Chapter 100

The mysterious killer



Mai looked with horror at the growing pile of the blood-soaked rags in the laundry room. All the thoughts of bathing instantly fled from her mind. What the hell was going on here? She backed away from the room and cast a look at the corridor – the sailors were running here and there. Some seemed to be busy with something, like cleaning all the blood, but others were just gawking and frantically chatting. The whole wooden floor was covered in bloody footprints.

Curious, what just happened, the girl followed them, wanting to find the source of the commotion. The people carrying out the wet rags were coming from the deck below. She furrowed her brows. The lowest level. She attempted to push her way between onlookers, but no one paid any attention to her and it was rather difficult to do it forcefully with her small stature.

"Mai!" the girl turned around to see Soji the cook, who effortlessly pushed his way through to her, efficient like an ice breaker.

"Soji! What is happening?" she asked the fatty. Soji shook his head, shrugging his shoulders.

"No idea." He replied, when curiosity reflected on his face. The cook was that kind of person, who loved to stick his nose into somebody else's business and enjoyed knowing everything, including tiny details and rumors. Soji seemed to be fired up. "But I want to find out. Let's go!"

Before Mai had any chance to voice her opinion on the matter, the cook grabbed her wrist and pushed his way through to the stairway, nearly sending the sailors, who were in his way, flying from the force of the impact. The girl could only follow him and look around. The closer to the stairs they were, the more blood was there.

"No entrance here!" A soldier called to them harshly, folding his arms and blocking the way.
However, Soji's thirst for knowledge was not to be underestimated. The cook made the most serious face he could muster.

"You won't let through the expert?" he demanded in a way, he thought to be intimidating.

"The expert?" the military man repeated, getting slightly confused. Soji flashed him a smile and pointed on his chest.

"Yep, I'm an expert on this ship, when it comes to meat and bloody things. My help will be priceless."

He said confidently.

The soldier opened his mouth, about to chase him away, but seemed to change his mind after a while.

He stepped aside hesitantly.

"I hope you won't get me in trouble." He muttered, as overjoyed cook passed him by, dragging Mai after himself.

Soji let go of her wrist at last and they took the candles. When they were slowly making their way down the stairs, into the darkness, Mai began to regret, that she let herself be dragged into this mess. Blood, dark cellars and young women seemed like a classic horror movie theme to her. She was liking this less and less, but it was too late to back away.

Mai stepped off the last step and heard a splash, as her foot made contact with something wet. She had to grab the wall for support, when the ship rocked, because the floor under her feet was horribly slippery. Slowly, she lowered her candle to look what was the cause of it. Her heart stopped, as she saw the dark liquid all over the wooden planks. It was everywhere – the girl covered her mouth with the sleeve, feeling nauseous. It was looking more and more like a horror story… or rather a crime scene.

Soji was already moving forward, so Mai sped up and followed him, not being eager to be left alone in this place. Who knows, what would happen to her... She had a terrible hunch, that someone was murdered here. How else all that blood would get in here? However, there was so much liquid here, that it was impossible, that it could have leaked out of one person. Multiple murder? She shivered, cursing her stupidity. She should have stayed upstairs.

The girl noticed more lights in the front and heard voices – someone else was there. She sighed with relief. The more the merrier and more safe. But, in horror movies there also was a group of people at the beginning. She shook her head, chasing away those foolish thoughts. It was no point in making this worse than it was!

As she and Soji was approaching the others, Mai saw overturned boxes, spilled food – a general mess. She remembered, that in all those crime movies it was called the signs of struggle. Judging by the size of it, there was quite a fight here.

The girl got so enticed in looking sideways, that she forgot to glance at what was under her feet. Suddenly, she tripped over something. She swayed for a while, but in the decisive moment, when she was about to regain her balance, the ship rocked and she slipped on the wet floor, falling down.

"Ouch!" she yelped, as her butt made contact with the hard surface and the light of her candle want out. She frowned, disgusted, as she was sitting in the puddle of blood. Additionally, something else was underneath her butt. She reached carefully to touch it, not being able to see it. It was wet, slippery and kind of soft. She had a hunch, that she was better without finding out, what it was.

Fortunately, Soji noticed her trouble and turned back to look for her.

"Mai, are you all…" he began, coming closer and casting some light at the surroundings, when he stopped in midsentence, the look of horror began appearing on his face.
Mai froze and slowly looked down at her hand to examine, what she was holding. It looked like… guts?

She screamed with disgust, throwing the thing away, as she jumped on her feet. She glanced at the obstacle, she tripped over just a while later.

A leg.

Fortunately, it belonged not to a human, but to a horse. She saw, that the animal was laying in the pool of blood, with the stomach ripped open and the intestines spilled outside. Mai covered her mouth, hoping she wouldn't vomit.

Without a word, Soji grabbed her sleeve and dragged her towards the group of people. This time Mai looked carefully at her feet.

