The Woods and the Demon
Viola and Ellen woke up early the day after the meeting with the detectives, knowing that it was going to be a very busy day. Since they knew they were going to the forest, they quickly got dressed into the hunting gear that their father had gotten for both of them for summer last year. Though the bright clothing was a year old, they were still able to fit in them, and they went downstairs without much discussion between the two of them. They went to the common 'meeting' room in the house – the kitchen.
Mike looked up from the paper he had in front of him, with a cup of coffee off to the side, and he gave a slight smile, "You two sure look ready."
Viola sat down beside her father, blinking the sleep out of her eyes, and yawning. Her long hair was tied back into a ponytail, so it would stay out of her face, and she wore a camouflage jacket as well as pants, covering all of her skin. She nodded tiredly at her father, "Ellen insisted on waking up early and being ready for when Mr. Cooper gets here."
Ellen sat beside Viola, also looking quite tired, "It's best to be prepared." She simply stated, trying her best to suppress the yawn that she felt coming, but she was unable to do so. Like Viola, she had her hair tied back, and she was also dressed in similar attire. On the tip of her nose were her glasses, just in case.
"You're usually pretty chipper in the morning Ellen," Mike muttered, looking towards the stove which had the time listed, "It's seven thirty and you're this tired."
"I couldn't sleep." She admitted as she rubbed her eyes, "What the detectives told us yesterday was on my mind all day." She sighed, and looked at her father's coffee, "Is there any more of that?"
"Yeah, would you like some?" He asked, and when she nodded, he got up to get her some. He saw her about to protest, but he lifted a hand, "Don't worry about it, you look exhausted. It's the least I can do for you today."
"Fine…" Ellen mumbled, clearly not liking it, but accepting it nonetheless. It didn't take too long before her father returned and placed the coffee in front of her, which she quickly grabbed and took a big gulp of.
"Be careful," Mike warned, "You'll get heart burn if you drink it too fast – I know from experience."
Viola rubbed her eyes, and asked, "When is Mr. Cooper supposed to arrive anyway?" She looked at the coffee, and though she hated the stuff, she wondered if maybe it would be all right just this once.
"He just said tomorrow," Mike muttered, tapping his chin in thought, "Though considering that it's a two hour drive to get to where you need to go, he'll probably be here soon."
As if on cue, the doorbell rang, and Viola looked upward, and sleepily got up to head to the front door without a word. A few seconds later, she arrived with Zach Cooper following her. He gave them all a polite smile, and sat down at their table, "Good morning, are you all doing well?" He asked, crossing his arms. Like the day before, he wore a black suit and a red tie.
There was a chorus of 'good', and Viola returned the question, "And how are you Mr. Cooper?" She asked.
"I'm excellent actually! I came a bit earlier than I initially planned because I was wondering you girls would like to eat breakfast somewhere before we head out? I figure that since I'm taking you somewhere far off, I might as well treat you." He smiled, "The Lamplighter Inn I'm staying at has a fantastic selection that is to die for."
"Um…" Ellen was again caught off guard by the odd Detective, "Sure, I guess? If it's alright with daddy?" She looked over to Mike, who seemed to mull it over.
"Mr. Cooper," He finally sighed, "Take care of my daughters. I'll trust them to you, so please be careful." He stilled looked reluctant to agree, but he had to leave soon to go to work, and he wouldn't be around to dictate what they do anyway, so he might as well allow them to go.
"As I said yesterday, I swear that they'll be safe with me." He looked towards the girls, "Then are you prepared to go?" He then chuckled, "Well, I suppose that's a bad question, considering the clothes you two are wearing."
"We go hunting during the summer a lot in the forest, so we figured it might be a good idea to wear these." Viola explained.
"That's absolutely fantastic! So you two are familiar with the forest then? I'm glad I'll have you two with me then!" He clapped his hands together, and rubbed them, "I had a good feeling about today, and this only helps make me feel even better!"
"I'm glad we could help in that regard." Ellen replied evenly, not as enthralled by the man's enthusiasm as Viola clearly was, evident by her smiling face. "Are you ready to leave then?"
"To the point – I like that." He stood up, "Yes, you two are ready to go, I see no reason to stall. It'll be a long drive, so the sooner we eat breakfast, the better!"
Viola got up from her seat and went to give her father a hug, "Good bye daddy! We'll be home later tonight!"
"Be safe, and remember everything I've taught you. I have a feeling that Mr. Cooper will need your help more than you'll need his." If anything, Zach Cooper seemed amused by that rather than offended, due to his laughter.
Ellen adjusted her glasses, and stood as well, "Good bye, daddy." She went over and also gave the man a hug just like Viola did, "We'll be safe, don't worry."
He chuckled humorlessly, "I can't help but be worried for you two, but I'll try not to be too worried for you." He gave her a quick pat on the head, ruffling her hair, "Good luck, I hope Mr. Cooper will find whatever it is he's looking for."
With that, Ellen, Viola, and Zach Cooper left the kitchen and headed to the front door and out into the driveway where Mr. Cooper's black car sat. Though neither girl was very familiar with cars, they knew that it was not a cheap one, and it looked very nice.
"Do two have any supplies you want to bring?" He asked, popping open the trunk with his keys, "I'm going to do an inventory check real quick, so now's the time to get it." He walked over, and began to shuffle around with the stuff in the back.
"Mr. Cooper? Why is there a baseball bat?" Viola asked in confusion, "Do you like to play that in your off time?"
He shook his head, and lifted up the bat, "No, not quite. I'm honestly not a huge fan of sports. This here is for our investigation today in the forest." He noted the skeptical looks on their faces, and grinned, "You two are like Naoto! Don't worry, you'll see what it's for soon." He picked up a few baseballs and counted five of them, and nodded in satisfaction.
