In the Teeth of It

by K A Miltimore

  “My father’s family has lived in Okinawa for generations. There is no waystation there,” Yami said flatly.

  “Your maternal grandmother. In 1942, your grandmother - I believe her name was Emiko, was it not? She lived in San Francisco with her family. Her parents had emigrated from Japan before the United States banned Japanese immigration in the 1920s. The benefits of a long memory, no?” Raluca spoke casually, trying not to rush the story. She needed to reel in the woman.

  “Enough history, Miss Vadu-” Yami stopped Lyssa with a raise of her hand.

  “Let her finish, please. What of my grandmother?” Yami watched the old woman’s face intently, her fists were clenched at her side.

  “Emiko was a modern girl in 1942, with a sweetheart and the bright future of youth when the United States decided to intern all residents of Japanese ancestry. Her parents and her brother were swept up, but Emiko wasn’t home that day. She had been secretly meeting her sweetheart. Once she learned of their fate, she fled to the safety of the San Francisco waystation. She lived there, in hiding, for four years. Without the waystation, your grandmother would have suffered the fate of her parents and brother. Without the waystation, you would not exist, Miss Hayashi.”

  Raluca’s voice was fading. She didn’t have much energy left; it had taken all her will to survive the torture. If she did not convinced the young kitsune to stop, she knew she wouldn’t be able to hold out.

  “My Obaasan never spoke of her youth. My mother knew she had lived in this country for a time, but she refused to discuss it,” Yami said, her mind clearly not in the present moment as she spoke.

  “Enough. This is a ploy. Do not fall for her Moroi tricks. Let us finish this.” Lyssa moved closer to Yami as she spoke.

  “Search your heart, kitsune. You know this to be true.” Raluca had no more words and barely enough breath to speak.

  “The postcard…from the San Francisco World’s Fair in 1939. It was one of the few things my grandmother had in a small jewel box that my mother received when she died. We never knew how she came by it or what it meant to her.”

  Yami stepped away from Lyssa and came behind Raluca, reaching for the old woman’s hands that were tightly bound. She used the knife, still wet with Raluca’s blood, to cut the cord.

  “No, what are you doing? You must not fall for this trickery. She is using sympathy to escape. Do not be fooled.” Panic crept into Lyssa’s voice. She didn’t have the strength to fight the kitsune. The wound in her side throbbed as if she needed a reminder that her strength would fail her.

  “Enough. I am done. This is over. Whether the story is true or not, I do not want to be a part of this. I will refund your payment, and I am returning to Tokyo. I am taking the old woman out of here.” Yami began to carefully lift Raluca from the stone seat and she could feel the old woman’s weight in her arms.

  “This ends tonight. Go if you must, but leave the Moroica to me. She is nothing to you.” Lyssa moved to put herself between the entrance of the cave and the kitsune.

  “As I said, the old woman leaves with me. Do not make me harm you. I will if I must.”

  “Your knife is not the one the baker used, kitsune. It has no magical properties. You have nothing that can harm me.”

  Lyssa sounded bold but Yami knew there was fear behind her words. If the demigoddess were really that invulnerable, she would not sound so desperate. “Perhaps that is true. But, as you know, I have very sharp teeth in my true form and the bite of a kitsune may have magic enough to end you. Shall we find out?” Yami took a step closer, keeping Raluca close to her side. They were leaving together, no matter what it took.

  “This isn’t over, Kitsune. We have a score to settle.” Lyssa hissed and the cloak of black around her began to shimmer and then swirl, like smoke on the wind. In the dark of the cave, Yami could barely see that the dark form was gone and not just pressed into the shadows.

  “Let’s go. Can you walk?” Yami felt the old woman take a few steps in reply. She used her strength to bolster Raluca, holding her tight against her body as a support. “Can you draw energy from me?” Yami saw a slight shake of Raluca’s head in reply. Apparently a moroi could not draw strength from a being such as Yami.

  The pair walked slowly toward the dark light at the front of the cave. Yami wondered if the old woman would even make it back to the car, parked at the Christmas tree farm. There was no one to ask for help so Yami would have to support the old woman through the dark path and hope that she had enough strength to survive.

