Akayuki (Red Snow)--Michael's Past Conclusion

Warning: The following contains strong language and references to violence and death. Reader discretion is advised.

Author's Note: This concludes Michael's backstory. I didn't repeat the face-off with Charles Lee Ray (Chucky) since it's already in the main story. Sadly, until I write more, Akayuki is now on hiatus. Thank you for reading this far. Hopefully, we will meet again. 🎃❤️

Disclaimer: The following is a work of fan fiction. It is intended for entertainment purposes only. Any resemblance to actual persons living or deceased is purely coincidental.

~o~

Lonnie ran back to Michael and Annie's house, alone.

None of the adults he needed were able to accompany him. The village doctor was in emergency surgery at the moment. A stranger had entered the village earlier, a man carrying a red katana, which he had used to hack off a sentry’s arm. As for Annie's father, he told Lonnie to go home.

“It’s dangerous right now,” the village constable told him. “Until we find this guy with the red katana, you stay inside.”

“But Annie…” Lonnie protested.

“My daughter can take care of herself,” Constable Brackett said. “Go bug her husband. He married her against my wishes and he needs to take responsibility for his baby.”

“He was the one who sent me to find you,” Lonnie argued. “He looked worried. The Boogeyman!”

“Boogeyman” was the wrong thing to say to the constable. He ordered one of his officers to escort Lonnie home. Lonnie had no choice but to flee.

He skidded to a halt when he caught sight of the orange flames licking the roof of the house. His eyes widened in horror.

“Michael! Annie!!” he screamed. 

Lonnie felt his legs trembling as he continued to watch the fire devour the house.

~o~

One year later 

Lonnie paid a visit to the permanently shuttered tea house. He stared at the dark blue doors and wondered why Michael did it. Why did he burn down his house and murder Annie and their unborn child? 

“I knew he was the Boogeyman,” Lonnie murmured. He spat in the dust by his feet and turned his back on the tea house. He headed to the school. 

On the way, a rickshaw bearing a beautiful young woman in a red kimono pulled to a stop beside him. The driver of the rickshaw wore dark blue clothes and a large straw hat covered his head. The lady in the rickshaw looked around before speaking to the driver in a voice Lonnie likened to a bell ringing.

“Michael, why did you stop?”

No. It can’t be, Lonnie thought.

But…

The rickshaw driver had to be six-foot tall and his skinny build also matched. 

If I could only see his face or hear his voice.

“Michael?” the pretty lady asked as the driver set the handles of the rickshaw on the road and approached Lonnie. 

Lonnie watched as the tall man walked up to him. It wasn’t until they were facing each other did Lonnie notice the blue-and-black sheath of the katana hanging at the man’s side. 

Lonnie gulped. 

The man lifted the straw hat off his head.

Lonnie looked at the man’s face. The pale skin, the blind left eye…

“Michael!” the woman in the rickshaw called. “He’s a boy. Leave him alone.”

The man returned the straw hat to his head and walked away from Lonnie. 

“Boy?” the woman called.

Lonnie came out of his stupor and answered her.

“Yes, nee-san?”

“Are you all right?”

Lonnie nodded. “I’m fine, nee-san.”

 She smiled. “Good. My bodyguard is a bit overprotective. Please forgive him.”

You’re a bodyguard now, Boogeyman-san? 

Lonnie clenched his fists.

“Does she know what you did to Annie, you evil bastard?!”

“Michael,” Lonnie heard the pretty woman say in a soothing voice to the driver of her rickshaw. Michael held the handles of the rickshaw in both hands now.

“You…you better get out of here or I’ll…”

The rickshaw passed him before Lonnie could finish the threat. 

I should tell Annie's father Boogeyman-san is back. But who was that lady? Why is she using Boogeyman-san as a bodyguard? Is she a Boogeywoman? Is she the reason Boogeyman-san killed Annie?  

~o~

“Michael, what’s wrong?” Lonnie heard the pretty lady ask.

Lonnie had followed them out of the village, and he now hid among the trees, spying on them.

Boogeyman-san had pulled the rickshaw off the road and set out a picnic lunch on the grass. He had then returned to the rickshaw, picked the Boogeywoman up in his arms and carried her to the blanket. Lonnie wondered if she had a problem with her legs. Or maybe she’s royalty and she isn’t allowed to walk on her own.

Boogeyman-san had waited until she was settled before sitting beside her on the blanket and serving their food. The rice balls Lonnie saw reminded him how long it had been since he had eaten breakfast. His stomach growled but he ignored it in favor of watching the two evil creatures before him.

