We must have sat there for what felt like hours, soaking in the sounds of the city; feeling the pulse and the heartbeat of the energy rushing through this place and its people. The world had become so fast, so rushed but there was a detachment, a coldness between modern human beings that I could feel in my very soul. Each one was living for him or herself and their own pursuits. Why would anyone of them notice a foreign looking girl hiding away in a rubbish filled alley? I sat back and scooped out the last remaining noodles stuck in the corner of the white paper box. It was just what I needed to fill me up before I carried on my journey.
As we were getting ready to leave, I heard a commotion and a muffled scream around the corner from us. I should have let it go, it clearly wasn’t any concern of mine and nothing good can come from me sticking my nose in other people’s business. I had two options, go see what the problem was or venture out in the teeming masses of people outside in the streets. Biting my lip, I motioned for Adelmar to follow me as we cautiously snuck around the corner to see what was going on. A man stumbled out into the grim glow of the alley light, he was badly beaten and blood was flowing from his mouth. A group of three men followed close behind him, jeering; laughing and kicking him in the ribs. The first one, a gangly skeletal youth with acne scars flicked a cigarette into a pile of garbage bags and pulled out a pistol before putting it to the back of the man’s skull.
“Walk away Helena, this is not your fight. Just walk away.” I told myself as the man on the floor begged for mercy, tears mixing with the blood on his cheeks. What came over me I will never know but something made me come out of the shadows. The three youths, dressed in similar black trench coats stared in amazement at the rain drenched white woman and pitch black wolf appeared from the gloom. It took the first one, obviously the leader of the group a few moments to realize his eyes weren’t playing tricks on him before raising his automatic pistol in my direction. He screamed a slew of words at me while waving his pistol menacingly at me.
“Anata wa gaijin wa nanida ittai taidesu ka? Anata wa yoi meinu o maigoninaru.”
Slowly, for some amazing reason the gibberish started to change into English and I could understand it. The words and syllables became familiar to my ears as the stream of profanity from the youth continued.
“I said, what the hell do you want Gajin? This is no place for little girls but maybe you want to party afterwards, see what a real man can do.” He smirked to himself as his fat friends laughed and slapped hands.
I remained silent as the youths grew quiet and the tension built. The gauntlet pulsed with energy by my side and a black long barrelled Desert Eagle appeared in my hands. The grip fit perfectly in my slender hands, like it was intrinsically part of my DNA and it always belonged with me. The tension reached breaking point as a thin trickle of sweat ran down the youth’s face. It hung suspended from his chin for what felt like an eternity before it fell in slow motion to the ground.
The gauntlet took over.
My blood turned from scarlet to black in a heartbeat as the adrenaline coursed through my veins. I could feel myself losing control, every movement, every action dictated and controlled by the gauntlet on my arm. Moving like a demon, the pistol spat lead and death in all directions; muzzle flashes lit up the claustrophobic alley as the shadows of contorting bodies flaying through the air danced macabrely against the walls. As the drop of sweat landed on the ground, I dropped to a knee with the Desert Eagle draped across my chest. The youths stood with their mouths still hanging agape in shock, eyes widening at the seams. The blood seeped out of three perfectly round holes in their chests as the slumped to the ground. Death had claimed them instantly and they never had a chance to fire off even a single round. The alley became quiet again and the weapon faded away in my hands, the only remnant the heavy odour of gun smoke left behind it its wake. I could feel myself regaining control of my body and I looked up at the man sprawled on the floor next to me and slowly offered him my hand. He looked around in panic, unsure of what just took place before his eyes. Then he saw the lifeless corpses of his assailants where they fell. He said nothing and was clearly in shock and walked over to the bodies, turning them over as he studied them intently. I turned and started to walk away, nodding at Adelmar to follow me. The wolf sniffed a few times at one of the bodies, making sure it was really dead before trotting after me.
“Wait,” The man reached into his pocket and wiped the blood from his mouth with dirty looking piece of cloth. He looked me up and down as I turned and stared at him. “Who are you and what are you doing here?” He asked, slitted eyes narrowing in suspicion.
“Just a traveller passing through, nothing more.” I replied, looking at the pile of bodies behind him. “You seem to have some problems here.”
The man looked down with disgust, kicking one of the corpses in the face. “These punks have been trying their luck lately, moving in on our territory. They were waiting and jumped me as I was coming out of the massage parlour. It was stupid of me to move alone at night. Not so funny now huh assholes?” He said in derision pausing for a moment and leaning forward to move my coat to the side. The pistol I had taken off the man in the dumpster was still safely tucked away in my belt. He noticed the initials engraved on the handle and looked up to me.
“Where did you find that” The man asked, curiosity peeked.
“What’s it to you?” I was tired and the adrenaline had worked itself out of my system. My words were testy as I gazed at the rat like features of the man.
“I know the man it belongs to. Now please?”
“I found it in a dumpster a few miles that way. He was already beyond saving when I found him.” I replied, omitting the fact that I was the one that silenced him.
“It is a pity, I knew him well and he was a loyal soldier. I will have arrangements made that his body is retrieved and he be given a proper burial. Now how is it that a white Gajin woman and her pet dog comes to wandering these dangerous streets? This is not a place for tourists or sightseers young lady.” I could see a familiar glint of greed in his eyes. He had seen what the gauntlet could do but he was wary, testing the air like a rat crawling out of a sewer.
“My parents work here but I decided to run away and do my own thing.” The lie was blatant and I knew he could see through it in an instant.
“You are not very good at this are you?” He coughed a few times, fishing for a cigarette in his pocket.
“I guess not. Take care.” I didn’t want to stick around and turned to leave but I stopped in my tracks when I heard his next very carefully chosen words.
“You don’t have a home do you gajin?” He grinned to himself, knowing that he had struck a nerve with me. My silence spoke volumes as I felt him brush past me, seeing the dragon tattoo on his arm but saying nothing. The stench of cheap whore and cigarette smoke clung to his body and made me want to gag.
“Well come on then, I have someone that might be very interested in meeting you. She might make you an offer that could be very beneficial to you and then I’ll see if I can’t organize a place for you to sleep in.” The strange little man did not stop, walking, almost scurrying down the alley. I looked down at Adelmar with a resigned sigh.
“I guess we don’t have much choice in this do we? We can at least find a warm place to sleep in and clear our heads for a bit.” The wolf whined worriedly but nudged my leg forward. Biting my lip, I ran after the man and quickly we disappeared into the cold, wet streets of the downtown city scape.
The devils in Tokyo shuddered collectively, clustered in their filth ridden brothels and dingy soba noodle shacks. They could feel it in the air, the change as the energy shifted and expanded and a new life form became sentient. This one was somehow different from the scum that infested the grim neon lit streets and back alleys of the metropolis. This one was not human and spelt nothing but trouble to all that dared crossed her path.
Both a cursed and blessed soul with death itself watching over her.
A new demon had come between them.
