The ride to the Hara house was quiet, or at least I was quiet in the back seat of Miki's '67 Cadillac Eldorado. She and Kaito fumbled with the controls to the radio and finally agreed on a station they both could tolerate and mid-song the deep resonant tone of a simplistic bass seeped into the back seat as a clarion voice sung over the droning melody.
Get up off your knees, girl,
I allowed my head to lull back and rest on the old leather bench seat and buried my hands in my pockets. I discovered the beanie I had pulled off my head earlier that created the glamour that made me look human. It was an unsophisticated device, but it did its job. Other supes like the lamia at the bar had managed to create glamours that were only revealed once they passed the threshold of a supernatural household or hearth like The Hollow. The advantage to my beanie was that the glamour remained constant even in a supernatural household as long as it was on my head.
Stand face to face with your god,
I pulled the beanie over my head and watched as my alabaster hair turned a familiar ebony and my pale skin turned into a deep tan. The beanie had clips along the hem to prevent it from riding up and I pressed them down securely latching it to the strands of my hair.
And find out what you want,
"There's the human centric Yoko we all know and love." Miki mused from the driver's seat. Our eyes met in the rearview mirror and she giggled.
Hello, my name is human,
Kaito turned from the passenger's seat and gave me an appreciative once over. "She certainly could pass as a Hara, but to be perfectly honest I prefer your…more eccentric looks." His lips tugged into a faint smile. He turned around in his seat just as tall black gates came into view. It was menacing from afar sporting iron thorny vines that encapsulated the tops of the bars like a warning.
And I came down from the stars,
The Cadillac groaned and slowed to a halt in front of the baroque styled wrought-iron gate. Miki exited the vehicle and approached the tall bars and slid a finger down the middle. It came away and opened slowly. Miki hopped back in the car and slowly drove up the gravel road. The sound of crushed rocks beneath the tires heralding the countdown to the Hara manor.
Hello, my name is human.
After, a few seconds the porch to the old Victorian manor appeared. It was three floors of towering slate wood siding and grandiose, steep roofing. A looming figure impatiently stood on the top of the steps leading into the manor, Daisuke Hara.
Miki parked in front of the house. The music cut off abruptly as she turned the key back in the ignition and we quickly exited the vehicle. Daisuke never greeted us at the door, ever. Usually the halfling staff or Grelda, a crotchety orc, would meet us at the door to take our coats, but never the owner of the house himself. He sucked in this breath and looked us over fiercely and his eyes barely softened when he looked at Kaito last. The prodigal son, of course.
Daisuke was a striking man of six feet wearing a black tweed blazer, a grey button up, and grey slacks. Streaks of silver peppered his raven hair that was slicked back and tapered along the sides. His harsh golden eyes fell upon me as he spoke.
"Charles has informed me of your little…excursion into the woods. It has somewhat complicated matters concerning our camp." He articulated with consideration. He refused to call Neutrality a faction. "Due to this, we'll be meeting a guest soon. I've asked the help to leave the manor as I don't want any word to spread." So that's where Grelda went…. "Wait for me in the study and do not engage our guest unless I allow it. Is that understood?"
"Yes, sir." We all spoke in unison. Despite being Miki and Kaito's father, he was still the leader of our camp and earned the respect that came with the title. He did not suffer anything less, not even from his own children. We began to make our way up the stairs.
"Yoko, remain here for a moment." I nodded and Miki waved to be briefly before walking through the door to the manor, Kaito following after.
I gazed up at his golden eyes that were studying my face for a moment. "Our guest knows of the existence of the supernatural, but not of your affliction." He spoke the last word delicately as if it soured his mouth. "His agents also do not know of the existence of our kind, but do not under any circumstance reveal your peculiarity or ours to anyone. Do I make myself clear?" His tone turned scorching and the gold of his eyes flared dangerously.
"Yes, sir." I replied sincerely. His agents? Whose agents? What type of person even had agents. My curiosity ignited as I thought about who could possibly have agents. The Prime Minister? Hell, if I knew.
"Very good." He leaned forward inquisitively, dissecting my features with aplomb. "Were it not for your grey eyes you could easily be a Hara. It seems Kaito may be on to something."
My eyes widened. Daisuke could hear Kaito's comments all the way from the gate? An overwhelming sense of horror filled me as I recalled one morning in the Hara house in Miki's room. We were chatting away after I had spent the evening when I asked, "Why is your dad so attractive?" I realized now why she scrambled across the floor to cover my mouth.
"You could hear that?" I asked, afraid of the answer.
"Yes, among other things." He observed me, exploring the features of my face.
The horror in my stomach turned into a brand new equally as bad panic and I attempted to divert the conversation elsewhere.
"And what, do you surmise, is Kaito on to?" I feigned innocence. I held his gaze because I didn't want to appear as if I was deflecting and turning the conversation to a new route.
