Disclaimer: The Ronin Warriors do not belong to me. But new story lines and characters not part of the original do belong to me. I'd appreciate it if it'd stay that way. Thank you for your time. ^_^
The Clean Up Crew
Chapter 3: The Exorcist
By: LittleUcchan
I looked on, unwilling to move forward, but at the same time being drawn ahead. You could say that it was fate that brought me here. Actually… it was because I couldn't sleep. Not with what had happened today and that ghost inside the bank.
No fooling. It was a ghost I saw.
But the reason why a wandering spirit would wind up in a bank is beyond me. That's why I'm now standing in front of the bank doors… at 11:30 at night, just because I'm too damn curious for my own good and I can't get a good night's sleep unless I get to the bottom of this. It sucks to be me sometimes.
I sighed. Well, I came all this way so I might as well check it out.
I moved my hand towards the handle, but the door slightly creaked open once I touched it. I blinked in astonishment. The door was unlocked?? Did that ghost know I was coming? Or… was someone else here.
That last thought didn't reassure me one bit. But I went in anyway.
Taking out a flashlight, I flipped it on, the clear beam of light cutting through the darkness. I knew at the time it was a stupid move on my part. But I hated the dark. Even though fighting Cale numerous times before helped me get over that fear, I still didn't like it when it was pitch black. And the fact that a ghost was present didn't encourage me to go wandering around in the dark.
Yeah yeah. Call me a coward if you wish but I never liked those Nether spirits that were hanging around Talpa all the time. Just something about spirits I could visibly see in the mortal realm creep me out. Maybe because they looked like the walking dead.
I shook my head, pushing the thought aside. I really should stop thinking about these things. I had enough to deal with. And a runaway imagination wasn't something I needed right now.
Stepping further in, I searched for anything unusual. My flashlight failed to pick up anything. The area was clear to my eyes. But that wasn't good enough.
I limited my breathing to slow calm breaths. Concentrating on my surroundings. Trying to find any trace of energy that might provide useful to me. There was a faint presence, both at where the chandelier used to hang overhead, and at the corner where the spirit made its appearance. Unfortunately, nothing else appealed to my senses.
I sighed.
What was I thinking? That ghost should be long gone by now. No way it'd still be hanging around here.
But… something was still bothering me. My intuition usually was never wrong. Especially pertaining to a matter such as this. I had a feeling that I had to come here for some reason. But now that I was here, the question remains.
What the hell am I supposed to do now?
However, I didn't know that a quick reply was forthcoming.
***
I let my instincts take over, swiftly turning my head to the side to avoid a dagger that flew right by my head. I forced myself to concentrate, quickly getting over the initial shock of realizing that I was under attack. I cursed under my breath for not noticing the aura before, but now I was ready.
I swung my flashlight in the direction of the aura, the beam only catching a glimpse of my adversary before he moved beyond the spotlight that shone against the wall. He attacked soon after, this time sending three daggers in my direction.
Even in the darkness surrounding me, I could see them clearly, dodging each one with ease. After the third passed my shoulder, I picked up the new location of the aura. Sensing him close by, I quickly turned in that direction, hurling my flashlight towards him.
I heard it collide with metal, followed by a sharp cry.
From… a girl?
I blinked once, trying to replay the sound in my mind. That was a girl's voice! I was sure of it!!
But… a girl at the bank? The ghost?
No. The one I saw earlier today was definitely male. Plus, the flashlight wouldn't have hit her if she were really a spirit. So who was she?
I shielded my eyes from the brightness of the room, not realizing that while I was thinking, the girl had turned on the light switch. She stared back at me in surprise. By the way that she was looking at me, I assumed that she had the same thought that I had come across. That I was not who she was expecting.
Well… she didn't meet my expectations either. I had thought that she was around my age, but I wasn't expecting her just to be a kid. She could barely pass as being thirteen!!
But she was cute. I think it was her short red hair that made her look that way. Or maybe it was just because she was short. Petite-like, you know.
"Who…" she stopped mid sentence and instead walked directly up to me. We studied each other for a moment before she reached out a tentative hand and caught hold of my sleeve.
Her eyes widening in realization, she immediately let go of me. "Oh my God!!! You're real!!"
My face faltered as I tried to stop myself from falling over at the absurd proclamation. What? So I wasn't real to begin with? Just what the hell was going on in that head of hers?! Do I look like a walking mannequin or something!?!?
"Oh shit! I am so sorry!! I didn't mean to attack you like that!" she began to apologize to me. "Oh God, did I hit you?"
