Witch Hunter Robin Fan Fiction ❯ The Beginning of an End ❯ Mistaken Identity ( Chapter 9 )

Beginning of an End

Chapter Eight- Mistaken Identity

 

 

The two did not talk for the next three hours.

 

Amon's cold dark eyes were fixed permanently on the road ahead, and Robin was contemplating a jumbled mixture of things so she was gazing blankly out the window. There was one thing she'd fixedly been wondering about…she'd been seeing the same car more than a few times. It was a typical golden Toyota, but considering that the highway was almost empty, it was a strange thing to see it so often, after passing by a lot of exits.

 

Robin came back to attention when Amon momentarily came to a halt in front of a roadside inn. She blinked a few times in confusion, but obeyed Amon as he signaled her to get out of the car.

 

“I guess this is where we're staying for the night?” Robin questioned rather hesitatingly as she lifted her suitcases out of the trunk. Her face immediately flushed with deep red at how embarrassing the question had sounded, but Amon continued toward the entrance without stopping.

 

“Not unless you're staying in the car, but I'd prefer an inn.” He replied apathetically, his long black jacket fluttering in the breeze. Robin could not tell if that was out of humor or not, not that her and her ex-partner ever took anything as a joke.

 

Robin looked around. Considering that the inn was right next to a usually-active road, it was almost strangely empty so much as deserted. It looked as if it wasn't done being constructed, wielding a plain rusty sign saying “INN”. Robin, in her two-and-a-half year history in Japan, had never seen such a building that was so simple and unnoticed yet gave off such a strange, eerie aura. She spotted a couple cars nearby, of which one of them was gold. A golden Toyota.

 

Robin gasped, almost shocked for a fleeting moment, but recovered herself. She tightly clutched her suitcases, glared briefly at the lonely car, and tailed Amon into the building.

 

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Michael walked across the dimly lighted office to refill his cup of coffee. As the dark liquid streamed into his mug, a small part of him, he had to admit, really missed the company of his first and only true friend. He strained a regretting smile as he remembered the nights over coffee and donuts, of chatting about this and that. He blushed at his insolent self when he, without even noticing, brushed Robin off as if he really was annoyed by her when she really was trying to be friends with him. Her soft melodic voice seemed to ring through the cold office.

 

Michael seated himself back on the usual spot in front of his beloved friend, his computer. He, for the first few weeks, enjoyed being free of his collar, but he found himself back in need for his chair and computer again. Lately, he had found a new way to entertain himself, sneaking into the STN's restricted news archives that no one knew about yet.

 

“Let's see…this one looks interesting enough,” he muttered and clicked on the latest report. This one had just arrived, so there was no way its reached publicity yet.

“Sakamoto…Akagai…” He traced his finger along the name and squinted at the brightness of the screen. “Found dead four days ago,”

 

Michael took a deep gulp of his coffee, wiped his mouth with the back of his hands, and grinned contentedly. This is going to be something pretty interesting, for once, he thought. “His body was found unharmed at a roadside inn….no signs of violation, intoxication, no nothing,” He raised his brows impressed, but as he read on, his jaws slowly began to drop. “…he apparently attended his usual work right after his body was found dead, but he disappeared just this morning…what the…?”

 

The screen had just turned black, with two words flashing threateningly in bright green.

 

“DATA DELETED”

 

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“Don't try to run off, this isn't like your apartment.” Amon warned as he handed Robin her room key.

 

“I won't. Are you staying here too?” She asked, looking at the small rusted key in her palm.

 

Amon shook his head. “No, I have someone to meet up with, so I'll probably stay in the car for the night.”

 

Robin nodded. She thought it'd be safer to have Amon stay in the same building just in case there were any people in here that she wouldn't want to encounter at all, but she kept it to herself. The two parted ways.

 

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Amon glanced at his watch. 8: 46 P.M. He was already 10 minutes late. Kariya supposedly was going to assimilate the life in from another random victim tonight. He could hear his slow rhythmic breath in his empty car, in an empty parking lot, in his empty world.

 

Amon remembered the last of Touko, a voice message sent days before he even knew he had it; the night Touko had her life absorbed away. He opened his cell phone and retrieved the last thing she'd said before her death.

 

“Amon, I'm really not feeling great tonight…so I've been wondering if you could come over. I wonder where Dad is…I guess he'll be home pretty soon. Call me back,”

 

Amon listened quietly, frowning. Her voice sounded much more herself in real life. He regretted not telling her about Zaizen, afraid to worsen her traumatized mind. It was too late. Painful memories began to haunt him, pictures flashing like a film strip.

 

Just then, something screamed through the thin air and collided with the window by the passenger's seat, sending a circular ripple through the glass like a rock thrown in calm water. But whatever happened to cut through the glass lodged into Amon's shoulder, sending him to cry out in agony.

 

Before he even knew what had happened, he began to feel heavy and restrained as if thick syrup was flowing in to his veins and muscles, eating away his nerves and senses.

 

With one last bit of a struggling effort, Amon was able to find the source standing out the car through his clouding vision.

 

“Kariya,” Amon breathed and slid deep into a vast darkness.

 

“It's just a mild does of anesthesia,” He smirked menacingly.

 

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Robin sat at the edge of her bed, her hair shiny and dripping wet from the shower. She flipped open her maroon cell phone, which she couldn't have been any happier to find in her old burgundy trench coat that had gotten much too small for her. It was a miracle that it survived the collapse, despite being thrown everywhere.

 

There was a voice message from Julie Rokutanda. “Ms. Isuzu, where in the world are you? And the boss? I don't care what you two are up to, but the office is in chaos. I've been calling you all day if only you'd answer; give me a call when you get a chance.”

 

Robin listened to other few messages from Julie. “I'm sorry, I…don't think I'm Elicia Isuzu anymore,” She whispered melancholically and deleted all the messages.

 

“Message deleted.” The perfunctory female voice echoed in the room.

 

“I don't think I know who I am anymore.”