Bab 11: The Lady of Blood
AN; TRIGGER WARNINGS FOR BLOOD, PREGNANCY AND GRAPHIC LABOR, POSSIBLE MISCARRIAGE, BODY HORROR, KIDNAPPING.
Not all of that is explicit or really there but I want to make sure no one gets hurt because of the way it's written. This chapter has been in the works for ages and seeing it come together was crazy. It was horrifying in my head, so I hope it came out well.
As always thx for reading and comments. Please feel feee to check out the rest of the series that can be read independently! I hope you guys enjoy!
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I am bloody furious.
Teeth gritted, I clutch Tsukiyo, bundled in soaking towels, keeping her tucked in the space between Lin and I for a moment. A spike of pain shoots through my chest, and Lin's hand on my spine reminds me to calm down. Letting out a harsh breath, I nudge the masked girl towards Ayako. "Take her to get dry and dressed. Everyone meet in the hallway in ten minutes. We'll head back to our room together. Go now."
The girls huddle together, ushering a dazed Tsukiyo into the dressing room as I run my hand through my hair in frustration. "Breathe, Noll." Lin murmurs in my ear. "No one's hurt."
I shoot him a glare. "I'm aware, Lin," I snap, immediately regretting it. Lin was my oldest friend, the one who stuck by Gene and I through everything, even when we made it difficult. Lin is always the one to bear the brunt of my moods with measured words and gentle eyes.
Tsukiyo is a lot like him.
"I don't like this, not at all. Hime was completely out of it. She could have drowned! That was a full scale, area wide, spiritual manipulation. The energy that takes… That spirit is insanely powerful," Monk notes darkly as we step into the men's dressing room.
I scowl, dressing quickly, tying the Yukata forcefully. "Far too powerful for something the Fukumoto called harmless."
Soon enough, we gather back in the common area of our quarters. Ayako paces, hair tossing. "Okay, that thing is dangerous."
"Powerful, not dangerous," Masako corrects, shaking her head.
"I'm not sure there's much of a difference, honestly. We don't know what might trigger the spirit to violence at the moment, and considering it's targeting Tsukiyo, we need to be careful until we know more," John disagrees.
"But, the spirit isn't malicious! In the first place, it wouldn't have been able to touch Tsukiyo if it had bad intentions. Did you forget our new bracelets?" Mai says, a stubborn look in her eyes.
My hand reaches automatically to touch my own bracelet, remembering the brush of thin fingers against the skin and the shiver it sent down my spine. My eyes trail to the girl in question and find her where she normally is, hovering just shy of Lin's personal bubble, a hand pressed to the pointed muzzle of her mask like she's trying to use it to catch her breath. I watch as Lin carefully pulls her to his side, an arm around her shoulders.
The sight is one that is simultaneously astonishing and perfectly natural. Lin and I have never been particularly touchy. I can count on my hands how many people either of us will willingly touch and it's practically only family. Somehow, this strange girl had wormed her way into our good graces. It might have been the calm way she held herself, or the wicked gleam of mischief in her eyes, but most likely, it was the endless kindness and understanding that she seemed to exude. Unlike most other people, if my hand brushed hers, I never had to worry if it would hurt. It makes sense that Lin would feel the same way.
"Are we sure the bracelets work?" Masako asks skeptically. "No offense, Tsukiyo, but it's not like we've had a chance to test them."
"Hey!" Mai snaps. In typical fashion, the group dissolves into an argument, fear and worry aiding the climbing tension as the noise grows, reaching a feverish pitch.
My eyes find Tsukiyo once more only to see her hunched over the table, body stiff with stress and a hand fisted tightly in her own hair, as Lin pats her back softly. There is a loud bang as she slams her hand onto the table, hissing dangerously. "Enough! You are all being too loud."
I take in her tensed muscles and her white knuckles and remember how Gene used to get like that when he was overwhelmed… I guess Tsukiyo is an empath after all. She had implied it, but I think this confirms it.
Instinctively, my body moves on autopilot, doing what I would for my twin, calming my thoughts and sitting myself on her other side and letting her focus on me to block out the others. Gene always did say my aura was loud, something Tsukiyo had mentioned the first time we'd met. I wonder if I'm not just making it worse for her, but she detangles one fist from her hair and reaches out to me carefully, her hand closing around my pulse point rather than my own palm.
