I turned off all the lights in the penthouse and scaled the stairs to my mediation corner, a tiny space in the shape of an alcove. There was just enough room for my Indian mediation mat made of linen and cotton, covered with a purple paisley print. I turned off all the lights, except for a small wall light near the bathroom, and put some ylang-ylang oil into the diffuser and turned it on.
Sitting, I crossed my legs, connected my thumb with my index fingers, closed my eyes, and took my first deep breath into my journey of mindfulness.
It took a while for my mind to let go of intrusive thoughts, and become one with my breath. Once I did, I set an intention for a clear pathway to Shadow. The path took me back to Japan in the late 12th Century, when men were armed with Samurai swords on their sides, where women wore the finest silk kimonos, and cherry blossoms sprang from every tree, coloring the sidewalks in a vibrant pink.
Further along the path was an Ornate Estate, made of Red Cedar, with curvy elongated roofs, that had intricate eaves to protect the windows from the rain. I was drawn inside to a hallway that led to a room behind a moveable screen.
Inside the minimalistic space lay a small girl, who was wrapped with bloody gauze around her waist. She was at death's door.
My mind zoomed into her wound, where I saw that an enemy's arrow punctured her lung. A death strike by a Mongrel's Composite Bow during the Invasion of Japan in 1278.
Despite her superior battle skills, she fell off of her horse during a surprise Ambush by the enemy and was left vulnerable to the arrow poisoned by the purple flower poison, Aconite. Unfortunately, her Samurai chest armor, made of the best iron and leather, slid around her upper body due to her small frame, and left a gap in her right lung, just big enough for an arrow to enter, eventually killing her.
The closer I got to her body, I saw a man who I sensed was her father, fighting back tears, unsuccessfully, while comforting the girl.
"Aina". He kept mumbling, among other things. It sounded like her name.
I saw a black braid that was so long that it coiled around three times. On the floor. As I looked up from the shiny mane, I saw the most perfectly shaped head that housed a set of closed eyes and lips, the color of a blushing bride on her wedding day. As death encircled her, the pallor of death covered her skin, but the light almond glow that emanated from her face gave away that her heart still beat. More people came into the room to exam her and console the father. Whispers were exchanged.
A young Japanese maiden in red trousers and a white top, with a red ribbon that tied her hair back, entered and bowed. Miko, a shrine maiden, was there to work her magic and hopefully revive the dying girl. She quickly comforted the father and asked him to step back. Two of the Samuri gently pulled him away.
Then the shrine maiden moved near the table, and ran her hands over the girl's entire body and then lay the side of her head on her heart and then over to her punctured lung and listened for quite some time. The sound of the sleeping girl's faint heartbeat took over the room.
She raised her head, and with her eyes glazed over, walked over to Aina's father, and passionately explained something to him in Japanese. Tears gushed down his face, his sobs sounding like that of a wounded animal. However, the more she spoke, his sobs turned into sounds of hope, and he started shaking his head yes.
She then walked over to Aina and covered her body in a heavy blanket and left. When the shrine maiden returned, she had a box, a small pillow, and fur made from black leopard, outlined with melanistic spots the color of midnight blue against a shiny onyx coat.
She placed the pillow at the foot of the table where the girl lay, and covered it with the fur. She took the small box over to the father, who placed the tip of the arrow that pierced Aina into it. As she closed the lid, she and the father both bowed to it.
She then walked back over to the girl, placed the box next to her punctured lung, rolled down the girl's blanket to her feet and doubled it over once. Made visible only by his silhouette, the girls father sat cross-legged, in the corner of the room.
Music appeared from somewhere, and the shrine maiden started dancing around the girl, extending her arms in a rhythmic motion, above her body.
After some time, she sat down cross-legged on her pillow, and placed the leopard fur in her hand. Its shiny dark coat was the same as Aina's braid. She closed her eyes and held the fur up towards the girl and started a chant.
Although I couldn't understand her words, a dark vibe came over me, so chilling that it made the hairs on my body stand up. The entire room took on a demonic state, similar to that of a satanic ritual.
As the chanting and dancing moved towards a crescendo, the girl's small body started to twitch. When everything came to a peak, she sat straight up and slowly opened her eyes, displaying mystical eyes, the color of purple pansies, outlined by long thick black eyelashes, just like when I was face to face with her at the Kitty Coral.
The maiden collapsed into a gentle heap on the floor and Shadow's father rose from his meditation pose and rushed over to his daughter and hugged her tightly, with tears of joy streaming down his face.
She appeared cold to his touch, while her lucid skin turned the same color as the leopard fur the maiden brought into the room earlier. Melanistic spots and a long tail sprouted from her. Fearful, her father retreaded back into a corner.
In one swift movement, the beast leaped off of the table and went over to the maiden, circling and sniffing her. She extended her long pink tongue and started basting her.
In horror, the father and I watched the beast devour the maiden's still body.
Finished with her meal, she morphed back into her beautiful human form, without a drop of blood on her, and glided over to her father, in a robotic manner. It was like something out of a horror movie. She hugged him tightly, her shiny waist-length ponytail wrapping around both of them like a shield.
The only heartbeat in the room was that of her father's.
As my eyes opened, I gasped, realizing that I was just shown how Shadow came into existence.
She needed to be eliminated, and Ace after her. He would mourn Shadow's death and seek revenge. Then he would find someone else to help him maintain his nefarious lifestyle, continuing a never-ending cycle. Not on my time.
YOU ARE READING
Undetected
Mystery / ThrillerHunter is a female vigilante of a different kind. She has many super powers, the main one being precognition, which was passed down from her mother and the women before her. After Hunters parents realize her special abilities, it is decided that th...