Both girls looked towards each other, not really sure what to make of it, so they just ignored it and Ellen spoke up, "There's nothing we need to bring, we'll be fine."
"You sure?" He asked, closing the trunk, "Alright then, get in, we have a lot of work to do today, but first, breakfast." His smile caused Viola to giggle a little as she followed the man to the car, where she got in the back. Meanwhile, Ellen decided to take the front passenger seat, hoping to talk to Mr. Cooper about some things on her mind.
She watched impassively as he got into the driver's seat, put the keys in the ignition, and started the car, the engine sputtering a bit before coming to life. He looked back as he backed out of the driveway, and within seconds, they were leisurely driving down their street to the hotel that Mr. Cooper had been telling them about to eat some breakfast.
"Mr. Cooper…" Ellen mumbled, "Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?" She had his hands crossed, and she looked hesitantly towards him.
"Isn't that in itself a question?" He retorted, but she could tell her meant nothing by it due to his ever present smile, "I'm just kidding, please, go ahead."
"Ok, I was wondering, what do you intend to use the baseballs for back there? Aren't we supposed to be investigating something?" Ellen asked, getting right to the point. She already felt uncertain about the man's odd attitude, and now he had baseballs and a bat to somehow assist with the investigation? It didn't add up in her mind.
"I told you, it's for the investigation. It's a neat little trick I learned when I was on a case in Tri Peaks – a young woman a little older than you two was murdered there, and it helped in identifying who killed her." He explained, "I just need you two to trust me, I'll get us some results."
"Are we going to smash in Mr. Xander's head then?" Ellen asked, since it was the only way she could feasibly see it being useful in any way. Viola looked absolutely scandalized at the mere suggestion, but Mr. Cooper looked a little amused by the question.
"Not quite," He chuckled, "Ellen, Viola, do either of you believe in the supernatural? Things that would, say, require magic to be possible?" He turned onto another street, his gaze locked on the road as he did so, and then he turned back up to look at the girls.
"No, I don't." Ellen answered immediately, "What kind of question is that? Are you really a detective?" She gave the man a skeptical look, and she was glad that Viola finally was giving him an odd look as well.
He smiled, seemingly uncaring that the girl just questioned whether he was qualified to be a detective. "I apologize for the odd question, I was just curious is all."
Ellen knew there was more to it than that, but she allowed the topic to drop, turning her gaze to the road as it quickly passed by. She finally worked up the courage to ask, "So… You're really going to help me, right? It's all not just empty promises?" She trusted Naoto to do it, the woman was very convincing, but this man… She wasn't sure of him at all.
"I said before that I would do anything I could to help you," He glanced over at her and saw her staring out the window, "But it appears that it wasn't enough to convince you. For that I apologize. However, I swear that I will assist you in any way I can." He shook his head ruefully, "It appears Naoto is much better with people than I am. You wouldn't believe it, but there was a time when I was the one who talked to clients, since she was typically so cold and blunt so often."
"Really?" Viola asked from the back, a hint of curiosity in her voice. That was apparently all it took for the ice to melt between them all, and he launched into a long story of the first case he and Naoto were on, and how Naoto nearly got them kicked off of the case due to how cold she was acting. "Y – You're kidding!" Viola gasped, trying to hold back her laughter.
"Nope. The moral of the story is to make sure you have good people skills if you ever intend to go into a job like this. It took her that long to finally get it, heh." He again chuckled at the memory, "She was young back then though, she just got done with a serial murder case in a rural town called Inaba, and she was away from her friends, so she was probably a bit high strung."
Ellen was smiling as well now, feeling more comfortable than before. She noticed Cooper pulling into a sparse parking lot, and he shifted the car into 'park' before stepping out. Ellen and Viola both took that as their cue to get out as well, and they followed Mr. Cooper from behind. The hotel was only two stories tall, but it was very long, and it was situated almost twenty minutes away from their home. There were taller building surrounding the property, almost giving the feeling of claustrophobia, but fortunately they were able to ignore it.
"He's pretty nice, what do you think?" Viola asked Ellen, leaning down slightly as she whispered it to her.
"I wasn't sure at first, but yeah… I think he's good." She was going to leave it at that, but a stray thought popped in her head and she couldn't help but comment, "I do hope he'll let us know what the bat is for, and I still think he is really weird for asking us about the supernatural stuff earlier."
"Yeah, he's pretty weird, but in a good way." Viola replied, glad to know that Ellen was beginning to lighten up a little bit. The girl had been stiff and cold for the past day now, so it was nice to see her beginning to go back to how she was before.
"If you two are done whispering about me, shall we go in?" Cooper called out to the girls as he reached the door and held it open for them. Both girls blushed at being caught, and rushed up to go through the door he held open.
XxXxXxX
"Brunch at the Lamplighter inn cost me six dollars and thirty one cents. Tuna fish sandwich, slice of cherry pie, and a cup of coffee. The cherry pie was to die for, definitely worth a stop if you visit here." Cooper lifted his finger from the record button of the small device he held in his hand, his other hand currently occupied with steering the vehicle. Ellen and Viola were both seated in the back now, since they had apparently wanted to be together. Cooper didn't mind – they were in love after all, it was only natural.
"It is currently twelve twenty-two, and we're approximately a half hour away from our destination. Once we arrive, we're going to attempt to find the spot where Viola and her father found Ms. Ellen, here." He noticed the girls looked up at the mention of their name, but he ignored it and continued, "Estimated distance she was found away from the Xander property is about six…" He paused to think, "No, make that seven miles."
"You ran seven miles when we found you?" Viola turned to Ellen, her eyes wide with surprise. Given the amount of time between escaping and being found, it was quite an impressive distance, especially due to the rough terrain she had to go through in order to do it.
