The Princess of Akaishi Castle

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~This is my entry for the Literotica 2021 Halloween Story Contest~

Just another sapphic interpretation of vampires with a lot of fun tropes. I hope you find it a surprising and fun twist on a great genre.

As a quick caveat, I can’t deny that I took a lot of inspiration from Bram Stoker’s Dracula for this novella. I love his gothic language and mood, so I incorporated some short lines of prose and a couple of short scenes from the novel into my story. Bonus points if you can identify them!

Happy Halloween!

*This story is a work of fiction. The characters are fictitious and certainly not intended to represent any living person. All characters are eighteen or older.

The Princess of Akaishi Castle

Prologue — Alley Cat

Meiko Hashioka stepped out into the alley behind the nightclub for a smoke. Loud music thumped from within. After three vodka Red Bulls, her heart thumped in beat. The thin frigid autumn air shocked her cheeks, a pleasant respite from dancing against sweating bodies all night. The same could be said for the ringing silence of the night.

She glanced at her smartphone to check the time with hazy eyes. It was three in the morning, and though she’d like to think her night was just getting started, her body yearned sleep.

At twenty-eight it became harder and harder to keep up with her schedule of going out night after night to the clubs and bars to entertain her clientele — mostly foreign businessmen.

As much as she enjoyed her job, and though she kept herself in flawless Geisha-like shape, her age was catching up to her. Mentally, she felt like a sixty-year-old woman.

Though she felt in a rut, the money still flowed, and there was a lot of it. A night’s work was good for a month’s rent for her fabulous Shibuya penthouse. And that’s without the tip, which could be double, or triple the base daily rate. All she had to do were the things most girls would find unscrupulous or humiliating. It was worth it. She couldn’t imagine herself doing anything else.

A silver tabby cat emerged out from behind a dumpster as she lit her cigarette. It gave her a meow and rubbed up against her leg.

“Hey you!” Meiko giggled.

She leaned down and ran her hand along the cat’s back. The cat enjoyed the scratching, arching its back against her fingers, weaved between her legs, flicking its ears excitedly. It sat on its haunches and licked its lips, meowed again, and fixed its patient moonstone blue eyes to hers.

The cat reminded Meiko of one she had befriended in her days at the orphanage. It filled her heart suddenly with nostalgia for simpler days, even if those days weren’t necessarily more pleasant.

“Oh, sorry little one, I wish I had some food, but I don’t,” she cooed to the cat.

“Got anything tasty for me?” A gruff voice came from the front of the alley.

Meiko stood startled. The cigarette fell out of her mouth. The cat darted into a pile of trash bags piled up against the dumpster. Three silhouettes stood against the lights of the street. All sizeable men.

“Yeah, you do,” said the man who had spoken. They walked towards her.

“I’ll scream if you come closer,” she warned shrilly.

A vicious looking blade flashed silver at the side of the speaking man.

“No, you won’t.”

She quivered. Turned quickly and tried the door back into the nightclub but it was locked. She whimpered, then backed up farther into the alleyway.

“Stay away from me!” She shouted.

The men chuckled.

The other man then spoke. “Just give us what we want, and we’ll let you walk away without a scratch.”

The third man clarified, “well, except maybe a sore ass and some scuffed knees.”

She turned and ran into the alley, the only way she could run. She didn’t know if there was a way out, but it was worth a try. They ran after her.

Sure enough, the alleyway was blocked. A chain linked fence stood in her way. She put her back against it, slid down to the wet asphalt and curled up into a ball.

“Stay away!” she screamed.

“Shhhh… no one’s around to hear you.”

Meiko began to cry. The men were remorseless and rather encouraged by it, like sharks smelling blood. And they were likely right. No one would come to help her. No one ever did.

“Shut your pretty little mouth.”

The slow sound of a zipper coming down caused Meiko to tighten up into her ball. The thought of the knife kept her silent. The image of it hung in her mind like a cold fang. The night was cold. The wet asphalt soaking through her silk stocking was a biting cold, as was October in Tokyo. So was her lot in life. She braced herself for the coming pain.

A meow echoed through the alley. The cat that made the sound, the same silver tabby from before, jumped out from the darkness and pranced playfully between the legs of the men.

“Get out of here,” the man with the knife growled and pushed the cat aside with his foot. The cat hissed and swiped at him.

He kicked it harder. It screeched and darted off into the dark shadows.

“Now, where were we? Oh yeah. You were about to wrap bahis siteleri your pretty little lips around my cock.”

