silverfinger
With luminescent paint residue still on their faces and bodies, the four teenagers stood quietly together in the elevator, arms wrapped around themselves, still trying to process what had just happened. Not only had three of them lost their jackets in the clamoring of people rushing from the loft, grabbing everything in sight, desperate to get out before they had to personally face a pissed off Derek Hale, but since they had seen the five warriors, watching what they had done to Aiden, all four of them had a chill in their bodies that just couldn't be shifted. Not until they got the answers they had waited and craved for the past twenty-four hours, the three who'd known about the five mysterious warriors longer than anyone else had given Chris long enough for him to gather his answers, to ensure he had his facts right before he incited fear in the three of them, but it was too late for that now.
All they felt was fear. It just so happened that the one person who could provide them with a sense of relief and those answers hadn't answered their calls.
"I don't get it," Allison mumbled under her breath with a shake of the head, anxiously bouncing up and down as she eagerly watched the small arrow of the elevator travel up each floor, maybe it was her nerves talking, but it seemed to be taking longer than usual, it felt like it had been at least hours since the three of them had left the loft, hours since she had first called Chris for the first time. "He always answers his calls. Always. We should have heard something by now."
The more she spoke the more nervous she become, listing all of the possibilities of what could have happened in her head, none of them were simple everyday reasons for people not replying to calls and texts from their daughter and niece, like sleeping in, or their phone being on silent, that was an average person's thinking.
"I'm sure he's fine." Isaac tried to reassure her with a faint smile.
Something he never thought he would find himself doing was reassuring the huntress beside him that thingers were going to be okay, but he was beginning to learn that he must expect the unexpected, it was an unwritten rule of this town. Everything that ever happened to them was always amongst the unexpected. Him becoming a werewolf. Kinsey was some kind of Angelic creature with a hint of werewolf to her not to mention the fact she was a trained huntress like her cousin and uncle. Even the two of them being a couple had been unexpected.
But what was most unexpected, was a blossoming friendship with Allison after she had stabbed him, almost killed him multiple times, at first it was for the sake of Kinsey, a person they both loved but now, the two of them could actually stand to be left alone in a room with one another without her and the underlying temptation to kill one another. Most of the time at least, there were still odd occasions where they wanted to strangle each other.
Kinsey agreed that everything would be fine as they stepped out of the elevator, only to find that the front door to their apartment was wide open, a trail of scarlet red blood leading from the foot of the elevator to inside the apartment, the floor, the doorframe and even the door handle were all covered with traces of it. Isaac and Scott stepped forward in front of the two girls, an arm spread across them both, prepared to protect them against whatever they might be against.
For once, the two girls weren't armed with daggers and crossbows, neither thought they'd need them for a Halloween party, and certainly not just to get back into their homes. It was safe to say all four were expecting to see five hooded figures in the apartment again, after Chris like he had told them they might be, nothing could prepare them to see those greenish-yellow eyes again, and it was clear who their next two targets aimed to be beside Chris. They had looked straight at Scott and Kinsey, prepared to brand them with that smaller 5 behind their ears, it couldn't be a coincidence that they would find blood at the apartment when those two targets were here.
Isaac gently pushed the door open further, he and Scott peering around it before either of them dared to step in, within a second of them peering around the door they had dropped all stealth in their movements, Isaac barged into the apartment, swinging open the door allowing the two girls to see Chris passed out on the floor, covered in blood. His hand was open, just a few inches from his cell phone, he had meant to answer the calls that Allison and Kinsey had left him, he just hadn't gotten that far. Both of the girls rushed into the apartment to the man's aid as they lifted him up, shouting at him to wake up. He'd mentioned nothing about going out last night, he had insisted he would stay in case the three of them wanted a ride home from the party because Kinsey had gotten herself too drunk to walk like she had done many times before.
It was clear that he hadn't followed through with that, he hadn't been at home, he hadn't been ambushed, he'd gone somewhere, gotten himself hurt, and just about managed to make it back through the door before he'd collapsed.
