Obsession 2

Chapter 16- Mystery

Sammy is put into a high security cell alone with two guards posted at this door. Detective Crosby and I sit in the interrogation room and watch the footage of Sammy in his cell. Right now, he's only sitting on the bed, staring blankly at the wall in front of him.

It's been a couple of hours and so far, he hasn't so much as flinched. I'm starting to wonder if he's going to bother trying to get out of here this time or if he's going to make me look like a fool. He probably knows what's happening. He's not an i***t.

Suddenly, his head lifts slightly and his jet black hair slips down, covering his left eye. He looks directly at the camera for what feels like a few, long seconds. An uneasy feeling begins to settle in the pit of my stomach. Something's about to happen. I can feel it.

And it only becomes stronger. Something I can only compare to an electric current pulses through the air, causing the hair on my arms to stand. The light hanging above us begins to blink rapidly before the florescent light bulb explodes, sending shattering glass all over the now dark room.

I cover my face to spare it of any stray shards, but not fast enough. A single piece flies right at me, piercing my cheek. I feel the warm blood trickling down my face right away, dripping onto my lip. A scrunch my face in disgust. I hate the taste of blood. It always makes me feel so nauseous.

When I look at the monitor again, Sammy is gone. The guards outside his cell are still there, as if they have no idea what just happened. I look at Detective Crosby and he looks from the monitor to me. He doesn't know what he just saw, but he at least knows I'm telling the truth now.

"What the hell just happened?" he asks me.

"I tried to tell you, you can't stop him."

"But you can. You know how he did that, don't you..."

"Yes, but...I don't know if you're quite ready to hear it," I reply.

"Ready or not, I need to know how to get your brother off the streets before he hurts someone else. I'm willing to believe anything is possible after what I just saw," he says, wiping the sweat from his forehead.

"If you promise me you'll do things my way, I'll tell you. It may sound unbelievable, so you've got to trust me or else you're never going to get Sammy off the streets."

He nods slowly. "Okay. Let's try doing things your way."

Detective Crosby drives me back to my house and we get out. I look around the yard, expecting to see Sammy hidden in the shadows somewhere, but he wouldn't make it so easy for us.

When we go inside, I go upstairs to my bedroom where I've been keeping all the information I've found so far on the Rokusai tribe and the curse called down on them by the Ainu people. I take the box that contains my collection down to the kitchen where Crosby is waiting.

"Here, you're gonna want to look through this before I explain to you what happened," I tell him.

He starts going through the various articles I've printed out, and my hand written notes about what I learned from Aunt Roma, the gypsy woman out in California. He furrows his brows and even before he says anything, I know he's skeptical.

"So you're telling me an ancient curse called down over four hundred years ago on a tribe of people in Japan is the reason your brother has murdered two women in Dallas, Texas?" he asks in disbelief.

"I know what it sounds like. I told you, you may not be ready for this. I didn't believe it myself at first."

"What even brought you to this conclusion?" he asks.

"Kai, the friend in California I just went to visit. He's a descendant of this Rokusai tribe, just like Sammy and I are. He's the one who told me about the curse and that it once affected him as well, but he was able to beat it."

"How?" Crosby asks.

"He said he was given a choice. By who or what- I don't know that part yet. All I know is he gave up these special abilities the curse gave him, the same ones Sammy has- strength, stamina, speed. But with all those abilities also came the fever. Sammy's body temperature is off the charts right now. That's how he murdered those girls."

"Hot enough to cause first and second degree burns?" he asks as if he doesn't believe me.

I nod. "My neighbor, Sadie, she had an encounter with Sammy after he escaped. He burned her stomach when he touched her."

"This Kai fellow, what makes you think he knows what he's talking about?" he asks. "Is he family? How long have you known him?"

"He's not family; at least, not that I'm aware of. I only just met him a few weeks ago. He saw Sammy's trail on the news and came to Dallas to help me, him and a guy named Leo. What they told me, it made so much sense after I had seen what Sammy could do. This curse may sound bogus, but I assure you, it's one hundred percent real."

"Uh huh," he replies, crossing his arms over his chest and giving me a bored look. "Forgive me if I don't just take your word for it. I'm an investigator. I need a little thing we like to call evidence."

I nod, blowing out a nervous breath. "I was afraid you would say that."