He grabbed Meiko’s wrist and tried to pry her arm away from covering her face. She resisted as hard as she could, heaving and weeping.

“I’m only going to say it once. Cooperate or you’ll have more to worry about than whether you should spit or swallow.”

The meow came again from the dark. But this time the meow resounded with an ephemeral quality as if to materialized out of the air.

It was an odd enough sound – a voice not belonging to a cat – to cause the men to freeze and the one with the knife to free his hand from Meiko’s wrist and turn to brandish his knife towards the shadows.

“Who’s there?”

A woman’s voice, clear like crystal, broke the silence to answer.

“How ungentlemanly to demand sexual pleasure without a promise to requite. And in such an uncouth place.”

From the shadows emerged a cat-like motion, a feline feminine shape.

She was tall, elegant, her hair, silver, cascaded straight down to her hips. Her eyes glowed like moonstones.

She wore an ebony silk kimono that shimmered phosphorescent in the dim city lights.

The knife was turned on her. The men fanned around her in an uncertain, traipsing fashion, as if they ought to be relaxed given that she was just one delicate woman, but something about her informed them to be extremely cautious. It wasn’t that she appeared to be police or anyone with any capability to take on three burly men, it was the confidence and the casual grace with which she carried herself and spoke that made them uneasy.

“And who the fuck are you?”

“Only a woman looking for another woman.”

“Yeah? Well, this one’s not who you’re looking for. So, get lost.”

“Please forgive my candor: I don’t think I will, and I am certain you are mistaken.”

She walked past the men towards Meiko unperturbed, as if their being there was inconsequential. Her black kimono flowered out around her like a fallen blossom as she knelt, and she held a tender finger to Meiko’s chin to tilt her head up to face her. The men watched nonplussed.

She flicked her silver hair from her eyes to get a good look at Meiko’s and gave her a slanted smile.

Meiko’s eyes were swollen red. Tears streamed down her face washing out her makeup like chalk on rainy asphalt.

“You’re not quite where you thought you’d be, are you?”

“W-What?” Quivered Meiko.

The woman nodded, patiently, as if clarification for her question will come in due time.

The man with the knife spoke loudly: “Are you deaf? I said get lost!”

To Meiko, the woman whispered,

“Won’t you stay right here? I’ll be just a moment.”

Then she stood, brushed her kimono straight, and turned to face the men.

“I didn’t care much for how you treated me earlier,” she told them.

The men looked at each other.

“What the fuck are you even talking about?”

“You kicked me. That was a bit rude.”

“Oh, you are a crazy bitch. But you know what? I don’t discriminate against crazy. Since you’re going to stay, why don’t you get down on your knees with your friend.”

“I’d rather not.”

The man with the knife shrugged and walked towards her. “Then I’ll have to make you.”

He held the knife to her throat. She remained motionless, only staring unblinking up into his eyes, seeming amused at his attempt to scare her.

The man sneered. “I said get down on your knees, bitch.”

“Why?”

“Why!?” He laughed. “Why, she says!”

He put his hand on top of her head. “You poor little thing. Don’t worry, it’ll be clear soon enough.”

He shoved down hard on her head, forcing her down onto her knees. The other men chuckled to themselves, eager already for their turn. Meiko watched this scene in paralyzed terror.

The man with the knife whipped his cock out in the woman’s face. It grew erect.

“Now, suck.”

The woman looked up at the man, smiled, and replied, “I have a better plan.”

Her hand shot out from her kimono, grabbed his testicles, and squeezed.

He howled from the crushing pain. His knees buckled. The woman rose slowly to her feet, her hand still grasping his crotch like a steel trap. He glared at her through shocked, tearing eyes and muttered through tightly gritted teeth, “Now you’re fucking dead!”

He brought his blade up and swung it down hard with a plan to plunge it into the soft part between her collarbone and her shoulder blade. Her reaction, however, was swift and precise. Her free hand came up and grasped his wrist and tightened, crunching bone. The knife clattered on the pavement. He howled louder.

The other two men rushed forward to help their friend but stopped in their tracks. Their mouths and eyes widened in horror at the sight of the woman’s eyes glowing golden like a wild beast in headlights. Her canines grew long and sharp. She sunk them into the man’s neck.

His friends fell over each other as they fled from the alley.

Meiko closed her eyes as soon as she saw the first blood splatter, and she closed her ears to canlı bahis siteleri a grotesque sound, a sound not unlike a tiger feeding at the carcass of a dead ox. She fainted from the trauma.