When they approached the people, she discerned the general, leaning on crutches, the ship's captain, Sasaki and three other people. They were standing over the mass of entwined horses' bodies, all laying with their limbs bent at the wildest angles and with their stomachs opened – the nauseous smell of blood and guts was horribly strong here. Mai winced at the sight. Who could have done something that horrible? She estimated about a dozen of animals here, but the remaining ones must have also been killed and were laying somewhere in the darkness, just like the one she tripped over.

"Wha… What happened here?" she asked the question of the day.

The rest looked at her. Sasaki furrowed his brows, as though he was about to reprimand her, but gave up eventually.

"All the steeds have been slaughtered." He explained the obvious, pointing at the corpses with an elegant gesture. "It must have been an act of terror."

Mai sighed. No matter what the motivation, it looked monstrous. Sasaki took out the fan.

"Surely it is the sailor's doing." He accused the ship's captain. The beardy man glared daggers at the noble.

"My men would never do something so horrible!" he protested fervently. "One of the soldiers must have drunk too much and did this!"

This time even general Shimada joined.

"A soldier would never slaughter his own steed!" he defended his men.

For the next couple of minutes the three men were throwing with accusations, blaming each other for the crime, but the others had another idea, about what just happened. Two lower-ranking soldiers and one sailor came to the same conclusion, quite different than those of the superiors.

"It's neither us nor them." One of the military men said abruptly, fear all over his face, as he looked around nervously. His comrade nodded.

"None of us would kill our property and the sailors would only lose money if they did it." He stated the fact.

Mai thought, that it seemed pretty logical. The sailor bit his lower lip.

"We think, that we have an extra passenger." He concluded.

Everyone fell silent, staring at the three men.

"Do you suggest, that some man got on board and is murdering animals?" Sasaki made sure, fanning himself. The sailor nodded.

"First animals, then us." One of the soldiers warned, nodding.

Mai felt a shiver go down her spine. Trapped on a ship with a psycho killer on the loose? That was terrifying, a pure nightmare.
The men began debating again.

"We… we think…" the sailor began. "That the killer… this thing… is not human. There's no way a human could do something like this. It must be a demon!"

Mai froze. Well, she knew of one person, who was on board and definitely wasn't human, but it was impossible, that it could be Sesshomaru's doing. He would never do such things – he didn't even have a reason to do it. Perhaps there was another youkai lurking in the shadows… Normally the dog demon would sniff his fellow youkai out, but now, when his youki was gone… She bit her lower lip. It was highly possible. Shit, a demon on the loose, while Sesshomaru doesn't have his powers? It could be a huge problem. But, maybe she was worrying needlessly, maybe it was just a human psychopath… Either way, it was scary.

The men carried on debating, while Soji narrowed his eyes, looking at the mass of corpses. He tilted his head, as though he was thinking about something intensely. Then, a determinate grimace appeared on his chubby face. He made a gesture for Mai to come closer and handed her his candle.

"Here, hold it." He said shortly, while rolling his sleeves. The girl furrowed her brows, wondering, what the cook was doing. To her surprise and disgust he crouched over the nearest corpse and buried his hands inside, emerging them in the slimy intestines.

"Soji, what the hell?!" Mai protested.

"Just give me more light!" the man called back to her.

The girl frowned and, fighting with the wave of nausea, she came closer, lightning the disgusting thing for Soji. While the others were talking, the cook was poking his hands into the horse's bellies and searching through the spilled intestines, as though he was looking for something. Mai was courageously holding the candle, while covering her mouth with the sleeve, not to breathe with the smelly air. Now she really felt like a heroine of some criminal puzzles series.

It took some time, till Soji investigated all the corpses. When he was done, he looked like a butcher.

"Just as I suspected." He stated with a triumphant smirk, gaining the attention. "It is very interesting indeed."
Sasaki fanned himself and furrowed his brows.

"What did you discover?" he demanded.
Soji made a self-satisfied face.

"The horses weren't killed entirely for fun." He began explaining, thrilled to see, that all the eyes were focused on him. "The corpses look whole, but after taking a closer look, I've noticed, that something is missing."

"Missing? What?" the general asked. Soji made a pumping gesture with his hand.

"Heart." He retorted. "All hearts are gone. Besides that all intestines are intact, but I didn't find a single heart. The killer must have took them with him."
Mai felt her palms sweating. She moved closer to Sasaki and the general, feeling more and more freaked out. First the psycho, now missing hearts… a little similar to Jack the Ripper.

"Maybe he devours them?" the ship's captain suggested, thinking intensely.

"It's definitely a demon!" the sailor stated expertly. "I heard from my grandmother once, that the youkai like the hearts most. Especially those of young beautiful virgins."
The cook made a flipping gesture.

"It's no demon!" he called to the man. "A demon would rip the horse's stomach with his fangs or claws, jarring the flesh. All wounds were made by a clean cut. It was made using a sword."