Chris came back to consciousness with a groan, his vision blurred as he looked across the four young faces that leaned over him, even with a lack of clear sight, he could make out his daughter and niece, not only did their dark features give them away, but their voices racked with fear for his life as two strong arms pulled him off of the ground. If the man knew anything about the two girls under his guardianship, it was two werewolves by the name of Isaac and Scott. The hunter was clearly disorientated as the wolves placed him in his desk chair while Allison rushed to find their first-aid kit for the wound on her father's head, in spite of his delusion, he was able to answer his niece's impending question, it wasn't the fault of the five demon warriors that made him weak like this, it was his own stupidity and desperation to get answers of his own, trying to sit at home and wait for either Allison or Kinsey to call and ask for a ride home was boring him, he wasn't a man made for lounging around the apartment, he was a hunter, a good one at that, but above all, he was someone who needed to keep two teenage girls from any and all danger.
"His eyes were glowing. There was something almost ritualistic about it." Chris spoke, recalling an event from his youth where he had seen those five warriors for himself, just a little older than his daughter who stitched his wound as he spoke. The last time he had known of the five figures they had been after a man in Japan. "Like it was looking right into his soul."
Isaac nodded in agreement, recalling an event from his own life, that was what they had done to him, only his had taken place as little as a day ago, not an entire lifetime ago like the man across the desk from him. Allison couldn't help but correct the wolf as she insisted it was what the five had done to everyone, a point Scott was ready to argue with too, for a moment, he had thought it was only the werewolves of Beacon Hills who'd fallen prey to those mysterious figures until he was reminded a redhead friend of theirs had also been branded.
Chris laid all of their points to rest. "Anyone with a connection to the supernatural." He informed them, looking at the two supernaturals who hadn't yet been touched, Scott and his niece, it was almost a warning to them both, that as they already suspected, the two of them would soon be familiar with the feeling that Isaac had felt, along with most of their friends, and the twins who were slowly working their way to gaining the title of untimely allies.
"Then who was the guy they went after in Japan?" Kinsey asked her father, desperate to know a little more, or anything, about the terrifying people who were going to be claiming her as one of their victims sooner rather than later.
"A kumicho. A yakuza boss." Chris nodded, wincing under the pain of Allison's touch. "It was my first gun deal. I was only 18 and it was supposed to be a simple exchange. Except Gerard left out the minor detail of the buyers being yakuza. He wanted to see if I could adapt in the moment." He recalled. "Testing my ability to improvise."
"Or your ability to survive." Allison interrupted. She knew her grandfather, how his twisted mind worked, he had played the same kind of tricks on her, dropping her in the deep end, seeing if she could survive it, and she had, just not in the way Gerard had planned for her to, every plan he'd made for his two granddaughters, the future of the Argent hunters had been foiled. That was all thanks to Kinsey, who had been a lot stronger than she had, she had a much greater ability to survive, and between the two of them, she was the better hunter, even if her father didn't like to play favorites and compare them, she knew it within herself. But she wasn't filled with hostility or jealousy for her cousin being better than her, stronger both physically and mentally, frankly, it was hard to be surprised. All she felt towards the brunette was a deep admiration.
"The moment the sun went down it was like they just materialized out of the shadows." Argent continued his tail, the image still fresh in his mind, as if he was 18 again, he could still see them marching tall towards him, the fear he had felt as a young man, an inexperienced hunter. "They had swords, not curved like katanas, but straight, black steel. Like ninjatos."
"What did they want?" Scott asked, swallowing the lump in his throat. He knew that if even the likes of Chris Argent were scared of their latest enemy, he ought to be petrified.
"To get to the kumicho."
It hadn't mattered how many people fought for the kumicho, dozens of gunmen had surrounded him, all sorts of weaponry in their mists, but none of it mattered, the oni had walked through the gunfire untouched, effortlessly. He could remember the amazement he'd felt beneath the strong feeling of impending doom, he'd never seen anything like it, that was what terrified him. All of the men were cut down, falling to the ground in a bloody massacre at the hands of the five while he had remained untouched, watching the bloodshed with wide, no longer innocent eyes.
Every living that was in their paths hadn't survived. Unlike how Isaac and the others had been marked, it had been different in his own experience with them, once every man was down and the yakuza boss was left alone, defenseless, the eighteen-year-old had thought, the five had turned to him, prepared to finish the job. He'd been lay on the floor, buried in the pile of bodies, watching as the kumicho stood tall against the five, his eyes white over, canines extended as the black steel swords plunged into his stomach, impaling him as they raised him into the air claiming him as a bloody fountain.
