Cole's Haunting Melody (The Gods' Executioner Series) (14 page)

“Alright.
Can you pull up a map of the beach near his house? I need a spot that’s further than one hundred meters away with a clear line of sight.” I request.

“Here is probably your best bet.” Ryuji says while pointing
to a stretch of beach.

“Okay, be back soon.” I say and port to the beach.

Upon arriving, I remove my spotter’s scope and realize that I have no idea which house it is. I pull out my phone and place a call to Ryuji.

“What’s up?” Ryuji asks.

“Well it’s 4:30am here and all these houses look alike!” I reply.

“WHO’S THERE!?”
I hear a woman shout from the house nearby.

“This is a private beach; you can’t be here!” the older woman exclaims
; luckily it’s still dark so that she can’t see my face.

“Relax ma’am, I’m just
trying to do my job. I’m a private investigator who was hired by Mrs. Tinpinny, the wife of your neighbor Alistair. I’m investigating to see if he’s guilty of adultery. My partner told me to go to the back of the house via the beach, but I have no idea which house I’m looking for.” I reply, thinking quickly.

“I wasn’t aware Mr.
Tinpinny had a wife. Well, I suppose since those in your profession helped me to get this house in the first place, I should return the favor; the house you’re looking for is five doors down.” The woman replies.

“Thanks!” I reply while hanging up on Ryuji. I point my scope in the direction and see movement in the bedroom.

“It looks like I finally caught him in the act. Thank you ma’am, you were a big help. I need to go write up my report to Mrs. Tinpinny now.” I say and head down the beach, away from the house.

Upon hearing the click of the woman’s door shutting, I engage my
helmet, draw my gun, load in the third message, and port into Alistair Tinpinny’s bedroom.

“Congratulations
, Alistair; you’re number three.” I announce.

Alistair responds by freaking out and tripping
off of the bed, onto the floor. I deliver my third message, causing the girl on the bed to start screaming her head off.

“Would you relax?” I ask, but she just continues screaming.

“SHUT UP!” I shout while pointing the gun at her.

That cuts her scream off, but it also makes me feel bad. I holster my gun, walk over to the bedside table and turn on the light.

“Listen, I’m not going to hurt you. I need you to give my description to the police when they come by; speaking of, you should probably call them.” I inform her and she moves to get out of bed.

“
Wait!” I exclaim, causing her to start quivering. I grab a pillow off of the bed and place it on top of Alistair’s missing head.

“There. Seeing something like that tends to be rather scarring to most people.
Alright, bye now.” I nonchalantly say and exit the bedroom.

Once out of sight, I touch my triskele and port back to Ryuji’s office. Ryuji is nowhere to be found in his office, so I
bring his computer out of the screensaver and see Vera Minamoto’s address; it’s in Bellevue, on Lake Washington. I bring up the maps on my phone, not wanting to disturb Ryuji’s sanctum.

I port to the street, glad that it’s still only 2
:40am here. I walk over to the house and peer in the windows, checking to make sure no one is awake, but I find something that wasn’t present in the other council member’s houses: there are toys. I walk a hundred meters down the street before engaging my helmet and porting into the living room of the house. There are a few toys on a nearby kitchen counter that acts as a divider between the living room and the kitchen. There are children’s DVDs on top of the entertainment system. A mantle nearby paints the rest of the picture; a little girl, a husband, a happy family, a memorial picture of the husband.

Shit! I’m not about to orphan this
kid…

(You could always eliminate both of them)

“No, that isn’t an option.”

I go into the kitchen with an alternative strategy in mind.
After locating a pen and paper, I write a note:

To: Vera
Minamoto

I’ve decided to spare the lives of you and your daughter; isn’t that kind of me? The bullets you found contain the last two pieces of my message to the Templars.

With Love,

Feros

With the note written, now all I have to do is plant the bullets to satisfactorily freak her out. I go to the door and slip off my shoes in the sunken entryway so that I’ll make less noise on the hardwood flooring. I tiptoe down the hall and into the room that contains the softer breathing. After placing the bullet on the bedside table of a young half-Japanese girl who can’t be older than six, I exit the room and go down the hall into the master bedroom. I place the fifth message bullet on Vera’s bedside table and carefully leave her room. I return to the sunken entryway and sit down on the step to put on my shoes.