Ellen shrugged, "I didn't know. I just wanted to escape, so I had a lot of motivation to get away." She looked out the window towards the forest, and she could still remember the first time she and Viola went hunting there with their dad, a year after she was found there. She nearly had a panic attack on the first day due to memories it brought up of her escape, and they had to cut their trip short. She could still recall the shame she felt for making them do that, and she was so proud the next time they went that she didn't have that sort of reaction.
"Sheesh, you shoulda joined the track team!" Viola exclaimed, not knowing what was going through Ellen's mind, "If you could make that distance in the forest, with all them roots sticking out tripping you up, you would fit right in!"
"I have no interest in running," Ellen told her as she looked back at her lover, "Back then I was going purely on adrenaline, and now, eh, I think I would bounce too much." She hoped Viola would get what she meant by that and just let it drop.
Unfortunately, Viola didn't drop it, and shook her head, "You could just wear a sports bra you know! Come on, it could be fun!"
"No." She simply stated, "I'm really not into sports like you are Viola," She shrugged, "I like reading and playing games, I'm not into physical activities that much."
"You know, if you keep doing that, you're going to lose your shape." Viola muttered, crossing her arms and giving her a stern look, "The fact that you haven't is already a wonder of mankind."
"W – What?" Ellen gave her a surprised look, and her mouth fell open. Did Viola tell her that she was going to get fat? "You take that back! I'm not going to 'lose' my shape! It's not my fault that you're just more built for that kind of stuff than me!"
"Then you should go running!" Viola retorted, crossing her arms, "Or at least do something active. I think it would be good for you."
Ellen sighed, but she couldn't necessarily deny anything that Viola was stating. "Fine…" She sighed, "I'll join a sports club at my school." She knew that Viola had manipulated her into doing it, but honestly, she had a fair point, as much as Ellen loathed to admit it.
"So are you going to join track? Maybe basketball like me?!" Viola looked excited at the prospect of Ellen getting into sports, and like usual, Ellen felt happy to see that she made Viola so happy.
"I don't know, maybe… Tennis?" She shrugged, "I'm too small for basketball, and I don't want to run a lot." Tennis seemed like an easy sport, something she could potentially get into without too much work.
"Eh? Tennis?" Viola asked, taken aback by the girl's choice. She stopped as she was about to say something, and instead rubbed her chin. Ellen probably would look good in a Tennis outfit, and they could do some conditioning together… It could be fun. She grinned, and nodded her head, "Tennis would be good, I bet you'd be really good at it."
"Now you're just saying that to make me feel better," Ellen blushed, and adjusted her glasses yet again, trying to act a little bit dignified. However, Viola saw right through it, as she always did, and she just smiled happily at the girl. Ellen just looked at her, and felt her heart fluttered at the sight of a smiling Viola. She leaned forward, and Viola did too. Just as their lips touched, Cooper spoke up again, making them quickly realize that they were with someone else, and that he could clearly see them. They broke apart from each other, and blushed heavily.
"I saw N.S. in the coffee today, surely referring to my partner, Naoto. So I made sure to send her a message to be careful. She knows to always take the coffee seriously, so I'm sure she will heed this warning." Cooper continued to speak into his device. He turned it off to let out an amused huff to see from the rearview mirror that both girls were blushing like mad. He was wondering when they were going to remember where they were.
"Wha – What about the coffee?" Viola asked, hoping that Cooper wouldn't bring up what he probably just saw.
"Oh, it's just a sort of morning ritual I do. When I pour my cream into the coffee, I try to see if I can make something out of it. Usually there's nothing, but occasionally I'll see letters. Reminds me of a case where I saw F.K. in the coffee…" He shuddered, "Turned out to be a fat man who killed people with plants – but eh, let's not get into that."
The rest of the drive was mercifully quiet, except for Cooper occasionally making comments into his recording device. He never brought up the fact that they had kissed with him present, which they were happy for, and soon enough they were pulling onto a dirt road, the ride becoming very bumpy all the sudden. It was another five minutes before they finally pulled into a parking lot that had several trails leading into the forest. There was a small building that appeared to be a shop, due to faded sign hanging above the door claiming it to be one. The building had a window showing off the inside, and there was a very bored looking man reading a newspaper behind a cash register from what they could see of the place.
Cooper turned the car off and stepped out, taking a deep breath, "Ah! What a fantastic smell! It has been a very long time since I've been this close to nature!" He noticed both girls getting out of the car, and he lead them to the back, where he opened the trunk, and pulled out the bat and gave it to Viola, and then the baseballs and handed them to Ellen. "You two hold onto those for a moment, I'm going to go talk to the manager of the store real quick."
"You got it!" Viola enthusiastically gripped the baseball bat, glad to finally be out of the car and moving around. She took a few practice swings with the bat and then leaned against Mr. Cooper's car, with Ellen leaning on it right beside her. Both girls curiously watched him enter the small building, and they could still see him through the grimy windows, animatedly chatting with the man inside.
"What do you think they're talking about?" Ellen asked in a bored tone, her eyes wandering away from the window, and around at all the trees.
Viola shrugged, "I dunno, maybe he just wants to know some directions?" She settled the bat down at her side now, and crossed her arms, "Are you excited?"
"It has been a while since we've last been out here," Ellen muttered, a smile lighting up on her face, "Yeah, I guess I am a little excited."
"Me too!" Viola exclaimed cheerfully, "I can't wait to go out and do whatever Mr. Cooper wants us to do!" As if on cue, both of their eyes darted towards the window, where they saw Cooper waving to the man sitting at the cash register, and then he walked towards the exit. Though they were far, they could sort of see the man giving Cooper a very odd stare. Ellen could emphasis with him – it took a little while to get used to Cooper's oddness for her as well.
