InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Finding My Family ❯ Down the Well ( Chapter 1 )

Chapter One: Down the Well

 

It was early afternoon, around mid-summer. Birds chirped in the tall trees. A woman with flowing raven hair tied in a low ponytail and dressed in a forest green kimono embroidered with pink sakura blossoms tickled the stomach of a toddler who escaped her hold to happily chase a red-haired kitsune, who looked to be around his preteen, around a small field. The woman giggled lightly and looked to the sky as it grew darker. The thought of rain clouds played in her head, until the dark clouds shot in her direction. Rather, in the direction of her son and daughter. Her eyes grew wide with fear as she raced towards the young girl, snatching her up around the waist and pushed her into the arms of the young boy who took her away, his cries for help fading into the distance as the clouds grasp as it took a hold of her instead and pulled her away.

 

As it did, she realized exactly what it was—miasma, an evil substance that was now causing her to cough and choke on its noxious gases. She let out a pained scream as it filled her lungs and caused them to burn. A silver-haired man in red raced after her, reaching out a clawed hand for her own. He caught hold and gave a firm tug, but couldn't free the woman from the miasma. Instead, it entrapped him as well and darted off across the sky once more. The scene grew dark and not a single sound could be heard through the infinite darkness.

 

---Dream Sequence Ends---

 

“Higurashi-san.” croaked a froggy voice that stirred the girl from her horrific nightmare. She let out a slight whimper and looked up. It took her a moment to register where she was and once she did she shot straight up in her seat, snapping to attention. There, hovering over her like a vulture does its next meal, was the teacher looming over her with a quite displeased look on her aged face.

 

“Glad you could join us.” she croaked again. She narrowed her eyes into slits and smacked the ruler she held hard against her other hand. “Try and stay awake for the lesson. After all, you don't want to end up like your mother.”

 

“Yes, sensei-san.” replied the girl lightly, bowing in her seat, as the old woman slunk back to the front of the classroom, glancing back at the girl before continuing the rest of the lesson. She had her mind set to give the teacher a witty reply after insulting her mother in such a manner, but decided against it, not wanting to feel the bite from her ruler. She also tried hard not to let her quick temper get the better of her at times like this. For her, it was hard to hear about her mother, after all, she had never really known the woman.

 

“Kioko, old lady Watanabe is out for you.” giggled the girl next to her, her friend Akina. Kioko silently nodded and went to copy the notes the teacher gave. However, she couldn't push from her mind the haunting dream or the insult to her mother. The dream, however, wasn't new, not in the least. She had been having it for as long as she could remember. Her grandmother told her that it was nothing but a dream, so Kioko tried to think that it was little more than that, but it was hard as it always seemed so real.

 

As for her mother, she and Kioko's father had died when she was very young. From what she knew, her mother was very pretty, much like Kioko. She was sweet and kind, but often absent from school and didn't do anything after high school, other than marry her father and virtually disappear. As for her father, she knew only that she had inherited his unusual hair color that was a genetic trait in his family.

 

She let out a sigh and grabbed one of her silver-white locks as her ponytail fell over her shoulder. Ever since she first started school, most people thought she was an albino. She twined the lock around a claw-like finger and she tried not to fall asleep again. Mrs. Watanabe was one of the most boring teachers Kioko had ever known. A flat toner hummed in the air which sent a wave of relief through the classroom as the students scurried to pack their things away. Kioko went slower in her happenings before making her way out of the school herself.

 

“Yes, a week-long break!” exclaimed Kioko's friend Miki as she playfully jumped down the steps and skipped lightly on the sidewalk. Kioko and her other friends nodded in agreement as they made their way along the path home. For the girl, it was a win-lose situation. While it was nice to get out of the dreary school-building for a while, Kioko would still be stuck at home tending to the shrine the entire time. All of her friends went on vacation with their parents over breaks like this, so she had nowhere to go to at all. Grandmother never liked to stray too far from home. It seemed as though she feared that if she left for too long something important might happen in her absence.

 

She sighed at the thought as the group split ways and Kioko was now by herself. She kept her mind busy, listing all the things she would clean and repair for her grandmother that week, until she came to the numerous steps that led to the Higurashi Shrine. She took a deep breath and began making her way up the steps, her pleated blue skirt bobbing lightly around her knees. She stopped in the middle to take another deep breath before pushing on and finally she made it to the top, where she stopped to catch her breath again and to grasp onto the tall red leg of the torii gate that signified the entrance to the shrine. Those steps were a killer and she wondered how her grandmother, at her age, managed to climb them every day. It was probably the experience from living there for so long.

 

Once she was rested, she made her way across the yard to the house, her school shoes kicking up light tufts of dust, as she was too worn out from the climb to pick up her feet up off the ground entirely. She walked around to the kitchen door. Knowing her grandmother, she would either be cooking or doing something to keep herself busy in there. It seemed to be the woman's favorite place out of the entire house. She pushed open the door and kicked off her shoes, slipped on her pair of blue house slippers and found exactly what she expected.

