Ch 5: A Shadow's Reach - Part 1

[3rd person POV (Sunny)]

Sunny had successfully re-purchased his house and had just ordered what he was trying to get from the local Home Depot, and whatever electronic stores were within The Big City. Why? Because Kel was not kidding when he said that his mother took everything. The fridge, the stove, the beds (duh) the pictures, the plants, the bookshelves, the books, the T.V., all of it. Everything that was in the house was taken. All except Mari's old Piano. Instead, it was draped over with a white tarp.

He didn't know how long he had stopped and stared at it. All he knew was that when he had started staring at it, reminiscing about all the things that had surrounded that damned Piano, the sun had begun to set.

So many things happened because of that Piano….

He wanted to destroy it. So… so badly. But, he held himself back. He wasn't about to do that. For as much as he wanted to get rid of it, it was the last thing of his sister that he had left, excluding The Grief Devil. So, for her sake, he'd keep it in top condition. He vowed that he'd clean it day in, and day out, he'd even…. Learn how to play the Piano.

Just for her….

Depressing stuff aside, according to the person on the phone, all the stuff he had ordered from The Big City would take 10 to 15 business days for all of it to arrive. He was lucky he had the remaining funds to get it all, and now, he had around $3,000 to his name.

For reference, the house cost $45,000 to purchase, and all the stuff he bought cost him $3,000, leaving him with $3,000 in reserves, all of which he was probably going to spend on… probably half of Othermart's stock…

For a kid his age, he had a lot of money. Too much money. Maybe he'd give some of it to Aubrey when he found her? Maybe…. Depends on if he had enough food to last him a bit.

He thought about his contract to find and kill The Shadow Devil. He wondered how that would go. The Wolf Devil didn't go down without a fight, and it was a pretty hard one. Hell, he lost an arm because of it. If It wasn't for Kel… donating some of his blood to him, then he probably would've lost that arm for good.

Would The Shadow Devil be the same? Or would it be worse? Just what was he going to be up against? He never quite liked shadows…. It was one of his many fears. Before he conquered them, of course, but even still, his shadow would spook him from time to time.

Even those creeky stairs spooked him.

For a very obvious, very traumatizing reason.

But, enough of that. Right now, he just wanted to have dinner. Which, was what he was supposedly about to do, standing on the front porch of The Desoto's family home, I.E. Kel's house. Kel was let out of the hospital rather quickly, as he saw him on his way home in his mother's van. Kel glanced at him out of where he sat in that van and gave him what he could only describe as a calculating, confused look. Like he was trying to figure out what he was. But, when he looked at Kel, the boy seemed to freak out and look away immediately.

He wondered what was going on in his head.

Eh, whatever. He would get his answer at dinner, he supposed.

Sunny debated with himself on if he should leave his badge at his newly re-acquired house, or if he should have taken it with him. And while both were good ideas, the one where he had to do more explaining was the one he wanted to avoid doing.

So, he left the badge at home.

Raising his hand to the door, Sunny inhaled, then exhaled. Seeing as Mr. Desoto's car wasn't in the driveway, it meant he'd have to explain things again when he got home.

Well…. Guess it didn't matter now. So, Sunny knocked on the door a few times, then put his hand to the side of himself. He calmly waited for about three seconds, before the door opened. Mrs. Desoto had been there to open the door, and when she did, she smiled. "You made it! Great! Come on in, Sunny!"

The moment he stepped through the door, he was only narrowly able to avoid the swing of a metal baseball bat aimed right at his head. Thankfully, due to his newfound reflexes, he was able to just narrowly duck under the swing. And, the person who did it was none other than… Kel. The frightened gleam in his eyes made it clear to Sunny that Kel was, if not just scared, deathly afraid of him.

Which, yet again, he did not fault him for, although, he was a little angry that Kel had the gall to swing at him.

"¡KELSEY RODRIQUEZ DESOTO! ¡¿Qué estás haciendo en nombre de dios?!" Mrs. Desoto said, speaking in what Sunny could only assume was her native tongue, which sounded like Spanish.

"¡Eso no es Sunny! ¡Ese es un monstruo que se parece a Sunny!¡Lo vi! ¡Me mordió! ¡Por favor, mamá, créeme!" Kel replied, again, in the same language. Mrs. Desoto yanked the baseball bat out of her son's hand, spun him around, and grabbed him by the back of his shirt.

"You go to your room right now, young man! You are GROUNDED from the T.V. for the first semester of school and the rest of summer break, that includes video games. I cannot BELIEVE you'd call your friend a monster!"