After a few moments of silence, she relaxes, her other hand going to push her mask to the top of her head with a sigh. "Listen, the spirit was simply asking for help finding …something. I'll deal with it on my own. There is no danger, just desperation, okay? Let's head to bed."
I glare, but she doesn't seem to notice, her fingers rubbing my inner wrist and my anger melts away when I realize there isn't much I can do about this. We split off into our separate rooms, Lin automatically coming to find me, his brows furrowed. "I'll start the research."
I nod, my anger renewed at the uncooperative behavior of our hosts, something that could have gotten one of my people hurt. Even if Tsukiyo and I aren't friends right now, and the thought makes my chest ache with something other than my own spiritual energy, she is still one of mine.
"It's okay, Noll," Lin murmurs warmly, dropping his head to meet my eyes. I scowl, but he just huffs at me. "This isn't your fault. Not everything is about you."
I shove him a bit, rolling my eyes at the familiar joke before I ask him something that I've been wondering. "Do you think he's here?"
"Yeah," Lin agrees automatically, much to my shock. "She's been too accurate so far, and she didn't bring us here on a half assed hunch. She isn't like that." I can agree with him there. "But… I'm not sure if we'll find him alive."
I flinch, swallowing roughly, still regretting the outburst that severed the one friendship I've ever made that wasn't Lin. Said individual seems to read my mind, like he always does. "You can be friends again."
"What, she'll forgive me just like that? I attacked her! And hurt you!" I hiss, feeling the dangerous spike in energy that I once more have to settle, pushing it to circle carefully in my veins, just like Tsukiyo instructed.
"She knows it was an accident and she doesn't blame you. Nor did I, Noll."
It's true, she hadn't seemed angry, just hurt that I couldn't trust her, and somehow that's worse.
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The scream ripping through the air has me jackknifing off the bed and scrabbling to my feet, the eerie sound sending chills down my spine. Lin is already at the door when the second, drawn out cry rings out, the sound one of horrific agony that sends my heart thumping and fear into my bones. Monk and John are only half a beat behind us when Mai's yell has us crashing into the girls' room, terror filled and utterly unprepared for what we'll find.
"Tsukiyo-née!" My stomach drops like a stone.
The room is in chaos. Various items have been flying about or overturned and a few are actively floating and shaking, like an earthquake is happening. It looks just like the poltergeist activity I used to cause as a child before I learned how to control my PK. Tsukiyo is crying out in pain as she lies in her futon supporting herself on an elbow, pale and sweaty. Ayako is chanting furiously, and Masako and Mai are clutching one another, faces twisted in fear and horror.
Tsukiyo's next scream is broken into sobs. "I can't, I can't -" she gasps, panicky and confused before throwing off her blankets.
Alarm fills me and I feel the color drain from my face at the sight. The girl was covered in blood, the futon and her clothes soaked in it. She yelps, writhing in pain as she reaches her hand out for something, and in between one moment and another a figure appears, grasping it.
"Gene," I gasp, wondering if I'm hallucinating, if I've finally broken from the stress or if I'm having a nightmare. The figure, my brother, locks eyes with me, making my heart leap for a moment, but he turns back to Tsukiyo when another harsh scream rips through her throat and I stagger closer to them.
"Tsukiyo, concentrate! This isn't real!" He urges in English, gripping her hand tightly as a glass cup near John shatters.
Mai abruptly springs into action, desperately darting around the room, searching for something. Dazed, Tsukiyo weakly grips my twin. "My children… Don't take them-"
What?
Gene curses softly as he reaches for his fellow medium's shoulders."Your name is Tsukiyo and you aren't pregnant! You have no children! THIS! ISN'T! REAL! WAKE UP!" Gene yells, eyes locked on hers.
Mai skids across the ground, landing harshly on her knees behind her sister before slipping the kitsune mask over Tsukiyo's face and the energy in the room shifts, the shaking stopping as several items fall to the ground.
XXXXXTSUKIYOXXXXX
Not real? The pressure on my pelvis and back and the agonizing pain that came in waves, the ripping and tearing of flesh, and the shaking of limbs, I knew it all. I've done it all before.
A man's voice keeps calling out, but I don't know who it is. What does he mean, wake up? Am I asleep? Tsukiyo… is that me?
I focus on the mask placed on my face and the world goes quiet, the whirling of my mind and the sharp pain numbing and moving into the background of my mind. I wheeze, gripping the hand holding mine as I flop on my back, my eyes going to the man at my side with dark hair and frightened deep blue eyes. I knew this person.
