A/C - The end is near! #4more. Please review!

Chapter 26 - Standing in the Fire

^.^

When I rounded the corner to the kitchen the following morning, Naru was already seated with breakfast in front him. There was a second plate across from him, alongside a large file folder.

I raised an eyebrow, taking a seat. "Business over breakfast?"

Naru took a sip of his tea, "You'll be working late tonight. It's best to get this out of the way while it's still fresh."

At least he was talking to me, I reminded myself. Reaching for my coffee, I waited.

"As you are aware, Lin and I found the Lasser Glass. We traced it back to a family in Ohio." Naru said.

Indeed, I was aware that, somehow, this brilliant man was able to find the elusive Lasser Glass. "Ohio? What's it doing there."

"Currently, it's in the Travelling Museum of the Paranormal and Occult, and is being taken care of by the family who owns the museum."

"Aren't you highly well-known in the paranormal world?" I remembered Naru's priority was to keep his identity a secret: being Oliver Davis was not always about admiring fans. "Wouldn't that bring attention to yourself if you went to see it?"

"It would." Naru agreed. "But, being me, it wouldn't take much to inquire about the mirror."

I flipped through the files, briefly glimpsing over the article about the Lasser Glass, or as the museum called it, the Dark Mirror.

Naru continued, "I've been thinking about what you told me how the curse works. It is all tied to the Lasser Glass. The problem wouldn't be using my reputation to see the Lasser Glass. It would be how would we get it. Plus, anything I do with my real name brings us back to the SPR. Which could lead whoever is looking for you right to us."

"We don't know that they are looking for us, or if they are here for that matter."

I didn't want to mention the possibility that the Dark Man might very well be looking for me too.

"We don't know that they aren't," Naru countered. "We can't that kind of risk."

I thought about what Kitzune had told me about the curse: that we needed the mirror and the piece in the Xipherian Amulet.

"We need that mirror," I said firmly. I almost blurted that it didn't matter about the consequences, but I knew that was the wrong thing to say to Naru.

"I know," Naru said after a moment of silence. "First things first: we need to make sure this is the real mirror and not a hoax."

"When?"

It felt bold to tell Naru, in any sense, what to do. It felt exciting. Naru lowered a perfectly arched dark brow at me. "I thought you didn't like it when I paid for trips."

Now, it was my turn to lift a brow at Naru as I leaned back in my seat, folding the oversized sleeves of my night shirt over my knuckles and reaching for my coffee. The sound of his voice was like silk rubbing on my skin.

"It's a loan," I smiled from behind my coffee cup, staring into those amused violet eyes. "That I'll pay back, perhaps in the form of dinners or moving the t.v. to the room so you can have some peace and quiet when you work."

Naru took a slow, amused breath out. "You make it sound like I'll be staying for a while. Besides, didn't you say you disliked television in the bedroom."

I set down my coffee cup and stabbed into my eggs - trying to ignore the violet stare. It was too early for those tempting violet eyes.

"You mentioned how it took away from the intimacy."

"For now." I clarified, "I'll move it until you leave. You never intended on staying here forever, Naru."

It was quiet again as I ate. I felt Naru watching me, as he sometimes did, and I paid him no particular attention. Instead, I was reading the document I turned to in the file folder.

This museum was well-known. And, as expected, it did travel constantly. Mostly throughout the United States but it had crossed the sea's a few times throughout the years. I read about how the mirror wasn't known to kill people while at the museum, however people did see disturbing things. One man talked about how the mirror showed him his death.

I took a bite of my toast, wondering if the reason that the mirror couldn't kill anyone was because it wasn't whole. It was missing a crucial piece that Kitzune said enabled it, practically, not a threat. I suppose it took the danger out of the mirror, that was if Kitzune was telling the truth. This would prove it.

The difficult thing would be where to find that damned amulet. It could be anything, or anywhere. Though, I had a feeling such an important artifact would not be left without protection.

It prompted me that I needed to find Sara. It was about time she made sense of some of this information I've been getting.

"The summer is almost over," Naru said and I snapped my head up. It was strange for him to be the first to come up with small talk. Especially when I was the one who was so engaged in this file.

"It is - it feels like it has just flown by with everything that's been happening." I finished my last egg, stood and collected our plates then made my way to the sink. "Thanks for breakfast."

"Have you thought about what you're going to do when the summer is over?" Naru said distantly. I started the water, soaping the dishes.

"I know what I'm going to do," I said. "I'm going back to school, finishing my practicum and then hopefully finding a teaching job." I did not mention that my future was very blurry right now. If I did end this curse, there was a very good possibility that I would not have a future. It was best not to bring that up. Instead, I thought about maybe living out the rest of my life with this curse.