"Hello girls, are you ready to go?" He asked, holding his hand out for the baseball bat, which Viola politely handed over. He tested out the weight, and then beckoned both girls to begin following him, which they did, both girls locking their steps right behind him. Ellen still had the baseballs in her hand, holding them close so she wouldn't accidentally drop any of them.
"Where are we going?" Ellen asked after they had been walking for a good five minutes, "You've yet to explain what exactly we are doing here."
"I did bring up the supernatural earlier, if you recall." He told her, turning around to gauge her reaction, and again she looked at him with disbelief, "And for now, we're heading towards the spot where you were found by Viola and her – your – dad." He remembered that the man was technically both of their father now, so he quickly changed his wording, hoping he hadn't offended the girl.
"But what does the supernatural have to do with this at all? I just ran away from hope due to them abusing me." It had been so long now that when she did bring up the memories of abuse, they were so faded that they didn't affect her emotions as much anymore. "There is nothing supernatural going on there at all."
"I agree," Cooper nodded, "There isn't one bit of your case that is supernatural, and if it had involved any other family, the people involved would have already been put in jail."
"Wait… Then if you agree, why are you saying all this stuff about supernatural things?" She looked more lost than ever now, "What purpose is doing this going to serve? Is this even related to my case?"
"I'll be honest with you – it's not directly involved with your child abuse lawsuit – but it's indirectly involved. You recall that Naoto and I are attempting to bring Mr. Xander down, right?" He saw her nod, "I believe if we can prove that he and his corporation are corrupted and doing all these crimes they have 'allegedly' done, then it will greatly assist in your own case. It only takes tipping over one domino to start a domino effect, after all."
"Ok, I understand that, but you've yet to bring up why you keep mentioning supernatural things, and why are we bringing a baseball bat and balls?" She asked, getting a bit frustrated with his lack of answers to her initial questions.
"I agree with Ellen, you should tell us what we're doing here." Viola spoke up finally, standing firmly by Ellen's side as the group stopped walking, "We're already here, so it's not like we can just back out now."
Cooper paused, setting the baseball bat down at his side like a cane, and he rubbed his chin thoughtfully, "Yes, I suppose I can tell you now." He turned towards them, "I guess I'll get this out of the way now. While I am indeed a detective, I also investigate supernatural crimes and other such oddities."
"But magic doesn't exist!" Ellen finally exclaimed in exasperation, "what use does that have to do in a case like this?!"
"Ah, you're wrong Ellen. The supernatural – or magic, as you put it – does indeed exist. It exists all around us. Only very few humans are able to interact with it, or even know of the existence of it, and we aim to keep it that way. When a human comes into contact with the supernatural, it tends to corrupt them, or drive them insane, but there are very rare cases where it does neither, and the person is able to use these forces to bend the fabrics of reality to their own will. Do either of you know of a man named Guertena?"
"He's that one artist, right?" Viola replied, looking uncertain. "He makes a lot of really weird paintings." Ellen looked over at Viola in surprise, and the girl in question smiled, "I remember going on a field trip in elementary school to an art exhibit that was showing off his art."
"Yes, that's exactly right!" Cooper nodded, pleased to see that the girl knew who he was referring to, "Guertena was one such man who was able to harness the supernatural and use it to make his art alive – he created another world for them to dwell in, and even when he died, that world existed, all of the paintings he made turned insane due to the passage of time, and some poor unfortunate people could accidentally step into that world."
"Did anyone ever go in?" Viola asked, becoming curious by the story and forgetting why he brought it up at all in the first place.
"Yes, about… oh, twenty years ago, two people went in, and both were fortunately able to make it out as well, if I recall correctly, it was a young man in his early twenties, and a very young girl who I think wasn't even ten yet. That happened before Naoto was even a detective, and it was my very first case. We had to dispose of this other world." He shuddered, "That took a lot more time than I thought it would too. It's always unpleasant dealing with these kind of things."
"Enough about that," Ellen snapped, "How does that relate to my case then? Why do you believe it has anything to do with the supernatural? Can you even prove any of this? Are we wasting time here?" She was very irritable now, and she was more upset with the fact that she had trusted this man to help her, and now he was simply rambling on about magic and stuff that didn't exist!
"I've never been able to harness the power of the supernatural," He replied, looking at her evenly, "I've occasionally used it to assist in investigations, but –"
"But you said doing that drives you insane!" Ellen shot back, "You're becoming inconsistent!"
He sighed, leaning into the baseball bat at his side, "I suppose I should have worded it better – it only drives you insane or makes you 'go bad' if you want to use it for selfish reasons. The supernatural is an entity that is very much aware, and it knows if you're using it for bad purposes." He snapped his hands, "I guess you could compare it to the Force in a way." Both girls just looked confused, "You know, Star Wars?"
"Oh," Viola nodded, "Right. I've never seen those movies," She smiled apologetically at him. Ellen still looked utterly unconvinced however, and she was giving him a very impatient look.
Cooper sighed, "The youth of this generation hasn't seen Star Wars? Oh dear, that's quite a tragedy." He shook his head, "Basically, if you use the supernatural for selfless reasons, it won't corrupt you. I believe however, that Mr. Xander is somehow able to use it without being corrupted, or without being driven insane, and that's why we're here. We're going to find out how exactly the supernatural is involved with Mr. Xander."
"With a baseball bat?" Ellen asked, giving him an odd look, "How is playing baseball going to help us?" She still looked very annoyed, but she was glad that Cooper was at least getting back to the point of why they were even here.
"It's not to play baseball," He told her, shaking his head, "I promise it'll all make sense once we make it to our destination." He lifted the baseball bat off the ground, "Are you two ready to get moving again?"
