Soft Light and Shadows
Chapter 5: The Outsider
by: IMBSA
IMBSA: Sorry for the delay. Damn, it's been a while. Oh yes, and if you wanted to know, I did plan that out. I knew I was probably going to get on restriction, so I uploaded the chappie with the MAJOR cliffhanger before my impromptu disappearance. Those are probably gonna happen a LOT.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
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Shortly after the two STN-J agents had left, Valerie had two surprise visitors. Mary, the nurse, had finished feeding her (the woman had insisted that Valerie not do anything that could exert her) and had left before Shini started hissing again. The cat climbed on top of the covers, facing the window. Valerie heard a noise and her eyes widened; she swung herself around to look at the casement. Two teenagers dressed in black appeared, one with his hand extended. The other boy had piano wire wrapped around his hand. They both were looking at her with expressions of utter hatred. Shini continued hissing violently. Knowing instinctively who they were and what they wanted, Valerie screeched in terror, launching herself out of the hospital bed, and onto the floor. Pushing herself up, she tried to run out of the room, knocking into the IV and sending it crashing to the ground. But as she reached the door, two arms encircled her waist and neck, squeezing. Valerie screamed again, trying to free herself. The door flew open and Valerie found herself on the tiled floor. Crawling into the corner, she huddled, closing her eyes to what she knew was happening to her attackers.
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Two of the hospital orderlies, after hearing the screaming and crashing, ran into the room with Karasuma and Sakaki at their heels. What greeted the four pairs of eyes was a truly unexplainable sight. Valerie was hunched down in the corner, moaning softly while hiding her face from what could only be described as a solid shadow passing through an invader --obviously one of The Fallen's new members--and the boy plunging down, dead. As they watched, the shadow stopped short from the other assailant and vanished.
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The orderlies checked over Valerie as Sakaki and Karasuma explained everything to the rest of the team. Robin listened with her head cocked to the side as she stroked Shini absent-mindedly. The cat had been running their way as they rushed towards Valerie's room and Robin had scooped the terrified feline up. As Karasuma finished her story, she said, "And I know who killed Miyagi as well. It was Damien."
Doujima wrinkled her nose in confusion and answered, "But he's dead."
"His was the presence I felt. He was the boy in the picture."
"So it was a ghost." Amon stated.
"Not exactly." Robin countered. Everyone looked at her. "Don't you see? Damien's desire to protect his half-sister was so strong that his spirit has willingly trapped itself on this earth through his powers. He could make his body turn into a shadow, remember? Whenever Julia is threatened, he manifests himself as a shadow using his power and takes away whatever is endangering her, then retreats. He's her guardian angel."
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IMBSA: Ok. So I didn't exactly end it there. My co-writer and me are having "aggressive negotiations" about the ending.
AnimeReviewer790: You don't think the twist was too obvious, do you? I mean, you couldn't tell from the beginning that Val was going to be Julia, did you? As for you or your sister.... Hmm. I don't know. On one hand, I'm not about to sacrifice one of my faithful readers to the nefarious Lord Chaos. On the other hand, I'm very much opposed to senseless violence. Wait a second, what am I saying?!?! Hell yeah I'll take your sister! The more bloodshed, the better!!!!!