Velvet Black

"Do you suppose he's human?" A raspy voice said softly above me.
"Likely. Look at these cuts. They aren't healed yet," a higher one grumbled as my arm was lifted in a loose grip. "Why'd they bring him?"
"You sure it's a 'he'? If it is, he's really cute. Look at that hair. It's the color of the snow!" The raspy voice scoffed as my hair was fondled.
"Definitely human. Just look at this," a hand touched my forehead softly. "He's been marked. I've seen this only once. It's Sago's. I'm positive." I quickly identified this voice as female and affirmed it when I sat up and grabbed her wrist.
"Who's Sago?" I jolted as both of them nearly hopped out of their skins in fright.
The girl nearly screamed and the one standing at the foot of the bed, a boy with short green hair, nearly fainted. Though, it was returned when I really look at them. The boy had eyes as black as night, no whites at all. His skin was white as my hair and his lips were pursed. The girl had purple hair that frayed out at her cheeks much like mine, but her eyes were a shocking blue. They were the color of the sky and had snake-like pupils. "Wh-what are you?!" I scampered back on the futon I was lying in.
"Daemos," they nodded in unison. "Oni, yokai, akuma... demons," they shrugged.
"Wait... wait, am I dead?!"
"Nope," the boy yawned as he took a seat at my feet.
"Then where--?"
"Limbo," the girl said this time as she reached into her robe and pulled out an old candy box. She popped the lid and shook out a cigarette, lighting it with the flick of her fingers where she'd somehow conjured a small flame. "Middle earth, between hell and heaven. Hell's waiting room," she went on and on.
"But it's not so bad," the boy smiled slightly. "I mean, Limbo's not all white and pristine as one might think. Actually, it's filthy, but it's fun in its own way."
"I'm... I'm in Limbo," I stammered as I rubbed my forehead.
"Shocking, I know," she said sarcastically with her eyes rolling and all. "Look, I really wish I had time to baby you into the process, but I'd rather not. Imori here will get you up to speed, Ningyo."
The girl stood and crossed the wide room that, now visible in the light, was filled with futons all laid out. Some were containing sleeping people, others just crumpled in a hurry to get up.
Looking back I met eyes with this Imori, the green haired... akuma.
"Hiya," he waved a bit before grabbing something from behind him and handing it to me. "Open."
"Um..."
"Don't worry, it's not trapped."
Slowly, eyes on Imori, I opened the package. Surely enough it wasn't trapped or anything. Inside the parchment package were my clothes, new clothes, and a note. From this moment forth you are no longer Fukumi Sae. You are Unknown. Your private names are to be used as such. IN PRIVATE. Customers like detaching from their personal lives so they don't want a name. If they ask for one, lie. Rules will be given by your attendants and they will become your new friends. Though, it is well advised to trust no one. Friends are not usually saints in this world. Your position as Fodder will be dutifully fulfilled daily, rather nightly, and there are to be no complaints. All gifts are your own, but payments go straight into the hands of your Captain. Your Attendant will inform you of your Captain. Change promptly and follow instructions. Free thought, free will, and rebellion are prohibited. Breaking of these rules results in expulsion.
"I'm s-sorry... expulsion?" I looked up at Imori who was smiling still.
"Death. Rather, being blasted into a ravine that is nearly bottomless. It would take an act of god to survive and even then, we're ruled by dynastic hell kings," he explained as if he were reading specials off of a menu. This certainly wasn't a café and no, there was no food.
"And.... Fodder?"
"Per-act prostitution," he nodded again.
"But I'm not a hooker."
"No one was," he laughed it off. "Sundown's in three hours, so we need to get you primped."
With one sharp tug I was pulled to my feet by this long limbed akuma. He smiled as he guided me along a hallway to a large bath. It was empty, but it was still intimidating. The room was filled with a thick steam that came from the murky pool of water that was surrounded by river rocks. Imori pulled out a towel and a bathing bucket and handed them to me. "Now don't lose those and call for me and I'll be in when you're done."
