Final Showdown

by Karin De Havin

  My mind reeled as we took the elevator back downstairs. Ren said, “I still can’t believe she is allowing us to stay here.”

  “Me too. I’d never let my swanky mansion be turned into a safe house.”

  Ren gave a nervous chuckle as the elevator door opened and we walked back into my new home. She raced over to a ceramic bowl on the low table in the living room. “I almost forgot.” She handed me a keychain with a gold sun emblem. Her obvious nod to the Sun Goddess. “Here is your key to freedom, enjoy!”

  “Thanks.” I stuffed back a yawn. “You mind if I head back to my room and get settled in?”

  “Sure. I have a lot of paperwork I need to catch up on.”

  Flashing back to her office I smiled. “I bet the PSIA keeps you busy.”

  “You have no idea.”

  I knew soon enough she would fill me on why I needed to move in with her for my own safety—and the latest paranormal discoveries that drove Kenzo to make that decision. But right now, I needed to unpack my pajamas and crawl into bed. Back in my room, I opened the box I brought with me, pulled out my favorite leopard pajamas, and scrounged up my toothbrush. As I stood up the temperature in the room quickly dropped twenty degrees. Guess I packed more than I thought. The familiar white ghostly blob formed in front of me.

  I asked, “What are you doing here? I thought you were going to Kyoto.”

  The white blob quivered like jelly. “There has been a change of plans.”

  Chapter 5

  Steel Island

  March 26th 9:00PM

  My eyes fluttered open and my mind drew a complete blank.

  What the heck? Where am I?

  One minute I sat leaning against the box, talking to someone, the next I had passed out. Then I looked over and saw the ghost hovering by the Golden Pavilion painting. “What happened? I was talking to you and then I fainted?”

  “You slept. I stayed. We have unfinished business.”

  I used the box to push myself up. My head remained in a fog. Weird, I never had that kind of reaction to seeing the ghost before. Could I be dreaming again? The cold air forced me to shiver. Nope. “All right. Tell me what you want.”

  The faceless white mass drifted in front of me. “Do you remember meeting the momonga?”

  “How could I forget? The squirrel ruined my favorite pair of jeans.”

  “Yuki meant no harm. She is going to visit you again. You must be aware of Yuki’s presence and give her shelter.”

  So, the squirrel had a name. “You want me to keep her as a pet? That is why you didn’t go to Kyoto?”

  “Yes. But she is not a pet. Yuki is the messenger for the Sun Goddess.” The ghost drifted toward the door. “Now, I must speak with Ren.”

  This ought to be interesting. I wonder if Ren knows the ghost’s true identity? I followed behind the ghost, until I literally hit a wall. The ghost floated through the wall like it was made of air. I opened the door to find the ghost hovering in front of Ren in the living room.

  Ren smiled. “Good to see you, Kyubi. Have you delivered your message?”

  “Yes.”

  Ren seemed unaffected by the freezing temperature in the room. “Good. Now we need you back in Kyoto.”

  The white blob quivered and then vanished. I stood staring at Ren with a combination of awe and apprehension at how many mysteries she guarded. “You sure are good at bossing ghosts around.”

  Ren laughed as she walked over and took my hand. “Might as well fill you in now. As you can tell, there has been a lot going on while you’ve been in school.”

  I followed her like a zombie over to the sofa and sat down. Watching all those episodes of Supernatural could never prepare me for this conversation. “Right. I have a feeling things are about to change.”

  Moving over to the kitchen, Ren picked up the teakettle and returned with two large mugs full to the brim. “This conversation is going to take a while.”

  By the time she stopped filling me in on the various leads and messages that were swirling around the paranormal world, the sun began to peek through the curtains.

  Ren leaned forward in her chair. “Sorry for such a long information dump, but Kenzo wanted me to fill you in ASAP. And the Kyubi forced my hand.”

