Suguru led Alice to the cellar and unlocked it to reveal a set of stairs. As they walked down, a musty smell almost made Alice faint, but Suguru handed her a piece of fabric.
"Take it." he offered. "The cellar has a very bad smell that I just can't get rid of. Also, watch out for the steps. The only source of light is at the bottom of the stairs."
"Thank you." Alice put the mentholated fabric on her nose and waited for Suguru to light the lantern. "So what are we looking for exactly? And is-"
"You might want to cover your mouth and nose." interrupted Suguru, who covered his mouth and nose as well. He put his hand out and reached out into a dark area. "Got it. Step back."
Alice did what she was told and observed Suguru pulling out a large piece of dusty fabric. After a few minutes of cleaning away dust, Alice saw a shiny mirror standing in front of her. "What's with the mirror? It looks a lot like-"
"Bloody Mary's?" he answered. Alice nodded her head in shock and stared at the mirror. "This is the only thing valuable in the cellar and the only reason why wanted the cabin by the cliff. Only this cabin comes with a cellar, even if dug under close to the cliff. I don't want anyone messing with this because one, this is a very valuable item, and two, I've received strict orders on keeping it locked."
"Orders from Shun, I assume?" Alice glared at Suguru, who didn't bother looking back. "You know about everything, don't-"
"How about this? Did you ever think about why Shun did what he did? Did you ever ask him about this side of the story?"
"I-" stuttered Alice. "I guess I never did. It was mostly him looking out for me because I was the one with the tougher life. I never thought about what Shun's life was like because he looked so carefree." Alice's knees landed on the ground as she started crying. "It's all my fault for not acknowledging his predicaments."
Suguru smiled and patted Alice on the head. "Don't cry just yet. Have you forgotten what kind of situation Shun was in when you left? Just put that ruby on the slot in the middle of the top frame.
Was I really mistaken all this time? I always thought Shun suddenly just didn't want to be with me, but what else was behind it? And didn't he state his reasons? What was he hiding? Alice stood up and put the ruby into the slot, still worried about where Bloody Mary was. The only way in order to find out is to ask Shun himself, so I can't just leave him behind with Bloody Mary.
"You still care for him, don't you?" Alice turned her head around to face Suguru with a shocked expression on her face. "Well? What other reason do you have for doing this?"
"It's not like what you said. I just want to find out the truth." I've said too much already. I need to get away from him.
"Suit yourself." Suguru took out and opened his book again. "One more thing. Yes, I am Shun's uncle, but you should ask him about the truth..."
~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~
With a camera in his hand, Shun continuously pressed flashes at Bloody Mary to temporarily blind her vision. The only thing Shun could do right now was run and hide in somewhere dark and quiet where the witch could see or hear him.
There's no way I can outrun her. Shun looked at the camera screen and saw that the power was low. "Stupid batteries. I guess I have to be selfish for once."
As for Alice, she entered the forest, unsure of where she was exactly, with a mini, handheld version of Suguru's mirror from the cellar in her hand. The ruby glistened in the moonlight as Alice thought about how and where she should use it.
How on earth am I going to kill Mary? I remember what Hydron said about attacking the first person she sees, but how do I lure her out? Suddenly, Alice sensed a dark presence near her and stood up. Rushing toward Alice's direction at high speed was Bloody Mary, who by then was able to see again. She ran down a dirt path but tripped on something and rolled into a tree. The witch went off into another direction, so Alice took the time to let her ankle rest and observe what she tripped on.
"A camera? No doubt that this was probably left behind by Shun." She randomly pressed the buttons, but the camera wouldn't turn on. Then a blue item fell down on her lap, and Alice recognized it as a memory card. "This is the camera that I bought for Shun to take pictures of us with. Unless something really bad happened, he wouldn't throw this away." Alice trembled in fear as she held the camera close to her, but what made her fear even more was the sight of Bloody Mary.
I need to kill Mary now. I don't know what happened to Shun, but it's probably because of that witch. With the camera, mirror, and memory card in her hands, Alice ran into a nearby abandoned wooden house and locked the door. "That was too close. Good thing that I had time to run into this wooden house...oh no!" It wasn't until Bloody Mary came inside that Alice realized that she was in the house where the witch lived and the same house she went to a few hours ago.
"Really? That witch knows how to fly through walls?" Alice ran to the kitchen but dropped the camera and memory card halfway. "No!"
After a long chase, Bloody Mary suddenly disappeared, but Alice knew that she was still in the house someone. In the meantime, she picked up the items she dropped and checked if they were okay. The card still had the letters SxA that Shun and Alice carved. "These may be the only things I have left from Shun. I can't lose or throw them away."
A beam of light caught Alice's eyes, and she immediately remembered the mirror that was in the house. "Maybe I should just break the mirror, but if I do only that, then Bloody Mary will still be in some unknown dimension. But breaking the mirror is the only way to prevent her from attacking me."
Before Alice could even touch that mirror, Bloody Mary appeared on the glass and lunged forward. "Get away from me!" Just as when Alice used Suguru's mirror as a shield from the witch, a miracle happened. "What the-"
The hand mirror shone brightly as it transformed into a standing mirror similar to the one that Bloody Mary owned. Alice took the time to step to the side and watched what happened. This time, the witch was more than just a dark, drifting figure. Her appearance was clearer, and Alice realized that the 'witch' that was chasing her was just a facade. The real witch was waiting for her spirit to come back to attack in flesh.
"Hydron said that Bloody Mary will attack the first person she sees. We'll see how she attacks herself after taking a look into Suguru's mirror."
And Alice was right. The first person that Mary saw was herself in the mirror, so she constantly attacked the figure back in forth. Both mirrors eventually shattered, and Bloody Mary was gone for good. Outside, Alice heard the cheers of the villagers celebrating.
"Hooray!" Baron cheered. "Bloody Mary is gone, and we can rest again!"
"Now I feel a lot rested after Nene's death." Shuji sighed. "Her killer has been put to rest."
"And it's all thanks to that young man who volunteered to help us. Too bad he isn't here to celebrate. Cheers to him!" Hydron announced.
Hydron's right. Shun's not there to celebrate. Usually, he's the center of attention for providing the help and ideas, but where is he? Did he really get hurt by Bloody Mary on the way? Thinking about Shun and his supposed sacrifice sent chills down her spine. Meanwhile, Alice put the memory card back into the camera and pressed the power button. A teardrop fell down on the screen, and the camera turned on.
"Time to go home..."