Innocence of the Shadow(A D-Gray Man Fanfic)Wattyawards First Place Winner 2015

Chapter 1

“What a pretty little girl you are.” The witch cackled. Her voice was scratchy, it must have once been beautiful but grew hoarse as years aged her. I struggled against my bindings, Ko’lae  was imprisoned in a cage and I was tied to a concrete beam. I hadn’t seen this witch yet and wasn’t shocked when a beautiful middle aged woman with crazed black eyes stepped out into view.

“What do you want?” I hissed, still fighting my binds.

“I want you.” She hissed

“What about me?” I hissed back. She pulled my hat off and my long braided hair fell from the hat and swung onto my shoulder. She examined me like I was a flower she was thinking about picking. 

“You will live long years and I will die soon. Give me your life and I’ll let you go.” The witch smiled. Her breath was horrid, it reeked like skunks. I cringed at the smell and gagged. That was possibly the biggest mistake of my life. When I opened my mouth she forced something into it, it tasted like rotten mint.

I was forced to swallow the stuff and writhed in pain. I watched helplessly as my skin paled and the witch grab my shoulder. Her skin gained color and her eyes lit with new light. Minutes of this passed by, the witch gaining the life I was supposed to have and pain coursing through my body. I could hear Ko’lae meowing in pain along with me.

The pain finally reached an overwhelming point and I started to black out. I barely saw a large black mass overcome the witch and heard her shocked scream. I was almost out when I felt something grab my wrists and the bindings release me. I could hear a fuzzy voice and mumbled “Wha?” The person replied but I couldn’t understand them, it was like they were speaking a different language. A smudge of red, black, and orange was the last thing I saw before I couldn’t keep my eyes open any longer.

I woke up in my bed in my motel room. Ko’lae stretched and yawned “Morning Mimitah” I stretched and rubbed her head.

“Morning Ko’lae.” I replied. I buckled my belt onto my torso and pulled my braid over my shoulder. My hair was still black and the red streak stuck out against my attire. I quickly laced up my boots and slid my jacket on, it hid most of the red along my braid. I put my gloves on and heard a boy scream. I rushed to the door and grabbed my hat on my way out, Ko’lae on my heels.

I heard the scream again and ran as fast as I could in it’s direction. I collided with a black mass and fell to the ground.

“Hey! Watch it!” I yelled. Instantly a gun was held to my head and I was staring into the face of a man with red hair and an opera like mask on half of his face. He demanded my name and I stared at him like he was crazy. Why would I give my name to a man that might rape me? I saw the boy and a demon chasing him in the direction I was in. I looked at the demon for a minute then figured out that any predatory avian would be able to take care of it.

“Ko’lae, a bird of prey will take care of it.” I thought to her. The brown mass of Ko’lae’s hawk form rushed above me and the demon screamed at her to come back so it could crush her. She returned but ended up crushing her powerful beak on the demon’s thin throat. It froze then dissolved into ash. The man with the red hair and the gun pointed at my head pressed his boot to my chest when I tried to push myself off the ground.

Ko’lae flew back and circled over us for a minute when a small golden ball with wings chased after her. She turned and snapped at it then flew down to rest on the man’s boot. He demanded my name again and I looked up at him with blank look.

“Careful. He might be a pervert.” Ko’lae whispered.

I smiled and replied “I know. I was thinking the same thing.” He aimed another gun at my head and my smile dropped. He was really getting on my nerves. I mean pinning me to the ground with his boot and pointing two guns at my head was that really necessary? The small golden ball landed on his boot next to Ko’lae and she cocked her head at it.

“What is this?” She asked me.

“I’m trying to figure that out myself.” I told her.

“Master, she might be more cooperative if you let her get up off the ground.” A young boy said. He was about fourteen, had white hair, a red hand, and dressed like any other upper class boy I had seen. The man with the guns to my head lowered his weapons and lifted his boot off my chest. Ko’lae flew off of his boot and the golden ball did the same. I stood and brushed the dirt of my top. Ko’lae became a cat again and jumped up into my arms. I held her to my chest and stroked her back.

“What’s your name miss?” The boy asked. I had already turned around and started to walk away when he asked so I stopped and turned to face him. My hat still covered a part of my face and I looked from him to the man and back again.

“Before I trust you with my name what are yours.” I asked, my voice serious. I could tell that they were considering telling me but they looked at me and the man sighed.

“I am General Marian Cross, and this is my apprentice Allen Walker.” The man, General Cross, said. I nodded and took a breath, it was time to tell someone my name.

“I am Mimiteh, and this is my only friend Ko’lae.” Ko’lae hissed a little bit and I put light pressure of her.

She looked up at me and said “I don’t like them.” I looked down at her and back up at General Cross.

“It is nice to meet you, but now I must depart.” I stated as I turned around and began to walk away. I didn’t give them time to reply before I turned the corner and walked towards the crowd of people in the market.

“Miss Mimiteh.” The boy, Allen called after me. I walked faster and made sure I would loose them in the crowd. I explored a few of the shops in the market and decided to get out of town when I saw multiple people that didn’t look or act right, and they were in every shop I was in a few seconds after me. I bought a train ticket to a town a few days travel from this one and quickly boarded the train and found an empty seat in the middle of the train car.

No one had asked about Ko’lae and I relaxed. There was no demons or anyone trying to hunt me down. I was finally able to think about where I was going next. I noticed two people get on the train and sit opposite of me. It was General Cross and Allen Walker, have they been looking for me this entire time or was this just a coincidence?

“They’re on the train?” Ko’lae asked, hate filling her voice. I looked out the window as the train pulled out of the station and stroked her back.

“I guess they are following us. We just avoid them as much as possible.” I told her.

“They only mean trouble.” She hissed.

“Ko’lae, relax. I don’t know if they noticed us.” I reminded her. She was quiet after that and I watched the trees pass by. I didn’t want to be noticed by General Cross, it seemed like all he wanted to do was eliminate me. I hoped I was wrong about him and that he wouldn’t cause any scenes or unwanted attention.

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I must have fallen asleep watching the trees go by, when I looked around I noticed the train was dark and General Cross and Allen were gone. They were out of my hair and I didn’t have to worry, or at least that’s what I thought. Ko’lae woke and hissed at a group of passengers that were just boarding. I noticed that one of them was acting strange, looking at every person on the train. I wasted no time in getting off the train.

I watched as the train that was putting even more distance between me and a the people that were chasing me down. I sighed and walked away from the now empty train tracks. It was still quite early in the day so I explored the town. So far the only demon that I had seen was on the train and I left the train so I was in the clear for a few more hours.

“How long is it going to take until we don’t have to run?” Ko’lae asked me.

“I don’t know, we can’t really hide until we die, and the exorcists are likely to kill us if we seek them out.” I explained. After that entire day of looking around I found an inn to stay at for the night.

“Well that’s the last of our money.” I sighed, closing the door to the room.

“That money lasted longer than I thought it would.” Ko’lae sighed. I nodded and sat at the window. The stars were beginning to show and I named each constellation as they were completed until I was yawning. I laid down on the bed and waited for rest to take my mind into my dreams.