"Who…?" I manage to choke out into the moment of clarity.
The teen, Gene, I remind myself, knows better than to assume I'm asking about who he is. Being a medium himself, he knows how confusing it is when a spirit shares their life with you. He just sighs in relief. "You're Tsukiyo. You're 17 and you've come to this place to find me." He shudders. "You're synchronized with the spirit in Fukumoto Manner. You are not in labor."
I breathe shakily, nodding as I reach for…Mai, who helps me into a sitting position. I look down at the dampness between my legs, swallowing the scream that's crawling up my throat at the scarlet pooling there. I see my terror stricken friends, all of SPR, crowding around me even as a phantom contraction has me clutching at my belly.
I sense the spirit at the doorway, long hair spilling over a bloodstained Yukata, she falls to the ground before beginning to drag herself towards me, her nails scraping the floor as she crawls forward. Screams fill the air, both Gene and Mai frantically moving to yank me backwards and away from thin grasping hands and a gaping, howling mouth, my blood, no, not my blood, streaking the tatami floor in our wake.
The woman lets out an unholy screech as she reaches redredred hands towards my ankles. Monk and John start their own prayers, a whistle splitting the air as Lin manifests his shiki. I'm just aware enough to throw up a shield for the woman that shatters on impact with Lin's spirits. "Don't!" I rasp out.
"Tsukiyo!"
"DON'T!" I snarl. The spirit wraps her hand around my ankle, desperation flooding off her. The room falls silent as the chanting stops and Lin's shiki float protectively around him and Naru. "I see you, spirit. Let me help," I gasp out even as another phantom pain has me curling in pain.
For an eternity, I can't hear anything but my heart thumping and my ragged breaths hitting the wood of my mask. There's a flicker and the woman is back to standing at the door before she turns, walking out of it, leaving only bloody footprints behind.
"Okay," I whisper. "Okay. We need to go. Help me up."
"Are you bloody insane?" The words come from both twins, and if I hadn't just experienced my organs be rearranged, I might have laughed, but Mai doesn't hesitate.
"Gene, I'm sorry, I don't have the energy to keep you visible," I hiss, forcing down the sob building as I try to get my feet under me. The labor pains have stopped but the sudden emptiness is worse. They're gone, he took them. How could he-
"It's fine," he immediately states, shaking his head. "Look, you were right. I'm here!" Behind us, Naru makes a noise of pain. "Into the woods, that way! There's this bunker thing, yeah? A wooden door." I nod, yelping as lightning flickers through my nerves as I stand, probably hurting Mai with the force of my grip. "Noll, trust your friend, okay? They're going to move me the day after tomorrow, so hurry. Good luck." Then, he lets go, stepping back and vanishing as quickly as he came.
My babies, where did he take them? How could he do this…?
"Naru, what the hell is going on?" Ayako shrieks, finally losing it. The fear in the air is suffocating, but we had to hurry.
"No time, let's move." I stagger forward, flinching at the liquid spilling down my legs. I have to find my children- No.
"You can't be serious!" Monk yells, as Mai, and Masako, surprisingly, each grab an arm and help me out the door.
"Help, or get out of the way!" I growl out through tears and burning pain.
We hurry down the hall, my mind going hazy with pain as we follow the glimpses of white and the crimson footprints. My chest aches from terror and betrayal that isn't mine. How could he do this to me? Blood doesn't lie! How could my own b-
"Tsuki-née!" My… sister? calls out to me.
"My babies-"
"No. Remember, you're Tsukiyo and this isn't real!" Mai says sharply, her eyes wide with fright and shining with tears.
Isn't it? I know what this feeling is. I'm going to die. Will my children make it? BelovedI'msosorrypleasetakeareourchildr-
"For heaven's sake, you crazy, stubborn girl!" Strong arms go around me and under my knees, lifting me against a warm chest. I catch sight of light eyes. Beloved? No, Lin. "Move it!" He barks out.
We hurtle down winding halls and soon we find ourselves bursting out into chilly air. It's some kind of garden, and I point to a tree not far off the path where I can sense the spirit. Urgency overtakes me and I wiggle free, dropping to the ground, heedless of the panicked cries or the breath stealing pain the movement causes me.
And then I began to dig. I have to hide it! Can't let him take this. My beloved will come for me and find it. My children will know-
I'm pulled into another set of arms as the others dig. Naru holds me against his chest, gently binding my struggling limbs, repeatedly murmuring that my name is Tsukiyo and this isn't real.