Boogeyman-san ate with his straw hat on but Lonnie knew he sensed they were being watched. It was in the way Boogeyman-san cocked his head a little to the left. His eye injury forced him to rely solely on his right eye to see. And as Lonnie knew from his work in the tea house, Michael, even with a handicap, had sharp eyesight.

So when Boogeyman-san arose and drew his katana, Lonnie shrieked in fright and stumbled out from behind the tree.

“Isn’t that the boy from the village?” the Boogeywoman asked, turning to look back at him.

Lonnie picked himself off the ground.

“Boy, come here, please,” the Boogeywoman ordered, motioning with her free hand for him to come over to them. She held a mug of tea in her left hand.

“No way!” Lonnie shouted. He turned to run away when a familiar, powerful hand caught his shoulder and dragged him kicking and screaming to the picnic blanket. 

“Michael,” the Boogeywoman scolded as Lonnie was dumped onto his rear beside her.

Boogeyman-san said nothing as he returned to his spot on the blanket across from the Boogeywoman.

“I’m sorry,” the Boogeywoman said to Lonnie. “Are you okay?”

“No, I’m not okay, Boogeywoman,” Lonnie spat. He pointed at the Boogeyman across from him. “That evil bastard killed Annie.”

Michael scowled but it was hidden along with the rest of his face in the shade of his straw hat.

The Boogeywoman glanced at the Boogeyman then said to Lonnie,

“Forgive him, please.” 

“Why are you apologizing, Boogeywoman?” Lonnie asked. “He killed Annie and her baby. His baby.” Angry tears filled Lonnie's eyes. “Why did you do it?” This he directed at the Boogeyman himself.

The Boogeyman turned his head away from Lonnie. His fingers tightened their grip on the mug of tea in his right hand.

“Michael,” the Boogeywoman said, speaking gently to the Boogeyman.

“Loomis-sensei told me you are the Devil,” Lonnie continued, glaring at the Boogeyman through his tears. “He said you did the same thing to your older sister. You killed her in cold blood and you didn’t even care. But Annie…Annie loved you, you bastard! And I…I trusted you! Not anymore, though.”

Lonnie hid his face behind his right arm and sobbed.

The Boogeywoman attempted to put her hand on his shoulder, but he shrugged her off, then glared at her.

“Don’t touch me, you evil bitch!”

Lonnie suddenly fell backwards, his head hitting the ground as a sharp pain spread across his left cheek. He looked up at Michael, who stood over him, one hand on the hilt of his katana, his right eye a smoldering coal black. 

“Michael!” the Boogeywoman scolded.

The Boogeyman withdrew and returned to his place beside the Boogeywoman. 

Lonnie sat up, rubbing his stinging cheek. He watched as the Boogeyman packed away the remnants of their lunch. Lonnie’s stomach growled. The Boogeyman paused for a moment, glanced back at Lonnie, then completed his task.

“Michael, give him something to eat,” the Boogeywoman said, hearing Lonnie’s stomach growling.

“I-I’m not hungry,” Lonnie lied, his stomach growling again in direct contradiction of his words.

The Boogeywoman laughed—a cackle that didn’t sound ladylike at all. 

“Give him something to eat, Michael,” she repeated. 

“Just a rice ball if you have any left,” Lonnie conceded. 

“Tea, too?” the Boogeywoman teased.

Lonnie blushed, averted his head, and nodded.

~o~

“My name is Lonnie Elam,” Lonnie said after he had wolfed down three rice balls and drank a mug of green tea. He now sipped at his second mug. Michael had brewed this tea. Lonnie recognized the Boogeyman’s technique in the flavor.

“Lonnie,” the Boogeywoman repeated and smiled at him. “My name is Nica Pierce.” 

“Nice to meet you, Nica-san.” Lonnie hadn't forgotten his manners. He hoped the Boogeyman noticed. 

“Michael informed me he let you work in his mother’s tea house last year,” the Boogeywoman, Nica, said. “He claims you make delicious dango.”

“It’s okay,” Lonnie said, looking away from Michael and shrugging. “I haven’t made dango in over a year.” He glared at the Boogeyman.

Michael took the straw hat off his head and met the boy face-to-face.

“I have to go.” Lonnie set his mug on the blanket, arose, and bowed to Nica. “Thank you for the food, Nica-san. I apologize for being rude to you earlier.”

“It’s all right, Lonnie,” Nica assured the boy. “Take care when returning to your village.”

“Yes, Nica-san.” Lonnie bowed to her once more before hurrying away from them.

~o~

Lonnie later learned the Boogeywoman, Nica, was the heiress to the Akayuki syndicate of Hackensack. As for Michael, Lonnie would reunite with him one las

t time in the far future. Then Lonnie would learn the truth about Annie's death and meet his own. Ironically, Lonnie’s last meal in this world would be tea and dango. 

The End