• chapter 2:

    “This is it!” Courtney yelled while pacing around the store. Today was a boring Tuesday and once again there were minimal customers. Duke wasn’t paying much attention to her and instead was focusing more on the book that was beneath her eyes “Next time he does something like this. I’m going to kill him. I don’t care what the consequence is. This spoilt little brat needs to be taught a lesson” Courtney rubbed her hands together evilly along with an evil grin on her face. She looked over to Duke who she knew had stopped listening to her a while ago “How should I do it?” No reply “A gun? A knife?” Courtney stopped pacing and thought to herself for a few moments “Yeah a knife. It’ll be slower and more painful that way and I can also carve horrible things into those horrible hands of his” Courtney sat beside Duke and decided to stop joking around and comfort her. Her voice dropped to seriousness and her eyes went from evil to caring “I hear about stuff like this every couple of weeks. I’m really worried Duke. One day he’s gonna think he can do anything and so something really horrible to you” She thought about it and winced at the visions that came into her head. She put her arm around Duke and held her close “Why don’t you go to the police or something?” She asked. Duke looked into Courtney’s eyes and told her
    “I did” Was all she said. Courtney threw her hands into the air in praise
    “Thank god you finally did. Don’t worry. I guy with an ego like his will be easy to find. He’ll be locked up soon and you’ll be a free and safe woman” She said nearly in song, her face beaming. Duke shed a small secret tear, catching it before Courtney had a chance to notice
    “You don’t understand” Duke said and pulled herself away from Courtney’s grip “This was a long time ago when it first happened. The case somehow ‘disappeared’” Duke looked distracted as she reminisced “That’s when I first learnt that someone like Derryn Durham has friends” Courtney’s jaw dropped. She couldn’t believe what she’s just heard. This really made her want to march right up to Derryn at that moment and plant some lead right in between his eyes. She wanted Derryns body hanging from a necklace. That could her birthday present to herself. Instead of committing bloody murder, Courtney scrunched up a piece of paper to keep her rage in. Her face was red. She looked around the store for a job to do to get her mind off things. She noticed that the shop windows were looking extra dirty
    “I’m going to clean those windows” She announced and grabbed some cleaner and a rag from beneath the counter. While Courtney was on her own mission Duke sat still at the counter, reading her novel. It was only a few seconds after that until she heard the door swing open. It wasn’t a priority of hers to look up and see who it was until she heard a familiar voice that for once in her life wasn’t Derryns
    “Hello again” It was that Hide guy from the other day. Today he was dressed a little more casually, trading the plain, cheap black suit for a faded pair of jeans and a leather jacket. His hair was slightly more messed up than it was yesterday which made Duke think about his outfit a little more. Was it just his style to dress a little odd every now and then or did he have a job interview or something? She looked at him in his eyes and smiled.
    “Hi there” She replied in a friendly tone. Hide went silent for a couple of seconds. The look on his face suggested that he was deep in thought. He remained that way until Duke interrupted his silence with a forced cough
    “Oh...um...uh...” He suddenly went pale. It was like that he was waiting in line for a very scary ride, thinking it would be fun and now that he got there he realised just how scary it was “I was just wondering if....um...if...” He struggled. Duke already had an idea of what he was going to ask but decided to wait until he’s finished to give her answer just in case she was wrong. Hide scratched his head and finally asked “Will you go out to dinner with me on Friday?” He was silent. Duke was silent. Courtney was silent...well...nearly. First she gasped and dropped the bottle of cleaner she was holding. After the slight bang it was completely silent.
    “Do you ask out many girls that you’ve talked to once before?” She asked with a slight amount of joke in her voice. Hide choked. He knew this was a stupid idea. It was just that there was a certain something about Duke that he liked. Even if he didn’t know exactly what that something was.
    “Um...no. But...I’ll make you deal” He proclaimed
    “Keep talking” Duke responded. Her hair was subconsciously being twirled flirtatiously around her finger. She stopped once she realised what she was doing
    “I’ll come and see you every day until Friday so I’ve officially spoken to you more than once hence not looking like a fool for asking you out” He nearly had to take a large breath and a drink of water after just letting it out at full speed. The guy was nervous and it showed.
