Duke was expecting something different. Perhaps an arcane circle, or even a potion. Instead, Verlsa had been placed in a regular hospital bed. Her body was tied up with machines, an oxygen mask had been put on her face, and she had been given an IV drip. Instead of a hospital room, it was an office, and a wide window allowed Duke and Rachel to watch her as she slept.
“Her aura is quite dim,” said Rachel. “It reminds me of the fluttering wings of a butterfly.”
“The butterfly is known to symbolize death in several cultures.”
Rachel turned to him with a frown. “Aren’t you just a downer.” Duke sighed at the statement. “Go in and talk to her. I’m sure she will appreciate it.”
“And are you not afraid that I will go in and finish the job?” He asked with a glare.
Rachel looked him over. His shirt was stained with ichor, and his hair was a mess from him running his hands through it over and over again from worry. “I’ll leave you to figure it out on your own, alright?”
Duke watched her walk off before entering the room. He didn’t speak right away, preferring to watch Verlsa as she slept. After a while, he pulled out his phone and dialed Adi’s number, and waited patiently for it to go to voicemail.
“You asked us before how we were able to function,” he said in a quiet voice. “... Verlsa and I met in fourth grade. My grandmother would make lunches for me, but Korean food has a noticeable odor. None of the other children sat with me as a result.
I explained to my grandmother that I wanted to buy lunch like the other children. There was even a new girl in my class, one who didn’t have a family of her own, and even she had people to sit with her. My grandmother, being the wonderful woman that she is, sent me to school that day with two lunches. One for myself, and one for the girl.
Verlsa adamantly refused to take it. She didn’t appreciate handouts. That is when Callie appeared as nowhere and attempted to trade me a lunch she had brought from home. Her uncle had made her a radish sandwich and nothing else. When I told my grandmother about it, she sent me to school with three lunches. The three of us had stayed together from that day on.
You see, Atticus, there is no magic formula for being with another. Sometimes there are connections we make in life that transcend the bonds we have with either love or family. I do not know if it has anything to do with fate or luck, but the two of us continue to orbit about each other, no matter how toxic we have become. It is because of our own stupidity and selfishness that we continue to do so.”
He hung up, and Rachel was waving at him from outside the room. “A moment.” Duke needed to take a second to look over Verlsa again, before shaking his head and heading out the office.
“Agent Pastor called back to say that they pulled up the body from the bridge,” she said with a reassuring smile. “It wasn’t Mister Wulfert. We believe it was a demon, so Mister Pastor is contacting someone at the demon court to help identify them.”
Duke wasn’t comforted by the news. “I thought the inugami was unable to possess demon hosts.”
“Our murderer is a harmonizer,” she replied. When Duke frowned at the response, she began to fumble about in an effort to explain. “There are all sorts of harmonizers. They’re mages able to manipulate magic or even conjure magical fields. Certain groups of us are able to create mithryn, and our target is able to use his skills to take control of demons. It’s likely he created the inugami in order to control people too.”
A person who had gone through a considerable amount of effort to have complete control over anyone that may come after them. They’ve had plenty of time to prepare, but Duke wondered what their end game would be. The Wulferts were not his only targets. How many had he killed so far, and how many of his victims were innocent?
“What is to be done about Atticus?” Knowing that he might still live did nothing to alleviate his guilt for abandoning the man on the bridge.
“Windi is going to try to find him. She’s quite good at finding people. You shouldn’t have to worry.”
Duke did worry. Pastor used Windi as his personal assassin. He worried of what Windi’s priorities would be. DH was not their friends. They were a separate organization with their own masters. Adi was the tool of a harmonizer now, and Windi would no doubt consider the capture of the inugami’s master over Adi’s life.
“We will see how it goes,” he muttered.
***
Windi pulled up to Adi’s house. She walked to the back and through the patio door, which had been left unlocked. There hadn’t been much time to explore the last time she was here, but she had an idea of where Adi’s room was.
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She fiddled with a pouch hanging from her waist and pulled from it an owl’s skull. The string hanging from it was delicately wrapped about her fingers, and she swayed the skull back and forth above Adi’s bed. Faint wisps of light seeped up from the pillow and mattress, swirling about within the eye sockets of the skull until a set of eyes appeared.
Humans were always leaving traces of their souls wherever they went. They build up in their more cherished items, but also in the places they linger the most. Windi examined the skull. What an odd energy it was. Scarred by a vampire’s influence, and mended by a demon.
As the magic took hold, the skull began to vibrate, then float above the palm of her hand. She led the skull back to her motorcycle and rode off into the night. Pastor’s interest in this group was peculiar, but Windi never questioned Pastor’s judgment. He was the man at the other end of the leash, she was the raptor that flew in during a storm.