Ellen looked down at the ground for a little bit, grimacing at her predicament. While she had grown fond of Cooper, she was now becoming really concerned that he might not be all there in the head. Furthermore, she didn't believe a single word of what he said, every single word that came out of his mouth was farfetched and ridiculous, and she felt insulted that he thought she would even believe a word of that! However, they were already here, and backing out now would do no good.
"Fine…" She muttered, looking very displeased, glaring at the ground, "Let's go."
Viola looked concerned, and went to speak up, but she shut her mouth – when Ellen was this irritated, it was best to just stay away for a little while and let her cool off. She nodded her consent towards Cooper however, and the man gave her a smile.
"Good, then please, follow me." He said, leading the girls towards their destination once more.
XxXxXxX
Naoto stepped into the doctor's office, her eyes glancing all over the building, trying to see if there was a disturbance anywhere. There were a few people sitting down in the waiting room, looking through magazines and looking quite bored, and there was a receptionist sitting behind a counter, just typing away on his computer. Overall, it looked just like any other doctor's waiting room, and there was nothing out of place.
Naoto walked over to the receptionist, and decided to pull out her detective's badge, "Hello, is Doctor Thompson available to talk?" She asked, holding the badge out, "I have a few questions I must ask of him."
The receptionist was a young man who looked like he was in his early twenties – perhaps an intern? Regardless, the young man looked up, and his eyes widened in surprise at the badge, and he looked at the woman holding it out towards him. "Um… Please hold on." It was clear he didn't know how to handle that, so he got up and rushed towards the back, while Naoto simply waited there.
A few seconds later, the intern came out with a nurse – she looked rather annoyed at being pulled away from her job, though she did eye Naoto curiously. She was roughly Naoto's age, perhaps a bit older. Her hair was tied up so it wouldn't get in her way, and she was still wearing rubber gloves. The nurse crossed her arms, "What's the issue here?"
"I merely wish to talk to Doctor Thompson." Naoto repeated again, giving the Intern a quick look. Surely the boy would have told her that.
"We're quite busy right now, if you could come back later after hours, we can help you then." The nurse replied, dismissing Naoto immediately and walking back to the door to presumably get back to work.
Naoto hid her annoyance at being so easily dismissed, but she had to agree that a doctor would definitely be busy at a time like this. Letting out a sigh, she looked back at the intern who took his seat, "I'd like to make an appointment." She told him, deciding that it would perhaps be the quickest way to talk to the doctor.
"Uh, well…" The boy looked uncertain, but he finally relented and gave her a clipboard and a sheet of paper for her to fill out. She went to sit down in the waiting room, and filled it out easily, and then she turned it in and waited her turn. In the meantime, she opened her cellphone, and looked through her texts.
"Be careful of the doctor," She mumbled to herself, reading Zach Cooper's text. She let out a sigh, and went to the only other new text she had, and a pleasant smile broke out on her face as she saw who it was from, "Yu," She grinned, reading his name aloud. Opening the message, she read about how he was excited to see her again after so long, and that they had a lot of catching up to do. She couldn't stop the smile even if she tried – though they texted each other a lot, it always made her feel happy when her fiancé texted her.
She knew that something was going on with Yu however, and she had a relatively good idea of what it was too. They had been together for over a decade, and while they had gotten engaged, they both had jobs that kept them apart for far too long. There had been times when they hadn't even seen each other for over a year, and while she loved her job, she hated being apart for so long, and she knew that Yu felt the same way.
"When is he going to ask me?" She wondered, feeling a bit wistful – she knew he was going to try and settle on a date for them to actually get married, but so far he had yet to bring it up. Even through his texts, she knew he was thinking over it, since he acted a lot more formal in the way he texted and the way he spoke when he was nervous.
"Shirogane, Naoto?" A nurse called out, interrupting Naoto from her thoughts. She shook her head, and abruptly stood in her seat, putting her cellphone away and following the nurse into the back to a clean room. Fortunately for Naoto, it was a different nurse than before, and she sat down, looking at the nurse expectantly.
"I'm just here to talk to Doctor Thompson," Naoto explained to the woman as she looked through Naoto's medical history, "Though on the record, I'm here due to an ear ache." She told the woman, deciding that no matter what she did, it wasn't as if the nurse was going to throw her out. The nurse did look annoyed, but she did as she was required of anyway. Naoto adjusted her hat, pleased that things were going so smoothly.
Another twenty minutes passed with Naoto waiting patiently until finally the doctor decided to show himself. The man was either in his late fifties or early sixties, and he had gray hair covering his scalp as his blue eyes looked towards Naoto curiously. Doctor Thompson, contrary to Naoto's mental image of the man wasn't a hateful doctor as she expected, but he just looked like a typical kind and friendly family doctor – he gave her a smile, as he picked up the clipboard.
"What appears to be the issue today, Ms. Shirogane?" He read the name off of the clipboard, and then blinked in surprise, "Huh, interesting name."
"I've come to speak with you," Naoto spoke without any introduction, preferring to get right to the point, "I represent Ms. Ellen Strauch – or as you might have known her, Ms. Xander." She watched his eyes widen in surprise, and his head snapped towards her again.
"So you really are from that detective family?" He asked, feeling faintly ill, "Th – Then surely you know I've already made a statement in regards to Ms. Ellen's health when I was treating her!"
"Yes, and I've read it," Naoto replied, "I believe you stated that she was healthy, and that she was just trying to defame Mr. Xander and get some of his fortune, hm?"
"I didn't say all of that!" He quickly denied, a hint of anger entering his voice, "I just said that she was a healthy girl. I never said any of the rest!"
