Author's Note: We have a lot to unpack here. And I've killed off another canon character here. It was supposed to be more gruesome but I ran out of time. I got the idea from a story on the podcast A Twisted Mirror. A friend gave me a couple of ideas to write this. From there, the story unfolded. I had been already sitting on a couple of ideas for a while and here they are. Speaking of which, I already know what I want to do for next week's halo. For now, enjoy this week's halo.
Halo Sixteen: Haruna:
In five more days, there will be two more bodies to fuel the Wasteland. And it all started with a rumor.
The Saika children have been hearing whispers lately. Whispers about a Saika baby. But that can't be right, can it? This certainly has Aya's attention. She awoke to her phone buzzing on her nightstand. Blocked number. And it was a missed call. The therapist narrowed her eyes as she unlocked the screen.
One voice mail from Kujiragi. What did she want? Aya put her phone to her ear.
"The Saika children have been whispering about a baby," Kujiragi said. The therapist narrowed her eyes. What did that mean? Aya reached over to her nightstand and pulled open the drawer. She reached in and pulled out her notebook. Let's see where were they on the timeline. Today was November first. Aya took a closer look. She looked back on Halloween. The therapist read through the lines carefully. Suddenly, she found one note that stuck out to her.
"Oh!" she said. Aya reached out for her phone.
"Kitano-sensei, good morning!" she was quick to say. "I think there is something you are going to hear this."
7:00 a.m.
Momoki walked after the city in the early morning hours. She was bored again and wanted to go see Mikado. There weren't many people around down this street. It wasn't like anyone was going to notice her. Like the other ghosts, she could make herself be seen if she wanted to.
Momoki held out her red and blue pinwheel as she walked. She made it out onto the main street. Here were the people. Not many people around on a Sunday. Momoki looked around as she kept walking. She sighed to herself. They all looked the same when she thought about it. Just flesh, bones, blood, and muscle walking around. She's seen it before. Still, it was a welcome change from the ghosts in Purgatory.
But then, the little girl paused.
Three girls about sixteen were walking by to a Starbucks. They looked cute with their jeans and short skirts. They had breasts and feminine curves. One of the girls threw back her head and giggled. The curls in her brown ponytail swayed from side to side. Momoki sighed as she looked down at her own body. She looked over at the window of a department store. Momoki looked like a little girl. Flat chest, no curves, and cherub-like cheeks. She frowned at herself.
Mikado saw her as a child. Momoki looked like a child. But that was the thing. Momoki wasn't a child. She was but she wasn't all the same. The girl looked and acted like a child. But her mind was rather complex. That didn't change the fact that she still looked like a little girl. It didn't help that she was in love with Mikado. He would never reciprocate the feeling. Sure, Mikado did love her. But loved her like a little sister. He would never love her like he did with Anri and the other women.
That was it.
Momoki knew what she had to try to do next. She turned and started walking down the street. There was one person she could turn to help her with her little mission.
The little girl walked past a girl long pink dress with glowing red eyes. Momoki shivered as she walked faster.
Niekawa Haruna was in a foul mood. Nasujima had gone missing and couldn't be reached. No one had seen him at his apartment. Sure, he blocked her number but she managed to call him from other numbers. Still, he wasn't picking up then.
She tried to go and track down Anri but something or someone seemed to be protecting her. Anri was walking home alone one day. Haruna was ready to charge at her. However, two sex workers cut her off in the path. One with long dark purple hair and one with long blonde pigtails. Haruna gave them an annoyed, confused look.
"Who the hell are you?" she asked. The one with long dark purple hair grinned and clocked her. One punch and down.
While Haruna was out cold, she started to hear strange whispers from Saika. Something about a baby?
Baby. Baby. Baby. Baby! Baby! Baby!
The girl opened her eyes.
"A baby?" Haruna asked as her eyes started to glow red. She sat up as she pondered this. Why would Saika be talking about a baby? Clearly, Haruna wasn't pregnant because she hadn't slept with Nasujima for a long time. That just left Anri and Kujiragi. For some reason, Haruna felt angry. The girl rose to her feet.
She was going to get to the bottom of this.
Texts from Halloween
"Hello. How are you?"
"Who is this?"
"A friendly rival."
"?"
