by Joanne Pence
Rachel found herself in a ferryman’s hut. She wore a long white kimono. Her gaze met the simple woodcutter named Taishi, but the face that looked back at her was Seiji’s.
This Seiji was strong and healthy. And desirable.
She was herself, but not herself. She felt attractive, alluring, and strong—nothing she had ever felt before.
The air was bitter cold, yet heat traveled through her body from the fire in Taishi’s eyes when he looked at her. She bent down over him, lower and lower, until her face almost touched his. She could feel how much he ached for her, as she did for him.
She stared hard at him, and in his eyes she saw lust, but also fear. It emboldened her.
She ran a long fingernail over his brow, down his cheek, and across his lips. Then she lifted the coat he had used as a blanket and lay beside him, taking him in her arms. Through the long, stormy night she brought him to erotic heights he had never before known.
As dawn broke, she dressed and whispered, "I had intended to treat you as I would any other man and kill you for the liberties you have taken and that I have allowed. But I cannot help feeling pity for you because you are so young. You are a pretty boy, Taishi. So I will not use you and discard you. But, if you ever tell anyone at all about what you have seen or done this night, I shall know it; and then I will kill you. Remember what I say!"
With these words, she kissed him one last time, then turned, and passed through the doorway.
Taishi sprang to his feet and ran after her, but the woman was nowhere to be seen; and the snow was driving furiously into the hut. Taishi closed the door and secured it. He thought that he might have been only dreaming, a wonderful, lustful dream. He called to Mosaku, but the old man did not answer. He put out his hand in the dark, and touched Mosaku's face. It had turned to ice. His friend was dead.
Soon, the storm was over; and when the ferryman arrived at his station a little after sunrise, he found Taishi lying senseless beside the frozen body of Mosaku.
In time, Taishi recovered from the cold that terrible night and returned to his job, going alone each day to the forest. He never told anyone about the woman in white, and he never forgot her.
Chapter 32
“Rachel? Rachel!”
Ceinwen shook her, but she couldn’t rouse her friend.
“Michael!” Ceinwen ran through the house, calling him. She found him out in his study. “Come quick. I can’t wake Rachel.”
He joined Ceinwen trying to rouse Rachel, but had no luck.
His cell phone still didn’t work, and he was about to run to the Nakamura home to ask where he could find a doctor or a hospital when there was a knock at the door.
He opened it to see Lady Nakamura standing before him.
“My son is under a spell,” she said, breathing heavily, her brow furrowed with worry. “We cannot wake him. The doctor has looked at him, and there is nothing wrong that he can see. It is as if Seiji is asleep and doesn’t wish to wake. I’m wondering if you have ever encountered such a thing.”
“Not before a few minutes ago,” Michael said. “I wonder if Rachel is suffering from the same problem.” He invited Lady Nakamura into the house to see her.
Lady Nakamura touched Rachel’s forehead, then spoke in Japanese to one of the men who accompanied her. He ran out of the house.
“He will bring a doctor who is very discrete about this situation with Seiji. Unfortunately, if word got out, people would believe he is mentally ill.”
Lady Nakamura studied Rachel a while and shook her head. “Yesterday, she and Seiji seemed to have a good conversation. Her helpful attitude encouraged him, but I know at one point something happened that concerned Seiji’s retainers. Some sort of spell seemed to come over him. That happens with more and more frequency these days.”
“Rachel said nothing about that,” Michael said.
Lady Nakamura nodded. “I wonder if something happened that created a connection between Seiji and Rachel and whatever is going on now. It’s my belief that there are many levels of existence in this world. Perhaps they are somewhere, now, together.”
Ceinwen brought Lady Nakamura some tea as they sat in the main tatami room waiting for the doctor to arrive. He did so in less than twenty minutes and went straight in to see Rachel.
He checked her over, listening to heart and lungs, taking her pulse, and then stood back and stared at her with a sigh. “Look at her eyes.”
