Two weeks had passed since the art gallery encounter with the woman. His research into the Kagawa family had bore little fruit. For as little as he thought of Mr. Kagawa, he did keep his personal business private. Still, Chesterton was resourceful and found out that the Kagawa family had lived in Cary, NC, a city three hours north of Myrtle Beach. Oddly enough, they had moved out of Cary just three years prior. With no other leads, Chesterton decided to make the drive. He didn't need to, but something about driving in the pitch black darkness sated him.
Cary itself was a very bland city, filled with bland people doing bland things. To be fair, Chesterton thought that of every city he had ever visited. Human beings were just...boring.
Within 30 minutes of passing the city limits, he had found what he was looking for. CARY TOWNSHIP CEMETERY, a little white and black sign posted out front said.
Mr. Chesterton made his way through what seemed like thousands of gravestones before finally finding what he was looking for.
"Hikaru Kagawa,
1974-2020
A loving wife, a devoted mother, a beautiful spirit."
With a snap of his fingers, Chesterton produced a shovel.
"That is not going to be necessary."
Mr. Chesterton smiled a cartoonishly wide grin. He turned around to see the older Asian woman he had encountered at the art gallery.
"Hello, Ms. Hikaru Kagawa."
"Hello. I think we have a lot to discuss."
-----
Akari woke up with a smile on her face. The last two weeks had been amazing. She had gone on two more dates with Preitha and couldn't stop thinking about her. Her smile, her beautiful green eyes, her soft lips...Akari needed to get her head clear. It was Thursday, and she had two more days of work before her next date.
As Akari got ready, she couldn't stop thinking about having finally found someone she could relate to. Preitha's parents had emigrated from India, and only her mother was home for any consistent period of time. Akari found it comforting to know she wasn't the only person in her area whose parents found her a "continuously growing disappointment", as Preitha put it.
Suddenly, Akari got a call from Dr. Chesterton. Store renovations, the shop would be closed for the next few days, but she would be paid for days anyway. Akari was about to excitedly call Preitha but remembered that Preitha had her internship until 4:30. In the mean time, she could just paint. As she grabbed her easel, she noticed drips of blood. Akari looked in the nearest mirror and saw her nose was bleeding intensely.
Akari started panicking,
----
Preitha woke up to three missed calls from her mother. Ugh. She had an hour to get ready before work at Scyflo, the stupid software company her mother practically forced her to intern for. Please grab us some coffee Ms. Jha. Go to the mailroom and find these files Ms. Jha. Take that smug look off your face Ms. Jha. She was not going to waste what little time she had arguing with her mother.
As Preitha got up, she looked at herself in the mirror. She brushed her long, black hair out of her face. She was about to tie it in a ponytail when she remembered Akari telling her how pretty it looked down. Akari, Akari, Akari. She had only met this girl a few weeks prior and was smitten. Preitha couldn't believe how someone like her could feel so down about herself. Beautiful, talented, and with a wildly good paying job. Preitha was almost convinced to apply at Akari's employer herself.
"Well, maybe she has a secret she hasn't told you about." she said out loud. Preitha hoped against hope that Akari would react well when she found out Preitha's secret. If she did, she would be the first person who had.
-----
Mr. Chesterton glared at Hikaru Kagawa. "Little miss busybody finally decides to say something." Ms. Kagawa smiled.
"You knew I wasn't in that coffin the second you read my obituary. Why the game?"
"If you know me as well as you're pretending to, you know I enjoy this kind of thing very much."
"I am a little surprised you decided to do this. It meant you weren't hovering over my daughter like a hawk for the first time in weeks." Mr, Kagawa spewed.
"Ahh, Akari." Chesterton smugly beamed. "Fascinating girl. I wonder how she'd react if she found out mommie dearest was playing dead for three years."
"I had my reasons, which will come clear in time."
"Oh, I'm sure. Well, you'd better show it soon because I don't know how much time ol' Akari has left"
Ms. Kagawa breathed a deep sigh. Opening her left hand, she produced a blade of gray mist. She ran up on Chesterton and attempted to stab him but some strange force wouldn't let the blade get near him. Chesterton smiled. He produced a ball of fire in his hands and blew the flames right at Ms. Kagawa. After a few moments, the flames dissipated and while the field around her was torched, Ms. Kagawa was unharmed.
"Well...that is something." Mr. Chesterton said in genuine shock.
"You can't hurt me, and I can't hurt you." Ms. Kagawa said matter-of-factly. "We're at an impasse."
"You played dead for three years. Why come back now?"
"My daughter has a role to play in things to come, as I'm sure you're aware of. She is quite the painter, isn't she?"
Mr. Chesterton scowled. "It's very amusing you call her your daughter, since you are quite obviously not human."
"I held her in my womb for nine months and gave birth to her. She is my daughter and always will be."
"And you?"
"I came about through...other means."
Mr. Chesterton tried to gather his thoughts. "So what are your plans Ms. Kagawa?"
"You have your plans, and I have mine, let's leave it at that...I will tell you one thing. My daughter needs total clarity and focus for what lies ahead, no distractions."
"And you propose what exactly?"
"Her girlfriend, Preitha, must die. In front of her. It is the only way"