen to be the opening of the first meeting. Taki and the group conversed about the faults of society for a while. Finally, their talk which most would consider disturbing finished with the sound of the group shouting: "Anarchy!"
Paco slow searched again without saying a word. He stopped at a scene where all that was seen was the image of a city. The caption at the bottom read: "Christmas—Senior Year."
Just then Taki stepped in front of the camera holding a rolled up white piece of cloth. "Ready, Paco?" she asked.
"Of course" he said. A group of people walked in front of the camera. A gothic girl handed Taki a black pole. Taki began tying the edges of the cloth to it. When she raised the pole the cloth unfurled to reveal itself to be the anarchy flag. Taki pointed to someone and music began to play. A view of Paco holding the camera was then seen. The camerawoman's voice was heard. "Hi, Paco!" she said.
"Hi Roo" said Paco turning towards her for only a second. The camera moved away from Paco and the sights of another flag unfurling was seen. The atheist group had apparently teamed up with the anarchists, as the flag the other group had was black and had a picture of a cross with a read circle and a line through it. Just then, music was heard. It was "The Fight Song" by Marilyn Manson. "I'm not a slave to a god that doesn't exist" said the boom box much to the atheist's content. "I'm not a slave to a world that doesn't give a sht" said the stereo much to the anarchists content. Somewhat of a parade began and "The Fight Song" was their theme song. People emerged from their homes. Objects were thrown at the crowd.
"Merry Christmas!" shouted Taki slightly cackling afterwards. The crowd booed. Each group saluted their flags in retort.
Their march ended quickly as the spectators were getting violent and news was spread that someone had called the police. The screen went black. When the camera was turned on again, both groups, clearly out of wind, were sitting on some hidden cliff sides. A girl got up and looked to the camera Roo was holding. "Bye Roomana" she said.
"Bye Rosie" she said.
"You're going?" Taki and Paco asked in unison.
"Yeah" said Rosie with a smile. Rosie reached into her pocket and pulled out something that glistened in the faint sunlight. In a second the object was seen being raised to her neck and in a display of sliver and red, Rosie had fallen. No sound was heard. Just a flurry of movement was seen.
"Oh my God" said Roo turning off the camera. And that was the end of the scene.
"Here's the first funeral scene" said Paco pushing the slow search button again. "There are too many of these to show, but the first one is the most important" he said.
"Too many of them? How many funerals did you go to in just your senior year?" asked Leon.
"About six or seven" Paco answered. Leon looked over to D and was about to say something insulting about Taki. However, D didn't look so calm anymore. It looked as if he were about to cry. Leon thought better of his plan and said nothing.
"Rosie had a note in her pocket that explains her final wishes" said the priest at the opening of the scene. "She said she wanted Taki to sing her favorite song." Taki got up. She knew what that song was.
"We have no future. Heaven wasn't made for me...." she sang. At the end of her song all she said was: "In the Shadow of the Valley of Death by Marilyn Manson."
Paco found the part that was of most importance. It began with a woman walking quickly towards Taki. "What kind of song was that to sing at my daughter's funeral, you murderer?" asked the red haired woman. Taki looked back but said nothing. "That's right, you're a murderer. Your sick thoughts convinced Rosie to do it. Stupid kid, you killed my daughter!" the woman screamed. Taki turned her back to the woman and Paco ended the scene.
"Okay, before you judge her, I'll show you one final scene. Our graduation scene" Paco said.
The scene began with Taki receiving her diploma. After everyone had received one the hats were tossed a few last words were said and the graduates left the auditorium. The view went black for a second and Taki and the rest of their friends were seen on the floor of a grassy park. Taki had an acoustic guitar in her hand. "There's a lady who's sure all that glitters is gold, and she's buying a stairway to heaven" Taki began.
As the final piece of the film was being watch Taki silently walked through the doors of the pet shop. She caught the sound of her voice. She quietly walked over to the where everyone was sitting. She stood a few feet away from them, waiting for the right moment to reveal herself.
"And she's buying a stairway..." said the Taki on TV.
"To heaven" the real Taki finished. Everyone watching was startled.
