Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Sacrifice ❯ Between Legends ( Chapter 8 )

XxXxXx

Sacrifice

By: Melissa Norvell

Chapter 8: Between Legends

XxXxXx

"You all should take a seat. This will be a long explanation," Kabuto informed as those who were standing all sat down. Fife glanced at Keiji, who looked ahead as Kabuto continued to tell his situation to the group. "Well, first off I should state the obvious. This house is haunted and many things I had said before are true about Ohanna and the pictures."

"We gather that much…But what about all of this stuff with Chichiri?" Ko asked.

"Yeah, I feel strange every time I'm around Ohanna, like I know her. I felt like I was attracted to her almost like I loved her…only it wasn't me," Chichiri was still confused at what had happened earlier. He had felt like something had been invading his mind and body since he came to this house. The blonde didn't want to seem crazy so he never mentioned it prior. He didn't think anyone would have believed him.

Ko looked at him, deep in thought.

"It wasn't you,” Kabuto spoke, “it was Tobito."

"Tobito?" Fife asked.

"Tobito was my twin brother. He loved to paint and he often came here. He even set up a studio here so he could paint portraits of the people who came here.

Before it was an inn and my home, this place was once a wedding chapel."

"You've got to be kidding me?" Ko was stunned. A place like this had once been a wedding chapel? Surely not many people would have dared to even wish that upon what was supposed to be the happiest day of their life.

"Who'd want to be married in a creepy place like this?" Chichiri found that fact a little strange considering the recent situation. He was thinking on the same line as his white-haired comrade.

"It wasn't always creepy. It was actually very beautiful. It used to be the nicest chapel in town. It was the dream chapel and everyone wanted to be wed there. After the murder, however, they shut it down and wouldn't let anyone come around. They condemned it for three years and put it up for sale. That's when I bought it, turning it into an inn," Kabuto explained. "After two months, she began to appear to me."

"You mean Ohanna?" Ko asked.

"Yes, many things began to happen as a result that I didn't quite understand at first but slowly began to figure out."

"Were things worse or better than what happens now?" Fife wondered aloud.

"What do you mean?" Keiji turned to the feminine boy.

"There are a lot of freaky things that happened. I was just wondering if things had calmed down here since the incident."

"It varies. Some days are peaceful but some are full of paranormal activities. People have seen ghosts. Some would try to grab Ohanna's hand when she reached out to them, only to get a severed hand dripping with blood. People have hung themselves, jumped from balconies, shot themselves in the head and have been found dead. There have also been reports of blood on the walls, shadows, ectoplasms, pictures that moved noises and repetitions of ghosts dancing, falling dead and dancing again as if the event never took place. Even I had been subject to this type of thing. Once I had been possessed and played the piano. When I came out of the trance, it had been three days later and I looked at the keys. They were all bloody. I had been playing so long that my fingers were bleeding. It also made me kill my best friend."

"Why don't you leave?" Ko asked, concerned with Kabuto's health around something like this. "I mean, don't you see it's dangerous here?" If so many things had happened, and he witnessed so many deaths, then why did he continue to stay? What made him continue to reside there day after day? It didn't seem worth it to live in a place so full of sorrow. It's a wonder that he never tried to kill himself.

"I do, but I know that one day, Ohanna will be put to rest," his visage turned grave, "and I'd like to be the person who did it."

"But wouldn't that mean that you have to die to achieve that goal?" Chichiri remembered what had happened with him and the bride. Wouldn't he have to go through with her sick ritual? Who would want to do that? Why would he want to do that?

"I've wanted to die," Kabuto admitted.

"Why?" Keiji asked. "Are things that bad?" He knew that the guy put up with a lot of misery and gore, but did it really take that much of a toll on him?

"My love died here and she comes back to haunt this place. She makes me miserable. I am forced to watch her drag men down to the afterlife, thinking that they will be the one to put her to rest." It wasn't a pleasant existence that was for sure. Did any of them think that they could do a better job and keep the remnants of their sanity? He would have loved to see them try.

"I'd feel miserable too," Azmy's voice was sullen and her features crestfallen. She sympathized with the man. It must have been hard to live every day of your life under such circumstances. She had wondered why he hadn't committed suicide. "It seems like she's trying to replace you."

"It's more than that…"

"What?"

"Though I loved her, she was set to be married to another."

"Do you know who he was?"

"He was my twin brother, Tobito."

'Tobito?' Fife narrowed his eyes in thought as he made a connection. 'That's the one who possessed Chichiri. I heard Kabuto say that a while back. If the one Kabuto loves is also trying to be won over by Tobito…Then that means that the Dark Bride is-' Navy blue eyes widened in realization.

"My brother murdered Ohanna in the white room," Kabuto informed.

"So all of those freaky pictures are Ohanna's eventual death?" Chichiri inquired.

"Yes, my brother was deranged but my parents had planned their wedding since they were five. Ohanna never wanted to be with him."

"So she decided to fall in love with you," Keiji stated, his piercing gaze cutting through Kabuto's glasses to make contact with his eyes. To him, this sounded like another Gothic Romance story gone wrong. It seemed predictable and it all made sense to him. The case of the wedding that was not meant to be…

"What?"

"And after a while you began to grow jealous because every man she tried to drag down to her resting place weren't you." No wonder he felt so bad. Ohanna was busy dragging other men to hell, and Kabuto just stood there, silent and waiting for a chance he never thought would come. That was tragic in its own right.

The dark man was speechless for a while and wore a look of guilt and surprise. After the initial shock, he looked down in shame. "Yes…I love Ohanna. I want her to take me into eternity with her."