  “So, let me see if I understood the important parts. Death and the Sun Goddess are in a battle for who will control the Japanese paranormal world. Death has put a curse on all the psychic people in Japan, so they are blocked from seeing his plans. Only people like me, from outside of Japan, are able to communicate with the Sun Goddess and get clues about Death and his minions.” I sucked in a breath. “Oh, and my ghost is really a Kitsune.”

  Ren polished off her tea. “Yes. That’s it in a nutshell, as you say.”

  “And the reason why the ghost is going to Kyoto is that’s where the big showdown is going to happen.”

  Ren picked up our mugs and strode to the kitchen. “Right, again.”

  A loud crash came from the kitchen and I rushed across the room. Ren stood staring at the teakettle lying sideways on the kitchen floor. She pointed to the clock hanging over the sink. “Look at the time! You are going to be late for the field trip. Kenzo will never forgive me for keeping you up all night.”

  I picked up the kettle and put it in the sink. “Field trip?” Then my mind flashed on the schedule change that had been posted on the display screen in the lounge yesterday. “Crap. The steel factory tour.”

  Hot Times

  March 26th 8:00 AM

  Mr. Shinji shouting out my name made me sprint even faster toward the bus. “Erin Van Horn, we were going to leave without you.”

  With two huge leaps up the stairs, I made it inside the bus. Tripping over the rubber mat at the top of the stairs, I almost landed in Kenzo’s black leather-clad lap. He wrapped his arms around me to keep me steady. My heart skipped a beat before he let me go.

  Kenzo gave me a crooked grin. “You would think living closer to campus you could get here on time.”

  Mr. Shinji chuckled at my expense. “Good observation, Sawada.”

  Sufficiently humiliated, I moved toward the empty seat Setsuko held for me right behind Adam and Gina.

  She pushed her purse aside. “Aren’t you super jazzed to go see a steel factory?” The sarcasm laid thick in her voice.

  “Well, at least we get the day off of school.”

  Setsuko huffed. “I think I’d rather go to my classes.”

  Exhausted from the all-night marathon with Ren, I settled back in my seat hoping to catch a few Z’s on the two-hour ride to Yokohama. The second we were out on the open road, the rocking of the bus put me right to sleep.

  Setsuko nudged me awake. “Look, we are almost there.”

  I massaged the crick in my neck as I gazed out the window. The factory sat on a man-made island out in a small harbor. It reminded me of the islands off the coast of California that housed oil rigs—but this one was much larger. I caught a glimpse of the tunnel off in the distance through the mist. As we drove closer to the bay, the fog laid low, causing a blanket effect over the factory.

  Adam shifted in his seat. “I heard driving through the tunnel is pretty cool. Kind of like being on a submarine. This better be like an amusement park ride, because I need the adrenalin rush to stay awake. The long bus ride has turned me into a zombie.”

  I laughed. “I guess I passed out. I can’t believe we are here already.”

  Setsuko dabbed at her shoulder with a napkin. “You drooled all over me!”

  Her voice woke up a couple of people snoring in the back of the bus.

  Patting Adam on the back, I said, “Hey, I am with you. I need a little brain rush to wake me up.” Nudging the familiar person still sleeping in front of me, I said, “Right, Gina?”

  Gina turned her head and glared at me. “Thanks a lot. I was dreaming I won the lotto and was in the middle of a buying spree in Beverly Hills.”

  Mr. Shinji stood at the front of the bus as the driver slowly edged toward
the security gate that blocked access to the tunnel.

  He signed a paper on a clipboard a guard handed him, then stood by the front row seats. “Attention students. We are about to enter the tunnel. As it rests on the ocean floor, I am told you will feel the pressure difference once we are deep inside. You may need to pop your ears like you do when you are flying.”

  Gina looked at Adam. “Hey, I didn’t sign up for this. What did you get me into?”

  I was glad she wasn’t blaming me for a change.

  We moved through the security gate and the bus picked up speed. For some reason I took a deep breath as we entered the tunnel opening. I guess it must have been my swimmer instincts kicking in knowing the tunnel sat on the ocean floor.