    “Why me?” Duke appeared to have asked Hide but secretly it was intended for herself. She looked at Hide and realised that her stomach did a funny little flippy thing every time she did. It was almost as if she’d gotten a crush on a complete stranger and this scared her more than the supposed stalker lady from the bus-stop. She didn’t want to fall for another man. Duke was always horrible at hiding her feelings and having them for another person was something that she wouldn’t be able to hide from Derryn no matter how hard she tried. The funny feeling she got in her stomach whenever he eyes landed upon Takahashi Hide was not spectacular. It was dangerous. Hide was thinking about the question that Duke had just asked for some time while Duke was lost in a train of thoughts of her own
    “I noticed you staring at me the other day and wondered whether or not you liked me” He replied. Courtney overheard and shot an ‘I told you so’ look on her face. Duke cursed herself in her mind. She hated it whenever Courtney was right “When I came a little closer I realised that...” He began to shake a little off balance “That...you were really...” Hide honestly intended on say beautiful. He wasn’t so sure on how to talk to women. He was 24 and had only had one girlfriend. He didn’t really know what would insult them. He just knew from the movies that women got offended when men complimented them on their physical assets rather than their personality. He stopped for a second then finished his sentence “Interesting” Was the word he used to describe Duke but once he said it he realised that it was a much better word to use. He saw that she had the most beautiful face he’d ever seen but kept it hidden behind a frustrating wall of dark brown hair and also the way that she acted. He body movements were either that of a stray kitten or confident and near flirty. She was a hard woman to understand but Hide was determined to find out how she worked
    “Interesting?” Duke on the other hand had no idea how this adjective suited her “How am I interesting” She folded her arms and looked at Hide judgingly. He winced. Maybe it was the other way around ‘I should’ve called her hot or something’ his mind yelled at him. He gulped and decided on an answer
    “You’re just quirky and mysterious” He told her. Duke was slightly impressed but she wanted more excuses to keep talking to him even if it meant coming off like a b***h
    “And why do you want to take me out if I’m so weird?” It was starting to sound like an interrogation. Hide shrugged. He didn’t bring a speech or anything. His plan was to come in, ask her out and then run away with his tail between his legs. It seemed childish but that’s all he was good at
    “I don’t know. I want to figure you out. I want to get inside of you” Courtney and Duke fell silent. It was rigid and awkward until Courtney burst out into laughter
    “What did you just say little man?” She asked in between laughing fits. Duke was just a little amused by the comment whereas Hide was still unsure of what he just said and what was so funny. He was trying to be a little poetic but here he was standing in a store with a chick that looked as if she was 17 or something calling him ‘little man’. It was embarrassing
    “What did I say?” He asked with a voice that was still a little shaky. Duke shook her head
    “Never mind. I’ll go to dinner with you on Friday” She patted his hand and smiled. Hide grinned and nearly danced out of the store.