"But the implications were there nonetheless." Naoto shrugged, leaning back on the patient's seat she was on, "Furthermore, your report contradicts the CPA's report on her condition. When she was found, she was malnourished and behaved like a child who has been abused – she didn't trust others easily, she was aggressive, and she had a severe lack of empathy for others." She sighed, "All the signs pointed towards child abuse, and if you had put in your word that it was indeed the case when you visited, the police surely could've gotten a warrant and search their house, and found evidence to use against them in court."
"I'm very aware!" Doctor Thompson interrupted Naoto's spiel, "Yes, I know all of that. Despite that, I still said what I did, alright?" Naoto heard the tremble in his voice, and her initial thoughts rose up – was he blackmailed? Bribed?
"We can protect you," Naoto said pleadingly, causing the man to stop in his tracks, "Are you afraid for your life?" She decided to take the sympathetic road first, since if he was bribed, she wouldn't be able to tolerate him any longer.
The man's brow began to sweat, and he quickly wiped it away with his white sleeve, "I…" He paused, and shook his head, "No. Now I have a lot of work to do! If you're not sick, then get out!" He quickly stepped out of the room, or as it looked to Naoto, he almost ran out of the room.
She rubbed her chin thoughtfully, a bit disappointed that he didn't say much of anything, but glad nonetheless that she managed to at least figure out that the good doctor was apparently threatened or blackmailed into keeping quiet. Now if only she could convince him that they could keep him safe, this case would fly open and they could start to make real progress!
She got onto her feet however, and walked back to the front of the office, weighing her options on what to do next, when suddenly a nurse walked over to her and tapped her shoulder. Naoto glance at the woman, and a note was suddenly thrust in his hands. Naoto fumbled with it a little bit, giving the nurse an annoyed glare, before she finally opened it up once the nurse walked off.
"Meet me out back in three hours," Naoto whispered to herself as she processed the note, right below the message was Doctor Thompson's hastily written signature, and she smiled. Good, she would hopefully get some answers from this.
XxXxXxX
"Alright, Viola, you're better at sports, so I want you to stand right here." Cooper told the blonde haired girl as they walked towards the clearing where Ellen was found all those years ago. Upon being told that this was the right spot, Cooper seemed to go mad, muttering to himself as he wandered the area, leaving two very confused teenagegirls standing there. Finally he seemed to break out of whatever just possessed him, and he began to mark several trees with some red tape that he apparently had been carrying the whole time.
Viola nodded her head obediently, standing in what was roughly the middle of the clearly, still holding the baseball bat, "What do I do?"
"I'm going to pitch the balls towards you, and you'll hit them with the bat." He turned to Ellen now, "I want you to stand off to the side, and tell me which marked tree the ball was nearest to after Viola hits it."
"What does this have to do with anything?" Ellen asked as she crossed her arms, very unimpressed. She was already agitated due to where they were – this area represented her old life to her, and that felt like a lifetime ago. To be so close to this place again just made her feel very bad for some indescribable reason.
"I told you earlier, you'll see!" Cooper told her, "Now remember, tell me which one that the ball goes closest to."
Ellen glanced towards the five marked trees, and nodded. They were spread out enough that it shouldn't be too hard to determine where the ball went, but why couldn't Cooper do this himself? She supposed he wanted her to be involved, but she still found it quite annoying. Despite her growing annoyances, she nodded, "Right, I'll do that."
"Quite excellent!" He exclaimed, clapping his hands together, "Then shall we begin?" He picked up one of the baseballs stacked at his feet, and after doing a few quick stretches, he threw the ball with all of his might towards Viola.
As the ball came towards her, Viola's entire body tensed up, before she quickly forced herself to move. She never played baseball before, but she had seen it on TV more than once, so she mimicked what she saw. She swung the bat with all of her might, and there was a loud noise as the ball collided with the bat, and she sent it sailing across the clearing and towards the trees.
"Which one, Ellen?" Cooper asked quickly, turning to the girl in question.
"The tree furthest to the left, nearest to me." She exclaimed, feeling giddy to see Viola perform so well on her first try. If she had missed, then that ball surely would have been lost, since they didn't have anyone standing behind Viola to catch it.
Cooper nodded thoughtfully, though Ellen did see a disturbed look in his eyes, "Well, we'll do it again. Fantastic job Viola."
Viola grinned at the compliment and nodded, "Keep em coming!" She exclaimed, getting back into the stance she preferred now. Another ball swung at her, and it slammed right into the center marked tree.
"Direct hit! Wow!" Ellen told him, looking to Viola in surprise. The girl had never even used a baseball bat before, and she was using it like a pro already!
Cooper's enthusiasm seemed to be going down however, while Ellen's climbed, "Hm…Ready for ball three Viola?" He called out, his voice taking on a more serious tone now, instead of his usual odd self.
Both girls noted the change, and Viola tensed up again, "Yeah, I'm ready."
"Good." He pitched another ball towards her, and again it sailed across the clearly, this time going to the marked tree furthest away from Ellen.
"It went to the really far one," Ellen told Cooper as her looked at her, and she witnessed his face paling, "What's wrong?"
"So far the pattern is holding up, but…" He began to mumble to himself, and then he shook his head, "Still two more balls, surely it won't be the outcome I'm thinking of."
He prepared to throw another ball, but the jovial mood from earlier was disappearing with each successful hit, and now, with the fourth ball being thrown at her, Viola steeled her resolve, and smashed the bat against the ball yet again, sending it towards the second nearest tree to Ellen.
"One more…" Cooper mumbled, acting so out of character that Viola and Ellen were both getting a little afraid, "Ready, Viola?"
The second Viola nodded, he pitched the ball towards her, and it went to the second farthest tree from Ellen. Once Ellen told him this, his jaw dropped open, and he quickly pulled out his cellphone.
