Visual Kei

“You’re sure this is the place?” I asked for the fourth time. Where were the flies? Where were blood sprays against the ground and various other surfaces? It didn’t look like an evil lair to me, except maybe the fact that it was in the sewer system.

“I am certain,” he responded for the fourth time. His fingertips skimmed the butt of the gun resting at his hip as he strolled forward almost casually. The sound of dripping water was everywhere, but over all, the Japanese sewer system seemed vastly more hygienic than the American one I was accustomed to. Still, it smelled faintly like sewage all over the place. Dropping down behind Ray, I regretted it immediately. Water splashed up from under my feet, landing on my shirt and pants. I cursed under my breath, and Ray just shook his head, continuing into the tunnels ahead.

Bright lights shined harshly in places, spread far enough apart that the circles they illuminated never merged. Some parts, albeit very small, were drenched in shadow completely. Several columns transporting sewage stood like stone pillars along each side of us, and from the look of it, the Japanese sewage system was less tunnel-like than America’s. There were no “real” tunnels, and from where I was standing, I couldn’t see any “real” walls. How far did this network of pipes and cutaway walls extend to? And, most importantly, wasn’t this like a scene in The Matrix?

“Alice.” I turned to see Ray looking back at me impatiently. I nodded and rushed to catch up. We walked together for a while. The further we walked, the more tense he seemed to get. I didn’t feel anything out of place, though.

After what seemed like hours of walking, we arrived at another opening that looked exactly like the one we’d climbed down. Ray stopped me at the edge of the hole, looking up into the darkness. Could he see something there? Though I couldn’t see anything, I could sense that something was there, moving and staring down at us. It was, without a doubt, the woman that Ray was seeking. His hand tightened on the gun.

“Sweet child . . .” a singsong voice called from the darkness, beautiful and melodic. “I knew you would come back to me eventually.” The sound of wings beating filled the passageway as something swooped down from above, and then it was painfully quiet for a moment. “Who is this girl you’ve brought with you?”

“No need to concern yourself with that,” he responded drawing the gun slowly.

“Ah, I see her. I see her clearly!” A figure stepped from the shadows into the light. She was an Amazon woman with thick limbs and voluptuous curves. From the crown of her head spilled thick honey-blonde hair in massive tresses. A smear of blood on her face did not draw away from her beauty, but it drew my attention to the half-eaten corpse being dragged behind her. Her bright, almost neon-blue eyes sparkled with joy as she neared us. Other than the mutilated body she held, I found it hard to believe she was anything malevolent. “The little goddess incarnate I have heard stories about. Amaterasu was her name. Ah, she certainly is a delicious little trophy, dear one! Did you bring her as a peace offering, perhaps?”

I leaned over and whispered to Ray, “I thought you said she was a soul eater. That doesn’t look like soul on her face.”

“Another repulsive habit, I assume.”

“Then, she is not to be a gift?” she asked, dropping the body behind her. She looked almost hurt. “You really can be so disrespectful, Sonje. After all I’ve done for you.” Two large, powerful wings shimmered in the air, into visibility before flicking back into nothingness. I knew I'd seen something like that before. Maybe in a movie...

“Never speak that name again, beast,” he hissed.

Her lips curled into a vicious smile and she stepped closer to him, triumphant as his gun whipped out and the barrel rested in the crook of her collarbones. She laughed. “Just what do you think that little human toy will do?”

“Let’s find out.” He pumped two rounds into her chest, drawing a blade as her eyes went wide with shock. She fell backward, pressing on the wound at her throat. It would have killed a mortal, but she wasn’t one of those. Pushing off the ground, she drew herself away from us, gurgling and sputtering for breath. She coughed out a bullet and it fell to the ground. Without waiting for the second to dislodge itself, she dove at me. Both Ray and I shot at her, but the bullets grazed her feathery wings, hardly slowing her down. She scooped me up from the ground and held me by a wrist. My shoulder felt ready to dislocate, but I clamped my mouth down over a scream.

“Alice!” Ray cried, his blue eyes surprised.

“Shoot the bitch!” I called as she swung me back and forth like a pendulum. Aiming as best he could, he hesitated. “Hurry!”

“I . . .”