“Don’t move.” Vera whispers as I
hear the clink of metal against my helmet while feeling a pressure as the gun barrel is pressed firmly against it.

“Who are you and why did you leave a bullet by my bedside?” Vera questions
with a hushed tone.

“The NRA’s Santa?”
I reply.

“
You think this is funny?” Vera asks.

“I do find it funny that you seem to think
that you were the only one.” I say.

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Vera inquires.

“Doesn’t Santa usually come for children?” I rhetorically ask.

“Bastard!
I swear, if you hurt my daughter—” Vera quietly exclaims as she presses the gun in harder.

“Had I wanted to kill you or your daughter, I already would have, as every other member of the Council of Five can attest to; except for Jack
Evari, but that’s only because I haven’t found him yet.” I interrupt.

“What are you talking about? Who’s Jack
Evari?” Vera questions.

“You know who he is; he’s a member of the Council with you, Alistair, Regis, and Winston.” I reply.

“I’ve never heard of Jack Evari.” Vera says.

“Bullshit. I got the information from Michael
Alejo and it’s been right so far.” I say.

“You are so full of shit; the head of the Council would never give you
any information. What did you do to him!?” Vera demands.

So
Alejo was the head of the Council? That doesn’t make any sense; he seemed to be taking his orders from Jack Evari in his memories…

“I’m sure you’ll find out all about it at work in a few hours; make sure you bring that bullet and the one I left in your daughter’s room. I also left a note on your fridge. Bye.” I say and quickly scoot to the left so that I don’
t accidentally take Vera with me when I port.

Chapter 14: Kitsune Mysteries

When I arrive in
Niflheim, I pull out my phone and text Ryuji.

Didn’t kill Vera, discovered that she has a kid and couldn’t do it. Spoke with
her and discovered that she doesn’t know Jack Evari and that Michael Alejo was the last member of the Council. I’m positive Michael Alejo was taking orders from Jack Evari, and that Evari is in his forties, around 6’4” with white hair and grey-blue eyes. Look into that… tomorrow, since you’re probably tired and want to go to sleep.

I press send and strip off my jacket, holster, and change my bloody pants before going to check on Natasha.
Sara and Cheza are absent from the room when I arrive so I take a seat at Natasha’s bedside. Sara didn’t apply a feeding tube, but a saline drip has been erected. I brush a loose strand of blonde hair out of Natasha’s face and grab her hand.

“You have to wake up, okay Natasha? I can’t afford to lose somebody I care about…
not again.” I whisper.

(If you really wish for her to awaken, kiss her, Master)

I lean in and gently brush my lips against hers.

“Cole?” Natasha whispers as her
green eyes flutter open.

(Holy shit, that actually worked!? I was just fucking with you)

“Hey Natasha.” I softly reply, overcome with joy.

“Where are we?” Natasha asks.

“We’re in Niflheim. I brought you here when you fell unconscious after the fight with the Templars two days ago.” I answer.

“Two days? Well that explains why I’m so hungry
.” Natasha says.

“I’ll go fix you something to eat. I’ll be right back, Natasha.” I reply and start to leave the room.

“Hey Cole?” Natasha says when I reach the door.

“Yeah
?” I respond.

“Can you call me like you did when we were on the rooftop? I
kinda liked it and you always call Chezarei by the shortened form of her name…” Natasha quietly asks.

“Sure, Tasha.
I’ll be right back.” I reply and head to the kitchen.

I find a can of chicken noodle soup in the pantry alongside some crackers so I prepare those, feeling that they are appropriate for some reason.
I stack the bowl of soup, plate of crackers, and a glass of juice on a tray and return to Natasha’s room.

“Here you go.” I say as I set the tray down on her lap.

“Thanks, Cole. Did you stay with me this whole time?” Natasha asks.

“No, I didn’t.” I reply. Natasha looks rather disappointed by my answer.

“I left you in Cheza’s care while I went out and systematically executed all but one of the heads of the Templars… at least the ones in the US anyway.” I reply.

“Oh…” Natasha says, her face p
erking up in response as she eats her soup. I have no clue what she’s thinking.

(She’s thinking that you aren’t the type of guy who would sit by her bedside
whilst holding her hand, and that systematic execution is the way you show that you care)

“That makes me sound like a truly horrible person!”