  “Wait. Crystal…” The old woman stopped in her tracks, as if gathering her energy to speak.

  “The crystal? The one in the cave? What of it?” Yami found a stone near the cave entrance and gently placed Raluca down on it. She watched the old woman gulp air several times before speaking again.

  “We must bring it. It cannot remain. You must get it.”

  “Why? Let’s just get you out of here.”

  “No, we can’t. Lyssa. The crystal.” The old woman fell silent again, breathing heavy in the darkening light.

  “Alright, you sit here. I will figure out how to get it out. I believe that it is embedded in stone but maybe if I change form, I can dig it out.”

  Yami walked back into the cave and trained her eyes on the dim orange glow at the far end before her. Every cell in her body was telling her to turn around and stay away from the crystal. It seemed to radiate that it did not wish to be disturbed, but Yami forced her feet forward until she was at the center of the orange glow. She began to remove her clothing.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Darro was rumbling along the road out of town, pushing the pedal on the old Ford truck as far as it would go. Hedy worried that Mel and Ana would freeze in the back of the truck, but they were bundled up in thick coats and a blanket from the house. The cold was the least of their problems and everyone knew it. No doubt what was waiting at the Christmas tree farm was far more dangerous than a little windchill.

  “So, we think your guest, this Yami woman, took the old gal to the tree lot? Why would she do that?” Darro kept looking over at Hedy as he spoke, and she really wished he would keep his eyes on the darkening road. It was dusk, the hour when deer would likely jump out.

  “I don’t know why she took her, but I suspect it has something to do with Lyssa, who may not be gone after all. I could be wrong but why else would Yami kidnap Raluca and take her out of town? There has to be a connection.” Hedy braced herself as the Ford bucked along, and she felt awful for the girls in the back, perched on the metal bed of the truck.

  “And all this has something to do with those hellions who tore down the pyramid? What do they have to do with anything? One of them is Mel’s cousin?” Darro was trying his best to piece it all together but clearly there was information missing.

  “We know that Dylan and his friends stole a car at the Christmas market, and they were headed out of town toward the tree farm. We know that Yami took Raluca and they are near the tree farm as well. We don’t know the connection but there has to be one. We also don’t know what we are up against once we get there.” Hedy knew they had to go to the farm to help but she felt totally unprepared for what they might face, and it frightened her.

  “If Skinny Malinky Longlegs were here, our man Bren, that would at least be something. I don’t mind a fair fight, but I don’t like goin’ in t’something blind as a garden mole. Still and all, I’ve got a metal bat in the back of the truck and that should go a long way to helping to calm everyone’s nerves.” The truck rumbled on and Hedy didn’t answer. She had no idea whether a physical weapon would be enough to stop whatever was happening to Raluca, but it was the best they had at the moment. Darro was right; having Bren with them would have been a huge help.

  Darro found the farm but it was closed - everyone was supposed to be at the Christmas market. Luckily, the rusting metal gate that closed off the parking lot wasn’t locked. Two other cars had discovered the same thing: Hedy’s Corvair and a bla
ck Honda.

  Darro had barely stopped the truck before Mel bounded out the back of the truck bed, tossing the blanket off to one side. She slipped the hood of her parka down and started running toward the tree farm barn, with Ana close on her heels.

  “Mel, wait. We need a plan. We can’t just race in without knowing what we are doing.” Hedy tried to catch them, but they were far ahead. She heard a loud whomping bellow from behind her and it caused all three women to stop and turn. It was Darro.

  “Oy, let’s gather up. We only have numbers on our side, so let’s not lose that advantage, shall we? Mel, take this crowbar. Ana, I have a piece of 2x4 for you. Hedy, take these lopping shears.” Darro and Hedy caught up to the girls and Darro passed out his weapons. Hedy had no idea how she would use lopping shears to stop anyone and she felt foolish for even holding them. Still, it was the best they had.

  “I’m not using a crowbar on Dylan. I’m going to talk to him and make him understand.” Mel tried to hand back the crowbar to Darro but he shook his head.