Her eyes were shut, but some movement of the eyeball was visible, the sort of movement seen when someone is in a deep sleep. He faced Lady Nakamura. “Like Nakamura-sama,” he said, “she is not in a coma, but asleep. We could wait, as I suggested with Nakamura-sama. In time, she will become hungry and thirsty and her body should awaken. Or, we could give her a shot of adrenaline to attempt to wake her. It should not be harmful.”
Michael realized the doctor feared testing his solution on the daimyo heir. He looked at Ceinwen. “What do you think?”
“Some of her dreams have been terrifying. I say we try to wake her.”
The doctor nodded. “I would agree.”
He gave Rachel a shot and in moments she opened her eyes and looked around, confused.
Ceinwen touched her shoulder. “You were in a deep sleep, dreaming, and we couldn’t wake you. Lady Nakamura called for her doctor.”
“I was sleeping?” She bolted upright. “What are you saying? That was no dream! I saw …” She looked from one to the other. “How long have I been asleep?”
“About ten hours,” Michael said. “It’s morning.”
“My God! It’s crazy. Too crazy!” Tears came to her eyes.
“What is it?” Ceinwen asked. “Rachel, talk to me.”
She shook her head, but her skin had turned chalky. “It’s nothing. I’ll be fine.”
A short while later, one of the Nakamura retainers came to the door. Lady Nakamura’s aide went to talk to him and came back into the room with a smile. “Nakamura-sama is also awake now. He is asking to see his mother.”
All expressed their thanks to Lady Nakamura and the doctor as they left the house. Before going, the doctor assured them that Rachel should be just fine. Perhaps there was some allergen in the garden where they spent the afternoon that caused a mild version of “sleeping sickness” to strike.
They all hoped that was the case.
Ceinwen was in the kitchen having coffee with Michael when Rachel entered the room. She had taken a shower in the upstairs bathroom, and her hair was still wet.
“How are you feeling?” Michael asked.
“I guess I was tired. I feel fine now.”
“Lady Nakamura sent some breakfast pastries and fruit,” Ceinwen said, doing her best to sound cheerful.
Rachel shook her head. “I’m not hungry.”
“You need to eat to build energy,” Ceinwen said. “It’s quite delicious.”
“No thanks. Just some tea.”
Michael spoke. “We understand from Lady Nakamura that there was a strange episode involving Seiji yesterday. Can you tell us about it?”
“There was a moment where he was feeling … possessed, I guess. But it soon passed. We had a nice time.”
“That’s good news,” Michael said. “Did anything happen that was at all worrisome, or odd?”
Rachel blanched. “Has Seiji ever mentioned a pearl to you? A pearl that can attract demons?”
Michael’s brows crossed. “No, although his mother has.”
“Attract demons?” Ceinwen used a mocking tone although she remembered Jake Sullivan’s worry that Michael might have brought it to Idaho. “Where is this magical stone?”
“Well hidden,” Michael said.
Rachel added, “Seiji believes the pearl can help him.”
Michael’s head snapped toward her. “He said that?”
“He was insistent.” Rachel cried, tears welling up in her eyes. “What if he’s right? What if the pearl can rid him and me and the people in Salmon of the demons persecuting u
s? If it could control demons once why not again? Why won’t you help us?”
“Hold on, there,” Ceinwen said. “You’re being unfair.”
“Me? I don’t think so!” Rachel shouted.
“The pearl is dangerous,” Michael admitted, his voice low and filled with sadness. “Yes, it lures demons, and was used to capture them. But it took a number of strong men to do it, and many lost their lives trying.”
Rachel studied him, and then lowered her gaze, wiping her tears away. “I don’t understand any of this.” She spoke softly. “I don’t know what’s happening to me.”
“Rachel,” Ceinwen said gently. “Please tell him about the strange dreams you had. The ones in which you were in Japan—in old Japan.” She then faced Michael. “The strangest part was that the dreams began before we came to Japan, before we even learned you were here. It was as if they were some sort of premonition.”
