The Road to Darkness

Case 20: The Path of Despair

One week passed and I woke up to the TV spouting some more news.

"Three killed in car crash"

"School shooting leaves ten dead and many injured"

"A war overseas sees one thousand dead in one weeks time"

As I scrolled through the news all I heard was more and more despair.

"I can't stop crime...not even freeze it" I wept rolling back into my bed.

"Rapist Kizuru Yamada apprehended by Yato Ushio yet again escapes from insane asylum"

I instantly jumped up.

"I'm all for helping the sick but when a man escapes twice from an asylum he can't be very sick can he? I feel they should just send him to jail" A reporter gave her two cents.

The news continued but everything went quiet for me.

"Why did I even try..."

I heard a knock at my door but no one called out.

I didn't answer.

After a short time, a heard something be slipped under my door and footsteps walking away.

I got up and checked to see a letter addressed to me. It had no sender on it but inside it gave me a piece of a map and a message saying "I know who killed your father".

I quickly scrambled to grab my things and head out the door. As I ran down the stairs with my suitcase I ran into someone and we both fell.

"I'm sorry" I hastily apologized getting up and going to my car.

"Hey, wait Yato!" the voice called out.

It was Nakamura.

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

"I've been coming every day, don't you hear me knocking?"

"I'm leaving for a while, so don't bother" I sputtered.

"You can't go without this" He gestured handing me the letter.

"Don't drop something so valuable" He chuckled.

"Nakamura, keep this a secret".

"I won't ask to go with you, I know this is something you must do alone but please, let me track you" He pleaded handing me my badge with a tracker on it.

I stared at it before he placed it in my hand and closed it.

"I won't follow and I won't tell anyone, just please let me know where you are...please".

I placed the badge on my phone case "I'm trusting you, Nakamura."

"That's what partners are for" he smiled.

I made my way to my car and saw as Nakamura waited for me to leave.

"This should give him closure, I just hope he knows what he's doing" Nakamura tensed up talking to himself.

The map was from here to Montana and the message said that in two days a famous bar would have a party. Under one of the tables will be a letter. As I made my way out of Oregon I began to think if I should call Kikaru.

"Wait Kikaru!" A younger me blurted out to my brother.

"Why should I? That old man is gone and I'm not going to wait for him to come back, I'm going on my own".

"But what about mom?" I cried.

"Don't you get it? That man tricked you, he never cared for us, he never will. I'm a fool for ever thinking otherwise".

"You're wrong, dad loves us!"

"Goodbye Yato...enjoy your wait" he quipped leaving.

"That was nineteen years ago, I was only thirteen...Kikaru was sixteen" I said to myself.

"He wouldn't care, I'll do this alone," I thought, continuing my drive.

The drive took fourteen hours and I arrived at 3:00 am. I checked into a small motel and slept as soon as I could. The next morning I woke up at 2:00 pm and headed out to get some food. The rest of the day I spend at the motel. The two days passed and I arrived at the bar. It was packed full of drunk college students and was louder than any party in Organ. I made my way in and tried my best to stay out of the crowd.

"Hey, how about you come party with us?" A few girls called out but I ignored them.

I began inspecting each table until I found the right one. I grabbed the letter and made my way outside. I headed back to the motel and opened the letter. Another piece of a map showed me my way to Iowa.

"From this point go to that states most famous landmark and you will find your letter. I will also leave you this".

At the bottom were a bunch of cut up letters apart. "Goodluck" the letter read before I got ready to leave once again.

As I looked at the letters I pieced together they were a clue in case I couldn't find the landmark.

"First seat, W.F. stadium" it spelled out

I continued on my trip and went from Iowa to Pennsylvania. On my way from Pennsylvania to Maine, I got a phone call from Nakamura.

"Yato where are you right now!" He asked.

"On my way to Maine, why bother asking, you got a tracker".

"Someones following you, I think it's Jaken" He shuttered.

I slammed the brakes "explain".

Nakamura informed me that over the past week at each stop I've made the next day someone has found a series of bodies all in one place, no relation at all, some were even criminals.

"And this is at each stop I make?" I clarified.

"Yes, each one so far"

"I left Pennsylvania hours ago, you haven't got any news on that?"

"That's the thing, I just saw that fifteen people were killed there, he's after you Yato, you have to be careful" he warned.

"Let him come.....I'll make sure he regrets it" I grunted as I hung up.

Over the next week, I went from Maine to South Carolina and then to Louisiana, all while more and more people were killed at each stop. "It seems the killer is going from state to state at random and the number keeps rising and rising, we advise you to stay inside and make sure to lock your doors at night" A reporter suggested as I turned the TV off.

"That bastard!" I erupted throwing the remote. "Why didn't the cops keep an eye on him!"

The next morning I got a call from Nakamura.

"What is it?"

"The count has reached seventy-eight people, you have to do something Yato".

"I'm no longer a detective, it's out of my hands" I reminded him hanging up looking at my old badge.

"Oh, Yato...." Nakamura sighed.

Shortly after talking to Nakamura I felt a sudden urge to sleep and the next time I woke up it was 7:00 am.

I got out of bed and began to make my way to Colorado. "I've been sleeping more and more.....maybe all this driving is getting to me," I thought to myself.

I made my way there and grabbed my final letter before sleeping yet again.

The next morning as I prepared to leave I saw I had a message from an unknown number. "Stop being who you aren't, this is the real you....don't you forget it".

"Who sent this?" I snorted to myself, feeling disgusted.

I texted back but the number was out of service. I called Nakamura to see what he thought but he knew nothing about it. It was starting to get late so I decided to head out to my final destination, California.