Chapter 7 – The descent

Flynn

The next morning, Sayori and I awaken in my bed, facing each other. Her eyes stare into mine and, despite the traumatic events of the night before, I feel some sense of happiness. Her presence is comforting, and her body radiates a glowing worth.

"Morning sleepy head!" She says, gently smiling while rubbing the sleep from her eyes. Her hair is a messy and yet, despite this, she is still beautiful.

"Morning." I return her gentle smile, and reach out a hand to gently caress her cheeks, smooth silk on the perfect canvas.

"Hey, about last night…" Sayori begins to say, but I cut her off.

"Don't worry about it, I'm going to see a Doctor. I promise." I say, gently squeezing her hand to reassure her. This time it was the complete truth, I would go and see a Doctor. Madness was peaking its unwelcome head around the corner, and I intend to cut. It. Off.

"I know. But I wasn't talking about that. I mean, I want to know, what is this?" She says, scanning my face for any clue of what my answer will be. I gently squeeze her hand, and give her my answer.

"I don't know. But whatever it is, we can find out? But for now, we both have to go to work." I say, letting go of her hand as I stand up to get ready for the day.

"But what about Monika?" Sayori asks. I stop dead in my tracks and turn around to face her. "Leave Monika to me." I reply. The rest of the day goes smoothly, both Sayori and I walk to NYU and go about our business. At the end of the day, I walk to the Sayori's lecture room for another evening with the literature association. Sari, Yuri and Natsuki are no where to be seen. However, I see Monika in the corner of the room, and, putting Sayori to the corner of my mind for a moment decide that, despite it being incredibly awkward between us, that I should talk to her.

"So now you come to see me." She says, not taking her eyes off the book she's reading. She's flicking through a book entitled 'betrayal', which may have been an intentional choice to communicate her feelings through subtext.

"I am sorry. Sayori and I talked to each other and… I decided it would be wrong of me to spend the evening." I reply. Sayori slams her book shut and stands up from the table, walking towards me. She stops inches from my face and is so close that I can almost feel her nose touching mine.

"You don't owe me anything." She says, as her hand plays seductively with my belt. "But I promise you, you missed out on the best night of your life." Her lips are dangerously close to mine, and it takes all of my will power to stop myself from kissing her. Sayori, Yuri and Natsuki open the door and we step away from each other. Sayori runs over to me and hugs me from behind, Monika winks at me and walks away. Sayori stops hugging me and I turn around to face her.

"All sorted?" She says, holding onto the lapels of my tweed jacket as I look into her eyes, reassuringly.

"Done." I say, smiling. Though, truth be told, I'm not sure it is. A couple of weeks go by and, as we approach Christmas, I get closer and closer to all of the girls. One week before the holiday period begins, Sayori and Monika leave NYU and go to their home states to visit family. I dropped Sayori off at the airport and kissed her goodbye, leaving only myself, Natsuki and Yuri in New York. Natsuki and I spend an appreciable amount of time together and, one evening when we were hanging out on my couch watching a movie at my apartment, I notice something I had not seen before – a mark on her arm near her wrist. Is that a bruise? A cut? I can't quite tell from the angle.

"What's that?" I ask, pointing at her wrist. Natsuki turns to face me. She consciously pulls her sleeve down to cover her wrists. "It's nothing."

"Bullshit." I reply. By now I am close enough to all the girls to know what makes them tick, and I can easily tell that whatever is on her wrist is a source of anguish for my friend. "Come on, show me." Natsuki turns to face me, still covering her wrists with her shirt sleeve.

"Look… My Dad is a good man. He's just, seen some stuff you know? I do love him. At least. I think I do… He just had a tough time in Afghanistan." Natsuki replies, as she turns back towards the movie.

"Your father is a vet?" I had no idea Natsuki was an Army brat, though it does explain why she is such a turbulent individual.

"Yeah. US Army for most of his life." Natsuki replies, still concentrating on the television.

"Look, vet or not… Show me." I say, gesturing towards her arm.

"You want to see that bad!? Fine!" Natsuki shouts, as she practically rips up her sleeve to showcase her arm. Her skin is riddled with bruises, deep welts which colour her normally blemish free skin in a grotesque shade of purple. It all starts to make sense. Why she spends so much time at the literature association. Why she started hanging around with me so much.

"Whatever I say, whatever I do… It always upsets him. I can't get anything right and he…" Natsuki's voice trails off as tears begin to accumulate in her eyes. I stare at her, in shock and unsure as to what to do. I understand that a tour of Afghanistan is tough. I understand that it changes you as a person. I understand that you remember every single person you killed or saw get killed… But that is no excuse for taking out your anguish on another, especially your own flesh and blood. I wrap my arms around Natsuki in an attempt to comfort her.

"You can stay here… If you want. You can sleep in Sayori's bedroom, it's basically a spare room now since her and I became a couple." Natsuki doesn't stop hugging me and, with tears still streaming down her face, whispers "Thank you." Later that evening Natsuki goes to sleep in Sayori's bedroom and I remain on the sofa to watch the rest of the movie alone, contemplating her revelation.

?

