Enter the Hound: The Origin of Inu

Chapter 5: Intoxication

 

            On Sunday afternoon, Ashley loaded up her car and headed back to campus.  With her in the front seat was the envelope containing the pictures of her biological parents.  She glanced at it every now and then as she drove, more to make sure that she hadn’t imagined its existence than out of longing to look inside.

            Austin and Nadine were waiting for her in the parking lot when she arrived at the dorm.  Nadine squealed and would have attacked Ashley’s ears again if not for Austin holding her back.  The screenings at Genome were set to begin at 8:00AM tomorrow.  Tonight, the trio planned on staying in Ashley’s dorm and heading over to the facility together.  Besides, Austin and Nadine wanted to celebrate Ashley’s birthday before the screening, and this was the perfect opportunity to do so.

            Instead of the simple gifts her family had given her, Austin and Nadine gave Ashley something slightly less useful and much more desirable: alcohol.

            “Happy birthday, Ash,” Austin said as he pulled a number of sake bottles out of a brown paper bag.  Each bottle had its own little red ribbon tied around its neck.  Ashley laughed.  It would take months to drink all of that sake alone.  Fortunately, Austin and Nadine were willing to help.

            “I’m not going to remember tonight, am I?” Ashley asked, staring at all the sake bottles.

            “You might,” said Austin, “but me?  Nah....”

 

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            Austin was right.  The next morning, Ashley was just fine.  Nadine was faring well, though she regretted not stopping a drink or two sooner.  Austin looked like death warmed over on a Triscuit.

            “Hey, A-kun,” Nadine said as she poked him with her foot.  “Get up.  We have to go.”

            “Not.  Going.  To happen.”

            “A-kun...”

            “Go away.”

            “Get up, A-kun!”

            Nadine squeaked as a pillow collided with her face.  Pouting, she went into the kitchen to complain to Ashley about Austin’s rude behavior.

            “You just aren’t doing it right,” Ashley told Nadine as she mixed up a batch of breakfast smoothies.  “It’s all in how you approach him.”        

            “Hmpf!  He’s just mean because he drank too much,” Nadine scoffed, folding her arms across her chest.

            “I bet I can get him up and out of bed with one word,” said Ashley.

            Nadine arched an eyebrow.  “The terms?”

            “Loser buys lunch.”

            Nadine smiled.  “I can live with that.  You’re on!”

            The two women walked into the bedroom where Austin lie upon an air mattress in a cocoon of bedding.  Nadine watched as Ashley leaned over and whispered a single word in Austin’s ear.  Instantly, the hung-over goon was on his feet and tearing through the apartment trying to find his shoes.  Nadine was shocked.

            “What did you say to him?” she asked when she and Ashley returned to the kitchen.  “What could you possibly have said to him to get him moving like that?”

            Ashley poured herself a smoothie.  “Just one word,” she said.

            “Which was?”

            “Bacon.”

 

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            The Genome facility was smaller than Ashley and her friends expected.  From the outside, it appeared to be a one-level brick building that might have easily been mistaken for a laundry mat if not for the modest sign on the door stating otherwise.  It was the only building in the neighborhood that showed any signs of life whatsoever; the rest of the houses and shops all had that feeling of loneliness and decay that comes with abandonment.  Even the trees seemed feel the effects of the decay, their gnarled branches twisting unnaturally as they reached for the sky.  Several were stark white and half dead.

            “Is anyone else creeped out, or is it just me?” Nadine asked.

            Austin laughed.  “Come on, Nadine, after you were so revved up about coming here, you’re scared to go in?”

            “I don’t like this,” Ashley said.  “Maybe we should leave.”

            The mere suggestion of leaving without getting paid was enough for Nadine to summon her courage.  She marched straight toward the little brick building without another word, leaving her friends to follow slowly behind her.

            Inside, the building was slightly more spacious.  The walls were white and sterile, but not unfriendly.  The floor was covered in plush green and tan carpet, and the wooden chairs along the walls were comfortably padded.  There were only two other people waiting to participate in the study: one, a large man in his thirties, grinned and twitched excitedly as he read a hunting and fishing magazine; the other, a scantily dressed blonde of barely-legal age, eyed Austin suggestively as he sat down with Nadine and Ashley.  Ashley had her ball cap on to hide her ears.  There was no reason to reveal them until she was called back.

            By 9:30, everyone in the waiting room had grown anxious and irritable.  Only three other participants had shown up: a slim young man who Austin recognized as Cori-O, and a young couple who couldn’t keep their hands off each other.  Seeing Cori-O, Austin called him over to join the little group.

            “So what’s going?” Cori asked.  “Why haven’t they called anyone back yet?”

            “Dunno,” said Austin.  “We’ve been here since 8:00, and no one has said anything yet.”

            “Weird...”

            Ashley checked her watch, willing time to go faster.  She wanted to hurry up and get out of there.  The scantily dressed blonde was wearing a very strong perfume, which she sprayed every ten minutes.  Ashley’s eyes watered and her nose itched.  It was all she could do to keep from pressing her nose into her jacket to get away from the smell.

            “You okay, Ashley-chan?” Nadine asked, oblivious to the smell.  “You look a little green.”

            “Just peachy,” Ashley answered.

            The blonde pulled out her perfume bottle and sprayed herself again.  Nadine’s lip curled in disgust.  She turned to Ashley to say something about the woman’s poor taste in perfume and found her friend slumped down in her chair with her nose buried in her jacket.  Somewhere in the back of Nadine’s mind, a lightbulb clicked on.

            “Ashley-chan, why don’t you say something?”

            “Don’t want to be rude,” Ashley muttered.  Her eyes drooped heavily.  “I feel sleepy all of a sudden...”

            Nadine leaned over her friend and slapped Austin’s arm.

            “Do something!” she hissed.

            He didn’t have to.  Cori-O was already on the job.  He approached the blonde and spoke quietly with her, nodding in Ashley’s direction and politely asking her not to spray her perfume anymore.  The blonde, perfume bottle still in hand, sprayed Cori-O for his trouble.

            Being short and slim, Cori-O didn’t exactly pose much of an intimidating figure; and he was usually so laid back that no one expected him be very tough.  However, appearances could be very deceiving.  Few people had ever been unfortunate enough to see Cori-O angry.

            Cori-O firmly believed that people should help and protect each other at all times.  He also believed that when politeness failed, it was okay to get a little nasty if it meant helping others.  So, he didn’t budge an inch when the blonde sprayed him; and he wasn’t phased a bit when she said, “Tell your girlfriend to get over it.”  Instead, he calmly and quickly snatched the perfume bottle out of the blonde’s hands, went to the door, and pitched it far away from the building.

            “You little brat!” she squawked, leaping from her chair.  “That was my best perfume.”

            “You have poor taste,” he replied.  “I’ve run over skunks that smelled better.  Now sit down and shut up, or leave.”

            While Cori-O dealt with the blonde, Austin took Ashley outside from some fresh air.  He narrowly missed being hit with the perfume bottle as fly past his head and shattered in the middle of the street.

            “Feeling better?”

            Ashley nodded, though her eyes were still droopy.  “A little dizzy, but otherwise okay.”

            “That was nuts,” Austin said.  “Never expected that sort of behavior from Cori-O.  He’s always so quiet.”

            “It’s always the quiet ones,” Ashley laughed.  “Remind me to invite him to lunch when we finish up here.”

            “You sure you want to do that?  I mean, he may be skinny, but he can eat like there’s no tomorrow.”

            “Doesn’t bother me none.  Beside’s Nadine’s paying.”