"Oh my, Miss Taki! I'm...I'm terribly sorry, I shouldn't have watched this. I shouldn't have pried into you life like that" said the count getting up and quickly getting out of her sight. Taki was about to call for him to stay but something told her to let him go. She looked down to find Paco unplugging the DVD player and leaving along with Leon. She said nothing to them even though she hadn't seen Paco in years. She just walked into the back room were D had gone. She found him slumped over. He looked almost like a wounded deer. "It's okay D" she said. "It doesn't bother me. That's my past and I don't care about it anymore"
D rose. He found it hard to resist Taki's gentle voice. He moved closer to her. In a matter of seconds, though it seemed like ours to them, their arms were around each other and all was well again.
To: saya fujimiya: Alas I have updated again. I hope you enjoyed this chapter also.
To: Magical Girl: I don't mind the advice. In fact you might see your ideas in an upcoming chapter. Hope you enjoyed this chapter.
To: WITCHCHICK3.0: I'm glad you are enjoying my story. On the subject of line spacing, I swear to you, I am spacing but it comes out all smashed together when it appears on this site. (
To: Erik'sRose: Thank you for the kind word. I strive for believability. I hate stories with things that will obviously never happen in them.
To: elvenrarehunter: I looked up telekinetic and telepathic and they are synonyms so both are correct, however telepathic is the more correct way of describing it. So you are indeed correct.
To: Heaven sent me: Yeah, the slash theme for "PetShop" was getting on my nerves so I wrote this just for a change. (
To: FAN1: I'm glad you are enjoying my story. As I mentioned above, my lines don't come out right when submitted to this site.
Note to everyone: I will be in Mexico from July 20th to August 10th. My family in Mexico does have internet access and hopefully their program will allow me to change the language I type in. I need spell check, so it won't help me to write English stories in a Spanish word program. Nonetheless, I will still attempt to update. Sorry for the long chapter. See you around everyone. (
"Know what?" Leon asked. Paco turned to his friend. "Help me out here, help me get my mind off this girl I saw" he said.
"You like her and can't have her?" Paco asked. Leon shook his head. "Suspicious looking?" Paco asked.
"Sure is" Leon said. "And the way you dress isn't helping" said Leon jokingly. Paco raised an eyebrow. "She's gothic, I mean. She looks sort of Hawaiian, and she has this German shepherd with her. Long black hair, dark brown eyes, and crazy as hell too" he said. Just then, a look came over Paco. A look that told Leon, Paco knew who she was. "Who is she?" asked Leon. "I know you know! I can tell!" he finished excitedly.
"Taki Lau, my best friend growing up. In fact, around sophomore year of high school, she asked me to make a video of her since I was good with a camera. It's a long video; it basically has everything from sophomore to senior year on it. Not all of it, but plenty of highlights and believe me, there were a lot of highlights" said Paco.
"Anything bad?" Leon asked.
"Oh yeah" Paco answered.
"Let's go get that tape" Leon said.
"It's a DVD. And why do we need it?" Paco said. "You'll see. And while we're at it, to play it safe, let's get the DVD player too" Leon said getting more enthusiastic by the minute.
Moments later, the two men arrived at the pet shop. "D!" Leon called. "D, come out here! You too Taki!" The count opened the door slowly and gave the detective a displeased look. "Where's Taki" Leon asked looking around the shop.
"She's not here detective. She had some business to attend to. Something along the lines of cat rescue I believe" the count said.
"Oh yeah, she used to do that all the time with Trisha" said Paco behind a bulky DVD player.
"Oh yes, that was the woman's name!" said D. "Oh, pardon me. Who might you be?"
"I'm Paco, one of Taki's old friends. You sure the girl she went with was Trisha?" replied Paco. The count nodded. "Well I'll be damned, Trisha's' still alive" Paco said. Leon and the count looked at him strangely. "Anyway, so Leon, where is this thing supposed to go?" asked Paco gesturing to the DVD player.
"Detective, what exactly is all this for?" D asked, obviously confused.
"It's time for you to see who your new little friend really is!" Leon said proudly.
"This is supposed to be something to 'expose' Taki? Fine, whatever you say Leon, but all this happened a long time ago and anyway, I bet she won't ever do the stuff we used to do again" Paco said.
"Hook it up to the TV. You said it was long right Paco? Well just skip to the bad parts and stuff" said Leon, completely ignoring Paco. Paco rolled his eyes and began looking for a TV.