    “He’s very cute” Courtney was still a little giggly as she returned to the counter. Duke put her elbow on the desk and rested her chin on her palm
    “I know” She looked as if she was going to start singing. Courtney was happy that she had a smile on her face but she too also worried about the dangers that came with cheating on a man like Derryn Durham. Courtney closed Dukes book and sat on it to make sure that she was paying attention to her
    “So what story are you going to give that American brat?” She queried. Duke hadn’t thought of that and took quite a long time to reply
    “I won’t need to” Was the conclusion she came to
    “Oh?” Courtney responded cynically. She put her hand under her chin gesturing for Duke to continue
    “He never comes home until late and I’m not planning on staying out too late with a person I’ve just met” Duke pushed Courtney off her chair and claimed her book. Courtney rubbed her rear as she got back up onto the chair. She threw a sour look at Duke before commenting
    “Are you sure you want to take that risk?” She tucked her short blond hair behind her ears and looked as if she was the wise one and that Duke was doing something she’s regret. Duke hung her head and weighed up the risks involved. She sighed in defeat
    “Fine. I’ll just tell him I’m going for drinks with you” She informed Courtney nearly angrily. Courtney was stuck on those words for a little and considered the idea of actually going out with Duke. Duke was so hostile and sometimes it was frustrating to try making friends with someone who had the emotional capacity of a brick wall. She wished luck to Hide. He probably wasn’t going to get anything from this date. Courtney crossed one leg over the other, pulled an emery board from her pocket and began filing her nails in boredom
    “Sooo...” She attempted to make conversation
    “Sooo...” Duke repeated. She was never in the mood for just small talk
    “Other than Derryn being a jerk. How was your night?” Courtney was still filing her nails when Duke looked at her and wondered whether or not to tell her about the woman from the front of the store at the bus-stop or watching her from the side of the road or a...flagpole. She pondered the outcomes of telling Courtney this. She could ‘totally dig was she was saying’ or she could think that Duke was a complete nut job and probably slap her in the face and never talk to her again ‘there are no such thing as supernatural stalker Goth chicks’ she’d tell her in her usual pessimistic voice. Courtney was funny and loveable but she had a mind as narrow as a matchstick. Duke never felt obliged to confide in her. She knew that Courtney tried really hard to be her best friend but she just someone you could hang out with on occasion. Not someone whom you could sit down with and pour your heart and soul into. No, Courtney was like an annoying classmate who you kind of liked just because they gave you a big of an ego by liking you so much. Yeah, that was perfect for Courtney. She soon came to the conclusion to not tell Courtney about the woman
    “It was OK. I watched a news report about some psycho killer. That was pretty interesting” She always liked to freak Courtney out a little bit. She did have her fun every once in a while. Courtney gave Duke a concerned face
    “Duke. Stuff like that is scary! Not interesting” She put her emery board down on the counter and sighed. She also needed a life
    When Duke got home it was the same as ever. No Derryn and a cupboard full of clothes that she never wore. Duke was a human Barbie doll. No, Theresa was the brunette one. Duke was like a human Theresa and Derryn was the pre-teen girl with her prized possession. He’d buy Duke all these pretty dresses and jewellery which she rejected kindly. Not that she ever got to wear them anywhere. The only thing that Duke wore was her pyjamas, her work uniform and a plain white dress which was nearly completely hidden by the large coat the seemed to be the staple of her wardrobe.
    “Choices choices” She said while tapping her chin as she stood inside of her walk in cupboard surrounded by the collection that she didn’t collect. She didn’t even know what her colour was. She tended to stray away from the area. She took one hard stare in the mirror. Her eyes were green. Funny she’d never noticed this.
    “What colour goes with green?” She continued to talk to herself. She thought about the colour wheel she did back in kindergarten but still nothing came to mind. People with green eyes always wore striking red dresses which Duke thought was stupid because she’d instantly reminded of a Christmas elf. She soon gave up and pulled out a simple black evening gown and laid it on her bed. It had been a while since she’d been so excited as to get ready for something days prior to it actually happening.
    Wednesday:
    Courtney rolled her eyes once she saw the grin on Dukes face. It would’ve been a beautiful sight to have actually witness Ishihara Duke grinning but the look was just so cheesy and it was for a stupid cause. She wondered why Dukes cheeks suddenly fall off once Hide approached the counter and flicked his hair back. He was cute. She gave her that.
    “When do you have a lunch break?” He asked. Duke for the first time in a long time got a lock of her hair and put it out of her hair. Hide didn’t know her well enough to appreciate this gesture but Courtney’s jaw was nearly to the floor. Duke smiled some more and asked back
    “Why?”
