Chapter 2
A new Spirit Detective
Crimson red spattered her face as she plunged her hand aggressively into the demon's chest. She gazed into the enigmatic creatures face, his mouth hung open and his eyes rolled as his life drained away. Sakura smirked, she left her hand in the demons chest for a few moments longer, savoring the feel of it's torn flesh, and the blood running through her fingers and down her forearm. She tossed the corpse aside, a small stream of blood issued from its wound, leaving a momentary trail in the air.
Sakura gazed down at the myriad of bodies she had collected that night, all doused in blood and bearing deep lacerations. They differed in size and physical feature, but to her they were all the same – abhorrent demons that had managed to skulk away from the depths of their own world, in a bid to feed off of the unsuspecting humans.
She was a Spirit detective, appointed by Koenma himself to patrol the borders of demon-world and human-world. Koenma had assured her that since the demons had reached an agreement to not trespass into human world, her tasks would be menial. A false assurance it turned out to be.
It seemed as if every night, the groups of demons escaping into her world were becoming denser and every night she would end up with a hefty pile of bloodied bodies. She knew very little about the world parallel to the Earth, where the vile demons resided, nor did she know much about her employer – Koenma. Whenever they touched upon a subject that might illuminate some nugget of knowledge or history, Koenma would avoid it with great vigor, even it if it meant ejecting himself from the conversation completely.
She remembered her first encounter with Koenma several months ago, how he had told her that she possessed special powers. Awareness – that's what he called it when she could see the large, bulking mass of a monster, whilst her friends and family remained oblivious.
However, she never needed Koenma to tell her these things. She was 15 and had figured out that she was strange years ago. She could see and feel things when she was very young that her mother accredited to a vivid imagination. Sakura persisted, some nights lying awake, traumatized as they crept into her dreams. However, she learnt to suppress her natural trait of telling people, and instead was forced to live her personal nightmare by herself. If she told her friends, they would surely think her insane, a freak, an outcast that would be tossed aside. The thought of her being crazy had crossed her mind many times during her life, up until she met Koenma anyway.
She would be dispatched each night to a location which Koenma felt would attract the most demons – usually a remote, desolate area where Sakura would sit for hours, watching the sun die and the sky take on a gray tint, before she was completely consumed in darkness. Her senses always had to be alert – always looking, always listening.
Yet, she always seemed to find them. They would find their way out of demon-world at the summon of their natural hunger and sniff out any human they could find – Sakura only had to use herself as bait. She would sit in a clearing, on a large rock, sensing their leers as they waited for their chance to move – their chance to feed, as they lay dormant in the abundant scrub.
She would look weak enough. She had brown hair that trailed to her waist, long legs and a rather slim figure – she was not irregularly muscular, nor rugged. She was just your average teenage girl, sitting by herself in the woods, hours from any sort of town or city. She was perfectly alluring to the demon kind.
She sighed and looked down at her watch – it was four in the morning and it looked as if the flow of demons for the night had been halted. She sighed exasperatedly – it looked like another day of truancy for her. She would have to skip class and find somewhere devoid of prying eyes to catch up on her sleep, something Koenma didn't seem to care about. She loved protecting the humans from being killed, but she didn't see herself doing this for her entire life, and she had dreams, plans for her life that had rapidly been drawing further and further away from her as she watched her grades steadily diminish.
She gave one final look at the rooting carcasses, and quickly turned away at the horrid stench emanating from them. It often worried her – how easily she had adapted to taking life from these creatures. She bore their blood on her skin, hair and clothes yet she was not repulsed, as she would have been months ago.
Koenma had rarely mentioned it, but she had surmised that there had been a spirit detective before her, maybe even more, but where were they now? Dead? Driven insane from all the death and blood shed? Either outcome seemed likely, would she someday experience one of these fates?
The veil of darkness that blanketed this forest was dense and Sakura could barely see the skeletal outlines of the delimiting trees. She began to walk, she though that she was going in generally the right direction – she would soon emerge onto an old, cracked road, which saw a minute amount of daily traffic. Maybe she would be able to find an old farmer to give her a ride home.
She wended her way through the wild bush, pushing aside branches and being mauled by the undergrowth. The bitter air bit at her naked cheeks, and her fresh wounds were beginning to sear. The orb-like moon hung in the starless blackness of the nighttime sky; watching over her, there were no clouds to envelop it, mask its light. It gave Sakura little comfort as she ploughed on for several more minutes before stopping.
She had not reached a road, nor had any being lurched from the dark reaches of the forest to drag her away into the deep abyss. It was the differentiating sound she had heard when she trod on a particular piece of earth – it was almost metallic, the sound pierced the near-silent area prominently and Sakura was bemused. She looked down and saw that where she was standing had been neatly cleared. It was a perfect circle; there were no trees or bushes spouting from the earth, just rough grass and a few dried leaves strewn haphazardly about it.