I close my eyes and try to think of only Sadie. That's all it took to activate these strange powers the last time. Within seconds, I can feel my body starting to heat up. It starts in my face and hands and spreads its way all over my body. I take a banana out of the fruit bowl at the center of the kitchen table and Detective Crosby watches on in amazement as the banana practically melts away in my hand.

"You're cursed too?" he asks.

I nod apprehensively. "I cursed myself on purpose, in order to communicate with Sammy. I'm close to making it work, I've just got to catch him at the right time."

"What do you mean the right time?"

"He's going through periods of remorse, and when that happens, he tries to kill himself. Only...he can't die, the curse only regenerates him. I've figured out how to help him, but I've got to get him to trust me, which may be harder than I thought. And then I've got to get him to this...place. Unfortunately, I don't know where exactly this place is or if it's even real or just symbolic."

"This place?" he asks, holding up one of the articles I printed out.

I furrow my brows, taking it from him. It's the stone bridge from my dream. I study it closely, wondering why I've never noticed it before. Suddenly, the paper catches fire. I drop it to the floor and stomp it out before it causes any damage, but wow. I've really got to be mindful of these new abilities.

Crosby picks it up off the floor and skims it over. "It's in Kamakura, Japan. Does that place ring a bell?"

"That's where my mother was born," I answer in disbelief.

"Really?"

I nod, still stunned by this news. I had no idea the very place I was looking for was a place I had heard about all my life. "It's a small, seaside village in Japan. I haven't been there and as far as I know, my mother hasn't been back there in years. I've never seen this bridge in person, only in a dream. But I know it's connected to us somehow. And it's the key to stopping Sammy once and for all."

"So...what? Do we go there? Or...do we even know if it's still there?" he asks. "I mean, from the looks of it in this photo, it's on it's last leg."

"Half of it crumbled in my dream. Maybe that's some kind of a sign, or..." I can't figure it out, not yet. But I feel like I'm so close. It's right there in front of me.

"It's called the Danketsu Bridge, which means unity bridge," Crosby reads from the article. "Apparently, it's about four hundred years old and was built by the Rokusai tribe to unite two once divided lands."

"I have to rebuild the bridge," I say out loud.

"So you think this means you have to fly out to Japan and rebuild an old busted up bridge to stop your brother from murdering women?" Crosby asks, giving me a suspicious look.

"I don't think I have to literally rebuild it. I think Sammy and I are the key to metaphorically rebuilding the bridge- or uniting the descendants of the Rokusai."

"Is there someone in your family that knows about this curse? Did your mother have any siblings? Are her parents still alive?" he asks.

"No, no siblings, no parents. She has an uncle that lives in Osaka. He's very old by now. I haven't seen him in years. I'm not sure if he knows anything about the curse though. My mother...she never mentioned anything about it. I learned about all this when I met Kai."

"And how did Kai learn about it?"

"He lived through it. He murdered a woman and somehow, he was able to make everything right. He said he just woke up and it was like nothing ever happened...like time had just reset itself."

He scoffs. "If only it were that easy."

"It doesn't seem like it would be, but he swears it's what happened. He's been trying to help me do the same for Sammy. I know it may seem farfetched, but I'm willing to do anything to help my brother. You and I both know this man on the run right now...it's not Sammy. You watched him grow up. Do you really believe he had it in him to murder two innocent girls in cold blood?" I ask him.

"You're right, it's far fetched, but like I said," he says, popping his suspenders against his buff chest, "I'm willing to believe anything after what I just saw. We're not going to be able to contain him, and there's no way I can go to my superiors with this kind of information. They'd only laugh at me."

"So what are you saying? Are you going to help me?" I ask hopefully.

Detective Crosby was a friend of my father's since I was born. He's known our family for a long time and deep down, I think he believes everything I'm saying, even though it sounds unbelievable. He knows Sammy is a good person. He knows he'd never hurt anyone on purpose.

He finally nods. "I'll do what I can do help you, but you have to promise me something."

"Okay."

"You keep yourself out of trouble. If you're infected by whatever Sammy is infected with, you're a threat and a danger to others. I don't want this to get out of your control."

I nod in agreement. "I don't either. So far, I've been okay, but I'll stay alert. If I feel I'm losing it, I'll let you know."

"Good. Let's start unraveling this four hundred year old mystery then, shall we?" he smirks.