Chapter Thirty: Queen Monster:

The Mother sat upon her bed. Many times men bent to her will. Her latest target would be entertaining. I had never had a shinigami before. The Mother�s lips curved into a wicked smile.

�Yes,� she said. �He�ll make the perfect toy!� However, the Mother still had a little problem to take care of.

Her ungrateful children have gotten out of hand. Slowly starving them wasn�t working anymore. One of her obstacles was Haruka. The Mother frowned from just thinking about her.

Desperate old hag, she thought. Haruka�s power went to her head. She even killed four of her children to keep it. The Mother frowned on the futon Anna shared with Tsuzuki.

I was her at one point in life, she thought. The kitsune tried to focus on something else as a result. She still had many children on the loose. Jin was gone, two of her unnamed children were gone, but she didn�t know where Kohaku went. That was another mystery in itself.

She could sense that one still alive, but not sure how. His tsukai, Shichiro, died back in January. When one dies, the other follows suite. Kohaku didn�t really die with its master and the Mother didn�t understand why. She gritted her teeth thinking about it.

How the hell is it doing this? The Mother narrowed her eyes in the darkness. She remembered one cause to keep her children alive. In order for one of her copies to live after its original tsukai dies, it has to latch onto another vessel�s consciousness. But, where did Kohaku go?

The Mother closed her eyes and used her mind to search for her child. For close to a month, Kohaku hid its energy from her. She waited for a chance that her child would let down its guard. Kohaku�s energy was starting to break and weaken.

Come on, the Mother thought. Reveal yourself to me. Her main�s eyes searched the darkness. She paused as the connection clicked in her head. Her lips curved into a wicked smile.

�I found you,� she murmured. Kohaku would be the step she needed for her revenge. The Mother looked over at the clock. Seven more hours until the psychiatrist center opened for the day. The Mother lied back on the futon with a smile on her face. She knew that her child couldn�t be able to escape so easily. Once she dealt with Kohaku, she could go back to devouring Tsuzuki.

Speaking of which, she found the front door open. The Mother lifted her head in anticipation.

�I�m home,� she heard Tsuzuki mutter from the living room.

�Welcome home,� she cooed. Last night was just a test-run; the Mother planned to give it her all with this man.