"What- Oh, Kami-sama!" Someone screams.
The Fukumoto couple appears with their servants just as Monk yells. "I found it!"
A wooden box, dirty and warped with water damage and age, is placed in my shaking palms. The spirit reappears inches away, brown eyes peering from beneath dark, sweaty strands of long hair, her icy breath fanning against my own damp skin. "Blood doesn't lie."
I nod, and she vanishes. The sudden lack of pain makes me weak, and Naru has to support me. The Fukumoto and their servants rush over, just as the blood on me begins to disappear, like it was being drained back into my skin. I hear a gasp and a whisper reaches me beyond the ringing in my ears. "Hibiki…"
Naru turns on the Fukumoto like a vengeful spirit himself. "You have some explaining to do."
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I lean into Mai as Ayako shoves iron tablets at me. I huff. "I'm fine. The blood was just a psychic illusion. If that blood was mine, I'd be very dead." After all, she had died after bleeding like that.
"Take it anyways. You're pale and look like a strong wind could tip you over." I fucking resent that, but it's probably true, and the bone deep exhaustion keeps me from wanting to argue, so I take the iron tablets, and the vitamin D because I'm always low on that due to my brown genetics and hate of the sun, and even the calcium she forces down my throat, but I put my foot down after that. I glance at Lin sitting at my side, and bump his shoulder with mine. "Thank you for letting me bleed on you."
The man snorts, "Anytime." I snicker, appreciating how he is one of few who can stomach my dark humor.
The Fukumoto couple enters the room, both terrified and grief stricken, having been ordering their servants to bring tea for our conversation, and they seat themselves at the table with us. I set the box down with a thunk on the table just to watch them flinch and the grief spike as they recognize it again.
Naru whips out his little note taking book that he uses for cases and Lin starts clacking away at his laptop. "You know who this belongs to." It's not a question.
The Fukimoto patriarch sets his chin stubbornly, but before he can do anything, his wife speaks up tearfully. "Our daughter. My husband gave that to our daughter, Hibiki."
"Aina-" Genji Fukumoto starts warningly.
"Enough, Husband. This has gone far beyond your pride," the matriarch interrupts. I raise my eyebrow, kind of impressed by the unexpected steel in her tone.
"And how did she die?" Naru asks bluntly as I open the jewelry box. Inside are just four things: Two rings, one that might be an engagement ring and the other a wedding one, a photograph, and a letter.
"We don't know," Genji-sama murmurs, and he is just as distressed as his wife, just much better at hiding it as he reaches wrinkled hands for the jewelry. "She-she had powerful PK abilities, and many suitors. Perhaps I was too stern with her growing up. She assumed I would force her to be married off. I wouldn't have, but I didn't realize how unhappy she was, either. One day, she just ran away."
"After months, we got a letter. She met a foreigner and got married. She wrote that we would not decide her life for her. That- that was never our intention," Aina-sama whispers as she gently traces the rings. "But, her mistrust was warranted in hindsight. We never heard from her again, but I knew. I knew she was gone. I felt it."
"Is this that foreigner?" Naru asks, sliding the photo over to them, something oddly confused in his aura, like there was something he was trying to remember.
The picture was of a white man, blonde hair and blue eyes, hugging a laughing Japanese woman. It was definitely Hibiki even though this and her spirit form were night and day. There was something about the photo that nagged at me as well, but I couldn't figure it out to my utter frustration. Genji-sama examines it, heartbreak clear. "Yes. it's similar to the photo we received from her in the letter."
"Did you know she was the Lady of Blood?" Monk asks gently.
"No. The spirit, Hibiki, never let me near her in death. She always hid. I suppose that if she didn't trust us in life, there was no reason to do so in death," Aina-sama sounded devastated.
"But,… if you never saw her after she married, how did this box come to be here?" John wonders.
"Because she came back, and buried it here, right before she died," I state. Every eye goes to me, but I just shut my own behind the mask, concentrating. "Neither of you knew, I can sense that much, but someone here knew. And they are responsible for her death."
"Are- are you saying my daughter was killed? Here?" The Fukumoto Patriarch is trembling in rage and pain, and I sympathize with him. The death of a child before the parent is one of the most painful things someone can experience.
I would know. I've experienced it in a past life.
"Sort of," I grimace. "She bled out due to complications from giving birth because she didn't receive proper medical help." I breath deeply, feeling an echo of her terrorpaingriefbetrayalpanic. "Someone took her children and she can't rest until they pay."
