The sheets seemed to be suffocating him. Sakaki couldn't just lie there. The young man rolled from his stomach to his back. Pushing the covers from around his neck the man seemed to breath easier. From a pile of discarded clothing the metallic cries of a cell phone could be heard.

Grabbing at the jacket on top Sakaki began to rifle through pockets. Following the shrill whining of the phone seemed to be a strange game of hide and seek. Finally finding his phone the man felt some how gratified.

"Sakaki." The hunter answered.

"Sakaki, we need you to come in. There has been another attack. The victim needs to be interviewed." Michael's voice came from the other end.

"Okay. Give me a few minutes and I will be there."

"Actually I am sending over the address. Meet Karasuma in thirty minutes to interview the victim."

"Alright," The hunter let out a loud sigh as he hung up the little cell phone. Another day, another case.

xxxx

Nycole was falling head long into the darkness. The void that swallowed her seemed to stretch on forever in all directions. The empath knew she was inside of something. It wasn't a knowing of the physical realm. No, the young woman could not see anything. For that matter she could not see herself. But Nycole knew she was falling to a place she had been before. Nycole knew she was safe and unharmed, though for the all the money in the world, she could not tell you where she was. Or where she was going.

The inky black surrounding seemed to be giving way to a place. Under her a floor seemed to form from nothing. It was only when Nycole became aware of the grain texture of the ground that she even noticed she was barefoot. The sugar fine white sand warmed her toes. She was on a beach. The empath looked out into the nothing patiently waiting for the rest of the world to come into creation. It did. Nycole knew as she had before that the horizon would form before the sky. The empath knew that when the shore touched the ocean, buildings would come into focus.

Patiently, the young woman sat playing in the grains. Picking up a handful the girl shifted the pile down to one grain. Nycole suddenly became aware of a memory. It played out just as this moment did. The girl picked up the single grain and stared into it.

There was a knock at the bedroom door. Violently the door swung open casting light behind a diminutive figure.

"Sir! Sir! Please Sir, wake up!"

"What is it Anthony? I just fell asleep." The man rolled over. The metal hands of the clock next to his bed barely read two in the morning. "Do you know what bloody time it is? This better be important." The man signed half awake.

"Sir, it is the Nazi's. They have taken Poland." His assistant replied.

Throwing the covers off of him the man rushed out of the room, barely sparing the time to grab his robe.

Nycole knew this moment. Granted she had not been there. The woman couldn't have been. Hell, Nycole hadn't come into the world until the early eighties, but the girl knew this moment all the same. It was the night the world changed. The night the world decided to strike back.

Pulling back from the vision, Nycole became aware of the sand around her. The world was now littered with colors. White sands met deep blue waters and a sky fading to purple. The crisp spring like air smelled of sweet vanilla. Without a second thought the empath allowed the grain of sand to roll into her palm. Like a child who found an unknown piece of candy, the girl popped the grain into her mouth.

"Rock Candy. I should have known." It didn't surprise her that the sand tasted like candy. It actually made a lot of sense to the girl, though she could not tell you why.

"Well I can't stay here forever." Standing up the girl decided to do what she did best. Throwing her hands out to the sides, the young woman spun in place. The scarf-like strands of her skirt wrapped around and between her legs. Pausing drastically Nycole picked a direction and walked.

Around her the lands seemed to repeat. Trees the empath had already past seemed to appear before her, even though Nycole knew the road had not turned. Not that there was a road per say. The sands still stretched out in front of her. Staring out into the water Nycole pondered where she was. With every step the land around her became familiar.

The landscape around Nycole changed. The stark openness of the shore the girl had been on turned to the lush surroundings of Eden. The garden seemed to unfold around her. Soft emerald grass spread before her tempting her to lay under the sun. The thick smell of summer fruits surrounded her. Strawberries grew wild, while green apples ripened on the branch. This place could be home, but she needed to keep moving. She was looking for something or was it someone.

Nycole needed to find her way to the gate. But where was the gate? She needed a guide. Searching for the closest place people might gather Nycole became more aware of her surroundings. In the distance a fortress floating caught her eye.

"I need to go there. From there I can find what I need to get out of here." Nycole said out loud.

Trying to loose herself in the journey again, Nycole set out for the marble structure in the sky. The girl didn't know where she was going. Hell, right now Nycole didn't even know if there were other people here. But she was searching.

Stone steps appeared before her. Marble stones seemed to lead to nowhere. Her stomach clinched up. Anxiety welled up inside of her.

