Five Witches

By: Yaya


Act I, Scene III

"How do you know Anna?" Rayne asked quietly as they made their way towards the Walled City. She could read him well enough, but more telling was the way he clutched the steering wheel, his knuckles turning white to match his pale face.

"How do you know Anna?" He snapped back and shook his head. "I'm sorry. I just never expected to hunt her."

"Yeah, one doesn't usually expect a Director's daughter to end up on the Most Wanted List," Rayne remarked staring outside of her window. "Her father and mine are very good friends… she's closer to my sister's age, but we traveled the same circles. She has always had a dangerous Craft… so we are going to hunt her?"

When she turned back to Keisuke she could feel the waves emitting from him. Of regret, and fear … and underneath it all… love. He sighed, the entire weight of the world in that one breath when he answered, "What other choice do we have? She has been found dangerous, a Witch. And we are Hunters."

A long pause but then she asked again, "How do you know Anna?"

"I spent my apprenticeship in Canada."

"Oh." It was answer enough. She opened the file on her lap. Annabelle Vaughn, daughter of Director Tucker Vaughn, North America. Height: 5'5", eyes: gray, hair: brown hair. Actually, the description was an understatement. Her hair was more coppery in color than brown, and her eyes could go from light gray to almost black in an instant… she was that kind of woman.

And that she had crossed from sane to insane, that she had become dangerous, that did not surprise Rayne at all. Annabelle had always walked a narrow line. She was too passionate a person for it to be any other way, had been allowed too much freedom from a indulgent father… in that Rayne was very much like Anna.

"This was all before I met Ryka, of course."

There was no conviction in his voice and he realized he was talking to a powerful psychic. It would be ridiculous to hide anything from her, if he had anything else to hide. "We were just kids… but I could have loved her forever. She could have loved me forever."

"What happened?"

"A street urchin from Japan is not good enough for a Director's daughter. That is what Colegui told me. By order of her father."

"Why have we never had this conversation before?" She asked and he grinned. "Why do we both hate Juliano so?"

"Because we both thought it was natural to just hate Juliano Colegui."

She argued, "The rest of the world adores him."

"The rest of the world is fucking insane… and don't confuse adoration with fear," he replied, but this time he said it with some gravity and they rode the rest of the way in silence.

Half an hour later, they came to the western gate. The Walled City of Japan, built at the edge of the Edo district, was a law onto itself. Thousands of people disappeared into the city every year from all over the world. It was even rumored the Methuselah herself lived behind the city's walls.

They walked in silence, keeping their eyes open for their various contacts. Eight in all were known to them, two who they actually trusted. But it was not going to happen today. After three hours of silence – the residents of the Walled City kept not only their lips closed around Solomon Hunters, but also their doors. When strangers entered through any of its gates, the news spread like wildfire.

She asked, more to break the silence than anything, "How hard you going to look?"

"I'm in no rush. Colegui's time will come. Eventually." His eyes shifted from door to door, looking for any clue.

"You wanna grab a burger?" She asked as the western gate came into view.

He was about to respond when they saw the woman in her wheelchair. She appeared as if out of nowhere, a cane in her hand, decrepit in body… but her eyes full of wisdom bore into Keisuke Nagira's.

"You seek what you have lost, Hunter."

"The Methuselah," Rayne whispered with awe in her voice.

"And you, with ancient blood in your veins, cannot follow." Something passed between them and Rayne nodded.

The crows appeared as if out of nowhere – hundreds of them on the wire, passing judgment on the scene below them. No sound, not even the flapping of wings, as Keisuke made ready his reply.

He hesitated until the old witch spoke again, "Annabelle waits, as she has always waited, Hunter."

Rayne watched with eyes and preternatural senses. She felt the change in him when the Methuselah had said Anna's name. His entire being had responded to the name.

"I'll be at the car," Rayne promised.

As she walked away, Keisuke stopped called out to her, "An hour, Rayne. If I'm not back in an hour-"

They had been partners for to long for her to say anything but, "I'll be in the car, Kei."

He watched her reach the gate, the setting sun throwing everything into deep color, before turning back towards the woman. She had moved back into the shadow of a door way, "Come, Hunter. Your destiny awaits you."

They moved into the building and in the very entrance was a large staircase leading straight up. "From this point forward you go alone, Hunter. Behind the door at the top you will find your Anna."

He nodded and began to climb, taking the steps two at a time.

When he reached the top landing he paused before entering the room. Reaching for his sidearm he took a deep breath, looking for the strength to do what he was about to do. He pushed the door open and stepped into the room.

It was once a grand ballroom – he had never known rooms like this existed in the Walled City A wall of windows graced one side, and the sky outside was the deepening of the day into night.

The room had seen better days, but it was not in such a state of disarray that it could not be salvaged without some love and care. Wallpaper peeled on one section, the floor seemed duller – but that could have been from the lighting in the room - but what grabbed one's attention was the ceiling.

A giant crystal chandelier that dominated the center of the room. The entire ceiling had been partitioned into several large pieces and in each one was a picture of Japan's wonders both natural and personal. Cherry blossoms in bloom, a geisha, Mt. Fuji, a pair of children in rice paddies, a beautiful crane; on and on the pictures went.

Under the chandelier was a white grand piano, and a woman at the seat. He moved towards her slowly, until she began to pick a tune on the keys and it almost made him stop in his tracks. He did not know how he did it, but he continued until he reached the end of the piano, directly across from her. The gun felt heavy in his hand, but he kept it trained on her, a spot right above her heart.

Annabelle Vaughn was one of the most beautiful women in the world. Her hair, sometimes called red or brown, was richer in tone than either. Almost metallic, he could always pick her out in a crowd just from the stunning color. Her father called her a pretty penny. It was an understatement.

