A/N: dedicated to Megumi-chan because you bothered for an update :) thank you and enjoy.

Chapter.7: Voodoo Moon conclusion.

"A dog—I'd swear I saw it right there," Grimmjow shakily pointed to the spot where the ice was beginning to melt and spent bullet cases had landed. Renji looked vindicated from the chair he sat in, a white bandage on his leg. Rangiku was at the stairs, shaking her head, "I just don't understand it. When I first saw it, it was almost like a dark mist about so high and so large. Then as I continued looking at it, it took the exact form of a black Rottweiler. Yet Grimm saw, but Momo and Rukia didn't."

Momo uneasily shifted, "it wasn't that I didn't see it. It was more like a vague shape barreling toward you and I just…shot at it." Rukia walked around the center kitchen island, she stopped, seeing the spilled jar of coffee creamer and four perfect canine paw prints imprinted in the sandy powder. "Well it's obvious that it wasn't an—" she began then paused as the doorbell rang.

"Kurosaki," muttered Rangiku and she left to go answer it. Four minutes later, grumbling and seemingly in ill humor the orange-haired lead hunter stalked in the kitchen, a tall buxom woman following him. Rangiku closed the front door and then entered behind them. Rukia took in the sight of the stranger, shoulder-length copper colored hair, charcoal gray eyes to rival the Clairvoyant's. Short bangs framing a pretty face and clothed in a beaded teal skirt with overlying see-through black lace, a teal sweetheart neckline halter-top and wedge heels. It was obvious Kurosaki had been out on a date.

"Who are you?" Rukia asked, dismayed to discover her tone hostile sounding. Three of the four hunters looked at her curiously then Rangiku laughed shortly, "oh! Her? This is your roommate, Orihime Inoue. Remember she was out of town when you arrived?" The girl, now introduced as Orihime, smiled, coming forward, "you must be Rukia Kuchiki, Kurosaki-kun's new partner."

Biting her lip, Rukia took the hand Orihime proffered her. "Yeah…I'm glad to finally meet you, Orihime." The girl smiled happily, obviously pleased while with trepidation, Rukia noticed Kurosaki watching her reaction covertly. Resolutely she forced her mind back to the matter at hand. "Do you still insist that there's nothing more to this case, when now more than one person actually saw the black dog?"

Kurosaki sighed and took a look at the paw prints in the creamer, "you don't have a dog, right?" Renji had gotten up but now he looked affronted, "of course not!" Rangiku peered over the counter as Kurosaki knelt at the edge of the spill, his gloved fingers pinching something up. "Whatcha got there?" Grimmjow asked when he came around.

"Hair. A single black dog hair with what looks like…a tiny clump of dirt stuck to it."

~~~*~~~

Graveyard dust…it's a hexing agent but also used in resurrection spells," Grimm confirmed as the test results came back positive with Cayenne pepper remnants and Asafetida powder. "So now it's back to Hoodoo or Voudon…or whatever the hell it's called!" Kurosaki snapped, he got up from the desk and stalked around the office, throwing vicious glares at Renji as he passed by.

"Santeria, actually." Grimmjow calmly corrected. Renji approached the abandoned desk where the computer screen flashed the results. "Are we dealing with a Santero then?" he asked cheerfully, noting the gloom descending down and casting a pall perhaps more so because of Kurosaki's presence. Hanataro was typing slowly a report to the factory; Hitsugaya had taken a late lunch and was gone. Ishida was skulking quietly at the other end of the office, pretending to be sorting files but was really keeping an eye on them. And the girls…well they were on a forced stakeout across from Mystical eye, reporting back every half hour to say, no change.

Grimmjow yawned, stretching, putting his hands behind his head, "Santeria and a priest who's skilled at what he does. Learned in the dark arts obviously. I don't know how we're going to counteract this." The phone rang just as he finished speaking, Hanataro who was closest to the main line picked it up, "hello? Oh—Ms. Rangiku…he's moving? Now? You want—who? Oh, Grimmjow and Renji to follow you and Kurosaki to—sorry. Renji to go with you and Grimmjow and Kurosaki to check out the place? Okay, I'll tell them. Take care."

Hanataro turned to the waiting men, "Ms. Rangiku says that the suspect is leaving the area, she thinks he might go into the mountains and she wants Renji to take the motorcycle and follow them while—"

"Me and—Jeagerjaques check out the empty house," Kurosaki finished.

Grimm noted the tight expression on his rival's face, "I'm not so hot on the idea either…Kurosaki-kun. But we'd better do as the lady says." That earned him a glare, which he shook off, smirking. Renji got the coordinates from Hanataro and slid his jacket on, hiding his holster. He left them, still glaring at each other as he jiggled the keys to a refurbished Harley parked surreptitiously in a corner in the underground parking garage.

He kick-started the engine, swinging his leg over the seat and roared off into the evening twilight.

