8 Chapter 7

There was a lot to think about after what we witnessed. We were overwhelmed as we were with what happened. Mr. Williams then decided it was best for the four of us to take a break. We then get a few cans from the pantry and decided for this to be our next meal. Sadly there was no can opener so I drew out a throwing knife and was about to open it. Tyrell then stopped me by grabbing my arm. "You sure you want to use 'that' after all the times you used it to kill giant rats?" He asked me. Tyrell did have a point and I ended up red. I then switched with a multitool. Surprisingly I forgot that this even had a can opener in it.

All of it was assorted food with a side of crackers. Mr. Williams had sardines in olive oil, Tyrell got the some Vienna sausages, and Rebecca had some processed duck meat. As for me I had some tuna paella in a can. But then again it was kinda hard to eat with a corpse just a few yards away from us. Mr. Williams settles the problem with getting a blanket from one of the rooms and covers the body with it. We were a little calm but it was good enough for us to eat. "Who would have thought that we would be raiding your high school bully's pantry, huh?" Tyrell asked Rebecca. Rebecca then just enjoyed her food and then stops in thought. "Come to think of it...last time I did this was when I was when I crashed one of her parties and put a smoke bomb and a few firecrackers under Sunny's snack bar." Rebecca said out loud.

It was there that we sat there silently. Mr. Williams' even dropped his spoon on the table after hearing that part. It was there we actually realized that even before we knew her that she had destructive tendencies. I then gave out a fake laugh. "Damn… that's one hell of a party then." Mr. Williams laughed awkwardly. I then look at the food and soon realized that most of these were of foreign brands. Looking at the price of the can, this costed fifteen euros. "That is so expensive!" I shouted. Mr. Williams and Tyrell then noticed the price tag and were surprised themselves. "That's quite a pretty penny...how the hell does this girl even afford this stuff…?" Mr. Williams asked. "Well... vloggers do earn a lot just by ad revenue…" Tyrell stated.

While we were eating I decided to read the diary of Chris. Mr. Williams then noticed on what was on my hand and he put his hand on his shoulder. "You saw the note on the table...you shouldn't get into it." He told me. "I guess it's the Hijikata part of me that wants to know." I tell him, "After all… the Shinsengumi were a police force."  The old man shrugs it off and heads back to eating. "Hope your past lives weren't all goodie two shoes, 'cause you need your heart in your sleeves from here on." He told me. "I'll keep that in mind." I replied.

The hour passes and we proceed to our duties. Tyrell and Mr. Sander's is still in Sunny's room while me and Rebecca we're in the kitchen packing on what we can carry.  After reading the diary, I was left with a complexion as white as a sheet. The tale itself was horrible but not enough to make a large scar. Even with a poker face on it was hard to keep focus. Rebecca then taps me a the shoulder. "You're not doing so hot." She told me. "I'm alright. Let's just finish it up so we can get out of here." I answered. We continued to pack until there was nothing left to salvage. There was only the plain expression on my face.  Seeing the body of Chris was just a reminder of dead sorrows.

We were finally finished looking around with all the supplies we can get. After that I sat at a corner with only me staring at the dairy at the other side of the room. I was still shaken up still with the whole story and all.  But Rebecca sits next to me and offers a drink to me. I obliged and take it as it is. "You been like that for awhile...you still shaken up?" She asked. I nodded my head in response. The takes a bit of a drink and gives a bit of a sigh. "Why don't you let me in on it a bit? It's better than taking it on your own." She suggested. I looked at her in disbelief. "You sure about that?" I asked. "Better than you sulking all day." She implied.

"It's kinda grim."

"Hey! Even I'm curious on what happened to that bitch."

