|
_____________________________________________________________________
3 - Leap of Faith
_____________________________________________________________________
Louis
"He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler. Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night, nor for the arrow that flieth by day." These words from Psalms 91 shined through in a dark moment. Louis meditated on it, absorbing every iota of meaning. He knew he wasn't exempt from these terrors, but no matter what he faced, he was designed to handle it. Louis had faith that he and Mercy would make it through this ordeal. All they had to do was be patient. Mercy, however, didn't have much patience and couldn't sit still. She stared out the window and chewed at her fingernails. She would shift over to another spot every couple of minutes, sometimes folding her legs underneath her and sometimes letting them hang down. It took a lot of small talk to get her to calm down... or was it the strawbunny parfait? Ugh- Even the name of the dish was way too sweet! Either way, they waited out the chaos and had now made it back out onto the street.
"There!" Mercy gestured to a three-story brick building. A small patch of grass laid out in front of an entryway. A light was on beneath the small section of tiled roof and moths hit up against the glass panes. Mercy breathed a sigh of relief and hurried across the small parking lot. Was this her home? She stopped at the door to the entrance and motioned Louis to follow. Once inside the entrance, she began digging around in her pocket and pulled out a key card with the label "Nagasaki Foster Care" and the name "Mochizuki" printed beneath it. "What is this place, exactly?" Louis watched, perplexed, as she slid the card into the card reader, unlocking the front door. "A foster house. It's where they take kids like me." She spoke so nonchalantly about such a sad subject. Louis followed her into a lobby. The color beige was everywhere- on the walls and furniture and even the floor. The color was broken up by couple of black chairs, a dark brown coffee table, and a black checkered pattern on the carpet, but it was still mostly beige. A dim light resonated from the chandelier above and from two lamps placed on side-tables. Mercy sat down on a couch and Louis hesitantly took a seat on an armchair. "A foster house? But what about your dad? Has anyone tried to contact him?" She pulled her legs up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. There was discomfort in her eyes. "I don't want that. I'm alright with just staying here." She reacted the same way the last time he brought this up. Pressing this subject any further might upset her, but he was filled with concern. "But, he's your family, right? He should take care of you." "Doesn't matter. I'm almost thirteen, and I'm about to graduate from junior high. I can take care of myself." She suddenly hopped off the couch and reached into Louis' pocket. She pulled the Bible out and dropped it onto the table, sat down on the floor in front of it, and proceeded to flip through the pages. There was obvious desperation for a change in subject, and this new subject was a good choice. "It's in English..." She pursed her lips and continued to flip through pages. "Can you not read-" "I can read most words- not all of them..." After the last page was flipped, she turned back to the first page of Genesis.
"It's just a book... it's just some old religious book... I don't get why..." She mumbled while she read the first few verses. If only she knew. "It's more than that, it really is." "Okay, then tell me why." She looked up from it's yellowed pages. "Why is it so important to you?" "Because it's the truth. The words in this book were all inspired by God!" He raised his voice- not out of anger, but passion- and quickly calmed down again. "There's more meaning in these words than most people think and not just anyone can draw it out." Mercy rested her arm on the book and her cheek on her hand. "So then, who can draw it out?" Proverbs 20:5 came to his remembrance. "A person of understanding." She rolled her eyes at him. "Oh, so only smart people can read this book." She laughed. "No, you don't get it. This understanding is granted to people, it isn't something that can come from studying. It's granted by God." "So God only chooses certain people and not others?" His passion flared up again. "He chooses people who are willing to come to Him. To believe and to understand these words, faith is needed." Feeling energetic, he stood up and began pacing. "My mom had faith, too. That's why they took her away." She looked down at the open book. "And it's all because of this. She believed it was all true, too. She knew what would happen if she got caught, but... this belief killed her." She looked Louis square in the eyes. "Now I want to know why. Why would she risk everything for... this?" She gestured to the Bible. He understood her mother's reasoning entirely, but knew that explaining might not do any good. "I can try to explain. I can try and show you this book's importance, and I hope you do understand, but I can't make you believe. There's so much more to the world around you than meets the eye." This sparked an interest in her. "That's what my mom used to tell me!" She began fidgeting with her necklace. "She gave this to me so I don't forget." Louis sat down next to her to get a closer look. "It's more than just a flower?" "Mmm Hmm! It's an angel! See? The petals are wings." Louis noticed the center jewels' similarity to the figure of a person. "I see it!" He smiled. It was actually a pretty accurate representation. "I'm not allowed to wear it to school, but everyone who's seen it thinks it's just a flower."
