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Chapter 26 - Standing in the Fire

^.^

When I rounded the corner to the kitchen the following morning, Naru was already seated with breakfast in front him. There was a second plate across from him, alongside a large file folder.

I raised an eyebrow, taking a seat. "Business over breakfast?"

Naru took a sip of his tea, "You'll be working late tonight. It's best to get this out of the way while it's still fresh."

At least he was talking to me, I reminded myself.

Reaching for my coffee, I waited.

"Lin and I traced the Lasser Glass to a family in Ohio," Naru said.

Of course this brilliant man was able to find the elusive Lasser Glass. "Ohio? What's it doing there."

"Currently, it's in the Travelling Museum of the Paranormal and Occult being taken care of by the family who owns the museum."

"Aren't you highly well-known in the paranormal world?" I remembered Naru's main priority at all times was to keep his identity a secret: being Oliver Davis was not always about admiring fans and we learned that the hard way.

"I am," Naru said smugly. "It wouldn't take much effort on my behalf to inquire about the mirror. That's not the problem."

"What's the problem then?"

I flipped through the files, briefly glimpsing at the article about the Lasser Glass - the museum called it the Dark Mirror.

Naru continued, "I don't want to inquire about the Lasser Glass. I want to bring it here to ideally have a chance to look further into the connection between it and you. However, anything I do with my real name brings us back to connections with the SPR in London and could lead whoever is looking for you right to us."

"We don't know that they are looking for me."

I didn't want to mention the possibility that (if they were looking for me) they might very well know where I am already.

"We don't know that they aren't," Naru countered. "We can't that kind of risk."

I thought about what Kitzune had told me about the curse: that we needed the mirror and the piece in the Xipherian Amulet.

"We need that mirror," I said firmly. It felt bold to tell Naru, in any sense, what to do. It felt exciting. Naru lowered a perfectly arched dark brow at me.

"I know," Naru said after a moment of silence. "First things first: I need to see if the owners, Diana and Greg, will be willing to part with it."

It sounded impossible...but Naru had a way of making the impossible possible. "Sounds like it could take a while."

"We have time."

"We?" Now, it was my turn to lift a brow at Naru as I leaned back in my seat, folding the over-sized sleeves of my night shirt over my knuckles and reaching for my coffee.

The sound of his voice was like silk rubbing on my skin. "I intend on seeing this to the end."

"So you'll be staying for a while?" I smiled from behind my coffee cup, staring into those amused violet eyes. "Maybe I really will have to set up a t.v. in the bedroom so you can have some peace and quiet while you work since the office is officially out of service."

Naru took a slow, amused breath out. "Don't you dislike television in the bedroom?"

I set down my coffee cup and stabbed into my eggs - trying to ignore the stare.

It was too early for those tempting blue eyes.

He continued, "You mentioned how it took away from the intimacy."

"For now." I clarified, "Until you leave."

That was another topic we had yet to bring up: what was going to happen when the summer was over?

It was quiet again and I continued to eat.

I felt Naru watching me as he sometimes did and I paid him no particular attention. Instead, I read a document in the file folder about the museum.

This museum was well-known and it did travel constantly, mostly throughout the United States. It had crossed the sea's a few times throughout the years.

I read about how the mirror wasn't known to kill people while at the museum, however people did see disturbing things. One man talked about how the mirror showed him his death.

I took a bite of my toast, wondering if the reason that the mirror couldn't kill anyone was because it wasn't whole. It was missing a piece that Kitzune said enabled it not a threat and took the danger out of the mirror. That was if Kitzune was telling the truth though.

The difficult thing would be where to find that damned amulet. It could be anything, or anywhere. I had a feeling such an important artifact would not be left without protection.

It prompted me that I needed to find Sara. It was about time she made sense of some of this information I've been getting.

"The summer is almost over," Naru said and I snapped my head up. It was strange for him to be the first to come up with small talk. Especially when I was the one who was so engaged in this file.

"It is... feels like it flew by with everything that's been happening." I finished my last egg, stood and collected our plates then made my way to the sink. "Thank you for breakfast."

"What're your plans when the summer is over?" Naru said distantly. I started the water, soaping the dishes. This was very strange for Naru to not only start a conversation but to initiate talk.

Especially talk about the future since my future didn't look too bright.

"I'm going back to school to finish my practicum this fall and then hopefully find a teaching job." I felt bad for lying to him.

