Death's Hunt

Chapter 10

I sat on the edge of a cliff, looking at the scene beneath me. The highway that was cutting through the mountain pass was practically at a standstill due to the road being partially covered by rocks. I looked over to my left where Chiyoko sat. I could see that she was very nervous. Even though we had been practicing for approximately three weeks now, it was clear that she still did not like the idea of taking a life. And I knew for a fact that this would be very hard for her. I gently placed a hand on her shoulder before giving her a reassuring smile. She smiled back, but I think that she was more or less faking it.
“It’s okay Chiyoko,” I whispered in an attempt to comfort her. “If you don’t want to do this…”
“No. I… I…”
“Chiyoko, if this is too early for you, we can do this another time.”
Chiyoko stared down at the ground then looked passed me. I moved my head to the right as I watched the unstable cluster of rocks and boulders. I then turned back to look at her.
“Chiyoko…”
Before I could say anything else, she stood up and started to walk towards the stones. She raised one of her feet preparing to initiate the rockslide, but then she hesitated. After standing there for a few moments, she backed away. I watched her walk back towards me, mumbling something under her breath.
“It’s okay Chiyoko,” I said as I gently lifted her head up so she could look at me. I gave her a smile, but she backed up before moving pass me. As her silhouette continued to get smaller and smaller, I sighed.
“Way to go Kakrix!” I growled. “You were doing so well, but you just had to screw up! You had to make Chiyoko try to kill a human. No! Stop it! I must not think like that anymore, otherwise I’ll just end up turning back into what I was. I have to keep trying. I must keep trying.”
Standing up, I started to head in the direction Chiyoko had taken. As I attempted to catch up to her, I heard what sounded like Chiyoko grunting. I turned a corner to find her kicking something.
“Why can’t you do anything right?!? You’re useless! Kakrix is probably disappointed in you!” she berated herself.
She seemed to be having some sort of mental breakdown. I finally got a look at what she was kicking. It appeared to be a dead bush. I wanted to speak up, but something held me back. I don’t know why but I hesitated. Perhaps I was afraid. Afraid that if I got involved, I’d make things worse. Yet maybe if I didn’t do anything, the outcome would be the same. I thought and thought, trying to decide what to do. “No, you’ve stayed out of problems for long enough. It’s time you get involved.” Taking in a deep breath, I walked over to Chiyoko.
“Chiyoko.” She suddenly stopped and turned to look at me, clearly surprised by my sudden appearance. “Chiyoko, I am not disappointed in you. If anything, I should be disappointed in myself. I knew this would be hard for you, yet I still pushed you into it. And because of that, now you are beating yourself up for my mistake.” I kneeled to her level. “I am truly sorry.”
Chiyoko looked at me obviously not knowing what to say, but finally she spoke up, “No, all of this is my fault. I deserve it.”
“No you don’t, Chiyoko.”
“Yes I do! I’m terrible! I’m the worst! I can’t do anything right. Everyone I get close to, I let down.”
“Chiyoko, please listen.”
“NO! I don’t know what to do anymore! I’m a failure to everyone and everything.”
“Chiyoko, please listen to your words.”
“I mean what am I supposed to do? Have I always been a failure? Was I always a liability?”
I grabbed her shoulders and shook her in an attempt to snap her out of her meltdown. “Chiyoko! That’s enough! Listen. You are not a failure. I don’t know what happened in your past life, but I know this: Out of all the deaths I’ve ever met, you are the best. You are kind. You learn incredibly quickly. You don’t judge us for our appearances or for what we do. I want you to know that before I met you everyone, and I mean everyone, feared me. But Chiyoko, you changed me for the better. Now whenever I enter Anga’s bar, I don’t feel all the other deaths shrink away from me. I mean, some even approach me now. So listen to me, and listen to me very carefully: You are not a failure to me. And I promise that you never will be.”
By now Chiyoko was crying and ran into my body. I wrapped my arms and wings around her. “It’s okay Chiyoko. It’s okay.” We stayed like this for some time, and finally I felt Chiyoko’s sobs die down, then stop all together. I looked down at her and she glanced up at me. “Chiyoko, I want you to know that no matter what, I will always be there for you.”
“Thank you. Thank you,” she responded with a mix of gratitude and sadness.
As the two of us got up and walked away, I heard Chiyoko ask something, “Kakrix? Can I try one more time?”
“Are you sure you want to try again?” She seemed nervous, but then her eyes lit up with determination.
“Yes,” she answered.
I nodded and we marched over to the stones.
“Do you want my help?” I offered.
“No. I can do this.”
Once again, she raised a leg as she got ready to dislodge the rocks. She hesitated again, however this time she didn’t back away. Clenching a rock in her talons, she ripped it out in one swift movement. It was as if someone had opened the floodgates and let all the waters inside rush out. Rocks and dirt plowed down the cliff’s face, towards the highway. I placed my hands over Chiyoko’s ears as the metal of cars and trucks screamed while boulders crashed into them. There were some screams of people and the blaring of horns, but the roar of the mountain drowned it all out as an entire section of the road was engulfed.
Once the dust settled, I let go of Chiyoko and looked down. Dirt, oil and blood mixed together creating a cauldron of sick colours. Metal was wrapped around the rocks while flesh, muscles and bones were splayed throughout the area. I grabbed Chiyoko’s waist with my tail and flew down towards the carnage. I could see Chiyoko was visibly sick from seeing this, but a simple touch of my hand seemed to calm her nerves.
“Come on. Let’s try to see what we can find,” I reassured her.
“R… right… right…” Chiyoko answered as we began to search through the wreckage for the souls.
As we tore away at the rubble, I could sense Chiyoko’s uneasiness. I couldn’t blame her though. This was the most gruesome deaths she had been responsible for thus far. As I flipped the rocks over and threw away chunks of metal, I suddenly heard Chiyoko scream. Immediately, I rushed over to see what the problem was. Turning a corner, I saw Chiyoko sitting on the ground, breathing heavily. I then realized what had startled her. As she had removed the crushed and dented remains of a door, she had been met with the mangled corpse of a human, its partially destroyed face staring straight at her. I got ready to go comfort her, but then something unusual happened. Standing up, Chiyoko slowly moved towards the body. I saw her take a deep breath, and slowly plunge her talons into the departed’s flesh. She then pulled out the soul before tossing it into her hood. Sighing in relief, she continued searching, never having noticed me watching her.
“Great job Chiyoko. Great job.”