She made the same wrong turn, feeling a sense of general apathy. Kelcie got
out of the car. The house was condemned, she saw now. Her answer couldn't
lie in there, there was nothing broken, and no way in. She glanced at the
shrine to her right, behind the tree. The stepped down inside and was
surprised to find a well. It's boards were broken, with blood staining the
sides. Hokkaido... she thought. As she approached the well, Kelcie felt a
connection, one that seemed similar to the one she and Hokkaido shared for
an instant. The well was not that deep, and dry... or was it? What was that,
down there?
"Kelcie! Wait, I'm sorry! I didn't mean what I said back there! Just, don't
jump. Please. Gomen kudasai. Forgive me." It was Andrew. What the hell was
he doing here?
"You followed me? Why?"
He gave her a quizzical stare. "I was afraid what you might do when you
stormed off like that. You were acting strange. And you still are. What are
you doing, anyway?"
"I'm looking for something. Adventure, maybe. I want to see more youkai."
Jump. She looked at his blood again. She gave Andrew an evil grin. She
climbed on to the edge of the well and peered down.
Andrew's eyes filled with excitement. She looked back at him. She still had
the grin.
"I was... afraid of that. Well, I've brought some stuff in my truck, if you
want to help."
"What? You believe me?"
"I saw your spectrographs. Never seen anything like it, neither had the
computer. You can't fake those files."
Of course. Andrew, the voice of reason would never believe a tale about
orange-eyed cat-demons, but he'd be absolutely convinced by a quantum
histogram.
"This isn't a trick to keep me from jumping is it?" she asked playfully.
"Kelcie, once we get our stuff, I'd want to jump with you."
"So what did you bring?"
"Come, I'll show you."
The woman fell back onto the ground and walked over to the back of his truck and looked at his supplies. She was impressed.
"Andrew, I never knew you would even touch a gun, much less own one."
He grinned. "I have as many guns as computers. I have three."
Now it was her turn to be surprised by the other. "Andrew, for as long as I have known you, I never would have dreamed you were the adenturous type."
"Neither have I. But hanging around a laboratory for most of my better years has taken it's toll. I don't want that anymore. I found that out today." He raised his head as he had done in the lab, and gasped. A sudden thunderstorm broke their conversation. The skies grew dark and a peculiar thunderheads formed. The clouds swirled around their spot like a hurricane far above them. It started raining in torrents. Kelcie's yellow jacket got soaked, and she noticed how the rain beaded off of Andrew's long black hair. Thunder crackled in the clouds. Andrew stared. The hair on her neck and cheek rose, lightning splitting out of the sky. It spiraled towards the ancient tree, oddly, down near its roots. The sharp smell of ozone bit at her nostrils, while her eyes saw a changing tree, one that was growing at an accelerated pace. They watched as the tree went through many seasons, losing its leaves, and growing them back again. The show finally ceased after five minutes.
They were breathtaken. Andrew stared up at the blue-again sky. "Well, if that isn't an omen, I don't know what is." He smirked. "Let's go." "Where? Down the well? It's..." "I want to see youkai as much as you do. Come on, the bags are heavy. I brought an Omniscience scanner as well. They'll kill me once I get back to the labs." Kelcie was definitely feeling different. She walked up to Andrew and grabbed him by the shoulders. She kissed him on the cheek. He stammered. "Ah, ah... I've never been kissed by a woman before." What a surprise. "Not even by your own mother?" "That's... complicated. Please, can we go?"
They fell down into the smoky shaft. She felt as if they weren't falling anymore, but gliding. She noticed stars. They was traveling; to the land of the youkai? They landed on the floor of the well. Their bags had preceded them. "How do you suppose we climb out?" Andrew asked. "Like this. Here, grab my hand. We'll just have to climb by using the cracks in the wall." It was obvious Andrew was not very keen on the idea, but it worked.
She remembered this place, a distant, yet very close place. It was very surprising; except for the lack of buildings and the fact that she was in the forest and not on the outskirts of Tokyo, between this time and hers, it was the place she had just discovered in the previous world. And the luck that this particular well led to this seemingly magical time! Yet it wasn't magic, not in the traditional sense. She had learned from Hokkaido the power of the youkai was something tangible, something one could measure. She had been the first to discover this. When she learned where this power was rooted, she knew what she had to do. She gripped the hard plastic of the device in her hand, feeling the button that would spring sharp surgical steel into the blood of her youkai.
"This isn't a trick to keep me from jumping is it?" she asked playfully.
"Kelcie, once we get our stuff, I'd want to jump with you."
"So what did you bring?"
"Come, I'll show you."
The woman fell back onto the ground and walked over to the back of his truck and looked at his supplies. She was impressed.
"Andrew, I never knew you would even touch a gun, much less own one."
He grinned. "I have as many guns as computers. I have three."
Now it was her turn to be surprised by the other. "Andrew, for as long as I have known you, I never would have dreamed you were the adenturous type."
"Neither have I. But hanging around a laboratory for most of my better years has taken it's toll. I don't want that anymore. I found that out today." He raised his head as he had done in the lab, and gasped. A sudden thunderstorm broke their conversation. The skies grew dark and a peculiar thunderheads formed. The clouds swirled around their spot like a hurricane far above them. It started raining in torrents. Kelcie's yellow jacket got soaked, and she noticed how the rain beaded off of Andrew's long black hair. Thunder crackled in the clouds. Andrew stared. The hair on her neck and cheek rose, lightning splitting out of the sky. It spiraled towards the ancient tree, oddly, down near its roots. The sharp smell of ozone bit at her nostrils, while her eyes saw a changing tree, one that was growing at an accelerated pace. They watched as the tree went through many seasons, losing its leaves, and growing them back again. The show finally ceased after five minutes.
They were breathtaken. Andrew stared up at the blue-again sky. "Well, if that isn't an omen, I don't know what is." He smirked. "Let's go." "Where? Down the well? It's..." "I want to see youkai as much as you do. Come on, the bags are heavy. I brought an Omniscience scanner as well. They'll kill me once I get back to the labs." Kelcie was definitely feeling different. She walked up to Andrew and grabbed him by the shoulders. She kissed him on the cheek. He stammered. "Ah, ah... I've never been kissed by a woman before." What a surprise. "Not even by your own mother?" "That's... complicated. Please, can we go?"
They fell down into the smoky shaft. She felt as if they weren't falling anymore, but gliding. She noticed stars. They was traveling; to the land of the youkai? They landed on the floor of the well. Their bags had preceded them. "How do you suppose we climb out?" Andrew asked. "Like this. Here, grab my hand. We'll just have to climb by using the cracks in the wall." It was obvious Andrew was not very keen on the idea, but it worked.
She remembered this place, a distant, yet very close place. It was very surprising; except for the lack of buildings and the fact that she was in the forest and not on the outskirts of Tokyo, between this time and hers, it was the place she had just discovered in the previous world. And the luck that this particular well led to this seemingly magical time! Yet it wasn't magic, not in the traditional sense. She had learned from Hokkaido the power of the youkai was something tangible, something one could measure. She had been the first to discover this. When she learned where this power was rooted, she knew what she had to do. She gripped the hard plastic of the device in her hand, feeling the button that would spring sharp surgical steel into the blood of her youkai.