A small face, bleached to a nepeta green by decay and cold, peered through a cocoon of disrupted snow towards the sky. Large dark eyes gaped through a lidless gaze, pupils huge and dilated – the last horrific moments a short life etched upon the once delicate face.
Somebody was holding her. Trying to lift her to her feet, move her away from the tiny form eternally screaming in horror before her. A warm hand was on the side of her face, trying to physically turn her gaze away.
But she couldn't stop looking. She couldn't stop screaming.
The solid object she had tripped over, the obstruction that had been left so casually in the middle on a busy snow bound street, was a child.
A little girl. Who's long chestnut brown hair had been torn from her scalp. Dotted clumps still stuck to the bruised skin, dried blood that had darkened to a thick black caressing the thin strands.
Her eyes had been green. A sweet beautiful green that had reminded Haruka of spring. The child's father had been American. The little girl had inherited her fathers colouring.
Haruka knew this...because the child before her, bent, broken and tortured into a grotesque pile of bones and skin, was Amai Hudson, a little girl that had left Haruka's classroom only two days before, a huge smile on her face as she waved a cheerful goodbye.
Another painful scream tore itself from her throat, and Haruka felt her knees buckle beneath her weight. An arm around her stomach stopped her from once again hitting the ground. Instead, she was lifted off her feet, her legs swinging through the air as the arm keeping her upright tightened, and then carried backwards. The side of her shin hit against the back bumper of the car. Her feet lowered slightly until her heels hit the ground – dragging two deep welts through the snow.
"Haruka!" The sudden impact of a soft yet sharp slap against the side of her face shocked her into silence. With her mouth still hanging open with the remnants of her latest scream, Haruka gasped. Her body went limp, and from behind her she heard a soft grunt as the arm holding her adjusted to her suddenly increased weight.
Yakumo's hand was on her chin, seemingly trying to both keep her head balanced and turn her away from the child's body.
Haruka shuddered, and her eyes closed as a spill of hot tears fell down her cheeks. He was still half carrying her backwards, around the back of the car.
"Amai..." She whispered, her voice thick with shock. Yakumo didn't seem to hear her, his focus on getting her to the passenger side door so he could bundle her into the car.
"It's Amai..." The whisper was muted by the high pitched ringing that announced the opening of the cars door, and then she was abruptly pushed into the empty seat. Yakumo's hand on her head guiding her into the vehicle. Then the door was quickly closed, and Yakumo's blurred out shape momentarily disappeared from view as he rounded the hood of the car.
He stopped for a moment, for the first time seeing the body that had sent Haruka into such a fit. He stopped for only a short moment, before swiftly moving to slide himself into the drivers seat, closing the door firmly behind him.
Haruka was shaking. Violently. Her fingers gripping the rim of her hat so tightly, her knuckles were almost transparent against the cold-reddened skin of her fingers. Tears still fell slowly down her cheeks. It looked like she was in shock.
Swearing softly under his breath, Yakumo leant forwards to turn the AC to its highest setting, then gently removed her hands from their deathlike grip and pulled them towards the heater. Keeping a reassuring grip on the freezing appendages as he started the car with the other hand.
"She was a baby...she was just a baby..." Haruka choked. And then she let out a wail, her hands slipping from his grip to cover her face, her entire body seeming to crumble in on itself in despair.
Yakumo's hand gripped the steering wheel tightly. He needed to concentrate on the road. To get Haruka somewhere warm. Somewhere dry. He needed to call Gotou, get him down here to find out what the hell had happened to that child. He had seen many corpses in his life. In varying stages of decomposition. But that...even though he had barely caught a glimpse of the body, he could scarcely tell that it had once been human. The child's spine had been snapped in half, torso and legs bent at an impossible angle. Her eyelids looked as though they had been torn off. He didn't even want to speculate if she had been still alive when that had been done.
And what was the most concerning...he couldn't see her spirit. She had been killed, tortured to death. Where was her ghost? Why was she not still attached to her corpse? It was very rare for a murder victim not to have even the smallest traces of ethereal remains. And this child...someone or something had tortured her to death. What on earth was going on?
Pushing that thought aside, Yakumo stepped carefully on the accelerator. Convincing the car to move a little quicker then was sensible through the storm.
Right now, he only had two choices.
He could head back towards Meisei, and hope the Hara Clinic was open. Or head towards his Uncles Shrine, a place he hadn't been close to since the funeral. Risking a quick glance towards Haruka, his lips thinned, and he abruptly preformed a dangerous u-turn in the middle of the road. The car skidding violently on its rear tires. He turned into the spin, instantly straightening the car and continuing forwards.
Haruka was unconscious. Her head lolling against her breastbone, bopping slightly with the movement of the car. Her lips were parted slightly, only the tiniest rise of her ridiculously thick coat showing she was breathing. They passed the child's body quickly. The darkened swell of what he knew to be the little girls face appearing as only a blur.
Even so, Haruka flinched, and the soft whisper of a moan emerged from between her lips. His gaze darted to her again. She was still unconscious, yet a fresh spill of tears now ran down her cheeks, fingers slowly clenching against the damp material of her jeans.
Frowning, Yakumo reached into the glove compartment and rummaged for the wireless headset he had thrown in there a few months ago. Placing the device and its charger on his lap, he slipped his phone from his coat pocket and clicked the button that would automatically connect him to Gotou's voice mail.