It wouldn't be that bad, not if it meant that I could live and be with Naru.

Deep within me though, I knew I couldn't do that. I could not live with myself knowing this horrible curse existed.

In the silence, when Naru didn't answer, I said. "And you?"

"I also know what I'm doing," he said. "I'll be leaving Japan and continuing my curriculum."

"I thought you were done with school."

Naru was quiet for a moment. "Not my personal curriculum. For my students. I'm an adjunct professor at the University of Edinburgh."

I turned, "Oh my gosh, Naru. That's huge!"

I wasn't very well versed in the world of PhD's (I never planned on having one) but I did know that being an adjunct professor was basically like being a regular professor. He would have an office, with office hours and regular lectures. Naru would also have time (and the facility) to do whatever research he was currently working on.

Besides, the University of Edinburgh was one of the most well known research facilitates for parapsychology.

It was really big. And amazing.

And I had no idea.

Frowning, I felt a little sad. I was genuinely happy for Naru. He worked so hard for this, and just the act of putting all of that effort towards something and then eventually achieving something… I could only hope I would feel that when I graduated. Though, I bet Naru wasn't exactly jumping up and down when he received his degree.

"How long have you been teaching there? I thought you would have taken a job a bit closer to home: Cambridge or something."

"Two years. I'll be returning for this year, with the possibility of extending my contract and becoming an associate professor." Naru said as I walked back around the table to wipe it down. "And Cambridge offered: but they have little to no parapsychology programs. My father would have preferred I continue my summer job at Greenwich University in order to become an associate professor there. I thought I needed a little break from the city."

He was unusually talkative this morning but I enjoyed it. Two years in Edinburgh. All this time I thought he was back in England. I was really more out of it than I thought. It just reminded me that I knew nothing about Naru. My love for him was purely physical and emotional. We didn't know anything about one another.

I left the rag on the back of my chair and I reached for the file folder again. "Let me borrow this for the day. It'll give me some reading material while I'm at work."

Naru nodded, then said, "I'll call Greg and Dana, the owners of the museum, and see what we can do about this mirror."

^.^

I was standing, alone, in the back of the church again. It was the only place I was able to fully concentrate and wisp my conscious to the Gates.

Though, I wasn't intending to go there. I had been trying to summon Sara, like I did Kitzune. But it did not work. Everytime I tried to picture her exotic, young features, her materialized form seemed to slip - like water that would not hold a physical shape.

It was exhausting when, over and over, the image of her slipped from my grasp. I swore under my breath, all I wanted to do was to ask her: where could I find the amulet.

And, what would happen if I brought the amulet and mirror together? Was what Kitzune told me true?

I guess I wouldn't know. At least, not now. She couldn't hide from me forever.

When it was evident that I was not going to find Sara here, I tried to slip back into my body but the bond snapped taut.

I yelped, it had felt like walking into a brick wall and the reverb echoed throughout the dark realm.

A figure walked into my world and I stayed very still.

It was the man from the other day.

He still looked sickly, grey skinned and purple smudge marks under his eyes. He looked at the gates and grinned.

"I found them." He sounded relieved. "I finally found them."

"Why are you looking for them?" My voice sounded shakier than I intended. I tried to calm my exterior, even though inside I was freaking out. He shouldn't be here, he shouldn't be around me. Not when I was so close to the gates and they seemed to respond to spirits on this plane.

From deep within, I felt a pleasant purring of satisfaction, a yawn for breath as if the gates were somehow linked even more intimately to me than I initially thought.

"You can't hide them forever." The man turned to me and let out a breath of relief. "After so long, I've finally found them."

"What makes you think passing through those gates will take you to the afterlife?"

He looked back towards the Iron Gates. "I don't need the afterlife. Beyond them are my wife and daughter."

My heart dropped.

I stared at the man and could tell from his expression he was genuine. He was hoping that the gates would lead him to his late wife and daughter. It was a sad thought that he didn't know the truth, that nothing existed beyond the gates. His soul would be consumed by the curse and absorbed by the Xipherian Amulet.

I wondered how he could he seek the anchor if he did not know the truth of what laid beyond those Iron Gates.

The thought, when it came, hit me like a train.

He was lead to me - by the same person who knew I was the anchor. The one person who needed me to consume souls so he could continue living forever.

The Dark Man.

"Did someone tell you about the anchor?" I asked. "Is he close?"

The spirit nodded, eagerly. "Yes. He told me about the miracle of the anchor and how it could reunite lost loved ones." Hollow out, dark eyes peered at me. "I've been wondering this earth for a long time looking for them."