~~~*~~~

"I wonder how far he's going," Momo wondered aloud. She sat in the back seat of the gray Sedan with Rukia. Rangiku was in the drivers seat and next to her was a gathered box of various items used to combat Hoodoo in all its forms. From a pewter pentacle on a thin box chain to a braided cord with seven colors woven in representing the Seven African powers. Who knew Grimm had such a collection to lend the hunters? Certainly not them.

The car was crawling slowly, a goodly amount of space between them and the van. Momo tangled her fingers in the Maltese cross she'd chosen from the box, lifting it up and then dropping it back down on her chest. Rukia was studying her face in the scant sunlight coming in from the window, her hand cupping a tiny purple compact.

"Hey let me—"

"I see Renji!" Rangiku said sharply, Momo sat up and twisted around in her seat, trying to see out the back window, "where? Oh yeah…and he looks pleased as a peacock to finally have the excuse to ride the Harley," she remarked snidely. Rukia upon hearing this snapped the compact shut, dropping it into her coat pocket. A roar of an engine rattled their windows and the red head pulled up in the left lane.

"Yo," he greeted as Momo rolled her window down. Rangiku guided the wheel smoothly, turning the sedan through the curve in the road. The Motorcycle stayed back, making conversation nearly impossible until the road evened out. Few other cars passed them going the opposite way. Eventually Renji pulled up and maintained pace with the girls' car.

"How come you wanted Kurosaki to check out the voodoo guy's house?" he yelled over the engine's roar. The wind whipped Momo's hair into her face and irritated she pushed it away, "I can't hear you!" Rangiku threw a meaningful glance at them; indicating in no uncertain terms for them to cut their talk short. She took a hand off the wheel and made a shooing motion, perpetuating her partner's hasty grin and then slowly easing up to stay behind them.