Argent didn't know the species of the man despite the clear curiosity his niece had shown as he mentioned the man's eyes turning white over, similarly to what her own had done when she had delved into the mind of her boyfriend, scared that she might just be the same thing, that the five would kill her recklessly like they'd killed him. While he was unsure, he believed there was some who might, a few others had survived that night, amongst them was a man name Katashi, better known by some as Silverfinger due to an unusual prosthetic. It looked as if the man was ready to take them on himself, alone, but before he'd gotten the chance, a brave and slightly idiotic teen had stood up, raising his gun, shooting a bullet into one of their masks, breaking it.
"I've known for a while Katashi was in the country," Chris admitted, his niece and daughter were already beginning to piece together the puzzle, it was a trait they had gotten from him, they too were unable to sit around when answers could be sought out. An undesirable trait, but one they all shared nonetheless. "I spent yesterday tracking him down."
Isaac pointed to the now stitched-up wound on the man's head. "Didn't look like he wanted to be found." He deadpanned, he had made it an entire day since Chris had found out about him and Kinsey, a werewolf who had lived that long after being found fraternizing with someone who should have been an enemy to his kind wasn't afraid to use sarcastic remarks against a man that could still very much kill him within the blink of an eye. He had survived the unsurvivable, he'd lived to tell the tale, much like the wolf beside him, though Scott wasn't quite so brave. Frankly, Isaac had gotten the best of Chris while he had had the full-blown hunter version of the man.
"Not particularly, no," Argent admitted.
The teenagers threw every question that popped into their heads at the man, each had taken it in turns to voice their thoughts, whether it was Scott wondering whether Katashi knew who the five warriors were, Allison's concern that even if he did, the man wouldn't want to talk, and Isaac who wondered if he would even remember Chris, the hunter wasn't exactly eighteen anymore. Kinsey waited to voice her own question, she knew the time would come, in the meantime, she watched as her uncle stood up, opening the small chest that had been sat on his desk like a new ornament. Inside was a piece of cloth that he unwrapped, revealing the mask he had shot that night, broken into multiple pieces, but the four teenagers were still able to recognize it. He knew he hadn't killed the figure he shot, frankly, he wasn't sure killing them was possible, but he had slowed it down long enough for him and Katashi to escape with the rest of the survivors.
Scott had one more question as he analyzed one of the pieces. He wondered what was behind the mask, and Chris only had one description for it. Darkness. Absolute darkness. While three of the four teenagers were left with another cold chill crawling up their spines, unable to think of any more questions, nor did they want to ask them, Kinsey felt that it was finally time to ask that question of hers, seemingly much more important than the ones that were already asked.
"How do we get to Katashi?"
Chris's lips pulled back into a smile, that was the huntress he'd raised and trained, the girl who had been raised to fight for what she wanted, which today, she had declared that she wanted an answer as to who the five hooded figures were, her next want was to know how to stop them, it was a process, she knew that, one that began with finding Katashi. It had been left to those most capable to hunt down Katashi to retrieve those answers, someone had to make sure everything was still in one piece when they returned, that person, of course, was Scott. While ensuring that the town didn't fall apart at the seams, he would do damage control while also working to make sure that he didn't fall into old habits of skipping school and his grades slipping. It was a task he was sure to acquire Stiles's help in, he hadn't had the option of Isaac, Chris had already recruited him, as soon as his niece had spoken her question a plan began brewing in his mind, one that his niece and the werewolf stood central of. His whole idea was devised around them.
The three teenagers sat on Chris's desk, awaiting instructions as he gave them a deeper insight into what they were dealing with on today's mission. Katashi doesn't see visitors, ever, he's now a paranoid recluse who rarely steps foot outside of the gates of his estate, he couldn't quite find it in himself to blame the man after what they had experienced that night, and neither could the three teenagers, especially the girl who often felt like the paranoid recluse of Beacon Hills.
"So how are we going to get to him?" Isaac questioned, believing the man had a plan of sorts.
"Oh, he's got a thing for rare, antique weapons." Chris smiled devilishly, indeed he did have a plan for them to follow, one he had already begun building yesterday when he believed that he was alone in this mission but now with his three recruits he was more confident than ever. He had three different kinds of people at his disposal, a mixture of skills, talents, abilities, all that would help them today. "Yesterday, I had some contacts put out the word that I was selling from my own collection," Chris explained as he opened his cabinet, pulling out one of his treasured guns that had been kept in a clear case for as long as the two girls could remember. It was one of his most prized possessions, strictly off-limits to them. A French flintlock turn-over pistol from 1645. One that Katashi would want for himself, Chris had no doubt about it.