I was still in shock when I sank into the murky water with my back to the door. I felt the mineral water curl around me like a hot, wet blanket. My first priority was remembering what the hell had happened. Eyes closed, I replayed the images in my head. Blood, the monsters, running... a bright flash of light and Sago. When I opened them again I was still floating in the murky bath.
My lips pursed as I raised my hand just to the surface and watched it bob in and out of sight. It was almost as if I was bathing in milk. Thinking about milky surfaces, my mind wandered elsewhere. Slowly my body became a rock in the thick liquid as I sank beneath its warm surface.
The scents of jasmine and fresh rain filled my nose as I let the world above me fall behind. I recalled a winter when my mother and father took me camping. Though, it was less than camping. It was more of a trip home. The most memorable part was that Nagi was left with Obaa-san.
Walking through thick, cold snow we made our way through the island. My mother sang a familiar hymn to me as my father smiled brightly into the unknown wilderness ahead. Though the melody is still with me, the lyrics are vague. They were in no language I knew. Something foreign, I was sure. Maybe even made up... it went something like...
"Shii ei la noh, koe kokoro... sasame noh ke.... yuga naga metto shela soh... somotto... nogatto... ryo..."
Just as I was about to take a second breath my body was hoisted from above. I felt all the air rush from my lungs as the cold air blasted my body. Feeling the urge to cry out, I covered my face. Every inch of me trembled with shock as the person leered over me. I dared not look, but I could definitely feel a presence like the night hovering over me.
"Don't attract dangerous attention to yourself, Torega," a girl's voice snarled as I was dragged back onto the cold bamboo floors.
"T-t-torega?" I stammered as she threw a towel on me.
"It means Lowest in this world," her face screwed up as she crouched down and looked at my forehead. "How'd you meet Sago?" She grumbled bitterly.
"Who's Sago?!" I snapped as she grabbed me by the neck and drug me across the floor. I was still in shock that she'd managed to pull me all the way across the very long room and down a hall to dressing rooms where she picked me up and pushed me against the wall. Still stammering and confused, she gave me the most murderous look I'd ever seen on a girl.
"You're joking and we all know it. We can just smell it on you, Seote," her voice was a violent hiss now as her face was just inches from mine. Her teeth, long dangers that grew with each growl, snapped at me until a loud blast of light blinded us both.
From her mouth came a shrill howl of agony as she curled up into a black mass. I saw her teeth turn black and her hair shrivel like a dead plant. My heart was throbbing in fear as her entire body turned into a corpse-like being.
"W-wha... what?!" I squeaked as a hand came down on my shoulder, causing me to shove back whoever was touching me and fall over the body. My lungs failed me as I screamed and scampered away from her grey corpse.
"Relax," said the familiar voice of Imori. He grimaced at the dead thing and stepped over it like common trash to help me up. When I got my feet I could see the horrified look in the girl's eyes even if her face was coming into a little bit of color. "She's not dead."
"B-but!"
"Corpsis muertes," he said fluidly as he guided me to the baths once again. Used to my puzzled look he elaborated. "It means 'bodily death'. Though, it's not truly death. A person is reduced to a rotted state much like death where they spend the next two days living like the dead: frozen, rotted, and ugly. She'll come to, but she'll be cannon fodder for all she'll look," he spat at her direction as he bent me over a basin and dumped sweet smelling water over my hair.
Looking down I saw that little petals of roses were swimming in more milkly water. If not for the dangerous atmosphere, I might have found it romantic. Imori lifted my head and smoothed the hair away from my forehead. "You really are a friend of Sago's. A close one at that," he nodded and dismissed the topic.
"Um..." I choked between washes of water over my head. "W-who's Sago?" I'd truly given up on acknowledging the strange species and magical powers amongst the, er... brothel members. It was pointless getting straight answers out of them.
