Chapter 6
By MisteriosaSaky
'This is unexpectedly easy,' Renee thought to herself, throwing a coin up and down in a distracted manner, 'Not that that is surprising though, I mean, I am using ninja tricks against civilians...'
A huff left Renee's lips, 'I wish I had a different way to practice these skills, but if worse comes to worse I suppose I have a way to survive, right?' Catching the coin mid flip and storing it in the hem of her dress, she swiped her hair out her face.
"Ginger must be on her way home. I better hurry up there, I am not supposed to be here after all," she mused under her breath, walking towards the busy street, easily dodging between adults, kids and animals barely gracing them with a glance and without changing her speed.
~-\-~
"Renee? Are you awake?" Ginger called from the doorway, concern and worry lacing her voice.
"I am," Renée answered from the bathroom, her voice, as always, charged with maturity and intelligence beyond her age, "I was trying something new. I made a few changes to the costume you wanted me to wear, it's alright, isn't it?"
"I, I think so..." Her mother answered, 'I love my baby girl, but sometimes she… she's too smart,' She thought, walking towards the bathroom in curiosity, "Then, what are these changes you made? You're still going to be a princess, right?"
"Not really, you know I don't like that all the girls are princesses, I want something a bit more original." Renee answer behind the door, "Yeah, I like it, this look great!"
"Can I see?"
"Huh? Sure," She pushed the door open and walked out, her costume a mixture between black and red, a dress that at first sight looked like it had a life of its own, flowing around her small body in an unnatural and dangerous halo, her upper face hidden under a black mask that made her eyes look even darker and striking than before.
'T-This, with that costume she looks like some sort of demon!' Ginger thought to herself with a shudder, "Chère, are you sure you want to use that? You might scare someone."
"Bu-, right, you are right..." She said, disappointed at Ginger's reaction.
"How about you use that inside? And when we go out you use the other one?"
"Okay mom," she said with a nervous smile.
~-/-~
'Argh! Of course Ginger was going to be opposed to that costume, I don't remember very clearly my first life, but I know that I died well into the 20th century. There the goal was to scare people, but here...' Renee thinks, suppressing a sigh. Looking around she could see kids and adults wearing bright and colourful dresses and masks, all enjoying the festival, the ambience saturated with bright lights and positive emotions.
'But, this is nice...' Renee looked around, took it all in and tightly held Ginger's hand in her own, 'I wish Remy..he was here with me,' her lips forming a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.
"Chère, is something wrong?"
"No, nothing's wrong." Renee answer with a bright smile. Turning around to look at Ginger, a tingle on the edge of her sensory range distracted her. Looking around she fixated her eyes in an effort to find whatever was causi-
A hammering feeling bombarded her senses, the feeling remarkably similar to what she imagined it would feel like if her toes were stepped on by a two ton elephant. At first she was going to dismiss it as her imagination but this, this feeling was overwhelming. 'The hell?! T-that...that is not normal! This chakra, it's so twisted it hurts to even experience the touch of it.'
She pulled her senses back, she didn't want to feel that particular pain again. But as quickly as she pulled her senses back, a battering ram nearly knocked her over as another wave of that perverted chakra spread out as if it was searching for her.
She'd let go of Ginger to grasp her head, as if holding it would stop the pain from cracking her skull in two. But Ginger didn't notice it, and quickly they were separated and weren't able to see each other in the mass of people celebrating Hallow's Eve.
After recovering from that last onslaught, Renee looked up, and just past the Berkley's house saw a man looking her straight in the eyes. The man was a bit pudgy, and his movements seemed odd, as if he wasn't sure how to move his body, as if he was just trying it out. And then his mouth got wider; as if he was trying to smile but didn't know that smiles were more than stretching a mouth… and it didn't stop stretching, it just got wider, nearly splitting his face in two! And his eyes... they looked dead. He didn't even blink and- and- and-
She was hit with another wave of that chakra, this time pushing her to the ground. It felt so wrong, so dirty.
She looked back up, searched for the thing, for it was certainly no man, but it was gone. It had found her, and now it was gone.
