It's been a long time since the last chapter. The spring semester has begun and I've been pretty busy with school and work. Plus, I've been spending a lot of my free time reading lately. My car broke down this week, though, and being stranded at home gave me time to write a new chapter. It's not quite as long as the previous chapters, but it is dialogue intensive and explains a lot. I hope you enjoy reading it. As always, thank you for your kind comments and for your patience.

The Season of The Witch
By Angel Maxwell

Chapter 4: Countdown

It can't be. Subaru's lips formed the words but his lungs couldn't seem to push any air out to actually speak them. Tetsuo didn't need to hear the words aloud, however, to respond to them.

"I can assure you, Mr. Sumeragi, what you are seeing is no illusion." His voice was as greasy as petroleum and, although the room was darkened he still wore sunglasses. Subaru, however, took no notice of this as his eyes were fixed on the encapsulated figure in front of him.

He appeared to be in a state of suspended animation, eyes closed, motionless. He wasn't dead but Subaru was not sure he was alive either. Even through the murk of the greenish liquid the features were unmistakable. Broad shoulders. Thin lips. A fringe of dark hair. This was Seishirou Sakurazuka exactly as he appeared in Subaru's best - and worst – memories.

"But… Seishirou is dead," Subaru uttered. "I…"

"Killed him with your own hand," Tetsuo completed the captive's thought. "Ah yes, I do know that. What you see in front of you is not that Sakurazukamori, per se. Please, think of our friend here as… a replacement."

Subaru's nose crinkled up in a combination of disgust and awe. "What exactly are you saying," he asked. "What is this thing? A clone? A robot?"

At these words, the dark suited man tilted down his sunglasses a bit exposing two glistening slivers of his wicked eyes. His lips curled up into a hideously twisted grin. "You really are a clever one, Mr. Sumeragi." He said the words as if he really was surprised at Subaru's intelligence. "Actually, both your guesses could be considered correct. But then… I'm not really one who can answer all of your technical questions. I didn't make him."

"What? Make him? Then… who?" Subaru's words were almost incomprehensible, as his mind had become a chaotic swirl of emotion. His glazed eyes still remained on Seishirou but none of his senses seemed to connect to his brain anymore. He didn't even notice the individual who stalked out from behind the vessel.

"He's my creation," said the person. It was a woman.

She was rather tall, and wiry. She wore a long white lab coat and thin, spider-like fingers branched out from under the cuffs of her sleeves. Her hair was pulled back in a severe knot and a pair of wire-frame glasses perched on her pointed nose. With such a poisonous look in her eyes she could have passed as Tetsuo Ishida's sister except that she had Caucasian features.

"My name is Dr. Elizabeth Silver," she said carefully. "And I developed this version of the Sakurazukamori that you are looking at. I'd be happy to answer any questions you might have, Subaru Sumeragi. So feel free to ask."

Subaru did not say anything, did not ask any questions. He merely lay there where he was strapped, eyes widened in disbelief. The mysterious Dr. Silver strode over towards him and cupped his chin in her claw-like hand.

"Not a talker, eh? But you certainly are a handsome man. I can see why the Sakurazukamori was so found of you." Subaru wrenched his head away from her in disgust but she pulled him back to face her and continued to speak. "Since you aren't talking, I'll go ahead and answer all the questions that I'm sure are in that pretty head of yours."

"As one of the Seven Seals," she said, moving deliberately away from Subaru and back towards her monstrous creation. "Oh yes, I know who you are. As one of the Seven Seals, I'm sure you are familiar with the being known as Nataku. What you couldn't possibly know until know is that I was the real brains behind the project… although others took the credit for it. My genius went unrecognized by everybody. Well, nearly everybody. Fourteen years ago I was approached by Mr. Ishida here and commissioned to do a very important task. The task of resurrecting the Sakurazukamori."

Despite his utter revulsion at both Ishida and Silver, Subaru was addicted to the story they wove. His life was now bound to these cruel individuals through their connection to Seishirou and he was eager to understand what that connection was. He waited for Dr. Silver to continue, but it was Ishida who picked up the story.

"The year 1999 saw the death of the greatest assassin that the Sakurazuka Clan had ever known. Traditionally, succession goes to the individual who kills the previous Sakurazukamori. Unfortunately, the young man who killed Seishirou was unwilling to carry out his duties." He paused to glare at Subaru. "So the Ressurectors were organized with the sole purpose of bringing back a Sakurazukamori who would do exactly what was required of him."

"So that's why you asked her to build this… this thing?" Subaru spat contemptuously.