"That's it!" Mai gasps. "That's why she resonated so strongly with you. She's acting on her maternal instincts!"
I nod, but the others are still confused. Genji-sama hesitantly asks the question they're all wondering. "Do you have a child, young one?"
I open my mouth to answer, but hesitate. I exactly say that I've had many children over many past lives, some adopted or biological, but all fiercely loved and protected. I couldn't say that it was why I understood Hibiki so well, our souls resonated together until I couldn't tell where she ended and I began. So, instead, I give a half truth. "My parents died several years ago. Due to a very big age gap, I've been raising my little brother on my own for a while now. For all intents and purposes,it's more like I'm his mother than his sister."
Mai nods along, backing me up even though she knows exactly what I didn't say, but the words are accepted easily and Aina-sama soon dissolves into sobs, unable to stop herself at the news of her daughters fate, her husband holding her tightly to his chest, barely keeping it together himself. After several moments, Masako speaks up in a whisper. "The letter…"
Genji-sama takes it in his trembling hands and carefully opens and reads it. "To-to my beloved children. I fear that I won't be around to watch you grow. This pregnancy has been hard and… I don't know if we will all survive it."
The Fukumoto lord takes a deep breath and continues. "I met your father at a spiritualist convention, as I'm sure he's told you. There he was, a sweet fool who radiated compassion. It was easy to see why he was such a talented medium, why spirits would flock to him, even at our first meeting. I can't tell if his open kindness annoyed me-" Genji-sama barks a laugh, before continuing. "Or was everything I needed, but before I knew it, I was in love."
"I'd always thought I'd never be that silly girl who followed her heart instead of her head, but here we are. Jokes on me, I suppose. And yet, I have no regrets."
"I love my family, trully." The man pauses once more, tears trickling down his cheeks. "But, I grew up with our family name pressing down on me every moment of every day. When my PK powers manifested so strongly, the Japanese spiritualist community was abuzz and suddenly I was a hot commodity. Everyone wanted me, not for who I am, but what I could offer them, like I was a prized breeding mare."
I reach across the table for Lady Aina's hand when she lets out a cry of denial, and she clutches it as her husband continues. "Your grandparents never cared for foreigners and while I don't think they would force me into marriage, I could not take the chance I would be separated from my beloved."
"I ran. It has not been easy, not what I am used to. I was admittedly someone who never had to work a day in her life, and now your father and I live month to month until we can make it back to Europe, but I'm happy. Truly. In a way I never was before."
"Among all my psychic abilities, precognition is not one of them, but I can feel it. I won't survive to see you grow. Perhaps it's paranoia, but I can't take the risk, so here we are."
"I hope you never see this letter. That I can watch you in your cribs and tear it to pieces. But just in case, I want you to know this; I love you with everything I am. You are my greatest accomplishment and I have no regrets if this is my end. I hope you grow up to find your other half, one who annoys you and completes you like I found in your father. I hope you stand with each other and-and my family too, one day, because family is happiness and protection and unconditional love. It is tough times and overcoming them. It is not just where you are born but something you choose everyday like I chose your father. It is a connection so deep inside you, it might as well be your blood."
"We have a saying in our family; Blood doesn't lie. I thought those words were chains binding me to the Fukumoto legacy when I was young, but now, with you in my belly and my love at my side, the ones I chose, I'm starting to understand. It means that family, the ones you love above all, is undeniable "
"I hope you can forgive my leaving you, my dearest loves. Take care of your father for he loves you as much as I. Your mother, Hibiki Fukumoto."
My heart breaks, and I'm not alone as nearly everyone is in tears, and I feel Mai, my sister, tuck her face into my shoulder. After agreeing to stay silent the poor Fukumoto couple leaves, and silence fills the room, but it doesn't last long.
"Alright, it's your turn now Naru," Monk states firmly.
"What?" Naru asks defensively.
"No, nope! We are not going to just ignore the spirit clone from earlier!" Ayako snaps. "There were two of you, but one was transparent!"
Naru narrows his eyes, getting ready to spit venom, most likely, and tell them to mind their own business, but he's stopped by Lin touching his shoulder. The two exchange a long look, but my boss eventually sighs in defeat.
And finally, for once, Naru lets down his walls, and trusts.
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PERTIMBANGAN PENCIPTA 
Raat_Ki_Rani
Raat_Ki_Rani How was it? Was it horrifying? Any guesses and predictions?
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone