The Gate of the Middle Kingdom

Chapter 9: Responsibility

It was past midnight when Daniel leafed through his diary. There was something niggling at the back of his mind, and he needed to find out what it was. A name caught his attention. He took a red marker to mark the corner of the page, before reading its contents attentively:

June 3, '11

I thought I was the only one from school to be interested in the occult, but I saw Yude Silvermunt at the Moon's Circle today. When I witnessed him there I tried to befriend him, because I thought we shared a common interest.

It's not that Stephen isn't a good friend, I love him dearly, but he's very straitlaced; he sees occurrences around him through everyday glasses, is unable to take any different perspective, and would never acknowledge the supernatural. We agree to disagree.

Yude makes for interesting conversation. He has been at the center of gossip in the school; according to rumor, Mary had been two-timing him and Johann, after which the two have had a huge fall out.

Yude confided in me, however, that Mary is innocent; she is not the reason he decided to rile up Johann. He told me that he needed to hurt Johann, that there was a reason for it; and I suppose that same reason is why he rebuffed my offer of friendship. Yude told me the devil had bade him to sacrifice his friendships.

Daniel read the passage two more times, then put it away.

He and Yude had never become close in the end, but he'd still attended the funeral that had been held for the other. Daniel would rather forget. When Yude suddenly died last year, autopsy found no signs of homicide. Yet, a nasty rumor went around that Johann had poisoned Yude because of Mary.

Now Daniel knew that Johann had committed suicide; and Mary was murdered, drained from her blood. All three were dead.

It had to be Mr. Geung-si's doing; who else but the one calling himself the Blood King would commit such heinous crimes?

Unless it was something else unnatural...

Daniel had seen Yude Silvermunt at the Moon's Circle, the local occult shop. Had Yude summoned something too? That would increase the likelihood that another supernatural creature was part of this play.

The police had contacted the Moon's Circle's proprietress, but Freya, Daniel believed, would likely keep her lips sealed. Her quiet was easily explained; she simply didn't care. Daniel had seen the things Yude had bought from the Moon's Circle that day, things that were required for performing curses, and other things which indicated a ritual of demon worship. Freya had sold the items without batting a single eyelash.

Both Daniel and Yude had played with fire; that's why Daniel cared, why he needed to know, and why he must solve the case. He felt responsible.

***

When Mr. Blake picked up the newspaper that morning, their town had made the headlines. He shook his head, feeling despondent, and slowly trudged to the kitchen where his mother was preparing his breakfast for him.

"You know I don't like it when people are reading at the table," she scolded him. She snatched the newspaper from his grasp, then served him toast with bacon and eggs. "Here you go, sunny-side up, just how you like them."

"Thank you, mother," Mr. Blake muttered tiredly. He went to take out the coffee pods from the kitchen cabinet, when he heard his mother scrape her throat.

"Coffee is not good for you."

He hated himself, but, gritting his teeth, Mr. Blake still returned the pods.

He told himself it was his responsibility to ensure his mother was pleased.

***

The moment Daniel showed his face downstairs that morning, a shoe came flying at his face. He really wished he didn't have to confront his mother's temper this early in the morning, but she had likely not eaten anything since yesterday afternoon.