Kel looked over at Sunny, and for the first time ever, Kel glared at him. "That thing… is not Sunny. If you saw what I saw… you'd understand me, mom."

And then, Kel disappeared upstairs, leaving Sunny and Mrs. Desoto in the foyer. The sound of a door slamming echoed throughout the house, as a baby's cry rippled throughout the living room. Mrs. Desoto sighed, rubbing her temples with her index fingers in a massaging motion. "I'm sorry, Sunny. I don't know what's gotten into him today. He must've hit his head or something…."

"No… it's alright," Sunny replied, his tone of voice monotone, as per usual. He didn't fault Kel for anything. Kel was scared—something Kel typically wasn't, and hell, this entire thing seemed out of character for him, but at the same time, all that Kel saw was his Hybrid Form, right? And said Hybrid Form was terrifying.

Granted, he hadn't seen it himself. He only saw his arms and his hands, but he imagined his head wasn't exactly a pretty sight. Then… he got to thinking. "Excuse me, Mrs. Desoto…. May I use the washroom?"

Mrs. Desoto smiled and pointed in the direction of the bathroom. Bowing his head, he ran to the bathroom, which was just a few steps away from the entrance. Closing and locking the door, Sunny outstretched his arm, pulled out his knife and placed the sharp end of the blade on his left wrist. Making a small cut, the transformation activated.

It was quick and seamless, and it got a little blood on the collar of his shirt, but nothing too bad. And… now he understood why Kel was afraid of him. The first thing to note was his neck and jaws. His neck was made completely out of chains, and his lower jaw stuck out like a hook, though it pointed down. His teeth… were the size of butcher knives, and were jagged like shark teeth.

The upper part of his head though… was where things got weird. It was a writhing mass of chains, shaped into what appeared to look like a head. Of course, he had no nose, but his eyes were the creepy part. His eyes were a deep, scarlet red, slanted, and had what appeared to be rings for irises.

It looked…. Demonic. Like a monster. No wonder Kel called him those things. He really, truly, appeared to be a monster. But then again, all he wanted to do was help people…. He wanted to protect Faraway. Nothing more, nothing less. So…. Why?

Ah… he knew why.

Kel knew nothing about Devils. So, as far as he was concerned, what he saw Sunny as was a monster. A monster that looked talked and acted like Sunny. Coupled with the fact that Sunny was supposed to be dead, you know considering he killed himself two days ago, how could he not think that?

Still…. It hurt. It hurt for him to say those things.

To call him a thing, rather than a person.

To call him a monster…. Even if he did deserve it for what he did to Mari….

But that wasn't true.

He was Sunny.

Sunny Suzuki.

He was born on July 20th, 1970 to Charolette Suzuki and Hizashi Suzuki, the younger brother of Marianne Suzuki. If he remembered what his father said to them when they were younger, and if they were born in Japan, Mari's name would've been Yoshiko, which meant Beautiful Child, and his name would've been Shoto, which if he remembered what his father said, meant Bright, shining Child, like that of the sun, in his father's native language. Fitting, right? He was of Japanese-American descent, with his father being born in Japan—the Kyoto region, to be specific, and his mother was from California.

He. Was. Sunny. Suzuki.

He. Was. Not. A. Thing.

He. Was. Not. A. Monster.

End.

Of.

Story.

Reverting back to his human form, Sunny looked down at the sink. It was bloody.

Damnit.

Whelp. Guess he had to clean it up now.

Wonderful...

By the time Sunny had finished wiping up the blood in the sink, and making sure that nothing was stained, Sunny put away his knife, used the bathroom, washed his hands, then stepped outside of the bathroom. Taking his shoes off and flicking them at the shoe rack, Sunny stepped into the main living room and looked over to see Mrs. Desoto bottle-feeding Kel's baby sister, Sally Desoto. Mrs. Desoto noticed him and gave him a weak smile.

"Oh! You took forever in there, I was worried you fell in," Mrs. Desoto joked, making Sunny crack a small smile. "Well, if you wish, you can make yourself something. I was going to make Pozole for everyone, but I'm too tired. We have some of that… uh, Mr. Noodle stuff that Hero liked to eat. You can have that if you want," Mrs. Desoto said, smiling as Sunny nodded.

And so, he did that. The process was simple enough, and by the time he was finished eating, he had cleaned up the pots and dishes, before putting them back to where he had found them. He looked over to the mountain of dishes in the sink, frowned, then looked back at Mrs. Desoto.

Maybe… he'd do the rest of the dishes.

Yeah…. He would do that.

