GetBackers Fan Fiction ❯ Witch Hunt ❯ Chapter 6 ( Chapter 6 )

Witch Hunt

Chapter six

Shido was enjoying the walk through the forest. He had successfully retrieved the knife, and was now on his way to the house where he had been requested to leave it to the client. The night air felt so good against his face and he could sense all the nocturnal animals around him, greeting him as a friend. He started to run, even though he was in no hurry, only because it made him feel alive.

After the joyful run, which took him even further away from his destination, Shido sat down for some contemplation. Amazing how easy this had been. He smirked a little at the thought of Midou's complaints of how dangerous jobs the GetBackers always received by Hevn. This one hadn't been dangerous at all, and if only that snake bastard had been on time, the job had been his - and Ginji's of course.

But as it was, Shido had gotten the job. He had taken the bus to the little town nearby, and from the bus stop he had been walking. It didn't slow him down much. Madoka had offered him to borrow a car, but he didn't want to impose on her more than he felt he already did. Besides, even if he knew how to drive a car, he wasn't comfortable with it. Midou drove with the same ease as he walked, but Shido much preferred to use his own two feet. And the way the roads windled in this area, he didn't lose as much time as one would think by walking the short cuts through the forest, instead of taking the longer way by the road.

This retrieval had really been an easy one. He had arrived at the house where his clients had told him the knife was kept, after about 45 minutes. And by using his power to see in the dark like a cat, he had not had any problems getting there.

The house had been surrounded by a fence, and in the yard between the fence and the house there had been five dogs guarding the house. Shido almost laughed at the thought; as if dogs could cause any trouble to him. After a quick examination the dogs had surrendered to him and greeted him as their leader. Not even the real leader of the pack had had any objections. Shido shook his head in disbelief. It was clear to him that most people had no idea how to choose dogs suitable to be good leaders.

Obviously the inhabitants of the house had trusted the watchdogs completely. There had been no guards inside and no alarm system. There had been a couple of men awake, but they didn't notice him until he left the house. He had been a little incautious then. It had been so easy to find the safe and even find the key in one of the desk drawers that Shido almost felt disgusted. How could people be so careless? The watchdogs indicated they had something worth of guarding, why then don't go all the way and keep the house and their belongings totally secured?

The ease of getting his hands on the knife was what made him a little careless. Not that it mattered much. All that had happened was that he was lost in thoughts as the men entered the office room where he was standing with the knife in his hand. They had been even more surprised than he, so he made a quick sortie out of the window and disappeared into the forest before the men had moved from their spot.

And now he was on his way to his client to hand over the retrieval. The walk between the two mansions was quite a bit longer than the one between the bus stop and the Motohashis, but it was still a pleasant walk. Shido rose; it was time to resume the walk to make the delivery.

A little more than an hour and a half later, he reached the mansion that was his goal. This house was surrounded by a fence too, but this time he could sense there were no dogs. Close to where he had come out of the forest was a small gate in the fence with a path leading from the house, continuing into the forest. Shido tried the gate - it wasn't locked; he stepped through and walked up to the main doors of the mansion.

He rang the bell at the door. After a few seconds a man opened it.

"Yes?"

"My name is Fuyuki Shido. I'm looking for Demura Keiko-san."

"Oh, you are the retrieval specialist. This way, please."

Shido followed the man to a room with some comfortable chairs and other expensive looking pieces of furniture.

"Please, wait here for a few minutes." The man gestured to the chairs and Shido sat down.

He didn't have to wait long before the woman he had been talking to at the Honky Tonk came in with a cold smile on her lips.

"Welcome, Fuyuki-san. I trust you have retrieved the knife?"

Shido took up the knife in its sheath, and handed it to her. She drew it and examined it closely.

"Yes. This is the right one. Thank you, Fuyuki-san. Here is your payment."

She pulled out an envelope from the handbag she had brought. Shido took it and put it in his pocket without looking at its contents. He had no reason to believe he wouldn't get what was agreed.

The woman dismissed him, and the same man who had showed him into the house now followed him back to the doors.

Outside, the sun had started to rise above the horizon. The night's chill was still in the air, but it looked like it was going to be another beautiful day. Shido took the same path he had come from, but before he reached the gate he heard an engine and stopped to look back at the main entrance. A car was driving up the entrance road and he recognized it. The Ladybug. What the hell were the GetBackers doing here? Did they have a job here too? He found he hoped they did. Not that he cared whether Midou got a job or not, but sometimes he felt just a little guilty for Ginji's sake. He shrugged; he couldn't help if those two didn't show up in time.