(Well systemic execution rarely makes anyone sound good)

“Hey Cole, how is—NATASHA! I’M SO GLAD YOU’RE OKAY!” Cheza screams as she runs across the room and hugs Natasha.

“Whoa, watch the soup!” Natasha replies as my phone starts ringing.

“Hello?” I answer while exiting Natasha’s room.

“Treyfair-san?” Yui asks, sounding distraught.

“Just call me Cole, Yui. What’s wrong?” I
question.

“I need your help…” Yui replies.

“Where are you?” I ask.

“Fushimi Inari
Taisha, Lord Inari’s shrine in Kyoto…” Yui says.

“Got it.
I’ll be there in about five minutes; see you soon.” I reply and hang up.

“I have to go help a friend; be back soon.” I think to Cheza and Natasha as I run down
the hall towards Jason’s room.

Natasha
and Cheza both reply with a variation of “Okay Cole, be careful!”

I smile as I put on my holster and jacket, walk into the bathroom, dampen a towel, and clean off the blood that is
still on my jacket.

I pull out my phone an
d Google Fushimi Inari Taisha. Upon finding a picture of the shrine’s Torii gate walkway, I touch my Haglaz and port there. The thousands of Torii gates were far less creepy in the photograph than they are in real life. The red and black wooden arches seem to stretch on forever, bordering the walkway leading deeper into Inari’s shrine. I start walking down the path in Kyoto’s twilight when I see a bushy silver tail sticking out from behind a Torii gate.

“Addie!” I exclaim and run towards the tail, only to have it turn into a shrub when I approach.

“You have to stop doing this to yourself, Cole.” I tell myself and continue walking.

“Daddy.”
I hear Addie say.

“No, you aren’t actually hearing her; she’s not there.” I say to myself.

“Daddy!”

“Stop it.”

“DADDY!”

“Make it stop!” I shout and sprint forward with my eyes closed. As I rebound off of a Torii gate and hit the pavement, I find myself thinking that that wasn’t a smart decision.

I decide to just let everything fade away.

“
Treyfa—I mean, Cole?” Yui asks with concern, interrupting my attempts to let everything fade way less than a minute later.

“Uh-huh.” I reply as I open my eyes.

“What happened!?” Yui inquires.

“Hallucinations of my dead daughter that I’m attributing to the Torii gates.
Can you lead me to the shrine now? I’m just going to keep my eyes closed so nothing comes back.” I explain.

“Okay.” Yui replies and helps me up. I continue holding onto her hand and close my eyes as she leads me down the path.

“So what do you need help with?” I ask and Yui stops walking, causing me to bump into her.

“
Somebody has been killing kitsune… I’ll tell you more when we get to the shrine.” Yui quietly replies and keeps walking. About ten minutes later, Yui stops again.

“We’re here.” Yui says and I open my eyes.

There is a statue of a fox with a key in its mouth in front of us, and nothing else around. Yui holds her hand up to the fox and its eyes suddenly jolt open. Yui’s hand erupts in flames, but it doesn’t seem to bother her.

“
Okaerinasai.” A deep bass voice rumbles from the statue.

“Set your
hand on the statue.” Yui says.

I place
my left hand on the statue, just in case my hand decides to burst into flames. The ground shifts beneath my feet and a temple similar to the one at the Kaguraden appears behind the statue, except that this temple appears to be made of solid gold. Kitsune are everywhere and several of them come over.

“
Anata wa nihongo o hanashimasuka?” a kitsune with four tails asks me.

“
Ma ma.” I reply and hold my fingers apart slightly to show her how well I speak Japanese.

I reach behind to the back of my neck, touch the silver lotus, and bring
the newly formed earbud around to my left ear inconspicuously.

“This is him, right Yui?
The guy that you have been talking about nonstop for the past couple months? He’s pretty cute, I guess. Has your prince come to find your elder sister’s killer?” The four-tailed kitsune asks, her mouth not matching her words.

“Somebody killed your older sister!?” I
inquire.

“He understand
s Japanese perfectly; he just doesn’t speak it well.” Yui says while glaring at the other kitsune.

“Yes, Cole. My sister was killed last night and
four other kitsune have been killed in a similar fashion. Chie can tell you more.” Yui solemnly replies and starts toward the temple.

“Who’s Chie?” I ask.

“She’s one of the kitsune elders.” Yui replies.

