Dangerous Souls

Break A Leg

Chapter 8-Puppets

January Day 6, 2:25 P.M.

Her head began to pound as she came around on the dirty floor. It was so dark that when she opened her eyes she saw the same as if she had kept them closed. She took a deep breath as she decided it was as good a time as any to sit up and try to figure out where she was.

Jeez, why do I always get myself into these situations? I thought I had been getting better, she told herself. Then she thought about it for a moment. Nope, I think I was just getting worse.

Slowly, fighting a dizzy feeling, she pushed herself to her knees. Where was she that it was so dark? She wondered, then a look of terror came over her. I'm not blind, am I?

She hated to admit it, but she wouldn't know for sure until someone found her. Now if I could just figure out where I am...

She gathered herself into a standing position. She was somewhere fairly open. When she lifted her arms in front and to the side of her she didn't bump into any walls or furniture. To be fair, she just might have not been close enough to a wall to feel it.

Guess I'll just have to feel my way around and take a guess at where I am, she decided. I wonder how long I was out? It couldn't have been too long, I don't feel any refreshed.

***

Masako couldn't believe it. She could see something! What she saw was not the scene of a monk in a lobby, but something else entirely. She saw herself on the roof of the building. She could feel the floor beneath her feet, as though she had taken off her shoes. She was still wearing a kimono, just not her own. She heard the giggling of a girl, but it was most certainly not her own. Yet it seemed to be coming from her mouth.

"That was beautiful!" Her mouth moved but the voice was not hers. She advanced towards a ledge with a platform. "Too bad for both of us..."

She climbed onto the ledge and looked down at the people below. "My marvelous audience! Too bad you never got to see it. Too bad you didn't get to play the role you stole."

She seemed to laugh as she turned herself around and closed her eyes. Masako felt herself falling backward to the sidewalk below.

***

The scream that erupted from the medium's mouth almost knocked the monk to the floor. He shook her shoulders trying to awaken her from the state she was in. "Masako! Masako, wake up!"

As quickly as the screaming started, it stopped. Masako opened her eyes to be met with the dark blur that had taken her vision for the last few days. "I saw! I saw! I saw!" she kept repeating. Her hands were shaking. She wasn't too sure if it were out of excitement or fear.

"Yes, Masako, you said that before," Monk said trying to calm the girl down. "Now take a deep breath and tell me exactly what you saw."

"I saw the roof! I was on it. I was going to jump!" the medium panted, her eyes darting around, trying to grab a glimpse of something. Anything. Too bad she wasn't lucky enough to have her sight return the moment she had a vision. She stood up, about to make a run for it. "I have to tell Naru!" She took two steps before Monk caught her arm.

"Hold it, Masako," he said. "You're going the wrong way."

Masako really hated being blind.

***

Naru had continued to review evidence. He had gone back to ignoring his tall assistant. They had never really spoken much to be honest, but recently, Naru had gotten tired of the conversations the Chinese man was bringing. Madoka was really starting to rub off on the man. Some days the young man wondered how the two adults became so involved. They were practically total opposites-