This was the first time she had heard him speak while looking like this. How quickly he changed, the sound of his voice reverberating through her as though his voice was detached and entered her head, sent a chill down her spine.
As she grasped the grip of the gun, removing the safety and taking it out to aim, he hadn’t moved, merely watched her with those glassy green eyes as what looked to have been a smile seemed to rest along with his features.
It unnerved her.
Being around the dead all her life, witnessing the past through objects and feeling the emotions left behind within those items made her stupidly think that she could prepare herself for what was to come. How wrong she was. Not once in her life had she ever imagined facing something like this.
Biting the inside of her cheek to stop herself from shaking, she kept the gun steady, trained on Toya from where he stood. She’d stand her ground.
This would end, one way or another.
Toya’s smile seemed to grow when he saw this. “Good. Now, my Death, let’s see how you fare.”
His stance changed, his bare feet bracing into the ground, digging deep into the earth as his arms moved forward as though he was going to throw something. Yet, he had nothing in his hands. Then when his arms extended out, something shot out from the sleeves of his kimono.
It was rope, dyed of a deep crimson that moved like a striking snake with an almost a faint ethereal reddish glow. Almost like what had pulled her leg before she awoke in the underground with Toya.
On instinct, Taryn moved out of the way, running in quick short steps to avoid being caught by the malevolent red ropes. All the while trying to keep her injured foot from fully touching the ground at the same time.
Taryn hadn’t a clue as to how Toya could control the rope, but it seemed to be coming from him, as though it was a part of his body. Like a twisted version of a marionette.
She fired several shots, doing her best to aim all the while ignoring the pain in her body and trying to line up the shot before he moved out of the way, using those red ropes to try and get her all the while keeping at a distance. Was he aware that she knew hand-to-hand from that first brief encounter when he strangled her? Or did he just wish to keep a wide birth to avoid being shot? If that last one was true, it’d be an issue for her.
Just because she knew how to use a gun did not mean she would have perfect timing in firing it in a life-or-death situation. Taryn wasn’t professionally trained like her bodyguards, Isaac or those in her family. She’d just be grateful if she even managed to hit her moving target. There would be moments when he would show an opening, but Taryn didn’t intend to take that chance, for it was clear he was being deliberate. She tested it once and found that he was, making false openings in the hopes to trap her like a spider trying to catch its next meal.
When he did this for the second time, he moved his arm back towards himself, controlling the rope like it was an extension of his arm, one of the ropes changed direction, one that she had just leapt over into changing direction and grasping her leg that wasn’t injured. Quickly, Taryn used the gun and fired at the rope, causing it to snap as she moved back before looking towards Toya once again, only to realize he was no longer there.
He wasn’t anywhere to be seen.
Where’d he go? She thought, slightly frantic as her eyes darted around the area. There were no places where he could have hidden himself. He couldn’t have just disappeared.
Then, she heard it. The sound.
Ignoring the pain in her neck, she looked upwards towards the cave’s ceiling where she saw him. Just like Ayako, he was on the ceiling, crawling around like a spider. She had only seen Ayako in one spot, but seeing Toya moving around on the ceiling like that disturbed her. She aimed up and fired, managing to hit him, causing him to fall towards the ground, only for his body to twist and land on the ground on all fours like a cat.
His head rose to look at her, and before he could react further, she fired again. Emptying the gun and reloading the last clip. Yet none of it phased him in the slightest.
As he stood, Taryn could see that she had hit him in several places, three in his chest, one in the abdomen, two in his right thigh and one in his right hand. She grazed him plenty, the state of his haori and kimono were clear of that, but she had only hit him seven times out of the fourteen bullets she had in that last cartridge and now was down to thirteen.
He looked at the damage that was done to himself and chuckled softly. As though he sounded proud of what she did. “You managed to hit me, that’s pretty good. Had I been a normal human, I would have been dead by now. But,” he raised his right hand that had the through-and-through covered with his left hand and then pulled it down to reveal that the hole was now gone completely. “What will you do when you run out of bullets?”
Gritting her teeth in frustration, she refused to take a single step back. She needed something else, something that would last. Something that would cause permanent damage to his body. She was a fool for coming here with just a gun.
