Some Scars Never Heal

Chapter 20-Mysterious Mask

"Dad..." the word was choked, it was all she could say as of now.

There her father stood, leaning against the wall with a knife to his neck. The man pushing him against the brick was tall, around 5'8 if she had to guess. Considering she was no taller than her mother(5'1), he absolutely towered over her. He wore a black cloak that reached just past his knees.

Her words were quiet, quiet enough to not be heard by the men in the ally. She wanted to burst around the corner and kick the living daylights out of that man, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. Her muscles were disobeying her commands and refused to move. She knew she was a punching bag to a man of if that size and stature.

A shaky breath escaped her lips as she watched the men exchange a few quiet words, the only indication being the slight move of her fathers lips. She felt completely weak and hopeless as the white haired man slowly move his had into a pocket, the taller watching his every move.

She wasn't able to identify any of the thieves physical features other than his height and build. A white mask covered his face, obscuring everything from view.

That feeling of complete and utter helplessness returned as she watched her father pull his money pouch out of his pocket. The coins in the bag jingled as the taller of the two snatched it away from her dads hand. She watched, completely torn inside as the man stuffed it in his pocket, praying to the walls that he would let her dad go.

Watching her father be held with a knife to his throat really did a number on her. It was painful, with it being that she could only watch it was increased tenfold.

Her fingers gripped the brick of the building harshly when the mysterious man shifted his weight to his right leg. Her breath hitched and teeth bit down on her lip when his knife hand tenses and pushed deeper into the soft flesh of her fathers neck. Deep enough to draw blood, but not enough to kill him.

It seemed like he was saying a few words, a warning perhaps, before he slowly drew the blade away from the shorter mans neck. All time seemed to slow down when he tilted his head in her direction, saying a few more words before he turned and walked further into the ally way.

She sighed in relief when his figure faded into the shadows of the buildings, leaving nothing behind. A weight was lifted from her shoulders when she realized no one would cry over loss today.

Her relief was short lived when her father passed the corner, gripping her shoulder tightly in his hands. The look in his eye feared Kitsune, it was one she'd never seen before. A perfect mixture of horror, sadness, fear, and a pinch of pity.

Her lips trembled as she tried to speak, still to dumbfounded by what just happened to notice she looked like a fish, flopping for air.

"Kitsune, listen to me. You can not tell anyone about what you just saw. Not your mother, sister, friends, no one. Is that understood?" He urged, his shaky voice nerving the girl in front of him.

All she could do was nod her head. She didn't know what to feel, she had just watched her father escape deaths claws just as they were about to pierce his soul. It was fucking scary.

He wasn't the same until days after the incident, after his flesh wound on his neck healed. It wasn't until not even a smudge of evidence on the encounter remained that he relaxed. The whole time, all Kitsune could think was.

Who was that man? What did he do to father to make him so worked up.

She knew it had to be something he said, or else Misuke wouldn't have been so rattled. She just didn't know what to think.

Something just wasn't right about him.

Flashback End

Kitsune never actually figured out what happened, it had been at least 5 years, yet that day was still fresh in her mind as if it just happened. There was this... feeling, that they would meet again. It always rose when she thought about that day. She had no idea why she felt that, it just felt right.

Who knows....... oh well.

With that closing thought she released a breath she didn't know she was holding and opened her eyes.

The sky was starting to darken just as the sun was finishing its journey, the moon was already high in the sky, filled to the brim and ready to shed light on the earth. She was barely able to make out a few stars, closer to the east. It was a truly beautiful sight.

She wanted to watch longer, but she knew she was tired.

Kitsune learned her lesson last time she fell asleep on the hard earth, and did not want to go through that again. Her muscles and back did not agree with rock.

Groaning she lifted herself from the ground and started the climb up to her little hole in the wall (tree) of a home. Thinking about the comfortable pile of animal pelts/sleeping bag that waited there was motivation enough to complete the trip.

A content sigh escaped her lips as she snuggled into the warmth of the furs and waited for sleep to take over her mind.

It was a lot shorter wait than usual, she closed her eyes, submitting to the abyss waiting for her, but not before a picture of that man flashed in her minds eye.

Maybe I will see him again one day.