Book of Shadows: Masquerade

Chapter I

"Thou shalt not suffer a sorceress to live." -Exodus 22:18
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Robin was running. Her skirts flew up behind her, and she was beginning to tire, but she knew if she were to slow down even a fraction, he would catch her. In fact, he was already gaining on her.

A shot rang out behind her, spurning Robin to even greater speed. Why was he doing this? She wasn't a witch. . .she wasn't. . .

She turned a corner, only to come face to face with the Hunter. He aimed his Orbo gun straight at her heart, and fired, a cold look of indifference in his grey eyes.

"Amon!" Robin cried, sitting up in bed with a start. She took several deep breaths, huddling under the blankets for warmth, her body covered in cold sweat.

"That dream again. . ." she murmured quietly to herself, the moonlight her only eavesdropper. It wasn't the first time she'd had the dream. In fact, it had been coming to her with increasing frequency for the past month or more. What did it mean? Amon wouldn't really hunt her, would he? She pictured his chilling stare, and the cold way he acted toward her, and realized she had no idea what Amon thought of her, or what he would do. No idea at all.

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The phone was ringing again. Robin finished tying up her hair, then picked up her communicator. It was Amon.

"Robin, we have a new case. Come down to headquarters."

"Okay," she said, ending the call. She sighed as she walked into the living room, seeing the note Touko had left next to the television.

'I'll be working late tonight, please lock up before you leave.'
-Touko

Her roommate was an early riser, something Robin herself had never been. She grabbed the spare set of keys from its hook, locking the door before heading downstairs and out of the apartment complex. Her Vespa was waiting for her there, and she strapped the helmet firmly to her head and drove off.

Once she had gone, a woman peered around the corner of the building, watching Robin's figure grow smaller in the distance. She tucked her long coat more firmly around her, then silently walked away into the shadows.

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Sakaki greeted Robin warmly as she walked into the STN-J Headquarters, and Michael smiled and waved from behind his computer terminal, his music so loud she could easily hear it blaring from his headphones. To Robin's surprise, Doujima was actually at the office before she was, but had already immersed herself in a magazine. Karasuma hovered near Michael, watching as his quick hand skimmed the keyboard in search of a lead. Amon was nowhere to be found.

"Good morning, little Robin," Chief Kosaka said, sipping on a cup of tea. Just then, Amon walked out of Zaizen's office, and motioned for everyone to follow him into the briefing room.

The strange lights on the ceiling illuminated the dim room as everyone took a place at a computer screen. Amon nodded at Michael, who began the briefing of the new case. Robin's attention, however, was focused on their leader.

"There have been several murders in Japan over the past three years, all within the same area. Each victim was killed in the same manner: a strong blow to the head. But no one suspect has been tied to all the murders."

"So then, how do we know it's the same person?" Sakaki asked, looking over the case files. "Or for that matter, how do we know it's a witch?"

"We don't," Michael replied. "There was no evidence of a power being used to kill the victims. But the police are running out of leads. So for once, they're actually asking us to step in."

"Asking?" Doujima chimed in, seemingly interested for once. "Usually we have to go through a pile of paperwork before they let us interfere on one of their cases!"

"Paperwork?" Robin said quietly, her attention diverted away from her close study of Amon.

"Well of course. They're very protective of their cases. You just don't know about all the drudge work, because I'm the one who ends up doing it all." Doujima said, shooting a deliberate glance at Chief Kosaka, who ignored her equally deliberately.

Robin took the opportunity to further examine the files loaded onto the screen before her. It all seemed rather odd. A witch who didn't kill with their power? Then, how could it be a witch at all? Something didn't add up. Robin found herself glancing at Amon again, wondering why he had chosen this case for them over all the others. Surely there was something out there more straightforward, more important, to solve? But Amon took his orders directly from Zaizen, and whatever was going on, he remained as silent and enigmatic about it as ever.

"So, Amon, what should we do first?" Karasuma asked, cutting off the heated argument about to take place between Doujima and the Chief. Amon stared silently at the young woman for a moment, and for a moment, it seemed he might not answer at all.

"We'll check out some of the more recent crime scenes." He said finally. "Sakaki, Karasuma, you'll head to the subway tunnel downtown. The most recent murder took place down there about two days ago, see if you can pick up anything." The two Hunters nodded, then rose to their feet and went out the door. Amon turned to leave as well, when Robin stood up.

"Amon, what about me?" She asked mildly. The turned to look at her over his shoulder, obviously displeased at being stopped.

"You can come with me. Hurry up." With that, he continued on his way out the door, leaving Robin to follow him.

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A/n: Well, what do you think? This is my first WHR fic, so reviews and constructive criticism are welcome.