See previous chapter.
4 years earlier...
Aumon raised an eyebrow at the blushing teenager in front of him. She wore a sky blue one-piece dress lined in gold. A gold collar framed her neck, shoulders, and upper chest. Gold bands covered her wrists and ankles. Earrings in the shape of ankhs glittered from under her hair. Someone had painted the same shape perfectly on both cheeks. She was extremely red and kept glancing back at her giggling friends.
The man rolled his eyes. A dare. He sat lounging on the bench wearing blue jeans, a normal T-Shirt, and sunglasses. "May I help you? Miss..."
"Ishikari." The girl blurted quickly. "I'm Shayul Ishikari."
He smiled. "I'm Aumon. Would you like to sit down?" She nodded wordlessly and he moved so she could sit. He watched her fidget silently. "Did you want something?"
"Um...m...my friends dares me to t...talk to you."
"Hmm... okay. Talk." She blushed even harder and he laughed. She glared up at him, still blushing. "There's only one reason a bunch of girls would dare you to do this." A look of panic crossed Shayul's eyes. "Don't worry. I won't tell." His pager beeped. He looked at it. "Well, I gotta go. My boss is calling. Maybe I'll meet you here tomorrow. We can go talk over coffee or something." Shayul nodded.
"That sounds great." Aumon smiled and turned. "Wait! Where do you work?"
"Everywhere. I'm a witch hunter." Aumon didn't notice as he walked away that her happy grin broke as soon as he said those words.
"She drowned Aumon. I don't get it. The only water she was near was a water fountain. A broken fountain at that."
"You're no good at computers Karasuma."
"Yeah well, the boss is looking."
"I'm going to go back to the site."
"It's no use, we've looked." Aumon gave her a distant look.
"We could've missed something!" He left.
Karasuma sighed. "What could he find that I didn't?"
She sat like that a few minutes more until the phone rang. "Hello?"
"I think I found that thing we missed."
West of the City
Karasuma crouched down and took a picture of the ground before her. "'Just one more.' What do you think it means?"
"I think," Aumon looked around, "that we aren't dealing with separate witches."
"Then what? A coven?"
"Possibly. Either way it's a ritual. We have to catch them before the last person is murdered."
"You have a plan?"
"No."
"That's helpful. You honestly don't know?"
"No. I'm going home. Call me if you find anything."
"Okay."
Aumon's house
Aumon walked through the door and put water in the coffee pot when the phone rang. He didn't pick it up and just waited for the machine. He sat on the couch while his voice went through the message. He heard the beep.
Silence filled the room. Then...
"Aumon," The voice was deep. Not ridiculously so, but deep." The last kill will be made. Not soon, oh no... but in due time. Do not interfere. The consequences will be dire." Aumon jumped immediately from the couch and picked up the phone. The only thing that met him, however, was the dial tone.
He checked the caller ID. "Hmph... Private number. Figures." He dialed out a number.
Karasuma answered, "Hey, what's up?"
"I'm sending you a message I just received. I'll let you handle it."
"Oo...k... all right. I got it. Want me to call you tomorrow?"
"No, I'm busy. I've got a date." He hung up.
Aumon sighed and went to bed, not understanding anything about his current case.
Two months later
"Aumon! You...YOU! Give me back my bear!" Shayul growled and skated toward the older man who was sliding backwards down a hill on rollerblades. He held a black teddy bear above his head, laughing.
"Come and get it Shayul!"
She growled again. Aumon turned forward, still laughing and skated around a corner. He stopped and turned again, feeling the wind picking up in the trees. A second later Shayul came around the corner, using Aumon as an immediate brake. They tumbled to the ground, the bear safe in Shayul's arms, Shayul safe in Aumon's arms. The laughing gradually died down and they stared at each other, Shayul flushing ever so slightly.
No sound filled the air other than Aumon's heavy breathing and Shayul's racing heart. Aumon placed a hand behind her neck and pulled her closer to him. They closed their eyes as he gently pushed his lips to hers.
The black bear was momentarily forgotten in the silence as they kissed.
Shayul raised her hand to Aumon's face, cupping his cheek, opening her mouth slightly for air. The older man smirked slightly as he slipped his tongue out quickly to lick her teeth. His one hand was still around her neck, running through her hair, and the other was resting lightly on her waist. Her other hand sat on his chest, clenching his shirt at random intervals.
She had only just leaned back into him when a shrill beeping sound filled the air. Aumon sighed as he fished his phone out of his pocket. "Hello?"
"Bad news Aumon, sorry to interrupt you. The last body was found."
"What do you mean 'found'?" Aumon sat up, still holding Shayul.
"I mean what I said. Found. As if it had been there awhile. It seems as if our coven didn't want it found for a while. The man was in a graveyard somewhere North of the city."
"Aumon, it's getting late I should go." Shayul stood quietly. Aumon looked at her in confusion. "Goodbye, Aumon." She spun and skated away in he direction of her house.
Aumon picked up the black bear, entirely confused and stared at the bear. He thought on everything, the case, Shayul, the city, the stars. Stars? His eyes widened.
"Aumon? Aumon, are you ok? Who was that?"
"I've got it Karusuma! I've got our witches! The ritual, the city. A star of magic!"