    “I just wanted to know if you’d come to lunch with me?” He requested. All of a sudden he looked less nervous. Had he been practicing in front of the mirror? Whatever he had done Duke noticed it and stopped paying attention to how ‘cute’ he was and more on what kind of person he was. Hide was definitely intelligent and cultured which Duke had found her more attracted to for the reason that he was the complete opposite of Derryn whom she’d fallen for because he was strong, foreign and handsome. Those mistakes were finally catching up with her but something inside of her told her that this complete stranger was going to make it all better. Whatever that meant. Duke shrugged her shoulders just to look a little less eager and nerdy
    “Sure I’ll come. I can go to lunch for half an hour in a few minutes” Courtney took the chance to interrupt
    “Come on Duke. No one’s here. No one’s gonna be here. I’m sure a couple of minutes won’t hurt” She raised her eyebrows in a suggestive sort of way. Duke and Hide looked at each other awkwardly, blushed then finally left the store together. Courtney pictured herself with a Cupid’s bow and arrow and laughed a little to herself.
    “I feel stupid for asking” Hide kept looking down into his cup of coffee
    “I don’t mind. Just ask whatever you want to ask” Duke told him. She liked his politeness but now that he brought it up she really wanted to know what he intended on asking
    “It just makes me realise a little more that I’m going on a date with someone who I’ve had in total five minutes of conversation with” He was still blushing. Duke understood where he was coming from but given her situation she would accept any cute guy that asked her out whether she knew him or not
    “Seriously Takahashi I do not care” She reassured him and took a sip of coffee
    “How old are you?” Duke was underwhelmed but soon realised that yes, it would be embarrassing to ask given that you are interested in a person, asked them out but not even know how old they are
    “I turned 23 in May. How old are you?” Duke reciprocated and slouched a little in her chair.
    “I turned 24 just recently” Duke was surprised. Even though it was only a year she didn’t expect to be any younger than Hide. His shyness and his boyish way of dressing made him seem a little younger. Duke took that into consideration and noticed that it was really sad on her behalf that she would have been willing to begin dating someone who seemed like he was about 19 years old. She shuddered. Was she going insane? She liked the cafe that her and Hide were sitting at. She let him choose but she was happy that he chose this one. It had a French theme to it and not many people came here. There was nothing more that Duke hated more was a crowded cafe. She loved her coffee and when a crying baby or a couple of noisy foreigners began to disturb her daily caffeine dose. She’s go irate. She began to think about whether or not she could commit bloody murder once she was put into that situation. She scratched her head and looked at Hide who was still thinking of some more things to say
    “What’s your favourite colour?” Duke asked him as a spur the moment sort of question. This conversation wasn’t really going anywhere. You couldn’t blame either of their social skills. It was simply that they didn’t know enough about each other to start a conversation about something that the other person might find interesting
    “Um...I don’t know maybe...pink” He shied away a little when he said the word. Duke didn’t mean to be patronising but once she heard his answer she let out a nice big ‘nawwwww’ as if she was looking at a cute little baby. Hide was trying to figure out if he should be embarrassed at her response or pleased that she didn’t make some sort of homosexual joke “What’s yours?” He said in defence
    “I don’t have one. I don’t tend to do...colours” Duke was quick to reply. She kept looking around the cafe for something to talk about. Duke was sacred of spiders. Very scared of spiders but she gained a new fear that day. One that beat her arachnophobia. The fear that she would have to call Hide a dud and never see him again. Something caught her eye. It was someone holding up a newspaper with an article about the psycho killer on the cover. Duke studied Hide. He was completely dressed in black and a few tattoos. He might be the kind of person who’d be interested in a psycho killer and if not what could he do? Say ‘ugh that’s really creepy. I keep even my bedroom door locked and uh...say is that a new street sign?’ something told Duke that she needed not to worry about stuff like that anymore. She even considered telling him about the odd woman but that wouldn’t have been fair to Courtney
    “What do you think about that psycho killer that’s loose?” She asked him. Hide’s eyes rose from his coffee. He seemed relieved that they finally had something to talk about that strayed from the weather or their favourite colours. He replied while he stirred his cappuccino a little more
    “Yeah it’s pretty serious. They’re calling it a ‘vampire killer’” He laughed sarcastically
    “Do you really think that they’re real?” Duke questioned. Hide looked as if it was the most stupid question in the world. For second he wondered if she was being serious or if she was just stringing him along. No, she was serious.