She wasn’t sure how long it was before she opened her eyes. But when she did, she found the woman kneeling in front of her again, with the same gentle smile she gave her earlier, only now, her cheeks were smeared red, and her lips dripped with warm blood. The man was lifeless on the ground behind her, his blood pooled out around him.

“W-What are you?” Meiko breathed.

With a tender finger, the woman wiped away the tears from Meiko’s cheeks.

“Didn’t I already say? Only a woman looking for another woman.”

Chapter 1. A Sweet Introduction to Chaos

My name is Etsuko Hinata, a thirty-year-old Tokyo homicide detective on the verge of losing her job and likely, her mind.

It all started with the discovery of two bodies in the alley behind a nightclub — a man, and a woman.

Kabukicho is the red-light district of Shinjuku, a seedy neighborhood full of hostess bars, massage parlors, and a variety of clubs with a dubious relationship with the law, and with the Yakuza. Although homicides are exceedingly rare these days there’s nothing unordinary about a double homicide in Yakuza land. Except there was something quite unordinary about this one.

I showed up at the crime scene early that morning. The sky was a pale white and the street sweepers were still out cleaning up last night’s filth.

A Shinjuku City PD officer spotted me and gave me a curt bow before guiding me to the bodies. The scene was in the process of being cordoned off. Forensics investigators took photographs, measurements. They had only just arrived as well. Two patrol cars blocked the alley entrance to block the macabre scene from curious onlookers.

“The bodies were found just two hours ago. The deaths were recent.”

“Any witnesses?”

“No.”

“Who found the bo-” I froze as I saw the woman.

She was laying on her back, her arms across her chest. Her eyes closed. Her face was pale blue like the rest of her body but held a serene expression. Her face was very familiar. That’s what startled me.

The officer that accompanied me waited for me to continue my standard line of questioning, but when I didn’t, the realization hit him.

“Do you recognize her?”

I only glanced at him in my attempt to offer no emotive signal to the positive. But not only did I know her, I knew her intimately.

I met her this past summer. It was a memorable night.

***

Not many in the department had a clear idea of my love life. They all knew I wasn’t married. A rare few of the guys tried unsuccessfully to ask me out on dates. Otherwise, there was a consensus, as far as I’ve been told, that I was married to my job. That I didn’t have time for a romantic life. That’s usually the conclusion when a single woman never takes to any of the guys’ advances. That’s how, they reasoned, I was able to be so shit hot playing a man’s game — in my case, rising to detective at so young an age. No one knew I had in fact, been in a relationship for many years. I just never told anyone. Mostly because it was with another woman — who I had met at the University of Tokyo while I studied there. Many of the guys were old school. I didn’t want issues.

When I broke up with her, I figured if I was going to catch another fish, I might as well go fishing. That was the night I met Meiko. It was at a lesbian bar in the Nicho neighborhood.

Because the bar was near my apartment, I always walked by and each time I did, it piqued my interest, but because I had been in a committed relationship, and, mostly, because I was deathly afraid of getting caught going in there by any of the guys, I steered clear of it.

I sat at the bar by myself, ordered a cocktail, and wasn’t sure what to expect. I didn’t know what to do except to make myself present. Halfway through my cocktail, I started to feel invisible. That’s when she popped herself into the seat next to me.

She put an elbow on the table, rested her cheek into her hand, and looked up into my eyes. She was beautiful. Soft cheeks, hair shiny black, wavy. Impeccably and carefully applied makeup without overdoing it. And her eyes were light latte brown and had a foreign look to them. I could tell she was ‘hafu’ – mixed race.

I gave her a polite smile, shifted in my seat, sipped shyly on my cocktail. She reached up, lowered the hood of my hoodie.

“What are you trying to hide? You are cute!” she giggled. I blushed. I forgot I still had my hoodie pulled over my face.

“Whatcha drinking?” She asked.

“Um, whiskey sour.”

“Ooh, very nice. I think I’ll have one of those.”

She tapped the table with her fingernails to catch the bar tender’s attention. The heavily pierced butch bar tender looked at her. She pointed at my drink and said to her, “could I have one of those?”

The bar tender winked at her. “Sure thing, Meiko.”

Meiko blew her a kiss.

“I’ve never seen you in here before,” Meiko remarked.

“First canlı bahis time,” I admitted.

“First time? Like first time here? Or first time in a lesbian bar.”

“Both.”

“Well, well, well… trying out for the other team now, are we?”

“No. I’ve been playing for the other team. Just, you know, never really gone to a bar like this.”

“Oh?”

