Author’s Notes: Really,
really short chapter which picks up directly where Chapter 4 left off. I was really tempted to combine it with
Chapter 5, but I was afraid it would read like MASA…GACKT/CHA so I
didn’t do that. Instead, I give you two
really short chapters for the price of one.
Sorry fans of crazy!Hyde, but don’t worry – he’ll get his limelight in
the next chapter.
shat·ter (shăt’Ər)
The word “ATTENTION” was printed in large
black letters at the top of the leaflet tacked on their front door. The subtitle read, “New law to take effect
Monday.” Neither of the men looked up to
read it, but had they, it would have only added yet another agony to those
collected through the horrendous day.
Had they looked up however, they would
have read in harsh print, “All non-Union artists, actors, etc. – please see
back of sheet for complete list – will from hence forth be forbidden to own
property. The following is a list of
“non-Union” accepting living accommodations…”
Pushing open the door in a trance, Gackt
and Cha stepped into their house and closed the door behind them, completely
missing the announcement.
*****
They were still recovering from the shock
of the enormous loss. They would be
recovering for a long time, Cha mused, running his fingers along the rim of the
wine glass. He almost wanted it to sing.
Almost.
Gackt was lost in his own thoughts, his
own remorse. The pain and shock brought
on by You’s death was far from fleeting.
He sat by the window facing west, watching as the sky turned orange and
red and purple with the setting of the bleeding sun. It was beautiful. But it would never be as beautiful as it once
had been.
Never again.
Lost in their separate reveries, they didn’t
hear the cars coming to a halt outside, didn’t hear the loading of guns, didn’t
hear the angry voices.
Then suddenly, they were upon them.
Glass shattered about them and bullets
whizzed about their heads, successfully jolting them from their thoughts. They dropped to the floor while the upholstery
was shredded by the small projectiles.
Laying flat on their stomachs, they covered their heads. “Cha!”
Gackt cried out as one bullet flew dangerously close to his hands. “God…Cha!
You okay?”
“Aa…” came the muttered reply. “You?”
“Could be better.” Slithering on his stomach, Gackt made his way
to the other man. “We have to get out of
here.”
“No shit.”
“Head towards the kitchen, stay low.”
They crawled, making their way slowly to
the adjacent room. It was only when they
had almost reached the relative safety of the doorway that the firebombs broke
through the windows and shattered on the floor, spilling the oil they contained
and setting everything they touched ablaze.
When one of the bombs shattered almost on top of them, Cha jumped
back…and in doing so, jumped up to his knees.
Gackt grabbed him and threw them both down the floor just as a new round
of bullets went flying overhead.
Crawling to the far corner of the room, they lay on the floor
together.
s
“I think we’re in trouble.”
“I think we are too.”
The room was engulfed. They had to get out of there. And they had to do it now.
“Think we could try the windows?”
“Think they’re at the back?”
“We’d have better luck either way.”
Cha nodded. Unbolting the nearest window, they scrambled out
into the darkness and away from the burning building. Turning back, they watched as the flames grew
higher as the echo of the gunfire faded.
They stayed there for a few moments, shocked and frightened by what had
just transpired.
“Fucking Hell!”
Gackt sat on the ground that was at one
point in time their back lawn while Cha stood and paced in front of him,
silhouetted against the flames that engulfed their home…or what used to be their home. The dry wall and timber and paint were
quickly becoming little more than a scorched skeleton. “Cha…sit down, calm down…please?”
“Calm down? Calm down?!
They fucking fire-bombed our house
and you want me to calm down?!”
“Be happy we’re both still alive…” Cha stopped short mid-step and turned to
him. That must have gotten his
attention.
Minutes passed in silence, disappearing
into the night like the ashes of their home.
With a heartsick groan, the older man collapsed on the ground next to
Gackt. “All of our paperwork, the music,
all of the money we saved--”
“All of our old life.”
Cha glanced over at the other man. The growing fire reflected in those dark
eyes. “What do we do now?”
Gackt closed his eyes and breathed
deep. When he opened them again he
turned to look at his friend and the other man thought he saw he saw
tear-streaks glistening in the red light coming from the blaze. “We survive.”
*****
The man behind the Plexiglas
window gave them another suspicious look.
They had come without paperwork, without identification, without
clearance.
The man on the other side of
his weak wall was all but begging him to give them a room for the night. He said they would pay in cash. Glancing over the taller man’s shoulder he
gazed at his smaller companion who huddled, shivering against the opposing wall. On a good day, she may have been pretty, but
today she looked a little worse for wear.
In fact, they both looked
like drowned rats – not surprising with the downpour erupting in unending
streams from the clouds overhead.
Returning his eyes to the dripping
main before him, he took the wad of damp money the other held in his fist and
slid the keys to one of the rooms upstairs to him. “Don’t let anyone know I let you in,
alright?” Clutching the keys to his
chest, the man nodded sadly and took his companions arm.
Watching them disappear into
the elevator, the man rubbed the stubble on his cheeks and sat back to read his
porn.
*****
Double locking the door
behind him as they stepped into their single, Gackt shuddered. He stood there quiet, staring at the peeling
veneer.
“We don’t exist.”
At Cha’s hushed words, he
turned around. “What?”
“We don’t exist. Our paperwork is gone. Our music’s gone. You
is gone.” Cha bit his lip and Gackt
looked away. He paused for a time before
he continued, “They’ve taken everything out from under us.” Turning to the room, his arms wound around
his slight shoulders. “Everything’s
gone.”
They stood in silence for a
time. Walking up behind his distraught
companion, Gackt placed his hands on Cha’s shoulders, gently rubbing the tense
muscles in his upper arms. He leaned
down and whispered, “Let’s change out of these clothes and hang them in the
bathroom to dry. Tomorrow we’ll go down
to the bank and check our funds and go apartment shopping. Okay?”
Turning the smaller man around, he tilted his chin up to look at
him. “Everything will be alright
Cha. You’ll see.”
Smiling sadly, Cha nodded and
slipped out of Gackt’s arms. Stepping
into the bathroom, he turned on the light, which flickered when brought to life,
and shut the door gently.
Gackt stood for a moment in
the middle of the room. Looking up, he
crossed to the window and stared out into the gray rain.