He found the news startling. “You dreamed about Japan?”
Rachel nodded and told him about the corpse-eating ghoul.
His brows crossed. “Any other dreams?”
“I dreamed I stood at a bridge and saw a woman sobbing as if her heart was broken. I offered to help, but when she turned around, she had no face.”
He made a sharp intake of breath, then with a hushed voice asked, “Did you dream that you then went to a soba-seller?”
She stared at him and nodded. “He, too, had no face. And soon, neither did I.”
He felt chilled to the bone. “You must have read ghost stories by Lafcadio Hearn, and simply forgot that you did.” When Michael explained why he chose to live in this house, Rachel claimed to have never heard of Hearn.
“Anything is possible, but I really doubt it. Why?”
“Because those are two of Hearn's stories.”
Rachel and Ceinwen gawked at him.
“That makes no sense,” Ceinwen said. “I would say it’s this house, but Rachel had those dreams before we ever got here.”
Michael turned to Rachel. “Anything other dreams?”
She bit her lip, then shook her head. “No.”
He frowned. “Are you sure?”
“There were a lot of dreams that were ‘simply’ demons chasing and scaring me.”
Michael studied her a moment, then said, “You haven’t told us what you dreamed last night.”
She blushed. “It was nothing I can remember.”
Chapter 33
“Michael, I’m glad you’re back,” Seiji said, shaking his hand before greeting Ceinwen. He was enjoying the sun near the koi pond. Michael noticed the look of joy and more that filled Seiji’s face as he gazed at the entrance to the garden. “Where is Rachel? She’s coming, isn’t she?”
Michael was puzzled. In the time he'd known Seiji, he rarely shook hands, and never with such a strong grip. “She’s home, resting after a troubled night’s sleep.”
“I’m sorry to hear it,” Seiji said. “I would have liked to see her today.”
A servant brought Michael and Ceinwen glasses of cold beer. “You’re looking strong today, Seiji,” Michael said as they sat.
“Yes. I think such a long sleep agreed with me. Please forgive my mother for troubling you about it. I must have been fighting off a virus. That explains why I was so sleepy.”
“Perhaps Rachel, as well,” Ceinwen said.
Seiji nodded. “Perhaps.”
“Rachel told me you asked her about a pearl that could control demons,” Michael said.
“I’m most fascinated by it,” Seiji said. “I couldn’t help but hope it has the power to help me with this … problem.”
“I doubt it,” Michael said. “Besides, I don’t have it.”
“Can you get it?”
“No.”
“I suspect, if you needed to, you would find a way,” Seiji said, his voice icy. “It has to do with alchemy, doesn’t it? I know, Michael, that’s what interests you. As it does me.”
“There’s no alchemical tradition in Japan, and in the artifacts I’ve viewed so far, I’ve seen no such symbols.”
“You will, in time. It existed in this area because, in the days when my country was young, we had many ties with China, particularly here, on the western side of the island.” Seiji lifted his chin as he continued. “My ancestor, daimyo Nakamura Taishi, ruled this entire area. One of his many envoys to China was an alchemist. He brought much information back here, and Taishi learned from him how to become immortal. There are many stories of how Taishi has returned to visit later daimyo and give them advice. And also that, over time, he refused to leave.”
“What do you mean, refused?”
“They say Taishi became a kami, a god, and that he helped the generations of Nakamura daimyo that followed.”
Michael waited. There was clearly more to the story.
“At the same time,” Seiji continued, “whispers began that Taishi hadn’t become a god or an immortal man, but he had turned into a demon.”
“So,” Michael said, “do you think Taishi is a god or a demon?”
Seiji shook his head. “Who knows? I don’t want to believe in such things, but it’s all I’m left with. I’m told that you rid the world of three vicious demons. I need you to take away my one. Only one.”
Michael glanced at Ceinwen who was intently watching him, then back to Seiji. “I can’t.”