~-/-~
It was later. Not much time had passed, but the moon was already higher in the sky than it was before. So, it was later, but probably not by too much. 'Damnit! This is unbelievable! Where the hell is Ginger?' Renee wondered, looking at the chaos around her. She had lost sight of her when she felt those flashes of chakra… What had that been? She held her hand to the side of her head, as if keeping it steady would remedy the lingering unease and dizziness.
'I am so grateful for my ninja training right now. Sure, I am nowhere close to where I want to be, but at least I know how to look for people properly.' She sat on top of a roof, perched like a gargoyle looking over the street, 'I can't see her, I wonder… Is she looking for me?… What about that thing? Has it gone?'
A softsigh escaped her lips, lifting her hands to massage her temples, 'That thing, it was looking me dead in the eyes. It was searching for me, and it was strong. Too strong… If that thing is coming after me, I can't protect her… I can't even protect myself, that thing had me floored in seconds.'
Giving herself the luxury of a last look around, she found Ginger. Her mother was hugging someone, but from this distance she couldn't see the man's face, only wild long hair tinted a light brown color.
Using her ninja skills, she climbed closer to them along the rooftops. Only, to freeze as she got close enough to see the man's face. Her heart pounded in her chest, as if trying to tell her something. She knew him, recognized his face… but from where? Why was Ginger so close to him?!
"Cameron! I - I lost Renee! You must help me!" Ginger held onto his jacket as if it was the one thing that kept her from falling over a cliff.
"I'll try, but with all this chaos I don't know if I'll find her"
"But you promised that Renee and I could be safe! Your lot already took Remy from us, you are supposed to-"
"I get it. I do, but I don't know if I can find her."
'S-She knows who take Remy away!? How, wha!?' Renee thought with tears running from her eyes. A second later she was turning around and running to her home, ex-home, packing the essentials and her costume, her eyes dry and a fiery expression in her face. Only, before she could make her escape she was confronted with the Berkeley couple.
"Petite, are you alright?" Ms Berkley asked in concern, kneeling in front of her, "Did we do something to upset you? Did we not please you with our offers?"
"W-wha? No!" Renee exclaimed in surprise, "Why would..."
"Does that mean we did it right? Will you give us a baby?" Mr Berkeley asked now, his normally happy face set in serious lines - there was something odd about it...
"Wah...?"
"Or maybe we need more sacrifices?" Ms Berkley continued.
'Babies? Sacrifices? The desperate hoping to please tones... This didn't make sense. "Uh-um, you want a baby?"
"Of course we do, we made sacrifices every year asking for just that." Mr Berkeley stated.
"Maybe we did the wrong ritual?" Ms Berkeley continued. "If you want, we could worship another demon? Just tell us, we'll do anything!"
'They want a baby? They are doing rituals to have a baby? Why are they telling me this? They think I am a de-? Of course they think I am a demon…' And then a cold part of her brain whispered the words, "You could take advantage of this", She didn't want to use them but maybe they could help each other out? Her mind was racing and the cold hard logic, the part of her that knew how to get the most out of a situation, took over and decided. "I might help with that, but no more rituals - just the one favor. There will come a day when I will give you a price, and you must pay it. You'll get your baby, but only then."
"Done!" The couple exclaimed in unison.
'That was too easy.' She felt her stomach churning, it was wrong, but they practically forced her... Didn't they? She couldn't just turn them down. She was doing them a favor, Really...
~-/-~
Later that evening, having lost Ginger once more because of the Berkley's. Renee tried to find her again. she was about to get back on the same roof as before to spot her when two arms surrounded her.
"Ah, petit cheré, there you are."
Renee had to fight every instinct not to struggle for control. She was on edge.
"Mom, you found me."
"I was worried sick… You were gone." Ginger seemed to be distressed. Of Course she was, she had just lost track of her child…"Never let go of me again when we're in a crowd like this!"
"I want to go home."
Gingers' face softened. And that stung, 'cause just minutes earlier she had seen her mother betray her in the most horrible of ways.
"Yes, let's."
Ginger picked renée up and held her like she did as when she was a baby, and walked them home. Ginger, every other step, looked to see if Renée was still in her arms.
But Renée was looking over her shoulders, looking for the man Ginger had spoken to before.
'I have a trail now, I can find you Remy. Just you wait, big sister is coming for you!'