"Look, I just want to apologize."
"For what?"
"For trying to take your heresy kill. Let me make it up to you."
"What?"
"I am going to give you one of my targets to kill. You are looking for a blasphemy kill, aren't you?"
"Who the hell is this?"
"I told you, a friendly rival."
"How did you get this number?"
"I have my ways."
"What the hell are you talking about? What the fuck do you want from me?"
"Look, I'm extending an olive branch here. You and I have common targets after all. So it's natural for us to overlap."
"What I am saying is that I want to give you one of my kills to make up for the one I tried to steal."
"My targets are the Ten no Shin'en. They fall under 'Thou shall have no other gods before me.' Here is what I am going to do. I will take the members and I will let you have one of the top members in the inner circle. You can have any one of your picks."
"Why though?"
"Why what?"
"Why are you giving me such a gift? What have I done to deserve such a gift?"
-Three dots appeared-
"Because you and I are similar with our theme of kills. I messed up when I tried to take your kill. So, I am making it up to you."
"Who are you really?"
"I haven't fully come up with a name yet. But I know who you are, DK."
Fukuzawa Kotoko was one of the original members of Ten no Shin'en since it was called Asahara. She had not been an easy woman to win over. Still, Kotoko didn't really hate Chisa. In truth, the Asahara had veered way off course over the past two years. The older woman doubted that things would go back to the way they used to be but she could tell that something was different.
Kotoko splashed water into her face in her bathroom. Halloween was over and she was happier about it.
"Such a stupid Western Halloween," she muttered to herself. Why did they have to bring that to Japan? Kotoko shook her head. At least they were able to go home after the prayer.
Suddenly, the woman looked up.
"Who's there?" she asked. Kotoko looked around the small bathroom. She frowned as she narrowed her eyes. That was the third time that she felt someone in the apartment with her. Kotoko didn't like this. Was Chisa the one spying on her?
No. This was different.
Kotoko bust out of her bathroom with curlers in her hand.
"I know you're in here!" she snapped. "Come out and show yourself!" Kotoko looked around as waited. When she turned around, she froze.
"Who the fuck are-?!" she shouted.
Zap!
Kotoko went down hard on the floor. Her body twitched before going still. She was still conscious as she was dragged out of her apartment.
More Saika children were whispering around about the possible baby. Kujiragi caught it too. She too started to remember some things that happened before. In fact, she knew who the mother of this baby would be. The question was what would happen next.
Meanwhile, Anri had just walked out of the drugstore. She was supposed to pick up the morning-after pill after another trip to the doctor. But for some reason, Saika wouldn't let her do it. Anri was just about to reach out for the box of pills.
No!
Anri froze with her hand out. "No?"
Let it live. Let it live. Let it live!
She looked down at her stomach. Flashes of memories sparked in her head. Part of her wished that it wasn't true. He didn't use a condom but she was on the pill. Anri hadn't stopped taking the pill. It was still possible to get pregnant while on birth control. Hence why she was at the drugstore.
Anri dropped her hand to her side. Saika was telling her to not get the morning-after pill. There had to be a reason why.
-Three Days Later-
The body was found in Ikebukuro West Gate Park. Another salaryman thought that he was seeing things. He had the misfortune of getting closer for a look. When he did, the poor man covered his mouth.
She was nailed to an iron cross. He thought it was as she judged by the white and red robes the body was wearing. The body itself was covered in third-degree burns.
Nakamura frowned as he shook his head while looking at the pictures on his desk. These killings were getting more twisted and gruesome. By now, he had good knowledge of Dante's Inferno. If Ran was violence against others and Chinatsu was suicide, this had to be blasphemy. And judging by the robes, he knew just the place to look.
He managed to track down Chisa's home address. The detective knocked on the door. Hina greeted him at the door.
"Excuse me, is Kitano-san here?" he asked.
"Y-Yes," she said.
"Can I speak with her?" the detective asked. Hina backed into the apartment. Nakamura took a step back as he waited. He lifted his chin as another person came to the door. Chisa gave him a strange look.
"Yeah?" she asked. Nakamura held up his badge.
"I'm Detective Nakamura," he said. "I have a couple of questions to ask." The cult leader raised her eyebrow.
"What is it?" she asked.