"Well, not immediately," Ishida responded calmly. "We tried other ways to revive the Sakurazuka line… everything from sorcery to artificial insemination. But nothing ever came to fruition. Then I realized that what we needed was Seishirou himself. The perfect mind, the perfect temperament. The perfect assassin. After doing some research on the subject of cloning, I realized that Elizabeth Silver was the person who could make my dream a reality. I'd heard about her work on the Nataku Project and was finally able to meet her through a… mutual acquaintance."

"Working with Tetsuo was the greatest honor I've ever had," praised Silver. The way she spoke of her partner indicated to Subaru that their relationship was more than just business. "Remaking Sakurazuka was an ambitious project and it allowed me to try things never attempted before in the field of genetics. I'm not sure if you know this, Mr. Sumeragi, but Nataku was cloned from a little girl named Kazuki. It wasn't a pure clone however. Kazuki's father gave his life so that his own body could fill in the missing pieces."

"What does this have to do with Seishirou?" Subaru growled.

"Tch… So impatient," clucked Silver. "What I was getting to is that like Nataku, this Seishirou is not a pure clone either. In order to do that, we would have had to raise him up all the way from an embryo. Cloned flesh wrapped around a mechanical frame. That was the solution. Have you ever heard the phrase, 'the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak?'"

The captive medium's eyes widened. He did not fully understand the complex science that such a creation entailed, but he did realize the repercussions. This reconstructed version of Seishirou would have strength beyond that of a normal human being; beyond that of the real Seishirou, who was by no means normal. This manufactured Sakurazukamori was literally a killing machine.

"That's why both your guesses were correct," Tetsuo suddenly chimed in. "He is both biological and mechanical. Biomechanical, as they say. So, what do you think?"

The question rang in Subaru's ear. He stared at the coyly grinning faces of Ishida and Silver. There was rage; rage he didn't even know he felt, bubbling behind his eyes. His body unexpectedly lunged forward, his limbs pulling painfully against their metal restraints.

"Is this why you brought me here? So you could show off this monstrosity to me?" The words erupted from his chest in a violent roar. "You didn't even know Seishirou! Yet you defiled his memory and created a monster bearing his face! Did you bring me here so you could watch him kill me? Is that why you attacked me on the train? Is that why my daughter had to DIE?"

As he spat out the last word stinging hot tears dripped down his face and his body went limp with defeat. His arms and legs ached from his struggle and he once again felt his heart consumed with grief. Tetsuo Ishida, however, was cackling with hideous laughter.

"Haven't you realized why you're here yet?" he asked. "Haven't you looked down at your arms this whole time?"

Subaru actually hadn't looked at his arms and paused to do so, hoping it might clarify Ishida's words. What he discovered was grotesque. Taped to the inside of his right arm was an intravenous line carrying a clear liquid, probably saline, from a plastic bag into his body. The tubing attached to his left arm was serving the opposite function, sapping something from his vein. The tubing was clear and Subaru could see the red liquid as it traveled through the plumbing and connected to the equipment surrounding Seishirou's container.

"M-my blood!" he stuttered. "You're taking my blood! Why?"

"Your blood," Ishida spoke calmly, "is the fuel that will give Seishirou new life and restore him as the Sakurazukamori. That's why we've been draining you since you first got here. It takes a full eight pints, you know."

"Why didn't you just kill me?" Subaru sneered. "You could have gotten my blood a lot faster that way."

"I'm afraid that wouldn't have worked out," his captor answered. "In order for the transfer to be successful it has to be living blood. And it has to be yours. As Seishirou's killer, you are by law the next Sakurazukamori. The moment your hand pierced his body it became ingrained your blood. Soon the blood that flows in you will flow through him, and he will be the Sakurazukamori once more." After a silent pause he added one last thought. "But, if you're so eager to die, maybe this time he'll grant you your wish."

"You're sick…." Subaru tried to yell but it came out as a sob. "You're sick and you murdered my little girl…"

"The girl posed a threat to our plans," spoke Dr. Silver, after remaining quiet for so long.

"What kind of threat could she be?" the bereaved father cried. "She was just a kid… barely even a teenager…"

"She had to be eliminated nonetheless," said Ishida. "I really don't see why you're so upset, Mr. Sumeragi. It's not as if she was really your daughter."

Subaru was about to ask Ishida how he knew about Midori but a high-pitched ring cut him off.

"It's time," Ishida said delightedly and turned his attention to the gruesome creation.

Seishirou was stirring inside his tube. His eyes opened and Subaru could feel his gaze burning on his face. A tiny crack appeared in the glass tube. Then another. The cracks branched out and spread into a fine lattice until the glass could no longer hold its structure. The tube shattered and green liquid spilled out onto the floor. Seishirou emerged dripping wet, stepped over the shards of broken glass and towards the horrified man who was strapped down helplessly.

"Hello, Subaru," he said with a very subtle smile. "It's been a while."

To be continued…