The Collection - Chapter 13
Akane found the home theatre and she wasn’t about to sit and watch a movie, but she had never seen a screen that big. What could it hurt to turn it on so see how things looked? When she turned the TV on she saw them. At first she didn’t know what she was looking at and then she focused on each frame. Women. It all came to her when she recognized the girl from the park. At first all she could do was sit down and stare. He brain was having problems processing all the info. Her first impulse after that, had been to call the police. She didn’t see a phone so she went back to the bedroom to get her cell phone. There, lying helpless on the bed was Tomohisa. His hair was tousled, even though his fever had gone down he was still a little flushed and his mouth was a little open to let the air in and out. She dropped her cell phone. She couldn’t do that, not when he was lying there helpless. Her next idea was to let the women go and take them back to town herself, but there wasn’t much difference with calling the police. No, she couldn’t do that, not after what they’ve been through and after two days of… Oh, god, those women hadn’t eaten in two days!
Right, first was getting them food. When she opened the cabinet door she understood the plastic plates. Each room had its own color and they each of them had its own plate and cup. She found trays and then started looking for the way to the rooms. She finally found a door that had a flight of stairs. At the bottom, she found a hoodie. It was a good idea to put it on, she supposed.
Where to start? She decided to go to the furthest room. It was the Blue one. As soon a she opened the door she heard the voice a woman yelling:
“You bastard! Were you trying to starve us? Why the hell would you do that, you pie….” The woman stopped as soon as Akane came into view. “Who are you? Where is he? Who are you?” Akane didn’t answer, she wasn’t about to tell the woman her name. She would most definitely try to help but she didn’t know if she wanted to be involved. So she just left the tray and hurried out. A similar interaction, minus the insults and the yelling, was repeated in all the rooms.
The last room was the Pink room. She had left it for last because it was more difficult to face the girl from the park. Te- Tegoshi… Yuya, no, Yuuko. Somehow, having seen her outside, playing the guitar and singing, made this harder. She took a deep breath and entered. She had probably heard the commotion in the other rooms so she was waiting for her.
The girl didn’t say anything, just watched Akane wide eyed. Finally she said.
“You are not him. Sorry, that’s pretty obvious. But you are a girl.” Akane just nodded. It was more difficult to ignore a familiar face. “What happened to him? We… I was worried when all this time went by without him coming. Is he okay?” Okay Akane was confused. The shouting and the other questions she understood. It was only natural, but this girl was worried about him? Maybe he didn’t just watch them…
“Is he?” The girl asked in a sweet voice. Akane nodded. The girl nodded back.
“We… we miss our families, our friends. We are grateful he took care of us but…. We miss the outside.” There were tears in the girl’s eyes but she didn’t let them fall. Akane swallowed a lump on her throat and nodded. “Will you please help us?”
“I’ll try.” Said Akane and left before she ended up consoling the girl.
Yuuko heard the door close and the steps going away.
“Well, what did she say?” Asked Takara.
“That she will try to help us.”
“What did she say?” Yelled Rin.
“That she would try to help us.” Repeated Yuuko louder.
“That’s it? Who was she? Where is the guy?”
“I don’t know! If I started asking so many questions she wouldn’t have said anything. I did ask about him, she just said he was okay.”
“Too bad.” Said Rin
“So? We keep waiting?” Said Keiko.
“What else is there to do?” Answered Shige.
“I´ve already fed them.” Said Akane. “You can leave that and go back to bed, you are not well enough to be up. Like I said I´ve already fed them. We can talk in your room.” She grabbed his hand and led him to his bedroom.
“Akane…”
“What do you do with them” He looked down. He didn´t know how she would take this or what she was thinking. But she hadn´t called the police and… she had taken care of the dolls? “Tell me. They looked clean and well taken care of. Those dresses…”
“I put them on...”
“And…”
“I do their hair…” He had to tell her he supposed.”I bathe them.”
She nodded “I thought as much. They are all beautiful and… “
“That´s all I do, I bathe them and dress them. I don´t do anything else with them. I mean, they are not…. I mean they…”
“Are dolls?” He looked at her then, surprised. She went on: “There are 5 of them, but 8 went missing. Where are the other three?”
He looked down. She might understand the dolls in the room but she won´t understand this. He only shook his head.
“Are they dead?” He nodded. “Did you kill them? Tell me.” He nodded still looking down. He took a deep breath. It was time to tell her everything and let it play out.
