Chapter 8: She comes at night

Unlike her fellow rescued children, June had shown a remarkable recovery from her time with Mami. While the girl admitted still having some form of attachment to the Beldam, she had fully accepted being told that the older girl had been a demon and had not tried to deny it like the others. And she had also regained control of her motor functions much quicker than her friends.

As Coraline had explained, this was due to June being Mami's last victim before her lair was discovered, only being captured a couple of weeks beforehand, rather than anything special about the girl. Mami's hold over June was comparably weaker than the other children, who had been under the Beldam's hold for much longer.

That wasn't to say that June was safe from Mami coming for her. There was still a connection formed from the girl's time in the dream world, being watched over by Mami.

Which was what allowed Mami to track her down despite June and her family being moved to a safe house.

"June…"

The girl groaned as she was woken from her sleep.

"Mum?" She questioned, rubbing her eyes and sitting up.

"June…"

June gasped as she became fully awake, realising who the voice belonged to.

"Mami?" She asked, looking towards her window where the curtains were drawn.

"June, it's time to come home…" Mami's voice echoed in June's head.

"I am home." June shook her head.

"Here is not our home…" Mami said. "Here is not safe…Come, the others are waiting…"

The others?

The other children.

June hadn't seen them since the hospital, the Exorcist people said that they had to be kept apart for their safety.

She wanted nothing more than to see them again, to see that they were all alright with her own eyes.

And Mami could take her to see them again.

June suddenly drove her fist into her head, the pain snapping her back to reality.

"I-I can't go with you." She denied, shaking her head and stepping back.

She hadn't even realised that she had been making her way over to the window.

"You must, Poppet…Only I can keep you all safe…" Mami told her.

"You're the reason we're in danger in the first place!" June cried at her curtains. "You don't want to take care of us, you want to kill us!"

Mami said nothing in response, but June suddenly felt like ice was striking through her that froze her to the spot. She opened her mouth to scream, but nothing came out, her throat seizing up and refusing to make a sound.

Then there came the pounding, the vibrations coming so hard that June was almost knocked off her feet.

The Exorcists guarding the house began to shout, then June heard the sound of fighting.

Mami's scream of fury and pain forced June to her knees, gripping her head so hard that her nails drew blood.

June's door then burst open and her parents ran in.

"Oh, June!" Her mother cried in relief upon seeing her. "My baby, you're still here."

"What's wrong, June?" He father asked.

"It hurts." June cried. "Mami, it hurts."

The sound of fighting abruptly stopped and June collapsed to the floor, held up by her parents.

"She's gone." June sighed before passing out.

"How's the girl?" Shiro asked.

"Miss Akami is fine, just exhausted, it seems." One of the team.

"So, what happened, exactly?" Coraline asked.

"The Beldam tried to take Miss Akami the same way it did the prior two children, but when she refused to it attempted to take her by force. Thankfully, the Exorcists on site were able to match up to it, unfortunately she once again managed to run away." The team member read off the report of what had happened. "For some reason, the fight had a negative effect on Miss Akami and she passed out."

"Mami must have tried to draw on Miss Akami's energy through their connection to bolster her strength." Coraline said. "Thankfully, it wasn't enough to beat the exorcists and wards there."

"So, we'll be able to fend her off?" One of the team asked hopefully.

Coraline shook her head. "We won this time because Miss Akami's connection to Mami is weaker than the other children and she was able to deny it. The other children won't be as strong and the wards and exorcists won't be enough to stop them going to her. Not to mention, Mami will grow stronger with each child she reclaims, so she'll eventually be able to take Miss Akami by force like she tried to."

"This may be a small victory for us." Shiro said. "But it has also told us an unfortunate detail. The Beldam will be able to track the children down, not matter where they are, so we can't hide them."

"With Miss Akami able to resist it and being well enough protected for now, who will Mami go after next?" Coraline asked.

"The other children are Hamada Jiro, Sakura Emi and…" One of the team began to list off.

"My son." Shiro finished for them.

"With how well warded and guarded the Paladin's home is, I don't think the demon will go after him next." One of the team offered their opinion. "It would be too risky for it."

"But the Beldam could use their connection to get him without getting anywhere near the wards." Another of the team pointed out. "Shiro, do you know how strong the connection is?"