Taryn then caught sight of the alter out of the corner of her eye, of the mirror and the two blades. She remembered what she had done to him with a normal dagger. And his response to it.
“He saw what you did you me, the wound you inflicted upon me, of course, it’s long gone now. But at the time, it wasn’t…”
The dagger that she had used to get away from him seemed to do some damage, if a gun wouldn’t work, then perhaps the sword or dagger would. Yet those same words, those same thoughts of her’s kept coming back to the forefront of her mind.
She didn’t want to fight him.
She didn’t want this.
Yet the weight of it rested heavily on her shoulders, knowing that there was no other outcome to this. He or her. That was all.
She just wanted it to end.
All of it.
Tension slowly building in her body, her heart hammering loudly in her ears, the echo of her breath and the thundering of her uneven steps against the dark earth beneath her feet accompanied by the sound of Toya’s squeaking limbs with every movement he made into a strange symphony of sounds, all the while her vision remained focused. She never looked away from Toya as she made her way closer to the altar with the mirror. All the while counting the remainder of her bullets while avoiding the ropes he used.
It was as if time had slowed down.
It was strange and yet, somehow peaceful.
She could only vaguely recall one other time she felt like this.
The only time she ever tried to kill someone. When she strangled the boy, the boy who killed her brother. She felt calm during that time. As if nothing else mattered as if she was sinking further and further into her consciousness, her sense of self fading away.
Her hatred and anguish vanished completely within that short minute, and in that space, she felt nothing.
Where she became nothing.
Upon firing the last bullet, aimed directly at his head, ended up hitting him square in the chest and he fell to the ground. She turned, breaking eye contact to run, run and grab what was first in her reach. The knife rested just below the mirror. As she got close to it, and could practically touch the hilt with the tips of her fingers, Taryn suddenly lost her footing and fell to the cold, damp ground as she began to be pulled back against her will.
Looking back, she saw that her uninjured foot had been caught by the red rope and was now trying to pull her towards him as he began to stand up once more only for him to fall back to the ground with a thud. As if an oppressive weight pressed heavily on his back, refusing to relent as he struggled to remain on his knees.
“What is this? Why can’t I move?”
Taryn looked back toward the mirror, and in she saw the reason.
The dead.
They had piled on top of him like ants. So much to the point where she could barely make out any shape or form of a person but a black mass. Expect two. June and Robert.
They were trying to help.
Taryn reached up for whatever was closest at hand. She tried to get the dagger only to be pulled back by the rope. His moves were sluggish, so she didn’t move far. Her gaze then fell onto the katana that was just tucked away; the blade that peaked out from its sheath glinting dimly in the candlelight.
She needed to grab it, needed to keep moving forward, she had to end it. Her heart began to beat faster, her vision becoming focused as she gritted her teeth, pushing herself further, ignoring whatever pain was inside of herself as her left hand extended to reach the blade.
That was until a memory after Roy’s death came rushing to the surface amidst her struggle to reach the blade.
“I know it’s hard to understand.” Her grandfather’s words echoed in her mind. Not long after Roy’s death, her grandfather brought her back to his place to avoid the press for a while. Something that he always did for Taryn when things became too much for her to take. Her hair was still long and left hanging loose as they sat out on the porch of her grandfather’s farmhouse, but she felt nothing but emptiness and grief. “But it’s as your uncle told you. What you felt is a trait that runs deep in our family. And it will only come about when you or others you care about are in danger.”
“But if that was true grand-père, then why is Roy dead?” she asked her grandfather in French, still very confused and bitterly angry by it all. “Why didn’t this… whatever this is, happen before then?”