And so, he immediately got to work. Besides, it was the right thing to do. Mrs. Desoto had invited him into her family's home, and to not repay that kindness by at least helping around the place was criminal. Overall, it took him around an hour to finish the dishes, and when all was said and done, everything was spotless and put away in their places. At least, where he assumed everything went.

He had even gone the extra mile and wiped down the stove and counters. And they all glistened as if they were newly bought.

"Oh my! Sunny, you didn't need to do all of that!" Mrs. Desoto said. From what he overheard while he cleaned the kitchen, she had just laid Sally back down to have a nap. He was not about to make the kind woman do the dishes. Besides, it was only the right thing to do. Sunny smiled, before bowing, making Kel's mom raise an eyebrow.

"Watashi o yondekurete arigatō," Sunny began, as he rose from his bowing position, his expression returning to a more neutral one, if not with a hint of embarrassment in his eyes. "It means "Thank you for having me," in my dad's language. He… taught me to say that whenever I've been invited over to a friend's place, for any reason," Sunny replied before rubbing the back of his neck. "And… it really isn't a big issue…. You let me come over to your house… and… you let me eat your food. It's the least I could've done…."

Mrs. Desoto smiled in return, before ruffling his hair. "Thank you, Sunny. And, I'm sorry for what Kel did. I have no idea why he said those nasty things to you, or swung that bat at you. Honestly, I don't understand that boy sometimes…." This time, Mrs. Desoto frowned. "I swear, he's… changed. Ever since Henry left again for college without saying a word, Kel's been a lot more secretive, and a lot ruder. I guess he just… couldn't handle his brother leaving again without saying goodbye."

Sunny bit his lip. That didn't sound like something Hero would do. But… then again, he hadn't seen Hero in a while, the last time being a couple of days ago, and even then, it was a rather brief interaction. Still, it was unusual. Which… maybe explained why Kel was a little… upset.

That, and Sunny was Mari's brother. His ex-girlfriend's brother. His only connection to Mari had supposedly up and died, which would then mean he had nothing really left to tie him down to the town, with the sole exception being his family. Not to mention, for whatever brief time he had spoken to Hero, they were pretty close. And… he did always see Hero as an older brother figure. Maybe… Hero had felt the same way?

God…. He knew that it was The Suicide Devil's fault as to why he threw himself off that building. It caused so much pain in such a short amount of time.

He was glad he killed it.

"No… I understand. There is still a lot of… things I have to explain. How I'm alive… why I'm alive…. I plan to wait until I can see everyone again…. Then…. Then I will explain," Sunny said as he looked over to Mrs. Desoto. "Don't be too hard on Kel…. He's probably still… reeling from me coming back to life. What he saw in the forest… when he was attacked by that wolf… it was something no one should have to see…. It most likely traumatized him…."

Mrs. Desoto hummed, looking at him with a gentle gleam in her eyes. "I see. I'll… keep that in mind. Thank you again, Sunny. I would treat you to some kind of dessert, but it's getting late. I think you should head home," Mrs. Desoto said, as Sunny nodded.

Once he put back on his shoes and opened the door to exit the house, he turned around, bowed again, and smiled. "o Yasumi!"

And then, with the door closed behind him, Sunny went to his newly re-purchased home.

[3rd person POV – No one in particular]

The sun had set, and replacing the bright blue sky was a well of inky black darkness, with bright white pinpricks gleaming—stars, and with it, a giant pearly white orb smack dab in the center of the sky—the moon. It was somewhere around 7:30 PM, nearing the end of suppertime. At the Faraway Police station, the day guard was about ready to check out for the night. He had a daughter and wife to come home to, and, quite frankly, he had just about had enough of having to deal with the current person within the holding cell.

Granted, they weren't being shipped off anywhere. This was just a simple "scare them straight" thing. It hadn't been the first time they had been in here, either, but The Mayor insisted that shipping her off to prison would be a bad idea. Something about her "being a good-natured person" and that "sending her to prison would only make her worse."

Whatever the case had been, the day guard couldn't give less of a shit. He wasn't here to listen to people's excuses. As far as he was concerned, that brat was a nuisance, and the town was better off without her and her little group of shits-for-brains. All those hooligans did was ruin the town's name. Granted, they were nothing more than schoolyard bullies, with a pension for vandalizing things, but even still.

Honestly, if he had it his way, he would've locked them all up in the county jail for at least a year, and beat the thug out of them. But, he wasn't the police chief, so he couldn't issue that kind of thing. He was just a guard. Nothing more, nothing less.