 

Walking out of the bathroom with a load of dirty clothing was her grandmother. The clothes were folded, but were still piled up high over her face and she could barely see. The old woman nearly tripped on her own feet and stumbled a bit. Kioko scurried over to her and took the majority of the load from the woman, who greeted her with a smile.

 

“Okaeri, welcome home.” the woman said, making her way down the hall and up the stairs to deposit the clothes into her laundry bag for when she went to do the wash the next day. Kioko followed after as best she could, but with the strain of the clothes and having just climbed up the shrine steps, it was a rough task. She was never one for strenuous work or exercise.

 

I may never understand how Baachan can do this without breaking a sweat. The girl said to herself in her mind as she dropped the clothes into the bag and flopped down on the bed beside it, relieved to be rid of the weight. She sat there a moment before getting to her feet again and heading back downstairs to help her grandmother, who was already on her way back down the stairs, with dinner.

 

The rest of the night went by without much fervor. Kioko's Uncle Souta stopped by and they had a simple meal of miso soup before he had to rush off to his evening classes at the Tokyo Institute of Technology. Afterwards, her grandmother disappeared into the living room to watch the evening news as Kioko did the dishes and cleaned up the kitchen before heading across the hall to take her bath. After that she went up to her room to do her homework and changed into her pajamas.

 

It was late by the time all of this was finished, but she didn't feel tired. Instead, she wandered around the room. This bedroom had been her mothers before Kioko had come to live there. Many of her mother's old things were still there. Old photographs of her and Uncle Souta together, she could she how she resembled the woman. She sighed. Kioko didn't see a single photo of her parents together. All of the photos from the time right before her mother entered high school and everything after were nowhere to be found. She had brought the subject up only once before, but the pain it brought to her grandmothers face caused her to keep those thoughts to herself from then on. Still, it was a puzzling conundrum.

 

Giving up on those thoughts early, as she often did, instead she found herself a book and a place to sit on her window ledge with the window wide open, letting in a warm breeze. She stared intently at the Goshimboku tree in between pages, feeling somehow as if she had to look, when something flashed out of the corner of her eye. Her head turned to see a blur of silver, red and black with hints of green rush towards the well house. Kioko whipped her head towards that direction in time to see the blur disappear right through the door of the well house.

 

She blinked a few times and rubbed her eyes in disbelief. Normally she would have dismissed what she saw as a figment of her imagination, but her curiosity got the better of her. The well house had been forbidden for to her since she was young and accidentally wandered inside, getting a strict scolding from her Grandmother for doing so. Now, however, was the perfect time for her to investigate what was so forbidden about it. She set her book down and climbed down from the ledge, before she snuck down the stairs. She slipped on a pair of sandals and carefully opened the door just enough for her to slip out.

 

She walked carefully across the yard until she came face to face with the well house door. Her hands went to the doors and slid them open. A smell of dank, old wood and dust met her nose, making her cringe as she peered into the dark. See, there is nothing here. You were just imagining things again. As her eyes adjusted to the dark, she saw something protruding from the well. Slowly she made her way down into the well house so that she was level with the well, but still at a distance from its edge.

 

Sure enough, there was something in the well. She moved closer, nearly a foot away, and saw that it was a ladder which was within. It was strange that a ladder would be placed in a dried up well. From what she could tell, the ladder went all the way down, but it was far to dark for her to actually see to the very bottom. She decided that she'd better get out of the well house before she was missed and returned to the house. As she climbed the stairs, she couldn't help but ponder over what was down that well.

 

It seemed like a plain well to her, so she couldn't see why it was so forbidden. Yet, the fact that there was a ladder leading down into a dry well had piqued her interest. She decided she would further investigate the well when it was light out, after her grandmother left the shrine in order to do the laundry. Kioko sighed, now returned to her bedroom. She stared out the window at the well house; feeling quite compelled to go back, but instead closed the window and went to her bed. She laid down on it and covered herself up as she shut her eyes and fell into a light sleep.

 

---The Following Day---

 

A tree sparrow chirped sporadically from outside, making the young girl's ears twitch lightly as she was pulled out of sleep. She let out a noisy yawn as she sat up and stretched, blinking the sleep from her eyes as she slid out of bed, tripping on her sandals from the night before and falling to the floor with a clunk. When she got up, she glanced over at her clock, seeing that it was almost ten o'clock. Grandmother will have left already to do the laundry.

 

With that thought, she walked over to her dresser and pulled out some clothes for the day. She changed a pair of faded blue jeans and purple scoop neck t-shirt before heading down the stairs to the kitchen. Finding it empty, a mischievous smile spread across her face as she dashed over to the counter and knelt down. She opened the cabinet beneath the sink, grabbed one of the small emergency flashlights and walked to the door. From there, she slipped on her most comfortable pair of sandals and went out the door, shutting it behind her quickly.