“It all started when my parents died in that car crash. Well, I was always different but it got worse after that. Then I saw the first Purple Moriuchi Tami”
“Moriuchi Tami”
“Yes, she died because of a reaction to the drug. It was the first time I did it, so I didn´t know I had to check their medical records. She had a condition and was taking a medication that didn’t mix well with the drugs I gave her. She got worse and worse and finally died. I was so sorry. I AM sorry. Uchi Hiroko and Kusano Hiromi were already here, but I didn´t bring anyone new for a very long time. I learned to look into their medical records, I hack their doctors computers and make sure I won´t hurt them with the drugs. Then Uchi tried to escape. Again, it was my mistake. I was careless and she managed to escape, she ran off. I followed her but she reached the highway before I did. She saw me and started running faster. She didn’t see the car coming. The guy just kept going but I took her and buried her. I told Kusano, she had met the other two girls; I had introduced them, so I thought she should know. That was another mistake. She managed to kill herself. She broke her plate and cut her wrists.”
“So that’s why now the plates and cups are plastic.”
“Yes. I was devastated and didn´t want to continue. I stopped and even thought about destroying the rooms.”
“Did you build and paint them?” She asked
“No, my mom did. This was her house before she died he had a huge collection, each room with a different theme. And I have no idea why I have to collect the dolls, I just do. So don´t ask me, I can´t answer.”
“Okay, I won´t. When did you start again?”
“About six months after Kusano’s death, I was walking down the street and I saw BLUE. I knew she was BLUE. Again, I don’t know how I know, but I do. Before I knew what I was doing, I was following her. I found out who she was. I told myself I wouldn’t do anything about it. But I couldn’t stop thinking about it and this time I knew what to do, I knew what not to do and how to take care of her. So I hacked into her medical records and fixed the blue room so that she couldn´t hurt herself. She was an escort, so it wasn’t that difficult to get a date with her under a false name. Then I found Purple, and Green and well… you know. “
They were silent for a while.
“What are you going to do?”
“What if I told you I was going to call the police?”
“Well, I guess I could stop you, but I don’t think I can bring myself to hurt you. I mean, I love you so I wouldn’t hurt you. On the other hand if you were going to call the police, you would have done it by now, wouldn’t you?”
She looked up and gave him a sad smile. “I guess. I love you too, and I know you don’t want to hurt them, so I don’t want to call the police, but this is wrong.”
“But I found them. They are mine now. I found them.”
“That’s exactly it. You didn’t find them, you stole them and stealing is wrong, right?”
“What?”
“Yes, they aren’t yours; you took them, from their families and friends. There are people who missed them and you took them from them. You have to return them. I’m not asking you to decide right now. Just think about it. I leave you alone…”
“I don’t want you to go.”
“You have to be alone to think. I’ll be waiting. Call me whenever you want, but I can’t stay.” She went over to him and sat in the bed next to him and grabbing his hand said: “I’ll stay tonight to make sure you are all better and leave in the morning.” He reached over and kissed her softly on the lips, then he laid down, put his arms around her and hugged her close to him.
Akane had already left and he was sitting in his viewing room watching his collection. Akane was right, of course. He had never thought of it like that, but he supposed he did steal them. Still he knew they were supposed to be his. It was clear Akane wouldn’t come back as long as he kept them, if she didn’t call the police. If she did he would end up with nothing, without his collection and without Akane. If he got rid of his collection, would Akane come back? She had seemed honest when they talked and she seemed to understand. There was always the possibility of giving Akane her own room; he had always thought she would look good in red, even if she wasn’t a doll…
He pictured his life without Akane, his life without his collection. He couldn’t even contemplate a life with neither. After thinking and thinking, he knew what he had to do. He took a deep breath and got started.
Rin was going out of her mind. She hated waiting and there was really nothing else she could do. She had tried everything to escape. She had even tried bringing down the wall but the furniture was just too heavy for her to pick it up and do any real damage. Using her bare hands was out of the question. Wait, just wait. She heard noises outside. Lunch time, apparently.
It was the man. So he was really okay, bummer. She wanted to scream at him but what was the point. He left the food and walked out. So everything was back the way it had been she though with a sigh. She looked at the food and went back mentally… not her turn, she went ahead and ate.
A few minutes later she started to feel dizzy. The feeling was familiar but it was impossible, he never, ever broke the pattern. The feeling was intensifying. Rin went to the wall she shared with Keiko.
“Keiko! I’m not feeling so well.”
“What is it?”
“I- I think he drugged me.” There were a few seconds of silence.
“But it’s not your turn.”
“I know that. What is going on?”
“ Don’t know. Maybe he is starting over? Maybe he lost track.”
“I don’t like this. Keiko I’m scared. I don’t want him to take me.” Her voice was wavering and she sounded terrified even to her own ears.
“Rin,” Keiko said trying to be reassuring, but there was a hint of fear in her voice. “It’ll be okay. He always brings us back unharmed…. Rin… Rin?”
Rin had passed out on the floor next to her bed.
The fic will have 15 chapters, which I'll post in the next 2 days.
CH01 - CH02 - CH03 - CH04 - CH05 - CH06 - CH07 - CH08 - CH09 - CH10 - CH11 - CH12 - - CH14 (Final)