The road kept on and so did the van they were tailing. Where and when it would stop none of the hunters knew.

~~~*~~~

Kurosaki eyed the setting sun, cursing silently on Rangiku's instructions for him and Grimmjow to check out the abandoned Mystical eye. After all, this was one man whom he couldn't stand and he suspected the itinerant Police officer felt the same. He glided his black BMW into a vacant spot in front of the house, cutting off the low rumbling of the engine, he glanced over at Grimmjow, steeling his nerves to be polite yet finding the man, stiffening and staring straight at a tree in the adjoining yard.

"Did you see something?"

Grimmjow's teal eyes were the size of saucers, "it's a—a-Lechuza!"

"A what?" Kurosaki grumpily leaned over, peering up gamily through the evening dusk to see nothing there. Just a few branches rustling. "A Lechuza!" Grimmjow insisted, obviously terrified by whatever he thought he saw. "Speak Japanese, man." Kurosaki muttered, throwing his door open. He heard the snap of the seatbelt unlatching and stalked forward, unheeding of the gate.

Grimmjow took his eyes off the tree in question long enough to realize he was being left behind. "Hey wait up!" he cried, scrambling from the car, slamming the door shut loudly. Kurosaki sent a mild glance of chagrined ill-humor to his much beloved vehicle, "could you watch what you mistreat with those ogre hands of yours?"

For once the insult bounced off the teal-haired policeman and he wiped his sweating hands on his pants, the black SCG jacket swung open to reveal him wearing a shoulder holster and loaded Orbo gun. Kurosaki didn't comment but his expression tightened, he pushed the gate open, his gloved hand going for his own gun. A bird twittered far off in the distance and Grimmjow jerked around, his eyes shifting uneasily.

The front door of course, was locked. But as Kurosaki searched beneath a potted Geranium, he came up with a slender bronze key. "Ever the wary homeowner," he muttered, inserting it in and hearing the lock grate satisfactorily; it creaked open. He swept in, Grimmjow hanging back, all the while glancing about his stance suggesting nervous tension.

"Hurry up and shut the door!" Kurosaki hissed; his progress impeded by the reluctant policeman. When the front door was finally closed and Grimmjow stood in the shadowed entry way did Kurosaki search for the light switch. Flipping it once, nothing happened. He inhaled sharply, "Dammit all." Swearing some more and fumbling with a lighter dug out from his pocket, he lit two white tapers stuck in a tarnished candelabrum. His cold amber eyes surveyed his shaking partner, and then sighed heavily to himself, "guess I'll just carry it myself."

The floorboards creaked and groaned under their combined weight. Grimmjow inching closer until he was nearly at the orange-haired hunter's back; only when Kurosaki came to an abrupt halt before a smaller pad-locked door and Grimmjow almost slammed into him, did he mutter angrily, "back the fuck off." He switched the candelabrum to his other hand and tried rattling the knob.

"This is probably where he performs his rituals," Grimmjow said, moving a few feet away as Kurosaki demanded he do. The lit candles lent an eerie glow to the room and the deck of Tarot cards on the table. Kurosaki kicked the door savagely, the old wood however withstood this and he assaulted it again. The candelabrum shaking with each impact, panting, Kurosaki stepped away. "You try," he commanded, going over to the table and setting the candles down. His gun he'd left in its holster though he kept it at the ready, Grimmjow paused to roll his sleeves up, "okay, just don't be complaining later on how unmanly I am when you couldn't even break down a simple door."

Kurosaki ignored the jibe and instead touched the pack of cards, causing them to fan out on the table. A snapping sound broke his concentration and he looked up as Grimmjow finished busting the door with a hard kick and application of his broad shoulder. Wood fragments littered the floor and Kurosaki crossed these, holding the candelabrum aloft. A short flight of stairs descended into what was most likely the basement, living darkness seemed to emanate from within.

Shaking his head, he indicted he should go first. Grimmjow of course didn't argue. Hell if the big bad monster was waiting down there then it could get the bastard Strawberry hunter first, or so Grimmjow figured. The wood of the stairs creaked mildly but held as they neared the bottom, the spindly railing gave out and collapsed in a termite-eaten heap. The resounding crash echoed loudly in the absolute silence of the house and he started violently.

Kurosaki stayed calm and reached the bottom slower than usual. The candlelight reflected back to them off of rows of glass jars filled with blackened dead things. Viscous jells tainted sickly colors held dried herbs, wax figures partially melted sat on chipped plates. The entire room had a rancid, sour odor that wasn't pleasing to the nostrils at all. Grimmjow covered his mouth, trying not to gag while Kurosaki approached the single table set in the center. Four candles in glass sleeves were arranged around a skeletal figure holding a scythe.

"The Holy death," Grimm said, taking a few cautionary steps closer. Bowls of offerings were grouped on smaller pedestals; melon seeds, sprays of millet and the like were placed within proximity to the statue. Kurosaki went to the other side, lifting up an empty plain glass sleeve, darkened from the round rim to midway. A scrap of paper fluttered down to the floor, using the meager light he mouthed the words, "all those who oppose me."

Setting it back down on the shelf, his eye caught a glimpse of something a little bit behind a carved soapstone box. Grimmjow hissed when he held it up; it was a stuffed owl, miniature and amber eyed. "Look familiar at all?" Kurosaki asked, then a shrill beep interrupted him. Grimm flinched and turned away, going to the opposite side of the room, his hands running through his hair agitatedly. Kurosaki replaced the poppet, reaching for his phone.

"Yeah? Oh, anything happen yet? No? Ah…you're going after him on foot. Be careful then—have Hanataro call the Factory? So soon? Right. Okay…see you later then. Bye." He hung up, responding to Grimmjow's worried look from across the room, "The suspect left his vehicle and headed into the woods. Rangiku and the others are going in pursuit. I don't know how this is—" he stopped as a shrill shriek erupted from the dark stairwell.

Both men swiveled, staring at the warped wooden steps where tiny tappings sounded. A single brown spotted feather fluttered down, Kurosaki had left the candelabrum on the table but now he pulled out a slim silver flashlight, holding the beam steady on the feather. "Your gun. Get it out," he whispered. The dirt floor emitted poufs of dust as Grimmjow stirred, complying silently. Above them, the ceiling where on the top was the floor of the room they'd exited, floorboards shifted as chattering sounds floated down to them.

The door banged shut with a resounding slam and the gust of air from the force blew through the stairwell, blowing out the candles. Kurosaki breathed in sharply, his single flashlight the only thing from keeping them being in total darkness. Grimmjow sweated, his fear palpable yet tried to still hold the small gun steady. Seconds, minutes passed and nothing came from the absolute blackness surrounding them. Kurosaki began to relax his hold and the flashlight beam started to lower then with an abrupt suddenness, the frantic sound of wings beating echoed in the focused beam and what made this ungodly noise showed itself.

Brown feathers and unblinking amber eyes screeched raucously at them. Grimmjow, unable to hold his own scream in, fired wildly. Kurosaki dropped the flashlight with a curse and pulled his gun out, wings took flight in the concealing darkness and more gunshots rang out.