The Beastmaster reached the smaller gate and decided to follow the path leading from it in another direction than he came from earlier. He didn't have to hurry, and apart from the walking he had done this night, it had been quite a while since he could spend some time in a forest. The pleasure of being in this environment made him feel so good. He found himself standing under a big tree that seemed very inviting to his eyes. He climbed it; sitting on a branch he sensed the living forest surrounding him. It felt wonderful. He decided to stay for a while and get some sleep.

When he woke up again, several hours had passed. It was much warmer now, and sunbeams shining through the tree leaves tickled his skin and that's what woke him up. That, and a little bird hopping at his shoulder picking affectionately at his ear, very eager to tell him some new gossip from the nests. Shido listened gravely to the little bird for a while and then, when the bird was finished and had found something more interesting, he lithely jumped down to the ground and started to follow the path again.

Weird. As he proceeded he felt he came closer to something... wrong. The bird had, besides the gossip, told him there was a place in front of him she didn't like, and he got the feeling confirmed from other animals as well. They didn't shun it completely, but it was like they all had racial memories of evil things that once happened here.

Shido saw someone in front of him, and quickly hid himself. It was an old woman, standing in a quite big clearing. It was this clearing the animals didn't like. To the left was a small pond and in a triangle with about 10 meter sides stood three wooden constructions. The two at the far side from Shido looked like tables built on the spot but the one closest to him was something that looked like a sturdy gate. Its sides were decorated with carved symbols, and Shido thought it must have taken quite some time to create this gate.

The old woman was sitting in front of it, chanting quietly, but Shido couldn't make out any words. He heard steps approaching from the path and a man walked up to the woman, respectfully kneeled, and patiently waited until she had finished her chanting.

"Shigeru," the old woman greeted the man. "Is everything ready?"

"Yes, Demura-sama. The preparations for the first step are almost done. We can carry out the ritual as planned this evening."

"Very good." Demura looked pleased. "We are already overdue with four years. It took a long time to find the twins this circle. The ritual has to be repeated with no more than 105 years interval. The optional interval is exactly 100 years, but since this circle's twins are the strongest I've ever seen, it will be more than enough to make up for the four extra years of waiting."

The man named Shigeru nodded in acknowledge of her words. "Yes, the coming circle we will prosper most satisfactory due to their strength." He rose. "We can go back to carry out the first step as soon as you are ready, Demura-sama."

"I am finished here. Let us go back." Demura let Shigeru help her rise and they left the clearing together. Shido watched them go. Some people were so creepy. Whatever were they going to do? Well, it was none of his business. Maybe they would all get naked and dance in the moonlight singing songs to some god or demon or whatever. Shido smirked. Human beings could have strange customs, that's for sure.

He felt an urge to stay and see what would happen, but pushed it down. It was time to go home now. Shido started the walk to the bus stop. Something was still nagging him, but he couldn't really get a grip of it.

When he sat on the bus on his way back to Tokyo, he tried to collect his thoughts and make something out of what he had heard. Why did this bother him so much? Some kind of ceremony, the knife, 'they are being prepared now'. What the hell did that mean? Were they going to do some sort of sacrifice? Human sacrifices? Shido didn't like the conclusion he came up with; he had to return tonight.

A little more than three hours later as the bus reached Tokyo, Shido had decided to go see Kazuki. The informer had knowledge about the most curious things. He might know something about this family, or if not, he probably had the means to get information about them. Shido changed buses and went straight to Kazuki's apartment, hoping he would be home.

He was in luck. Ringing the doorbell, he immediately heard Kazuki's light footsteps from the other side of the door.

"Shido. It's been a while. Come in," Kazuki offered.

Shido went inside and at Kazuki's invitation he sat down on the slender man's couch.

"Would you like something to drink?" Kazuki asked.

"No, thanks." Shido was a little embarrassed, he hadn't been visiting his friend in such a long time, and when he did it was only to ask for a favor. "I came to ask you something."

"Oh?" Kazuki had seated himself in an armchair opposite the couch. "Go ahead. I'll answer if I can."

"Have you ever heard of a clan named Demura? They live about three hours away to the west, and maybe they have something to do with... magic? I overheard them talking and they were mentioning some ritual they will carry out tonight."

Kazuki nodded. "Yes, I've heard of them. It's a very old family." He frowned. "You say they are going to make a ceremony tonight? That's bad news. I thought, or rather hoped, they didn't do such things anymore."

"What, Kazuki? What are they going to do?" Shido didn't want his suspicions confirmed.

"From what I've heard, they are a family with witch blood in their veins. Every one hundred years they sacrifice two people, called 'the twins', and drink their blood and eat their flesh. That sacrifice will make the members of the clan live on for another one hundred years. Some of those members living now are supposed to be the same as one thousand years ago."

