Darkness

Day One, Part Two

         I stood in front of a tall, nondescript building done all in white. A cycnical smile touched my lips. Nothing much had changed. The most ironic part of this was the fact that the building not only housed the Interpol's South-Asian Division branch, but also the very same people who would have objected to the formation of the DarkLight Association. The security guards took notice of my definately-unIslamic clothing and tried to stop me from entering.
         Talking with them was no use, and since I was already in the lobby, there was not much chance that anyone who saw me would pay much attention and call the police. I simply stuck out one of my legs and hit the first security guard in the stomach and at the same time, caught the other in the back of his neck. They were both down and gasping for air. Not stopping, I moved to where the phone was and quickly dialled Natalie's number.
         "Santiango's office, how may I help you?" a familiar voice said.
         "Carlos, please tell Nat that she'd better send someone down here before I take out the whole security force in this building.
         "Karen? Okay, gimmie a moment," the man said. I grinned wolfishly, for I thought I heard the sigh that used to mean, 'She's done it again,' when I was much younger and fond of getting into trouble.

         A few minutes later, I found myself in front of a blonde, blue-eyed girl who was not much younger than myself. The difference was that she looked younger due to surgery. That was not because she was vain, but because of her recons jobs. She had decided to work as a young prosititute in the ghettos of New York. Surprisingly, she had received a lot of information.
         "What the hell was that about?" she asked me testily.
         I looked at her straight in the eye and gave her one of my patented 'you-helped-trained-me-therefore-you-should-know-me" look. She sighed heavily and I could see the wrinkles around her eyes.
         "Have you heard of the Mikodo family?" she then asked me.
         "They're among the best Shikigami families with the exception of the current Shikigami holder, Rokudou Meiko from the Rokudo family. Why?" I asked. I knew Rokudo well, although I didn't like anyone from the Mikodo family. Nat must not have known this, as she was still in the ghetto when I was training in Japan.
         "The Mikodo family, with the exception of three of the youngest grandchildren, were found dead three weeks ago. Their Shikigamis was not found, and there were no signs that they had gone Renegade," Nat told me, watching my reaction carefully.
         I was curious by the fact that someone had managed to kill most of the Mikodo family, although they were small in number and my mind quickly began to function. "How were they killed?" I asked.
         "Haven't you guessed?" Nat asked me, mildly surprised.
         "The Shikigamis would only transfer themselves to another family under several conditions. None of them would include killing their masters. I need to know how they were killed," I told Nat but declined to elaborate.
         "They were stabbed with some kind of knives, but it is a very different make from any knife we know, either Spi or Physical," she said.
         "The other family must've had Banshees and Sabretooths. You'd need Banshees to lure the family to a state of deep unconsciousness that their Shikigamis can't be used, and then the Sabretooths must've finished them off. To prevent the Shikigamis from escaping, there must've been some sort of Soul CRystal nearby," I told her.
         "I'm surprised that you can still remember that after all those years," a familiar voice said.