Though it had already been clear by Kinsey's question that she would be joining her uncle in the hunt for Katashi, it hadn't been spoken that his daughter would be coming along for the ride, it felt obvious that she would be joining them, but in case it wasn't she made sure to tell her father that they weren't going alone. She couldn't sit at home while the two of them were out in some unknown place in a possible gunfight. Before any further plans were made she wanted to have a clear understanding between the four of them, Chris hadn't thought for a moment that the girl wouldn't be coming along, his plan depended on her too. He wasn't surprised to find that once Allison had made her participation clear, Isaac had also, as he had told them if Kinsey was going then so was he, there was no if's or buts about it. This involved all four of them or none at all.
Isaac had one more thought on his mind before they dived into full-blown hunter mode. The five had been looking straight at Scott before the sun had risen this morning, they had been a mere few seconds from attacking him. While Chris suggested that might not mean the wolf was their next target to go after, it did mean that in the chance he was, they only had until nightfall to find a way to protect him from them. As well as the next target that seemed to be after Scott, Kinsey.
The werewolf in the room stood up with a sigh, his hands on his hips. "All right. Let's go see if a paranoid yakuza wants to put another gun in his collection."
Within the hour the four of them were on the road, heading to the gun deal they had arranged with Katashi, the three teenagers had just enough time to wash off what was left of the paint off of their bodies. The last thing they needed was to be illuminated, making them prime targets in the chance that Katashi owned backlights.
While the three teenagers readied themselves, Chris prepped his prize antique gun for the meet along with any other weapon that he deemed necessary for himself, his niece, and his daughter. However, there was a part of his plan that he had kept between him and Allison, the part of the plan that revolved around the couple. He knew that if he gave them a warning one if not both of them would back out of it, desperate to find another way to get to Katashi, he would have kept it from Allison too, but he needed some supplies that his armory or his closet didn't have to offer.
The four sat outside of Katashi's gates, Kinsey and Isaac leaned forward between the two front seats that the other two Argents sat in, waiting for their next step in their plan; the deal itself. It was the key part of the plan, it was what everything else depended upon, and it just happened to be one of the only parts that had almost fallen apart. Chris looked at his phone, shoving onto the dashboard with a sigh.
"What is it?" Allison asked, looking between her father and the phone with a knitted brow.
"Katashi won't do the buy in person."
Isaac furrowed his brows, confused why the hunter seemed so surprised that a man he referred to as a paranoid recluse wasn't going to meet with them in person, it seemed obvious that there was a chance Katashi would be hesitant to complete the gun deal himself. And Isaac was right, it had been obvious, which was why Chris had created his plan in the first place, the one where he sent a werewolf and a trained huntress who was equipped to handle the deal on their own while he and Allison found another route of access, a plan the two still had no idea about. Plan B, as he would refer to it, neither of the couple needed to know that there wasn't a real plan B, there was no need for one when his original plan had been thought out to perfection.
During the drive here he had received the text confirming that Katashi wouldn't be completing the meet himself, the text he had been anticipating. As soon as he had seen it he'd handed the phone to his daughter, confirming to her that their plan was a go-ahead, she knew that neither Kinsey nor Isaac would be thrilled about the plan that they had created without them, but if the two had had the chance, they would have tried to find another way around it. And as her father had emphasized to her, there was no other way. Not when it came to Katashi. Kinsey and Isaac had been too busy napping in the back of the car to notice the phone swapping happening in the front of the car, they were completely clueless as to what had been planned for them, what the two of them would be put up to in a few moments.
Chris lied, continuing his act. "I was trying to remain optimistic that we wouldn't have to go with my plan B." The man spoke to them through the rear view mirror, though neither had noticed how Allison sank in the passenger seat with a smirk across her face, only slightly filled with that feeling of dread, waiting for when the two found out that this little mission required dressing up.
"Plan B?" Kinsey asked with a raised brow. "What's plan B?"
Chris smiled at his niece through the rearview mirror as he pressed the button to open the trunk, that looks on his face had given her an answer, it was all she needed to know that Plan B wasn't so much a what as it was a who, she and Isaac were that plan B. With a familiar feeling of dread, the two peered over the back seats, besides the black duffel bag of weapons a suit sat with a pair of polished black shoes, paired with a black dress and heels for Kinsey who immediately turned to Allison, only then noticing that smirk she wore. She knew her cousin had played a part in this, it was one of her black dresses laying in the trunk of her uncle's SUV, she could have warned her.
