Chapter 16

Mr. Owen Revealed

Tohru turned to look at the figure that had appeared through the door to the den, "It's you..."

"That's right princess, it is me." The figure replied. Tohru was looking right in the face of Ayame. His pale eyes were full of rage. He stalked toward her rope in hand. "Miss. Honda, I am glad to see that you are my last little Zodiac. I had figured that when I outed Ritsu, your suspicions would peak. I only hoped that in the heat of the moment that one of you would kill the other letting me off the hook. This was only helped by the fact that my foolish brother knew that it was me, he saw me through the window just now, and he tried to tell you without letting me know. I banked that your female intuition would lead you to suspect the one that had come the closest to you and you would never suspect that his brother was behind the plot the whole time. The best part of the whole scheme was that no one would ever suspect that the gentle, dress shop owner was really the vile Mr. Owen.

"But how, you... I mean... I saw... You died... How could you have done it?" Tohru was still in shock.

"First was Haru. I watched through dinner at the way he and Rin eyed each other. It made me sick. I knew that he had to be the first to go. He hurt Rin with the way he acted and I planned to make him hurt the same way. That night, while you all were asleep, Haru went for a walk. I expected this as he does it at the estate quite frequently. What everyone forgot is that I was the star of the archery team in High School. The shot was easy. Exit one Haru.

The next morning everyone gathered for breakfast after the unfortunate discovery of Rin's little boyfriend. Momiji left for to go read in the den. Shigure and Hatori drug me out of the room, just like I expected them to, I then left them to go change I then slipped through the secret passage out of my room down into the den, bumped off the bunny, crept back up to my room, changed, and came down to witness the discovery of the body that I had just killed.

I myself was next. This was going to prove to be the hardest part to pull off. I would still be breathing after I drank the poison. This is when I required the help of our good doctor. I talked Hatori into helping me catch Mr. Owen. He was unaware that he was really helping me pull off my plan. We decided that we could stage my own death so I would be free to explore without being seen. After I drank the poison he was the only one to check me and easily lied and said that I was dead. This removed all suspicion from me and allowed me to carry on with my schemes unhindered.

Kagura was the next on my list. She was had not committed any crimes other than allowing herself the be hurt by Kyo. I felt a small twinge of guilt when it came time to kill her. That's why I just let her die in her sleep with out knowing what happened. In order for the guilty to suffer, the innocent must sometimes pay a price.

At this time I turned my sights of Kureno. He again was innocent, but he had to go. I took the dagger that I stole from your room and planted it into his neck while he was asleep. He didn't seem to worried about it all the whole time that I watched him on the island. He almost seemed to welcome me. I feel no remorse for what I did to him because he shed his humanity long ago. The day that he started to work for Akito, something changed and he was not the same Kureno.

Now, I went after the one of us that never really belonged. I hated Kyo for two reasons. One, he was the cat, and two, he betrayed Kagura. I knew that someone would be going to get firewood, and I hoped that it would be him. I waited in the woodshed until I heard him approach and I attacked. He saw me before I got hold of him. I wanted him to know who had done this to him. I wanted him to feel the pain that I feel everyday just looking at all of you. I took the axe and exit one cat.

While you all were out looking at what I had done to our little friend. I crept back up to the mansion. Rin was still napping. I quietly crept in and injected her with the last bit of my poison. I then took a bee and placed it ever so gently on her cheek. I liked that little touch. I thought that it added a little flavor to the mix.

Now the time came for me to take out Shigure. I lured that womanizer to the top of the stairs where I was waiting, book in hand. I hit the fool in the head and gave him a shove. He toppled to the bottom of the stairs. He was still alive when I reached the bottom. The look on his face, knowing that I was the killer, is one that I won't soon forget. I threw the book down and ended it.

At this point I came to Hatori. I came under the pretences of having a lead. I subdued him and tied him up with some seaweed that I had procured from the beach earlier. I then put him in and tied him to the bathtub and turned on the water. I stumped my toe on the way out of the door. That would be the cry that you heard.

I then slipped out of the room and down the hall to your room Tohru, as it was the one directly above the balcony. I took the marble bear and waited. I knew that Yuki's sense and your patience would prevent you from leaving first. I also expected that in his present condition Ritsu would dash out of the door in a mad frenzy. I waited until the right moment and pushed the bear.

