CHAPTER NINE: Witch Mountain – Part 1



The next day came. Come noon, Jerome’s mansion home was still littered with the remains of the previous night’s party. And true to his word, C-King had a lead on the girl’s mother, delighting Shizuka and impressing even Kilo. A small photograph of a beach house, 331 x 512 px, and an address.

An address that leads them to Venice Beach.

“This beach is so beautiful!” Shizuka exclaims, with stars in her eyes as she stares in wonder at her surroundings. Passerby walking along the sand, the palm trees growing high. Anyone who isn’t lying lazily on the beach is either running towards the water, surfboards in hand, or skating and rollerblading on the nearby sidewalk. Venice Beach is a rather thin strip of shoreline, only a few hundred feet between the Pacific Ocean and the stores and shops.

A street performer handles a live python. A few feet away from him, three young men break dance to the beat from a large speaker. And over by them, a man with an absurd amount of makeup for a man talks to a camera, before creepily going near a group of women.

Soon enough, Shizuka spots something. “Ooh, wait a second, Kilo!” She runs over to a small shop kiosk, where the bubbly Joestar quickly purchases a bikini swimsuit, before catching up with her companion.

“Syringe,” says Kilo, walking towards the beach and ignoring the sights and sounds. As he speaks, he points at the shadier spots, where unsavory items can be seen. “Cigarette butt. Cigarette butt. Syringe. Dog shit.”

“Do you have to be this cynical all the time?” Shizuka asks, following him onto the sand, “Come on! It’s a beautiful day out, why not enjoy it?”

“(syringe). It’s like this every day. (syringe, syringe) Every day, all them people come out and fuck around, (dog shit) get stoned or to shoot up, and all under this hot-ass sun (human shit). Trust me, you get over it after a while. I’d kill for some snow, or something.”

“If you hate this place so much, why’d you tag along? I thought you were just gonna bring me to Jerome then leave.” She chuckles. “Did you change your mind~?”

“So what if I did?” Kilo shoots back, waving her away, “Figure it’s worth a shot. If it’s true your Mom is with the gangs, then maybe I can get who I’m looking for too.” This hangs in the air for a moment, as they walk in silence.

“Hey, speaking of snow…” Shizuka ventures.

“Hm?”

“Speaking of snow, if you want it so much, why don’t you just make some?”

“What? The hell you talking about?” he asks, incredulous.

“Why not? You can already do so much awesome stuff with your powers! You can make it rain! It’s true that it’s deadly scalding acid, but still. I’m sure making snow is within your capabilities!”

“It’s not… It ain’t that simple. I can’t just…” He searches for words, an argument, but ultimately gives up and says, “Ugh, whatever. Yeah, maybe. One day…”

“Well!” Shizuka announces, tapping him on the shoulder and turning him around, “Until that day, would you mind holding this for a second?” She hands him her shopping bag before he can turn her down.

“What? Why?” he says, peering inside the bag and seeing the bikini inside.

Shizuka grins, and with an “ACHTUNG!”, she disappears from view, leaving nothing but the impressions of her feet in the sand. Kilo knows she’s still there, of course, and leaning closer, he hears unusual rustling sounds, followed by the sounds of fabric falling and hitting the sand.

“Are… Are you fucking serious?” he says, shocked realization dawning on him.

“Oh relax! It’s not like anyone can see me.” says the voice of Shizuka.

“We are in public. People get arrested for shit like this. People go to jail for shit like this.”

“It’s fine~!” the voice says, as an invisible hand takes the shopping bag from Kilos hand and it, too, goes invisible, “I do this all the time at Long Beach. It saves so much time and ACHTUNG BABY hasn’t failed me yet. Alright, finished!”

The invisibility is cancelled, but ACHTUNG BABY shows itself first, appearing to crouch and throw its hands out in presentation. Shizuka reappears, clad in her garish new swimsuit, her hair in a ponytail, striking a pose like a 1950s pin-up poster. “How do I look?” she asks in a coquettish tone.

“That was fucking dumb,” Kilo replies, to Shizuka’s amusement. “Why are you even dressed like that? We’re on a tip!”

“Well, you weren’t kidding about the heat. I’m not gonna to walk around Venice Beach in a blazer and leg warmers. Hey, I saw a crepe stand over there, do you think we could–?”

“That’s not what I mean!” Kilo says, raising his voice, “We’re here for you. Ain’t this your mission? Ain’t this your reason for being? Why are you taking this so lightly?”

Shizuka smiles calmly. “My mission is to find my past, but I don’t wanna be bogged down by it. I’m in one of the greatest cities on Earth. I want to enjoy the time I have, here and now.”

With that, she turns and keeps walking. Kilo means to say something further, but sighs instead, exasperated. He follows her down the beach.

***

Just a few hundred feet down south, Kilo and Shizuka stand before a beach house. A white sidewalk and a brief flight of steps is all that separates the front door from the sand.

Shizuka stares at the house, then at the photograph saved on her smartphone. The house has the same shape of the one in the picture. The number on the front is also the same. But in the photograph, the large potted plants on the second storey veranda are green and vibrant, while the ones in front of her are barren, dying. Likewise, the white walls in the photograph is replaced by a dull grey. Nothing moves from behind the windows. No life is apparent to the building at all.

“Do you think maybe we have the wrong house?” she asks her companion, frowning at the photograph again.

“I think so,” Kilo replies, glancing at the photo.

“But this house looks completely empty. There’s nobody here…”

“Then we take a look inside, and see if there are any clues. You don’t want to leave empty-handed, do you?”

Shizuka pauses, then shakes her head. They approach the door, and Shizuka stands at the top of the steps, keeping look-out on the street while Kilo sees to the door. He knocks twice, waiting thirty seconds. These seconds tick by in silence. Then he summons SATURN BARZ to grip the door by its edge, ready to pull it off its hinges.

Shizuka quickly turns to survey the street and beach, looking out for any witnesses. She raises a thumb back at him. A second later, she hears the uncomfortably loud sound of the door being ripped off, then gently placed to the side. She spares one last look at the beach before turning away.

She turns around just in time to hear Kilo grunt and see a spectral fist explode from the doorframe and connect with his face.