The Gate

34. Canvassing

Lena Matthews

"And this is everything?" I asked, glancing down at the file in my arms. Every yuki onna suspect had a profile dedicated to them in this overstuffed manila folder.

"Yep." Makaya confirmed. "Are you sure you have this handled?"

"Yeah. Taylor, Kiara, and Carter are waiting for me at Taylor's." I said.

"And you trust them?" Makaya asked.

"Why wouldn't I?" I asked. "There's no way you can be two Forbidden at once, and I'm pretty confident about each of their identities."

"Fair enough." Makaya shrugged. "I'm going to have a little chat with Mrs. Pearce."

"Tell me everything." I commanded. "If it isn't Mrs. Pearce, then we can present our yuki onna theory to the court. We're going to need all the help we can get."

"I know that," said Makaya. "Trust me honey, my life's at risk too. And I'd prefer that it ended on my own terms." She sighed. "Let me know what you find. I'll see you soon."

"Okay." I said. Makaya walked calmly to her car, which was parked a block away from my house.

I took a deep breath before turning around. The entire walk back, I feared that the papers would tumble out of their flimsy file.

I had shared my yuki onna theory with Carter, Taylor, and Kiara, and they agreed that it made sense. Since I was the only one to actually see the yuki onna, I was technically the most knowledgeable about her.

For a brief time, I had considered bringing Jessica into this. She could probably help, but I was unsure whether she would say something to Mrs. Pearce. It felt like every adult in this town had a strange, unspoken alliance, and since we distrusted one of them, we distrusted all of them. Makaya was the only exception, though. She was an outsider who broke the family rule, and she knew the truth about me. It was too late to take that trust back now.

When I made it back inside the house, I grabbed my coat and phone.

"What are you doing?" Finn asked, staring at the suspicious looking folder I had tucked under my elbow.

"Nothing." I lied. My phone buzzed and I glanced down to check it. It was a text from Jacob.

Are we still on for today?

I sighed, and the folder fell dramatically, its contents spilling unceremoniously across the hardwood floor.

I almost forgot. I have this giant group project and some friends and I are meeting at Taylor's to get it done.

"Lena..." Finn was holding one of the papers in his hand. He turned it to show me a picture of a Japanese woman that read, Stephanie Kawaguchi. 32 years.

"It's for a project." I explained.

Finn glanced down at the photos of suspects that littered the floor. "Most of these people have a pretty similar profile. You're monster hunting." said Finn.

"Am not." I argued childishly.

"So what is this?" Finn asked, neatly stacking the fallen papers into a pile.

"It's nothing." I said.

"So you wouldn't mind if I called Dad?" Finn asked.

"Are you seriously threatening to tattle right now?" I asked.

"You're the one monster hunting. I thought you were over all of this." said Finn.

"I meant everything I said earlier." I clarified. "I'm not monster hunting... I'm..."