Takeshita Demons by Cristy Burne

was too late. The waves had slowed and
now just a few cautious ripples were rolling into the
classroom. The thing, whatever it was, was nearly
here.
    "Hello?" said a voice from down the hall.
It was a woman's voice, and not Mrs Okuda.
I heaved a sigh of relief, but I didn't answer. Cait
stayed silent too.
    The ripples started again, pushing towards
us. A woman's face appeared round the classroom
door. "Hello?" she asked again. The face was quite
young and beautiful, with a small nose and wide
almond eyes, but both Cait and I screamed anyway.
Cait stood up on her desk, trying to edge backwards
and away.
    "Children?" The woman seemed surprised to see
us. "But what are you doing here?"
    I was asking myself exactly the same question.
We could have been at home eating pizza. But
I couldn't take my eyes off her, for although the
woman's features were as pretty as any of the girls in
the magazines, her skin was bright green and shiny
like a frog's. She had long black hair that hung wet
around her head and her tongue was red and forked. It seemed to quiver like a snake's, as if she was using
it to smell us out.

    She came closer, gliding like a serpent. As she
approached, more ripples lapped against the legs of
our school desks.
    Cait made a tiny choking noise. Her eyes were
bulging and she seemed unable to speak.
    I wasn't surprised. Being eaten by a massive
snake-woman-demon-thing had not been part of
our plan. I just stood there, silent, and waited for
whatever came next.
    The woman was wet all over and dressed in red,
with green scaly arms reaching out of each sleeve.
Her skin, green with streaks of mustard yellow, was
clearly visible beneath the transparent fabric.
    "Oh, I'm so sorry." She slid back a little.
She didn't seem to have legs, just a long, snakelike body that disappeared into the corridor.
"I didn't mean to disturb you. I didn't realise there'd
be more children here."
    For that was the worst of it. Worse than her
green skin and forked tongue, worse than the
way her body seemed to melt into a legless lizard.
In her scaly green arms, this dragon demon held
Kazu, my darling brother, tiny and trusting and
asleep.

    "Oh, but it's you," the dragon woman said,
suddenly smiling up at me with warm, blood-red eyes.
"Miku." She slid further into the room, her snake's
body seemingly endless as it extended through the
door and into the corridor. At the point where her
jacket ended, her skin turned to red and shone wet
and naked in the moonlight, rippling as it entered
the room.
    I could only gurgle back. This dragon knew me.
And it had Kazu. And now it would have us too.
    "It is Miku, isn't it?" the woman asked, her smile
revealing two pointed fangs. "Takeshita Miku. I've
heard so much about you. I was a great fan of your
grandmother's."
    Slowly, like a statue come to life, I nodded.
What was this thing? What did it know of Baba?
    "She did so much for your family," the woman
continued, hissing a little as her scarlet tongue flashed
in and out. "Such a tragedy that she passed away.
Still, she lived to a good age. It's your turn now."
    My turn? I had no idea what this monster was
talking about, but I had finally found my voice.
"My brother," I said. "Give him back."
    "Oh, of course," she said, looking down at the
sleeping Kazu. "But not yet. Not yet. I need him
still."

    "Give him back," I demanded, a little louder this
time. "Give him back now." Now I had my voice
I was trying for my courage as well. My words
sounded strange, echoing off the walls and the
water.
    "But do you not know me?" the dragon woman
asked, surprised. "The zashiki-warashi has sent me."
    Zashiko had sent her, all the way from our
house back in Japan? The mischievous child
ghost, who had moved my pillow and swung
my bedroom light in the night? I didn't believe it.
Zashiko had always protected our family from
evil, but this misshapen demon monster had stolen
Kazu.
    "He's my brother," I said.