While Chris and Allison looked over a blueprint of the building, discussing how they'd break into the building, the two teenagers stood at the back of his SUV, changing into their "costumes" that had been laid out for them. Kinsey hadn't failed to notice that she was putting on the dress that Allison had worn to Kate's funeral, she couldn't put the girl in her own funeral dress, it had been burnt at the stake soon after the funeral had taken place, she didn't want the memory sitting in her closet longer than it needed to. Isaac groaned as he threw the white shirt on, he was just as unimpressed with having to wear the suit as Kinsey was having to wear the dress, the two were right to assume that they would have tried to get out of it had they known what was planned. In fact, the two were still contemplating how they could escape this plan, but neither had come up with anything worthwhile. Chris was right, it was the only way.
As Kinsey pulled the black dress over her head Isaac looked down at her with a smile, easing his own feeling of embarrassment, she was a good distraction from how ridiculous he felt. With a sigh the brunette looked up at him, dreading what was in store for them if this was how the plan had begun, it could only get worse from here.
"What are you smiling at?" Kinsey asked, pulling on the patent black heels that hurt her just by looking at them, she had been to enough funerals to know just how much these kinds of shoes hurt her feet, she didn't think she would have to wear anything like them again anytime soon.
"Nothing. Nothing." Isaac shook his head with a smile, throwing the suit jacket over him. Kinsey furrowed a brow at him as she helped fix his tie, a smile of her own wiping across her face as she realized it was the first time she had ever seen him in a suit. The two had never gotten to go to the formal together, at that point, the two had never even met, only ever seeing one another in passing, more so him than the girl. She never paid much attention until the two of them had met in the graveyard. Isaac, on the other hand, had noticed her the first time she came to school, he had watched as she speed-walked through the halls looking for the sign to her first class that she was ever so clearly late for, setting the tone for the rest of her sophomore year in this town. He'd never of thought that ten months down the line she would be his girlfriend, stood in front of him fixing his tie before the two of them walked straight into some kind of suicide mission. "Who's the one smiling now?" Isaac asked with his lips pulled into a smirk.
The brunette rolled her eyes as she stepped out from behind the car. "Guys, this isn't going to work. I look ridiculous." Kinsey complained as Isaac stepped beside her allowing the other two Argents to get a good look at them. Before either could object, Kinsey wasn't finished with her complaint. "I look like I'm about to bury my rich dead husband and Isaac's the bodyguard I've been secretly screwing the entire time." She deadpanned, taking her uncle by surprise.
"I was thinking more like Catholic prep school, but that works too." Isaac shrugged. "And there is no way I'm going to be able to remember all of this." He added, waving around the script Chris had given them to memorize. If this plan of his was going to work the two of them had to know their lines like the back of their hands. "I mean, what does this even mean? "Revolving over and under barrels"?" Isaac readout with a stammer, Kinsey knew what it meant, but she refrained from mentioning that and taking away from the point that Isaac was trying to make, which was the same one she had been trying to make, this entire plan was absolute insanity.
Chris insisted that he didn't need to know what he was talking about. "All you have to do is keep them talking long enough to allow us to get inside and find Katashi. He may not be there to buy in person but... He won't be far."
"You look great," Allison reassured the two of them.
"I'm sweating straight through my jacket. I didn't even know I could sweat this much." The wolf shook his head, edging himself into full-blown panic mode. Allison looked at her cousin, a slight nod to the wolf who stood beside her, he needed some encouragement, some affirmations that only she could provide, he was the only one who would be able to get through to him and make him calm down enough to follow through with this elaborate plan. Kinsey nodded, excusing the two of them as she guided him back towards the car. "I can't do it. "Isaac insisted. "I mean, this plan would work a whole lot better if it was you doing all the talking at least you know what the hell you're talking about, I- I can't do this." He began growing more and more flustered.
Kinsey cupped the wolf's face in her hands, looking him straight in the eye as she spoke. "You can do this." She reassured him as he took a deep breath, listening to her. "You're not a boy if you walk in there acting like a man. Okay?" She asked as she tucked his shirt into his waistband. "Go in with confidence and all they'll see is a boyish-looking man."