"Were you to officially join the Hara family it would offer you a significant amount of protection especially from Dr. Harada." He crossed his arms and looked down his nose at me. I felt like an insect under his gaze.
"Join the family?" I asked, astonished.
"Yes, as a ward." He contemplated aloud. "I'm not entirely certain of The Company's movements. As a lone person with no backing, should The Company demand you join their faction they could put it to a vote at council and I would not be able to control the outcome or ensure your future." He paused, and the scrutiny of his eyes shifted from me to the house. I felt relieved to no longer be under the proverbial golden magnifying glass.
"But should you join the Hara family, we could avoid that possibility completely. The Company may be growing in strength but they would never risk offending our family." He glanced at me waiting for my response.
"I…would be honored to join the Hara family. But, are you sure that's enough?" The thought of being ensnared by the zombie doctor by way of vote held no appeal for me whatsoever.
"If you prefer a more definite method of joining the family, that can be arranged." The corners of his lips twitched upwards slightly. "Kaito seems to be taken with you, but the surest approach is a union between yourself and I."
If I were still human surely my face would have turned red with shock and embarrassment and my ears would be red. I felt the dull familiar hotness on my neck whenever I became nervous. I searched his eyes for any explanation, but his eyes crinkled in amusement. Wait a second…
"My word, you're teasing me." My eyebrows raised and I fiddled with the hem of my jacket nervously.
"Yes, Yoko. I'm teasing you." He straightened his back standing at his usual height. "I could not resist such an attractive opportunity."
I'm sure all expression left my face. He did hear me. He definitely heard me.
"You may go now, Yoko." I nodded listlessly before entering the house quickly and attempting to put distance between myself and Mr. Hara.
I strode hastily to the study and found Charles sitting cross legged on an antique divan set between two bookcases towards the left side of the room. Miki and Kaito took their usual place on the loveseat beside a claw-foot coffee table. I was too nervous to sit down so I strode to the other side of the coffee table and paced creating trails on the plush Victorian rug.
"You know, sitting down might ease your nervousness." Charles addressed me.
"Not after the conversation I just had." My neck still felt hot.
"Oh, we know." Kaito spoke from the loveseat and grinned.
"Damn you, and your freaky ears." I huffed. Had everyone heard that? And Charles already knows everything so-
There was stirring just outside the door and we all looked towards it, wondering who would emerge from the other side.
Daisuke entered the study quickly followed by a young man wearing an odd, traditional outfit. It mimicked a long wushu uniform but not from any affiliated martial arts sect. It was paired with a red scarf and brown slacks. To top off the absurdity of it all, nudged between his thin lips was a baby blue pacifier.
Do. Not. Engage. Daisuke's warning words from earlier rang in my mind, but damnit I wanted to laugh. My chest shuddered as I paced the breaths flowing to my chest evenly and I bit the inside of my mouth to prevent the corners of my lips from breaking into a smile. I could feel Kaito's gaze on me and I dared not look at him. Otherwise, he would make a face and send me into a fit of laughter. He of all people knew how to get me in trouble.
"This," Daisuke began and gestured to the chestnut haired man with amber eyes that seemed to be taking in the entirety of the room. "Is Koenma. He's the ruler of the Spirit World."
"And the Human World." Koenma retorted.
"I beg to differ." Charles responded and his eyes closed in seemingly calm meditation, but his smile tightened. "You simply cart off the souls from this world to the next, but you in no way have input on what actually goes on in it. That is left to more capable parties." He meant the factions of supernaturals. And, rule they did. Every economic change, senseless war, and major beneficial shifts were influenced by supes in some way.
What the hell. I'd never seen the usually serene divinator snap at anyone.
"This is not what he's here to dispute today." Daisuke smirked, but he adopted a blank expression once again.
"Of course, Mr. Hara. I apologize." Charles relaxed into the divan.
"We have a mutual problem that is both problematic to Spirit World and our factions here. For decades, a murderer is dispatching ghoulish souls to the next world seemingly without cause and mostly at random. Lately, the frequency of these souls have increased within the past year." Daisuke spoke gravely.
I glanced at Miki at the term ghoulish. She returned my look and leaned against the arm of the seat raising her brow.
Koenma ambled into the heart of the room observing each of its occupants with critical eyes before they landed on me. "The souls created by these murders are tainted and hardly resemble human, demon, or supernatural souls. Therefore, they have no place in what would normally be a blissful afterlife." He turned away from me and leaned against the edge of a bookcase. "We have no choice but to put these warped souls in Limbo, where they will be destroyed."
Suddenly, the image of the girl in the nurse outfit flashed across my mind. I was somewhat relieved that she had retained some of her humanity before she died. Otherwise, her soul would be in Limbo as well. And if I had to go by Milton's works, Limbo was a place you wanted to avoid. Wait, demon? Did he mention demon souls? There are demons lurking out there too… and not just a zombie doctor that had a penchant for women in nurse outfits. Fucking fabulous.
