Stephanie was unsure how to process this; she was now sitting in an unfamiliar truck as a Japanese woman drove towards the place Stephanie needed to get to. The woman was the daughter of the elderly man who owned the jewelry store, a man who gave both Taryn and Rachael gifts. In fact, he seemed to recognize her. When she had asked how he had known who she was, the old man simply said in Japanese.
“Not many blondes like you running around as though their feet have caught on fire. Your friends of those two others correct? You seem to be in a bit of a panic, is something wrong?”
She had been at a loss in what to do when she could not procure a car for herself to head back to the village. And besides the rather racist and mildly sexist remarks from that ass of a sales clerk, they said there wasn’t anything that could be done. She hadn’t thought of other options besides “get a damn car and get friends away from crazy” That was all on her mind since her concern became heightened since the taxi ride.
Stephanie broke and told the elderly man what was happening. It was extremely minimal, but she hammered home the fact that her friends were clearly in danger.
The old man nodded, then went back into the store, spoke to someone, a woman, then both came back out where he said. “My daughter, Aiko, she’ll take you where you need to go. Free of charge. Go help your friend’s, young lady.”
“I understand if it’s an uncomfortable notion,” the woman named Aiko said in Japanese. “But try not to take it to heart too much, it’s just how he is.”
“Don’t you find that strange?” Stephanie asked her in Japanese. “I mean, he just told you to give me a ride to wherever without so much as a second thought.”
Aiko smiled. “Yes, but he also gave your two friends items that they normally wouldn’t be able to afford, simply because he felt that they belonged to them. Especially that girl with the odd blue eyes. Your friends aren’t aware, but he made many pieces within our store. Crafted the Ningyō no namida by hand, it was our most expensive piece and would never sell it to anyone who wished to buy it. His wife, my mother, asked why he would put so much effort into the many items he made and then never sell them. Would you like to know what he told her?”
Stephanie nodded, anything to fill the void of silence for just a bit longer, anything was better than being alone with her worrying thoughts.
“It’s simply not time, the stones are waiting for their owners, so I’ll wait for them to arrive.” Then she added. “That was fifteen years ago when I was just a teenager. At the time, I didn’t get it but seeing his care of whichever jewels he worked on, regardless if someone bought them, it didn’t matter to me. If anything, it’s what led me to become a jeweller.”
“I was shocked when I found that he had given her such a necklace for free, even though she didn’t know what to do.”
“Such things tend to happen, but my father was adamant about her taking it, for it will protect her in the future. That’s what he told me, it may not be soon, but further down the line, for he felt that your friend would come to deal with many dangers in her life.”
“Seems like it’s happening now than in some distant future,” Stephanie admitted. “There’s a lot about her I still don’t know.” She recalled how Taryn interacted when looking for Robert, that far-away look in her eyes. As if knowing what she might find. “Your Dad, he seems like an interesting guy. When we get back, I’ll be sure to come by and thank you.”
Aiko laughed again. “If you’re that dead set on thanking us, then you can just buy something from our store to call it even.”
Stephanie smiled. “Sure, I’ll do that.”
The rest of the drive was taken up with small idle chitchat, something to keep Stephanie’s mind preoccupied and away from dread. And when they reached the spot where her car had been left, Stephanie thanked the woman once more and left to head to her car only for Aiko to call out to her before she got too far.
“Stratford-san!” when Stephanie turned around, the woman had stepped out of her car and tossed something her way. “To protect you!” Aiko said when Stephanie caught it. Looking at what now rested in her right hand, Stephanie realized it was an amethyst brooch in the shape of a flower. She gave a short laugh, the cheek of that old man. When she had told him her need for a car, he had asked if she was old enough to drive, so she had shown him her licence to prove her age. Her date of birth clear as day on it.
“Just for that,” she said as she pinned it to the left side of her chest on her white quarter-sleeved blouse. “I’m buying out your whole store. Consequences be damned! Hell, my father might even want to start a partnership.”