I could hear my heart pounding through my skull. "This man, the one who told you about the anchor, did he have a burn on his face?"

"Yes."

Chills crawled up my spine, and my body felt cold. I asked, "Is he here, in Tokyo?"

"Yes."

He was here. That man from my dreams, Hana and Sara's father, was here. And he was sending spirits to me. I knew he was going to come for me, knew about the threat of his appearance but still… it scared me. It scared me to my core that he was going to take me back to that awful place he kept Sara.

Lost in my fears, the spirit grabbed my wrist. "Open the gates. I'm ready." He demanded.

"No," I tried to jerk my arm back, "He lied! There's nothing beyond the Gates! It's a lie!"

Nothing could stop the gut wrenching feeling that took over when those large gates burst open. A phantom wind blew on my body and the spirit was gone. Those black hands took hold of my arms, legs and torso - and hen they pulled me beyond the gates. I screamed as the hands grabbed me, screamed as they pulled me deeper and deeper into the darkness...

When I opened my eyes, I was driving.

"Papa, will we go and see the fireworks again?" A young, girl - maybe seven, said from the backseat. I was driving, my hands were older - masculine. It was well past ten in the evening, the roads were dark and we could see nothing but blackness outside of the highway. The family was just out of the city, returning from a festival on the outskirts of town.

In the rearview mirror, I could see my reflection. I was now the spirit, who was much younger. He seemed to have more life in his eyes now. He had black hair, a strong jawline.

His wife, beside him - me - touched my hand, jerking me back to the present reality.

"It would be nice to return to the festival next year," she said.

"Yes Papa!"

"Alright," he said, smiling. "We'll go again -

"WATCH OUT!" His wife's blood-curdling scream was the only warning given when my attention split from the road for a mere second.

We had been driving at highway speed, much too fast to see the stopped vehicle in the lane ahead of us. I had caught a brief glimpse of it before the front end of our car hit it. In order to avoid it though, I turned to the left, hard, and was impacted immediately after.

The vehicle took on an entirely new force of nature as the wheel was wrenched from my hands. Pain, blinding pain, ripped through my skull. There was screaming and crying and a hot throbbing sensation that now made its way from my skull to my spine.

Immediately, heat began to trickle into the vehicle. My vision blurred n and out of understanding what was happening around me.

A fire.

I heard the little girl, the wife, screaming. The smell of smoke and flesh was awful but I was took weak to move. I couldn't call for help, not with the suffocation of the smoke now deep in my lungs. Cough after cough I breathed in the smoke and the fire burned at my skin, stinging my eyes.

The ring of an explosion was the last thing I heard before I returned to my body.

I gasped upon return, pressing my back into the bricks of the church. I had no idea how long I had been out for. Time was different on that world than it was here.

Tears escaped down my cheeks and I quickly wiped them away and stood up.

"I told you he would find you," Sara said as I took deep, steady breathes. Of course she showed up when she was least needed. "No matter where you go he'll find you."

I hadn't been ready to be exposed to the gates again. Not when it was so long since the last time. "I found the Lasser Glass."

"Yes," She smiled like a canary. "I've heard you've been doing some digging of your own from unreliable sources."

There was only one person who knew: Gene. I tried not to think of the awful way we had left things and instead focused on this moment.

I ground out, "I need to know if it's true: the Lasser Glass and the amulet being linked."

Sara pursed her lips and I refused to grow frustrated. "I don't know what you mean."

She knew full well and I resisted the urge to satisfy her constant need of toying with me. "Your father's amulet, he keeps it with him at all times: doesn't he?"

Sara laughed bitterly, "you would like that, wouldn't you? To know that he is here and that he, conveniently, has the amulet?"

I glared at her, waiting for her to finish.

"No." She said, "he has it in a much more interesting place."

Sara gave me a knowing look, a dark glimmer in her eye as I understood. "The cabin."

"Yes. it seems he went back there upon the destruction of his anchor's. Probably because he knew whoever destroyed it wouldn't dare to go back a second time."

Damnit.

This was not what I wanted to hear, but something else became painfully clear to me.

"If he's here, then the amulet is unprotected. He doesn't know that I know it's there. He probably thought he could get me before I realized." It was a dangerous assumption, one that could cost me my life.

It would cost me my freedom.

Unhelpfully, Sara said. "You're smarter than they give you credit for," before disappearing.

Alone, I weighed my options. Tell Naru and go together, or risk it all and go alone on the off chance the amulet is unprotected.

I needed more information, I decided.

^.^