"Luckily, there has been some new information procured by my ward, Mrs. Yoko." Daisuke motioned for me to speak. I finally had the floor. At the usage of the word 'ward,' Kaito broke into a wide grin and Miki beamed proudly.
"And this is she? The private investigator?" Koenma pointed to me and pushed off the bookcase, he held his hands behind his back as he stopped in front of me.
"Yes, I'm the investigator." I spoke softly, but with certainty. "Tonight, I was tracking him at his usual haunt. We dispatched one of his victims tonight."
"Yes, I noticed." Koenma curtly replied. "Continue."
"At the sound of a struggle, we ventured towards the fight and he managed to subdue who I assume were your people?" I reached, but my instincts were normally accurate.
Koenma nodded, "Yes, one of them mentioned meeting you."
Kuwabara worked for this guy? This pacifier sucking weirdo who collects souls. What have you gotten yourself into, buddy.
I continued, "While your men were in heaps on the ground, I was able to distract him long enough to spy a name tag reading Dr. Harada. If you had trouble finding him in any record it's probably because he's a supe, and not a human." At this, Koenma's brows shot up wrinkling the 'Jr.' marking on his forehead.
"How do you know we keep records of humans?" His eyes narrowed.
"It was an easy assumption to make, after all, this creature has been at this for decades. What else but paperwork and bureaucracy could pause the swift hand of justice for so, so long. Especially for someone that claims to rule Human World." I clucked my tongue playfully admonishing the Spirit World leader.
It seemed I hit too close to home and Koenma glared at me, but no matter. His expression did little in the ways of intimidation with a pacifier in his mouth.
"How astute of you." He ground out. "But let me remind you of where you stand, if he's been killing for decades, why haven't you done anything about it."
"You're asking the wrong side, Koenma. We're neutral for a reason and we don't investigate matters, especially human deaths, until they're detrimental to our kind as a whole. Impartial, to the very end." I supplied the information to him. No one attacks my party and gets away with it. "If you really want to get comparative, my one year of investigation has seemed to provide more information than your decades of ongoing investigation."
"All you have is a name." Koenma countered.
"And, a motive. Dr. Harada wishes to create a creature," I paused, choosing my words carefully, "and the ghouls have been a result of his failures. He chooses candidates and attempts to turn them, but subsequently destroys them when they result in failures."
"That's why the last one was still human. You found her before he could get to her." Koenma deduced. He examined me slightly surprised as if I had grown another head.
"Yes, that's right." My voice trailed off, as I thought. How was I going to explain Dr. Harada meeting his first successful creation? Lie, I guess. Lie my ass off.
"However, I fear he has found a new candidate. He seemed to show interest in me when I met him and he may be considering turning a supe next instead of a human." I finished anxiously, hoping he bought it. Koenma didn't know that I was already turned, nor that the attacks would cease on humans because the doctor already found what he was looking for.
I could watch the gears turning in Koenma's mind as he sauntered back towards the bookcase.
"If I may," Charles spoke facing Daisuke and he nodded allowing Charles the room, "I have a solution that will allow Yoko to remain safe and allow you to catch your man, so to speak."
"I'm all ears." Koenma replied.
"If we combined the investigative powers at hand I'm certain you will find him. Dr. Harada will be looking for Yoko so he'll come to her. All we need is a safe house, and to place your agents around her when the moment arrives." The diviner pensively pressed two fingers to his mouth and his lids finally opened revealing rheumy eyes with a verdant light surrounding his pupils signifying he was actively foretelling straight from the constellations.
Charles wasn't telling us something, but I doubt he ever would. He had this unspoken rule about revealing too much about the future.
"I was thinking something similar." Koenma added.
"Oh, I know." Charles added happily.
I shook my head. Ever the know-it-all.
"I know of a place that is nearly impenetrable that would keep Yoko safe, but I do have a condition." Koenma crossed his arms over his chest.
"Name it." Daisuke commanded.
"For the time while she's in my people's care, she will work for me acting in the same capacity as one of my detectives. There are a few cases that she could perhaps lend insight to and would provide me the ingress to resolve incidents involving your kind." He pointed to me and waved his hand upwards as if announcing an exhibit. He meant supernatural cases. "Are the terms agreeable?" Koenma looked to Daisuke rather than me for an affirmative.
Daisuke glanced at me and I nodded. I'm glad, he at least, respected my decision in the matter.
"Very well, but should any of those cases directly involve the supernatural they will be reported to me." Daisuke warned.
"Agreed." Koenma's eyes narrowed into slits. "We'll waste no time. Tomorrow, pack a bag for an extended stay and I will send someone to pick you up."
