Warning, there may be some intense situations in this chapter.
I must have fallen asleep, because the next thing I know, we're in front of my home once again. Lin quickly comes to help me out of the other side of the van, a hand resting just under my arm to keep me from falling. I look up at the imposing building surrounded by darkness and lean against the male that's been keeping me safe for the last few days. Something about the place seems colder than normal.
"Wasn't it just the afternoon?" I whisper, looking around slightly confused.
"Yamatoku-san?" Lin whispers, gently pressing his fingers against my upper arm. "You've been sleeping on and off for hours now. Do you have a key?"
"Not on me." I whisper, nodding slightly as I pick up a small, fake rock and hand it over to the onmyoji, watching him fiddle with it to pull the key out. He probably doesn't even need the key to open the door, though.
The moment the tip of the key touches the knob, the door swings open. And an iron-rich stench shoots out of the doorway, instantly waking me up. I know that I shouldn't go in, but something in my stomach pushes me to investigate the strange smell and sensation coming from within. Even Lin tries to pull me away from the opening, but the tips of his fingers barely manage to graze my elbow. The entire room smells of the American pennies my father used to send me. I slowly walk towards the living room, the room I had left my mother in just hours ago. The smell gets stronger as I get closer, and when I flip the light on, all I can see is red all over the room and my father, thrown across the coffee table with his throat gaping open. The gash is deep and meaty, and shining slightly in the artificial light. There's blood on the walls and ceiling, slashing across the white plaster almost like someone had been throwing around paint. My stomach instantly drops to the ground, along with my gaze.
There's a trail.
I start to follow it absently, as if it'll lead away from all of the horrors, instead of towards more of them. It leads up the stairs and stops at my bedroom door. Shaking, I reach out and turn the knob. I flip the light on, and I fight the urge to start screaming. On the wall just above my bed, in a bright crimson, are the words, "You're Next." I didn't think my stomach could drop any further, but it feels like it falls almost completely out of my body. There are small rivulets of blood, dripping down the wall, and my eyes follow them, to a few drops of red on my sheets, then further to the floor. My mother is splayed on the floor, her clothes torn here and there, blood seeping out from small holes in her skin. Her face is turned towards the door, staring at nothing, yet so full of terror and pain. A wave of something quickly fills my body and I'm screaming. I scream like the world around me is ending. I scream even more than when the spirit had attacked me.
Within moments, Lin is there, gently clasping his hands around my shoulders, carefully leading me away from the room, and out of the house. I can hear the screams still escaping me, though they're muffled by Lin's chest. He's gently carrying me to the closest home, a neighbor that we've never spoken too much to, and ringing at their doorbell. My nails are digging into the fabric of his suit coat, and I hear a slightly confused woman asking what's wrong.
I don't know how long I screamed into his chest, but when I couldn't anymore, I just cried and cried. It didn't take long for the tears to stop, but when they did, I was empty of everything except the haunting images. Lin has softly placed me on the ground, sitting me against the wall of my home's fence, his suit jacket wrapped loosely around me. I watch as people, several of them, many from the neighboring homes, a few policemen, the detective I had spoken to yesterday, the ashen locked medium that was there almost immediately after him, and a strange trio, two twins and a very tall male.
"Momiji…" The male twin whispers from a mere meter away. I think I look at him, but he doesn't seem to react to it.
"Oh, you poor thing!" The female twin whispers, gently sitting beside me, a hand resting on my shoulder. Heat instantly fills my eyes, and for a moment, I think more tears will start to fall, but nothing comes.
"I..We can't tell her everything he did here…" I hear a female voice from somewhere.
"She deserves to know how much danger…" A man's voice sighs, almost indignantly, it sounds like the detective's voice, but I can't be hearing him all the way from my room.
"You saw the poor girl; she's already almost catatonic… Could you live with yourself if you pushed her over the edge?"
"Is there something you didn't tell me?" He looks towards the medium expectantly, though she looks too uncomfortable to answer.