I follow her up the steps of the temple and
she slides open two golden doors. Yui continues down a hall before opening the golden partition of a room. Inside the room is a woman with white hair, white ears, white tails, and almond-shaped, vermillion-colored eyes. My breath catches in my throat upon seeing Kita’s likeness; the two could have been twins if it weren’t for this woman’s eye color, paler skin tone, and nine tails.

“Chie-
sama, this is Cole Treyfair-san.” Yui introduces. Despite being an ‘elder’ kitsune, Chie doesn’t look older than forty.

“The introduction is unnecessary, young one. I would not be fit to be an elder if I didn’t know about Feros
.” The kitsune says in English while looking at me with disdain. My mind flashes to seeing bullet-hole Kita standing in front of me with glowing orbs where her eyes are, causing bile to rise in my throat.

“Cole has agreed to help us with the investigation.” Yui says.

“It isn’t good to be on a first name basis with a demon, dear. So Feros thinks he will be joining us, does he?” Chie rhetorically asks with a gaze full of contempt.

“Join us, Cole.”
Kita’s voice echoes in my mind.

I can no longer contain the bile that is working its way up my esophagus. I race out of the room and continue down the hall, searching for a restroom.

(Three doors down on your left, Master)

After t
hrowing the partition open and sprinting in, I’m able to get the golden toilet seat up as vomit flies from my mouth. I sit there retching for about a minute when Yui comes in and starts rubbing my back.

“What’s wrong, Cole?” Yui gently asks.

“Chie reminds me of my dead girlfriend who haunted my dreams for a few months a little while back. I’ll help you find who has been killing your friends and who killed your sister, but afterwards I think it’s better if you don’t associate with me; girls with furry ears and a tail tend not to live very prosperous lives when I’m around.” I tell her with my face in the toilet.

“Cole…” Yui starts
, but doesn’t say anything else.

I use toilet paper to wipe my mouth be
fore flushing, washing my hands, and gargling in an attempt to get the taste of acid out of my mouth. After that, Yui and I return to Chie’s room.

“So what leads do you have in the investigation?” I ask.

“All we know is that the victims have been gunned down, usually with a gunshot to the head. Seeing as they were able to kill a five-tailed kitsune, I’d say that the perpetrator is quick, nimble, lucky, or a combination.” Chie tells me.

“Do you have the reports handy? I’d like to have my analyst take a look at them to see if
they can find anything.” I say.

Chie snaps her fingers and a manila folder appears on the tatami mat beneath my feet.
If she can conjure things, she must hold domain over this realm…

“Thanks.” I say as I bend down and pick up the folder. “I’ll deliver this to my analyst; he should be waking up right about now anyway. I’ll be back tomorrow.”

“Thank you, Cole. Goodnight.” Yui says.

“Goodnight
, Yui; see you tomorrow.” I reply and touch my triskele, but nothing happens.

“I guess I’m going to have to go out through the gate. I’ll call you when I have any informati
on.” I say and exit the temple.

I head back to the fox statue and place my left hand on it
; the ground shifts underneath me, indicating that I’m back on earth’s plane. I touch my triskele, port to Ryuji’s front door and I pound on it several times; it’s already 8am here, meaning Ryuji has gotten about six hours of sleep so there’s no excuse for him to not answer the door.

“Cole, Ryuji i
s still asleep; what do you need?” Naia asks in a hushed tone when she answers the door.

“I have a test of your abilities as an analyst,
Naia.” I tell her while holding up the manila folder and walking past her, into the apartment.

“What i
s that?” Naia questions.

“I’m helping out the
kitsune; someone has been killing them off and I need some information to catch them.” I reply.

“Give it here
!” Naia exclaims, excited by the challenge, and snatches the folder from my hand.

“
Haha, give me a call when you find out anything. Thanks, Naia!” I say and touch my Haglaz.

I port into Jason’s room, waking Cheza in the process.

“Cole? How did things go?” Cheza sleepily asks.

“Besides having hallucinations of both Addie and Kita, resulting in
me puking my guts out into a toilet, things went great… at least the toilet was made of gold.” I sarcastically reply as I strip down to my boxers and climb into bed.

“Oh, Cole…
what am I going to do with you?” Cheza says as she wraps her arm around me and snuggles into my side. I snuggle against her and start to drift off to sleep, when my phone starts ringing; I reach over to the bedside table to answer it.