She stomped on the circle once more, harder this time and the sound came again – a resounding, hollow, metallic sound. Sakura grimaced, annoyed by her own curiosity. She knelt down and drove one bloodied finger into the cold dirt.
Only half of her finger had been submerged before she withdrew it. It was now unmistakable – she had touched upon some form of metal, hard and unyielding. She couldn't help herself, and whilst doing so she continued to ask herself why, but she brusquely began to tear away at the ground. She threw fistfuls of earth aside, until the metallic surface was brought into plain few, glinting placidly against the lunar rays.
Sakura gazed at it for a moment. A plain plate of steel embedded into the earth, laden with grime and rock fragments. Her hands played across its flat surface, she could barely see what she was doing. She halted as she caught hold of a handle, and with a hoarse grunt she pulled, the latch turned out to be surprisingly feeble, as with that one heave, the steel plate began to rise, throwing dirt off as it did and emitting an elongated beep. Sakura got to her feet and took a few steps back, almost falling into a nearby bush, watching in awe as the high-pitched beeping noise ceased and the plate began to slide away. It stopped, revealing a deep, murky blackness – cold and uninviting.
Sakura didn't need anymore spelling out of what this was – a door, placed here for a specific purpose and intentionally hidden, but why? The darkness that lurked inside seemed to insist malign intent, but Sakura's curiosity once again held her, and once again she could feel her body responding to a command that her mind had not consciously given.
She approached the hole and stood at the very edge, the tips of her toes suspended above the dubious darkness. She gazed into the deep indentation, nothing caught her eye, but she couldn't evade the feeling that this was built for a purpose, and it was not something well natured, not a new sewerage entry that the government had installed. A sinister aura emanated from that impenetrable darkness that caused shivers to rack her body.
She sighed as she slipped over the edge. How stupid is this? She thought and grimaced as her legs dangled precariously over the side. Did she know how deep this was? Did she know what lay within? Did she have even the slightest idea of how she was going to get out? Did she realize at that moment that she would never have to worry about the latter?
She relinquished her hold on the dew-glazed grass and slipped into what seemed like an endless fall. She was engulfed by the darkness and the descent seemed to be endless, but was in reality probably only a couple of feet – a couple of feet elongated by the fear-struck, over-clocked mind of a teenage girl, dubbed as a spirit detective. Her lips did not part and elicit a shrill scream as she had thought, nor had her arms flailed tumultuously as she attempted to regain her grip on something solid. She had assumed an almost graceful pose as she fell, but this was broken abruptly when she hit the cold, solid steel that lined the bottom of the hole.
Fortunately she landed on her feet, but she had fell at such force and onto such an unyielding surface that her knees jarred painfully causing her to cry out sharply, piercing the dormant air. She looked around, bemused, her eyes not able to adjust properly to such a dense darkness. She began to regain her stance, her heart pulsating rapidly in her chest at such ferocity that she felt as if she would pass out right then and there, but she did not. She calmed herself and looked around – darkness, why had she believed there would be anything more? And now she had to find a way out. She cursed her own stupidity.
She stood pensively in the darkness, contemplating her escape route – nothing came to mind. She had barely ran her fingers along the walls of the hole, trying to find something more, but she had no desire to stumble around in the darkness. All of her curiosity, all of her bravado had been drained from her as soon as she hit the ground, now she was stuck down here. For all she knew this was a trap, set-up by a demon possessing a higher IQ than the usual bunch. However, a piece of her mind whispered to her, in a voice that differed so radically from hers that she thought someone else was there.
"You know that's not true. No demon is smart enough to make such a sophisticated trap"
It uttered coldly to her.
She felt the terror steal over her once more, like icy, wizened fingers slowly caressing her body. Her fear did not reach its absolute paramount until the lights turned on, and that was when she screamed.
She looked down at the floor first, trying to blot out the powerful fluorescent luminosity bathing the area. She looked up and gasped – as she expected the floor was metal as was the sides of the hole that had led her here. She stood in a small square, but a frame was ahead of her, that's where the light was spilling from, it was an open doorway leading to something else – something bigger. Her heart swelled, but it was not with fear, it was with enthrallment. She had stumbled upon something – something important, something that she could report to Koenma, something that would reap her all the adulation she could ever dream of. Silly thoughts, little girl thoughts, she realized this in the final moments of her life.
She stepped through the doorway and her mouth fell open – the room was expansive and dome-like. Large screens and control-panels lined the walls and each metallic trimming glinted against the powerful light. Sakura gazed thoughtfully from side to side, not noticing the figure creeping up behind her.
She heard the preceding snarl - coarse and piercing, but she was not fast enough to react. She felt a powerful blow to the back of her head and was thrown forward. She hit the control panel on the far side of the wall face first. She held her head and moaned, her dark, matted hair obscured her face as she turned slowly and timidly to face her attacker.