"A sword?" the ship's captain repeated, glaring at Sasaki and general Shimada in a hostile way. "So it were your men's work after all!"

Then, the men began arguing, but Mai didn't listen to them at all, engulfed in her thoughts. A cut made by sword, demons liking hearts… a rumbling stomach. She froze, as a suspicion grew in her mind. All of it seemed to be linked. Could it be, that it was Sesshomaru, who was this psycho killer? No… impossible… he wouldn't murder the innocent animals just like that, would he? On the other hand, it could make sense. Last night he was hungry, she told him to go get food and the horses were also killed in night. With the sword. Sesshomaru had one.

Mai shook her head, not wanting to believe, that the dog demon was responsible for this bloodbath. But, come to think of it, she had no clue what exactly was on his menu. He was a youkai, so it could differ from hers…

"Excuse me." She mumbled to the others and left, in hurry to find the inu-youkai and confirm, that her suspicions were incorrect. The people were moving swiftly out of her way, as she was swiftly making her way upstairs, covered in blood.

Once she reached the deck, she looked around and spotted Sesshomaru, who was just teaching Akira the basics of hand to hand combat. She stopped and watched from the sidelines, not wanting to interrupt in the middle of the training. The girl smiled lightly, observing the two. The boy was all focused, listening to the inu-youkai's instruction, the look of admiration on his childish face.

Sesshomaru seemed to be in a better mood today – he was more patient with the kid, concentrated, but relaxed.

Come to think, he looked too relaxed for Mai. It was like he was completely different from yesterday, when he was horribly touchy and irritated. Did he got to eat his night snack? She only hoped, that it wasn't what she suspected.

"Sesshomaru!" she called to him. "A word with you, please!"

The demon frowned, dissatisfied, that she was interrupting his occupation, but followed her, as she walked away from the people, so that the conversation could be private.

"What do you want?" Sesshomaru demanded. Mai sighed, cursing silently his usual attitude.

"It's just… I was wondering… if you've eaten already." She said, beating around the bush. The demon arched his brow.

"I did." He replied, gazing at the waves. The girl bit her lower lip.

"And what did you eat? I just wanted to know, because I could cook it for you next time." She mumbled, getting to the point, but avoiding directly accusing him of a crime. The demon scanned her up and down, his gaze resting on the red stains on her clothing.

"I presume, that you have found out already." He retorted with his usual poker face. "And I prefer my food raw anyway."

Mai blinked, startled. Did he just confess? Oh, crap. She really hoped to be wrong about this.
"You killed those poor animals!" she accused him, disbelief sounding in her voice.

Sesshomaru arched his brow, not understanding, why she was so indignant about this.

"Animals serve for nourishment." He stated the fact. "Would you prefer me to eat humans instead? Their hearts are much more tastier, from what I remember."

Mai gasped and crossed her arms on her chest, as though shielding her own heart. Sesshomaru looked at her with amusement in his eyes, as the gesture was interesting. However, she could rest assured, for her heart was safe from him. For now.

"Just… just stick with the animals." The girl told Sesshomaru, faking a pout. The demon didn't answer. She sighed. Well, it was kind of horrible, but he was a demon. It would be stupid to expect, that he would be the same as humans in every aspect. Anyway, it was good, that he wasn't eating her kind – that would be more disturbing. Mai looked at Sesshomaru and smiled at him. "At least you're not hungry anymore."



Another day passed quickly, reminding Sesshomaru, that the deadline was nearing. Fortunately, everything was going as smooth as desired – he even had something to occupy himself with, as sitting doing nothing was a torture itself. Training the human brat proved to be quite satisfying. However, not as satisfying as what he was doing right now.

It was night already and he was resting in the ridiculously small cabin with the woman near him. Both of them were laying on their sides, facing each other. Naturally, she was soundly sleeping, what offered Sesshomaru an opportunity to caress her, but only a little. He was tracing her cheeks, her forehead, her neck with his fingers. Her skin felt heavenly soft under his touch. He brushed her brown hair from the neck and gazed at the faint kiss marks, he left adorning her flesh sometime ago. The dog demon smiled slightly, seeing them – they were like an evidence, that she belonged to him. However, Sesshomaru was aware, that he could never let this truly happen. If she was a youkai like him, he would make her his spouse without hesitation, but he could not shame his kind by being involved in a relationship with a human.

Suddenly he remembered the words, the brave human called Harada told him: that he would regret not being with her. Sesshomaru wrinkled his forehead. Regret? Which would he regret more – shaming himself by being with her or not being able to make her his? He did not know the right answer yet, but the seed of doubt sprouted in him. Was it wrong to enjoy the closeness of the female, he harbored feelings for? Would it be wrong to want more?

Mai muttered something in her sleep and shifted, turning around and cuddling her back into Sesshomaru's chest. The dog demon rested his chin on her head, bringing her closer, so that he was spooning her tightly. He closed his eyes, enjoying the warmth of her body. It would have to suffice. For now, at least.