This statement reminded Louis that it was a school night. "It's getting pretty late. Why don't I come back here tomorrow?" She thought for a moment. "I have school tomorrow, so it'll have to be after four." He closed the book and held it up. "Do you think you can hide this from the other kids here?" Her eyes widened. "W-wait! The daily room check! I can't- They'll see it!" "Want me to hang on to it for now? I promise I'll bring it back here tomorrow." She gave a sigh and stood up. "Fine. But you better bring it back, or I'll tell someone you have it." Mercy threatened him with a challenging glare. Was she bluffing?! "It was nice meeting you. See you tomorrow!" She started to head for the stairs. "L-likewise! Oh- and don't let the bed bugs bite!" He wanted to start explaining how different bugs have killed people in their sleep throughout history, but decided that he had scared her enough times in one day. He just waved instead and headed for the door.
Her mother told her that there's more to the world than meets the eye. Even if she understood what this meant, it's unlikely that Mercy realized the man she spoke to wasn't human. Sometimes even Louis found it hard to believe. The necklace portrayed a pale angel in a black cloak surrounded by multiple wings. He had a feeling the choice in gemstones wasn't a coincidence. Beneath his dark hood, the angel of death chuckled.
Umeko
The street was quiet and dark. All of the excitement had gone away and the shops were closed earlier than usual. She knew she needed the money, but Umeko regretted not joining in on the fun. Her loose hair fell over a backpack she used to store her uniform on the walk home. "The cowards that sit on the fence want nothing to do with the protests. They don't want to enact change, but would rather act like a frog in boiling water- remain still and wait for things to escalate to a deadly level. How can anyone get through to them? The crusades are fated to rise again, and Japan is an easy target unless we plan ahead." Umeko stomped along the path while chatting to Hinata. He gave her a quizzical look. "Do you really think the Catholic church is that powerful?" "Catholics, Protestants, Christians, Muslims- it doesn't matter! They all want the same thing in the end and that is to conquer every nation and wipe out all other belief systems down to their roots." She kicked at a garbage can and knocked it over onto the street. "And people won't listen unless there's violence involved. Even then, nobody does anything about it..." Umeko sighed and slowed to a trudge. "If everyone in the group is as enthusiastic as you, I'm sure they'll get through to people in no time!" Hinata beamed. "Well I've got to go this way. See you later, Umeko-chan!" They had reached an intersection and Hinata started down another street. "Bye, Hinata!" Umeko waved, tightened the straps on her backpack, and continued down the sidewalk.
A ghostly chill hung in the air and the dorms that loomed ahead were strangely silent. Light shined through all of the windows. It was late, but everyone must've still been awake. A group of girls stood together in the entryway, some of them in their pajamas. One of the girls let out a sob and the others were quick to console her. Something was very wrong! Umeko hurried up the walkway but a gruesome sight made her stop in her tracks. A girl's body was pinned to a tree by several katanas- Just the body! The sight made Umeko feel nauseated, so she quickly turned away from it. She tried to sit down on the concrete, but she collapsed onto the grass from dizziness. She pulled herself up and sat in silence. One of the girls ran up to her and crouched down to help her up. "Umeko-chan, are you alright?!" Umeko nodded, but refused the help and stood up on her own. "What happened?! How did this- Who is- Why?!" She had several questions but they all came out jumbled. "The S-samurai of the Crimson Sun- they were here. They-" "That's enough!" Umeko yelled at her. "They wouldn't! They couldn't do this! At least not- I mean..." She turned back to the scene and regretted it immediately. She had to hold back from vomiting on the grass and took a moment to regain her cool. It couldn't have been them. It's not that the group never did anything violent, but Umeko was certain that the group would never harm an innocent student. She had never seen anything like this before- at least not up close and personal. "But I saw them, and I'm not the only one. They were right here!" Tears were welling up in the girl's eyes. She was one of the half-breed students with a Christian name. Of course she would assume the worst.