“It’s because you became so focused on the one who did it, that all you could think about was protecting Roy even though he was already dead. To you, it didn’t matter. You wanted to keep him safe from any more harm, so you acted.” She could feel her grandfather’s hands resting on her shaken shoulders. She couldn’t cry, something she was unable to do since Roy’s murder. The top of her head pressed up against her grandfather’s stomach as he stood in front of her. His hands never leaving her shoulders “That is why, whenever you feel it beginning to course through your body, you must allow it to pass like water in a river. Do what you need to do in the future. And you must always remember one thing, regardless of the circumstance. If a person is trying to harm you or those you care for allow it to take over and…”
Taryn took hold of the katana pulling it out of its sheath before turning back and slashing at the red rope cutting it off as Toya continued to struggle with the oppressing weight of the dead. The remainder of the rope fell from her leg, her uneven breathing began to slow and turn steady. Even as she stood up, her back still facing him, everything within her felt as though she was burning. The pain she felt had disappeared. Vanishing in that instance, the moment it had she had both feet firmly on the ground, no longer keeping the injured one risen. Her body felt hot, her heart hammering loudly in her ears. Yet still, she felt calm, all of her emotions, her doubts, her fears, went silent. And in its place, that same feeling from before overtook her.
Taryn craned her neck to look directly at Toya.
Her gaze was unwavering and sharp as she focused all of her attention on him, her pupils receded to pinpoint dots as the flames from torches made them look as if they were glowing.
“Go for the throat.”
Without a moment’s hesitation, gripping the katana in both hands, Taryn rushed forward towards Toya, in that same instant he was finally able to stand again when she went to stab him. He just barely dodged the blade in question as she thrust it forward.
A visible look of surprise on what few motions his face would make in his current form. His eyes grew wide before looking right at her. She twisted the blade and brought it down diagonally, aiming for his throat, only to move backwards out of the way before it could even make contact. He distanced himself further, creating more space between them as he extended his arms once again, sending out more red ropes towards her, hoping to hold her down. She wouldn’t give him a chance for that.
Using the katana, she was able to cut the ropes with a surprising amount of ease, given how long it was down here, she had assumed that it would be covered in rust, but the blade slashed through the ropes as if it had just been forged. Not that any of it mattered now.
She made her way closer to him to strike him down quickly. Slicing at the red ropes, even having to block it with her arm braced against the blade’s back, pushing it off to the side where it collided with the wall, causing it to dent and crack from the impact. All the while, he could only keep her at bay with those ropes of his, yet it seemed to prove of little use as she ducked, weaved and jumped while slashing at the only thing he seemed to have. There were at times when the rope proved to be too thick and would have to be swatted away, yet he made no move in to attempt something else to stop her.
Closer. And closer still.
She couldn’t leave any room for hesitation. Couldn’t allow it to be prolonged any longer than it already was. This fight could not last forever, not for him and certainly not for her.
She needed to end it.
Kill him.
Those two words echoed in her mind without respite as she kept trying to close the distance between them. Like a mantra, those words that she had heard once before when Roy had died. The words overlapped the sound of her heart, her breathing, the sound of her feet hitting the ground, and the sound of Toya’s joints as he moved. To the point where nothing else filled her ears. Before the words devolved into something singular.
Kill.
Toya tried to send her back when extending his arms again to allow more red ropes to flow like water from his sleeves, only for him to be unable to do so with just how close she was to him now, of bringing down the blade. It gave Toya no choice but to use his right arm to block it as the blade made contact with what would have been flesh. It did little to no damage, so she struck again, and again, seeing that his arm was becoming cracked from the number of times she had struck, yet she knew it would do nothing to end it.
When Taryn stuck his arm again for the eighth time, the blade snapped, unable to take the strain of the constant abuse. But she wouldn’t end it there; she wasn’t about to back off. Without even thinking, Taryn leapt for him. Grabbed hold of Toya’s kimono with her right hand along his shoulder and changed the position of the katana with her left, both feet now resting against his abdomen to keep herself on target since Toya was taller than her. Taryn brought down the now broken blade into his chest.
He didn’t move. His only reaction was a faint gasp. So, she did it again, and again.
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
Refusing to stop.
Stabbing him repeatedly in the chest without a moment of respite before they finally fell to the ground. His lifeless form was prone on top of Taryn before she pushed him off her. Toya’s body landed beside her with a faint thud as though he weighed nothing at all, his head lolled to the side, looking at her. Taryn remained unmoving while her lungs desperately clawed for air, surprisingly, her asthma barely kicked in during this even as she slowed her breathing.
Her body quivered from the amount of adrenaline as it finally came to an end. And when it had, the pain soon followed.
Taryn hissed out a breath as she sat up, her shaking hands reaching for her injured ankle, knowing fully well that she added more strain on her already prone injury.