"He doesn't want to just kill her. He's going to torture her." She whispers, gripping her hands tightly against her chest.
"What else is new?" I whisper to myself, pulling the coat being leant to me tighter around my body.
"What?" The girl next to me asks, pure confusion going through her features.
"Nothing…" I whisper, shaking slightly in the chilled air. Within moments, the detective from the day before, and the ashen-locked medium are standing in front of me, almost twin looks of sympathy and horror in their eyes.
"Alright, Harano-san. Or, should I say Yamatoku-san?" The detective starts, already earning a glare from the tall onmyoji next to me.
"Harano is the name I use when I'm working. Mother doesn't like strange people coming to our home." I answer, almost blankly, as if the lie is more natural than the truth.
"I see. Yamatoku-san, I'm sure you can guess who is responsible." He continues. When I nod, he looks over to the young woman next to him.
"We feel it would be safer for you to go to a family member's house." She whispers, beating around the bush. I let my eyes wander between her and the detective.
"Detective… Have you read my files?" I sigh, and the world around me gets a little louder. I know they still use it for references here and there. When he nods, he looks away, as if ashamed of what he's seen in it. "He wants to hurt me… That much is clear. But, does he want to hurt me like father did?" All of the emotions drain from my face, if there were any left, like the blood drains from his. His lips don't move, but I hear his voice whisper, almost sadly, without his mouth opening. Everyone is staring at him, waiting for him to come up with an answer, and I turn towards the young woman, who is looking at him with a new look of horror, and I can her whispering without moving her lips as well.
"Do you have any family in the area?" The detective finally sighs as pain only a father could feel races through his chest and eyes.
"I don't have any other family." I answer, afraid of what would happen to my two friends.
"Well, I went ahead and looked into your mother's finances. The house is paid for, if you want to keep it. Would you like us to grab some clothes for you?" He finishes, scratching at the back of his head as if confused about what to do.
"I can do that!" The female medium quickly answers running back into the house as if a fire had been lit under her. As we wait, for the woman to come back, the tall man who has been watching over me for the last few days gently sits down next to me, an arm easily slipping around my shoulders.
"Do you have someone that you can stay with?" The detective asks, turning his attention to the man with an arm wrapped firmly around my shoulders, as if he knows just what's going on between the two of us.
"She can stay with me. I have a guest room in my apartment." Lin answers, gently squeezing at my shoulder, fibbing almost as easily as I had.
"Alright. Once Mirei brings your clothes, you're free to go." The detective sighs, looking back at the house.
"Don't you need a statement?" I ask him, trying to look up at him with some semblance of an emotion.
"Officially? Yes. But, you walked in, found your father first, followed the blood up, and found your mother in your room, yes?" I blink up at him, my stomach clenching.
"Yes." I finally manage to whisper, gripping tightly at my elbows.
"Then you can come by tomorrow and tell us. Mirei got a pretty good picture of what happened." He smiles gently, as if he's not used to dealing with the living.
"It must be difficult, to see so much death." I say as the young medium walks back up with a couple of big bags.
"I got what I could. There were some things missing."
"Thank you." I whisper, staring at the bags as if it was all some kind of sick joke.
"You're welcome. I know it's painful and traumatizing, but eventually the memories will fade." She smiles, and she is genuinely trying to make me feel better.
"Nine years haven't eased the pain of the last body I found." I manage to whisper, a quick flash of swinging legs blinding me for a moment as I take hold of the bags stuffed with clothes. A pair of hands come into view, taking a gentle hold of the bags, while also leading me towards the dark van I'd recently spent so much time in. I look towards the onmyoji for a moment as he easily puts the bags into the back seat, then carefully grabs my shoulders and leads me to the front passenger side.
"I'm sorry this happened." He whispers quietly, helping me into the seat.
"Why are you sorry?" I whisper, my arms wrapping tightly around my stomach. "This is my fault, after all."