Obsession 2

Chapter 18- Many Like Us

"Who wants to live a life that they can never escape from?" Sammy asks, walking past me and getting in the man's face. "Who wants to live with the guilt of taking someone's life?"

"Like I said, small prices to pay compared to the benefits," the man seethes.

"No. Not small prices. We hurt people. Sometimes even people we love. My brother is trying to help me. He's trying to make this right. I won't let you stand in his way," Sammy says, not willing to back down.

"I won't let you stop this. Not again," the man says.

"Again?" Kai asks. "Who are you?"

"Ren," he answers.

"Are you from Japan?" Kai asks.

He nods. "My family are descendants of the Rokusai. I've spent years looking for people like myself, to create an army. You probably don't remember this, but I once came to you."

"You did?" Kai asks in surprise.

"You were willing to do anything back then, but your love for the girl got in your way," he says, nodding in Mara's direction. 

"I did the right thing!" Kai shoots back.

"You did the weak thing," Ren growls. "I won't let you stop anyone else from making the same mistake."

He looks between me and Sammy as if he's sizing us up. "You don't have to make things right when there's no one to answer to. Who is able to stop you? Surely not the police," he scoffs, looking to Crosby.

"We're not getting tied up in your games," Sammy says, pushing him away with enough force to knock him to the ground.

He stands to his feet, smirking at Sammy. "You've tasted this power and you know what it can do. Do you really want to give that up? This cop? Your brother? Your friends? They can't help you. They want you to believe that they can, but it's a lie."

"No, it's not!" I say quickly. "Sammy, we can fix this! It's happened before!"

"It can be stopped, Sammy, but only if you want it to stop," Kai says seriously, meeting Sammy's eyes. "I know you're burdened with guilt, because I was once you. This power you feel, it feeds off evil. That's no way to live," he says, looking back at Ren. "So we're not interested in your army."

"Very well then," Ren smirks, taking a step back as if he's getting ready to give up and go away.

But my instincts tell me otherwise. He won't give up that easily.

He takes a couple more steps backwards before he suddenly stops and lunges forward at Kai. Both Sammy and I restrain him before he makes it, but it's not an easy thing to do. This guy is strong, much stronger than I've ever been.

Sammy and I share a look when we seem to both be overcome by the same strange sensation at the same time. I blink rapidly, wondering if what I'm seeing is really even happening.

"Let him go!" Kai calls out to us.

The ground begins to shake and break apart beneath our feet. The wind picks up to hurricane strength within seconds. Lightning flashes from the sky, striking the ground with brilliant, white light.

I let go of Ren first, and just after me, Sammy releases his grip on him as well. Immediately, everything calms down around us.

"What the hell was that?!" Crosby asks, looking around at us in surprise.

"The more of us there are, the more powerful we will become," Ren says, looking between Sammy and I before he turns and walks away, disappearing into the woods.

I watch him until he's gone, my chest heaving after all that excitement. After I can't see him anymore, I turn back to Sammy, but he's gone too.

Of course he's gone. He wouldn't just stand here and allow Crosby to take him back to Texas, where he'll be locked up and forced to continue this vicious cycle he's been on.

"Okay, what the hell is going on here?" Crosby asks, looking around at us.

Leo pulls Mara into his arms and holds her tight. Kai just stares down at the ground. Did they know about these people? And if so, why didn't they tell me?

"The curse can affect any living descendant of the Rokusai tribe," Kai finally answers, in a daze. "Male or female, mixed blood, it doesn't matter. But not everyone is affected in the same way. Michael isn't like Sammy, or me, or Ren. He's more like...like Leo."

"So all of you are secret ninja's then?" Crosby asks.

"I'm no ninja. I didn't even know anything about this until I got tied up with Kai. My grandfather on my mom's side was Japanese. He told me about the Rokusai warriors, but...the way he described them made them seem...mythical. Like a legend. I had no idea it was all real," Leo says.

"What about you, Franklin? Did your mother ever mention any of this to you?" Crosby asks me.

"No, nothing," I shrug. "Look, I've told you everything I know. I think we all have. All I wanted to do was help Sammy. I had no idea we'd have an army of these people hunting us down."

Crosby looks perplexed. He drags himself over to the doorsteps and slumps down in defeat. "How are we supposed to go up against an army with super human abilities?"

"There is a way to stop them," Kai says. "The curse doesn't affect most of us the way it affected Michael and Leo. They were able to control themselves in all situations. The rest of us though, we had to continue to find our source of power to go on."

"Source of power?" Crosby asks.

"For me, it was Mara," Kai goes on.

"Wait a minute, I thought that dumb purple cord is the reason you were infected?" Leo asks, wrapping his arm around Mara protectively.

"The cursed object is what initiated the curse. Mara is what kept it going. When I couldn't get near her, I found myself growing weaker and weaker."

"Do all people have the same source?" Crosby asks. "Is it always a lady love?"

Kai shrugs. "Possibly. I have no idea."

