He brought us to his house, rather large for one person to live in.  Inside was full of stylish furniture, giving the room a futuristic feel. 

            “Anything to drink?” Jake asked.

            “My mouth’s too sore to drink and I need to get rid of the tape too.” George replied.

            “Haha, but it looks good on you!” Salina said.

            “Oh really, cuz I thought, you know, I looked kinda unnatural?!” George said.

            I took a towel out of my bag and soaked it in paint thinner.

            “Put this on your mouth and try not to breathe too much.  Paint thinner kills brain cells and you don’t got much left.” I said.

            “Why are we here?” Denny asked.

            “I thought we can discuss what exactly you were doing at the psycho ward.  It isn’t a place to play you know.” Jake said.

            We explained to him about Sunako and the whole article and our raid.  He listened quietly.  Occasionally snickered during Denny’s act and escape.

            “No more of these acts.  I can’t get you out of a jam everytime.” Jake said after.

            We nodded. 

            “Did you find any answers during the raid?” Jake asked.

            We thought for a while.

            “Oh yeah! Sunako handed me a letter and said to read it when we got out!”  I replied.

            I opened the letter and found a folded piece of paper.  It read:

Dear future victims,

            I’m assuming you got the letter from Sunako which means that I’m dead.  My death, it doesn’t matter.  However, I’ll tell you about my daughters.  Toshio had a weak heart and had many asthma attacks.  Sunako was always getting injured and went to the hospital often.  The reason for her injuriers, I had no idea until that night.  I was fast asleep and in the middle of the night, I heard a whimper.  I got up and went to my oldest daughter’s room and no one was in bed.  Worried, I checked on my youngest daughter.  I stood at the doorway and saw it.  Sunako was sitting upright in her bed, crying. Her arm was cut and bleeding uncontrollable. Toshio was holding a butcher knife in one hand. 

“Don’t worry, dear sister, I’ll get you to the hospital.”  She said.  So it was her, the cause of all the injuries.  I ran over to Sunako and picked her up and walked towards the door.  “Mother…” she whispered.  I ran out the door, leaving Toshio behind.  By the time I came back after Sunako’s treatment, Toshio was dead.  Three days later, I got a call predicting my death.  Toshio has come back for revenge.  Go to my apartment.  There you’ll find some answers.  There’s no escaping the curse but at least you’ll pass on knowing more.

                                                                                                Signed,

                                                                                                     The Speaker of the Dead

 

            After reading this, our hearts sank, knowing the rest of us will suffer the same gruesome deaths as our former members.  George broke down crying dropping the thinner soaked towel.  The tape was peeled off.  Denny was about to faint once again but Salina slapped the back of his head and brought him back to reality.

            “I guess we have to pay a visit to the old apartment.  Can you find the address, Jake?” I asked.

            He nodded.

            “Help yourselves to some food.” And he walked off towards his computer.

            Salina started calming George down.  But we all knew, he didn’t have much time.  Tomorrow night, George will see her once again. 

            “Let’s just raid this guys fridge.  All that energy from the raid got me hungry!” I said.

            The four of us started search the kitchen.  We took out everything that looked appealing.  Soon, the table for full of food.

            “Let’s cook!” I headed towards the table when two hands grabbed my shoulder. 

            “No way, you’re not safe.  You’ll ruin his kitchen.” Salina said.

            “What! What about the dinner I made!?!”

            “We saw your garbage can after when we were leaving.  But we didn’t want to burst your bubble so we kept quiet.” Denny replied.

            “Stupid Enid! She was suppose to hide all evidence! That’s it, no computer for her!” I thought.

            “Fine!” I walked over to the couch and sat down.  I flicked on the TV.  The news was on. 

            “And for today’s news, one patient from the psycho ward went missing when a careless nurse left him in the hallway thinking he wouldn’t crawl away.  The patient is male, about 200 pounds, almost 5’6, has thin, black eyes and thinks he’s a baby.   And here is the nurse now.”

            “Ohhh hoo hoo, I’m so sorry! I thought… I didn’t know what I was thinking.  Oh! I failed as a nurse! Ohhh hoo hoo…”

            “Please, tell us what happened.”