"Or a stupid teenager pretending to be a man." Isaac still couldn't gain that confidence that she talked about, it was impossible. He wasn't the hunter that she was, he didn't have the training that she and Allison had, he wasn't made for this. "We're going to get our heads blown off by a bunch of Japanese fingerless mobsters-"
Before Isaac could continue his aimless rambling Kinsey pulled him closer, pressing her lips onto his, shutting him up before it was too late and he completely backed out, maybe then the two of them would get their heads blown off by a bunch of Japanese fingerless mobsters. The stunned boy hadn't hesitated to ease into the kiss, Isaac's hands lingered around her Kinsey took ahold of one of them, placing them on her back, allowing him to figure out the rest, he'd never had any problems before. With a smile the girl pulled away, cocking her head at him as she asked how he felt now, and that answer was fantastic, maybe a slight bit frustrated, but fantastic nonetheless.
With their heads held high the two walked into the buy escorted by two of Katash's henchmen, that feeling of confidence rushing through their bodies. As anticipated, the two men had looked between them seeing nothing but a pair of dressed up teenagers until Isaac dug within himself for that confidence that his girlfriend had encouraged, just like that, the illusion had appeared, gaining them access into the building, completing the first step in their suicide mission. As they stood before the group of Japanese mobsters Isaac pulled off the sunglasses he'd taken from Chris, insisting it would add to that confidence he needed to gain. He looked across the room as Kinsey stood beside him, analyzing every face around the room, looking for the man who would be taking Katashi's place in this exchange.
"Gentleman. I believe Mr. Katashi is expecting us."
A deep voice spoke from up high, the two teenagers looking up to see an awfully large man who looked down upon them as though they were the size of ants. Suddenly Kinsey found herself as the one struggling to find that feeling of confidence, all of the men in this room were much larger than her, including her boyfriend who stood beside her. And there were only so many daggers a girl could hide beneath her skirt, certainly not enough to take on every mobster in the room. The man walked down the staircase with his hand wrapped around the handrail, only then were they able to see his extended werewolf claws, they weren't the only ones who had armed themselves with the supernatural, at least they had armed themselves with a werewolf. She doubted they'd also armed themselves with an Angel who still wasn't quite sure what she was capable of, but if a single one of those claws were laid on Isaac she was willing to find out.
Isaac and Kinsey shared a look as the large man scraped his claws against the metal of the rail, silently agreeing that this little mission had just gotten a little bit tougher. They approached the empty table in the middle of the room, meeting the man there as Isaac laid the duffel bag on it, the other large wolf placing a silver briefcase beside it.
Isaac opened the case that Chris had placed the gun inside, showcasing it to the buyer. "What we're looking at here is a mint-condition French Flinstock Turnover Pistol crafted in the mid-17th century. It was a gift from Louis XIV to a prominent French family. It's only ever been fired once."
"During a duel between brothers on the grounds of the Palace of Versailles." The man finished Isaac's tale, one that he had surprisingly managed to spit out flawlessly despite his worries that he would screw up and cost himself and his girlfriend their heads.
But when the man had interrupted him, he lost his flow. "So you're familiar with it." The young wolf stammered, as soon as the stuttered words had lost his mouth his confidence was shaken, and Kinsey couldn't particularly give him a pep talk now. She kept a straight face, her eyes still on the wolf in front of them, knowing one of them had to maintain the facade.
"Oh, Mr. Katashi knows what he wants. We'll take it." The man declared, opening the silver case, his claws wrapping around it. "$150, 000." He announced. Isaac's eyes grew wide at the sight of so much money in front of him, he had never seen anything like it in his life, he knew that Chris spoke highly of the gun, how it was an antique, but he hadn't anticipated this amount of money.
When Isaac had been lost for words Kinsey took it as he cue to speak up. "We're gonna need to count it." She insisted, looking straight at the werewolf, trying not to show that she was terrified of a man so large, she had seen the kind of damage that claws like that could do, and they were yet to know his status. If he was an Alpha, the two of them were dead. But they couldn't just take the cash, they trusted that the money was all there, but they needed to give them more time to break into the building and find Katashi.
"Oh, really?" The man's low voice asked, staring down at the girl.
Isaac mumbled something quietly, inaudible to anyone who stood around them as he reached into the duffel bag, pulling out the cash counter Chris had supplied them with in hopes to buy some time if needed. He tried to regain that confidence as he began counting the stacks of cash, keeping eye contact with the other wolf as he placed it on the machine, not even taking in the satisfaction of watching the number tally up with every note, no matter how tempted he was to.