That, and word travelled quickly in this town. If he got caught or ratted out for beating prisoners, he would be run out of town. Faraway was just a stepping stone for him. Once he was promoted to an actual officer, he'd be able to get moved to The Big City. And once there, he wouldn't have to worry about people murmuring and whispering.

Just before he could clock out for the day, the phone that they confiscated from her started ringing. The man frowned, picked up the pink flip phone, and opened it, checking the caller ID. "Work. Just… work? Really? Whatever…. No harm no foul, right?" The police officer said, answering the phone. "Hello, this is the Faraway Police department, Jackie Simmons talking. The person who owns this phone is currently in Jail. Who are you? And may I leave a message?"

"Hello. My name is… Mr. Wright. I am with a Devil Hunter agency within The Big City. May I please speak to my employee?"

"Shit… really? She just HAD to be a Devil Hunter, didn't she," Officer Simmons thought drearily, looking over to the time. It couldn't hurt to stay a few extra minutes, right? The night guard wasn't going to care, was he? Probably not. Although, if she was a Devil Hunter, that must've meant that this Mr. Wright person had a few screws loose.

Who in their right mind would let such a bitch be a Devil Hunter? Seriously? He might not've known much, but he knew that Devil Hunters had to have at least some common sense. And that whore had none at all, whatsoever.

At least, he thought so, anyway.

"Can I ask how long your employee has been a Devil Hunter? No offence, but… she seems unfit for the Job," Simmons spat, frowning. The phone went silent for a few seconds. Then, the person on the other end spoke up again.

"She is new. A day ago, to be precise. And, I would like it if you do not talk badly about our new hires. You know how hard it must be to get ahold of such talent at that age. Right? Officer Simmons?"

Simmons snarled, but, restrained himself. "Fine, fine… whatever. I'll get them for ya, just give me a second, okay?" Simmons said, walking out of the office room and heading down the hallway, passing room after room before reaching the holding cells. In one, there was a drug addict who was being held for three days, and in the next cell, was the person he was looking for.

She was sound asleep, the bitch, but it didn't matter. Although, she did look peaceful, all balled up like that. She was wearing a white and gold button-up jersey jacket, with a black cropped shirt underneath. Her hair was dyed pink, which was easy to spot based on the dark brown hair roots that she had. Oh, and she was also wearing a pair of jean shorts.

Grabbing his baton, he clacked on the bars loud enough to make the girl stir, and groan. "Oi, Williams, get your ass up. Got someone on the phone for ya," Simmons said, frowning as the young woman began to sit up, stretching her arms out before yawning. The girl stood up, 5 feet 7 inches and all, walking over to the cell door, and yanking the phone out of his hand.

The officer rolled his eyes and walked away so that he could at least hear a bit of the conversation. When he was gone, the girl huffed, placing the phone to her ear. "Yo, it's Aubrey. What do you want?"

"Ms. Williams."

Aubrey's cocky attitude dropped immediately, in turn for a more professional one. She remembered the last time she used that kind of attitude with him, which was… like when they first met. It was why she now had a scar running down her right thigh to her knee. "Mr. Wright. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"The Boss has a request for you."

Aubrey sighed. "I figured as much. Otherwise, you wouldn't be calling me. So, what's my first job, huh? It's gotta wait though, I'm stuck in the county Jail for another 13 hours."

"…and, may I know why?"

"Busted some bastards windshield. He was looking at me all pervy-like. So I smashed his car's windshield. That an issue?" Aubrey snarked.

"What have I told you about using that tone with me, Ms. Williams? Do I need to—"

"Hold on, hold on!" Aubrey interrupted panic in her tone of voice. "I'm sorry, sir…. I'm just, not in a good mood as of late. My… friend died a few days ago, so I'm a little stressed out."

"And that friend would be Sunny Suzuki, correct?"

"Yeah… it would be. Why, do you know him?" Aubrey asked, frowning at the mention of her dead friend's name. There was silence, something that Mr. Wright liked to use to build up dramatic tension, as Aubrey found out. Coincidently, it was the same day she met the man that she found out about his love for dramatic tension.

She still remembered his appearance—burned it into her memory, so that one day she could break his fucking knee-caps for nearly ripping off her leg. Those vapid, black, soulless eyes… his slicked-back black hair. And that stupid, god-forsaken, red suit and tie. Ugh… the less she remembered what he looked like, the better.

"What if I were to tell you…. That Mr. Suzuki live's?"

Aubrey was about to shout at Mr. Wright, consequences be damned, but before she could, he continued.