    “Are you serious? No way. I think that is the most stupid thing I’d ever heard. I guess that maybe it could be some sort of factor involved but. No. They don’t exist. Don’t believe the press Ishihara. Don’t be one of those mindless paper readers who are so bored with their lives that they have to believe one of these stupid blown-out-of-proportion stories just to have some sort of excitement” He looked disgusted and gripped his coffee cup aggressively. Duke knew that Hide was someone who looked like he was part of the Goth culture but there was question of if he was a science Goth or an arty Goth. Guess that Hide was a Sci-fi nerd Goth. He was a person who thought more on the logical side and never put his palm up to his face, stared into the bright blue sky and thought ‘maybe’. They talked about serial killers and the supernatural for very long time
    “I should be getting back” Duke said sombrely once she caught sight of the time while looking around the cafe at the nice scenery. Hide felt himself feel a little jolt of sadness when she said this. Throughout their conversation he saw that Duke was definitely the most intelligent and interesting people he’d ever met. He began to feel a little less stupid about asking her out and more that it was for a reason. He touched her hand lightly as she walked away. She turned and smiled with her hair completely out of her face.
    Thursday:
    Times were good for Duke. She still woke up next to Derryn which always put her in a bad mood but she’d found a nice distraction and tomorrow was Friday which was something that she could forward to and she hadn’t seen that woman since the first time. She thought that she’d try to interrupt her lunch meeting with Hide yesterday but she was a no show. Duke splashed some cold water on her face and looked in the mirror
    “Maybe you are just crazy” She said to herself
    “Who are you talking to?” Derryn walked into the bathroom, reached over her shoulder and pulled out a small bottle of painkillers. Duke blushed. She hated it when people caught her talking to herself, she always come off as such a fool when they did
    “Myself” She attempted to leave the room. Derryn quickly put his arm around her waist and pulled her back to his side
    “You sure are crazy if you’re talking to yourself” He kissed the top of her head and let her go. She didn’t make any time for conversation. Duke got dressed, grabbed her keys and left for work while Derryn was still shaving even though she didn’t have to start work until well past noon. She was going to do something very crazy, well, something that seemed crazy in the eyes of Duke. She was going to do something that she wanted to do. Have breakfast...alone. This of course to a woman with a controlling partner was definitely a crazy idea. Hide was soon becoming the only thing on her mind. It was funny how quickly she felt herself falling for this person. Was it because he was the perfect being or just because she just desperate for something new? Whatever the reason, Duke knew it was coming down heavy on her.
    Friday:
    A small amount of sunlight beamed through a tear in the curtains and fell upon the lids of Duke’s resting eyes. They flittered open and she then realised it was Friday morning. Duke smiled and sat up, pulling some of the blankets with her. Derryn woke up and looked at Duke confusedly
    “Why are you up so early? You don’t start work until 11” He pulled some blanket back over him and remained awake. Duke was a terrible liar and wasn’t going to say that she was excited about anything. She pretended that she was still half asleep and flopped back down against the bed. She waited for Derryn to fall back into sleep and snuck quietly out of the bedroom.
    Dukes fingers wrapped around a hot cup of coffee. She stood on the balcony looking across the morning landscape of her home town. The breeze caused her hair to flick into her mouth just before she went to take another sip of coffee
    “Ugh” She groaned in disgust after swallowing a bunch of hair. This was always a big issue. The wished she could take a pair of scissors and cut it all off, as close to the scalp as possible. There was a piece of paper sitting on the outdoor breakfast table complete with a pen beside it
    ‘going to the club with Courtney tonight. Be back late <3 Duke’
    Duke knew that Courtney was right when she said it was too risky to rely on Derryn never coming home. There was always a chance that he might just change his mind and what would happen then? If he came home and Duke wasn’t there? All hell would break loose, that’s what would happen. sweatdrop sweatdrop sweatdrop