Once the first stack was counted Isaac reached for another, the lid of the case closing before he'd had the chance to do so, both of the teenagers sharply looked up at the wolf whose hand rested upon the case, insisting that they didn't know the entire story behind the gun. That, they didn't, at least not if it wasn't on the script Chris had provided them with. He insisted there was no duel between two brothers, it was a cover story, Kinsey and Isaac grew uncomfortable as he spoke to them. The real story involved an encounter in the woods with a vicious animal, the man insisted as he trailed the table, his claws brushing against it. The animal's bite caused one of the men to change into something... monstrous, he clicked his tongue, working his way closer towards the brunette girl who kept her stare off of him, knowing it would cause her to cave, Isaac had turned to the same method too, no matter how fearful he grew that they were edging closer to the girl.
"By his family's code, the brother of this man killed him with this very gun" He continued, his words loud in the girl's ear, he was closer than ever, closer than she was comfortable with.
Kinsey cleared her throat. "Well, that is certainly better than the version I heard,"
"I'm gonna trust you guys with the money here and, uh..." Isaac mumbled as he reached to pack up the money, they couldn't buy the other two Argents any more time without getting killed. But just as he reached for the money one of the other henchmen grabbed his wrist, stopping him as the other werewolf's extended claws dug into the neck of the young brunette beside him.
"Personally, I'd like to hear your story." He insisted, a smirk through his words. Isaac turned to the wolf his extended canines, his eyes glowing bright yellow as he growled at the wolf much larger than him. "Put them away, or your little girlfriend's dead."
Isaac looked at the girl who nodded slightly under the man's claws. The larger wolf readjusted his claws, placing them in Isaac's neck instead as he began guiding them outback, another one of the henchmen grabbed a hold of the "less lethal" girl, clearly, they had no idea just how lethal she could be if she didn't think her boyfriend's life would be at risk. The two were guided into a room where Allison and Chris surrounded a man they presumed to be Katashi, Isaac struggled beneath the claws digging into his throat as he alerted them they weren't the only ones with a werewolf on their side. Chris and Allison had turned at the struggling voice, seeing the large man who had ahold of their werewolf with claws in his throat, another henchman holding Kinsey's arms behind her back as she stood with a scowl across her face.
It began falling dark around the room, a slight beam of moonlight shining through the windows, the three Argents and Isaac knew that they'd failed in finding Scott a solution to protect himself before the five figures returned, they just hoped that the current provisions from Deaton were been enough for him to make it through the night, him and anyone else he found himself with tonight. Katashi's henchmen led Kinsey and Isaac to the table that their leader and the Argents stood around, watching as Chris unveiled the broken mask he had shown to the teenagers early hours of this morning. As soon as he had seen it Katashi's eyes grew wide.
"Starting to remember? It was 24 years ago." Chris jogged his memories. Katashi turned to his henchmen, giving them a single nod that signaled for them to release the two teenagers. Katashi began piecing together the broken mask. "You know what they are, don't you?"
"They're called Oni. They are demons." Katashi spat out. "And they are unstoppable."
Katashi insisted that no man-made weapon would affect the Oni, they were a force of nature. A tsunami wouldn't be fought, it would be endured while hoping that you weren't destroyed in its path, those were the same rules that applied to the Oni.
"Then how do we endure it?" Allison questioned the man.
"One of you already has," Katashi spoke, placing a finger behind Isaac's ear, on the branding that had been left on him after his attack, he turned Isaac's head, showing it to the three hunters as he explained its purpose. "This is Japanese kanji for "self". This means he is still himself. The oni are looking for one who is no longer themselves." Katashi explained, dropping his hand.
"What do you mean no longer themselves?" Kinsey asked hesitantly.
Someone possessed by a dark spirit, as Katashi explained to the girl. He began speaking of a type of supernatural that the three teenagers who had read most of the bestiary were yet to hear of; a kitsune. There were thirteen types of kitsune. Celestial, wild, ocean, thunder. He listed, but there was one known as the dark kitsune, they call it void. Or nogitsune.