"Well, since you genuinely seem confused, I'll explain," he sighed as he pulled me from the basin and threw a towel at me. "Sago is one of the Five Pilars of this world. The Pilars are Gods acting as rulers of one of the five districts in what we refer to as our world as Purgatory. Some myths say there are seven levels of hell, but there are only five. You're in level three," he said breathlessly while digging through a box he pulled from behind a curtain.
"But... in mythology hell's levels are dictated by the crimes one's done. I haven't done any crime!" I protested as he(I think) rolled his eyes at me irately.
"Again, we're in level three. Level one is for innocent people where they, like other religions say, live out a peaceful eternity with loved ones or can choose reincarnation for a second chance at being somebody. Level two is for unredeemed souls as well as many monster, spirit, and demon souls to wander. Those who don't repent turn into fodder for their hunts."
"Isn't that inhumane?" I asked as he handed me a pair of tight looking black leggings. Then, from the closet he tossed me a loose fitting tank top, a half-jacket that came to my upper ribs, and red flats. "Where am I, Tokyo?" I stared at the outfit. "I'm not a viskei, you know."
"The fun part is no one cares, hun," he patted my shoulders as he drug me along the dressing room halls, lit orange and yellow by fiery can lanterns above, until he found one with a suitable sized dressing area. "In."
"So, what about the other two levels?"
"Interested, that's a first. Well, I'll bite," Imori smiled as he drew the curtain between him and me so that I could dress. "The fourth level is for pedophiles and sex crimes, excluding rape. Rapists, murderers, serial killers, rotted souls, demonic humans, and the like all go straight to the fifth level."
"And the third?" I called as I slid the shirt over my head.
"Our domain," he nodded. "It's basically home to all of us who aren't dumb enough to venture on earth and smart enough to work the place. Think of it as a demonic run Earth," a shrug.
"Um... and the pillars? Where does Sago come in?"
"Well he's the Pillar of Tres Dominis, of course. Each level has a foreign number and Dominis at the end. Ichi Dominis, Deux Dominis, Tres Dominis, so on."
"Then... what's this mark?" I habitually rubbed my forehead as I nearly choked when I pulled the leggings on my body. I felt like a girl the way they hugged my hips and clung to each and every curve.
"That's the mark of Sago, or Tres Dominis Princeps."
"I'm... I'm sorry, what?" I hopped on a foot at a time to get the shoes on my feet.
"Tres Dominis Princeps. First Citizen, or King, of The Third Hell. To have that mark is of the highest honor. Technically you're higher than the boss that runs this shitty hole, but it doesn't make a difference until you call his name again."
The curtain was swept aside as I stepped out into the lamp light that showed my face in a cracked and muddled mirror. I stared at myself in awe. My hair was almost shimmering against my face, my legs elongated by the leggings that came to my calves, and my entire body turned into something desirable, even for me. "W-what the--?"
"It's the mirror. It's broken. It was supposed to make you look normal at first, but soon it got distorted by the people that kept passing through it all the time. Damn thing," he tried wiping its face clean, but it was a vain battle. "Anyhow, we've got to make this face shine."
"I-isn't it already?" I stared, amazed, into the vanity mirror as he lit twenty small votive candles that encircled the cracked circular mirror.
"That's just the water. We need to make sure you keep glowing."
By this he meant by using an array of sparkling powders and lightly dusting my hair and face with them. His hands blindly grabbed a long brush with a small set of bristles at the end. He dipped it in a silvery paste and then painted two strokes over my eyes. Almost satisfied by my looks, he clapped his hands excitedly. "You're going to be the most fabulous one there," he beamed.
His finishing touches were a dab of rogue on the lips and a lucky charm that looked like a piece of broken glass in my inner jacket pocket. "It's security," he explained. "If they're being too rough with you it'll break and cut them and you. Boss-man can see that you're hurt and fine the guy or even ban him."