"Aumon! Wait for me, you can't solve this alone! Aumon!!"
He shook his head and clicked the phone shit. He retrieved his backpack from where it fell, switched his blades for shoes, and pulled his gun and orbo cross.
Making a few calculations in his head he ran for Central Square, getting there just as darkness fell. His gaze took in the small fountain spilling over itself in the middle, the torches around the area, the vines growing on the benches.
He looked at the ground near his feet. Lines were appearing in the concrete and sinking until a star was perfectly carved.
A figure stepped out of the shadows, hooded, and walked to the star. "I see you found me, Aumon."
Aumon's eyes widened again, "How do you know my name?"
"I was hired for this, I have to know who might try to stop me." The deep voice didn't match the petite figure."I tried to warn you Aumon." He pointed the gun dead center on the figure's chest when the voice started to change, sounding strangely familiar each second. The figure raised their hands to the hood. Black hair framing the young mournful face.
The gun wavered in his hand. "Shayul!?"
She didn't do anything or try to explain. Her eyes were dull, no longer sparkling. "Are you going to shoot me Aumon?"
The shot rang though the night and Aumon dropped to his knees. His eyes glistening and cursing any gods that might be listening. "Leave!Now. I never want to see you again!"
"Wow, Aumon. You took out the leader and the rest fell. Hm. They must've desolved. I fI didn't know better I'd say you missed." Karasuma inspected the bullet in the tree. "Now traces of magic anywhere. You did a fine job Aumon. Aumon?" She looked over to him.
He stood wearing fully black attire, trenchcoat reaching his ankles. He gazd at the sky, eyes empty of all emothion. "Yeah, case closed."
Present time...
The shot rang out, her eyes widened and she stood on wobbly legs for just a minute as blood poured down her skin.
Aumon dripped the gun and caught Shayul before she could hit the ground. She gazed up at him. "I... waited so long... to see...you again."
"I wasn't kidding Shayul. I meant what I said."
"No... Aumon.Not really. I knew this...par...par..." She coughed, blood bubbling up between her lips, "This certain case...would only...bring you... because only you... would remember... would... know..."
"Shut up Shayul. Don't make it harder. Just die already!" He growled at her, cradling her against his chest.
"I forgive you... Aumon. I'm... glad I got to see you... again. Her eyes widened and he body gave one last shudder before it stopped moving. The fires went out, the vines and the star disappeared, the fountain returned to normal and the wind died.
He didn't move for quite awhile, holding her. A lone tear traveled down his cheek before he laid her gently on the concrete and stood, retrieving his gun and silently returning home.
Robin watched him from the cover of a tree, eyes wide, mouth open in surprise. "Aumon..."
A weel later...
Michael sat typing at his computer, Robin was standing beside him. Michael grinned. "Found her! Shayul Ishikari. She was an unregistered witch in Japan until four years ago. She was an elemental witch."
"Element witches are rare, in any country. I've never met one and it's rumored to only be five in the whole world."
"Yeah. Pretty rare. Hey Karasuma! I found the name of our witch."
The woman looked over at him. "Oh yeah? What?"
"Shayul Ishikari."
"Shayul? She was a witch? That sweet little girl did this?" Karasuma stood and walked over to them. "Wow, I never would of guessed."
Robin glanced at her. "You know this woman?"
"Yeah." Karasuma looked at the picture. "She was Aumon's girlfriend for two months and four years ago. Shayul had disappeared suddenly, I wondered what had happened to her."
"Robin." The trio snapped their heads to the door. Aumon was standing there, a bag in his hand. He stalked to Robin abd handed her the bag. "Here. It's a gift." He walked away immediately out the door. Not waiting for anyone to reply.
They looked at each other.
"Well, open it Robin." Michael said.
"Ok." She took the shoe box out of the bag and opened it. Inside was a beautiful velvet black teddy bear and a note. She pulled out the bear, her eyebrow's knitted together.
Michael gasped, "Robin! Look at it's foot!"
Robin turned the bear over. Hardly noticeable on the pad of its left foot were words in black marker. She squinted, "'To: Shayul, Love: Aumon.'" She read. She looked at her friends, still confused. "He must be in pain." Saying this she replaced the bear and closed the box. "I'll go home now. See you two tomorrow." She also left.
Michael and Karasuma shared a look and shrugged.
'Robin,
By now you have probably figured it out. I trust you to understand why I'm leaving, Don't look for me. Don't tell anyone. I'm glad you were my partner for a time. This case had me shaken up. You'll see me again.
Thank you,
Aumon'
Robin gazed out her window, holding the letter in her hand, the bear on her lap.
The Moruge
The coroner paced about the room, gathering his tools. He turned back to the corpse on the table to find it gone. Surprised he looked around.
A tingling feeling began to fill his body, he found he couldn't move. He saw his corpse standing on the other side of the door wearing a robe. She was staring at him, smirking. "Thanks for returning my life."
He blinked as a fire caught onto the sheets, finding he couldn't breath. He twisted, his feet sunk into the floor. He tried to scream for help but water spilt up from his throat. The coroner's hair began to wave around his face and he only had time to blink before the room erupted in flames.
Shayul Ishikari smiled and left the morgue after retrieving her things. "You can't get rid of me that easily Aumon."
END