Kaori looked at her surroundings. Nothing but the dark, black sky above her and run down buildings around her. She clutched one of her daggers, she’d need them eventually. Grabbing the only bag she had she stepped forward, walking through the dark streets of Prague looking for some mode of transportation. She had overheard Evelina and Marena and planned to follow them to London. It was the only thing she could think to do at this point. She couldn’t possibly stay with the Nightriders after what happened, not now at least.
Kaori clutched her arms around herself to keep warm. It was cold tonight, just like every other night. She was looking for anything with wheels that could move. A motorcycle would be best, though she didn’t expect to find one in the middle of the night, in Prague no less. The only thing she was remotely well at driving was a motorcycle though, it was something her father had also taught her before he died. It was her best bet, though she could live without one. As long as she could get out of Prague and get to London she would be fine.
She kept walking until she passed by a bar and to her surprise, as well as shock, she spotted a motorcycle parked near the door. She smiled and walked over. She was lucky tonight, very lucky. She debated whether to sit and wait for the bike’s owner, or to just hotwire it. She was horrible at hotwiring, though time was running out. She needed to get on the move so she didn’t get too far away from Evelina and Marena. She wondered, though, if the bike had an alarm. If it did she could alert it’s driver with it.
It was her only idea at this point so she went ahead with it. She walked over, tapped the bike roughly and thankfully an alarm went off. Whoever was driving it was probably drunk, so they would probably be taking their time to get to it. Kaori simply leaned against the wall of the bar, waiting for someone to step outside.
Within in a few moments a man stepped out. He was wearing a Leather jacket, with pants to match. Kaori eyed him up and down, estimating that he was probably in his early twenties, and wasn’t drunk enough to make this fight an easy one. He stopped the alarm on the bike, then looked over to Kaori with a suspicious eye.
“Did you set the alarm off?” He asked demandingly. Kaori just smiled sweetly.
“Why yes, I did. I was wondering if I could maybe borrow your bike. I need to get to London.” The man laughed and looked at Kaori as if she had eight heads.
“Let me think about that one….No.” With that Kaori pushed herself off the wall and moved in front of the man.
“I knew you wouldn’t choose the easy way.”
Before the man could reply Kaori kicked him in the side of the head, causing him to stumble backwards and trip over his bike. He looked at her like she was psycho, then quickly got up from the ground.
“Can I have the bike now?” Kaori asked innocently.
“No! You stupid bitch, get the fuck away from me!” He clutched the side of his head, to see how bad the cut was.
“I see. Well, no one calls me a bitch and gets away with it.” Kaori lost her innocent composure and was now quite serious.
She grabbed the man and pushed him into a nearby ally way. He tripped, once again, over a pile of garbage, though this time he made little effort to get back up quickly. Kaori carelessly walked over, standing in front of the ally. The man pulled himself up by clutching a chain link fence, he then attempted to walk toward Kaori but was stopped as a dagger landed dead center in his forehead. He wasted no time falling back down, though this time he wouldn’t get up.
Kaori walked over to his body, kicked it, though she knew he was gone. She rummaged through his pockets and came up with some money. She was thankful for that, since she was completely broke. She also pulled the jacket off of him, he had managed not to bleed all over it and it would keep her warmer.
“A shame it had to turn out this way. Thanks for the jacket though, it matches.” She pulled the dagger from his head and wiped the blood off using his shirt. She stuck it back into a holder and walked off to the Motorcycle, keys in hand.
Kaori had been driving for hours, without any sign of life in sight. Only the chilling, darkness laid before her as the motorcycle sped down the lonely, cold road. She had begun to regret following after Evelina and Marena, beginning to doubt if she would ever catch up, they would probably be out of London by the time Kaori managed to catch up, leaving her stranded and alone, to wallow in her own regret.
She tried to picture where she was. Putting the amount of time she was on the road and her starting point at Prague she figured she must be in Germany by now. Though, finally, for what seemed like forever she stumbled upon a filling station. She checked her gas gauge and saw that she, indeed, should probably stop so she didn’t end up stranded in a place like this.
She pulled up to one of the pumps and turned the bike off. Since she was in Germany the people here most likely spoke German, which she couldn’t speak a word of. Hopefully she could communicate through gesture, hopefully. A man stepped out from what seemed like a small market selling food. It was the perfect time to see if only gestures would work.
Kaori pulled out some money and waved it, then pointed to the bike’s tank. If the man couldn’t understand what she meant, then she’d lose all hope for humanity right there. Thankfully, he did get the picture and began to fill the tank. Kaori took a deep breath and then walked into the market. It was a small, small place, so it would be easy to steal from. Kaori wanted to save what little money she had, so stealing would be necessary in this case. Though, in order to not look suspicious she did pick up two cheap items to buy, while she stuffed food into her jacket.
Walking up to counter she placed the items down, looking at yet another man who didn’t speak a word of English. There was no need to talk though, just pay, which she did. She grabbed the bag and walked out the door, heading back towards the bike. She handed the man some money for the gas and then started the bike, driving off into the darkness once more.
