Obsession 2

Chapter 14- Same Thing

Sadie

I've been dying to know about this curse that has affected both Sammy and Mikey. When Mikey first started telling me about it, I thought he was crazy. I didn't blame him, of course. His brother was in jail for murder and his mother had just passed away. The kid had been through a lot.

But then his crazy ass brother went and kidnapped me twice. While he attempted to force himself on me the first time, once he saw he hurt me, he backed off. As matter of fact, his demeanor changed completely. He was still weird, but he was no longer violent, at least.

The second time he took me, he never once tried to mate with me. He only held me captive as if he was waiting for Mikey to show up. I have no idea where he took me or how Mikey was able to find us, but I'm glad he did. Still, it's left me with so many questions.

First off, I have to admit that this curse has some reality to it. It's definitely caused some changes in the Franklin boys. Not just mentally, but physically too. Within a matter of days, Mikey is starting to look more like a prince than that skinny little okatu I met in middle school. His muscles are becoming more prominent, his skin glistens, his voice even sounds deeper and smoother.

I've always found him attractive, but after seeing him this way, and knowing what he's going through to protect me, it's causing all those old feelings to return. Now isn't the time to make any sort of confession, but hopefully, everything will turn out okay and maybe later, I'll revisit these thoughts.

I've been sitting on the bed, attached to the wall since my phone is on the charger and if I put it down for a second, I'll die of boredom. I've been looking up the Rokusai Tribe and the legend of the curse that was called down on them. It started off as curiosity, but it's turning into full blown obsession. I can't stop.

Four hundred years ago, half of the Rokusai tribe drove the indigenous Ainu people out of the lands they had inhabited for hundreds of years. Since they were weaker and smaller in number, they had no choice but to find a home elsewhere and give into the Rokusai's demands. As a result, the leader of the Ainu people called down a curse on the Rokusai, dividing them into two tribes, the Hikara and the Yami. While the whole tribe was cursed, only half the tribe, the half that violently attacked the Ainu people and drove them away, were seriously affected. The prominent leaders of the Yami Tribe fell ill, complaining of fevers that made their body temperatures so high, no one could touch their skin without being burned. The fevers caused them to be angry and aggressive, like a wild animal with rabies. It also made their urge to mate insatiable. Dozens of Yami women were r***d and killed at the hands of their own husbands. Legend has it, these women suffered from burns all over their bodies, both inside and out.

Wow. I wonder if that's what happened to the girls Sammy killed? That could've been me, if he wouldn't have backed off.

I read on and learn that the Hikara separated themselves from the Yami and practiced meditation and self-control, many of the men swearing off s*x altogether in an effort to remain pure and blameless.

It looks like the reports of this mysterious fever decreased drastically over the last one hundred years or so. It seems like the Japanese government has shut it down, claiming it to be a legend and nothing more. However, I come across one report from the UK- a study from back in 1963, when a young Japanese man living in New York attacked a woman and badly burned her body. He was sent to John Hopkins Research Hospital for testing and was found to have high levels of BCB's, a protein in blood that's usually only found in animals like wolves and bears. Other than that, there was no explanation for his extreme fever, or how he was surviving it when no normal person should.

I jump when I hear a tap on the window. Mikey is taking a shower and Kai is downstairs, but I suddenly feel so alone. What if it's Sammy coming back for me? I hesitantly lean over and peek out the window, sighing in relief when I see a robin perched on the windowpane.

I tap the window, getting his attention. He gives me a look before flying away. That's when I notice Sammy standing in the distance, staring up at the window, directly at me. I sit, frozen in place, for far too long. I want to scream, I want to get up and run, but my body seems to have shut down.

He starts for the house and I dart up from the bed, running into the bathroom and closing and locking the door behind me.

Mikey pokes his head out from behind the shower curtain and gives me a worried look. "Sadie? What's wrong?"

"I-I I saw Sammy!" I stutter.

He jumps out of the shower, pulling on his boxers without even drying off first. He pushes me behind him and looks out the door.

He closes it back and turns to look at me, taking my hands into his. "Where was he?"

"In the yard, right next to the house," I reply, my voice shaking with panic.

"Did he see you?"

I nod, starting to cry.

