Of little things

Chapter 15- Being careful is not enough

The streets were not very full at the moment, downtown Tokyo was seeming like it was in a lull time. There were people milling around, teenagers going to their favorite places to hang out and all of that, but it was a far cry from the afternoon when it was literally jammed with the people that worked in the big city.

Nagira sat in his sports car, smoking a cigarette like always. He looked at the clock built in the dashboard, and noted that it said it was but a few minutes away from eight. Nodding to himself, Nagira seemingly was being very patent with his waiting.

The door opened of the car, and a man in a baseball cap and a sweatshirt hopped in. He looked at the man squarely in the face, as seemed to gasp. The man seemed to get over whatever it was that shocked him so, and spoke.
“ You wanted to see me?” He said. “ I heard that you would be paying very nicely, if I came.

Nagira nodded while he reached in his coat’s pocket and brought out a photograph. He held the snapshot out, so the man could see the image on it, and watched for the man’s reaction to it.
“ Do you know this man, kid?” He said, his voice low in tone.

By the face of the man in his passenger seat, there was definitely recognition of the image he held out.
“ Who wants to know?” The man asked, getting somewhat defensive.
“ I do!” Nagira said, his eyes glaring right at the cloth capped person. “ I think you do know exactly who this is.”

The younger man seemed to pause, obviously debating just what to say next. Nagira pushed the photo closer into the man’s sight.
“ Tell me!”
“ What is in it for me?” He said. “ I don’t give out my information to just anyone... I do have scruples you know.”
“ Scruples?” Nagira snorted, looking at the younger man with distrust. Until the right price comes along, I would imagine.”
“ There is that...the price.. and it is also for my own personal security too..” He grinned. “ How do I know just why you are wanting this information so badly?” The youth played.
“ Let’s just say for saying sake...” Began Nagira, not liking this little game the man was playing. “ I am ... related to this man... and this information is very needed. As for the price I am offering, It is fifty thousand Yen All for you for providing if you can cough up the information I am seeking.”

The young man looked at the lawyer’s face and nodded.
“ There is a resemblance there...” He muttered.
“ I need to know if this is who you are informing for... and where he is right now.” Nagira said.
“ I know he is living in a dump of a Hotel, just on the city fringe.. The Sleeping Crane I think it is called.” The man said, after a few more moments of wrestling with his thoughts. “ As for his name... he called himself Amon.”

Nagira give a snuff and a nod.
“ You do know this man, don’t you?” Amon’s brother pulled another picture out, and shoved it in the man’s face. “ Is he with this girl?”

The face of the informant did not change, but he did shake his head in answer. Nagira lowered the picture.
“ You don’t know, do you?”
“ He always came alone to see me, and needed information on people associated with some dead dude named Zaizen and a group called SOLOMON... It seems they are very wealthy but extremely vicious people, out to kill both This Amon dude and some broad named Robin.” The informant said.
“ How?”
“ Hired killers that are said to be witches.” Said the man flatly. “ I need to report to this Amon fellow that one of those killers is in the city again...I have the information more clearly now.”
“ Again?” Said Nagira, interested in what the younger man was saying. “ There was already one Witch, by the way you have said.?”

Obviously telling way too much to this thin older man, the baseball cap wearing man layed out what he knew in as much detail as he had. Nagira just listen in silence, putting everything into his memory as the man spoke.

The man finished telling what he knew, and looked at the man.
“ That is all I know... for now.” He said. “ You have exactly what this Amon person has.”

Nagira handed the man a brown envelope and snuffed.
“ Don’t you tell Amon who you met with... If you get any more information in the future, I will gladly pay for it first.” He said grinning. “ You will be compensated very handsomely for it all.”
“ That is fine by me.” The informant said, hopping out of the car. “ As long as you keep paying like this...”
“ I knew it would be.” Snorted Nagira.

The man stepped out of the car, and started to close the door. Suddenly the man grabbed his head in his hands and started to whine a little. Nagira looked at this strange behavior, and got a cold chill running down his spine.

The informant started to scream in pain as if he was being tortured, blood starting to pour from his ears, nose and eyes. When he screamed out again, blood literally flowed out of his mouth. Nagira watched, feeling horror with what he was witnessing. The informant swayed on his feet, then collapsed beside the open car door, as blood continued to pour out of every opening on his face.

Nagira pulled his magnum out of his holster with a quick motion from where it was on his hip. He cranked his neck around, to look over his shoulder. He had seen a shadow out of the corner of his eye.

In the gloom of the back alley of the Sony store, he spotted a figure shrouded partially in the shadows of the evening time. It was not a very tall person that stood there, clad in a long dark colored coat and was sporting a fairly large round brimmed hat. The person just was standing there unmoving, staring right at the car while a soft glow seemingly coming off of him.

Nagira went to open his driver side door and get out, his weapon gripped in his hand at the ready to deal with this man. Suddenly, just like the young man that had fell, the lawyer immediately felt his own head beginning to hurt that he never had experienced before. He shook his head, but the pain was growing rapidly with each passing second. He felt like his head was going to explode at any moment.

The pressure in his head began to increase, the pain made him powerless other than to clutch at his head too. A strong coppery taste flooded through Nagira’s mouth, telling him that he was bleeding. Through his now blurred vison, he could still make out the outline of this strange person walking up to the car with a steady stride, not in any hurry by his pace. Nagira knew exactly what was happening.

The man was a witch, the killer presumably hired to come to Tokyo and kill his brother and the young girl that was possibly with him. Through the searing pain in his head, Nagira realized that this witch probably followed the young informant, and ambushed them both when the ball capped young man met with him.

In desperation to get away from this witches power and the intense pain that was being inflicting on him, Nagira too a huge chance and stomped on the gas petal of his car for all he was worth. Thankfully, the lawyer had not turned off his car when he met the informant, leaving it idle as he met with the now dead man.

The car shot forward at a very high rate of speed, and away from the witch that was nearing Nagira. The man could only scream as the car fired down the alley, as the pain was spreading deeper into his very mind, his head feeling like it was being crushed from the inside.

The witch watched the lawyer’s car speed off, kicking up dust and dirt from the pavement of the alley. He smiled and seemed to tense a little, concentrating hard on the automobile that was racing away from him. The car suddenly veered from speeding down the alley, and turned sharply to the left. He watched as the car plunged violently nose first into the masonry wall of a tall building with a loud crash. The sound the reverberated through the paved backway, and the unknown man smiled at the car’s demise.

It stopped dead, the sound of folding metal and glass breaking filled the air, then it echoed off. Smoke began to spew out of the front of the car, as it came to rest against the wall. Steam billowed out too from the now cracked radiator, adding to the smoke in its own way. The witch walked over to the destroyed vehicle, and peered in to the mangled mess that was now apart of the cement.

The witch saw the figure inside was slumped against the steering wheel, bleeding profusely from the face and head. The figure was not moving, his face covered in glass shards, blood and debris from the crash as smoke billowed over the lifeless form. Smiling with a bloodthirsty satisfaction, the mysterious witch turned away, hearing the closeness of police sirens coming on the wind.

The figure turned and walked back to where he had been. With the car still smoldering, the witch took his leave with surprising quickness, melting into the falling darkness of night, after retrieving something from the young informant’s lifeless body as he left. The man simply disappeared, leaving no sign of him ever being there.