"I see," I muttered as I stared at my altered self in the mirror. "I... look so..."
"Beautiful? Gorgeous? Angelic?" Imori swooned dramatically.
"Different," I whispered as I touched my face. Sure enough it was my own skin.
Though, I didn't have much time to examine myself because Imori was yanking me up my arm and pulling me from the room.
Down the hall two girls walked side by side. One had long pink hair that seemed to move on its own accord and eyes like diamonds. The other had short red hair and four arms. Both their faces contorted nastily at my sight. Imori only hissed in their direction and they hurried past. "Pests," he grumbled as he guided me toward the door. When we finally came to it, leaning across the doorway, was the bitterest looking woman I'd ever seen. Her body was as round as her mole-dappled face and button nose. Her arms folded over her stomach (She could use it as a little table by the looks of it). "Ready," Imori said as he snaked past the woman.
"He know the rules?"
"House rules," he called back to her throaty reply.
"Tell 'im the rest. Can't go up there without knowin'," she waddled down the hall, taking up both lanes of traffic as people stepped by to let her through.
Once Imori was sure she was out of earshot he turned to me and snickered. "Thinks she’s so great because she's the manager of two houses. Poor thing," he rolled his eyes. "Come. Rules to be learned."
The room they entered next was filled with girls and guys primping in front of their own mirrors. Some eyed me for a moment, others ignored my presence entirely.
"Rules, sweetie. Adhere to them well. In this world, money comes first," he began. "Rule one, pay first, goods later. Second, the glass. It's broken, game over. You won't be handed over to a newbie. They'll know the rules. I need you to know the rules. Third, you will be escorted by one of your attendants, me or Mari."
"Who?"
"The girl who woke you up," he nodded. "The attendants are like taxis for new product. Either one of us will bring you to the location and take you back. This is a buddy system that only breaks when you get a regular customer who knows you by name. Fourth, never say names. Use any name you can think of, but not yours. Fifth, whatever you do, whoever buys you for the night, whatever they ask for, do. Not. Freak out."
"Imori, you're on," a girl called from the door.
"That means it'll be Mari that's your escort tonight," he hugged me softly. "Good lucky, hun." And with a dash he was gone.
Apparently Mari wasn't too far behind because she was the next head to pop in the door. Her hair was now sparkling much like mine. Lips painted black, arms exposed with a sleeveless cocktail dress, and legs in purple fishnets, she grabbed my wrist. "Oggle later, come to the cages."
"C-cages?" I stammered as she pulled me to the very front of the 'house' where the cages were.
The cages were not in fact what one thinks when they consider the word. Instead they were halls and halls of scantily clad girls and boys with different labels over their cages in languages that I couldn't read. Some looked bored, others hiding behind shadows, and even some going so far as to look eager. I, however, was terrified. My heart was pounding and my mouth was dry. I stared down the halls and found myself looking away in shock as moans of the erotic kind sounded from their shadowy depths.
Looking at the ground only got me in more trouble because I ran into two girls and one customer eagerly looking around his nightly selection. My throat gagged a little as Mari stopped at the cage that was right at the front. She unlocked the door and shoved me in, turning around and locking it again when I wasn't looking.
"Mari!"
"You know the rules?"
"Well, ye--."
"Then all you have to do is sit there," she scolded me like you would a child.
I backed away and surveyed the small cage. There were at least ten other people in there with me. Some had accepted their fate and tried in the most awkward ways to look feasible and others were cowering piles of confusion and fear. Luckily I'd been one of two who'd accepted their fate but not broke down. The other one was sitting on the floor spelling out foreign words in the dirt below. It was a young guy like me who had his hair tied behind his head. His eyes, the color of moss, stared fixatedly into the ground as he kept writing the words over and over.
"What are you writing?" I attempted small talk as he looked up at me.
"SOS," he said shortly as I took my seat beside him. "You speak English?"