Kumicho, the man from Chris's tale this morning was one of them, possessed by a nogitsune. It's what had helped him rise through the ranks of their yakuza family. A nogitsune draws its power from pain and tragedy, strife and chaos. As he spoke that final word Katashi looked at one of the young girls sitting before him, noticing how her eyes had widened, remembering what her aunt had said to her in her hallucinations. Since they had ended she had thought nothing of it, it was just a trick that her mind was playing on her, at least that was what she had been telling herself until now when the man looked at her.
"Do you know why I'm missing this finger?" Katashi asked, holding up his silver prosthetic.
"Penance," Chris replied.
"There's a ritual called yubitsume. Removing the joints of the little finger weakens your grip on a sword. When a katana is gripped properly, the little finger is the strongest."
A curious Isaac asked the man why they had taken his finger, what he had done so bad that they had taken his finger as punishment, the finger strongest when using a katana.
Katashi shook his head, they didn't take it. A yakuza performs the ritual himself and offers it to his superior. It was penance for a mistake, and it wasn't the only one he had made. He recalled the night when he had met the man in front of him. He wasn't sure what it was about the way he stood or moved that suggested to the Oni that he was going to take them on because actually, he was actually prepared to run for his life. That shot that Chris had fired saved him from looking like a coward before the survivors, for that humiliation he wouldn't have had to give up just a finger, but his head. Katashi finalized his recollection of the tale by wrapping the broken mask that Chris brought back in its cloth as the three Argents stood up to meet him. He wished that he could have given Chris the answers that he was looking for, he owed the man his life, more than his life. His honor. While he couldn't give them the answers that they were looking for Katashi was prepared to give the man one thing.
If there was a nogitsune amongst them, let the Oni destroy it. He looked at the two young girls that had stuck close to the man since the four of them had reunited before looking back at the man, insisting on his point, even if that nogitsune was one of his own.
Chris had looked at his daughter and his niece with wide eyes, before anything else could be said between them, Kinsey's cellphone had begun to ring. She quickly pulled it out, seeing Scott on her screen. She quickly excused herself, taking a few steps away from the group as Chris and Katashi bid their farewells.
As soon as the girl had picked up his calls Scott had quickly blurted out his questions. "Kinsey, please tell me that you have something. They're here. They're trying to get in. And it looks like they're gonna be able to do it." Scott quickly spoke, his worry and fear were clear in his voice.
"Okay. Okay. Listen." The girl spoke back just as quickly, sensing the urgency. "They're Japanese demons. They're called the Oni. They're looking for someone who's possessed. Someone with a dark spirit attached to them."
"A nogitsune."
"How did you know that?" Kinsey asked him curiously, a silence across the phone. "Scott?"
"Just... Tell me what else."
"Okay, they won't hurt you." Kinsey continued. "They know you're supernatural but once they do this check, once they realize that you're not carrying with you this dark spirit, then they won't hurt you. I promise. All they're looking for is the nogitsune."
Scott lowered the phone without another word, turning to a worried Kira who had spent all day believing it was her that the Oni were looking for but he insisted that they weren't looking for her, they were looking for a dark spirit, and he was sure that it wasn't her, he had seen what was around her and it wasn't anything dark. Derek turned to the young Alpha insisting that they had to do something before the Oni broke through the mountain ash barrier around his home, but it was too late. Within a second of those words leaving Derek's mouth they had become successful in their mission of breaking the barrier, he looked around the room. Kira. Derek. And the twins. It was only him and Kira left in the room for the Oni to brand, to claim as themselves. He insisted that the five of them do nothing, a suggestion that hadn't settled well with anyone, specifically, Aiden who questioned whether he was serious. And that he was, insisting once again that none of them were to do anything at all, listening to what Kinsey had told him over the phone. He held out a hand for the kitsune cowering behind him, insisting that she trust him in this, and despite the fear that had built up in her over the past day Kira nodded in agreement. She trusted him.
The two of them stepped forward to the Oni, surrendering themselves with intertwined hands. Two Oni's met the two teenagers, extending a hand to the side of their faces as their eyes began to glow a greenish-yellow, checking that they were still themselves as they sunk to the floor. As the check continued their hands separated, Aiden stepped forward, prepared to go against the orders Scott had given them until Derek had pulled him back by his shirt. The four of them were stuck watching as a minute passed, it felt as though it had taken forever for Scott and Kira to be released, dropped to the floor with the branding behind their ear. Claiming them as themselves.
Once their job was done, the Oni disappeared into the shadows allowing the three wolves to run to their aid, pulling them back off of the floor. They had all been marked. All except one Angel.