"Detective, I'm sure all of this isn't necessary. Taki is a lovely person and her past won't change what she has become" said D calmly. D noticed Paco's struggle. He sighed. "It's over there he said" pointing to an old TV. Paco placed the DVD player in front of the TV. He dusted it off.
"Man, this thing hasn't been used in years, has it?" Paco asked.
"No, I only watch it occasionally to see the news" the count answered.
Paco began hooking everything up. "Okay, it's ready" Paco said after a few minutes. "Okay, this was filmed by me and a girl we called Roo. Whenever I couldn't be around to film, she filmed and we joined the two videos" Paco explained. "I'm just saying so whenever you see a bathroom scene I wasn't there, it was Roo" finished Paco. Leon gave Paco a weird look. "What? I don't want to look like a pervert. Stop looking at me!" answered Paco. Leon laughed and turned his attention to the TV. The count sat down unwillingly and watched as well. "Well, nothing much happened during sophomore year except a few parties with drugs and alcohol" said Paco occasionally stopping at wild party scenes in which Taki or a friend was doing drugs or drinking.
Suddenly, the picture began to stop. "Junior year" said Paco. "My birthday really sucked that year. You might want to close your eyes" he said.
Soon the camera was viewing Taki. "Paco, what's wrong? It's your birthday" she said.
"You know how I said my mom threatened not to get me anything?" he asked. Taki nodded. "Well, looks like she wasn't kidding. She just said some stuff about not caring so I just left" he said. "So, for my birthday, I want a slashing party." A look came over everyone there. They all knew what he meant. They had done it so many times before. Taki reached under her bed and pulled out a mahogany box. She opened the box and what was inside gleamed. They were knives, intricate knives with spectacular patterns. Taki pulled out one with a silver bat resting on top of the handle. A group of hands hovered over the box and in a flash the knives were gone. Then, splatters of blood came from all directions. This celebration of self destruction turned into a wild festivity. Drinks found in a cabinet under the TV were passed around. People pulled cigarettes out of their pockets. The gathering of morbid souls ended with everyone smashed. Taki's friends stumbled out into an empty living room. That's were Paco ended the scene.
"Taki's parents were never home he said. We got away with parties like those all the time. No one ever cared so it never mattered to us" he said slow searching again. "Oh, here's the start of the anarchy club" he said.
The scene began with Taki standing behind what was supposed to be a podium. The anarchy flag hung loosely behind her.
"I want to be the minority. Down with the moral majority 'cause I want to be the minority" said the stereo. The song "Minority" by Green Day was chosen to be the opening of the first meeting. Taki and the group conversed about the faults of society for a while. Finally, their talk which most would consider disturbing finished with the sound of the group shouting: "Anarchy!"
Paco slow searched again without saying a word. He stopped at a scene where all that was seen was the image of a city. The caption at the bottom read: "Christmas—Senior Year."
Just then Taki stepped in front of the camera holding a rolled up white piece of cloth. "Ready, Paco?" she asked.
"Of course" he said. A group of people walked in front of the camera. A gothic girl handed Taki a black pole. Taki began tying the edges of the cloth to it. When she raised the pole the cloth unfurled to reveal itself to be the anarchy flag. Taki pointed to someone and music began to play. A view of Paco holding the camera was then seen. The camerawoman's voice was heard. "Hi, Paco!" she said.
"Hi Roo" said Paco turning towards her for only a second. The camera moved away from Paco and the sights of another flag unfurling was seen. The atheist group had apparently teamed up with the anarchists, as the flag the other group had was black and had a picture of a cross with a read circle and a line through it. Just then, music was heard. It was "The Fight Song" by Marilyn Manson. "I'm not a slave to a god that doesn't exist" said the boom box much to the atheist's content. "I'm not a slave to a world that doesn't give a sht" said the stereo much to the anarchists content. Somewhat of a parade began and "The Fight Song" was their theme song. People emerged from their homes. Objects were thrown at the crowd.
"Merry Christmas!" shouted Taki slightly cackling afterwards. The crowd booed. Each group saluted their flags in retort.
Their march ended quickly as the spectators were getting violent and news was spread that someone had called the police. The screen went black. When the camera was turned on again, both groups, clearly out of wind, were sitting on some hidden cliff sides. A girl got up and looked to the camera Roo was holding. "Bye Roomana" she said.