I walk across the room and get the diary. Hesitantly I looked at the contents. There I closed the book and discussed on what I read by a summary. It was best if I'd start at the beginning. It was just a few months before the HAP at the Los Angeles area occurred. Chris Proud was an inspiring writer and comedian working as an engineer in a big company. He was pretty much an underdog but grew a bit of a reputation at the local comedy bars around the East side of LA. Sunny and Chris never managed to get along due to her megalomania. She spends at least five hours to get ready and doesn't do any kind of housework because it might, 'make her ugly.' He wasn't even allowed to invite any of his friends because the last time that happened Sunny didn't like ugly dimming up her spotlight. But soon it became worse when Chris decided to open a YouTube channel. At first it was just random trash talk but it soon escalated to the point where he would find things missing in the room. But he really didn't mind so he just carried on. Later on Sunny decided to film her pranking him and sending those videos at YouTube. She even covered her tracks by saying that he was in on it. But the last straw was when Sunny fed her dog, Lani, laxatives and made her crap all over his room. He tried to asked the landlord if there was any other rooms that he could live in but they weren't expecting any vacancies until the next few months...if he was lucky that is. So it was there it was decided that Chris would have to move out. However when Chris was packing and was a week away to moving the HAP at the Los Angeles Area occurred and left the both of them to survive.

Things were going settle at first but went to hell after a few days. Later on Sunny had been using more water to take care of her face and her baths. She even used up some of the bottled water to give her dog a bath. However there wasn't any problem with it since Sunny was overstocked with goods. Plus Lani was no bigger than a football so Chris thought it would have been fine. 'I guess her disgust in avoiding ugly people paid off.' Chris said in his journal.

However worse had come after a few days after Chris soon noticed missing cans from the pantry and some water bottles too. He knew something was up. Eventually the man caught Sunny hoarding food in her room. The both of them started to get into a fight with Sunny's excuse being that she need to keep up her looks and her need to be healthy and pretty. Chris couldn't believe what was coming out her mouth. They started to fight then eventually Sunny pulled out a knife and started to attack him. Chris started to run. Sunny then reacts to throwing her knife. Unknowingly the knife ricochets past him and hits Sunny's dog. Sunny then started to scream hysterically and runs straight for her dog. Chris then hides in his room and locks the door. By then Sunny caresses her dog as Lani slowly dies in her arms. Sunny then goes under a state of depression for five days and no problems occurred at the time. Chris would slip some food from behind the doors but Sunny didn't eat neither sleep. It made Chris think that Sunny might behave the following days ahead. But in reality he was dead wrong.

It was after those five days that things were tipped over the edge. While Chris was opening a can of tuna Sunny walked into the room in a deranged expression. Chris decided to brush it off and decided to eat. But as the man sat at his chair, Sunny came from behind and knocked him out with a rag of chloroform. It was after a few hours that Chris found himself chained to the wall with a spiked collar around his neck. Sunny then tortures him by constant whipping and strikes to his body. "You deserve this!!!" She shouts, "Lani is dead because of you!!!" Sunny was at this for days and blamed everything on him, her dog's death, her getting ugly and getting fat, to even being caught in the HAP's living hell.

However that was all I read from the journal for now. I couldn't bear to read another word as the more I read it, the more horrified I was. But the biggest feeling I had wasn't fear but something else. Unknowingly, Mr. Williams and Tyrell listened to the whole thing. The both of them had dead eyes at their faces as the story itself came from a suspense thriller. "You alright, Rin?" Rebecca asked me. "I don't know...I kinda felt guilty." I told her. Rebecca was confused. She then puts her arm around me and caresses my head. "So the bitch was a psycho to her roommate, there's no way you could have prevented such a thing." She stated. But I sat there silently as my eyes were more dead than roadkill at the side of the road. The three of them noticed this as my expression said it all. "Rin… what happened?" Rebecca asked.

It was there I knew my place in this story. It was two weeks prior the HAP occurred at Los Angeles. I just got off from work with some bills at hand. While on the way to my room I saw what I believe to be Chris at the time as he slipped notes at the bottom of peoples' doors. There I accidentally step at the note and it says that the guy was looking for a roommate. I wouldn't mind for someone to help pay for the rent but we didn't have any more room. The man then received a call and looked happy. Chris then went to a room just across the hall. But as soon as the man knocks on the door, Chris gets pied on the face and two men run out of the hall  laughing with an action camera on hand. All Chris could do was wipe the cream out of his face as he picked up his paper ads from the floor. All I could do was get back in the room and give him a towel. Without asking for thanks I walked away and said, "Things will get better soon."

