Chapter 14 of BatB! Catch up, read, comment, the end is approaching!

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Hotaru stopped the car and turned to Mina. “Are you sure about this? There’s still time to back out.”

“I should be saying that to you. I’ve got the reason to be here.”

“Please, this is too cool for me to back out now.” But she hesitated with her hand on the door handle, staring ahead. “You think there’s any chance Teenie’s great gran is still in there somehow?”

“It would hardly be the weirdest thing in this scenario.” Minako squinted at Hotaru in the dark. “Is that why you’ve been so interested in my case?”

“Nah, I hardly even believed the whole thing until we were here. I just like to annoy Rei.” She grinned. “But since it is real… it would be nice if they got a little closure, one way or another.”

“Well, what’s better closure than killing the damn monster?” Mina opened her door. “Let’s do this.”

As soon as Hotaru disappeared around the corner to sneak in, Mina’s bravado deserted her. They’d decided she was safer unarmed, in case the monster would notice. She had nothing to protect her but natural charm. She had a lot of it, but faced with the big oak door in the dark, it didn’t feel like enough.

Minako knocked hard anyway, and then pushed her way inside. “Hello?” She yelled. Her voice echoed against the walls and made her feel small. “Haruka?”

“You shouldn’t be here.”

The voice sounded close, but Minako saw nothing.

“Come back later, tomorrow. Not now.”

Minako whipped her head, trying to find the voice. The entrance hall was empty, she was alone.

“Quick, go, please.”

She saw it— the faintest outline of a person. “You don’t scare me.”

“I’m not trying to. Haruka is busy, so—“

Mina punched the ghost, just to try it. Her fist went straight through, like she’d swung at a cold patch of mist.

“You’re going to ruin everything,” said the ghost, Mina’s hand still in her face. She disappeared completely.

“Mina!” Haruka burst into the room, dressed like some old-timey dignitary. Any other time, Minako would be unable to resist a jab, but now she was filled with dread. “I knew you’d find me.” She tackled her into a hug before she could respond.

Mina gasped for breath. “You’re okay?”

“I’m great, but my phone died and my truck ran out of gas, I’m sorry if you worried.”

“I—“

There it was. It stood in the doorway, watching them like prey. The monster was even worse when you could see the length of its claws and the texture of its scales. It liked dress up, it seemed— it was wrapped in some approximation of a dress that only highlighted the wrong angles of its body— and that struck Mina as horrifically perverse.

“Haruka,” she whispered, tugging her towards the door.

“Oh, of course!” Haruka let go and turned around. “Mina, this is Michiru. Michiru, this is Mina.”

The monster locked eyes with her and inclined its head. “Haruka has told me so much about you.”

“Only bad things, I hope.” She put a hand on Haruka’s shoulder. “We should get going.”

“But—“

“I’m in a rental car, I have to return it in the morning,” Mina lied quickly. “I didn’t think my baby would make the trip.”

“That’s why you should let me take a look at it—“

“Haruka.”

She sighed. “Fine.”

The monster’s eyes flicked over. One move, and I’ll take you down, unarmed or not. But the thing stayed still. “It’s rather late,” it said quietly. “If you wanted to stay and leave in the morning…”

“Too far, sorry.”

The monster frowned. Haruka went to her, grabbing her shoulders. “Hey, I’m gonna come back, don’t worry.”

Like hell. But that was a fight for after they’d driven away.

“I’ll get a good tank of gas and I’ll visit on weekends.” She put her hand in her hair. “God, the shop must be falling apart without me.”

“I promised I wouldn’t keep you.”

“And I’m promising I’m coming back.” Haruka squeezed the monster’s claws. “Okay, can I change quick?” She asked Mina, “My clothes are upstairs.”

“Yeah, buddy, go ahead.”

The monster’s gaze returned to her as Haruka left. “You have no intention of letting her return, do you?”

“Nope.”

“Mm.” The monster looked down. “That’s for the best.” It slithered back a few paces. “She was never mine to keep. Tell her I have no wish to see her.” It retreated further. “I beg your pardon, but I must go. It was a pleasure to meet you.” The monster turned and left.

“Michiru, wait!” The ghost from before reappeared, this time taking more form. It was short and blonde and the slightest bit familiar in a way Mina could not place. She turned on Mina. “They were so close, she was so close.” She pushed at Mina’s shoulder, more solid now but too weak to carry her malice.

Mina felt uneasy as the ghost began to cry. She wasn’t sure what was worse, if the monster was staging a counter-show to her diversion, or if everything playing out was genuine. Mina had been expecting a fight. Mina had been expecting a possessive monster, a violent monster, the one she had seen on the balcony. This was wrong. This was all wrong.

“Okay,” Haruka said, reemerging in her jeans. “I—“ She stopped. “Usagi? What’s wrong?”

The ghost launched itself at Haruka. “You have to go after her! She doesn’t want you to leave.”

That was the behavior Mina had expected. Perhaps this was an act after all, the monster putting her words in another’s mouth to appear sympathetic.

“I’m not leaving forever, Usagi, Michiru knows that.”

“Ask her if you’re coming back.” The ghost pointed at Mina. “She’s gonna take you away and we’re going to be alone here forever.”

“Usagi,” another ghost appeared, tall and commanding. “We can’t keep Haruka here.”

“Mina,” Haruka said slowly. “You can’t stop me from coming back.”

“We’ll be okay either way, Haruka,” said the second ghost. “Remember what you promis—“

“She has to stay!”

“No, Usagi, she has to go.”

“We can talk about it later, Haruka,” Mina said over the din of the ghosts. “Right now I just want to get you home safe.”

“I’m already safe.”

“I saw her hurt you,” Mina hissed. “I saw—“

“She’s changed.”

“It hasn’t even been a week, no one changes—“

A gunshot shocked them all to silence.

“We have to go.” Mina grabbed Haruka’s arm, but she yanked it away.

“What did you do?”

“Another conversation for the car. Now please, let’s just—“

Haruka ran, not away but back toward the monster. One of the ghosts tackled Mina from behind. Mina fell, her breath rushing out of her all at once. “How could you?”

“Usagi—“

“No, Mako, Michiru was going to fall in love and we were going to be free and now it’s all ruined.”

“Usagi,” that larger ghost said. “If Michiru is hurt, you’re needed.”

It got off Mina, but not without a final wail.

Mako knelt at Mina’s side as Usagi left. “Are you alright?”

Mina grunted. “Fuck off.”

The ghost huffed. “Get up, then, and get your friend out of here. Whatever you have to do, do it.”

“You don’t have to tell me that.” Mina pushed up from the ground. It didn’t matter what was an act and what was real. She was taking Haruka home.