  When we first drove inside, it felt the same as any other tunnel I’d ever driven through. I turned around and gazed out the back window grateful I could still see a faint glimmer of daylight. After a few minutes, I felt the pressure begin to change. This must be what it felt like when a submarine began a deep dive. Of course, the only submarine I rode on was painted bright yellow and resided in Disneyland.

  Setsuko gripped my hand so tightly it hurt. “Can you feel the pressure in your chest?”

  Boy did I. It felt like an elephant decided to use my chest as a chair. I gave her a weak smile. “Just a little.”

  The bus continued down the tunnel for a couple more minutes, then my hands instinctively clutched the edge of the seat and my claustrophobia kicked in. Total darkness surrounded us except for a strip of lights running along the top of the tunnel. Our time inside the tunnel felt like it was never going to end. I tried not to think about the hundreds of feet of water totally surrounding us, knowing it would only make my claustrophobia worse.

  Adam wiggled excitedly in his seat. “Man, this is so radical. I can feel the weight of the water all around us.”

  Gina sat holding her stomach, probably wishing she didn’t have a nice big breakfast this morning. Too bad the bus didn’t come equipped with barf bags.

  I actually had to close my eyes to keep from screaming, “We’re never getting out of this stupid tunnel!” I opened my eyes to see that, yes, the saying actually did prove to be true. There was light at the end of the tunnel. As the light from outside grew brighter, I’d never been so glad to see something in my whole life. Soon, the bus climbed out of the tunnel and onto the island. The main factory building could have fit right in on Mars. I brought my camera along doubtful there would be many photo opportunities—boy was I wrong. The futuristic angles of the building gave no clue it housed a factory—for steel making no less.

  Mr. Shinji climbed off the bus and greeted the manager of the factory. Kenzo motioned for us to follow suit.

  The factory manager proudly stood next to Mr. Shinji. “Students, this is an amazing opportunity to see the might of the Japanese steel industry. Please be on your best behavior. And absolutely no photography. We will now break into two groups.” He turned to Kenzo. “You take the students to the left.”

  I wanted to cheer, but Setsuko rolled her eyes. “For once I’d like to have Mr. Shinji as my guide.”

  Patting her on the back, I winked at our rocker tour guide. “I know it must be tough for a kiss ass like you to be stuck with Kenzo again. You’ll just have to suffer through.”

  Adam and Gina laughed as we dutifully lined up in front of Kenzo. From our vantage point standing in the parking lot, the main building loomed over us. The giant shadow it cast made me feel as tiny as the dwarf flying squirrel. Even though Mr. Shinji said not to take pictures, I snuck one anyway.

  Kenzo led us inside the building and like dutiful kids, we lined up in front of a series of endless stations set up for workers to process the steel. Off in the distance, an orange glow radiated out of an even larger building.

  A man dressed in a blue jumpsuit and wearing a fluorescent orange hard hat greeted us in front of a processing station. He reached into a large metal bin and handed each of us a hard hat to wear. Setsuko fussed over her hair as if her dream man would be in attendance.

  Kenzo stood next to the engineer and translated what he said. I smiled knowing I could understand almost everything he said. Well, except for when the words that were super technical.

  “This is where we prep the molds and get them ready for the steel to be poured.”

  The molds were easily the length of a small bridge. The engineer walked along the outside of the mold and we followed behind Kenzo like sheep. The engineer led us to a set of metal stairs two stories high. We trudged up to the top and then lined up on a huge causeway. We had a bird’s eye view of the massive bright white robot arms moving stacks of heavy steel I-beams to a staging station. Not a human insight—just endless mechanical arms and headless robots scurrying about. It felt like I was watching a live action sci-fi movie. The dangerous work of pouring the molten pig iron into the molds was for AI only. Sneaking my camera out of my jeans pocket, I took a video of the robots pouring the steel. Their rhythmic dance fascinated me as they pulled the kettle over and then tilted it down and poured the molten pig iron into the molds.

  Kenzo pointed to a second group of robots busily inspecting the I-beams in the molds with their computer driven eyes. One of the robot’s heads swiveled and looked straight at me. Staring into the robot’s camera lens eyes, it felt like looking into the future.