She heard someone walking across the grass and out of the corner of her eye, a figure could be seen heading over to the tree. Umeko turned to see a familiar man standing on the blood-soaked ground and examining the body. He had a grim expression that quickly morphed into excitement. He was clearly fascinated by what he saw. "What are you doing?! Get away from her!" One of the girls in the entryway screamed while two other girls held her back. His smile faded. "Don't worry. My name's Louis Zeno. I'm a private investigator." He glanced at Umeko, then did a double-take. He must have recognized her, unfortunately. Umeko wanted to turn and walk away, but she knew how suspicious that would look. "Is there any information someone could give about this?" The girl that helped her clearly wanted to say something, but Umeko's glare silenced her. The girls in the entryway started to go inside. "Wait, do any of you-" They shut the door anyway. Who could blame them? Even if he is a private investigator, this guy's a creep! He breathed a deep sigh, and then walked over to Umeko. He looked her up and down. She wanted to slap this pervert, but held back. He did the same to the girl next to her. "Not a spot of blood. Alright, so neither of you got too close. Can you tell me what you know? Anything at all?" Umeko remained silent, but the girl chimed in. "It was the Samurai- I saw them and a few others did, too." He got closer to her. "The Samurai of the Crimson Sun? And you're sure about it... miss...?" He stared at her face for a moment. There was something in his eyes that seemed sorrowful. "Murai, Faith." She responded. "Faith...?" The hooded man seemed to lose concentration. "Y-yes. I heard screaming and Nina-chan knocked on my door. She told me there were people outside and when I looked, I saw them. I recognized the cloaks." Who knows what the weirdo was daydreaming about, but he snapped out of it and turned his focus back to Umeko. "And you, miss...? Umeko-chan, right?" "Yes. It's Fuse, Umeko. And no, I didn't see anything. I got out of work and was about to go inside, but then I saw that- I mean her." "This is clearly a crime of passion, and the motive fits the Samurai perfectly." Umeko crossed her arms and shifted her weight. She doubted he was able to pin down a motive so quickly. "Right. Follow me. Let me show you." He hurried over to the body and both girls hesitantly followed.
As they approached, the smell of blood was overwhelming. Faith found it difficult to look directly at the body, but Umeko put on a brave face. Her head was cut clean off. Four katanas had the body pinned to the tree; one through the left hand, one through the right arm, and two through the torso. Another katana was stabbed into her leg, though not as deep and multiple other stab wounds could be seen. The fifth katana also had a piece of paper stabbed into it. "Do you see it?" She didn't want to, but she looked closer anyway. The paper appeared to be some kind of flier, but the blood stains made most of it unreadable. At the very top was a note. It was difficult to read, but Umeko understood what it was. "It's scripture... from the Bible... right?" Faith spoke up, having gotten brave enough to look. She seemed to notice that Umeko was staring at her and added "Isn't that one of the book titles?" "Right. It's John 3:16." Then he continued on to quote it. "For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." Umeko scoffed unintentionally. "I see! So she was handing out these fliers, and then one of them noticed it?" "Not necessarily. See? It's handwritten. And the handwriting- does it look like a girl's handwriting?" Umeko found it difficult to read what was practically scribbles. Someone, probably a guy, must have written it in a hurry. "So another student- or possibly a staff member- wrote that down just for her?" Louis was about to answer, but Faith spoke first. "Not on campus, no. I think she's from somewhere else." Louis beamed at her. "You have potential!" Umeko's eyes, full of confusion, darted in between them. "Well? Explain!" She looked back at the corpse but still couldn't understand.
"You do it, Faith. What made you think that?" He was still beaming. "Her clothes. It's way too flashy. She would fit in more at a red-light-district." "Anything else?" He waited while she thought some more. "Her shoes are worn down, and her heel is broken." Umeko looked down at the body's mangled red shoes. "So she was dragged a distance, then?" Louis smiled at Umeko. "Right, they brought her here forcibly, but they didn't carry her. She must have been struggling too much. My question is, why here?" A better question would be 'Where is the head?' A strong gust of wind started up and a loud 'thump' was heard from the other side of the tree. Louis peeked around the trunk. "Oh- I assumed as much." Umeko and Faith both froze. She had already guessed what that sound probably was. "Taking it would have incriminated them, so I knew it had to be around here somewhere. Throwing it up into the tree was an interesting choice, though." They both remained completely still. Umeko could feel chills running down her spine. Faith finally spoke. "What... is it?" "It's her head."
Faith screamed and Umeko felt dizzy again. She couldn't hold back the vomit this time, but she wiped her mouth and took deep breaths to calm herself. Faith started to take a few steps back, but Louis stopped her. "Wait! You don't have to stand too close to the scene, but could you both please wait for the police to show up? I'll call them... it shouldn't take long..." He pulled out a flip phone. Faith nodded weakly. Umeko hesitated. "O-of course. As long as it doesn't take too long..." She turned away from the scene once more. It no longer mattered to her, anyway. This girl was a forgettable prostitute, and the group's motives, though more violent than usual, were as they always have been, but why did she feel so guilty?
Mercy
"No, that can't be right... Let's try something else." A girl spoke, sitting across from Mercy. On the table between them were several books and spirals. The one they were currently focused on was a Geometry textbook. "Fine, fine... let me think about it...." Mercy stared down at her scratch paper, trying to re-think the problem. The graph showed a triangle with only one angle labeled but with another that was clearly a right angle. They both knew there was a trick to this, but couldn't remember what it was. Mercy thought she remembered something about a triangle's angles adding up to three-hundred and sixty degrees, but the answer they got from using this was way too big.