Slowly, Taryn let out another breath. She wouldn’t be able to walk normally for a while. The pain in her neck was far more tolerable than what her ankle was going through at the moment.
Then, her gaze fell on Toya. He hadn’t moved at all. Her left hand covered her mouth as the reality of what she had done struck her. She swallowed several times, trying to suppress the urge to vomit as her stomach clenched, turning and twisting into knots, while her body felt like it was on fire. It was of the few things she felt when during the fight.
Her gaze then fell to the blade that was now sticking out of his chest. Then she looked at her hands. They were covered in blood. This was far different from her brother’s murder. Back then, she didn’t think. She merely acted. Here, she actively went to kill this man.
Regardless of what he was in this or any instance, she had taken a life.
She couldn’t help but internally question the morality of it. Now that it was over, she was second-guessing herself, wondering if there was no other way. She grasped her hands tightly together as she shut her eyes tightly trying to calm down.
It was far too late to think of any other options.
If she didn’t do this, Toya could have gone after her friends, her family.
It was ironic, for feeling such guilt in killing a man who killed countless people, all for such a selfish desire for one soul person.
What a miserable pathetic thing that was.
It would have been easier if he just acted cold if he never showed such a caring side and had just been a monster from the start. Yet his emotions were honest, it wasn’t an act. That much Taryn could tell, and she hated herself for thinking that. But not everything was black and white.
As her shaking subsided, she found herself looking back over to Toya again as the feeling of guilt weighed heavily on her heart. But that feeling soon subsided the longer she looked at his prone form. And a question emerged from the chaotic mess of her mind.
Was he actually dead?
A cold sweat suddenly came over her as she swallowed the lump that formed in her throat she recalled the first instance when Taryn encountered Toya as the Doll remaining still like this back in that room when she stabbed him for the first time. If she wanted to be abundantly sure, she needed to check.
Taryn’s eyes instantly went back to Toya’s. Nothing had changed.
Her gaze shot to the broken katana buried in his chest, to the hilt. It wasn’t directly dead center, just a few centimetres to the right. Even still, she could see the damage that she had done, couldn’t even count how many times she had stabbed him.
Even with that, Toya wasn’t a normal human anymore. She had to be sure.
Her left hand shaking with faint amounts of adrenaline still coursing through her veins, she extended her hand to rest along the center of his chest, where the heart would be.
Only to hear the frantic sound of a heartbeat.
Tearing her hand away as though his body was made of fire, she fell back, as her gaze went back to Toya’s only to see that, again, nothing had changed. She then realized that the frantic heartbeat was coming from her own. Letting out a breath, trying to ease herself before Taryn extended her left hand again and rested it along his chest.
There was nothing.
No sound of a heartbeat, or movement of breath, she kept her hand there for several minutes before finally pulling away and forcing herself to stand, hopping on her good foot to not damage the other even further before going back and picking up the gun that belonged to the detective. Putting the safety on and placing it in the back of her jeans, she looked at Toya’s lifeless form and made her way to stand over him.
With one last look of remorse for the turn of events, Taryn left the way she came; she wasn’t sure how long it took to do all that.
Now, she just needed to get back to the surface and get down to the village. That was her current mindset as she made her way past the Tori Gate for the second time.
However, that line of thinking came to a halt when she saw someone standing in the distance—someone she recognized.
June Suchiko.
She stood before Taryn, dressed not in a kimono but the same outfit that Taryn had seen June’s spirit wear throughout all the times she had seen her in reflections. Only this time, she was completely solid.
Without a word, June turned and headed down another tunnel that Taryn hadn’t even noticed when first coming through here. Then again, she was too focused on Toya and some of the carvings to see anything else at the time. The fact that this tunnel’s entrance was hidden by one of the many carvings that lined the cave’s intricately made walls.
She wanted Taryn to follow. At this point, Taryn didn’t want to do this. She just wanted to go home. However, she knew that if she didn’t, not knowing what it was would only continue to nag at her.
Resigning herself to the decision, she silently followed after June.
This tunnel was much smaller in both width and height. With no carvings or anything artistic at all, it was just like any of the other tunnels that Taryn had been in.
