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Chapter Fourteen: Fresh Kill:

May 19th, 1976.

He waited in the dark parking lot for her. Tradition in Eda-Kimoto had to be acted upon tonight. He was the oldest son of Haruka and he couldn’t let her down. For years, he tried to win her approval. Success with that constantly came and went. This time, the twenty-three year old wanted his mother’s approval to stay with him.

Her name was Jennifer Day. She was a twenty-three year old American on a business trip with her company. Beautiful woman she was with her long flowing brown hair to her shoulders, rich olive tan complexion, and height about 5’5”. Trim woman with a healthy figure under her deep green trench coat. Too bad she had to die tonight.

They met briefly earlier; Miss Jennifer needed directions to the Dragon Hotel. She needed to get there to meet up with her boss. He acted happy to help out and gave her the right directions. She thanked him and went on her way. As she left, he chose her to be the sacrifice. Just by the way she spoke highly of her boss gave him the suspicion that this was more than just professional relationship between them. He followed her in secret up all the way up to this point. He had the wires and knife ready under his coat. Tonight played in his favor too; the rain would wash away any evidence of what he was going to do.

At last, Jennifer came out to her car in the parking lot. His prey was fixing herself up before getting in her car. She pulled her hair out of her coat and smoothed it down. The woman checked her jewelry and make-up in the car windows. She seemed to be in quite a hurry, all classic signs of an affair. This made the sacrifice even tastier.

I love immoral women!/, he thought, /Oh! /This will be perfect!/ He walked over to her slowly. Jennifer began digging for her keys in her purse. She couldn’t seem to find them among her cigarettes, condoms, lighter, id, and make-up.

“Shit,” she mumbled, “Come on, not now!” Jennifer began digging faster. Soon, the shadow of death crept faster than her. Jennifer looked for her keys still when she felt two wires closing around her throat. She dropped her purse on the wet pavement in shock. Her hand flew over her throat, touching the cold, thin steel. He wouldn’t let up; he kept pulling tighter and tighter. Jennifer tried to struggle to get away. Her eyes widened in terror as she gasped for air. He grinned at her suffering. The thrill of it reminded him of the foreplay on his wedding night. The killer closed his eyes and took it all in. His kitsune found it all so intoxicating, so tasty, so… erotic! However, the games had to end. Time for Jennifer to die!

He pulled out his knife and stabbed her in the back. The poor woman gasped aloud in pain. He yanked out the knife and stabbed her again. A third stab followed behind, next a fourth, soon a fifth, and then, finally a sixth. Jennifer died on the fourth blow. Her curvy body slumped against him as blood poured from the wounds onto his jeans and leather jacket in the rain. He smirked to himself in victory. It felt just as good as the time he stabbed Daisuke before finishing him off. His kitsune could already smell her soul leaking out of her body.

He let the body drop to the ground at his feet. He yanked the wire from her lovely throat, wound it up, and put it away. The blood on the ground washed away with the rain into the sidewalk gutter. He knelt over the body and began softly chanting. He smirked to himself coldly as his finger went a bright fiery red.

He picked up Jennifer’s right arm and traced the Kanji for “bear,” “Eda,” and “Kimoto” in her wrist. They burned as they set deep in her flesh. The sound delighted him so. He did the same with her left arm. Both marks cooled down almost immediately. Now, Jennifer’s soul fed the kitsune in their powers. After this, he would have a good night with his wife in their bedroom. He sat back with exploding joy. He made his first blood sacrifice to the clan.

He picked up the knife and wiped the handle clean in the grass on the curb. He threw the murder weapon down the storm drain and let the rain do the rest. He stood over the body and smiled at the clouded, night sky. /I have done you proud, mama!/, he thought as he left the hotel parking lot.

By morning, the police found Jennifer’s body in the parking lot. Just like in previous years, no leads and fear of the Eda-Kimoto clan made the case run cold.

May 20th, 2009.

The awkwardness between Shinigami, handler, and demons was interrupted when Tsuzuki’s cell phone rang.

“Excuse me,” he said as he reached into his pocket to answer. The call only lasted for a minute, yet his face was so grave. He slowly hung up the phone. The Shinigami turned to the group.

“What’s wrong, Tsuzuki?” Anna asked. The man swallowed at bit.

“There is another victim near the river down from here,” Tsuzuki explained, “It looks like another kill from the Eda-Kimoto clan.” They all raced to the crime scene.