Sakura began writing something down. With her head in that angle, her thick bangs covered her eyes. This hairstyle was a result of Sakura deciding to cut her own hair a year ago. She wanted bangs and ended up cutting too much hair in the front, but she's kept it like that ever since. "I got it!" She looked up from her paper. "You were almost right. It wasn't three-hundred and sixty degrees, it was half of that- one-hundred and eighty. So if we subtract ninety and sixty, we get thirty, and that angle looks more like thirty degrees than one-hundred and ten." Mercy quickly wrote the answer on the assigned paper. "What? You're not going to check my work?" Mercy shook her head. "Nope. I'm sure it's right, anyway." Sakura shrugged and closed the textbook. "Alright then, I guess we're done. I'm so glad I'm not the only one who put off this assignment until now." She started gathering up her books and Mercy did the same. Sakura gasped and her books flew everywhere. "Who is that man staring through the window?!" Mercy turned and noticed Louis peeking through the window. He seemed amused. "Oh, he's not so bad. I met him at the library, yesterday." "What is he doing here?" She looked concerned. "He said he'll help me study English. He knows it pretty well." It was quick thinking, but the answer let Sakura breathe a sigh of relief. She gathered her stuff again and started to climb the stairs. She stopped to say one more thing. "Please be careful, Mercy." She continued up the stairs as two younger boys ran past her into the lobby.
Mercy opened the door to see Louis. "How long have you been waiting there?" "Not long. I just didn't want to interrupt." He was having trouble not smiling. "I hope I didn't scare your friend too badly..." Liar. He started to walk through the door. "Hey, not that channel, it's on this one!" One of the boys pulled a remote away from the other. They were searching different channels for a TV show they often liked to watch together. Louis glanced at the boys then turned back to Mercy. "On second thought, maybe we should head somewhere else." Mercy gave a nod. "Right. Where to?" Without a word, Louis walked outside. Mercy followed him.The light hit her eyes and she took a moment to adjust to it. She had just spent an hour staring down at her geometry homework, after all. "So?" She asked. "Where are we headed?" He shrugged. "I'm still trying to figure that part out." Mercy placed her hands on her hips as though she were scolding a child. "You mean you didn't have a 'Plan B'?" "No, but you don't seem to have one, either, so..." "Oh yeah." Mercy laughed. Louis chose a direction and started walking. Today he wore an old pair of jeans that were torn up at the hems and the same black pull-over hoodie from yesterday. Mercy wondered why he would wear it on such a warm day. A book bag was slung over his shoulder and she assumed it contained the Bible. At least it was a better idea than concealing it in the pocket of his hoodie. "We're headed in the direction of a park, I think. How about it?" He turned back to look at her.
"Oh shoot!" He exclaimed and urged Mercy to keep walking. "Don't look now, but-" Mercy couldn't resist glancing behind them. "I said don't look!" Louis pulled her aside and whispered. "She's been following me since noon. I thought I lost her, but-" "Someone's following you?!" She looked back again, to his dismay. "Please stop doing that..." He sighed. There were a few groups of people on the path behind them but one person stood out. She wore gray tights beneath a navy skater dress that left her shoulders exposed. She carried a knapsack on her back. Yellow strands framed her face. The woman stood alone, shielding her eyes and scanning her surroundings. "Why on Earth would this girl be stalking Louis?!" Mercy thought to herself. Louis quickly turned Mercy back around to face him, but it was too late. The two of them had already caught her attention and she started to head their way.
"I'm so glad I found you, Louis! It is Louis, isn't it?" He nodded. "So, uh... What's up? Is it about the case?" "Case?" Mercy glared up at Louis. What wasn't he telling her? "Oh, that's right..." He seemed nervous. "I'm a PI- a private investigator. Yesterday I handled a case where, well..." He was struggling to describe it until the woman cut in. "A horrific murder. That girl met an awful end, and you discovered the motive. Now I just hope the police will take action. But that's not why I had to find you." She leaned in close. "I saw you two at the Library, remember? Did you happen to take something?" Mercy gasped and Louis instinctively put his hand on her shoulder to calm her. "No, it's nothing bad, really." There was an honest smile on her face. "It's just that... Er... can we go somewhere private to talk about this?" "Of course." Louis didn't hesitate to respond. "We were just headed to the park. Why don't you join us?" Despite the invitation, he still seemed a little cautious. The woman turned to her. "My name is Murai, Faith. It's nice to meet you." Her smile seemed almost trustworthy, but Mercy grew angry looking at her face. "Mochizuki, Mercy..." This was all the girl could say. So many thoughts ran rampant in her head. Were they being blackmailed? Was this a threat? What if they played along? What if they didn't? What else was Louis hiding from her? Once again, she was beginning to regret her search for the cursed book.
 ScribeEzra · Fri Oct 20, 2017 @ 02:56am · 0 Comments |