"It could happen. I mean really," Chichiri's tone was hopeful as everyone stared at him in a strange way. They weren't sure what he was thinking or even if it was going to be intelligent or not but he continued. "Obviously she doesn't want Tobito because he possesses men and they can never make it to eternity with her."

"You're right," Kabuto nodded. There was still some sense of hope left, and as long as it existed, Kabuto wished to grasp it.

"Do you want us to help you make her understand that it's you who wants to go to eternity with her?" Fife asked kindly.

"Could you please?" Kabuto would be eternally grateful if they were able to help he and his love pass on into the afterlife together.

"I'll help you."

"It seems kind of wrong," Ko objected. Should they really have been doing something like this?

"Why?" Chichiri inquired. "I mean, if the guy wants to die, this is probably the most humane way to do it. It'll end up messy if we don't."

Azmy was silent, as if in deep thought. She was trying to mull over the options in her head. This was a situation that made her feel very awkward. What did you do if someone wants to kill themselves in a situation like this? Do you help them? Ko was right when she objected, it seemed wrong morally to do something like that.

"But we're helping someone die. Isn't that like murder?"

"Murder is forced. Death is willing," Fife convinced her.

"How do you figure?" Ko asked, putting her hands on her hips. She was beginning to get irritated that it seemed like no one but her possessed a conscious about the who ordeal. Where were their morals? Where was their sense of justice?

"When you simply die, the soul is rested in most cases and goes on to the afterlife but when you're murdered; your soul is savagely ripped away," Fife explained.

"I can understand why you wouldn't want to help me," Kabuto looked at Ko with an understanding gaze and a small sympathetic smile. It was the first time since they arrived that she'd seen him smile. "It would seem you're taking a big risk."

"Well, I'm going to help you," Fife stood. Just because Ko thought it was wrong didn't mean he did. So what if she thought it was cruel to kill him? It was far more cruel to him that Kabuto continue to live in misery.

"Me too," Chichiri agreed with Fife, "its better than you being miserable here."

Keiji said nothing.

"You guys can't be serious!" Ko outraged. "I'm not going to kill anyone."

Without a word, Azmy stood up in agreement. She didn't feel completely safe with doing it, but Kabuto was happy that they were helping him. Besides, there was something that she knew that no one else did from her contact with the bride.

"Not you too?" The white haired woman complained as she looked over to the other girl.

"I spoke to her," Azmy said, "and I saw what Kabuto is talking about. I want to help her."

"I'm not going to do it!" Ko argued, looking to Keiji. He had a level head on his shoulders. Surely he'd see where she was coming from. "Please tell me that you know where I'm coming from?"

"Yes, I can see why someone wouldn't want to do it and I could see how it could be disturbing."

"Thank God someone's sane!" The singer celebrated.

But it was brief.

"But you're on your own."

Ko slumped dejectedly. "Ugh…Well, I'm not staying here." She didn't want to stay around and watch someone die. She couldn't deal with this kind of thing.

"Of course not," Keiji agreed. "We don't want you to end up like Azmy or Chichiri. We have to stop Ohanna before anyone else ends up dead." If Kabuto was offering a way to end the madness, then they were going to try it. If they didn't, a lot more would be at stake than just their lives. Kabuto was willing to end the sick string of murders that were happening. He was happy to help him and willing to make that sacrifice. It was something that Keiji couldn't go against, not after Kabuto helped him. He owed him that much.

"I'll go with you but I'm not helping. Let's be clear on that," the woman stated sternly. There was no way in hell that she was going to be a part of someone's intentional murder. There were better ways to go about this than that.

"Of course," Keiji's words were callous. "I know this one is our problem and not yours."

The singer's expression lit up in surprise. She looked taken aback by his statement. He turned to Kabuto and told him that they should go as he walked away from the speechless woman, letting her stand there. Fife looked at Ko and pondered to himself about the situation.

'I can't believe I'm doing this!' She internally fumed as she forced herself to follow the group. This was wrong on so many levels but she didn't want to be left alone to deal with the bride if she happened to appear to her. It would just be causing more problems.

XxXxXx

In a darkened room, three figures were standing a decent way apart from each other. Two of them were male and the other female. They seemed to be engaged in a conversation of sorts and their voices could be heard carrying through the structure, especially the deep, distinctive male voice in general.

"Are you sure I should be doing this?" Red lips formed the question.

"It would do you well," the deep masculine voice intoned. "After all, you never wanted to be a legend. You simply wish to pass on."

"I wish it were as simple as that," the bride sighed, "I had often wondered if I were to pass from this church jail, where the afterlife would lead me. Will I continue to exist, or will I die out and scatter in the celestial matter of the universe, waiting to be reincarnated?"

"Uncertainly is everyone's greatest enemy and is feared by most, but when given the choice of knowing what will happen or uncertainly, most would chose not knowing what would happen to them. It's a subject that unnerves us, yet excites and interests us," Tsurugi told her.

"Unnerving, excitement and interest…Sounds like legends, myths, tales, and fables," Ohanna responded.

"We both face these as legends," Hiroshima shared a commonality with her. "There will always be someone who likes your legend or someone…Who hates it. There are also those who are interested."

"There are so many lies that surround us and people retell what they hear."

"And people don't repeat what they have heard or misconstrue it. Even if there was a correct version…It will eventually get lost in translation. That is the similarity between legends," Tsurugi added.

"I hear someone," the sound of faint footsteps that caught Hiroshima's angelic ears.

"Good luck Ohanna," Tsurugi turned and waved to the apparition. "I hope you can finally accomplish your goal…and rest in peace."

'Now it is time…To put through my final plan…Only this one has a few unexpected twists.' She smiled darkly as the group neared her.

To Be Continued…