The Gate

40. A Story on a Starry Night

Lena Matthews

It was you, Jane-Anne. You're the yuki onna.

Quiet filled the room as soon as those words left my lips. I could feel the air around me thicken as a dreaded silence suffocated each of us. The truth had finally been released, and I hated every painful moment of it.

"What are you talking about, Lena?" Taylor asked.

"Do you have any strange markings, Jane-Anne?" I asked, trying to force my voice to be calm.

"No." Jane-Anne answered, her voice cracking.

"Are you sure? It would look like this." I said, sliding off my right glove. My Forbidden brand was completely exposed.

"I've never seen that in my life." said Jane-Anne.

"Lena, there's no way it's her." Kiara insisted.

"Turn around." I instructed Jane-Anne. I hadn't expected my words to come out so harshly, and Jane-Anne flinched. She turned around immediately, and I reached for the zipper of her red dress.

"What are you doing?" Jane-Anne asked.

"If you can't see it, it's probably because it's on your back or something." I explained. "Just trust me." Kiara snorted when I said "trust me".

"Fine." Jane-Anne agreed.

I took a shaky breath. More than anything, I wanted to be wrong. I moved my fluttering hands towards the red zipper. When I felt the cold metal touch my hands, I slowly pulled it down. I only had to unzip the dress a few inches before I saw the distinct F on the back of Jane-Anne's left shoulder.

"No way." Taylor whispered.

"Mrs. Pearce probably knew, and she kept it from everyone. That's why she kept the Forbidden from attacking at the meeting, and why she enlisted you two to keep her socially isolated." I said.

"I would never hurt anyone." Jane-Anne swore. "I don't know what's going on." She tried to zip her dress back up, but a large bandage on her left shoulder kept her from moving her arm too much. I helped Jane-Anne fix her dress, and part of me felt relieved when her Forbidden brand and injury from Jessica's dagger were concealed from view again.

"What exactly are you saying?" Taylor asked me.

"I'm saying that Jane-Anne was killed by Fuyuko Kazama, and that she came back as a yuki onna. Then, somehow, she killed Joshua Rodriguez, Rowan Peterson, and Flora Delaney." I answered.

It made perfect sense. Jane-Anne fit the predispositions fairly well. She was a Japanese female, and probably the only one that Makaya had forgotten to add to her list. She seemed so harmless, and it was hard to believe she could hurt someone.

"Yuki onna?" Jane-Anne asked.

"It's a type of Forbidden. Like a mermaid or a siren." I explained. "I'm one too." I showed her my brand again.

"What I wouldn't give to be a siren and shapeshift out of this." Taylor muttered under her breath.

"Sirens don't shapeshift, they just make you see someone you desire." said Kiara, proud of herself for correcting Taylor on something.

"Like your wife?" I asked, gears turning in my mind.

"I guess, if you had one and actually liked her," said Kiara. "Why?" 

Jane-Anne was a puppet, and someone else was pulling the strings. My jaw dropped as the realization struck me. The Forbidden source who had spoken to my father looked like my mom. She was a siren. Everything traced back to Makaya. Everything.