Bitesize 2.6

Just to save anyone correcting me... Onigawa is made up. I know Oni is demon but I don't know the Japanese for mirror so I made it up. Sue me. :P

Bitesize 2.6

Ed picked up his car from the radar station and drove out to his Dad's place in Kelford. He swung by a pizza place on the way there and got enough food for two. Valentina's car was still in the driveway and Ed rapped at the door. He heard her behind the door, peeping through the spyhole no doubt before she opened it.
"Ed." she smiled, "You look tired."
"I feel tired." said Ed, "I just got back from Germany."
"Germany?" she raised an eyebrow but didn't press the matter further.
"Yeah. I was hoping you'd do me a favour actually. I need a little laundry doing, I have to be on the road again tomorrow morning."
"Sure, sure. You dump what you need washing in the hamper in your room."
"Thanks Valentina."
She stood aside has he manoeuvred the pizza boxes past her and made his way upstairs. his Dad's door was open and he pushed it open with his foot and went in.
"Ed!" said his Dad with a grin, "Back so soon?"
"Yup, and I brought pizza." He slid the boxes onto the bed.
"Pizza huh? That's the sign of a man with little time on his hands. They've had you running round?"
"Germany. Long story. Had to drive back."
"Do tell."

As they ate the pizza Ed told his Dad all about Odolf and his past involvement with Aleister Crowley and the sudden escape by car back to England. When he finished his Dad swallowed the last of the pizza he was chewing on,
"Quite the action hero now. Reminds me of my younger days... or an Indiana Jones film. One of the two." He chuckled and then had a brief coughing fit. "The cough's the worst part, gets in the way all the time. Nazi Occultism hmmm. No smoke without fire."
"Yeah but this isn't like the conspiracy theories. They played no real part in this. It was all Crowley's doing."
"If Odolf was telling the truth..."
"You think he could be lying? Why?"
"Who knows Ed. He was in the thick of it. He might have seen more than he's letting on."
"Maybe. But his episode in the car seemed real enough."
"Well I'm sure I don't need to tell you to be careful... So what next?"
"I'm already on something else. Not far from here actually."
Ed produced the newspaper that Alf had given him and waited while his Dad read over the article.
"What do you think?" he asked when his Dad put the paper down.
"Sounds familiar actually. I've a book on a similar subject in the library, 'Onigawa: The mirror dwellers'. You should have a read over it later. It's a book about a series of folk tales from Feudal Japan. There were various stories about demonic faces being seen in mirrors. It still plays a part in modern Japanese horror films today. Korean too. I can't remember if there were any legends from Europe or not."
"But Lady Barrington says she saw Alice's face, not a demon."
"Still, it's a similar topic."
"I'll read over it later." said Ed, "Right now I need a shower and some sleep."

The next morning Ed read over the Onigawa book. It described multiple sightings where people had claimed to have seen either a demon face, or the face of a recently deceased love one in a mirrored surface. It discussed the possibility of truth and also whether or not the sightings could have been caused by trauma and simply have spread through word of mouth and grown as a legend that way. There were also at least two sightings where the viewer had claimed that the demon tried to leave the mirror. One tale said the creature within had reached out as if to pull its victim through with it. Other than that there was little of practical value. Done with his research Ed decided to make a move. His said farewell to his Dad and collected his clean clothes from Valentina and put them in the boot of the car. He had a spare wardrobe at his Dad's so there was no shortage of outfits. Today he'd dressed a little smarter, in black denim jeans, plain white t shirt and a black denim jacket. He'd even swapped his trainers for shoes. Better to look the part for Lady Barrington and it wasn't like he expected to be chasing anything... or being chased by anything. With a farewell to his Dad and a thank you to Valentina he made his way down the drive and set off for Acorn House.