Chapter Thirty-Four: First Death Scene:

7:00 p.m.

Dinner started late. Nobody said a word. Anna looked at all of their guests. Not a single person touched their food.

“So… how is the meal?” Anna asked. The cloaked guests eyed Victoria. The woman mumbled something over her leftover rice. The teenaged boy said something back. The man looked up at the clock.

“It’s coming right… about… now,” the boy mouthed. He took a bite of rice.

Victoria took a bite of beef and paused. A dull thud struck her body. The taste of blood filled her mouth. Her chopsticks hit the table. Sosuke started to choke as a tooth fell out. Then a third.

“Sosuke?” Victoria asked. The kitsune looked panicked.

“I… I… I don’t know what’s happening to me,” he said. Another tooth fell out.

“Victoria?” Anna asked. The teenaged girl glared at her.

“Shut up,” she hissed.

“Hey! Don’t talk to her like that!” Tsuzuki shouted.

“Shut up!” Victoria yelled. Another tooth fell in her food.

Airi grinned as she watched Sosuke panicking. “Well, well. Isn’t this a sight?”

He stared at her with big eyes. “Mother, help me!”

Airi looked all sweet and innocent. “Why would I do that?”

“Please!”

“No.”

“But…”

“No.”

Blood began flowing out of Sosuke’s mouth. His eyes darted around the room. Inside of his body was burning up. The kitsune parted. No… No!

“Come on,” Airi said. “Hurry up and die.”

“But… I don’t want to die.”

“But you will. Come on, you saw it coming.”

“Please… help…”

Airi shook her head. “No. It’s gone on too long. It’s time to end this.”

The whole time, Victoria’s head began to ache. Nobody could see the blood and teeth. Anna and Tsuzuki stared at her.

“Victoria?” the shinigami asked. The teenaged girl grabbed her stomach. By now, blood was pouring from Sosuke’s eyes, nose, ears, and mouth. He struggled against his impending death. His legs started going numb.

“Help… me…” he whimpered. Airi sat back as watched the kitsune panting.

“What are you smiling for?” Anna asked.

“Keep watching,” Airi said. Her vessel frowned.

“I don’t like what you are planning,” she said.

“Me?” the Mother asked. “I’m not doing anything.” Anna whipped her head over towards the three cloaked guests.

“Don’t tell me…” she said.

Victoria rose to her feet and ran door the hall. The couple eyed the other guests.

“What did you do?” the shinigami asked. The three strangers didn’t speak.

“Answer him,” Anna said. The dark purple-haired woman rested her chopsticks.

“Our mission,” she said.

“What?” Tsuzuki asked.

“We tracked Victoria and her kitsune here,” she answered. “Our mission is to kill all descendants of the Eda-Kimoto clan.”

“Do not worry, Anna-san,” the dark-haired man said. “You will not be targets. It has been decided you will be spared.”

“Why?” Anna asked.

“You are not the enemy. You want to destroy the clan as much as we do.”

“So… What did you do to her cousin?” Tsuzuki asked. The teenaged boy smiled.

“A poison curse,” he said.

“On the kitsune?”

“Yeah.” The boy looked at the clock on the back wall.

An hour and a half passed. Anna looked at the clock.

“I’m going to check on her,” she said. She got up and left the table. The cloaked guests looked at each other. The woman mouthed out the countdown.

“Oh my god!” Anna shouted. Everyone raced down the hall. Anna stood in the bathroom doorway.

“Babe, what is it?” Tsuzuki asked. His wife pointed in the bathroom. Kimoto Victoria lay dead on the floor. Sosuke’s life energy flew into Airi’s body.

“Our mission is complete,” the purple-haired woman said. “Thank you for dinner.”

“But—” Anna said. The man walked into the bathroom and picked up the body.

“We’re got it from here,” he said. “Good evening.” The trio walked out of the hall.

“Wait!” Tsuzuki yelled. They were already gone. Anna and Tsuzuki stood with blank stares on their faces.

“Uh… now what?” the shinigami asked. Anna shook her head.

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Victoria’s death reached Nobu while he was in confinement. He hit the floor with an animalistic scream. The man rolled over on the cold floor, sobbing. Through his tears, a new mission was born.