"Get down to Choudaigaku Train station. Immediately" With that, he hung up. Concentrating on manoeuvring the car through the side streets that ran parallel to the railway tracks and towards Yaen Hwy road. It wouldn't take long for Gotou to call him back. It never did these days.
Within minutes, the headset began to vibrate.
"What kind of call is that you damned cat?" Was the barked welcome.
"There is a body of a young child near the station. A female. Haruka found her. You need to get down here. Now" Yakumo stated without premise.
"It's snowing a shit storm out there, how the hell did you find a body? And what do you mean, Haruka found her?" Gotou grumbled, yet Yakumo could hear a lot of movement through the line. He was already preparing to leave where ever he was.
"Haruka's mother asked me to pick her up. She tripped over the corpse as she was making her way to the car. From her reaction, its safe to guess the child is a member of the class she teaches"
"Damn it to hell. Hows Haruka? Is she okay?" At the question, Yakumo's lips thinned into a harsher frown.
"She lost consciousness shortly after I got her into the car. I'm taking her to Kumano Shrine. It's the closest place"
"She's unconscious?! Is she hurt!?"
"No. I believe it is due to shock and the cold. Gotou, try to cordon off the area as soon as possible. And bring that weird doctor with you. This isn't a usual corpse"
"Usual...? I'm not going to like this am I?" The older man sighed. Yakumo said nothing more, hanging up by placing the headset back into its dock and letting it fall carelessly to the floor beneath him. Even though it had only been nearly two months since his uncles death and sequential adoption of Nao into Gotou's family, Yakumo knew his niece had become a permanent and devoted part of the detectives life. Since the adoption had been made official, Gotou had drastically cut down on his work hours and also had refused to be part of murder investigations that involved children. Perhaps fatherhood had softened the old bear? Asking Gotou to become responsible for the child's body was downright cruel. But Yakumo knew it had to be done. The fact that Haruka was indirectly involved with this murder, if only through association with the victim, would force Gotou to temporarily set aside his misgivings towards child murder cases.
Yakumo turned the car into a sharp right, heading down Yaen Hwy. He would have to pass the shrine completely and make his way up the back-road that branched around the back of the property in order to get Haruka inside. Fortunately that side trip only added minutes to the usual journey, even in bad weather.
Haruka stirred as the car bumped its way up the back-road, the sudden increase in movement jarring her awake. She blinked in bewilderment for a moment, before a watery gasp announced the arrival of more tears. She tried to rub them away to no avail, her entire body shaking with the effort of trying to control another sadness filled wail.
Yakumo frowned deeply. Trying to think of a way to calm her down.
"I called Gotou. He'll look after her" He tried softly. Haruka hiccuped, turning slowly to face him. She nodded, but her mouth still quivered.
"I s-saw her only two days ago...How c-...how could she be...its only been two days!" Finally, the wail broke free, and her last two words erupted as a high pitched whine. She fell forwards, her head impacting lightly with her knees as her hands once again covered her face. Unsure how to help, Yakumo settled for placing a hand on her back. His thumb making soothing motions he was sure she couldn't even feel through her coat.
Her sentence had not made any sense, understandable given her mindset.
It took at least three to four months for a body to reach that level of decomposition. And even then if the corpse had been kept in an area of high humidity. There was no way the child could have been alive two days ago.
Perhaps in her distress Haruka had seen a similarity in the corpse that reminded her of the young child she evidently thought the body was?
Oddly, the storm didn't seem to be as severe around the shrine. The bulk of the main building faded boldly into view as they approached. Its darkened windows and abandoned looking state causing a sudden ache in his heart which he steadfastly ignored. As well as the wooden sign near the front door that told of the shrines upcoming sale.
He parked the car and turned off the engine. Returning his hand to Haruka's back, he allowed her to cry. He would wait as for as long as she needed to compose herself.
In the end it took another ten minutes for her sobs to subside. The strained noises turning into soft hiccups. Then she righted herself, taking in a deep breath that gave only the slightest of wavers.
"Where are we?" She asked softly. Yakumo nodded towards the darkened building in front of them.
"Kumano Shrine"
Haruka's eyes widened slightly.
"Why are we here?"
"It was the only available option" Yakumo shrugged. Whilst he had been waiting for her to calm down, he had turned on the cars inside light. For the first time that day, he was able to get a proper look at her.
She looked feverish. Her skin clammy and inflamed a pale red around her cheeks. Pupils tiny within her eyes. The skin on her lips also looked swollen and cracked, this due to the cold and a probable need to continuously wet them. Her hands shook from their place on her lap.
He would put this down to shock, but by the looks of her she had already been ill before venturing into the cold that morning. If he didn't get her into a set of dry clothes and into a warm room soon, her fever would going to become dangerous. Thinking for a moment, he moved to unclasp his seat belt and put his hand on the car door.
"Stay here. I'm going to unlock the house and put the heating on"
Haruka opened her mouth the argue, to weakly suggest they relocate somewhere else, but he had already left. The car door snapping shut behind him.
AN: Another slow but hopefully intriguing chapter? I don't want to rush into this. I also don't want to have to explain the entire plot of the series. Because when your fandom consists of nothing more than three people, a shoelace and a guy in the background trying to pretend he didn't walk into the wrong fandom by mistake, there's no need is there? Just kinda throwing you all into the story without explaining much. :D