"No," I blinked at his face screwed up in confusion.
"No one here says they do... yet I can understand everyone and speak with them... why do you think that is?" He sighed.
"Are you English?"
"Norwegian, actually," he nodded. "You?"
"Japanese," I settled down and stared at the ground with him.
"What's your story?" He rolled his eyes and sneered as he started writing a new word. "I was out camping with my family Elk. Wolsa and I were watching the Northern Lights and then... flash! These... these things were coming at me... I said this really weird name and a flash of light burst from out of nowhere... now I'm here," he shrugged. My interest was utterly piqued.
"D-do you remember the name? Um... by any chance?"
"Tama," he nodded. Damn it.
"I got here similarly... only... I said Sago... Apparently that's a God's name," I shrugged.
"Interesting... my name's William," he stuck his hand out as I shook it.
"Sae," I smiled back. "So... what's with all these people?"
"My attendants said this is the cage for, well, no better word for it, virgins. People who aren't like the others. Fresh meat," he nodded as if it was business as usual. "Ugh... I'm gay, but I don't want this," he sighed as my face went a little pink. Beyond Juri, I'd never really had any other love interest, let alone a guy. Honestly, the thought hadn't ever come to mind. "Ah, man, I didn't mean to offend," William went pink as well.
"It's okay. I've just not met a gay person before," I said.
"Mm... well, we're no different from other people except we all love theatre and being fashionable," he feigned glamorous poses as I laughed. "I like you. Nice sense of humor," he elbowed me softly. "Shit..."
I followed his eyes to a pair of red ones scoping us out. My spine was wracked by a hard shudder as the man pointed to both of us. "B-both?" I stammered as Will nodded.
"It happens," he said as he stood up and helped me to my feet. "If it helps, you're damn pretty," he kissed my cheek as I turned red as a beet. "Hehe... you're cute."
Met at the door by Mari and a tall young man with dark hair and light eyes, we were handed over to a man that, in all consideration, if you ignored his eight red eyes, was rather attractive. "The rules, Torega," Mari hissed from behind us as the man put one arm around both our waists and hoisted us onto his broad shoulders. I wobbled for a bit as William showed me how to hold onto his shirt.
From atop his massive height the entire city could be seen. In a short answer, it looked like Tokyo during the Edo period with lots more brothels and bars. The entire strip was nothing but strip clubs, geisha tea houses, and brothels with the occasional runner service. Each and every one of the citizens was alight with life as they enjoyed their lives, though none of them were human.
"New around town, boys?" The man asked as he zig zagged through people traffic.
"You could say that," I whispered as I stared off into the sky which, despite its origin, looked much like the sky at home. Home... god, was anyone missing me right now? Was Nagi cursing the police for not doing more? Was Rumi spreading rumors that I was a troubled kid? How about Juri, had she told what happened? I needed to know.
"Relax, boys," the man said again. "It's not a scary night... not for you, at least," his laugh was low and raspy as Will made an attempt to laugh along but clearly looked scared out of his mind. There was no hiding it, in the end; we were all scared out of our skins.

After about an hour of making way through crowds the man set us down on the ground. Both William and I staggered as our legs were numb from just hanging. He smirked as he opened a door in a wall for us. It was hard to tell how he knew which one to open considering the dark and muffled alley had so many of the identical doors.
When we stepped inside we saw that the room was actually rather nice all things considered. The man ducked into the door and, by means unknown, became tall as the average man. He was just a foot and a half taller than both of us and, again, without the eyes would look like anyone else on the street.
"You're exotic," he touched my face. I flinched at first, but his touch was warm and soft. William took the note and went and sat in what I figured was a bathroom. Instantly my heart dropped as he shut the door behind him. I was alone. In a room... with a monster.... who intended to have sex with me... far past not okay. "It's your first time... so I'll be gentle," he whispered into my neck as he began sliding my jacket off. Next was my shirt which he reached up into.