"And how are Michael and Leo able to control it, but you and Sammy can't?" he asks.

Again, Kai shrugs.

"Only half of the Rokusai Tribe was cursed," Leo finally answers. "The other half could still be affected by the curse, but not in the same way."

"Then how do you explain Sammy and Michael? They have the same parents. Wouldn't the curse affect them both the same?" Crosby asks.

"It's possible my mother is a descendant of both halves of the tribe," I answer. "That's the only explanation I can think of, anyway."

Crosby presses his fingertips to his temples and groans. "This is giving me a headache. I have no idea what's going on anymore."

"But you know Sammy would never hurt anyone unless something was causing him to, right?" I ask him.

"I wanted to believe that, but the evidence didn't point me to that conclusion," he sighs. "Now, after what I've seen, I'm really hoping you're right. I hope this can all go away, for Sammy's sake, and for those poor girls' sakes."

Everyone starts back inside the house, but I pause when I get a strange feeling. I've never felt anything like it before, but it's almost like I...sense something. I look around, thinking maybe I'll see Sammy, or Ren, or some other poor cursed soul.

A sharp pain shoots through my chest and I double over in pain, gritting my teeth.

"Michael? What's wrong?" Crosby asks, furrowing his brows.

I can't speak, but even if I could, I couldn't answer him. I have no idea what's wrong. This has never happened before.

Suddenly, I can hear Sadie's voice, just as clearly as if she were right here with me.

Mikey! Please help me!

"Sadie?!" I cry out, looking around for her, though I know she's not really here. "Sadie where are you?!"

"Mikey! She's not here, you're just hearing things," Crosby says, approaching me with caution.

"It's probably Ren. He could be trying to lure you away into a trap," Kai says.

I realize that may be a possibility, but I can't just brush it off. I need to at least check and make sure she's okay.

I pull my phone out of my pocket and dial Sadie's number, and after a few rings, the call connects, but she doesn't say anything.

"Sadie? Are you there?"

I can hear heavy breathing, but it doesn't sound like a woman at all.

"Ren?" I ask.

He chuckles evilly. "You're better than I thought."

"Don't you dare touch her or I swear God..."

"What? Are you gonna kill me little brother? We both know that would only be a waste of time."

My heart begins to race. I can feel my skin getting hotter and hotter. The thought of Sadie getting hurt makes me come alive with rage. So much so that I find myself standing in front of her door within a matter of seconds.

I try going inside, but it's locked. I start around for the back door, but when I hear Sadie scream, I run back to the front door and kick it down, surprising myself and Ren, who is on the other side. He quickly recovers though and smirks at me.

He's got one arm securely wrapped around Sadie while yielding a knife, pointed right at her throat. "I knew this would get your attention. Though I have to ask...what do you see in this one?"

I meet Sadie's eyes, clouded over with fear. Only...I'm not sure it's just Ren she's afraid of. She's afraid of me too...

"Let her go, she has nothing to do with this," I tell him.

"She's got everything to do with it! You care more about this girl than you do about the power you possess! Don't you see?! You can rule the world with us! You can have any woman you want!" Ren says, sweating pouring from every gland in his body.

"This isn't about power for me!" I snap. "I just want to help my brother! I don't want to be a part of your legion of evil."

"You make it sound like such a cliche horror movie," he smirks.

"That's what it is, isn't it? You want to use your power to take over the world and make everyone else miserable. You're perfectly okay with hurting people. Is there no one in your life you care about?" I ask him.

"I don't need anyone to care about," he scowls.

"We all need someone to care for," I say truthfully. "Anyone who says otherwise is just lying to themselves."

"No, you're lying to yourself. You want to believe that everyone needs that because you feel bad about needing someone other than yourself. That's a weak way of thinking. Come with me and I can teach you how to utilize this power. We could be unstoppable."

"No. I don't want to rule the world. I just want to live my life," I sigh in frustration. "Please, let her go."

"Or what?" he smirks, pressing the knife into Sadie's flesh, making her eyes widen in horror.

I let out a wild, animal-like growl, lunging at him and knocking both him and Sadie to the ground. Ren quickly gets up on his feet and prepares for a fight. I've never actually fought anyone in my life, other than the innocent sibling bashing with Sammy, so I have no idea what to do.

I stand in front of Sadie, knowing no matter what, I have to protect her. "If it's a fight you want, you got it. I won't let you get your hands on her again."

He runs at me, but I catch him and toss him up against the wall like he's a mere rag doll. My strength surprises him, but it surprises me too. He gets up a bit slower and wipes the blood from his chin, keeping his dark, soulless eyes on me.

I take a step towards him and to my delight, he cowers. I run at him, but he disappears into thin air. I look around the room for him, and when I don't see him anywhere, I help Sadie off the floor and pull her into my arms.

"Are you okay?" I ask her.

"I think so," she says with a shaky voice. "Is that guy cursed too?"

I look around for him one last time, sighing in relief when it seems he's gone. "Yes. Apparently, there's many out there like us. Only...they like what the curse does to them..."