"Mr. Suzuki is in possession of The Grief Devil. The Grief Devil is a special kind of Devil, one that can bring back the dead through a contract. Only a few Devils can do that. The Chainsaw Devil, to name a prominent one. So, before you get angry at me, and try and chew me out, at least know the facts first."

Aubrey's eyes widened. Sunny… was alive? Was that even possible? She was at the funeral and saw his body and everything. So for him to be alive… and for him to have a Devil… that meant that if he had been re-animated, resurrected, whatever, it would have to have been an hour after she had been arrested! Inhaling, she let out a shaky breath. It was best to not lose composure right now. "And… why do I need to know this, Mr. Wright?"

"Because, that is your Job, Ms. Williams. You are to locate, subdue, and bring Mr. Suzuki to the nearest bus station. Should you fail to do so, you will be fired. This is your first job, so do NOT fuck this up, Ms. Williams. Do whatever it takes to get your job done. Even if it means getting your hands dirty. Oh, and one more thing…. The Grief Devil is extremely dangerous. It is in the same league of power, if not a little weaker than The Chainsaw Devil. The only reason why I send you is that I cannot risk any of our stronger Hunters on it. So, I'm sending you. Someone who is disposable. I hope you understand, Ms. Williams. Ciao."

Mr. Wright hung up after that. She had no idea what being fired entailed, but with the tone that Mr. Wright was using, it probably wasn't good. She basically had her hands tied behind her back. She had to lead The Hooligans, on top of now being a Devil Hunter. Apparently, a disposable one at that.

All she wanted to do was make some money to finally move out of that fucking shit hole she called home. She had no idea that she could die doing it. Being a Devil Hunter sounded cool, and not only because it sounded punk as all get out, but because it would've earned her a lot of money.

Then, she met Mr. Wright, was tested, and then was forced to make a contract with one of those so-called Devils. She hadn't used it yet, because she had no idea what "wanting to see her bleed" meant when the contract was made, but she figured now was as good a time as ever to test it out.

Sweeping her bangs out of her face, she walked up to the bars of her cell and spoke. "Yo, Officer, done with the phone, you can take it now!"

It didn't take long for the officer in question to snag her phone back, and glare at her. "Bitch," he spat, before walking away. Aubrey relaxed, closing her eyes, taking in a deep breath, and sighing. No use in sticking around. She had a job to do.

There were times when her anger got the better of her, but right now, she wasn't angry. She just didn't want to be on the other end of Mr. Wright and that beast of a Devil he kept at bay. He said that if she failed him again, or talked back to him again, what happened to her during their first encounter would be nothing more than a slap on the wrist. She feared Mr. Wright, truthfully, and she'd do anything to avoid incurring his wrath again. And so… she had to do this, no matter how much her brain told her it was wrong. It would haunt her for the rest of her life, guaranteed, but… she didn't want to die.

Raising her left hand to her face, she crossed her middle finger and her index finger, made a circle with her ring finger and thumb, stuck up her pinky finger, and smirked. "Shadow: Kill Officer Simmons, take his keys, and give them to me."

The moment she uttered those words, the entire hallway turned pitch black. The day guard looked around, sweat pouring down his forehead, as he drew his gun. "What the hell is—" He never got to finish his sentence, as two hands the size of the walls came barrelling down at him at speeds faster than a car could go. The man screamed, before being flattened like a pancake, blood now coating the blackened walls, almost like in a horror movie.

The clap of the hands echoed throughout the police station, as the hands peeled away, leaving nothing but a pair of keys on the floor, the officer's body disappearing completely. On one of the hands was a massive, toothy mouth the size of a car, with large jagged teeth, all of which were stained in blood. Several smaller hands that were generated from the larger hands grabbed the keys and placed them on Aubrey's open palm, who then used them to free herself.

Once it was all said and done, both the darkness and the blood splatter completely vanished, as Aubrey twirled the keys, which were on a ring, around her left index finger. A small trail of blood dripped down her nose and onto her chin, which she quickly wiped away.

A small, devilish smirk appeared on Aubrey's face, as she passed by the security office. She picked up her Devil Hunter Badge, slapped it on her jacket, and then, she calmly walked out of the police station. She had never taken a life before, and never planned to do it again, but when someone is scared for their life, they do what they have to do in order to survive. Even if it means a few people, or in this case one officer, had to lose their life to get it.

And while the prospect of having to hunt down a now supposedly alive Sunny bothered her, she wasn't going to hurt him. She was going to capture him, deliver him to the bus stop, and then, go back home.

She just hoped that Sunny would understand.

"Whelp…" Aubrey began, as she stared off into the distance of her beloved hometown. "Time to get to work."

-To Be Continued-