Gray eyes dominated her delicate face and when she lifted her head to look at him he saw that they had darkened to almost black. But her features were still soft, in a few more years she would have more mature edges to her looks and he feared that she would be even more stunning than she was now. It was a sobering thought, that she was a flower still in bloom.

She stopped playing abruptly and said his name, "Keisuke."

She frowned slightly at the gun pointed at her. But she had lived her life as the daughter of one of Solomon's Directors. She was used to weapons, had been trained out of necessity to use them – but she did not remember a time when one had actually been pointed at her.

He asked, "Anna, what are you doing in Japan?"

The sound of her name on his lips seemed to give her pause and she played her C scales, "I could say that I was looking for you…. but that would be a lie. I'm sure that my file gives the better story. They say that I've gone over the edge." She gave herself background music, playing two ominous measures. "I was looking for a place to hide… to survive."

"Have you? Gone over the edge?"

"Who is to really say? I have been judged, now the question is, do you follow the laws of Solomon… or the laws of your heart?" This time her fingers danced over the keys, butterflies in flight.

"I have a wife. A son." He said it knowing that in the context of this conversation it made no sense. Still, it had to be said between them. It was too important and he was too honorable a man to pretend that they did not exist. His world had ended when he had left this woman, and it was not until years later when he met Ryka that he was able to really live again.

"We dreamed of that once, didn't we?" She didn't follow the words with music, instead her eyes drifted to a corner of the room, where window met wall and Kei's eyes were drawn to the same space.

Lying on all fours, its large eyes watching both of them, was a big dog. The breed came to him in a moment, a Rottweiler.

"That is Vancouver. He's been very good to me these past months."

Keisuke had read enough of the file, "He and his kin was responsible for the death of two Solomon agents in New York."

"No, see, that wasn't Vancouver," she shook her coppery curls and closed the lid of the piano at the same time. "Those were Toronto, Brooklyn and Sydney… They didn't make it. Vancouver is new…"

"And how did you make it? Who helped betray Solomon and helped you get out of the country?"

"My family was not about to see me become hunted… we have served Solomon for hundreds of years – and this is how they repay us?"

She spoke with the same tone that he had heard Rayne use when they met with the executive levels of Solomon. A haughtiness that no one in Japan had. He had seen it in other hunters – American, African, European, even some of the mainland Chinese hunters, but never in his home land.

"Why are you being hunted?"

"You've read the file," She refused to look away from him, but he could not meet her gaze, instead switching from the dog at the corner to her face – but not directly in the eyes. That was dangerous.

"Some of it. But I would like to hear the truth from you."

He gauged his reaction to her, trying to bring his heartbeat to somewhere near normal. It pounded in his ears, and the smell of her seemed to invade his every being. It was as if the past several years had not even happened. He was seventeen again, she the sweetest of sixteen.

"Do you believe that I will tell you the truth?"

"God help me, but yes."

She smiled then, and it was devastating. It was not the smile of one who knew complete joy, but rather of one who saw the end of her days coming closer, "I don't know why I did it… I just had to. He was an evil man, I could see it in his dog's head."

The file had given sparse detail.Her triggering event had happened half a year ago. She had moved from Vancouver to New York, free for the first time – though her family was long involved in Solomon, she had chosen to become a veterinarian. It was an appropriate career for a woman whose Craft was the ability to communicate and control animals.

Then one day, she had turned an animal on its owner – abuse she had claimed to the Solomon Director in New York. The Director had explained that it was no excuse; the law should have been her first recourse, not her Craft. The file had noted how the owner had to spend days in the hospital, the cut on his leg had required over fifty stitches.

The dog – a large pit bull named Max - had been put to sleep and hours later a pack of dogs had attacked the owner as he walked outside his home. He never regained consciousness and died the next week.

She had always had an affinity for man's best friend.

"Have any incidents happened since New York?"

"No… but I'm afraid, that it'll happen again. Maybe this is what our lives were leading to. You and me, in this beautiful room, one last dance… before it all ends?"

She stood, afraid that her fate was already written in the stars that were beginning to shine in the sky. Holding out her hand to him, she said, "I have waited for over ten years for this goodbye, Keisuke… Please, don't deny me."

Before he placed his hand in hers he had been unsure of the road he would take. When he did, she locked gazes with him. This was the first woman he had ever loved. He shook his head and tried to fight the feeling, fighting his entire being as he stared into her gray eyes. Not good enough for Tucker Vaugh's daughter, Colegui's voice rang in his head.

The space between them disappeared as he held their joined hands between them. He placed a kiss on her fingers and they held each other, swaying to unheard music in their heads.

She smiled sadly as her hand fell on the gun still in his other hand. With her free hand she touched its barrel, cool to the touch.

"Your dog could probably jump on me and rip my throat out before I decided whether or not I wanted to pull this trigger."

"You're too good a shot, I wouldn't risk Vancouver that way…. Besides, I made my choice a long time ago, Kei. I would never intentionally hurt the man I love"

She said it matter of factly, but he could feel the pulse against his, quickening at the admission. He regarded her, looked with what little sixth sense he had into her eyes – beautiful and large. She was coherent. There was not that vagueness he saw in witches who had lost their way. It didn't make sense. She wasn't crazy.

He had been taught there were only two kinds of witches: 1) those that had passed from sanity to madness and 2) those that used their Craft to commit horrible crimes putting innocent people at risks.

He knew her soul like he knew his own. There was nothing criminal in her. She cried at injustice, had the kindest of hearts. There was no way she was the latter kind of witch. And the clarity in her gaze was undeniable. None of this made sense.

Yet, when she lifted her face upwards, it made all the sense in the world to place the gun on the piano top and kiss her.