"Um… no, I'm fine," I replied, slightly relieved. So this girl really wasn't aiming for me. That's a good sign.
"Are you sure?" she asked me. "Jeez, I'm sorry for attacking you! I thought you were already dead."
I blinked twice. "…I'm what?"
"I mean, I wouldn't have thrown all those daggers at you if I'd had known that you were still alive."
My mind went totally blank after that.
What was… what the hell was she talking about?! None of it made sense, not to mention that her statements alone were freaking me out. Wasn't what she was saying supposed to be the other way around? To my knowledge, having had done this countless of times before, don't you attack someone when they're alive and stop when they're dead?
"Just wait a minute," I said before she could speak another word. "What are you talking about? Just who are…"
I wasn't able to finish my question as my eyes wandered to the floor behind her. That was where my flashlight laid alongside a dagger.
So that was the metal sound I heard when I had thrown it at her. But that's not what had caught my eye. It was the sight of newly drawn blood plastered on the blade.
The girl saw what I was looking at, and absently clutched onto the wound in her hand, casting her gaze downwards to the floor.
Looking back, I reached out to take her hand in mine. She didn't resist, and instead let me survey her injury. I cringed at the sight of the gash between her thumb and index finger. I felt guilty. This was all my fault. She was probably holding the weapon on the sharp end and got cut when my flashlight hit the dagger. But how was I to know that she wasn't my enemy?
Reaching into my back pocket, I took out a handkerchief, tying it onto her hand to stop the bleeding. But I added my own healing touch to it while I did so. Using my abilities given to me as a Ronin warrior, I secretly enhanced her wound's recovery rate. That way it would heal faster. It was the least I could do.
"… Sorry about that."
"It's alright," she told me, bringing her hand close to her face to examine my handiwork. "It's my fault anyway. I should have made sure who you were before assaulting you like that."
She blushed in embarrassment. "I'm so careless."
I guess that could be expected. No doubt that she was skilled in her fighting style. But judging by her age and how she carried herself about in that skirmish, it was obvious that she was inexperienced.
"But that was so cool how you were able to counterattack like that," she began, smiling at me in awe. "Wow! You must be really skilled. Normally, no human's able to react that fast to my attacks!!"
Human?
This girl was really making me suspicious. Everything she talks about reminded me too much of the Dynasty. But upon thinking about the matter more, I decided against my previous thought. That couldn't be right. My enemies in the Dynasty were demons. What she's talking about seems to point more towards the astral plane and wandering spirits. But what business would this girl have in that subject?
So deep was I in my thoughts that I didn't know that I had zoned out. But when I came to… she was still talking!!
I sighed.
She didn't even notice!! Unbelievable!!
Looking back at her, and then quickly glancing at my watch, my mind worked on a way of getting me out of here. Don't get me wrong. I wasn't trying to escape from that girl. I still needed to talk to her about why she was there in the first place.
But we're actually not supposed to be in the bank at this hour. And since I'm not picking up any other energy sources, there's really no reason for us to stay here longer than we have to. I don't want breaking and entering to be on my transcript.
"Say, you're Asian right?"
… How the hell did she figure that out?!
She smiled as my surprised reaction ended up answering her question. "I knew it!!" she exclaimed. "So what kind of martial arts did you study?"
"You know… don't you think we should talk…"
I wasn't able to finish my sentence, detecting a new presence in the bank. Or rather, an old one.
The ghost decided to make an appearance.
***
"Look out!!!"
I jumped in front of the girl when I saw the stray chair come flying at us. I took the blow for her, slamming onto the floor once the chair made contact. Fortunately, I used my arms to absorb the weight of the attack. But that didn't mean it didn't hurt.
"Oh no! Are you ok?!" The girl was immediately at my side, helping me off the floor.
I didn't speak.
Instead I watched in shock as one of the work desks was lifted off the floor and hurled in our direction.
That girl took this opportunity to pull out one of her daggers and throw it at the desk. I remained frozen in place, more in amazement than in fear, as the desk stopped once the blade struck the wood. Glowing a bright white, the heavy piece of furniture laid suspended in the air for a moment longer before falling to the floor lifelessly.
I rubbed my eyes, hoping that maybe I was just delirious or something. No way could that have just happened!! How the hell did she do that?!
There was so many questions that I wanted to ask this girl. But all of that would have to wait. For I had caught sight of whom I was looking for.