“Just come back first, then you can buy almost anything you want in our store.”
“Right,” she said with a faint smile as Aiko went back into her car and drove off. When the woman was gone, Stephanie looked skyward, it was already dark, and she could smell the faint dampness of rain, it must have rained early in the evening, but from the looks of things, it would rain again at some point. She just hoped it wouldn’t cause her trouble when trying to get out of this place with the others in tow. She glanced at the brooch with a faint amount of skepticism but recalled how Rachael practically wore the ring she had received every day since arriving at the mansion. It wasn’t large by any sense of the word, but it was something Stephanie noticed throughout the trip, and nothing terrible happened to Rachael. When the bad events did occur, it happened only to Taryn and, ultimately, Robert.
Perhaps it would keep her safe.
Stephanie shook her head, hypotheses of gems protecting the wearer aside, she needed to get back to the village, to the mansion. But first…
Taking out her car keys, Stephanie unlocked the trunk of the van and rummaged through the back before pulling out a stun baton from its bag. Since in Canada, tasers and mace were illegal. Her father always wanted her to be protected regardless of where she went.
She had only ever needed the baton before, once when dealing with a stalker that found out she was dating a man, said man being Robert, and threatened to hurt him, so she laid the stalker out flat with her baton and a few well-aimed kicks to the groin. The guy was arrested shortly after that and was currently in a cell.
Didn’t expect I’d need to use it in Japan of places. She thought. Stephanie initially didn’t plan on bringing it, but her father was adamant about her taking it. She did a quick check to make sure that it worked correctly, only to pause when noticing something else was in the bag. “Oh, for goodness sake Dad…” she muttered when she pulled out a small can of Bear Spray, with a note attached which read in English.
For bears, or unruly assholes. -Dad
She had only told her father that they would be in the mountains where the village was located; her younger brother Thomas commented on watching out for bears since Japan was known to have them in more rural areas. The can was about the size of 7.9 oz of bug spray. But it was the note that caused her to arch a brow. “I can’t believe this made it through customs.” Then again, when she had her things looked at while at the airport, the man who checked her belongings probably assumed that it was for its intended use and had no reason to question her, unlike with the stun baton.
Well, this wouldn’t have been for bears but said unruly assholes, she wasn’t all too keen on spraying someone in the face with this. But desperate times called equally for desperate measures.
And if that meant blinding someone in the face with Bear Spray, then so be it. She even noticed that the nozzle had been faintly modified, with the option of spraying a wide birth or one for it being a stream, like a nozzle from a spray bottle.
I’m not sure if that’s legal back home. She thought. But it would do, and now as she was thinking clearly. However, she recalled that Japan’s laws on what could or couldn’t be used for self-defence were different from Canada’s.
“Shit…” I should have stopped at a store that sold at least some mace. God, I’m dumb when I panic. “Too late now.” She said with a sigh as she closed the trunk of the van, only to nearly jump out of her skin when she saw someone in front of the car through the back windshield. With a gasp, she held the baton in her right hand, raised upward, and the spray in her left, ready to fire. It was a woman, but with how dark it was becoming, Stephanie could barely make out the woman’s facial features due to the slight tint in the glass. “If you’re from the Mansion, stay back!” Stephanie spoke in Japanese. “Or you’ll regret messing with me!” but the woman didn’t move, hell, she didn’t even make a sound. She just stood there, unmoving. After a moment of uncomfortable silence, Stephanie spoke again as she inched over to the front. “Uh… hello? You…you did hear me, right? Because I meant what I said! I will do it! I mean it.”
Only to stop short when reaching the front of the car, to find that the woman was no longer there.
“What the hell?” she muttered. Stephanie knew what she saw. Her eyes hadn’t been playing tricks on her. She saw the woman standing in front of her car. With a frown, Stephanie went to the front of the vehicle and saw that there were footprints. The outline of a person’s feet in the mud. But no signs of where the woman would have gone.