She found herself at the beach. Adi was sitting on one of the many tree trunks that acted as benches on the beach. They were smooth and white from years of use and looked like the scattered bones of giants. After she dismounted her vehicle, Windi was slow to approach.
“Is Sable alright?” Adi said without turning around. He looked up at the sky, which was beginning to pale as the sun rose.
“Her wellbeing had not been mentioned to me,” replied Windi.
Adi shrugged. “She’s probably fine if Duke didn’t bring it up,” he muttered. “I don’t know what happened. I started to black out, then I hurt Sable, and I knew I needed to get away from Varsula before I did something to hurt her.”
Windi began to look for an opening. “Why did you come here?”
“Dad would take me here a lot when I was a kid. We’d hike along for the trails, and then there was this hill made of clay that I’d try to climb up. Kids would hit it with buckets of sea water, and it would be this absolute mess.
Sable came here a lot when she was alive too. Her family would take her here, and she’d pride herself in watching out over the kids to make sure they stayed safe. It’s weird, right? This monster was sent to kill me, but they just want to feel safe to. They want to go back to this place and wait. Just wait… Wait and hope that their loved ones will come back for her someday.”
Windi’s eyes began to adjust, and she could begin to make out the shape of the inugami. Its spirit form was curled about Adi. A wolf’s body with a long, slender neck, and jaws that were clamped firmly onto Adi’s neck. When she reached forward to grab it, it let out a low growl.
She blinked a few times as she began to realize what was wrong. “Mister Wulfert, I need you to let go of the inugami.”
“Her master hurt her,” growled back Adi. “He starved her, he cut off her head, and he forced her to kill over and over again. I’m not going to let her go back to that.” He slowly turned his head towards her. His eyes had glazed over, and they were heavily bloodshot. “We’re going to find a way to make her whole again.”
“This is a malevolent spirit. All it knows is rage.” Windi reached towards the spirit again, and she sunk her jaws in all the tighter. Blood began stain Adi’s shirt, but he didn’t show any signs of pain. “There is no going back, Mister Wulfert.”
“She’s calm now. I know we can make her better,” he muttered.
Something about the way he spoke really irked Windi. She had spent so much time and resources trying to cure herself. Everything was simply cosmetic. It did nothing to hide her hunger. Deep down, she was still a creature who wanted nothing more than to drown herself in the taste of human flesh.
“This change is irreversible. Much like how Duke and I am, there is no returning to what we once were. Our very nature is soiled.”
Windi didn’t give Adi the time to come up with a response. She tore the inugami off with one hand while the other pushed Adi away. The spirit immediately set it sights upon her, head whipping back and forth while it snarled. A low growl escaped Windi’s lips. This creature had no right to pretend to be the bigger predator, and she was going to teach it a lesson if it dared to make an attempt.
The inugami looked back and forth between Adi and Windi. Trails of smoke began to escape between the gaps of its black fur, and it evaporated into thin air. Windi then set her sights on Adi. He had fallen to his knees in the sand and was a coughing and sputtering mess. His hands fumbled about his neck in an attempt to stop the bleeding.
“Hold still.” Windi dug around her pouches until she found a metal tin. This had a thick poultice that she used to seal up the wounds.
“I had it under control,” he said with a harsh whisper.
Windi grasped him by the chin and began to tilt his head back and forth in an attempt to examine his face. “No,” was the only reply she had.
Adi leaned away from her, moving back to sit on the log. “I didn’t hurt anyone, did I?”
“Not directly.” Windi cleaned off her hand with a handkerchief and went to check her phone. “Miss Rivera was injured by Mister Kwak, but she will survive her injuries.” Adi looked up at her with a look of alarm. “I am calling a car to pick you up.”
“What happened?!” Adi began to feel around his pockets for his own phone.
“I was not made aware of the details.” Windi held her phone up to her ear. “If you will excuse me.” She took a few steps away and began to mutter into the phone. Pastor would want her report, and she wanted to check with the team to see if they had gathered any information.
Adi saw that he had a voicemail from Duke. He took a moment to listen to listen to it while Windi was busy, then lowered the phone. Puget Sound truly was beautiful. To him, it was the most beautiful place in the world
Windi sat down next to him. “There will be someone here within a half hour. Are you feeling alright?”
People only hurt each other. It doesn’t matter if there are good times are not, it always ends with suffering. Then everyone else is left to pick up the pieces. Whether its grief or vengeance, it just leads to more pain, and I'm done dealing with it.”
Windi looked at him out of the corner of her eye. With a shrug, she patted him on the back. That was a sentiment that she shared. Love only served to make the world more broken.