  “I’m not suggesting that you do. But if that Lyssa creature is in there, we might need something more than words. Unless any of you have a better idea?” Darro look at each of them in turn but no one said anything. “Fine. Let’s take these with us then, just in case. How many kids are in this gang, do we think?” Darro started walking toward the barn, but at a much more deliberate pace.

  “I would guess four or five kids. Promise me you won’t hurt them, Darro.” Mel couldn’t imagine facing her uncle if anything she did injured Dylan.

  “I have no intention of hurting anyone. I promise you that. If someone attacks me, I canna swear they won’t get some scratches in the effort, but I’ll do my best to avoid hurting anyone. I didn’t start this party, remember that. They did.” Darro reached the small gate near the path leading toward the barn and it swung open easily. Someone had already broken the padlock.

  There were lights on the outside of the barn, lighting up the area around it and making it easy to see that there was no one right in front of them. The sky was dark but not pitch black just yet, except for a small patch of darkness that seemed to be moving from the east. The patch was undulating, and the sound of crows began to swell.

  Hedy had never seen so many crows is one group; she had never actually seen them fly in any kind of formation before. The crows were swooping down, heading toward the field of cut trees just beyond the lights from the barn.

  “What in blazes is that? Crows?” Darro could barely be heard over the noise of them. “There must be five hundred of them, at least.”

  “What’s bringing them here?” Ana soft voice could only be heard by Hedy, who was standing next to her.

  “Lyssa. She must have called them here.” Hedy felt the truth of it as she said it. There was no way this was anything other than Lyssa’s doing.

  From the barn, a few figures ran out, heading also toward the field. They were running so fast that all Hedy saw was a blur of plaid coats. A few moments later, the strands of Christmas tree lights blazed on and the area around the cut trees was washed with light. Thousands of bulbs blazed into the night, pouring down on the crows that perched on boughs and fence posts. The crows had gone silent.

  “Dylan! Dylan, is that you?” Mel cried out toward one of the running figures and she bolted after it. Ana tried to grab her arm, but she was too fast.

  “Dylan! Is that you?” a voice cried back at her, in a taunting sing song fashion before breaking into laughter. It was a girl’s voice.

  “Dylan, it’s Mel. Where are you?” Mel kept running, careful to avoid the trees along the path as she navigated toward the center of the field. With all these cut trees, the kids could be hiding anywhere.

  “Dylan, Dylan, Dylan…” The girls voice continued to repeat her but now another voice joined it, a male voice. They were taunting her.

  “Enough of this rubbish. Come out you scoundrels. We mean business.” Darro’s voice roared into the night, breaking the sound of the kids’ chant. It was silent for a moment and then two figures emerged from behind the trees. Mel thought she recognized Dylan’s friend, Randy. She didn’t recognize the girl.

  “Randy, where’s Dylan?” Mel tried to move closer to the pair, but Darro’s large arm blocked her way. He wanted to keep them at arm’s distance.

  “He’s here. So is Steve, and so is Harley. We are all here.” Randy sounded completely unconcerned. He could have been talking about going to the arcade or grabbing a cheeseburger.

  “I want to see Dylan.” Mel pressed against Darro’s arm, but it wasn’t budging.

  “Dylan, someone wants to see you,” the girl called out and her voice pierced the quiet that had settled around the trees. There was no response for a moment or two and then they saw a small figure come out from another grouping of trees.

  “Oh, thank God, Dylan. I’m glad you are alright. Everyone is so worried.” Mel pushed underneath Darro’s arm, scooting away from his grasp. She took a few steps toward Dylan but stopped short. His face looked weird, with a small, sly grin and a glint in his eye; it frightened her.

  “I’m fine, Mel. I’ve never been better. Everything is fine.” Dylan’s voice sounded relaxed, not the voice of a kid who had just stolen a car and who would face serious problems from his father.

  “You need to come with me now, we have to go find your dad. He’s on his way.” Mel held out her hand, but Dylan did not move.

  “No, I don’t need to do that. I do what I like and right now, I want to stay here. With my friends. We have some trees to burn.” Dylan’s voice trailed off as the kids started to laugh. Hedy wondered where the other two kids were and what they were up to.