~~~*~~~

"Stay close together now," Rangiku muttered warningly as they disembarked from the sedan. Up ahead in the fading daylight, the old van sat idling away, its driver long gone into the dense trees lining the mountainous road. Renji loaded his gun, de-pressurizing the liquid filled bullets and unlocking the safety. Momo did the same, unzipping her blazer and rechecking the gun, the Maltese cross lay conspicuously against the black of her blouse. Rukia, in clothing definitely more suitable for a hunt, black jeans, ankle side-zipper boots, and a mock turtleneck, forgoing a cross, she chose instead, a braided cord with a brown seed hanging from it. A buckeye or so Renji smartly informed her.

Rangiku had draped several of the pendants around her neck and now they swung threateningly off of her ample bosom, "let's go. We have a lot of ground to cover." Single file they stepped off the road and over the metal guardrail, the ground soon gave way to bumpy little hills and uneven areas of crackling twigs and disintegrating leaves. Twice, Rangiku checked her cell, marking the path they were on via satellite and GPS technology. They hadn't much of a way of discerning where the man had gone, though they curved back once around a fallen tree and took another that seemed more promising.

Sounds of the approaching night hastened their steps and it was clear this was going to be a night battle. Renji suddenly flung out his arm, bidding them to stop; from up ahead in a break in the trees, they glimpsed a tiny fire being built and shadowy shapes congregating on the edges. Creeping up slowly, to the nearest beech trees and peering around silently, they found themselves up against an army of creatures. The farthest, being closer to its master, was the brown and black Rottweiler. Jaws agape and panting as slick reddened teeth flashed eerily toward them. Small spider monkeys chattered amongst themselves, their beady almost human eyes, glowing a hellish red. In the trees, owls swooped down into the clearing, their medley of feathers adding to the general disarray of the scene.

"We can't take them all," Rangiku hissed to Renji, whom had taken her side, and peered just as worriedly over her shoulder at the infernal hoard. Momo parted a tiny branch and counted silently, turning back to them, ticking her fingers off, thirty, which meant ten each if one of them focused on the witch separately. Renji shrugged, meaning he'd take care of the witch if the rest would keep the creatures away. Rangiku rolled her eyes, huffing angrily. He tried appealing to her but she wouldn't listen, knowing full well Rukia and Momo couldn't take the thirty animals by themselves.

Finally she made a motion with her hand, causing the two girls to sidle over to their tree. "Okay, here's the plan. I will assist you two in distracting the animals, shoot them—do whatever it takes to keep them from getting to Renji while he dispatches the witch. Got it?"

"So we're sure he's our suspect?" Momo whispered back. Rangiku looked at her steadily then turned to Rukia, "if we were hunting an innocent then so help us God. But if not well then…"

"It's better not to question it." Renji interrupted, he glanced into the clearing and heard soft chanting begin; "we'd better hurry." He grinned faintly then smacked Rangiku's fist with his own. "Careful partner." He said seriously. She cocked her gun in response, "you too, pineapple head."

