Invitation
Small. Innocent. A pure, white envelope. Turning this over in
her hands, Juri searched for what she was certain would be there.
Pleasantly disappointed, however. Despite the seemingly innocent
appearance, this enclosure was not emblazoned with the rose seal, nor
any seal. The only marking was a rudely sketched version of her
street address across the front in dark blue ink. Landing on her
doorstep, instead of her mailbox. But from where had this come? No
return address. No postman. Not since leaving the academy two years
ago had she been troubled by any baffling mysteries like this.
Tearing open the letter, she thought nothing of her years at
Ohtori. Cared nothing for lost memories or dissected emotions. All
knowledge of such things having practically faded and been wiped
completely from her brain like a washed blackboard.
All except for her, of course. Damn it to hell.
Arisugawa Juri!
What a completely stupid opening
You are receiving this letter because someone very close to you
wished to send you an invitation! Please RSVP to the appointed time
and place and our car shall escort you.
And at the bottom, only the time and place. Tomorrow evening, in
fact. Still, nothing beyond that ridiculous message that sounded like
a typical scam from some telephone salesman. But like this?
With an angry sigh, Juri ripped the note in two. Turning on her
heels and heading for the kitchen. A lonely room, where the soft
echoes of those lost memories bounced off the four walls, haunting and
teasing her if ever she allowed them. A laugh or a sigh from one
young girl. The only thing that had kept her company during the years
at Ohtori. After the duels, anyway. Before then, perhaps she had
discovered more. Before...but her situation had never once changed.
A staunch demeanor and iron stature were all that she had offered.
She gave nothing. Allowed not one brave tear to fall.
The ringing telephone jarred her terribly, as if a snake had
lurched upwards from her right with intention of biting her. Juri's
eyes widened a moment, staring at the annoying receiver and trying to
clear her head. Reaching out to answer her call, her breath finally
beginning to slow a tic.
"Arisugawa Juri!"
A high, friendly voice. Unfamiliar, but...
"You are receiving this call because someone very close to you
wished to send you an invitation!"
Juri's blood ran cold before anger clouded all possibilities.
Who was playing this crazy game with her? What was their problem?
"Please RSVP to the appointed time and place..." The voice
continued, not once losing that dreadfully cheery tone, despite her
anxiety. "...and our car shall escort you."
"Who is this?" She demanded of that joyful woman. The same
manner and tone as the letter she had just tossed in the garbage.
Someone "very close to her"? There was no one.
The voice did not answer her. Merely continuing on as the letter
had, naming time and place, before...
"Who are you?"
*click*
Her hands were shaking terribly. Not like her to be so caught
off guard or helpless. What in the hell was happening?
Taking her evening shower was no help at all. The blazing water
only seemed to remind her of so many stressful nights and that which
she had both lost and never possessed in the first place. Feelings
like shards of glass, barred between two slabs of gold and what was
worse, Juri knew that at some point, the girl had seen what lay hidden
there. That which Juri could never admit to. The thing that could
make her even lose herself. The spray pounding hard against her
back, Juri felt her knees begin to give. Breaking down, and from
outside, she heard the phone ringing again.
The answering machine would pick up, she told herself as she held
her forehead in her left hand. Not even wishing to bother with who
would be on the other line, as once again, those same shards of glass
were stabbing her heart. Tearing for blood. Why now?
Why?
Gathering her clothes, Juri opened the bathroom door. Steam
issuing out into the semi darkness of the long hallway, all was quiet
about her. Calm as snowflakes, as she headed for the answering
machine. The red light flashed impatiently, announcing a waiting
message and when Juri got to the rewind button, she stopped her
finger, hovering just above the gray, solid oval.
There were six registered messages.
But she had only heard the phone ring once. Had not been in the
shower more than ten minutes. Six calls in under such a short period
of time?
Tentatively, she played these back, shock and even greater
outrage washing over her like a flood. Goddammit! That same voice!
The cheerful timbre of voice like an operator, never once changing
tone and...
"Juri? Please...I have no one else but you...please..."
Those words. She had heard them before, but never directed at
her. The last message before the tape stopped. The voice, then...her
voice. The one she had not heard in so many years but that which
would plague her subconscious forever. Shiori...
Was she connected to this?
Those words. Such pleading dialects, speaking her given name.
Not as before. Not towards a man she thought she loved. Wave after
wave of brutal sensations shook Juri's poor body. A termor before the
phone rang again, her hand tearing the receiver from the cradle, chest
constricted as if she were having a heart attack.
"Shiori?"
"Arisugawa Juri! You..."
"No!" She slammed the phone back down. Staggering to her feet,
she raced down the hall, tearing clothes out of the drawers and
hearing the phone ringing once more. Four rings before her machine
picked up. Replaying that hideous, good natured witch once more.
"Arisugawa Juri! You are receiving this message because someone
very close to you wished to send you an invitation! Please RSVP to
the appointed time and place and our car shall escort you."
Tomorrow evening. She knew. But no longer would this
inconsiderate bitch keep calling. Juri pulled the cord from the jack,
disconnecting her phone and falling defeated into a chair.
What if Shiori tries to call you again?
Was that Shiori? It had sounded so much like her. So much like
her. Juri closed her eyes, sighing heavily as the betraying tear slid
down her cheek. Wiping this angrily away, she saw Shiori once again,
behind those drawn lids. The delicate frame and gentle body that
captivated her dreaming mind. Sweet face and endlessly agonizing
eyes. A whining moan fell from her lips, reaching unconsciously for
her neck where a chain had once been. A pendant had once hung. But
this she had left behind, once vacating Ohtori.
Her night was a completely sleepless one. Thinking over and over
of that message and that voice. And then...that of Shiori.
"Please...I have no one but you..."
To make matters worse, she heard the unmistakeable clicking of
the answering machine, several times per hour. No messages and no
more rings, as the phone had been taken from the wall. But this
machine was working all by itself! Still moving and winding the tape.
She did not wish to move. Could not bring herself to set foot
out of her room or go down that hallway because she knew what she
would see. Displaying that same message, over and over. Calling to
her as the ring or the locket. Those things she thought she had
forgotten.
Keeping a lamp burning until the early morning hours, before she
had awakened from a thin, troubled slumber. Weary and nervous, but
she heard nothing more from her machine. Reaching the gray device,
she could see the faint blink of the red light. Sunshine filtering
through her windows, casting a sudden glare over the message window
before she learned that she had acquired seventy-four messages in all.
Enough to fill the tape and stop, once reached. The phone still lay
on the chair by her coffee table, cord wrapped around several times,
like a snake on a treebranch.
She was not going to play them back. Refused entirely, ejecting
the tape and tossing this in the garbage with the letter. Juri knew
where to meet them. She didn't need that constant reminder.
Standing by the curbside of Tougenki and Nayobu Streets, she
searched for any sign of what would be the "car" the woman had spoken
of. Her "invitation". Watching the smiles and teasing of normal
couples. Parents, children and those who believed that reality was
enough. Those who were satisfied and never craved anything more.
"Arisugawa-san."
She had not even heard the vehicle pull up. A large, black
sedan, the driver wearing sunglasses, despite the growing darkness of
the twilight hours. Clothing the same ebony as the leather interior
of the car, only the green lighting of the dash visible.
"If you accept your invitation, please step inside."
Words from an unseen face. Again, the invitation. Crowds
passing by as if she were not there. As if she did not exist. This
monster in black, completely unnoticed.
"How could I do otherwise?" She asked in flat tones, pulling the
handle and opening the door. Sitting on the comfortable seat which
gave sparingly beneath her hips. The driver pulled away from the curb
and did not speak another word.
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