  “Dylan, this is crazy. Stop acting like this. What has gotten into you?” Mel was practically crying, and the girl started laughing, mimicking her voice. Ana gave a loud hissing sound and the girl fell silent.

  “Nothing has gotten into us, Mel. We realized we don’t have to listen; we can do what we want, when we want. Ever since the cave, we figured it out. Nothing matters.” Dylan walked away from the tree and joined his friends, who were nodding in unison behind him. In the distance behind them, Hedy could see the silhouette of a bonfire. The missing kids must have just started it.

  The three of them were gone, slipping into the trees before anyone saw them go. The crows must have taken that as their sign because in a flurry of wings and cawing, they filled the air and headed in the direction of the bonfire.

  “Dylan!” Mel yelled after him but with all the noise from the crows, he likely couldn’t hear her.

  “We know where they are headed. Let’s cross out of these trees into open space and come toward the bonfire from the other side. I don’t relish an ambush in these close quarters.” Darro led the way out of the thicket of cut Christmas trees and into the open space of the field, taking a right turn toward the bonfire. In the light of the flame, Hedy could see two new figures crossing the field toward them. One was almost carrying the other.

  “Who is that?” Darro stepped in front of the group, protectively.

  “I think it is Yami with Raluca.” Hedy crossed from behind Darro and took a few steps toward the pair. Even in the dim light, she could tell it was them. But was it some kind of trap?

  “Be careful, lass. We don’t know what we are dealing with.” Darro kept a grip on his bat as the group made their way toward the slow-moving pair. The kids were still nowhere to be seen.

  “Yami, what has happened?” Hedy called out toward the figure and they paused until the group met up with them. In the flickering bonfire light, Hedy could plainly see that Raluca was in terrible shape.

  “We have to get her some help. I will explain everything later. She is dying.” Yami spoke plainly, her words flat and emotionless. Hedy felt a flash of anger, knowing that Raluca had been tortured and likely at Yami’s hand.

  “Is Lyssa involved?” Hedy reached out an arm to help hold up the old woman but Darro beat her to it. With a swift motion, he scoop
ed her up as if she weighed nothing more than a small sack of wet leaves.

  “There isn’t time for this. Lyssa is involved, yes, and we need to get out of here. She’s called these crows and who knows what else to come help her.” Yami started walking toward the car lot, but Hedy grabbed her arm and pulled her back.

  “Hold on. There are kids here and we need to help them. We can’t leave them to face whatever Lyssa is planning.”

  “You think those kids are at risk? They have been part of all this. Lyssa has been commanding them. They are her minions now.” Yami’s voice still sounded flat and unemotional, and Hedy found it just too much to bear.

  “Explain yourself! What do you mean? You tortured Raluca - I felt you do it. Now you are helping her? You better tell us what is going on.” Hedy heard her voice pierce the air between them, sharp as her elfish knife back home. She could remember exactly how much each moment in that cave felt for the old woman. The thought made her nauseous.

  “The cave. It held a crystal, a crystal with dark power that was helping Lyssa to heal. It is the only thing that’s keeping her alive. Those kids stumbled into the cave and became infected with it. Now its darkness eats them and they are doing her bidding. You are wasting time, time that the moroica doesn’t have. We have to get her to safety. Lyssa had me torture her for information on the waystation network. She wants to destroy it.” Yami sounded emotional for the first time and Hedy wondered what had happened in that cave to change her from torturer to rescuer.

  “Hedy, you take the old woman back in your car. I’ll stay and round up the kids; I can bring them back in my car. If they won’t come, I can’t force ‘em, but maybe Dylan will come with Mel, at least. I don’t wanna stick around here to see what happens next.” Darro was cradling Raluca as if she were a fragile bird, fallen out of a nest. She was moaning softly in his arms.

  Behind them, Hedy heard the sounds of voices beginning to chatter, mimicking the sound of crows. They turned to see all the kids in a ring facing the fire, screaming into the night, tossing boughs and chunks of trees into the blaze. Near them was a shadowy figure.