Ink Portals

A phoenix from the ashes

22

Abby sat hunched over on the couch, biting down on the tip of her tongue as she carefully threaded the last stitch on Mei's back. It was getting dark outside and the room was almost silent, with only the background drone of voices on the news channel, still covering the crash.

"There we go," Abby said, snipping off a piece of bandage. "The edges line up perfectly. Luckily it was a clean cut. That blade must have been sharp as a razor."

Mei sat on the edge of the couch without saying a word. She was staring at the katana, on display beside a suit of samurai armor in Chong's collection. She stared at the sword with such intense focus, so much that the rest of the room seemed to fall away into non-existence. Abby's voice behind her was just a muddled sound, devoid of meaning. Mei was re-enacting the entire stairwell ordeal in her mind - the sound of the man's voice, the smell of his breath beside her cheek, and the hardened features of his face. She was going find him, and she was going to make him pay.

Abby carefully pulled a bandage over the fresh row of stitches and lightly patted her hand down over the scar, making the adhesive stick evenly to the skin.

"There, that should do it," Abby said.

Suddenly Abby felt intense heat on her face. The two-dimensional phoenix on Mei's back turned its head beneath the bandages and nipped at her hand. Abby scooted back and fell off the couch onto the floor, then she stumbled to her feet and backed away. An aura of heat was rising up from Mei's skin, as if she had just stepped out of a scorching hot bath.

"She's back!" Mei said, jumping to her feet and clasping her hands together. "You've brought her back to me!"

Abby watched the bandage on Mei's back ignite like dry tinder, curling up and falling to the floor in flaming ribbons that burned away into ash. The fire bird manifested beside Mei, clicking its black talons on the marble floor. It puffed its orange feathers and crooned when Mei stroked the underside of its beak. She looked at Abby, and the tiny embers burning in the corneas of her eyes went out; making the phoenix fall away into soft ash on the floor, like a whisper.

"Thank you, Abby-San," Mei said, trying to bow, but instead, clutching the painful scar on her back. "You have restored her to me."

"That's fascinating," Abby pondered. "If the lines in the artwork are broken the spirit can't be summoned."

"Yes," Mei said. "He has found our weakness."

"But how did he know that cutting into the tattoo would disable the spirit?"

"He has dealt with others like us before, that is what he said. He said he will hunt us down, every one of us, until he finds Kazunori. He wants the recipe. Then he-" Mei's voice trailed off and she lowered her head, letting her black hair fall into her face.

"What did he do, Mei?" Abby said. "You can tell me."

"After he cut me, he-" she began, but then started sobbing.

Abby was studying Mei's body language, noticing the way she put her hands over her crotch, with her feet huddled close together. Then she saw the stains: dried, white flecks on the calves of Mei's pants.

"That son of a bitch," Abby said, slowly shaking her head. "He raped you, didn't he?"

Mei struggled to speak through the tears, wiping her nose with the back of her hand.

"Do not pity me, Abby," Mei said, pushing a strand of hair from her face. "Because of your help I have regained my fire-spirit... I can avenge my sister."