Reflecting now I feel like a total asshole. Things for him gone from bad to shit. I wished for things could have been better...if only I did better. There was that feeling...the emotion of guilt. "If I'd only called the number and welcomed the man to our home even with just the couch… he would have been alive." I told them regret. "You did all you can, that's all that matters." Mr. Williams told me.

"Yet he would have been alive if I just did something..."

"We can't save everybody, Rin."

The harsh truth was shoved in my throat. I couldn't say or talk anymore as reality sews my mouth shut. Mr. Williams then puts his hand on my shoulder. "As long as we do as we can, that's fine enough."  He says, "Try to not to be too much of a hero." It was a hard pill to swallow but the man was right. Mr. Williams then took the diary from the table. "I believe we need to finish this to find out what happened." Mr. Williams insists, "There are too many inconsistencies here that makes my hairs stand." I then get a hold of the diary. "I'll read it, I might as well finish it." I volunteered. There I opened the book and was about to read it. But before I can say a single word Mr. Williams took my arm firmly and said, "Leave no details behind. No loose ends."

I then continued to read on and began at the end of second week. Chris barely had the energy to move on as he was given scraps and bone. He even ate his own poop along with plastic and packaging peanuts scattered around the floor keep him from starving. To keep himself from being dehydrated he needed to drink his own urine. It was inhospitable. Then at the third week something was put on his neck. It was the noose and another collar at his neck. Sunny demanded Chris to get more food and water for her. But in the end Chris refused. Sunny then brings out a small remote and presses the button. Chris was shocked with a pulse of electricity. Sunny threatens that he will shock him again if he doesn't follow what he says.

From there Chris became from prisoner to slave and personal lapdog. She even demanded Chris to walk on all fours and only stand up  when holding things. It was even harder for him to walk around because he was forming mumps all around his body. Just like that, Chris was Sunny's trained monkey. Everyday he was forced to raid a room per day and get all the supplies from each room every night. But the only problem was that there was a lack of water in most of their raids. This was bad since Sunny bathes everyday to make herself feel clean. She gets cranky when feeling dirty so Chris was used as a punching bag to vent out her frustration.

I was soon hesitate to read even further as I see there were a few pages with drops of blood on them. But with much will I decided to read further with much more strength. Chris then comes with the idea to get rain water with buckets around the apartment. But by the time he brings up the first few containers and found water already collected at the roof. Chris was so happy that he splash water at his face. But Sunny didn't like that at all. Instead she shocked Chris with electricity until he could barely move. She then demands him to take as much water as he can and dunk it at the bathtub. By the time the bathtub was full he got a cup and was about to drink some. However behind his back, Sunny uses the shock collar again until Chris passes out.

He then wakes up at the next day in middle of the night with Sunny eating another can of expensive food. But there he notices something. Sunny was clean with a wet towel on her head. Chris then runs to the bathroom to find the bathtub empty and not a single drop of water in sight. He begins to cry in sorrow as all his hard work was for nothing. But while in his brief depression, he was electrocuted with the collar. Sunny then grabs the leash and demands again to raid another room. She noticed that there was a room that was occupied above her. Sunny then tell her the plan as Chris could barely move. Sunny wants Chris to pick the lock at the room and she will kill them in their sleep. She then goes on a monologue on how she is a goddess and how she demands tribute. Only she should live that she would remain beautiful and if there is someone even more pretty than her...she will consume their flesh and all the ugly people will be her slaves.