"Rin has acknowledged that Mami is a demon who would hurt him but admits that he still feels a desire to be with her again." Shiro answered after steeling himself. "Though, I have Kuro, my Cait Sith familiar, guarding him now."

"I had heard about him leaving his post at True Cross." One of the team muttered to himself.

"That does sound like enough protection to keep her away, for now." Coraline said. "Mami may do anything to get her children back, but she won't stupid enough to go past her limits either."

"Meaning the demon will either go after Mr Hamada or Miss Sakura." One of the team said.

"What's their situation like?" Shiro asked.

"Miss Sakura still insists that the Beldam isn't evil, though seems content with her family and only asks for the demon occasionally. Mr Hamada is unsure about what he's been told, he still clearly wants the demon but was one of the children who saw the demon's transformation as so is also afraid of her."

"Miss Sakura seems to be the bigger risk." Shiro hummed. "Still, the Beldam could go for either. Make sure that one of the parents or an exorcist is with the child at all times."

"Yes, sir."

Shiro sighed. "Any news on finding the lair?"

"We've managed to search all the abandoned homes in the area, a few low-level demons were in some of them, but none related to the Beldam." He was told. "We're still in the process of finding and searching the homes of those who have recently passed away or haven't been heard from in a while."

"Any chance it could be moving around instead of settling in a lair?" Shiro turned to Coraline.

Coraline shook her head. "A Beldam can be best likened to a spider." She said. "They need a lair, it's the place where they can be in the most control, their magic seeping into the area around them and allowing them to manipulate it, and also as a place to keep their victims

"At least we have that." Shiro said. "If it's staying in one place, we can find it."

Rin sat on his bed as he watched Yukio pack the remainder of his things into his bag.

If asked, the boy would definitely deny it, but he was pouting.

"I know this isn't fair, Rin." Yukio sighed. "And if I could, I'd stay."

"I know." Rin pouted, looking away. "But you're still going away."

Yukio zipped up his bag before walking over to Rin's bed and sitting down next to him.

"Don't worry, I'll visit as often as I can. I can't guarantee every weekend, but I'll try, and I'll definitely be home for the holidays. So, we'll get to spend our birthday together like we used to."

Rin smiled. "That'd be nice." He said.

It'd been so long since either of them had shared their birthday, Rin himself having stopped counting them in the timeless city.

Rin frowned as his thoughts were drawn back to Mami.

"What is it?" Yukio spotted his change in demeanour.

"It's nothing." Rin mumbled.

"It's not nothing if you're looking like that, Rin." Yukio argued.

Rin still refused to say anything, but it wasn't hard for Yukio to guess what it was about.

"Is it about the d-Mami?" He asked, stumbling over his words so as to not accidently upset his bother.

Hesitantly, Rin nodded.

"Don't worry." Yukio brought Rin into a one-armed hug. "Even though I'm not going to be here much anymore, you're safe here. The house has special protections to keep demons out, some of the strongest you can get, and the other priests will be here when dad and I aren't. And don't forget Kuro."

They looked over to where Kuro was napping at the foot of Rin's bed.

"Plus, I made this for you." Yukio continued.

He reached inside his pocket and brought out a carved pendant, handing it to Rin.

Rin looked at the pendant in his hands in awe.

"You made this for me?" He questioned.

"Yes." Yukio smiled. "It's a special pendant that will always allow me to find you, no matter what. So, make sure that you always wear it. Okay?"

"Okay." Rin nodded, taking the string of the pendant and looping it over his head. "I'll never take it off." He promised.

"Yukio, you need to bring your bags down!" One of the priests called from downstairs.

"Coming!" Yukio called back.

Rin quickly went back to pouting as Yukio got up to grab his bags and walked out the bedroom door with them.

In the end, it almost took a crowbar to pry a crying Rin from Yukio when it finally came time for the older brother to leave.

As Yukio climbed into the taxi set to take him to True Cross and it drove off, Rin's cries dying out behind him, he felt like the worst brother in the history of the Earth, having to fight the urge to jump out of the taxi and run back to his brother all the way to True Cross.

Not far from the monastery, a set of eyes watched the proceedings, taking note of the absence of the Paladin and the fact that the older brother was leaving home. Meaning that Rin only had the four priests to protect him.

Perfect.

"Time to come home, my little angel." Mami whispered.

Author's note: Please comment

Shorter than usual, but I wanted to put what happens next in a separate chapter