I hover around his living room. A spectral presence manipulating events to steer him towards me. He will be mine. I place my hand on his face, my incorporeal form remaining invisible to his gaze. I whisper in his ear, a disembodied voice choreographing his actions. "Kill him."

Flynn

I sit on the sofa alone, and all I feel is rage. Anger. Disgust. He was a soldier. No… Once you become a soldier you remain a soldier and despite this honour, he has disgraced that title which he had earned. I stand up from the sofa and gently push the door open to check on Natuski – sound asleep. I walk to my own bedroom and open the wardrobe. At the bottom of my wardrobe is a chest, mementos from my days as a soldier, with new additions purchased from the Americas. I kneel down in front of the box and retrieve what I need. Black boots, black trousers, a black tactical vest, black rubber gloves, pliers, a combat knife, a balaclava, two duffel bags, a pair of binoculars and a suppressed P226. I place all of the equipment in a black duffel bag and decide to call an old friend.

"Matthew… It's been a long time." Matthew was an old friend I met during my tour of Afghanistan. A US Marine who saved my life on more than one occasion. Though, I had also saved his several times.

"Fucking hell Flynn you crazy British bastard. What's up?" He replied in a strong Texas accent. The bond we shared run deep, forged in the flames of war. It's why I called him, he would do whatever I asked out of loyalty.

"I need you to drop me off a few blocks from the address I've just text you, wait for me, then bring me back."

"Sure… Can I at least ask why?"

"I'll explain on the way."

Half an hour later Matthew draws up outside my apartment complex and I walk down to meet him. I get changed into my tactical gear in the back seat of his car while he drives to the address, as I explain to him what I'm going to do.

"Fuck me. Look, Flynn. I agree with you. This guy is a Major dick hole. But you seriously gonna do this? I ain't gonna give you up man, he sure as shit deserves to die but, this ain't you brother."

"Just drive." I reply. Maybe the anger was clouding my judgement, but I was looking forward to meeting Natsuki's father. Ten minutes later, Matthew drops me off at the rendezvous point and I make my way to the objective. From a suitable distance away, hidden in the shadows, I observe the house. The estate is a simple property with a drive way in a fairly average neighbourhood. There are no lights on in the house and Natsuki's father is nowhere to be seen. I steer the binoculars to the front of the house and observe that a car is on the drive way, meaning he must be inside the property. I put the binoculars back in my tactical vest, leaving the duffel bag at the observation point and approach the house, remaining as low as possible to avoid detection. I decide that the best point of entry would be the back door. I unholster my P226 and sneak around to the back of the house. I place my hand on the doorhandle, and gently open the back door. The door is decrepit and squeeks as it opens. I point the pistol in front of me and scan the room. There are no signs of life whatsoever. No lights are on. The TV isn't on. Just a dark empty house. I make my way to the stairs and begin the ascent. I take my time with each step so as to minimise the amount of noise, desperate to not give away my position to the enemy. As I reach the top of the stairs, I notice the bedroom door in front of my is open, and I slowly walk towards it, when suddenly I notice something in the corner of my eye.

"I spent 16 months in Afghanistan you piece of shit you think you can fucking come in here!? Break into my fucking house and live!?" Natsuki's father screams as he grabs onto my arms and bends my wrists. My joints are hyperextended due to this technique and I drop the pistol due to the pain. He swifly jabs me in the ribs, knocking the wind out of me. As I instinctively bend over in response to the pain, he grabs my head from behind and attempts to choke the life out of me. If I don't do something quick, I'll fucking die here! With whatever strength I have left, I push backwards against the floor, which sends us both hurtling down the stairs. Our bodies collide against the stairs, with each step sending an immense shockwave of pain throughout my body. As we reach the ground we both stand up in unison. His fist comes hurtling towards me, and I dodge backwards to avoid being hit in the jaw. A second fist comes flying my way, and I again dodge backwards. However, this time I grab onto whatever is being me – a lamp – and smash him over the head. The lamp shatters on impact and, despite the pain, he keeps sending a flurry of punches my way. I grab onto his arm with my left hand and send a right knee into his stomach, returning the favour and knocking the wind out of him. As he is bent over, I unsheathe my knife and go to stab him in the stomach. That's when I realise, I'm not a fucking murderer. What the fuck came over me? No no no this isn't me. Who or what the fuck is doing this!? However, I still need to leave him a message, to protect Natuski. I kick his ankle and he falls to the floor, still in agony from being hit with a lamp and being kneed in the stomach. I kneel down in front of him and decide to give him some advice.

"If you ever hurt Natsuki again, I will kill you. Do you understand? I will fucking end you." He mumbles something half consciously and I decide that now is a good time to leave. I retrieve my pistol, and escape to the observation point. I get changed into my normal clothes, and place everything else into the spare duffel bag I packed, including the original duffel bag I left with. I then meet Matthew at the rendezvous point and climb into his car.

"Please don't tell me you fucking killed him."

"No no, I didn't. But I don't think he will bother her again."

I look out the car window and focus on my reflection. I see a soldier, dressed in full Army gear, covered in blood staring back at me.