Taryn continued down into the darkness before seeing a light near the end where two stone lanterns waited. And in between those lanterns was a massive double door.
It was made of wood, painted a dark red, it held an ornate design of brass that looked almost gold in the warm orange glow as June merely vanished through it when Taryn reached her. There was nothing further; it only led to a rough rocky wall.
Taryn reached for the door only for it to open all on its own with the air pulled at her to go in. The air didn’t feel cold to her. Instead, it was somewhat calming added with a feeling of sadness, regret and remorse that tugged at her mind.
Limping into the circular room, she came to a complete stop.
Now she completely understood why she felt what she had when the doors opened.
There were dolls.
All human-sized dolls. Of those that Toya had turned.
These were the ones that had survived.
But it seemed as though they were unable to move. Was it because of the process of being turned or something else?
She couldn’t count how many there were. They lined the walls heading upwards like puppets on strings that remained hanging helplessly with nowhere to go. Like a marionette without its puppeteer. All of them were dressed in various styles, some in different kinds of Japanese clothing, while others in Western clothes. All ranging in different ages. From young adults to the elderly, a vast majority ranging from twenty to seventy, there were no children though. If that could be seen as a blessing, it still did nothing to ease the dread in her body as she looked up, just how high did this go? Was there even an end?
There had to have been; she just couldn’t see it given how dark everything was.
But there was one doll that was not hung up like the rest, one that didn’t surprise Taryn in the least given that she had been following her and Robert when they were in the underground.
Taryn silently watched as June’s spirit vanished inside the doll version of herself. Still dressed in that same kimono as she opened her eyes and stared directly at Taryn which she could only say to her.
“I’m sorry.” For she didn’t know what else she could say.
June shook her head slowly in response, the sound of clicking in her joints, not used to the movement as of yet.
“None of this was your fault.” She said in Japanese.
Though that was true, it didn’t stop the guilt that she felt. “Why am I here?”
June’s dark, glassy eyes looked at her, unblinking. “We would like for you to end our suffering. To allow us to finally rest.”
Taryn’s gaze broke contact, part of her knew what she meant, the rest in denial, so to be sure, she asked when looking back at the doll in question. “What do you mean?”
June’s arm then extended, as her hand pointed to a tall iron brazier that looked to have been Taryn’s height, where the flames continued to burn. “Push it over, and allow us to burn.”
Taryn didn’t respond right away. She only looked at the fire with abject horror as the reality of her request rested heavily on her shoulders.
“You want me to kill you,” she said in Japanese, her voice wary. “By burning?”
“Yes,” June said regretfully. “It’s the only way that they can die quickly since the majority are wood. We do not wish to subject you to stabbing us one by one. Fire is the quickest way besides a blessed blade.”
Taryn faltered, her mouth opening and closing several times as though to speak but not a word immerged from her. In that brief silence, an insurmountable number of voices began to speak, all in different languages. Some she knew and understood, others she did not.
It was too much for her to take as the voices grew louder, her hands covering her ears in response to the loud echoing of them all.
“Stop please!” she begged, nearly falling over to her knees from the sheer amount of pain that struck her ears. “I can’t… I can’t understand all of you!”
Their voices became silent, yet one voice remained.
“Please,” Taryn’s head snapped up when hearing German from a soft-spoken man as her gaze fell on one of the very few porcelain types that were of different races. Slowly, she approached one of Caucasian descent, with dirty blond hair and light blue eyes and a relatively thin build looking to be around her height from where he sat while dressed in a simple yukata that was dark navy blue and white Yagasuri pattern. But his skin was made of porcelain, rather than wood. He looked like Toya. Those eyes shifted upwards to her as his body seemed unable to move. “Please, we just want to die. I never thought it would be like this when he said I would have freedom from the life I lived before…”
Taryn knelt so it would be easier on him. “You’re Otto Kiefer, aren’t you?”
He mustered what could have been a smile on his porcelain face as he stared at her before responding in German. “You… you look like my painting. You look like the subject…” his hand slowly, painfully, lifted to touch her cheek. “Your eyes are far more beautiful than what I depicted.” She held his hand, the coldness of it and his state, along with the others, made her want to cry. “What is your name?”