 

Making her way to the well, she felt an odd anticipation deep in the pit of her stomach that tingled and made her have to keep herself from running. When she made to the well house, she opened the door and went inside, standing there a moment and turned on the light to shine it around the dank room from the top of the stairs. She illuminated the place, taking in the details. All of the floors were covered with a thick, undisturbed layer of dust, aside from the places where she had walked the night before. Huge cobwebs hung in the corners and dust mingled in with the beam. All in all it was an eerie sight.

 

Kioko turned off the light and shoved it in her pocket as she slowly made her way down the rickety steps, watching for weak spots in the old wood. She made it to the bottom again and affixed her eyes on the well in front of her. She walked over to it and placed a hand on the lip of the well. It was worn smooth. She pulled out her light again and shone it down the well, barely seeing the bottom. From what she could tell, there was nothing unusual at the bottom. However, she was convinced that ladder was there for a reason.

 

She sat down on the edge of the well and swung her legs over the edge as she placed her feet on one of the rungs of the ladder. They seemed sturdy enough, so she placed here entire weight on it and slowly began to descend down. She was careful about how she went, not being able to see the rungs of the ladder below her. Finally, when she figured that she was halfway down, she pulled her flashlight out and turned it on, pointing down below her. What she saw was amazing.

 

There beneath her, the bottom of the well was no longer visible and she was surrounded by a blue light as she floated in an endless void. She looked around her, seeing that everything was gone and all that could be seen was the void and the radiant blue light all around her. She gasped slightly as the light began to fade and shut her eyes. She felt her feet touch solid ground and let out a relieved breath, cracking her eyes open and looking around her.

 

She was back inside the old well, but now found herself at the bottom of it. She placed a hand on the wall in front of her and ran it across all four walls, feeling the smooth wood against her fingertips. The ladder that had been there before was gone, and she stared up, no longer seeing the worn roof of the well house. In its place was a sky of aqua, so clear and so perfect that she doubted she was in Tokyo anymore.

 

Pausing a moment, she looked for a way out of the well. There were a few spots for her to place her hands and feet, as well as a vine she might be able to hold on to, but she wasn't sure how sturdy it might be. She reached out and gave it a good tug, and when she decided it was stable enough, began her ascent out of the old well. Once she was at the top, her eyes saw a sight unlike any she could have imagined finding.

 

All around her was grass and blooming wildflowers. In the distance there was a forest and trees taller than any she'd seen before. Birds twittered through the sky and she could see smoke rising above the trees. She sat on the lip of the well and tested the ground, tapping it with her foot. The dirt was soft and fertile, but firm enough to walk on. She stood and gazed around her again, unable to believe that only minutes before she'd been in the middle of busy Tokyo.

 

Somehow, she willed her feet to move and went in the direction of the smoke, in hopes that there would be someone there that could explain what was happening. There was a small path through the woods, and she stood a moment at its entrance, wondering if it was wise to travel through alone. However, she couldn't very well stay in the grassy clearing until someone might happen to pass by. As she walked, she took in the sights and smells of the world around her: the smell of warm earth and the trees, the sight of rabbits, chipmunks, and squirrels scurrying away at the sight of her, and the warmth of the sun on her face as it broke through the canopy above.

 

She didn't get to enjoy it very long, as she suddenly heard a tree crash somewhere not far from where she was. She could hear more and more crashes, and she turned towards the noise just in time to see a huge shadowed figure coming at her through the trees at lightning speed. It leapt out into the path in front of her. She gasped in surprise, seeing a huge spider with dripping fangs in front of her.

 

“A meal. I need a meal.” It growled, its many eyes burrowing into her and making her skin crawl. “You will be a tasty morsel.”

 

She leapt back and the creature lunged at her. She dove out of the way as it tumbled into the ground. She scrambled to her feet and took off in a run through the woods, trying to escape the vile thing. She could hear it coming after her, and forced herself to run even faster, but she knew she could hold out forever. I really wish I had just listened to Baachan and never messed with that stupid well!

 

Her lungs began to burn, her legs ached from her excursion, and her knees were beginning to lock up on her. Everything was a blur around her and she was caught off guard when something snatched her foot and she tumbled forward, loosing a sandal in the process, and went rolling head over heels. She tried to get up again and run, but she had twisted her ankle in the fall and was out of luck.

 

The beast had her cornered and hovered over her, salivating. “Well, my precious, you showed good effort in escaping. It's a shame that I'll have to eat you now.”

 

She backed away and put her arms out in front of her in a protective manner, though what that could do to save her, she didn't know. Her whole body trembled and she feared that she would die that day, and all for disobeying her grandmother's rules. The creature jumped forward and she let out a loud scream that echoed into the forest as she fell backwards.