"You won't get service out here," Ellen told him as she walked up, "What's going on?"
Cooper looked at both girls, and noticed that they were beginning to look fearful, so he forced himself to calm down – it was no use getting them frightened. "This case is more serious than I initially thought." He calmly told them, "I was trying to contact Naoto," He growled at the lack of signal on his phone, "She could be in danger."
XxXxXxX
Naoto walked to the back of the doctor's office at the appointed time, and stood waiting in a small lot with a few of the staff's cars around. She leaned against the wall, and waited for the doctor to appear. In the meantime, she went over everything she wanted to ask him again in her head – she would allow him to do all of the talking, but she would guide it along the path she wanted.
The door suddenly opened, and Naoto looked up, seeing the doctor stepping out into the lot. He seemed to be incredibly nervous, since his shoulders seem to shake, and there was a lot of sweat on his brow. He turned and nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw her already there, but he breathed in and out in an attempt to calm himself.
"Doctor Thompson." She greeted, "It's good to see you."
He put on a half-hearted smile, and nodded, "Y – yeah… Sure." He looked around, and quietly asked, "You're the only one here, right?"
"Yes. It's just me." She confirmed, remembering the warning Cooper gave her. She was tense, but she was sure she could handle anything the doctor might throw at her if he attempted to.
"You don't have any recording device, and you won't write anything I say here down, right?" He asked, again looking around nervously, as if he thought someone was watching him.
"No, I don't." She again confirmed, feeling her senses being pushed into overdrive due to the man's actions. She could feel her heart beating quickly, and she let out a soft sigh to try and calm herself down. She had to act calm and rational here, so she decided to start things off by saying, "What are you so afraid of?"
He swallowed, "L – Look, Ms. Shriogane… You need to leave now."
"But you just brought me here, are you backing out now?" She asked, feeling quite annoyed now. She didn't let her annoyance show though, again not wanting her own emotions to dictate how he acted.
"No," He shook his head, "Leave this place. You're in grave danger – do you know why the CPA has allowed this case to stall out? As long as no legal actions are performed against Mr. Xander, we'll all be safe."
Naoto felt her insides go cold, "You mean to tell me that the CPA is just allowing this case to stall?" She couldn't help but allow a hint of anger in her voice. She couldn't honestly help it, she met Ellen just yesterday, and the girl had been so polite and calm about things, but Naoto could still see the damage that she tried so hard to cover up.
"You don't understand!" The doctor exclaimed. He suddenly jumped, and looked around, which caused Naoto to quickly look towards where he was looking. Nothing was there, but when Naoto looked back at the doctor, his face was very pale, and he was shaking so badly where he stood that he collapsed to the ground.
"Doctor!" Naoto shouted, running to his side, "What is going on?"
"Death! We're going to die!" He exclaimed, "No!"
Naoto watched the man go more and more hysterical, and she did the only thing she could think of to calm him down. She gave him a hard slap, since there was nothing around them. The doctor looked at her as if she grew another head, but he at least calmed down. "Calm down," Naoto told him, echoing the words she heard so long ago during her case in Inaba.
The doctor nodded, and got back to his feet albeit rather shakily, "You said you could provide me with protection?" He asked, and when Naoto nodded, he let out a sigh, "I'll tell you everything I know, but we must leave here now."
"Why?" Naoto asked again, still unsure of what was happening.
"It knows I've been talking to you." He looked around nervously, "It's presence is gone now, but it'll be back to kill me, and to kill you." He looked her straight in the eyes, "Don't you understand what you're dealing with?"
XxXxXxX
"A Demon?" Ellen asked, her jaw dropping, "I've had it!" She shouted, "Do you think I'm a fool? Do you honestly think I believe any of this trash that you've been telling me? Demons, magic, and that stuff about Guertena?" She growled, and shook her head in anger, "You're stupid! I can't believe I thought you could help me!" Angry tears began to well up in her eyes, and she stalked off.
"Ellen, wait!" Viola grabbed her arm, "We're in the forest! You can't wander off on your own! We could get lost!"
Ellen glared angrily at Viola, narrowing her eyes in an attempt to stop anymore tears from flowing. "I can't believe I trusted them, Viola…" She said, her voice sounding broken as she shook, "I thought they would really help…."
Zach Cooper stood back, allowing the girls to talk, but suddenly his head snapped up. "Girls, get close to me, NOW!" He demanded, causing both of them to look at him in a mixture of confusion and anger.
"Why should I-" Ellen began to ask, but he ran over to her, and roughly pulled her closer. "You – WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?" She shouted, slamming a fist into his side, "I SHOULD –." She stopped suddenly, when the temperature began to drop severely. What in the world? The sun was still up, but they no longer felt any warmth from it. "Wh – What's going on?" Ellen asked, her voice shaking due to the cold.
"It's here." Cooper told her quietly, "But it's just watching. Whatever you do, just stay quiet."
Ellen began to feel very uncomfortable – she was reminded of being locked in her room all day, unfed and unloved, sad and angry, and it seemed the memories just wouldn't go away, even when she shook her head. Tears again began to pour from her eyes as the memories played vividly in front of her eyes as if they were happening all over again – the abuse, the loneliness, the hate… She felt Viola's grip on her tighten, and she tried to focus solely on that.
"So much negative energy," Cooper mumbled, "This demon must feed off of misery," Try to think of happy times," He told the two girls close to him, "I know it's difficult, but just try." He told them.
Viola meanwhile was remembering the time when her mother died. She could remember going to the woman's hospital bed, and seeing her smile at her and pat her head, before she started to cough violently. The next time she went to see her, the woman was hooked up with all sorts of wires, and was telling her good bye. Viola didn't understand at the time why her mom was saying good bye… She didn't understand that she was dying.