Her gaze then fell on a small scrap of paper stuck in the grill of the car. But her confusion halted when she read what was on it.
They’ve escaped. You need to hurry. He won’t let them go if he catches them.
Stephanie stood quickly, her mind still trying to understand what was happening, but put all that to the wayside as something else drew her attention.
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Gunshots.
Heart thundering in her chest, Stephanie headed up the path, as quickly but as cautiously as she could. The ground was damp from the rain, and the shoes she had weren’t right for this kind of traversal; she cursed at herself for deciding to wear flats than her running shoes but chose to chastise herself later for it as she made the long-distance back towards the village.
And by the time she reached the hill, it had already become night. She took a moment to catch her breath, hands-on knees as she saw the few villagers who were out and about talking to each other about what that noise could have been. Only to hear it again, three more shots.
“It’s gunfire.” Stephanie recognised the voice of the elderly man that spoke to Rachael and Stephanie about the demon. “It doesn’t sound like a modern gun.”
“Perhaps they’re testing it for an upcoming festival in Tokyo?” a middle-aged woman offered. “Those in the mansion have participated a few times in ones that involved rifles if I remember correctly.”
The elderly man shook his head. “But isn’t that more at the beginning of summer? Why would they do that now? And if they were to do something like this, they would have given some form of notice.”
Stephanie didn’t comment, from the looks of things the villagers were just as blind to the happenings in the mansion as she once was. She then turned her attention to the familiar old man. “You said it sounded like an older gun, any idea what kind?”
“Probably a rifle,” he said. “Though my ears aren’t as good as they used to be.”
“And the Detective from before, Detective Sakamoto, have you seen him?”
“He and at least three other offers were heading up to the Mansion’s grounds a little while ago. You think that has something to do with it?” then he asked when she didn’t respond. “What happened miss?”
“The people in the mansion were behind it, the disappearances, all of them.” She looked back towards the mansion with narrowed eyes. I don’t have time for this. “Do you have other means of contacting the outside right away?”
“There is,” a woman responded. The same woman from before, the Priestess, that Stephanie had seen when first looking for Robert and Taryn. “Many of us have the means to do so.” she then looked to the other villagers. “All of you should return home, and remain indoors until it stops. Best to stay away from it all just to be safe, try to get ahold of the police or others that could help.”
To Stephanie’s surprise, and confusion, they all did so, without so much as even questioning the woman’s words. And just like that, it was only the two in the village’s Square.
Just who was this woman?
The woman then said something that Stephanie didn’t expect when she looked back at her. “Misfortune could fall on you if you’re not careful. It has already draped over one of you like a veil and will not relent no matter what she does, it will not let go.”
Is she talking about Taryn? Stephanie glared at the woman. “I don’t give a shit. My friends are still trapped in that place, and god knows what is happening with the police. I’m heading up there whether you like it or not.”
The woman was oddly quiet before saying. “You’re not surrounded like Lowell-san, but you should still be cautious. Many of the villagers have no idea what you’re getting into, while some play ignorant. Regardless of where their allegiances lie, they are, at their heart of hearts, frightened of what lies within that mansion.”
“So they’re scared, big woop!” She snapped as she kept a firm grip on the can, her hand slightly shaking. “My friends have seen things I can’t even begin to comprehend, and yeah, I’m terrified, but that still won’t stop me.”
To her mounting surprise, the woman smiled. “Good, as you should.” Her gaze then turned to the mansion when more shots were fired. “It seems that it has yet to cease, I wish I could help, but there’s only so much I can do.”