If I did end this curse there was a very good possibility that I would not have a future at all. I was supposed to tell him but took the easy way out and didn't. Lately, I have been fantasizing about possibly living my life out with the curse.

It wouldn't be that bad if it meant that I could be with Naru.

Deep within me... I knew I couldn't do that. I couldn't live with myself knowing this horrible curse existed.

Feeling the anxiety begin to form in the pit of my stomach, I asked. "And you?"

"I'll have to leave Japan again and continue my research."

"I thought you were done with school."

Naru was quiet for a moment. "I am. It's for the University of Edinburgh."

I turned, "Oh my gosh, Naru. I had no idea!"

I wasn't very well versed in the world of PhD's (I never planned on having one) but I did know that if Naru was being funded by a University then he would have time (and the facility) to do whatever research he wanted.

The University of Edinburgh was one of the most well known research facilitates for parapsychology.

I had no idea.

Frowning, I felt a little sad.

I was genuinely happy for Naru. He worked so hard for this and just the act of putting all of that effort towards something and then eventually achieving it… I could only hope I would feel that when I graduated. Though, I bet Naru wasn't exactly jumping up and down when he received his degree.

"How long have you been there? I thought you would have taken a job a bit closer to home: Cambridge or something."

"Two years. I'll be returning this year with the possibility of extending my contract." Naru said as I walked back around the table to wipe it down. "Cambridge offered, however they have little to no parapsychology programs. My father would have preferred I continue my summer job at Greenwich University in order to become an associate professor there. You could say I needed a break from London."

He was unusually talkative this morning but I enjoyed it.

I left the rag on the back of my chair and I reached for the file folder again. "Let me borrow this for the day. It'll give me some reading material while I'm at work."

Naru nodded, then said, "I'll call Greg and Dana and see what we can do about this mirror."

^.^

I was standing alone in the back of the church again.

It had been the only place where I was able to fully concentrate and wisp my conscious to the Gates.

I wasn't intending to go there right now - I had been trying to summon Sara, like I did Kitzune. It required the same amount of concentration, and every time I tried to picture her exotic, young features, her materialized form seemed to slip away - like water that would not hold a physical shape.

It was exhausting, over and over again I tried but the image of her slipped from my grasp. I swore under my breath, all I wanted to do was to ask her: where could I find the amulet.

And, what would happen if I brought the amulet and mirror together - was Kitzune telling me the truth?

I guess I wouldn't know. At least, not now. She couldn't hide from me forever.

When it was evident that I was not going to find Sara here, I tried to slip back into my body but the bond snapped taut.

I yelped, it had felt like walking into a brick wall and the reverb echoed throughout the dark realm.

A figure walked into my world and I stayed very still.

It was the man from the other day.

He still looked sickly, grey skinned and purple smudge marks under his eyes. He looked at the gates and grinned.

"I found them." He sounded relieved. "I finally found them."

"Why are you looking for them?" My voice sounded shakier than I intended. I tried to calm my exterior, even though inside I was freaking out. He shouldn't be here, he shouldn't be around me. Not when I was so close to the gates and they seemed to respond to spirits on this plane.

From deep within, I felt a pleasant purring of satisfaction, a yawn for breath as if the gates were somehow linked even more intimately to me than I initially thought.

"You can't hide forever." The man turned to me and let out a breath of relief. "After so long, I've finally found the Gateway."

"What makes you think passing through those gates will take you to the afterlife?"

He looked back towards the Iron Gates. "I don't need the afterlife - beyond are my wife and daughter."

My heart dropped.

I stared at the man and could tell from his expression he was genuine. He was hoping that the gates would lead him to his late wife and daughter. It was a sad thought that he didn't know the truth, that nothing existed beyond the gates. His soul would be consumed by the curse and absorbed by the Xipherian Amulet.

I wondered how he could he seek the anchor if he did not know the truth of what laid beyond those Iron Gates.

The thought, when it came, hit me like a train.

He was lead to me - by the same person who knew I was the anchor. The one person who needed me to consume souls so he could continue living forever.

The Dark Man.

"Did someone tell you about the anchor?" I asked. "Is he close?"

The spirit nodded, eagerly. "Yes. Izanagi told me about the miracle of the anchor, and how it could reunite lost loved ones." Hollow out, dark eyes peered at me. "I've been wondering this earth for a long time looking for them."