"Delicious," A voice spoke up, booming throughout the clearly. "It has been so long since I was able to taste Ellen's misery – it's just as I remember it."
Ellen looked up, though there was nothing present for her to lock her eyes on, "Wh – What do you mean?" She asked.
"I remember I was attempting to drive you insane," He spoke as if it was a pleasant old memory, "Trying to get you to murder your mom and dad…" It chuckled, a low and demonic noise, "It would have happened too, if you hadn't have gotten away."
"What are you?" Ellen asked, "Do I know you?"
"I'm hurt, Ellen." It said in a mocking tone, "Truly, I am. We've known each other for so long, and you've forgotten me?" He let out a displeased sigh, "It can't be helped, I suppose."
"Why are you assisting the Xander family?" Cooper asked, "What do you gain from such a partnership?"
"Mr. Cooper," The voice boomed out, "As if I would tell you anything. If you and your partner cease your operations now, I will not interfere with any of your lives any longer. However, if you insist on staying, and if you insist on trying to bring the Xander family to 'justice', then there will be dire consequences. This is your only warning, Cooper."
After that, the heat began to return to the clearing, and all of the negative energy had left. Cooper stood to his full height now, and dusted off his shirt, and he looked towards both girls. "I apologize for that. If I had known that was what we were going to be dealing with, I wouldn't have brought you here."
"So the baseballs and the bat were for summoning that?" Ellen asked shakily, glad that her thoughts were her own now, and that she could push those awful memories away.
"No," He denied, shaking his head, "It was for determining what kind of supernatural force we'd be going against." He let out a groan, and leaned against a nearby tree, "It hit the exact pattern needed for it to be a demon involved. If you're wondering if you'd be able to play that well at school, then I'm sorry to break it to you, but you only hit that well due to the energy in the area."
"So that negative energy then," Viola quietly spoke up, "It made us remember bad things?" Her lips trembled a bit and she muttered, "I – I saw mom dying…"
"Yeah," He nodded, a bitter taste in his mouth, "I saw Emily..." He didn't need to elaborate, they could guess of what happened to her.
"I was back at their house, being abused…" Ellen mumbled. She looked guiltily at Mr. Cooper, and mumbled, "I – I'm sorry. I didn't believe you…"
"It's all right." Cooper smiled weakly at the girl. He heaved himself off of the tree, and tried to muster up some cheer, "Anyway, let's get going. We have a lot to think about right now."
"Are you going to continue the investigation?" Ellen immediately asked.
Cooper sighed, taking a few steps before stopping, "That's up to you, Ellen. We're up against a demon, and they're very powerful entities." He glanced at her now, "It's very dangerous to go against one – you saw what it could do to us by just being in our presence. So really, it's up to you. We could drop the CPA angle, and allow you to go back to living your regular life. Demons are evil, but they are honorable, and I know it will keep its word – if we drop this, it will not bother us."
Ellen nodded thoughtfully, "So it's up to me?"
"Yeah. Just think about it for a while, ok?" He told her, "For now, let's just get going. We've done what we needed to do here. We know what we're up against, and now we need to rest. You two have school tomorrow, and your dad will not be too happy with me if I bring you in late."
The walk back was very quiet, all three of them too lost in thought to do much of anything but think about what occurred.
XxXxXxX
Naoto was in the back of her car, the doctor beside her and her driver taking them to the police station. She had the recorder out, and was just finishing her report. "Doctor Thompson has told me that he did indeed lie three years ago, but it was in fear for his life. It has been confirmed that this case is indeed supernatural in nature, and I'm sure my partner will reinforce me on that idea once he returns from his trip. I'd like to have another team brought in here to assist."
She sighed, thinking of all the supernatural teams that could help them here. There weren't many of them in the world, but there were groups of people whom could use magic to help people, and they could use a team like that here.
"I believe that we're dealing with a demon here," She finally admitted, "We need a team capable of handling one of those." She paused, and finally decided on a possible team, "I would like to bring in Yuki's Outfit, if possible. I've heard that they dealt with a demon roughly five years ago, so their expertise would be highly appreciated."
Naoto leaned back in her seat, wishing that for once things would be normal.
XxXxXxX
Notes:
You know what? I have no idea what I'm doing with this story anymore. This is why you have an outline when writing a story, because otherwise things just keep spiraling more and more out of control, and there's no structure to anything. Initially I wasn't going to have anything supernatural in this story, but now I introduced a demon - the same demon from The Witch's House, because why the hell not? It's funny to see what was initially just a two-shot turn into this. I do like writing it, but I acknowledge that the new direction I'm taking it is kind of stupid, but eh, whatever.
Anyway, a few other things to note:
Yuki's Outfit mentioned at the end is related to my other story, 'Years Gone By'. So there's a high probability that in addition to being crossed over with Deadly Premonition, Twin Peaks, and Persona 4, Ib is also going to be thrown into the mix as well. Also, the baseball thing is very loosely related to a scene from Twin Peaks, those of you who have seen it probably already know of what I'm talking about. Some of the dialogue for Cooper early on was also straight from Twin Peaks as well. Also, that whole Guertena talk, for those of you unaware, was about the gallery from Ib.
The next chapter or two will be MUCH more down to earth, I promise. I gave myself an out in this chapter, so the next chapter will be another school chapter with Ellen and Viola deciding on whether to continue the investigation or not. I will bring back several characters who haven't shown up in a while, and the whole investigator angle will be shoved off to the side for now.
Finally, the chapter title is a reference to the song from Deadly Premonition called 'The Woods and the Goddess', easily my favorite track from the game.
I'd also just like to thank the 5 of you still reading this, it always makes me feel good to know that someone enjoys my work.
Thank you for reading!