"Can I come inside?" the detective asked.
"Sure," Chisa said. She backed up and let him inside. The cult leader took the news as well as she could. Despite her efforts, she couldn't hide the anger in her eyes. Nakamura showed her the pictures.
"I noticed that these are the robes from your group," he said. "Are you missing anyone from your group?" Chisa took a look.
"I don't know," she said. "When did you find them?"
"Yesterday evening," he said. Chisa looked up at him.
"And you are saying DK did this?" she asked. The cold look in her eyes made him shiver.
"Yes," Nakamura said. "Could you let us know if anyone is missing from your church?"
"Of course," Chisa said, bowing her head.
"Thank you for your time," Nakamura said. He bowed his head and walked out of her kitchen. He didn't know it at the time before he just lit a fuel drum of leaking gasoline.
The voices of the Saika children were growing louder. Those affected by her curse were now starting to feel it.
The little girl with the long wavy red hair made her way to Ikebukuro at last. It felt like she was being drawn here. Though she couldn't explain why. The child winced as the scar over where her right eye should be started to ache. She gasped aloud as she heard the whispers again.
Baby. Baby. Baby. Baby! Baby! Baby!
What did it mean? The child staggered into the street.
"Hey, kid! Are you okay?" someone asked. Their voice sounded so far away. A giant hand grabbed her on the shoulder. The bald man in the messy suit froze. That child's little face looked so familiar.
"Are you okay? Where are your parents?" he asked. The little girl stared up at him with a wide eye, silent.
Within a couple of days, Chisa started to notice that something wasn't right. Some of her followers were acting strangely. Some of them have been leaving the grounds in the middle of the night. They would be gone for hours at a time. Saku noticed it too.
We have an interloper.
"Yes," Chisa said. "It's her, isn't it?"
Yes.
"Okay," the woman said. She already knew what to do next.
On the next night, Chisa secretly followed one of her entranced followers. The women and girls were supposed to be in their rooms at night. Chisa got the notification on her phone when one door opened. The cult leader didn't need to leave her office to trail where the woman was going. The woman ended up in the park where the latest body was found. She stopped in her tracks and waited. She turned to see a girl dressed in a long pink dress walking toward her. There was a twinkle in Chisa's eye. The glowing red eyes told the cult leader all that she needed to know.
The next morning, she called the follower into her office. Chisa waited with a cold smirk. She was right to track this one. The cult leader lifted her chin when the door slid open.
"You wanted to see me?" the woman asked.
"Why yes," Chisa said. She held her hand out to the chair in front of her desk. The woman with chubby cheeks looked nervous as she walked over to the chair. It was easy to see why that witch picked out Mimiko. The woman sat down in front of the desk. Chisa gave her a cold smile.
"Where were you last night?" she asked. Mimiko looked confused at first.
"I was in my room, Kitano-sama," she said. Chisa had a frozen look in her eyes. So cold that it burned.
"Don't lie to me," she said in a low voice. Mimiko trembled. Chisa had an anger that no one wanted to cross. The woman with a round face could feel tears running down her cheeks.
"I-I-I don't know!" she whimpered. "I-I-I was going to bed at the right time one minute and then I woke up in my room." Chisa glared at her.
"Tell me the truth!" she said with her voice dropping to a low pitch. Mimiko paused as her eyes glazed over.
"A witch put a spell on me," she said in a monotone voice. "She's having me look for the baby." Chisa gave her a curious look.
"A baby?" she asked.
"Yes, Kitano-sama," Mimiko said. The cult leader sat back and thought about this for a moment.
"And how many of you were cursed by the witch?" Chisa asked.
"There's Suki, Arine, Ei, Chou, Enkai, Hide, Ichigo," Mimiko started to list off. The cult leader held up her hand.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" she said. "Slow down there." Chisa handed her a pen and notepad.
"Write down everyone whom the witch has cursed," she said. Mimiko picked up the pen and started writing.
Chisa called an emergency sermon that evening. The congregation couldn't figure out what was going on. Even Hina didn't know what this was about. Chisa smiled and patted her on the head. She resumed the cold look on her face as she walked up to the podium.
"My flock, it has saddened me to say that we had an interloper in our midst," she announced. The congregation started whispering to each other. Chisa walked over to the fifteen women kneeling on the ground.