She laughed hysterically, smiling down at me with hunger in her eyes. “He is weak. You have come to see this only too late, girl.” Suddenly, her jaw unhinged like a snake’s, crackling like Rice Krispies in milk as the skin of her cheeks and jaw stretched and was pulled taut over her inhuman bone structure. It sent a wave of nausea and fear through me, although the distance from the ground didn't help. I would have struggled, but I wasn't in the mood for splintering my femurs and fibula.

“Any time would be great, Ray!” I screamed desperately. A shot rang out, but did not connect with its target. The woman grabbed my other wrist, sensing that I was about to try and solve this problem myself. Her eyes glinted with delight as a long tongue coated in a viscous, slightly-foaming liquid shot out and caressed my face. It was bad enough that it looked like something from the movie Aliens, but it got exponentially worse when she put her nasty tongue in my mouth. I screamed in disgust, horror, and agony.

It felt as though her tongue were coated in razor blades and was scraping through my mouth. It slithered like something alive, down my throat and making me gag. Tears filled my eyes and I convulsed. Through the physical pain, I could feel something worse—she was leeching me of my divinity. I cried out for Ray, for anyone to get her away from me.

Suddenly I was free-falling. I landed on my back on the damp ground. Hard. Gasping for breath and coughing blood, I flipped over and tried to not go insane. Ray sprinted to me, unloading a few more bullets into what I assumed was the thing's body. My entire frame was shaking violently, and I was sobbing. I couldn’t blame myself, and if you blamed me, you’re either an ass or you’ve never been kissed by someone who doesn’t take a hint. It sucks.

“Alice!” Ray kneeled beside me. I pushed him away immediately, turning my face so he couldn't see my tears. Uncertain of what to do, he tried again to hold me. I let him. “Alice, I’m sorry. I never meant for this to happen.”

“Your family freaks the shit out of me,” I managed, through the sobs.

He looked hard into my eyes. “How did you know she was…?”

“Come on, it's not that hard. And you did teach me something.” I held in the rest of the sniveling and spat some blood onto the ground. It mixed with the water and diluted soon enough.

“It appears so.” Helping me stand, he looked away from me. “Do not tell anyone about this.”

“Got it.”

Before we got to the compound, we stopped at a darkened park, abandoned at these early hours of the morning. When we stood on the bridge overlooking the park, he turned to me, his eyes concerned. His fingertips slid across my wrists where she’d held me, and over my face. “Nothing that will scar,” he said absently, but with relief. I looked at his bright blue eyes uncertainly. My stomach tugged, telling me that he wanted to say something romantic, but he didn’t know how to go about it. I waited to see what he’d come up with. His fingertips lingered on my lips, but they slipped away soon enough.

“She . . . was my mother,” he said quietly, looking down at the lamp posts softly illuminating the ground below.

“What about your father?”

“Dead. He was a fool to ever love the Daemon bitch,” he growled bitterly. “He was a good man until she began to feed off him. He appeased her whims and desires because that was all that remained of him—his love for my damned mother.”

“He was mortal, wasn’t he?”

“Yes, but he was clairvoyant.”

“You took after your dad, then, huh? No sparkly wings or freaky tongue tricks?”

“No sparkly wings.”

“Freaky tongue tricks?”

“No comment.” I blushed and laughed. He smiled at me, his eyes resting on mine for a moment before he quirked his lips and turned away again.

“What’s the matter?” I asked, a strange mix of feelings in my gut. Is that what he felt, too?

“I’m sorry about what she did to you. It looked horrible.”

“It was,” I said solemnly, looking down too. “But at least you stopped her before she could do any serious damage.”

“Thank you for going with me. I don’t think I could have done it alone.”

“That’s what friends are for, right?”

“Friends?” he repeated, locking eyes with me. I could hear it clearly in my head, what he was really asking. Just friends?

“Look, Ray . . . I can’t—“

His eyes scanned mine quickly and coldly as I tried to think of how to form the words correctly. Before I could speak, he pulled me close to him and kissed me. I was frozen, but it didn’t feel anything. There was no flutter in my chest, no heart-stopping, earth-shattering emotion. The only thing that responded was below the belt. He released me with a sigh of contentment. Like in so many things, I felt like I was getting complacent. As he pulled away, I felt a tug of relief in my chest, and it felt wrong... but I was just not strong enough to say anything about it. I looked away, trying to hide my discomfort. Sure, he was hot, and sure, he acted just like Kiiro, but something was wrong…

“Let’s go,” I said, walking past him toward the complex.