She swallowed hard before answering. “It’s Taryn,” she said in German. “My name is Taryn Lowell.” She hesitated to add. “I wish we didn’t have to meet like this.”
“You are very kind to worry about others, even in such a state. It’s no wonder Toya fell for you.” He continued to stare at her, his eyes moving as if to capture her image in his head as she slowly let go of his hand. “Please, Taryn Lowell, please allow us to die. Free us from this.”
Taryn pressed her lips into a thin line, unable to bring herself to say anything as she felt June approach, the squeaking of the joints in her limbs giving it away as the woman stood behind her, hands in front clasped together.
“Is this really what you want?” she asked her in Japanese. “What all of you want? Is there no other option? Nothing else that I can… that I can do that doesn’t resort in all of your deaths?”
The woman didn’t even hesitate to answer.
“For most of us here, our families have long since died. While for others, we are perceived as dead. We have no homes to return to, no loved ones to greet us. And even if we did, do you believe that they would accept us as we are? Welcome us back with open arms regardless of what we look like now compared to before. When we can no longer be considered human? When we can no longer age? Forever trapped in these undying bodies…”
Taryn shut her eyes tight as her words held a lot of truth. She had not a single clue as to how people would react. Would they be happy? Would they be angry? Would they be disgusted at what had become of them? Or would they be jealous that they could live for an unsurmountable amount of time, long past human years and want the same?
“While I understand the reasoning, what about those of you who still have a family?” she stood and faced June. “What of your family Suchiko-san, wouldn’t you at least want to give them one final goodbye? To give them some form of closure?”
“I would not want them to see me like this.” She answered. “My goodbye would be the notes that you’ve collected during your time here. They knew what my job entailed. They understood the risks that I took. When you leave after this is done, I would like for you to show them that. But do not tell them that we spoke, do not tell them what happened to me. I don’t wish for them to know, for it would make them suffer far more than I had when I was turned into this.”
Taryn fell silent, looking at all of those who had been turned, and those whom she could not see. “Is there no other way…?”
“If there were, we would have tried.”
“And what of Matsushita-san?” Taryn asked. “Did you ever find Ai?”
June merely turned her head away, giving her answer.
Taryn took a shaky breath, looking back to the many hundreds of those there, and spoke louder in English. “Is this really what you want? What all of you want?”
The voices began again, at first speaking in their respective languages, making it difficult for her to understand the jumbled, incoherent mess, before managing to speak in English, some well, some not, but their message was clear.
Let us die.
Let us die.
Let us die.
Let us die.
Her body shook as she felt the urge to cry again, to scream out, not in anger but in remorse and regret. Regret that she had no other option. And remorse for their souls, for she could not just walk away and leave them here to rot as they were, or even if they could. Being isolated like this, unable to move, or do anything at all was torture within itself. It made her think of people who became trapped inside their bodies and those who would resort to assisted suicide or simply starve themselves so that they could put an end to it on their own terms. But these people couldn’t do that.
She looked back to June.
“If you have trouble with such a thing, then think of it as merely stepping on a bug. With little to no notice.”
“Even bugs have lives,” Taryn stated.
“Yes,” June agreed. “But we are already dead. We are unable to return to normal, for none of us know how to. If we did, we would not be asking you to do this for us.” She then bowed to Taryn. “Please, forgive our selfishness. We understand the pain we are putting you through. We will never blame you.”
Taryn clenched her jaw in frustration, only to remember how Ayako reacted when she burned to death. “Will it hurt?”
“It may,” she answered truthfully as she rightened herself. “But compared to living this unending life in nothing more than an empty shell, it will only be a moment for us. For most of us can no longer feel anything.”
Taryn fell silent, unable to say anything in response. But she knew deep down if she did not do this now if she continued to waver, she would never be able to. Fighting with herself in going through with it, and not, her body moved to the iron-made brazier, and with one last short glance to those hanging along the walls. All eyes were on her, unblinking stares watching her every move as she went to the closest one. She looked to June, who stood near Otto.
She reached for the lower part of the brazier’s neck with both hands to push it over. Finding it to be heavier than she initially thought, but something happened. Another pair of hands, ones that she recognized, rested above her hands along the metal to help her push, and as it fell, those hands vanished.