"Our sisters here were corrupted by the witch and forced to do her bidding because of a witch baby in the city!" she shouted. Mimiko and the rest of the newly made Saika children sat on the ground, wincing. The cult leader rested her hand atop Mimiko's head.
"But this lamb has come back to the light and saved her fellow sisters!" she said. "They shall repent for their moment of weakness! Bring out the witch!" The doors flew open. Four butch-looking women dragged Haruna down the aisle. She struggled in vain, screaming at them.
"Let me go!" the girl shouted. One of the bodyguards gave her a swift kick to the ribs. All of the air left her lungs. The women started booing and jeering her as she was dragged by. The bodyguards tossed her onto the stage. Chisa grabbed Haruna by the hair and pulled her up. The girl glared at her.
"You picked the wrong group to invade, witch," the cult leader said in a low voice. Haruna spat in her face.
"Go to hell!" she growled. Her eyes started glowing red. Chisa tossed her to the floor. Haruna landed with a thud.
"You see how she is?" Chisa asked. "No remorse!"
"Punish the witch!" the women screamed. "Punish the witch! Punish the witch! Punish the witch! Punish the witch!" Chisa held up her hand.
"Now, now!" she said. "I know how you feel." The cult leader picked up a giant cat o' nine tails.
"After all, man proposes, god disposes!" she shouted.
Whack!
Haruna didn't scream. She just had hate in her eyes. Chisa whipped the girl across the back several times. She turned to Mimiko and handed her the whip.
"It's your turn," she said to the older woman. Mimiko stared at her with big eyes. Chisa held out the whip to her.
"This is the only way to redeem yourself," she said. "This witch led you astray. Redeem yourself now." Mimiko stood up in a trance and picked up the whip. She stood over the injured girl. At first, the woman hesitated. Haruna looked up with her glowing red eyes. The whispers began to fill Mimiko's head. She could let this girl go and help her escape. But Chisa would be mad. The cult leader clicked her tongue.
"Do it," she hissed. Mimiko's grip tightened and brought down the whip. She did it with full force. Still, Haruna wouldn't scream. How was her Saika possession failing with this woman? It didn't make any sense.
Chisa turned to her flock.
"Now! Everyone come up and punish the witch!" she shouted.
"Punish the witch! Punish the witch! Punish the witch! Punish the witch!" the women shouted. They all ran forward and advanced. Fists, open hands, feet, whips, rods, and books were used to beat the girl. No matter how people kicked, punched, slapped, spat, and stomped on her, Haruna still wouldn't scream. Not even when blood and saliva mixed on the floor. The girl spat up a tooth at one point. In fact, she got angrier.
The beating didn't stop there.
Haruna was dragged outside to the back garden and stripped naked. The women forced her down on an iron cross. The higher-up women nailed down her wrists and feet. Still, Haruna refused to scream. The pain was getting to her as the cross was lifted off the ground.
Now, you would think that would be enough for a teenage girl. They could've just left her up there to suffocate or starve to death.
But no.
The women walked forward with cans of gasoline. Haruna coughed and spat as it got in her eyes and mouth.
"What the fuck?!" she screamed. Haruna could barely see through her soaked bangs. Chisa walked forward with a book matches in her hand. She pulled out a match. The cult leader gave her a cold smirk.
"Any last words?" she asked.
"Fuck… you…" Haruna wheezed through the pain. She still wouldn't break. However, Saku left her some parting words.
Your little Saika magic won't work on me.
"I am a god," Chisa said. Haruna's eyes widened in fear. However, she didn't get time to process this fact. The cult leader tossed the match on Haruna's body.
Only then did the girl scream.
Texts from Halloween
"So what do you say? I'm giving you a sweet deal here."
"Fine. I'll take the deal."
"Excellent."
"We just can't kill the cult leader."
Agreed. Can't kill the boss' daughter."
"That's for sure."
-December 14th, 2015-
Running. Running.
Tetsu keeps running. That's all that he can do. It's all that he has to keep from going crazy. He's seen too much. He knows too much. Tetsu doesn't know how much more he can take of this.
The fire tadpole wants to scream. But that would be too dangerous for him. So he does the next best thing he can do.