There something snapped at him. As soon as Sunny gets a hold of the noose, Chris attacks her and throws Sunny at the ground. She was about to press the remote but Chris slaps it out of her hand and it shatters as it hits the wall. Chris then proceeded to bash her at the face but stops as he soon realized what he has done. Sunny was full of bruises at her face and was barely conscious. Frightfully he soon realized that he was becoming as much as a monster as Sunny. He stops and tried to get up, only to be pulled down by Sunny and to be stabbed at his abdomen. Sunny then pushes the man away and runs to the bathroom. Chris cries in fear as he soon was about to die.  There was then a dry bloody page. It was there he said that maybe it was better for him to die like this than to suffer anymore. He writes on he misses being back in Columbus and wish to be with his parents again. The pen then slips and there we figured that he might have died at this time.

Most of us could feel was sorrow. Mr. Sander's then looks at the floor and kneels down. "That's strange," He says, "If the guy died due to blood loss then why isn't there a pool of blood?" That was actually the correct thing to ask. We looked around the floor if we can find at least some blood anywhere. I them noticed something behind fridge and pulled it out. It was a moist bloody mop with some blood stained hand prints on it. It didn't add up at all. How can the guy hang himself when he was already dead? Yet why are the remaining pages at the end bloody while the suicide note wasn't? I then skimmed through the pages, only to find the second to the last page of the notebook to be torn. This was a clue that Chris might have died before he got to hang himself. I took the suicide note and the tear pattern matched perfectly. This wasn't even his  handwriting if I compared it to the journal entries. It soon started to all make sense to me. "So what does this mean?" Tyrell asked.

But before I can answer we hear a door open from behind us. There comes up a bruised up chubby blonde come out of the hallway bathroom. "Oh my God…Chris!" She reacted. She runs towards the body. "What happened to him?" She asked. I then drew out my sword and pointed it out at her neck. "Get away from him...you bitch!" I shouted. I then started to clear my throat as anger filled through my veins. "You want to know?" I asked Tyrell in a rhetorical manner. I then drag the girl by the hair and toss her to the corner. "She was covering up her tracks and make it look like Chris killed himself." I told him. "Why would she even need to do that?" Tyrell asked. Mr. Williams then grabbed the mop and breaks the top part off. It formed a spear with the pointed edge and he pointed it against Sunny.  "That way she would be taken in and she would look like the victim." Mr. Williams answered.

She then acted confused. Sunny then looked around and saw Rebecca. She crawls to he and begs at her feet. "Is that you Rebecca?" She asks, "You know I wouldn't be able to do that, right?" Rebecca soon becomes infuriated and kicks at Sunny to the ground. "That's the problem," Rebecca says, "Of all the people… I know you're the only bitch who is capable of doing this shit." Already cornered and panicking, Sunny pulls out a knife from her back and tries to attack Rebecca. I then kick Sunny to the wall and hit her neck with the back of my sword. Sunny now knocked out and unconscious. "So...what do we do now…?" Tyrell asked.

That was soon answered by Mr. Williams as he came with an idea. An hour later Sunny then wakes up with a volt of electricity. As it turns out Mr. Williams found a few extra shock collars in her room behind Sunny's merchandise. I then cut the rope around her arms and legs then Tyrell tosses a bag to her. "That's enough to last a week." Mr. Williams tells Sunny, "Never come back to this place ever again."  She then started to cry. "Please... don't let me out there…" She begged. I then throw a knife at her and it scratched her ear. "You did this to yourself." I told her. Sunny gets angry and charges at us with the knife. Mr. Williams then presses the remote and Sunny is electrocuted to the ground. "Be lucky that we're letting you out there with a weapon. If I was in charge we would have killed you where you stand!" Rebecca told her.

Sunny soon started to cry once more, only to evolve laughter. She looks at us with a hysterical face. "I bet you all die in hell! All you ugly people deserve to be dumped like trash!" She manically laughed. I then kick Sunny at the face and she fell at the floor. "Aaahhhhh! MY FACE!!!" She cried out loud. "The only ugly person I see are monsters like you!" I shouted. Tyrell then pulls me back before I could even draw out my sword. "Rin! She's not worth it! Change back!" He shouted. But Sunny sees the horns grow out of forehead and my red blood eyes. She gives out a blood curdling scream and runs out of the building. And like that she was gone. Our threat was over.