It fell with a dull clang, sending the burning charcoal and wood outwards along the dirt floor. Sparks and embers caught hold of a kimono that one of the dolls wore that was nearby. As it slowly grew into flames spreading and going to another, and then another followed with many, many more.
There were no screams as the flames slowly consumed the dolls. If anything, there were sighs of relief of exhaustion or release. Taryn couldn’t be sure. She could only assume that when the fires reached Otto, he smiled. One that was of joy and relief.
As the flames grew more substantial, the blaze rose upwards. Consuming all in its path like a tidal wave, as though the fire was devouring a mighty tall tree within its wake. Without a word, she walked back towards the doors, only to stop when June spoke.
“Thank you.”
Taryn looked back, as the flames began to fall like rain from the higher reaches. Her body groaned and squeaked as she gave Taryn one final bow. And when she raised her head, Taryn could see that June was smiling. It was a genuine smile filled with gratitude as the fire then consumed her whole body.
Without uttering a single word in return, Taryn left that place. Returning from the way she came. Making it back to the Tori gate with hobbled steps, her left foot caught on a small stone jutting out from the floor, causing her to trip and grasp the stone gate to steady herself.
Only to then fall to her knees and began to cry.
She cried and cried until no tears were left. Until all she could do was scream.
Scream until her voice became hoarse.
Taryn didn’t know how long she went on like that.
When it finally petered out, when her throat hurt like hell and her eyes stung from crying, she remained where she was, leaning up against the cold stone of the Tori gate like a defeated doll.
She didn’t want to move. Didn’t want to do anything. Her mind was completely numb.
But knowing that she had to keep moving forward, she forced herself up.
Using the gate as an assist, Taryn managed to stand up once more, wipe her face with the back of her arm, not that it did much, and looked straight ahead. That was until she heard that familiar groaning squeak. Her head snapped back, ignoring the pain in her neck as she looked back the way she came from facing Toya. Only to see nothing.
The tunnel could make sound travel far, so it could have very well been nothing with just how high-strung her nerves had become. She waited and waited. But nothing changed. Taryn looked away and pulled out her compact. She was surprised to find that the glass didn’t crack or break from that fight. She peered into it, looking back towards the grounds where she fought and still saw nothing. She wasn’t about to go back.
Closing the compact, she began to limp forwards to head back outside, with only the sound of her uneven footsteps to now keep her company. Heading through the rest of the tunnel and back up those stairs in the dark stairwell. When Taryn finally made her way topside in Toya’s room, she found herself staring at the painting of Otto’s creation before tearing her eyes away and returning to the tunnel.
And when she came to the front entrance, was only then did she allow her body to ease from all the tension. When she did that, inhaling deeply of the fresh, dewy air that held traces of rain, the remainder of her strength finally gave out as she collapsed to the engawa on her side.
I’m well over the three-hour limit. Taryn thought with vague awareness as her body began to slow, her muscles going still, and her vision beginning to blur. I hope she’s not too mad at me. Her gaze then caught sight of something in a mirror close by. If it were someone from the mansion, she’d be done for, but who she saw surprised her.
“I thought you left,” she says to Robert’s reflection as he kneeled behind her in the mirror.
Robert did nothing, merely stayed by her side as he rested a hand on her shoulder, something she could just faintly feel.
“Why are you still here?”
He merely shook his head before signing. “I want to be sure you get out alive. Someone’s got to watch your back, might as well be someone that they can’t see.”
She found herself laughing, never expecting him to make a joke about being a ghost. “Hey, Robert? When you leave and go wherever it is you go too, could you do me a favour? If you see Roy along the way, could you tell him something for me? I never could… before he died.” She glanced at him, seeing him nod. “Tell him I love him. That I’ll always love him, and that I’m sorry. That’s the one thing I regret…” Her eyes began to close, unable to keep them open any longer. “I hope he… has no… regrets…”
As her conciseness began to fade into darkness, she heard the sound of frantic footsteps and Rachael came running. “Taryn!” she then turned towards the front gate. “Here, she’s here!” she looked back down at her with a look of concern. “Taryn, Taryn, can you hear me?” but Taryn could not respond for her mind drifted off into the dark abyss of sleep.