Page 90 of Secrets & Sake

Reaching out, I touch Raiden’s leg and squeeze. The claws around my neck twitch, but Raiden’s expression doesn’t change. He’s still in there somewhere. He must be. And I’m going to save him.

Even if it’s the last thing I do.

The sun disappears, and the moon rises over the rolling mountains. Hideyoshi drives us off the main road and into the woods. Trees flank us on all sides, the depths of the forest shrouded in darkness.

At last, Hideyoshi stops the car and unlocks the doors. He opens Raiden’s side door, and Raiden tugs on me, making me wince as his claws scrape my skin.

I’m forced to step out after him. The headlights offer a small cone of light ahead but can’t hope to penetrate the darkness of the woods. Hideyoshi brushes past me and leads the way. I realize they must be able to see in the dark as they navigate the dark woods with ease, skirting around the trees I would have walked into.

The ground slopes, and I almost trip when Raiden slowly leads me up a series of stone stairs. There must be a shrine ahead. Fear makes sour bile rise in my throat. We’re almost there.

Small cones of light flicker into view as we pass lanterns swinging from tori gates. The lanterns illuminate a crowd that has gathered, all facing something out of view.

Hideyoshi parts the crowd, and Raiden and I follow in his footsteps. Horror freezes me in my tracks. Dozens of men and women are on their knees before a shrine. Their hands are bound, hair disheveled, and clothes torn and dirty.

These are all the missing people. I’ve found them—and I’m going to watch them all be murdered.

“Set him down here,” Hideyoshi instructs.

Raiden shoves down, forcing my knees to bend. I collapse onto the ground, panting as fear possesses me.

“Please,” I rasp, “Hideyoshi, don’t do this.”

But Hideyoshi turns his back and walks around the terrified captives without a glance. He goes and stands before the shrine.

Raiden trails behind his grandfather, eyes staring straight ahead.

There’s movement behind me. I crane my neck to look over my shoulder. Namikawa makes his way through the crowd, but he has to be escorted by two guards on either side, gripping his arms to keep him upright.

The curse really has taken its toll. The most powerful man in Japan looks like he’ll keel over and die at any moment. Hideyoshi offers Namikawa his arm, which the elderly boss accepts, swaying as he holds himself tall to face the gathering.

“Tonight,” Namikawa says, “I bid you all farewell. It has been my greatest honor to lead this family for as long as I have. I only wish we weren’t parting during such a time of strife for our kind. Hunters are on our doorstep. The Takada-kai desire to take our city for themselves. But fear not. I have faith that under Hideyoshi’s leadership, the Namikawa-kai will thrive even after I am gone from this world. Serve him as you have served me, my children.”

“Boss, what’s happening?” a yakuza asks, face pale. “Who are all these people?”

“Why have you brought us here?” a captive shouts.

They have no idea what their boss is or what he’s about to do.

Namikawa grips the railing and hoists himself up the short steps to the shrine. On the altar is a wooden box and a large stone, cracked in half. The Sessho-seki, the stone said to contain Tamano-no-Mae’s spirit. Namikawa picks up the box and returns to Hideyoshi. Hideyoshi opens the lid and withdraws a short sword. Namikawa looks him in the eyes and says, “Begin the ritual.”

The people around me begin to whisper, frightened whimpers rising in the air. I can practically taste the fear, sour in the air like urine. Quakes rack my body. What can I do? If I don’t do something, I’ll be killed.

“W-why are we here? Please let us go!” a man shouts.

“Please! Don’t kill us!” a woman screams.

Stone-faced, Hideyoshi marches forward and seizes a man by the arm, wrenching him to his feet. The man screams and struggles, but even though Hideyoshi is old, he’s still a supernatural creature. Hideyoshi forces the man over the altar.

Namikawa lifts his arms to the skies. “Oh, great and powerful Tamano-no-Mae. Accept our sacrifice in your name. Grant us your strength! Under your guidance, we shall rain chaos upon our enemies!”

Hideyoshi slits the man’s throat. The crowd, both yakuza and captives alike, cry out in shock, fear, and disgust. A hideous gurgle rattles in the air, and blood runs down the altar. Hideyoshi kicks the body down the steps. The captives scream as the corpse rolls to a stop in the dirt, throat split from ear to ear, eyes vacant. My gorge rises, and I pant for breath, shaking violently.

The prisoners scream and struggle as they’re dragged up the steps. Hideyoshi cuts their throats again and again with the mindless monotony of a butcher at work. The corpses roll down the steps, piling one on top of the other. The stairs run red, streaked with the blood of the slain. The wind howls. Veins of lightning fork across the sky. Thunder booms.

Namikawa laughs and laughs, face twisting into something hideous and inhuman as the fox slowly reveals herself, thriving in the chaos committed in her name.

All I can do is close my eyes, panting raggedly as bloody gurgles claw at my ears. Then, a clawed hand grabs the back of my neck and hauls me to my feet. Hideyoshi’s face is cold and impassive as he stares down at me. He looks at Raiden, still under Namikawa’s control, and closes his eyes tight. “Forgive me.”

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