Momo drew her gun, took a breath and briefly smiled at Rukia, the craft user understood and nodded. The three women plunged into the clearing firing off at the smaller creatures while Renji snuck off to the side, leveling his pistol and shooting twice at the old man.

~~~*~~~

Glass bullets ricocheted off the tree trunks exploding in fitful screeches of breaking glass. The owls abandoned their tree perches in favor of swooping low into the hunters' faces. Rukia stopped them with summoned ice, freezing some of the birds in the air while others plummeted into the blazing fire. Momo kicked her heel back into the salivating mouth of a golden spider monkey, her gun discharging into the snarling face of another. Rangiku ducked a diving pigeon, swinging her fist back; she caught it, smacking the feathered body hard. Only then did it crumple to the ground.

Renji stared over the barrel of his smoking gun to the slack face of the Santero priest. Spirits it seemed had claimed his body for the bullets had merely shattered harmlessly onto his white robes. Wrinkled eyelids opened and glassy eyes crossed then shot to either corner, making mockery of life itself. "Uh, Rangiku…" the red headed hunter muttered, backing away slowly. Still in the fracas of biting, scratching screeching animals, Rangiku didn't take kindly to his failure.

"What're you standing—oh shit! RUN!!!"

"Huh?" He collapsed suddenly under the weight of a massive growling mass of black fur and muscle. Rangiku screamed but was unable to help him as a furry monkey wrapped around her pants leg and began biting, she fell to the ground, her gloves tearing at the fingers from the razor sharp teeth nipping her. Renji flipped over the snarling dog, propping the gaping maw away from his face by clenching his fist on the throat and wrenching it sideways. Veins stretched and ripped through the fragile tissue, Momo appeared suddenly at his side, grabbing the hind legs and yanking them toward her.

The dog yelped, bones breaking and as she held onto fistfuls of straining skin, her gun and a single shot left. Her finger curled around the curve of the trigger and pressed the open barrel onto the creature's side, the breath of release and snap of an empty chamber spinning punctuated its final frenzied howls. Rangiku with the clawing, screeching thing on her leg, slammed her fists into it, until she ripped the head with mouthful of grinning teeth back and flicked a Swiss Army knife from her boot, delivering a perfect slice to the furry throat. Instead of blood gushing from the bullet wound and slit neck, the creatures became nothing but black sand.

Momo jerked back with a cry, a pile of dust was all that remained of the canine. The three hunters turned simultaneously to the only one still standing, Rukia breathless but unharmed except for a rip across the knee of her right leg, and a dome of ice crystals freezing the other animals. Yet as everyone looked closely, piles of black sand lay beneath the shimmering frigid domes.

The Santero priest was gone.

Gone in a puff of cinders.

~~~*~~~

Back at Mystical eye, Grimmjow dragged Kurosaki across the porch of the house, a raging inferno inside. Black plumes of smoke rose up in accusing jabs at the darkened sky and rising moon.

Farther down the street, sirens blared as the fire department had been called.

~~~*~~~

"Good Gods! Rangiku, what the hell happened to you!?" Hitsugaya looked up from his desk to see the troupe of bedraggled hunters trailing in. Grimmjow brought up the rear, with ashes spiking his teal hair and black smudges on his pants. Kurosaki had his left wrist folded against his stomach, dried blood on the palm and rips in his black attire. Renji was leaning on Rangiku as they hobbled in, his ankle dragging just the tiniest bit. Momo was the one holding the door open and came in last behind Rukia; she seemed the least hurt, with only superficial cuts and scrapes to her cheeks and hands.

"Matsumoto?"

"What happened to Rangiku, chief?" the Clairvoyant smiled coyly, leading her partner to the nearest chair. Hitsugaya ignored the blonde's jibe and turned to Kurosaki, "just what the hell happened out there tonight? The factory called an hour ago to say that they didn't find anything where you guys had specified—and," he crossed his arms, taking in the sight of their assorted bandages, "you received triage care from paramedics on site."

The hunters exchanged looks, no one wanting to explain the particularities of the night. Kurosaki finally clenching his fist experimentally, said, "let's just say, Hitsugaya. We came, we saw and we didn't understand a damn thing. Whether it was simply a witch with minor powers who sacrificed and called on dark gods to bring about the destruction of enemies—or—all whom opposed him. We'll never know," he shook his head, "the fire destroyed the evidence me and Jeagerjaques found and then the witch's body disappeared once that was started…so no. We have nothing. Just the pain of a few scrapes and cuts from tussling with things not of this world."

"I'm going to pretend I understood all of what you just said," Hitsugaya sighed after a quiet while, "go on home everybody. I'll make the report to the Administrator and the factory." Relief was an understatement to the hunters but as Renji tried to stand up, he dropped back down into the chair, groaning in frustration.

"If you tussled with creatures not of this world, then why is Abarai moaning and groaning?"

Kurosaki grinned and everyone looked instantly chilled, "because the idiot fell in a natural dip in the forest as they were leaving and twisted his ankle."

"Ah…that sounds exactly like him," Hitsugaya hypothesized. Renji looked visibly offended and Rangiku chuckled, obviously agreeing with him.

~~~To be continued~~~

A/N: was it weird? Apologies D: ahem…Lechuza: is an owl but in some Hispanic cultures is thought to be a witch in disguise. Note: in Voodoo moon chapter.5 when Renji touched the voodoo doll he unknowingly set the dog familiar after him. Later on in this chapter when the owl attacks Kurosaki and Grimm, it's because they were trespassing in the ritual room.-) hmm…please review.