My lips pursed as he rubbed a finger over my nipple. For some reason it was making me hot all over. My skin became sticky under his touch as he slowly moved me to my knees. There my stomach really tossed. I saw his lustful eyes as he pulled his zipper down and pulled it out. My throat got tight at the thought of... of doing that with this thing. "Just don't bite," he whispered as my shaking hands grabbed the thick length. My face became hot as I closed my eyes and slowly, reluctantly, began stroking. "Use your mouth," he urged me as I obeyed.
The last thing I remembered clearly was wishing so hard that I could have had some kind of escape. Wishing Sago was there... wishing William was closer... wishing to die.

The next time I was conscious we were sitting on the stoop outside the door. William was hunched over with a cigarette clamped between his lips. He shook a match out as he blew small rings of blue and silver into the sky. My head was shaking in my hands as he reached over and patted my shoulder. Flinching out of reaction he pulled away.
"It'll be okay," he breathed blue smoke into the air around us. It wasn't like the normal bitter smell of cigarettes, it was sweeter. "It could have been worse."
"Worse," my throat choked a bit as I trembled in the cold night.
"Much... much worse," he said coldly.
"William... were you... back home...?" But he wouldn't answer because Mari and the taller escort came down the alley with exhausted faces.
"Hurry y'up," Mari slurred as she waved me over. Her usually clean appearance was wracked with filth. The taller escort rolled their eyes and came to me with a bottle of what looked like wine.
"It'll help with the shock," he insisted as he helped me to my feet. "Please, it's all you got," again he shoved the bottle into my hands. I nodded weakly and drank. Sure enough the world didn't seem so grim anymore and I could get to my feet, though I wasn't much for the work I'd been pushed into. "Drink it all."
Walking back in the street was far easier considering the sun was creeping over the hills. Shops were closing, other patrons were scurrying back to their Houses, and drunks were being shoved out into the streets. I was staggering behind the guides with a phased look about me. William was holding my hand as the other was busy hiding my face from the dawning day. I didn't want to see daylight at that point. I wanted to feel dead... I wanted Sago...
"I'll be okay," he whispered as we neared the door.
We climbed what seemed like an eternity of staircases. Will never let go of my hand until we came to our dorms and parting was necessary. It seemed that our futons were next to each other. He bent low and helped me crawl into mine first and then settled into his. He didn't seem to mind that I was still squeezing the life out of his hand when the sun blanketed the entire room. While some were just dozing off others were staggering to their feet to clean and organize. I, on the other hand, was biting my lip hard enough to draw blood to stifle my sobs.
As everyone began to snore and mutter in their sleep, William leaned a little close. He knew not to lift the blanket, but still lay across me, the fabric barrier between us. His voice was soft and almost whispering, yet it was the only sound in the world that I heard.
"Please don't cry... I know that... that we don't understand what's going on... what's happening... god, we don't even speak the same language, but... Sae, something's getting through," he spoke right into my ear as the tears stopped. "This is hell, we can't deny that... and I've been through a lot. Enough to fill a book. Hell, multiple books... but the point is that staying sane... it's all a matter of finding an ally... a friend."
The words sent a chill up my spine. I'd only had Moshi and Juri as... well, pseudo-friends. Moshi was a cat and Juri was a girl that had more interest in my brother than me... it was all just fake... yet, this person that had known me only a few hours was gripping my hand with all his strength and asking to be my friend. Telling me that it was okay and not to cry... how had I not found this before?
I nodded beneath the sheets and he understood. "Good... when night falls... dusk, even. We'll wake up early and go to the baths. I'll clean you up... maybe things will look better then. Until then, sleep. You'll need it," he slowly relaxed his hand and crawled under his blankets.
Thinking that I'd finally found a connection in someone I drifted peacefully off to sleep muttering in my head one word over and over.
Sago... Sago... Sago...