KudoEdogawa presents...

""Everlasting""

***

Chapter 3::

Shinichi, Heiji, Shiho, Jodie, and Shuichi hopped on to Shuichi's black car and took off immediately. Shinichi's face was full of worry and concern, his drooped eyebrows looking as if they'll fall off anytime soon and his lips are bit until drips of blood begin to ooze out of the wound.

"Kudo," Heiji spoke.

"We'll never reach it in time... we'd have to wait for the flight, and who knows if it's going to get delayed or not..." Shinichi said, his every sound that came out was included with the voice of frantic.

"Chill, Shinichi-kun," Shiho said as she took out her cell phone and dialed a number. "Michael? It's me," she talked into the phone. "We need the fastest chopper in the house. . . the airport? Okay, we'll be there soon."

Shinichi stared.

"A chopper will be waiting for us at the airport, my brother arranged it." Shiho said proudly.

"Shiho...," Shinichi said, "You still haven't told me who you are and why you're so rich."

"I already refused to tell you the answer five years ago, and that's not going to change now. Afterall..," Shiho paused, "A secret makes a woman woman."

A frightened expression took over Shuichi, Jodie, and Shinichi's face.

"Where..." Jodie began, "Where did you hear that?"

"My auntie told me that when I was six, why?" Shiho replied.

"Who's your aunt?" Shinichi inquired sternly.

"I don't quite remember her, but my father says that she's that famous Broadway actress: Sharon Vinyard." Shiho replied. "Isn't that amazing? Too bad she passed away..."

"Vermouth's niece?" Shuichi muttered to himself. "This might turn out fun after all."

The black rented van zipped across the highway of England and once again back into downtown London where it was stopped by the unmoving traffic once more. Shuichi sat in the driver seat, cursing and muttering random insults at the car in front of them, Jodie was eyeing Shiho every now and then. Heiji and Shinichi, who sat next to the windows, were looking at the plaza outside, their eyes darting from this tree to that car, from this cloud to the rock miles and miles below it.

There he was again, the familiar old man sitting under the tree selling jewelries. He turned his head at Shinichi and smiled again, it was such a warm and inviting smile... yet at the same time it feels mysterious, and dangerous.

Shinichi opened the car door and hopped out. "I'll be right back!"

"Oy, Kudo!" Heiji shouted.

"Let him go," said Shuichi, "It's going to take about half an hour till this lot moves anyway." Shuichi put a cigarette to his mouth and lighted it.

Shinichi strode across the plaza to the old man, who looked up at him and gave him another smile. "You've returned, young Kudo." The old man said, not in English, but instead in perfect Japanese. "Much trouble and toil is upon you, and it is partly my fault; I've only told you the legend of that heart-shaped ring... however, you did not wait for me to tell you the later half of that legend, the dark and terrorized curse that lay within it."

"Curse?" Shinichi repeated. "But you said that whoever was bonded by the ring shall live a perfect life."

"You have good memory, young Kudo. But the bond of the ring only lasts if the True Love --the ruby-- lasts, now the ruby fades into a diamond, and such fading has its consequences, that's the curse of it. It is not your fault that the True Love faded, for you were suffering from amnesia when you fell for the other woman, but nevertheless, the ruby has faded.

"Though the love was regained between you and your wife, the ruby can never return to its original state. Certain events in life are not fair, young Kudo, like my store; it was shut down and now I have to sit out here under the sun for business."

"What is the curse?" Shinichi questioned.

"The consequences, of course. But what will fall upon your family, I cannot say, it could be young Ran-kun or you that the curse falls upon, and only through regaining what is most significant might the curse leave. You have questions, I understand, but now is not the time for questions, the cars are beginning to move, you wouldn't want to delay them any longer." The man pointed at the long line of cars, and indeed, the cars in the front are making slow proceeds, and within the black van, Heiji was shouting at him to get back.

"Who are you?" Shinichi questioned. The man only smiled. A group of female tourists came and surrounded the small stand, and Shinichi left reluctantly.

"Who was that?" Heiji asked as Shinichi got back on the van.

"No one... I thought he looked familiar, turned out it was the person whom I bought Ran's ring from."