  Setsuko squealed when one of the robots scurried next to her. Adam stood like a bodyguard shielding Gina. Rather than being scared, the robots fascinated me. I appreciated the fact that the robots kept people from being hurt on the job, or even dying. The downside to that, of course, was the fact they took the place of their human counterparts. Progress didn’t always benefit everyone.

  Kenzo pointed to the inspection station. “As you can see the final quality inspection is done by human workers. Robot technology isn’t sophisticated enough to find minute defects in the steel.”

  Adam whispered, “At least we are good for something.”

  As we moved to the processing section, I could see why we needed hard hats. The building roof towered over giant cranes busily moving I-beams from one side of the stocking area to the another. The beams were ready to ship all over the world. The largest of the cranes stacked I-beams that would be used to build city bridges. My arms prickled at the thought that one of the beams suspended high up in the air could squish me like an ant. I snuck a couple of shots even though I highly doubted they would come out. Photographs probably were forbidden because the company worried visitors might reveal trade secrets. I thought student spies would be an ingenious idea. We could get away with all kinds of things and no one would be the wiser. But I wasn’t the spy—that title belonged to Kenzo.

  As we walked toward the final building, I realized we actually did the tour in reverse. The blast furnace was where the metal for the I-beams began. Kenzo pointed to the massive structure that glowed bright orange like our hard hats. “This is the main blast furnace.”

  I craned my neck back and could barely see the top of the roof. The furnace must be at least six stories high. Blistering heat radiated toward us like we were standing in the Sahara Desert. A man dressed in a silver protective jumpsuit joined us. He signaled a fellow silver-clad man to push a button on the side of the furnace. A large cover slid off to the side, exposing a bubbling orange mass of molten metal.

  The engineer began to speak and Kenzo translated for him. “Inside the blast furnace the pig iron reaches a temperature of one thousand four hundred Celsius.” He pointed to a giant metal tube. “Overhead is the large circular housing called the birds nest. This cooling device keeps the furnace from overheating.”

  We all took a collective gasp as the engineer reached out and grabbed a long-handled ladle resting next to the furnace. He carefully dipped it into the bubbling metal. Making sure he was well behind a thick steel shield, the engineer examined the thickness of the pig iron, and then poured it back into the boiling mass. A loud gulping sound filled the air. All I could think
of was every painting I’d ever seen of Hell. As I stared into the mass of orange flames an image came into view—the unmistakable face of Death. An invisible force raced out of the furnace and straight toward me. It slammed into my chest so hard I bent over and coughed, barely able to catch my breath.

  Kenzo raced to my side. “Erin, what happened?”

  Gasping for air, I spit out, “Death is here…for me.”

  Chapter 6

  Sakura Time

  Later that day 7:00PM

  The unmistakable fragrance of matcha tea drifted up my nose. “Ren?”

  She hovered over my bed. “Yes, Erin it’s me. You’re safely back in Ogikubo.”

  “Good thing I’m such a great liar,” said Kenzo sitting on the other side of my bed.

  “What happened?”

  Ren squeezed my hand. “We were hoping you could tell us.”

  I sat up causing a shooting pain to race across my chest. “Death punched me like he did before. He appeared in the depths of the flames inside the furnace.”

  Kenzo nodded. “I thought something like that might have happened.”

  Ren hung her head. “I should have been there to protect you.”

  Kenzo glared at her. “We talked about how that wasn’t possible.”

  “Drink this.” She held the mug full of the pungent tea up to my lips. “It will help heal you.”

  I drank down the bitter tasting tea as I was told. Ren didn’t look like the type who would be a gentle nurse. “Kenzo, what did you say to Mr. Shinji?”

  “I told him you were still weak from your bout with Hashika and the heat from the furnace was too much for you.”

  I gave him a weak smile. “Not bad for thinking on your feet.”

  “Thanks. I told him I would take you to a local clinic to make sure you were okay.” Kenzo sucked in a breath. “And that wasn’t a lie. Look at your ribs, Erin.”