"What have I gotten myself into?" At this point Nycole didn't have a choice. Going back wasn't an option. Moving forward lead to who knows where. It wasn't in her nature to run away from the unknown. As an empath, she could feel her way through any situation. Well any situation that involved other people. But Nycole seemed to be alone here. So she was walking blind.

"Maybe that is what I am doing wrong." Standing up the girl faced the stone steps. The empath closed her eyes stilling her internal tempest. Once quiet it was easy to make that first step. Without opening her eyes, Nycole walked into the emptiness in front of her.

Nycole let go of her belief that she was in control. And in the emptiness she found the path. Something reached out to her. It pulled her forward, close to it. She welcomed it. It was the guide Nycole had been looking for all along. When the lands stood still beneath her feet again the young woman opened her eyes again.

Nycole stood in front of what seemed to be a mirror. Craning her neck backwards the girl tried to see the full structure and failed.

"So now what?" Nycole stood there staring at the older version of her self. "Well at least I don't seem to let myself go."

"No, you wouldn't and I don't." Her reflection responded.

"That's good to know." It didn't bother the empath that she was talking to her reflection. In all honesty, Nycole did that in the real world, which this obviously was not. No, what bothered her was that her reflection was talking back. Allowing her self to ponder this, Nycole mused at the fact that she might be the reflection. That maybe she was inside the mirror talking back to the older version of her self. But there wasn't any proof of that. And she had existed before the mirror.

"Why am I here? Is this one of those Magic Mirror Gates where I am supposed to see my true self or some shit?"

"No, you are here to bring the girl back. You are here to guide the girl out of the pain." Holding out her hand the older Nycole beckoned the younger. "She is on the other side."

"So let me guess there is a nice game of chess and a jabberwocky that needs slaying waiting on the other side?" The girl could not believe she was actually contemplating this. Nycole didn't know whether to believe the reflection that wore her face. Then again, this was her only form of a guide. But what if this guide would lead her to her own doom.

"You could say that, but right now the girl on the other side needs your help. She is lost in the things she sees. The girl cannot find her way out again. That is why you are here. You have come to lead her out. And if you have to slay the jabberwocky to save her I know you will."

Turning back to look at the places she had come from the empath wasn't startled. The sands, seas, and garden had all disappeared again. As it had been before, the void seemed to stretch on endlessly. It didn't scare Nycole to be trapped in this position. In the back of her mind the girl felt a strange sense of knowing. Nycole had to step through the mirror. It didn't matter if the empath wanted to or not. It was simply what needed to be done.

On the other side she would stop something. She would set the world right. Not that she would know how until she did it. But just as she seemed to know everything else, she would.

Turning back to the grinning older version of herself, Nycole accepted things for what they were.

"Somehow you strayed and lost your way, and now there'll be no time to play, no time for joy, no time for friends - not even time to make amends. You are too naïve if you do believe life is innocent laughter and fun." Nycole recited to both herself and the girl in the mirror.

"Beautifully said." The mirror replied.

xxxx

"Apartment 7A." Staring up at the sign on the door Karasuma double check the address on the slip of paper. She was here because of another hideous attack. All of the symptoms were the same as before. Scaring located on the upper forearm of the victim. A mild fever that broke when the scars cooled. The whole situation was disgusting.

Hearing the familiar sound of a motorcycle, the empath looked over the railings outside of the second floor apartment. Staring down at the parking lot the woman watched as her partner take off his helmet.

It wasn't like Sakaki to have slept in like this. The young man was fresh in the field. It always struck her how eager he seemed to be to work. Since the attack on The Factory it had all seemed to change. The line seemed to blur for everyone, including the empath.

Witches were disgusting, but what about the ones that didn't hurt anyone? Which witches were acceptable members of society? More then that if the truth of the situation had always been this. How many innocent people had they captured?

It was all too blurry for the empath's comfort. So the empath decided to simplify it all. Witches carried powers that were always destructive in nature. Society did not have the ability to protect them. So it was the duty of hunters to protect people from witches. So as a hunter it was Karasuma job to protect against witches.

"Miss Karasuma, I am sorry it took me so long to get here." Sakaki said as he walked up.

"It is alright. The victim is a 26-year old male. The scarring, from the report, seems to have cropped up in his sleep over night." The woman replied abandoning her previous train of thought.

"Let's do this." Placing his helmet under his arm, Sakaki pounded on the door.

"Morisato Keiichi, we are with the STN-J. Please open up." The young hunter called out.