Heiji asked no more and the van zoomed towards the airport, where a black helicopter with the letters "LC" was imprinted on the door of the chopper. Shinichi and Heiji helped loading their luggage while Shinichi walked around the chopper, apparently amazed.

"So, uh..., what does 'LC' stand for?" He asked at last.

"Oh, that," Shiho replied. "It's one of my dad's companies, it stands for 'Liquor Corporations.' I think it has something to do with wine business, but I'm not sure; I'm not all that interested in his business."

Wine business? Shinichi thought to himself. And blood relation with Vermouth... just what is her family background? Shinichi was lost in his thoughts until Heiji's shouting brought him back to earth; the luggage were loaded and they were ready for take off. Shinichi rushed onto the helicopter as it began to rise and the airport came into view..., then the plaza, and then the church. The three locations formed a perfect "V" in the city, but no one noticed this as the city was being covered by sheets of white cloud, and they rose to meet the sun.

~*~

Shinichi!! Shinichi!!

Someone was crying out to him, he was needed.

Ran!!

He was running as fast as he could, but Ran was engulfed by flames that faded into the heart-shaped diamond, which shattered and went with the wind.

Only through regaining what is most significant might the curse leave, Came the voice of the man.

A toddler was walking unsteadily towards him, a big grin on his face. His tiny arms outstretched, as if asking for someone to pick him up and embrace him, but instead, darkness came over him as he, too, faded along with his mother.

~*~

Shinichi's eyes snapped open. He was sweating. Heiji and Shiho are asleep on either side of him, Shuichi and Jodie were staring coldly out the window and the darkened world below.

"Nightmare?" Jodie asked.

"Kind of," he replied.

"Wake the other two up, we're approaching Tokyo," Shuichi declared. "We'll be landing on the roof of Beika Grand Hotel; quicker to get to your residence from there."

Shinichi shook awake Heiji and Shiho as the helicopter approached the rooftop. He stared down; Beika looks pretty peaceful for now, just as when he left: like the reflection of the night sky, glittering with star-like lights.

As soon as the aircraft has landed, Shinichi and his companions hopped off it and dashed to ground floor where they quickly boarded another vehicle --a cab-- to and headed towards Shinichi's house to find everything dark and quiet. Shinichi checked his watch: eight-thirty in the evening, they shouldn't be asleep yet.

"Oh, Shinichi-kun!" Came a cheery voice behind them. Shinichi turned around; it was Hakase. "If you're looking for Ran-chan, I think she went to Mouri's old office with Hiro-chan."

"Detective Agency," Shinichi said to Heiji upon hearing this. "Let's go." And the five of them dashed off, but not before giving Hakase a quick thank-you.

Gosh, Ran. Please be alright. Shinichi wished in his mind, but it was not fulfilled; greeting them at the Detective Agency was a cruel and burning flame.

"RAN!!" Shinichi roared. "HIROICHI!!"

He ran forward, wanting to charge into the fiery building but was blocked by the fire-fighters and police that have already gotten there. In midst of the watching crowd, and path was cleared and Shinichi could just barely see his wife's face. He pushed away the crowd and dashed next to his wife.

"Ran!" He exclaimed as he grabbed her hand. Thank God that there has not been any visible burns.

Ran opened her eyes slowly and saw a blurry image of her husband, "Shinichi..." She breathed. "They took him... they took our son... find him..."

"Hiroichi?!" Shinichi exclaimed. "Who's they? Who?"

Ran opened her mouth and panted two words: "Those men..." and she fainted. The nurse nearby placed an oxygen mask on her face and loaded her onto the ambulance and the vehicle drove away."

Shinichi dropped onto his knees and cried silently; he was late.

The crowd began to dismiss themselves as the fire was put out. Heiji put one hand on his best friend's shoulder and knelt down beside him. "C'mon," he said, "Get yourself up and let's find those men, get your son back, and seriously kick their butts, huh? What say you, pal?"

Face still stained with tear, Shinichi muttered, "I'll kill her; I will kill Vermouth."

~T o B e C o n t i n u e d~

The first chapter of 2004!! On the first day of 2004!! Happy New Year to all, as well as a belated Merry Christmas.