            “I was doing my routine check of the hallway and I saw this large man wearing a black toque with two paper balls taped onto it that looked like ears of a bear sitting in the hallway by himself.  He was sucking his thumb and talking gibberish resembling baby talk.  I thought that his state of mind was back to a child’s so I assumed he couldn’t walk or crawl!  I had no idea!  He didn’t look like he was physical able to move fast and the wheelchairs were nearby…”

            “Thank you ma’m.  Don’t worry, we’ll find him. Back to you, Steve.”

            “Thank you, Matt.  A little addition to that story.  The police checked the surveillance tapes for the missing patient and found that all but one camera was in working condition.  This psycho ward has been deemed unsafe and police are deciding further action to deal with this situation. Through the working camera, no leads except for a distant sound of tubling down the stairs was heard.  We suspect that the patient escaped from the psycho ward and is lost wandering the nearby park.  We’ll be back after a short break.”

            “Interesting…” I said after the breakthrough story. 

            I glanced over to the kitchen and saw the three madly cooking like the chefs I often see on the Food Network.  I glanced back at the TV and flipped to YTV.  Inuyasha was on. 

            “Kagome! I’ll save you!” Inuyasha cried, “Wind Scar!”

            “Inuyasha!” Kagome yelled back as the large demon held onto her. 

             After the show was finished, dinner was ready.  It looked delicious.  My eyes widened with glee.  I was shocked that they knew how to cook.  I took a bite out of a dish they prepared.  Immediately, I spewed the food back out and grabbed the nearby vase full of water and flowers.  I threw the flowers out and started chucking from the vase.   Jake walked out. 

            “I got the address!  What are you doing?” He asked me.

            “Ahhh, much better!” I said, “You fools can’t cook! Holy shit! Are you trying to kill me! You’re lucky I’m immune to food poisoning!”

            “And you’re lucky that I didn’t put plant food in that water.” Jake said, “How are you immune to food poisoning again?”

            George explained, “Asians tend to keep food for years without using it.  Ignorant parents use it anyways and when we get sick so many times, they blame it on white food, or junk food.  Not only that, MSG is used heavily amongst Asians along with other sauces.  This generation of Asians are immuned to practically any food that exists in the world!  However, we’re sensitive to bad tasting food…” 

            “Thanks for the explanation…” Jake replied, “Anyways, I’ve found the address and we’ll go tomorrow.  It seems the food here looks great.  I would like a taste actually.”

            Jake took a fork and took a chomp out of the steak.  His eyes started streaming with tears.           

            “Oh Jake! Don’t eat this.  It’s not safe!” Salina cried wiping the tears off his face and handed him a cup of water.  He quickly drank it.

            Jake stood up.  “I’ll take over from here.  You guys, go watch tv while I make some real food.” Jake said.             

            Jake started cooking.  We gathered around the tv.  Denny flipped the channels and started watching the Weather Network. 

            “What the fuck Denny?” George said.

            “It’s interesting…” Denny replied.

            “It’s like watching paint dry!” I said. 

            Salina snatched the remote from his hands and started flipping the channels once again.  The Simpsons was on.  Today’s episode was about gay town with Smithers and Homer discovering the new world of homosexuality.  “I bet George wishes he was in gay town HAHAH!”  I thought.  Surprisingly, George made a disgusted face at the part where Smithers has a naked wallpaper of Mr. Burns on its computer.  When The Simpsons was over, Jake was done preparing dinner.  We walked over.

            “Eat up everyone!” Jake said with a smile.

            “Jake… Jake…’sssss food… I’m the happiest girl in the world now.” Salina said with sparkled eyes and a string of drool dangling down her mouth.  She was gazing at it like there was nothing else in the world more precious. 

            “Don’t be shy Salina, eat. Everyone else is.” Jake said.

            “Ja..ja..jake…. called… called… my name! Ahhh! I feel like I’m in heaven…” Salina swooned onto the good.  “Ouch.”

            “Bishh ish gmood!” I said with my mouth full.

            “Haha, thanks.  I live by myself so I’ve always had to cook.” Jake said.

            “We’re staying over.” George said.

            “What?” I replied.

            “There’s no way I’m going back home.  It’s freakin 11 and it’s dark.  What if Toshio decides that I should go tonight!”

            “But… we can’t just stay at someone’s place that we met three days ago! Plus, it’s rude!” I said.

            “To stay at Jake’s house! Wow, I want to stay!” Salina said in a faint tone.

            “I’m staying.  He can make us breakfast! Is it ok with you man?” Denny said.

            “Sure, always a pleasure to have company!” Jake said.