Hisoka had been waiting at the scene for a few minutes by now. He looked up and saw his partner with Anna and the trio running towards him. The boy was slightly confused on why Emiko, Hotaru, and Mike were with them. Tsuzuki made it over to the younger Shinigami.

“What do we have here?” he asked. Hisoka turned to the body.

“Name is Hana,” he said, “This old homeless man found her.” Tsuzuki looked over at the old man sitting by a trash can. He cowered away in fear. The Shinigami couldn’t blame him.

Tsuzuki looked at the body. Hana was about twenty-three years old and a lovely Japanese woman with a tiny figure. Her skin painted white as snow, red plump lips, and sky blue and sugar pink kimono indicated that she was either in cosplay or a geisha-in-training. Hana actually looked more asleep than dead like Anna was.

“She’s been strangled and stabbed in the back six times,” Hisoka reported, “Just like some of the victims in the previous cases.” Tsuzuki turned to his partner.

“How can you tell the clan did this?” he asked.

“Look at her wrists,” Hisoka murmured with a serious look on his face. Tsuzuki turned over the young woman’s right arm to see. His eyes widened in shock when he saw the Kanji for bear, Eda, and Kimoto burned into Hana’s wrist.

Anna and the demons ran over to the body. However when she got close, Anna froze in her tracks and gasped in pain. Everyone looked up when they heard the sound.

“Anna,” Tsuzuki said, “What’s wrong?” The woman gritted her teeth as she rubbed her wrists, sinking to her knees.

“It burns!” she yelped, “So cold… it’s burning me! It burns!” The Shinigami figured out what she meant less than thirty seconds.

“Anna,” Tsuzuki spoke up, “Show me your wrists.” Anna took in sharper breaths as she lifted her arms to him. Everyone crowded around for a look. The same Kanji on Hana’s wrists was also burned into Anna’s. Only, her scars glowed a bright icy blue. Tsuzuki already put two and two together. The burns must be reacting to each other. Due to Anna being alive, hers were tormenting her by burning her wrists to the bone. Anna drew in a painful mouthful of air to cope.

“How bad is it?” Tsuzuki asked.

“It’s so cold, it burns!” Anna wailed, “Make it stop! Please make it stop!” Hisoka turned to his partner.

“Take her away from the body!” he whispered. Tsuzuki nodded.

“Right!” he whispered. The man walked over to Anna and took her by the arm.

“Come on Anna, let’s go,” he whispered. They both walked away from the crime scene together. The demons watched them leave.

“Still believe she’s the enemy?” Mike whispered to Emiko. The demon woman shook her head.

“Not anymore,” she whispered, “There is no spell in the world that could make that much of a powerful impact with only contact. We still need to keep a close watch on her.” Mike looked at her in a strange way.

“Why?” her roommate whispered. Emiko looked at him with a serious look on her face.

“We have to know what happens to her next,” she replied, “Something tells me this whole thing is just warming for the big show and I want a front row seat.” Mike didn’t say a word as they watched the pair disappear from view while Hisoka took pictures of Hana to send back to Ju-Oh-Cho. The Shinigami glanced over his shoulder at the demons with a clear idea of what they were just by overhearing Emiko talking.

Across the street in front of a pet store, Haruka’s oldest son watched with intrigue. He hadn’t expected to see his niece again so soon since the night that he killed her. Now, he found himself glad that she was alive again. He hadn’t had this much fun since he ended Jennifer Day’s life back in ’76. His ears kept a chuckle by his head. His eyes glanced behind him.

“Is it her this time, master?” a honey-smooth voice asked. The kitsune’s master licked his lips.

“Oh yes,” he hissed. The kitsune burned up against his shoulder.

Intriguing still was how the burns on Anna’s wrists reacted to his latest victim’s burns. He always wondered what would happen if the family’s burns were on a living person and if they crossed with burns of a dead person. Good thing Haruka allowed her sons to kill again. This blood season would be the best one yet.

Till we meet again, Anna!/, he thought, /This time, you won’t escape! The old man turned and left the show.

I will make you proud mama!/, he thought, /I promise! On a minor note, he was also glad for two things: he didn’t stab Anna like the rest of his victims and that he burned the family’s curse straight down to the bone in her wrists. Meanwhile, Kato waited for Anna and Tsuzuki in the nearest café.