It was getting colder, though it could have just been Kaori. She was feeling scared now. It was the first time in a long time that she’s been alone and she was feeling it’s affects. She pulled over to the side of the road, taking a moment to calm the feeling down. She placed the items she stole in the bag she had and got off the bike, leaning against it and looking to nothing in particular.
She clasped her hand around her necklace and closed her eyes, remembering the time she first got it, from her Mother before she died.
It was raining, it had been for several days. The small room was lit by a simple candle that sat upon a table next to the beds. It flickered in the wind that blew through the cracks in the door, adding to the ominous atmosphere that befell the room. Kaori sat in the corner of the room, resting her head against the wall. Her Father was gone, having passed away the day before. Her Mother was barely hanging on.
Kaori tried to hold her tears back, but it was impossible. So she wallowed in the corner of the room, covering herself with a blanket and sobbing the day away. She didn’t even know if her Mother was still alive, she hadn’t checked at all. When her Father died she made refuge in the corner of the room and didn’t move since. She was to afraid to face the inevitable.
Her Mother was still alive though, which Kaori knew when the dying woman’s voice rang across the eerily quite room. It was a small, whispered, raspy breath accompanied by Kaori’s name. Kaori’s sobbing stopped and she looked over to her Mother. Her Mother lifted her hand up, using what little strength she had left, to signal Kaori over.
“Yes, Mother?” Kaori said with a congested voice as she kneeled down beside the bed. Her Mother didn’t speak and instead pointed to a box that sat atop a burrow. The box was black, decorated with Pagodas and Cranes in an assortment of colors. Kaori had always wondered what was inside, but could never see because the box had a lock.
Her Mother took the box in her hand and pulled a key from under the mattress. She unlocked the box to reveal an Emerald necklace, neatly laid out on a soft velvet surface. The bright green stone reflected off the smooth porcelain surface of the box, creating pretty green streaks all along the black.
“Kaori…I want you to have this. It has been in our family for many generations. Handed down to each of the Matsuya women. Now I want you to have it. I must give this to you now because I fear I do not have much longer left. Now, take it, and whenever you feel alone or scared you hold this and I will be right there with you. I love you Kaori, please…Stay strong for me…” Those were her last words as she let go, leaving Kaori behind and alone. Kaori held the necklace, then held her Mother’s hand as she left the world. Kaori started to cry once again. She didn’t know what to do, so she just held the necklace and rested her head next to her Mother’s. She stayed there for several hours, crying, not willing to let go.
Kaori held tightly on her necklace as she thought back to that day. She wished she could forget it. She wished someone would hit her so hard she wouldn’t remember who she was.
She sat back down on the bike, still holding the necklace. Even in the dark it managed to maintain a surreal green glow, it may not have actually been glowing, but it looked like it and that was enough.
“I’m scared…And alone now Mother, so where are you?”
Kaori managed to catch up quite nicely with Evelina and Marena once they left Belgium. She was careful not to get to close. She could live with losing them, after all she knew where they were going and she would definitely get there before they left. She spent the rest of her money getting across the English Channel Bridge, which wasn’t even really expensive, but she spent a good portion on gas for the bike.
Now that she was in London, and managed not to lose track of Evelina and Marena, she had to come up with a reason as to why she followed. Kaori knew neither of them would be pleased. It was even more uncomfortable since Kaori barely even spoke with Evelina. She didn’t even know if Evelina knew her name. Kaori knew absolutely nothing about Marena, and had never even seen her until recently. So, would they even let her stay? Perhaps the entire trip was a waste.
Either way, Kaori stopped her bike next to the sidewalk in front of the Hotel. She waited a few seconds before she went in. She decided to leave the bike there, she didn’t care if it got stolen or not, even if Evelina and Marena wouldn’t let her stay.
Kaori hopped off the bike and walked into the Hotel. She got a few stares from people, due to her attire. She was dressed in a black tank top, black jeans and a leather jacket. She looked odd among these people to say the least, but she could care less.
Kaori scanned the lobby, finally spotting Evelina and Marena entering the elevator. She cursed herself for not moving faster. She’d just have to see what floor they went to and try her best to find the right room. The elevator stopped at the fifth floor, so Kaori took a deep breath and walked to the elevator, waiting along with a few others for it to settle on the first floor once more.
She entered the elevator once it came down and took her place in the corner. She was surrounded by neatly dressed people, people who had way to much money on their hands. She was extremely uncomfortable, but would have to endure it as best she could. Kaori was getting impatient and worried. She was nervous about missing which room Evelina and Marena would enter. There were other methods to finding them, but she would rather just do the following.
Finally though the elevator stopped at the fourty-fifth floor. Kaori hurried herself out of the elevator and rounded the corner in time to see a boot enter a door at the end of the hall. Judging from the people around this place they didn’t wear boots like that, so that must be where Evelina and Marena were.
Kaori leaned against the wall in the hallway for a few minutes, she had to work up the guts to knock and face what might be her having to leave. Well, hopefully her bike was still there. She took a deep breath, having spent the last five minutes standing far from the door it was about time she acted. So, she walked up to the door and planted a small, barely audible knock.
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