Stephanie looked at the woman, the way she sounded, so self-defeated, kind of ticked her off. “You think you’re the only one? I’m left in the dark, I don’t know shit about what’s happening, but just because I can’t understand doesn’t mean I’m going to give up. You said so yourself that you have ways of helping, the village listens to you without so much as a complaint! That’s leagues more than me right now. Do what you can, that’s all any of us can do.” When the woman said nothing more Stephanie turned to leave. But stopped to say one last thing. “You helped them when you allowed Taryn and Robert into those underground tunnels, let them see what’s going on. Don’t you think that’s something no one else but you could do?”
The woman just stared after Stephanie as she ran off towards the mansion. The sound of thunder cracked above them as dark clouds formed high about them.
The woman looked up at the dark sky, not bothered as the wind blew through the village as if trying to push her towards the mansion but she remained firm. She closed her eyes allowing the howling of the wind to enter her ears before she looked to the mansion. “No… I didn’t. Such a thought had not once come to mind…”
* * *
Stephanie ran up the stone steps, ignoring the sounds of the oncoming storm only to come to a complete halt when she reached the top, for not far ahead of her, she saw a large blood pool, followed by a trail leading into the forest.
Swallowing the lump in her throat, Stephanie cautiously followed the blood trail, which led to two dead officers near one of the many gardens. Dread rested on her shoulders at the sight. Getting closer, she checked them both. Sadly, both were dead; one had been shot point-blank in the chest, while the other in the head. It looked like the one who was shot in the head tried to drag his fellow officer away before being killed, judging by the amount of blood on the man’s uniform. Then, from the corner of her eye, she spied two of the mansion’s staff that hadn’t seen her. Silently, she made her way into the forest, keeping a fair distance away from the edge of the forest so as not to be seen by them.
She needed a plan, if it was just one, she could rush in and take him out with her stun baton, but with there being two, there would be the chance that the other would call for assistance, or just kill her off right then and there.
While mulling it over, she overheard some of the worker’s conversation. Those who worked in the mansion. From the sounds of things, they had only killed two of the four that had come here, meaning that the other two were somewhere in hiding. There were only two men keeping watch, and they indeed had old-looking rifles. They looked like they were from World War Two or possibly older.
If she remembered her history right; if her older brother was still alive, he could have told her without a second glance. A slight feeling of guilt weighed on her chest at the thought.
She looked back at the men if only she could get close without them noticing. She could make some kind of distraction to draw them into the forest, but then what? As her mind raced something stood out from the corner of her eye, and what she saw made her even more confused.
Robert?
He was there, standing off to the side from the interior of the mansion, which he shouldn’t have been. He was dead. Stephanie saw his body and identified him and everything. How could he be there? It couldn’t have been him, could it?
She saw him point in her direction.
Something was behind her.
Then, a sound of something soon followed. Quickly, Stephanie turned around, ready to smack whoever it was with her stun baton and spray them in the face only to see that it was someone she recognized. “Detective Sakamoto-san!” she whispered so only he could hear her.
Daichi was a few feet away, leaning up against a tree, arm wrapped around his side. He looked battered and bruised as though he had fought hand to hand as there were signs of blood along his side and leg that had been wrapped quickly with a cloth. “Stratford-san, what in the world, are you… doing back here?”
“I escaped the room you locked me in, through a small window and got a lift from an unlikely ally. But that doesn’t matter. You’re injured.”
“It’s only a graze. Thankfully it’s shallow along my thigh, so that’s nothing to worry about. However, the other struck in the same area as an old wound of mine. So, it’s reawakening a lot of nerves.” He gave a short laugh as though he thought it was funny. “And they are not happy with it.”
Stephanie moved back his hand and lifted his shirt and undershirt to see the extent of the damage. It had only grazed him, but it was in a place where vital organs were. Kidneys, liver and the like. From the looks of it, and like he mentioned, there was another scar and something else that drew her attention and surprise. It looked like a tattoo.
Which usually meant one thing in Japan.
Daichi noticed this. “Does it bother you?”
She shook her head. “I have nothing negative to say about it, and if it makes you feel better, I won’t tell a soul about it.”