I could hear my heart pounding through my skull. "This man...Izanagi, did he have a burn on his face?"

"Yes."

Chills crawled up my spine, and my body felt cold. I asked, "Is he in Tokyo?"

"Yes."

He was here. That man from my dreams, Hana and Sara's father, was here. And he was sending spirits to me. I knew he was going to come for me, knew about the threat of his appearance but still… it scared me. It scared me to my core that he was going to take me back to that awful place he kept Sara.

Lost in my fears, the spirit grabbed my wrist.

"Open the gates. I'm ready." He demanded.

"No," I tried to jerk my arm back, "He lied! There's nothing beyond the Gates! It's a lie!"

Nothing could stop the gut wrenching feeling that took over when those large gates burst open. A phantom wind blew on my body and the spirit was gone. Those black hands took hold of my arms, legs and torso - and hen they pulled me beyond the gates. I screamed as the hands grabbed me, screamed as they pulled me deeper and deeper into the darkness...

When I opened my eyes, I was driving.

"Papa, will we go and see the fireworks again?" A young, girl - maybe seven, said from the backseat. I was driving, my hands were older - masculine. It was well past ten in the evening, the roads were dark and we could see nothing but blackness outside of the highway. The family was just out of the city, returning from a festival on the outskirts of town.

In the rear view mirror, I could see my reflection. I was now the spirit, who was much younger. He seemed to have more life in his eyes now. He had black hair, a strong jawline.

His wife, beside him - me - touched my hand, jerking me back to the present reality.

"It would be nice to return to the festival next year," she said.

"Yes Papa!"

"Alright," he said, smiling. "We'll go again -

"WATCH OUT!" His wife's blood-curdling scream was the only warning given when my attention split from the road for a mere second.

We had been driving at highway speed, much too fast to see the stopped vehicle in the lane ahead of us. I had caught a brief glimpse of it before the front end of our car hit it. In order to avoid it though, I turned to the left, hard, and was impacted immediately after.

The vehicle took on an entirely new force of nature as the wheel was wrenched from my hands. Pain, blinding pain, ripped through my skull. There was screaming and crying and a hot throbbing sensation that now made its way from my skull to my spine.

Immediately, heat began to trickle into the vehicle. My vision blurred n and out of understanding what was happening around me.

A fire.

I heard the little girl, the wife, screaming. The smell of smoke and flesh was awful but I was took weak to move. I couldn't call for help, not with the suffocation of the smoke now deep in my lungs. Cough after cough I breathed in the smoke and the fire burned at my skin, stinging my eyes.

The ring of an explosion was the last thing I heard before I returned to my body.

I gasped upon return, pressing my back into the bricks of the church. I had no idea how long I had been out for. Time was different on that world then it was here.

Tears escaped down my cheeks and I quickly wiped them away and stood up.

"I told you he would find you," Sara said as I took deep, steady breathes. Of course she showed up when she was least needed. "No matter where you go he'll find you."

I hadn't been ready to be exposed to the gates again. Not when it was so long since the last time.

"I found the Lasser Glass."

"Yes," She smiled like a canary. "I've also heard you've been doing some secret keeping of your own from unreliable sources."

There was only one person who knew that could have told her: Gene. I was curious about what she meant about the secrets part but decided to ask my questions.

"I need to know if it's true: are the Lasser Glass and amulet linked.?"

Sara pursed her lips and I refused to grow frustrated. "They could be."

She knew full well the answer and I resisted the urge to satisfy her constant need of toying with me. I tried another question. "The amulet... he keeps it with him at all times, doesn't he?"

Sara laughed bitterly, "you would like that, wouldn't you? That he was not only here but also conveniently had the amulet."

I glared at her, waiting for her to finish. "Does he?"

"No." She said, "he has it in a much more interesting place."

Sara gave me a knowing look, a dark glimmer in her eye as I understood.

"It's at the cabin."

"Yes. it seems he went back there upon the destruction of Hana and I as anchor's. He probably knew whoever destroyed it wouldn't dare to go back a second time."

Damnit.

This was not what I wanted to hear and something else became painfully clear to me.

"If the Lasser Glass makes it here, do you think he might try and take it back to Biei?"

Unhelpfully, Sara said. "You're smarter than those two give you credit for," before disappearing.

I glared at the spot she had once occupied. She may not have answered my questions how I wanted her to but she did tell me one fundamental thing.

Izanagi was here and we were running out of time.

^.^