A creature stood before her – a large humanoid form possessing abnormally large, red eyes and brown, yellow-splotched skin. It was muscular and clad in what appeared to be white armor, covering his chest and shoulders. It wore pants made from a spandex-type material. It possessed a snout much like a dogs, and as it stood, looking down upon her, it barred its teeth, allowing frothy green saliva to drip onto the immaculate steel tiles.
"It's a demon," her bruised mind screamed in her ears, but even as she stared deeply into its blood-thirsty eyes, attempting to size up its power, she could feel no demon energy at all emanating from it, how could that be?
She stood fully, her legs trembling. She was met with an overwhelming urge to vomit, but she did not. She managed to address the creature – her words wavering and meek.
"Who are you, what do you want?"
The creature did not reply for several moments, and when he finally spoke, Sakura thought it resembled a dog's bark more than it did an interpretation of the English language.
"You're not the one who should be asking questions – human scum! You are the one who has intruded into my ship, and you are the one who shall die"
His cold, menacing voice coupled with the pain and terror that was now racking her body was overwhelming her, but she realized something – this thing intended to kill her and she could not let that happen. She mustered up all strength that her voice could hold, which was very little and shouted back at the monster.
"Bullshit! How dare you hit me when my back was turned, you're the scum and I will kill you!"
The strange specimen merely smiled thinly before pouncing at her. A move she had anticipated – she sidestepped him and aimed a swift kick to the side of his head. It connected and she relished the image of those belligerent eyes widening in shock as he was knocked back several steps, his head turned in pain.
She ran at him, believing his guard was down and lethargically directed a punch at his face. He looked up quickly, and reacted in an instant, clasping her outstretched arm with his large hands. He threw her upwards with minimal effort and her nose almost made contact with the dome-like ceiling before she began her terrifying descent, knowing that in seconds she would slam into the unforgiving steel that lay beneath her.
The creature appeared beside her, and for a moment both were suspended in mid-air, suspended in time it seemed, before he slammed his fist forcefully into her face. She winced at the sound of her nose breaking. Despite the fact that she could sense the imminence of her own demise, a feeble concern about the state of her well-tended face shot through her. However, every thought escaped, as did her breath as she hit the floor with a sickening thud.
She had not died, and she resented the fact that she had not even succumbed to unconsciousness yet. Her body was racked with pain, the intensity of which she had never felt before. She tried to get to her feet, but could simply not do it. Tears were now running down her bloodied complexion. She opened her mouth and let the blood flow from her lacerated gums. She turned to her side and spat out a tooth. She raised a tremulous hand to her nose and felt the twisted bone, grimacing as she did so.
She tilted her head up slightly, causing pain to shoot through her spine and saw the creature looming over her. His mouth was open, exhibiting a set of pointed teeth that made Sakura think of razorblades. A dollop of drool was hanging from his lips, green and sticky. He was going to tear her apart, she knew it and there was nothing she could do – she was completely drained.
She turned her head away, not wanting to have the image of that snarling creature to be the last thing imprinted on her retinas. However, as she looked at her right hand, she saw something glinting against the light, almost beckoning her to do something. She began to remember Koenma handing her a ring one day and teaching her the 'spirit gun' technique. His voice reverberated inside her, loud and clear.
"You have an unusually high amount of spirit energy, which means that you will be able to use it as a weapon. This is called the spirit gun, and will be helpful in tight situations. However, I must warn you, it can only be used once a day and in extreme circumstances. You will be able to develop your spirit energy as you hone your skills, but for now, you are only strong enough to fire one shot a day – make sure it counts."
Then he had handed it to her – the golden ring winking at her now. According to Koenma, it would amplify her spirit gun. In her depleted state it may be dangerous to fire it, and she had not had much practice with the technique, but she knew that if she didn't act now, she would be dead.
She began to concentrate, to will all of her spirit energy into her index finger. It slowly began to glow blue, and luckily the creature had not noticed it. He was advancing on her, bending over her limp body. His acrid breath stung her nostrils, and when finally, their faces were adjacent, she clapped her hands together and formed a gun with her hands. The room flashed blue for a moment, and he was blasted directly in the face. He howled out in shock and pain as he was propelled across the room, and landed on his back.
Sakura's arms fell away, and a smile crossed her face – she had done it. Now she just had to escape. After what felt like minutes, she finally rose to her feet, each movement provoking her pain to become more heavily pronounced. She did not bother looking back, but limped across to the doorway as fast as she could.
She reached the entryway, her chest heaving as her protesting lungs tried to draw in air. However, she was swimming in the euphoric relief, all she had to do was find a way out. She looked up, and terror struck her again – floating in the nighttime sky, silhouetted against the full moon was the creature, which she had presumed dead.
He laughed, a callus, raucous laugh that echoed through the trees. He raised his arm and something gold flickered in his open palm, before a round, golden orb materialized. He threw it at her and all she could do was stare fixedly at it as it drew closer, into the pipe and onto her.
The last sound she heard was that maniacal laughter.
