Black Winged Angel. Amy BlankenshipЧитать онлайн книгу.
leave you three to argue about it,â Toya stated. âIâm taking Kyoko over to the childrenâs section of the festival, so we can do our part.â
Toya put his arm around Kyokoâs shoulders and steered her away from them. They froze however when Kamuiâs voice came back over the earpieces.
âUm, people⦠we got a problem.â
âWhat is it pipsqueak?â Toya asked, his voice changing tone at the seriousness Kamui was emitting.
âThat drain leads into the house alright⦠through the basement. It also leads to the local cemetery about five blocks away. Apparently, the tunnels were dug during some kind of revolution. Local legends say it was an underground âhighwayâ for demon activity.â
âDamn, Iâm glad Iâm not you guys. Totally sucks to be you right now,â Toya said with a smirk. âHey, Shinbe, Tasuki, think you can come over and help these ladies out?â
âI do humbly apologize Toya,â Shinbe said over the radio. âBut Tasuki and I are on the other end of the square and unfortunately, we are currently preoccupied with our own work.â
âYeah,â Tasuki stated then screamed.
âTasuki?â Kyoko asked. âAre you okay?â
âHeâs fine,â Shinbe said trying not to laugh. âHe just got the life scared out of him by an old man and a teenage zombie wanna-be. Hey Tama, love the costume.â
âWe changed our minds, weâre coming,â Tasuki growled. âDamn old man, always scares the crap out of me.â
Kyoko giggled along with Suki. It seemed Grandpa Hogo had found Tasuki.
âTell Grandpa hello for me and Iâll call him tomorrow,â Kyoko said.
âIâm not telling that old geezer shit!â Tasuki exclaimed sullenly.
âTell him or else,â Kyoko warned, as her emerald eyes grew stormy.
Kotaro, Yohji and Toya took two big steps back from the auburn-haired woman. When Kyoko got that expression on her face, there was only one alternative⦠run.
âUm, weâre gonna go ahead and check out the inside.â Kotaro said hesitantly. âWeâll keep you posted at whatâs going on.â
Yohji didnât even need prompting. They took a couple more steps back as though Kyoko might attack them once their backs were turned before hastily making their way to the house.
âKyoko,â Toya said wonderingly. âYouâre scary, you know that?â
Kyoko smirked, âIt runs in the family.â
âTell me about it.â Tasuki mumbled in her earpiece.
Suki could be heard laughing again, âAnd you guys all wonder why I love working with you.â
âSuki dear,â Shinbe said softly. âYou can be scary all you want⦠it only makes me want you more.â
âShinbe, shut up,â Suki said in frustration.
Chapter 3 âHaunted Housesâ
Darious stood in the shadows, watching as the small group went in separate directions. He hadnât even bothered with invisibility because, tonight of all nights, he would blend in just fine. His eyes narrowed on the fact that Toya had thrown his arm over the womanâs shoulder. Why was it that they were so accepted within the human circle⦠when he had always been rejected? What made the guardians so damn special?
His brooding gaze caressed Kyokoâs face as she smiled and he knew she did not fear them, but instead, stood among them as if she belonged. What would he give for her to smile at him like that⦠like a man instead of a monster?
Something tightened in his chest, but Darious shrugged off his melancholy as his attention returned to the two cops that were entering the makeshift haunted house.
He could sense the demon activity inside but he was more interested in the source of the demonic activity. The master controlling the peons is what he needed to find. Destroy the master and you destroy their underlings. It was a simple concept that most found a bit too easy to overlook⦠until you actually faced a master in combat. Only then did it not seem so easy.
First and foremost, he needed to find the master demons and kill them. The Guardians could handle the rest of the vermin loose tonight⦠the easy targets. He slowly turned his head and gazed in the direction of the graveyard before vanishing from site.
Kamui slurped loudly on his blueberry slushy then chewed for a moment on the straw. He saw the disappearing act of the man that had been stalking Kyoko since she and Toya had arrived and it made him smirk. Turning to another one of the laptops open next to him, he scanned the frozen frame of Darious.
âSo, you have finally found us,â Kamui thought to himself, making sure to keep that particular thought locked away from Amni and Yuuhi. He had often wondered if the dark angel was still stalking the lands.
He enlarged the photo and his smile died as he noticed the lonely look that haunted Dariousâs eyes.
*****
Kotaro and Yohji approached the woman standing at the entrance of the House of Screams and started to make their way in. They immediately noticed a sign outside that indicated no one under the age of eighteen was allowed, which meant IDâs were being checked.
âWhatâs the big deal with the age limit? They have naked zombies or something?â Yohji joked, secretly hoping he was right.
âIâm sorry gentlemen,â The woman said. âItâs a ten dollar entry fee to go in.â
Yohji choked. âTwenty dollars? Thatâs highway robbery.â
Kotaro showed her his badge and smiled. âYou donât want our money and itâs time for you to go take a break.â
The badge caught the womanâs eye and she followed it with her gaze, unable to look away as it glowed a soft blue.
âI donât want your money,â She repeated in a dazed voice.
Kotaro glanced over at Yohji, his smile gone. âLetâs go.â
They walked inside, leaving the woman at the entrance shaking her head in confusion before she glanced down at her watch deciding it was time to go grab a bite to eat.
The front door closed behind them and the two men looked around. The front room was in a hexagon shape, with small round tables set into each corner. In the center was a larger round table with wilted flowers and fake rotten fruit in a bowl, all of which had been covered with sawdust and fake cobwebs.
Both men went on high alert as they noticed the sign that had the word âEnterâ scrawled in crooked letters next to a curtain-covered door and no tour guide. Creepy pipe organ music was playing over the speakers, giving the room what they assumed was supposed to be ambiance but it only came off as cheesy.
âLooks like a funeral parlor,â Yohji muttered. âThey even have a coffin here.â
Yohji walked over to the coffin and, out of morbid curiosity lifted the lid. It was a decision he instantly regretted and wrinkled his nose at the smell.
âKotaro⦠tell me this is fake and Iâll be your best friend forever,â Yohji begged softly as he cringed.
Kotaro had already started heading toward the curtain covering the next door. He backtracked to look inside the coffin and instantly turned away. The half-eaten human was laying on the now bloodied