"Bye Rosie" she said.
"You're going?" Taki and Paco asked in unison.
"Yeah" said Rosie with a smile. Rosie reached into her pocket and pulled out something that glistened in the faint sunlight. In a second the object was seen being raised to her neck and in a display of sliver and red, Rosie had fallen. No sound was heard. Just a flurry of movement was seen.
"Oh my God" said Roo turning off the camera. And that was the end of the scene.
"Here's the first funeral scene" said Paco pushing the slow search button again. "There are too many of these to show, but the first one is the most important" he said.
"Too many of them? How many funerals did you go to in just your senior year?" asked Leon.
"About six or seven" Paco answered. Leon looked over to D and was about to say something insulting about Taki. However, D didn't look so calm anymore. It looked as if he were about to cry. Leon thought better of his plan and said nothing.
"Rosie had a note in her pocket that explains her final wishes" said the priest at the opening of the scene. "She said she wanted Taki to sing her favorite song." Taki got up. She knew what that song was.
"We have no future. Heaven wasn't made for me...." she sang. At the end of her song all she said was: "In the Shadow of the Valley of Death by Marilyn Manson."
Paco found the part that was of most importance. It began with a woman walking quickly towards Taki. "What kind of song was that to sing at my daughter's funeral, you murderer?" asked the red haired woman. Taki looked back but said nothing. "That's right, you're a murderer. Your sick thoughts convinced Rosie to do it. Stupid kid, you killed my daughter!" the woman screamed. Taki turned her back to the woman and Paco ended the scene.
"Okay, before you judge her, I'll show you one final scene. Our graduation scene" Paco said.
The scene began with Taki receiving her diploma. After everyone had received one the hats were tossed a few last words were said and the graduates left the auditorium. The view went black for a second and Taki and the rest of their friends were seen on the floor of a grassy park. Taki had an acoustic guitar in her hand. "There's a lady who's sure all that glitters is gold, and she's buying a stairway to heaven" Taki began.
As the final piece of the film was being watch Taki silently walked through the doors of the pet shop. She caught the sound of her voice. She quietly walked over to the where everyone was sitting. She stood a few feet away from them, waiting for the right moment to reveal herself.
"And she's buying a stairway..." said the Taki on TV.
"To heaven" the real Taki finished. Everyone watching was startled.
"Oh my, Miss Taki! I'm...I'm terribly sorry, I shouldn't have watched this. I shouldn't have pried into you life like that" said the count getting up and quickly getting out of her sight. Taki was about to call for him to stay but something told her to let him go. She looked down to find Paco unplugging the DVD player and leaving along with Leon. She said nothing to them even though she hadn't seen Paco in years. She just walked into the back room were D had gone. She found him slumped over. He looked almost like a wounded deer. "It's okay D" she said. "It doesn't bother me. That's my past and I don't care about it anymore"
D rose. He found it hard to resist Taki's gentle voice. He moved closer to her. In a matter of seconds, though it seemed like ours to them, their arms were around each other and all was well again.
To: saya fujimiya: Alas I have updated again. I hope you enjoyed this chapter also.
To: Magical Girl: I don't mind the advice. In fact you might see your ideas in an upcoming chapter. Hope you enjoyed this chapter.
To: WITCHCHICK3.0: I'm glad you are enjoying my story. On the subject of line spacing, I swear to you, I am spacing but it comes out all smashed together when it appears on this site. (
To: Erik'sRose: Thank you for the kind word. I strive for believability. I hate stories with things that will obviously never happen in them.
To: elvenrarehunter: I looked up telekinetic and telepathic and they are synonyms so both are correct, however telepathic is the more correct way of describing it. So you are indeed correct.
To: Heaven sent me: Yeah, the slash theme for "PetShop" was getting on my nerves so I wrote this just for a change. (
To: FAN1: I'm glad you are enjoying my story. As I mentioned above, my lines don't come out right when submitted to this site.
Note to everyone: I will be in Mexico from July 20th to August 10th. My family in Mexico does have internet access and hopefully their program will allow me to change the language I type in. I need spell check, so it won't help me to write English stories in a Spanish word program. Nonetheless, I will still attempt to update. Sorry for the long chapter. See you around everyone. (