“With the pearl, you can do it.”
“What makes you insist I have such a pearl?”
“Because I trust those who told me of it. I implore you, help me.”
“If you continue to appear stronger, you won’t need the pearl.”
Seiji glowered, breathing deeply, then said, “You should leave now. I am not pleased with you today. I wish you to reflect on the pearl, and that it may be needed here soon. For Rachel as well as me.”
The young daimyo’s words stunned Michael and Ceinwen. It wasn’t a threat. It was a prophecy.
Chapter 34
William Claude mixed an elixir containing gold, mercury, sulfur, and a few shavings from a philosopher’s stone he once created. He knew it wasn’t a powerful stone, but that it existed at all was, to him, quite an achievement.
As the elixir boiled, it cast off fumes which he breathed in, filling his lungs. He held it, letting its magic seep through his blood.
He concentrated first on Michael, opening his mind to his son. But he still could not penetrate his defenses. He then focused on Rachel. He knew she had gone to Japan looking for Michael. With her was a friend, her roommate – another young chit of a college girl, he imagined. Someone he doubted would interfere with his plans in any way.
His mind connected with Rachael’s. He gasped as a new panoply of images swirled into his brain. The strongest was demonic. Some thing or things wanted her—wanted to draw her away from this world and into its own.
William Claude opened his eyes. His mind raced. Whatever held her frightened him with its power, its sheer forcefulness. His first reaction was to protect her. But then, a different line of thought came to him. Perhaps she was more useful to him if possessed.
Michael would want to protect her, to rid her of the demons. Being face-to-face with Rachel, wanting to help her, the only way to do that would be to use the philosopher’s stone. And since he didn’t know how, he would need to ask his father for help.
William Claude smiled. “I’ll make him realize he needs my help every bit as much as I need his.” William Claude spoke aloud to no one and everyone. He rubbed his hands. “I know my son. He’ll come back here with the stone, and together, we will use it!”
He picked up his pitiful substitute of a philosopher’s stone—one he thought was acceptable until he learned more about the stone Michael owned. He should have realized his stone was inferior since it had yet to turn him into an immortal.
“You, stone of little worth, must now help me create a new, stronger stone.” He needed one whose sole purpose was to open Rachel to possession, to weaken her defenses.
As always, his first step was to free himself of all impure thoughts by concentrating on the Emerald Tablet, written by Hermes Trismegistus, the father of alchemy, some 3000 years earlier. William Claude didn’t bother with all of Hermes’ many platitudes, but concentrated on the five he liked best. He chanted them aloud:
“I speak not fiction, but what is certain and most true.
What is below is like that which is above, and what is above is like that which is below.
Its father is the Sun, its mother is the Moon, its nurse is the Earth.
It is the cause of all perfection throughout the entire world.
Thus were all things created.”
Then, like Hermes Trismegistus, William Claude began the process of creating a new philosopher’s stone. His face was filled with determination; there was no boundary he wouldn’t cross, and no law of man or God he wouldn’t violate. After all, were he to be immortal, would he not be a god?
Chapter 35
One evening in the winter of the following year, Rachel stood by the road waiting for Taishi as he made his way home. She was the Snow Woman. A demon.
To her surprise, she had never forgotten the gentle young man although she had toyed with many other men since having had him.
Finally, she saw Taishi and found him even more sensual and arousing than she had a year earlier. As he passed, she fell into step beside him. She had left behind the Snow Woman's white kimono, and appeared as a young peasant close to him in age.
When he asked her name, she replied, O-Yuki, which meant snow. She told him she was an orphan, on her way to Edo to find work. Taishi was immediately charmed, and the more he looked at her, the more beautiful he seemed to find her.
He asked her whether she was yet betrothed. She laughed and said she was quite free. She then asked Taishi if he was married or pledged to marry; and he, too, said no. After these confidences, they walked on for a long while without speaking, but they cast quick, meaningful glances in each other’s direction.