His smile filled with gratitude. “Thank you,”
Which then led Stephanie to look around. “Are you alone? Wasn’t there supposed to be another officer with you?”
His expression became grim as he glanced over to his left, from the borderline of the forest. She followed his gaze and saw the remains of another officer, shot multiple times in the chest. “He kept trying to radio for help, but with this location, trying even to get a signal is incredibly difficult.”
Tell me about it. she thought with aggravation as she forced herself to look only at Daichi. “Were you able to find Taryn and Rachael? Was that why you were attacked?”
“No, they were not on the grounds when I arrived. My best guess is that they are still in the mansion. We weren’t able to find out much before they pulled out guns and fired on us.”
“A priestess in the village has the villagers trying to contact the police. It seems like she knows Taryn or at least knows of her. She’s probably contacting your department right now.”
“There are already on the way,” he states before wincing from his injury. “You should recall it since it was mentioned before I had knocked you out. Apologies for doing that.”
“You were only doing your job.” She tells him. “I’m not going to hold it against you…” she then fell silent when he raised to get her to become quiet. The moment she had, he pointed a little away from them. Not far off was one of the people who worked for the mansion, a flashlight in one hand, a handgun in the other.
The man shined his light on Daichi as he was now alone. “Oh, that’s where you went, don’t take this personally. It’s your own fault for being here.” He said as he raised his arm to fire.
Daichi smirked. “Same to you,” he said, and before the man had the chance to say anything back in response, he soon slumped to the ground, struck from behind by Stephanie, though he wasn’t unconscious, which soon changed when she placed the stun baton along the back of the man’s neck and turned it on shocking the man. It might have been overdoing it, but she wanted to ensure the guy would stay down.
“Hey, what’s taking so long? It’s just one guy, isn’t it?” the man called out as he came closer to the forest edge, trying to see in the wooded depths, only to be then greeted by some kind of spray to his eyes, and before he could back away to cover his face was smacked to the chest followed by an electric shock before he had the chance to do anything.
Stephanie then pulled him into the forest, taking away the gun and rifle from both men. Her hands shook; she didn’t want to use this.
It was dumb, really, really, dumb, but she couldn’t bring herself to use it on another. Daichi noticed the faint tremors in her hands as he stood. “It’s not uncommon to react that way to holding a gun. Even if you haven’t fired it.”
“But it’s ridiculous!” She snapped at her body’s reaction. “These people are trying to kill us. I shouldn’t have this kind of reaction when a life is on the line.”
“You’re dealing with adrenaline. Your reaction is normal, given the circumstances,” Daichi informed her, before holding out his hand, she instantly gave him the gun, clearly not comfortable with it. He removed the bullets, keeping them in his pocket before dismantling the gun in its entirety without a word, as though he were simply solving a normal puzzle. As he then slung the rifle over his shoulder, away from his injured side, his gaze surveyed the area. “It doesn’t look like there are any more guards.”
“They might be inside.” Stephanie offered. “I didn’t see any when I came up to the front entrance.”
Daichi was silent when she told him that. “They would have heard the commotion and come out long before now.”
“No, I mean, they might be underground. Underneath the mansion. Taryn and Robert had both been in some underground tunnels before all of this happened.”
The detective’s expression turned to confusion. “You never mentioned that,” his eyes narrowed on her, as Stephanie clamped her mouth shut. “What else did you leave out?”
“Kind of a lot?” she admitted, only for her attention to turn to the men she had knocked out, that should have remained knocked out, but one wasn’t, and he looked. Odd.
His body looked different like it was almost wooden.
Followed by a sudden and strange sound before the man pulled out another gun, which should have been impossible since they had searched both men and found nothing else on them.
Instinctively she shoved Daichi away from her as the man fired. Moments before feeling something heavy struck her chest, causing her to fall backwards as the sound of a single gunshot rang in her ears as her vision began to fade.