“I broke up recently. Thought this was a good way to meet new people.”

She smiled devilishly as she sipped her whisky sour. Her eyes looked me up and down. She wasn’t afraid to convey her interest, making my heart pound with excitement. She was stunningly beautiful. She was a petite woman, like me, with a hot body. I was delighted that of all the girls in this bar she could talk to, she chose me.

“Mmm… this is a good drink.” She looked at the bar tender. “This is good!” The bar tender grinned. “Of course, it is. I made it.”

“From now on, this will be my regular,” she said to her.

Then to me, she casually stated, “I’m off work tomorrow,” before finishing her whiskey sour and ordering another pair of drinks for us. We finished those, and then another, and I became pretty tipsy and warm. Meiko drew in closer to me with every sip until I could feel her warmth and smell her pleasant perfume. It was jasmine scented. She loved touching, and as she spoke, her hands found their way to touch my hands, or my shoulder, or lap, and I savored every random touch.

She got me on the dance floor after a couple more cocktails, and we danced until we were both drenched in sweat. And at closing time, we stumbled out onto the street, laughing at silly conversation like long-lost friends catching up.

We started walking along the empty street with no plan or direction in mind, only to spend a quiet moment in each other’s company, to talk, and drink each other in. She surprised me with her observant wit.

“You’re not Japanese, are you?”

“How did you know?”

She laughed triumphantly. “Look at me. I’m a dirty hafu outcast. I’m good at picking out the other outcasts. What are you? Wait, let me guess. Korean.”

“Yeah.” I laughed, surprised by her accuracy.

She snapped her fingers. “Still got it! Do you have a Korean name?”

“I suppose I did.”

“You did? What’s that supposed to mean?”

I shrugged.

“Why so mysterious? What is it?”

“I… don’t really remember.”

In truth, I did. It just wasn’t a name I wanted to remember because of the baggage attached to it, so I didn’t want to bring it up.

“Aww, really?”

“It’s ok. I’m cool with Etsuko. Has a nice ring.”

“It does,” Meiko agreed. “How’d you come by it?”

I shrugged. “My first foster parents called me that. They explained to me that would make me more accepted at school.”

“You were an orphan?”

“Yeah.”

She jumped. “Me too!”

“Yeah?”

She nodded excitedly and hugged me. “That makes us sisters.”

I snorted in laughter. “Ew. I hope not.”

“What, ew? Why’s that gross?”

I blushed, scratched my neck. “Oh, no reason.”

Her eyes glinted as she smiled. She bit her lower lip and brushed her hair.

“So, what’s your story?” I asked.

“A boring one really. Tragic, I suppose, but whose isn’t, right?”

She spent a moment gathering her thoughts. She slowed her pace.

“My mom died in a car crash. A drunk driver. I was in the car too, but wouldn’t you know? Not a scratch.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

She shrugged. “I was three, so I don’t remember the crash.”

“And your dad?”

“As you might have guessed by my hafu look, he was an American. A Navy officer, I think. He left long before my mom’s death, before I was born. Very Madame Butterfly, no?” She giggled.

“Have you ever thought to try to contact him?”

“No. Why would I?”

I smiled weakly, not knowing an answer that didn’t sound trite or obvious.

Her hand found its way to mine. A tentative grazing at first, then weaving into my fingers. I shot her a look of amusement. She glanced innocently upward with a smile on her face.

“What about your parents?” She asked.

“Also tragic. Murdered by gangsters. I was ten. My dad was into real estate. He had a lot of debt and couldn’t pay them off after the market crashed.”

Her hand went to her mouth as she gasped. “Oh. Now that’s way more tragic…”

“Didn’t know we were competing.”

“If this were the tragic family deaths Olympics, you’d win gold. Are you over it?”

I shrugged, nodded.

“Are you really?”

“Yeah.”

Meiko stopped and held her hands to her mouth again.

“Oh…”

“What?” I chuckled.

She spoke in a somber tone. “I know why you don’t tell me your real name.”

“Yeah?”

“You’re in protective custody, aren’t you?”

I laughed. “I mean, that’s a good guess, but no.”

“Ok, so you say, Etsuko.”

We stopped by a neon-red late-night ramen stand and agreed to grab some noodles. We ate at the counter and got a couple of beers, too. Our conversation turned light, and we laughed and got lost in the hours again. A monsoon rain came pouring down, wiping out the night sounds of the city with a blanket of white noise, making the tiny ramen stand feel intimate and private. She looked out at the sheet of rain and said, “damn, I guess I can forget about walking home tonight.”

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