Miki stood abruptly, and Kaito attempted to pull her back into the loveseat by her wrist.
Daisuke raised his brow. "What is it, Miki?"
"She's goin' alone? Couldn't one of us go with her to make sure everythin's copacetic?" Miki gloomily pleaded.
"No," Charles spoke, "that won't do. The more people that go, all the more likely that his people could find out more about the supernatural. Yoko will be discreet alone."
"Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but they saw me run." Miki crossed her arms over her chest triumphantly, but it was short lived.
"Miki." Daisuke seethed. "That is entirely the reason you are not going. Always wait until you're out of sight."
Miki sunk down into the loveseat completely deflated.
Kaito stood and Daisuke looked irritated but gestured for him to speak.
"I think perhaps I should be the one to visit Yoko, if only to provide information as I am the residential cleric. Also, someone needs to deliver written reports between both parties." Kaito offered optimistically.
"I'll allow it." Koenma approached Daisuke, his hand outstretched. "Do we have a deal?"
"We do." Daisuke gripped the other hand firmly and released it quickly. I caught the brief flash of discomfort and pain on Koenma's face from the handshake.
"Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a flight to catch to Spirit world." Koenma exited the study and I heard a 'pop' and a woman's muffled voice. The voices faded as they walked down the hall and exited the house.
Daisuke took a seat on a lone armchair resting beside an end table littered with tomes. He massaged his temple softly, "Yoko."
"Yes?" I answered. The older vampire looked stressed similar to the way he was stressed when he dealt with trifling supernatural matters.
"Koenma," He gripped the deep emerald of the embroidered seat tightly, "assumes that you're a vampire due to your connection with our clan."
"Does he?" I responded. Me, a vampire. How? I didn't radiate the same…prestige that seemed to ooze off the Hara family. Even Miki, who was rough around the edges, had a domineering effect when she entered a room of supes. In formal settings, they even scrambled out of her way.
"Should there be a time where you are forced to reveal what you are; you will tell them you're a Dhampir instead." He locked eyes with me.
A Dhampir was a creature created from the union of a vampire and unmarried woman. They were often neglected outcasts that dangled on the edges of noble vampire society due to their origins. Oftentimes, they became servants of their households and according to Miki it was exceptionally rare that a dhampir was ever considered kin.
"But why a dhampir? Of all things?" I was no one's supernatural love child. I'm sure my parents were married when they had me, I think?
"It is a contingency plan, should they, the detectives Koenma hired or Koenma himself, suspect you're not one of us. You'll need an adequate account to explain the discrepancies." He leaned into his propped arm and ran slender fingers through the strands of his hair. The strands came away from his slicked style and swayed in front of one of his eyes.
"Tell them…you're my illegitimate child. I'll take responsibility for you, but do not tell them you're a zombie." Miki's eyes turned into saucers on the couch and Kaito looked as if he was grappling to find words. "It's better than the alternative. I assure you."
"What's the alternative?" Daisuke Hara, pillar of Neutrality, grand-fucking-poohbah of the non-partisan and indifferent was claiming me as his love child to the ruler of Spirit World. Why, why, why…oh why.
"Do you know how Dr. Harada turns his victims?" Daisuke back became rigid and he rested both elbows on either side of the armchair.
Dreading the answer, I shook my head. I hadn't been entirely conscious when I was abducted. All I remembered, was the feel of cold hands clutching me then staggering through downtown alleyways until finally Miki found me. I was hiding behind a dumpster clutching a dead squirrel and that made Miki laugh. It made her laugh so hard and she wrapped me in her black jacket, the one I was wearing now, and took me home. I was snapped out of my memories and felt my eyes become cloudy for just a millisecond, hoping the older vampire didn't notice.
"He infects them by injecting his blood into their bloodstream." Daisuke said, he squinted his eyes at me. He noticed. "Charles has informed me…. Should Koenma find Dr. Harada, he plans to destroy him because of his effect on souls."
My gut felt as if it plummeted. My body became deathly still as Daisuke's words distracted me from maintaining my usual fidgeting.
"If they find out you're a zombie. They will destroy you too."
Daisuke stood from his chair and trudged out of the room leaving the rest of us in equal parts shock and distress. Except, Charles.
Charles was never surprised.
Notes:
The song mentioned is My Name is Human by Highly Suspect. Stevens, the lead singer, said: "A lot of people think the song is about being a human…I believe some of us aren't human at all. Or at least not completely, but that is still our name. At some point in the last couple hundred years something changed. The androids, the aliens… They aren't coming. We are here. A molecule can enter our atmosphere and change the entire worlds genetic makeup without anyone taking notice. You think little green men are the aliens? My 'name' is human. And Chloe Bridges rules."
I found it funny in an odd way.
Thanks for the reviews Mr. Khorne and Star Charter. 'preciate ya.