Lost//Ronin

“You know, Claire was present for all 5 of the previous pentagram killings,” Scarlet explained. The two of us were standing just outside of the front door to Scarlet’s apartment. We had just gone outside to wait for Brooklyn to wake up. It was my suggestion that we got a bit of fresh air.

“Really?” I said in reply.

“It seems like a Phillips has been at every one of the incidents, maybe a tendency towards the supernatural runs in the family,” Scarlet said. “Either that, or…”

“Or what?”

“It’s nothing. Maybe I should better explain the events of the previous pentagram incident, the one from two years ago.”

[ cut ]

It was a day covered in snow, December 1st, 2022. One of my close friends had invited me to go out, well, it was more like a date to be honest. Her name was Claire, a woman driven more by wit than her brains. Unfortunately, I had to be the bearer of bad news on this day, I was going to tell her the truth.

Claire had driven the both of us a few hours over to the market in the city. As we exited the car, I decided to take my bag with me, rather than leave it in the vehicle. I didn’t know how Claire would react to the information I was going to give her, so I had to be prepared to walk or take a bus back home.

As the two of us walked through the above-ground part of the market, I decided now would be the best opportunity to speak. Unfortunately, Claire had other plans.

“Hey Alex,” she said.

“Yeah?”

“Is something wrong?”

I had the feeling she was going to figure everything out.

“Yeah.”

“Really, what is it?” She asked innocently.

“I… I’ve been lying to you for a while now, I’ve been lying to everyone,” I answered. “The truth is… I’m a-“

“You’re a guy, right?”

“Huh?”

“When you date someone, you have to be prepared for them to find out about every little secret you have. Hiding something from someone so close isn’t as easy as you think,” Claire said. “What confuses me is why you’ve been keeping that from everyone. People are pretty accepting these days.”

“How’d you come to the conclusion that I’m still a guy? Wouldn’t the more obvious situation be that I’m a girl now?”

“I just know.”

“What?”

“It never mattered to me what you are, I care more about who you are. People are more defined by themselves as individuals than by what’s in their pants, and I know you’re a guy.”

“That still doesn’t answer my question.”

“Well, am I right?”

I paused for a moment.

“Yeah, you’re right,” I said.

“I told you; I just know.”

“I’m sorry for not telling you earlier, if you want to break up with me, I won’t blame you,” I replied.

“Nope.”

“What?”

“I said no, I’m not breaking up with you.”

I breathed a sigh of relief. Those words felt good to hear, all of them, as confused as I was. Maybe people other than Claire would understand me if I just opened up to them.

“However” Claire pointed at me, “you need to stop pretending to be something you’re not.”

“What?”

“You’ll only be miserable if you’re constantly trying to keep up an act. Don’t change yourself to conform to the world, change the world by being yourself.”

“But… what if other people are uncomfortable with who I really am?”

“To hell with them! Be you, Alex! Be you!” Claire kicked some snow up from the group at me.

“Hey!” I covered my face as Claire began to run towards the interior of the market.

“Let’s go, Alex!”

[ cut ]

Claire and I spent hours walking through the market and talking the whole time. It felt like only a few minutes had passed when Claire showed interest in heading back. It was a several-hour drive back to college campus, where Claire lived, and my apartment was pretty close to there. I wanted to do one last thing before we left, however.

“Could you hold on for a moment, I’m going to go buy something,” I said.

“I can go with you.”

“It’s a surprise.”

I quickly walked over to a stand that was selling flowers and searched for the perfect bouquet. I actually liked flowers a lot, but I didn’t know what Claire was fond of. I found one that stood out, it was a bouquet with a pair of roses surrounded by dozens of white flowers. I paid in cash and began walking back to Clare, but before I could see her-

I heard six gunshots resound from her direction.

I ran as fast as I could, wishing in my mind that Claire was okay. When I had arrived, the snow was painted in blood. Six people lay dead on the ground, and Claire was hiding behind one of the stands, uninjured.

That day was the first of the pentagram killings, one that only Claire had been a witness to.

The police arrived shortly after and took Claire and I into custody, that’s when we met Mr. Schultz, the chief investigator assigned to the case.