I narrowed my eyes at the spirit that was leaning nonchalantly against the wall. I wasn't happy about the smile he had on his face, obviously pleased with the scare he had given me.
Getting up on my feet, I wasted no time. I had to know.
"What the hell do you want from me?!" I shouted at him. "You think this is some kind of game!?"
He didn't reply, and instead kept that same smile on his face.
My expression remained the same, but inside my anger was rising. An unprovoked act of violence was one thing that really ticked me off. He attacked Ellie without warning. And now, this girl. But for what? It didn't make any sense.
"Are you going to answer me, or aren't you!?"
I glared at him, waiting for a response. Instead complete silence filled the room for an indefinite amount of time. However, I must say that everything that happened after that…was unexpected to say the least.
***
While I had entered a staring contest with the ghost, I had totally forgotten about the girl that was standing next to me. Her eyes switched from gazing at me, to the area I was looking at, and then back at me again. I knew she was lost, but I never thought that she'd catch on so quickly. Or say what she did say.
She stood right in front of me, grabbing my attention away from the ghost. With a surprised look she cried out, "You can see the ghost?!"
I know that I had made an attempt to speak, but for some reason, I couldn't find my voice. This was just too much for me right now! She knows about the ghost?! Does that mean that she can see it herself? But that can't be right! You need strong spiritual energy to see ghosts in the mortal realm!
"Was it a man around his thirties? About 5' 11" with messy light brown hair?"
After some hesitation, I nodded. That was exactly how that spirit looked like. But… he's right here, in the same room. And she's asking me about him? Maybe she really can't see him. But then how can she know about him?
"Oh please, you've gotta tell me where he is! It's important!!"
"Wait. How are you connected to this ghost?" I cried out, finding my tongue again. "Just who are you?"
"I can't explain that right now! I need to find him!!"
Realizing that I was going to get nowhere with this girl at the moment, I decided to help her out. I'd only wish that I had reached this conclusion earlier because when I looked back, the ghost was gone.
"Well… he was right there," I stated, pointing at a spot by the wall.
Turning in the direction that I was pointing, she gazed at that area for a while before cursing under her breath. "Damn it! I missed him again."
"I doubt that."
"What?"
I remained quiet, concentrating for a moment longer before answering. "He's still here."
She blinked. "You serious??"
I nodded.
"I can still sense him but…" Focusing my energy, I searched around the room with my aura. "… I can't seem to find out exactly where he is."
Why was that? He's still here so I should be able to pinpoint him. But for some reason, I couldn't. It seemed like he scattered his energy throughout the entire bank. But why would he do that? Was it just to throw me off?
"I don't like this," the girl spoke, coming a bit closer to me. "It's too quiet."
I had to agree.
"Do you know anything about this ghost that might be useful right now?" I asked.
"It's only what you've seen so far."
"And what have I seen?"
"His ability to possess inanimate objects."
I paused. What she said didn't bode right.
"…Is that it?"
She nodded. "…Why? What were you expecting?"
… I didn't really know how to answer that. I just had a feeling that there had to be more to it. But I couldn't think! I couldn't figure out what was wrong here.
"How big of an object?" I questioned after a bit of musing. "Do you know?"
She shrugged. "I dunno about that. The biggest I've seen him possess is a car."
… A car?
As much as I was curious as to how she came across that piece of information, I had to hold back my questions as the lights of the building flashed in uncanny unison. It continued a moment longer. After that… all went black.
I sighed. He just had to kill the lights.
Moving away from the girl, I picked up my flashlight off of the floor once my eyes had readjusted. Turning it back on, I directed the beam over to the girl to make sure she was okay. She squinted when the light hit her, raising one hand up to her face.
Pulling it away from her, I looked around the bank for a second time. But everything was quiet. I couldn't sense his energy anymore.
I didn't get this ghost's way of thinking. It was totally random. He'd attack and then disappear. Or he'd pull a stunt like this. Just what was he trying to gain by doing this?
"What do you suppose he's up to?"
Only silence greeted me.
The girl wasn't there when I looked back. But she didn't go far. I found her behind the long row of tellers' booths.
However, her expression troubled me. It was the look you got when your entire being was frozen in shock, unable to tear your gaze from whatever had caused you that fear.
I rushed over to her side, hurdling over the booth to where she stood staring down at the floor, right under the desk. I followed her gaze to come across a small button embedded into the carpet. Along with several others just like it in design and function, fixated under each counter.
And each one was emitting a soft red glow.
Blinking.
Ticking away the seconds until the police would arrive on the scene.