That is when the real fun began. I watched you and Yuki fight. I also watched you pull that knife out of your pocket and stab him. You were right. Just leaving him there is suitable enough to fit the rhyme. This brings me to my final goal. I have to hang you. You may wonder why I am doing all of this and the answer is simple. LOVE! It has been bestowed upon all of you and you squander it away. Each of you in your own way has betrayed the most dear of emotion. I have grown sick of watching you betray each other and yourselves. You are the most guilty though Tohru. You were torn between two people. My dear brother and that stupid cat. Worse than that, you are not even one of us. You must be stopped. I only hope that you understand. Now, for my last rhyme "One Little Zodiac Left All Alone. He Went and Hanged Himself, and Then There Were None." Ayame pushed Tohru over and placed the noose around her neck. The glass frame of her mothers picture shattered in her pocket.

Tohru saw Yuki slowly get up and hold up one finger and mouth the word "STALL" She realized that he had a plan and she would have to keep Ayame talking long enough for it to work. That's when an idea struck her. "Ayame, how do you know so much about the island? I have heard you talking about all these secret passages and I was wondering how you knew about them." Tohru figured that Ayame, so driven by pride would explain lengthily about how he had found them all.

"The answer is simple princess. I found them all because I OWN this house. That's right. I own it. I have been planning for this for a long time. Long enough for me to purchase a house and study the blueprints. I was planning this before I ever met you. At that time it was only going to be ten little zodiac; but when I heard about you, I decided that I should include you and the cat. I thought that it would make things more fun." Ayame was swelling with pride.

"What about the rhyme? Why the rhyme?" Tohru had wondered this since the discovery of the first body.

"That is the best part of my plan. I was sitting in my living room one night looking through some old albums when I came across it. It was written as Indians or Soldiers; but, I changed it to Zodiac to suit the guests of my plan. I'm not sure what about the poem that I liked so much, I think it was the systematic dwindling of the numbers and the creative fates of the Indians."

Tohru now say Yuki appear in the doorway to the den. He was holding the dagger that he had given her and that had stabbed Kureno. He motioned her to stall just a little longer and then he would put his plan into action. "Ayame, what will you do when you are the only living person that was found on the island?"

A smile crossed his face. "I have planned and rehearsed this part since the beginning. I will return to the Sohma house and tell Akito a horrible tale of how, once upon the island, You started killing off the Sohma family. He will believe this because you are an outsider and he never has trusted you. The best part of it all is that not only will I have killed you, I will have drug your name through the mud. Now, princess, we have talked enough. It is time for the last little Zodiac to hang. I MUST HAVE MY HANGING. IT IS TIME FOR THE HANGING!" He was hysterical by now, screaming and shouting. "Any last words princess?"

Tohru saw Yuki mouth the word "NOW". "Yes, I do have a couple. Turn Around."

Ayame whirled around to see that Yuki was not dead and that he had a knife. He advanced on Ayame and backed him onto the rails of the balcony. "I won't go that easily brother!" With a slight of hand, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a gun. He took aim at Yuki and pulled the trigger.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Tohru looked in shock as blood started to flow out on Yuki's white shirt. She turned and faced Ayame. She knew that she had to do something, but what. She didn't have any chance to get the gun away from Ayame and she surely didn't have enough time to get the knife from the other side of the balcony. That's when an idea struck her. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a large shard of glass from the picture frame. "YOU SICK FREAK!" She swung her arm and the glass planted it's self in Ayame's heart. He looked down the blood that was flowing from the deep wound in his chest.

"It seems that I have failed princess." He whispered.

Tohru pushed on the glass and it went deeper. He gasped and lost his footing. His long body arched as is floated through the air and plunged down to the rocks at the bottom of the cliff.

Tohru turned away from the balcony and standing before her was Yuki. "But Yuki, Ayame shot you. How could you be alive?" She was confused.

"Thank god my crazy brother can't shoot a gun to save his life." He looked into Tohru's eyes. She laughed and walked into his embrace. He whispered, "You know, there's another end to that little rhyme..."

"There is?"

"One Little Zodiac Left All Alone. He Fell In Love and Left With Her, and Then There Were None."

FIN

A/N: That's it. It's over. I have finished. It was Ayame. So what did you all think? Was it good? Were you shocked? Did you understand it all? Please read and review and thank you for bearing with me on my first fan-fic.