[ cut ]

“Wait, Schultz? Like as in, Brooklyn Schultz?” I asked.

“Wait, is the girl in there-“

I heard the sound of a window shattering, just before-

-cut-

“What the hell?!” I shouted as I ran inside.

“What’s wrong?!” Scarlet asked.

“You didn’t hear anything?!”

By the time we had gotten inside, it was too late. Brooklyn was gone.

“What happened? Who would try to kidnap Brooklyn?” I asked.

Scarlet’s phone rang, he picked up the call.

“Who is this?!” Scarlet asked the man on the phone. “What?!” Scarlet then took the phone away from his ear and set it to speaker mode.

The voice on the phone was Ronin’s.

“-it seems that I may have made a miscalculation. Meet me at the highway, you know the place. The girl will be waiting there for you, Ashton,” with a beep he hung up.

“What the hell?!” Scarlet said. “Ronin, you traitor.”

“What does he want to accomplish by this?”

“I don’t know,” Scarlet pondered for a moment. “Get in the car, I’ll call the others.”

[ cut ]

“I should have known this whole time, it all makes sense,” Scarlet said as the two of us drove to the location.

“What’s going on?”

“It’s impossible for a demon to manifest without some outside force allowing it to do so, accidentally or otherwise. We assumed that the pentagram killings were due to some cult or something, but the true answer is even more obvious,” Scarlet explained.

“And what is that?”

“Ronin’s mysterious new power, his disappearance, it all makes sense if he’s the one committing the killings by manifesting lesser demons. I don’t know what his goal is, but he’s probably trying to summon something bigger. He’s the only one with the skills to trap demons in partially manifested form like the demons you fought at the library or the one at the market,” Scarlet said. “If we can stop him now, we might be able to end this set of killings without any more bloodshed.”

“Where are we going?”

“The site of the second pentagram killing, called the roadway massacre…”

[ cut ]

Scarlet and I arrived on the scene at around the same time as the DEED van pulled up. The van parked at an angle such that it blocked oncoming traffic, Scarlet followed suit and blocked the other side of the road.

In front of us was Ronin, katana in hand. At his feet was Brooklyn, still unconscious. Scarlet and I stepped out of the car.

“Ronin, hand over the girl or you forfeit your right to live,” Scarlet said as he formed a gun in his hand.

“My right to live is granted by God, not a mere human. Well, you aren’t quite human anymore, are you?” Ronin said.

“I know you call yourself a priest, but a real priest doesn’t sacrifice people to demons. You’re no better than I am if you want to call me a liar,” Scarlet replied.

Ronin is a priest?

“It’s a shame that you misunderstand my cause so much, I have a story to tell you,” Ronin replied.

“I’m not putting down the gun,” Scarlet said.

“Thousands of years ago, the people of God were trapped in slavery. God sent upon their captors twelve plagues, but the greatest among them was death. Death brought justice to those who opposed God, slaying the firstborn of every household not blessed by Him. That death is what I seek to bring into being, the Grim Reaper,” Ronin explained. “Two years ago, a group attempted to bring this death to reality, but they failed due to our very meddling. I’ve heard her voice; she beckons me to open the gate. This is all a sacrifice that must be made to purify this world, to bring about a future in which God’s people can never be oppressed.”

“You’re crazy!” Scarlet said. “That’s not what God would want! The Grim Reaper is an angel, it would never try to destroy humanity!”

“You’re wrong. This Grim Reaper is no longer bound by the chains of servitude. In fact, she has already been brought onto this earth by her own will. I only seek to make her complete, the process of her return has already begun,” Ronin said.

“Please, Ronin, stop this! You’re sick, you need help. We can help you, just put the sword down and surrender!” Scarlet said.

“On the contrary, you are the one who is sick, abomination. Those who meddle with demons cannot be allowed to live, even if that means I must perish.”

“Noe! Now!” Scarlet shouted.

Suddenly, the van’s side door flew off its hinges, rocketing towards Ronin as he sliced it in two.

-cut-

The van’s door veered off to both sides in two separate halves. Noe Jumped from behind it as she thrusted a giant pair of scissors at Ronin’s chest.

[ cut ]