"Don't cry," he says, taking my face into his hands and wiping my tears away with his thumbs. "I won't let him take you from me again."

For a split second, I'm tempted to lean forward and press my lips to his. It's almost like I'm being drawn to him. But I don't want to make things weird between us or make him crazy like Sammy. Until all of this is over, I can't even afford to think of Mikey in that way.

I pull him close and hug him tight, relieved that I have him. I feel safe and protected, even if I still have no idea what's really going on.

"Michael!" Kai calls out from downstairs.

Mikey races to get his clothes on before taking my hand. He opens the door and looks around, then drags me behind him down the stairs. He pauses when he sees two detectives standing in the doorway. Mikey and Kai exchange a look before Mikey continues down the stairs.

"Detective Crosby...can I help you?" Mikey asks.

"Michael, you've disappeared on us," the taller one, who must be Detective Crosby.

"Disappeared? I wasn't aware I was confined. Was I not supposed to leave the state or something?" Mikey asks.

"With your brother on the run, it doesn't look good for you to be way out here, in California," the shorter guy says.

His mustache is so thick, I wonder if his top lip gets exhausted trying to hold that bad boy up all day. I smirk at him when he notices me watching him.

"That's the missing girl," he says to his partner.

"What? I'm not missing," I state the obvious.

"Your mother reported you missing on Tuesday," Detective Crosby says.

"I was...never missing," I lie. I mean, I was kidnapped by Sammy and was missing for days, but they don't know any of that, nor would they believe any of it. "Mikey is my boyfriend. We came here to visit his friend, Kai."

"Did you bother to tell your family?" mustache guy asks.

"I'm twenty-two years old. I didn't think I had to ask for permission anymore," I scoff. "You can call off the search. I'm fine."

Mustache guy opens his mouth to speak, but Detective Crosby holds up his hand. "It's fine. It's good to know you're safe. You really should call your family and let them know where you are, but that's not why we're here."

"Okay, then why are you here?' Mikey asks.

"We've been keeping your neighborhood under watch in hopes that Sammy will turn up," Detective Crosby answers. "We noticed a couple of guys in and out of your house last week and it...looked suspicious. After you went missing, we started looking for the guys we saw at your house. And here we are."

After he's done speaking, we all look at him like he's grown a second head.

"So...you tracked me down?" Kai asks. "I can't visit a friend in another state without it looking suspicious?"

"Look, that's neither here nor there. What's important is that we find Sammy. Do you mind if we take a look around the place?" mustache guy asks.

"Yes, in fact I do mind," I Kai says, stepping in front of them. "Come back with a warrant."

"Sammy isn't here," Mikey finally says. "He's looking for me and Sadie, so I'm not saying he won't turn up here. We just haven't seen him yet. He's...not safe right now. If you find him, it's best you not approach him."

"So what? We just let him go if we see him?" mustache guy scoffs humorously.

Mikey is not a fan of Shorty McSmallfry's humor. "Listen to me. Sammy is very dangerous right now. If you see him, you have to let me know. He has to be handled...very carefully."

While Detective Crosby looks as if he's seriously considering what Mikey is saying, mustache guy just chuckles arrogantly, crossing his arms over his big, round belly. "He's got nothing on some of the scum we've handled before."

"Trust me when I tell you, you've never seen anyone like Sammy before," Kai adds.

Detective Crosby gives us a serious look. I can tell he has sympathy for Mikey. The other guy, not so much. He's just along for the ride. "Michael, if you know where your brother is and you're not telling me, that could get you into a lot of trouble. You can trust me, you know. I was a good friend of you father's for years. I'm family, first and foremost. If Sammy is dangerous, lets get him off the streets before someone else gets hurt. Please, help us find him."

Mikey looks deep in thought. I'm wondering if he heard anything the guy just said.

"If you want my help, you're going to have to trust me," Mikey finally replies. "If you don't trust me, I can't trust you. And the longer we drag this out, the more time we're giving Sammy to strike again."

Detective Crosby nods. "I can trust you, Michael. And you can trust me. We both want the same thing, for Sammy to be returned to police custody safely."

"That's where you're wrong, detective," Mikey says. "We don't want the same thing."