"That's not possible!" Shido gasped.

Kazuki shrugged. "That's what I've heard anyway."

"They talked about the 'twins'." Shido recalled. "Are they really going to eat other human beings? It's not just some kind of metaphor, you know like in Christian ceremonies when they drink wine and say it's blood?"

"No, the 'twins' are real people. They are called 'the twins of light and darkness', and are supposed to be powerful people. The dark twin must have witch blood, and the light one must be pure of heart. "

Shido gave a start. "Ginji! Midou! They were there. I saw when they arrived!"

Kazuki looked alarmed. "Yes, they would fit the description of the 'twins'. You're sure it was them you saw?"

"It must have been them. I saw a car that unmistakably was Midou's Subaru, driving to Demuras' house."

Shido rose from the couch and strode over to the small window, and then back again, looking furious. Dammit! He had known there was something wrong! Why hadn't he listened to himself! He should have stayed!

"I'm going back there immediately!" he declared. "Are you coming with me? Ginji might be needing us."

Kazuki shook his head, worried. "I wish I could, but tonight I have a meeting with a man who is going to inform me on a matter concerning the murder of my family. It was very difficult to arrange this meeting and it was the only available time he got."

"I understand, Kazuki. It's probably nothing. I guess I'm overreacting, but I'll go there anyway, just in case."

Kazuki wasn't at all convinced. He knew just as well as Shido, or maybe he understood it even better, that the threat to the GetBackers probably was a very real one. He was torn between his own needs and his loyalty to his former emperor.

Shido saw the agony in Kazuki's face and tried to sooth his friend. "Don't worry about it, Kazuki, I'll help him if he'll need it."

"And Midou-kun?" Kazuki asked, knowing Shido's feelings concerning Ginji's partner.

"What the hell, I'll help him too, even if he's never going to thank me for it. But if he needs it, I'll help him because of Ginji. I'll never understand why, but he really likes that bastard."

Kazuki nodded. "Yes, they have a very special relationship." He smiled. "But on the other hand, Midou-kun is probably saying the same thing about you as you do about him."

"Probably." Shido agreed with a smirk. "Anyway, I'm going back there as soon as possible. Can I borrow your phone, Kazuki? I want to call Madoka."

"Sure, Shido," Kazuki nodded towards the telephone standing on a small table near the door. "And then I'll treat you to something to eat, because you've probably not eaten all day and it would take too long for you to go back to Madoka's to eat."

Shido was somewhat amused of Kazuki acting like a worried mother, but he was used to it since their days in Volts. As kings of the gang they had always watched out for each other in all ways, be it in fighting, taking care of wounds or things like seeing to that everybody had their share of food. And since he had enough time before he had to leave for the bus, and Kazuki wouldn't let him go before he had eaten, Shido accepted the invitation. Maybe it also had something to do with the fact that his stomach at that moment made a growling sound.

Kazuki made himself busy in the kitchen. "I'm sorry I can't come with you, Shido."

"Leave it, Kazuki," Shido said as he helped his former fellow king to lay the table. "You provide the food for me, and I'll help Ginji. And the Snake bastard," he added quickly at Kazuki's glance.

"Alright then," Kazuki said calmly. But Shido, knowing the young man so well, could see how frustrated he was. "You do what's needed."

"Of course," was Shido's reassuring answer.

---

The GetBackers drove through the gates of the Demura mansion as the first rays of the morning sun was seen. Ban parked the little car in the front yard without caring if it was a proper place to park a car. He and Ginji stepped up the stairs leading to the front doors and rang the bell. In a few seconds the door was opened by a man.

"Yes?"

"We want to talk to Demura Shigeru," Ban said without any introduction. He still felt a little disoriented by his earlier experience this night. It was almost like he still could feel that evil aura he had sensed at the Motohashis'.

The man raised a brow. "Oh, is that so?" It looked like he was considering something, and then he invited them in with a gesture. "Follow me, please."

He took Ban and Ginji to the same room Shido had been waiting in earlier.

"Please, wait. I'll tell Shigeru-san you are here."

He left the room closing the door behind him.

"Ban-chan, I don't like this. There's something strange about this room." Ginji looked around with a worried expression.

"You're right. Let's get out of here." Ban could tell this was bad. Now he was sure about it. It wasn't only after-effects of earlier events; he could feel almost the same sensation as at the Motohashis' in this room.

He went to the door and tried to open it. It was locked. Ban struggled not to show the panic he felt. Witches! Here too! He was just about to try to force the door open with his 200 kg's grip, when he suddenly felt nauseous and dizzy. Beside him, he saw Ginji falling to the floor. This can't be happening. I can't be trapped, not again! Those were his last thoughts before everything went black.

TBC