Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Book of Sands ❯ One Last Chance ( Chapter 3 )

I warn you all now; if you have a weak stomach I would not suggest reading this. It gets really gross toward the end, since I use some ideas from a Stephen King book. You have been warned.

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Chapter 3

One Last Chance

"Hey you guys, can I go next?" Kuwabara looked at the three boys seated in the living room.

"Sure Kuwabara, just let me get something to drink first." Yusuke said, standing and stretching his arms above his head. "Does anyone else want anything?"

"I'll take some water." Kurama said.

"Can I get a cherry Pepsi?" Kuwabara asked.

"Yeah. Anything for you Hiei?" Yusuke turned his attention to said demon.

"No."

Yusuke shrugged. "Ok."

He returned from the kitchen a few moments later, and handed out the drinks. "Okay." He said, flopping into the couch. "Lets here your story Kuwabara."

"Alright. This happened to me not many years ago. I was probably 14 at the time…"

"I was outside out house one summer day, sitting in the shade of a tree in our front yard. There was absolutely nothing going on, and I was bored to death. It was one of those days were the humidity is so high that you feel like doing utterly nothing but flopping down somewhere cool and sleeping.

"Suddenly, in the distance, a huge truck came rumbling up the road through the haze of heat. I watched it come closer, and park itself in front of the house two down from mine. An older looking man with round glasses, a thin face, and black hair opened the driver's side door and stepped out of what I could now tell was a moving van. Apparently these were the people who had bought the Shito's house from them. I had never liked that family very much, and hoped these people would make better neighbors. From the driver's side door another person popped out, a boy of about seven who looked almost exactly like his dad, down to the glasses.

"I got up so I could go introduce myself and offer assistance in unpacking the huge van. As I made my way over a woman came out of the passenger door, apparently the mother. She had black hair also, tied back in a bun. Her eyes, I noticed, were tired looking, and a three month belly rose under the loose clothing she wore. I made my way there, and just as I reached the mail box a fourth member of the family appeared from the cab. The girl was about 14, with long black hair like the rest of her family, creamy pale skin and fiery eyes. She glared at the house she was going to live in, chewing on a piece of gum with viciousness. She was most defiantly not happy about her new place of residence.

"I stepped up onto the sidewalk and waved in a friendly manner. The father and mother tuned to regard me, the son made no notice of my presence, and I earned a suspicious glare from the girl. "Hello!" I said, mustering cheerfulness. "My name is Kuwabara. It seems as though we are going to be neighbors." The parents seemed to relax at my introduction, and the son finally noticed me. "Well, we are very glad to meet you Kuwabara." The father held out his hand and I shook it. "My name is Yuki Satomata and this is my wife, Sakiui," He paused and placed an arm around his wife, who smiled and shook my hand as well. "It's a pleasure to meet you." Her voice was soft, but demanded your attention. The Yuki continued his introductions. "And my son Tashito.." The boy nodded at me, then returned to his inspection of the house. "And my daughter Sakura." The girl made no distinction that her name had been mentioned, just continued to stare at me with a masked interest.

"It seems as though you have quite a lot of stuff here." I said "Would you like some help with it?" Yuki smiled at me kindly. "We would love your help. Lets figure out who is going to sleep were and then we'll start unpacking, k?"

"Alright." I made my way inside with the family. Due to the dislike my last neighbors had brought upon themselves, I had never been in this house before. As a group we made out way through the house, and then they divided off to find rooms. I was left standing in the hall, and after a few more inspections, began to look through the bedrooms as well. I found Sakura in a room near the back, looking out the window, which had a nice view of the backyard. The emerald leaves in the trees sent a cooling shade over the somewhat messy and unkempt flower garden.

"This is a nice room." I said, hoping to start a conversation. She just nodded. Giving up the hope of talking, I simply stood beside her, staring out the window. After a few minutes of silence, she turned to me. "What was your name again?" She asked. Glad that she had chosen to speak to me, I smiled. "Kuwabara. Your…Sakura, right?" "Yeah." She nodded once more, and then turned her attention to the window again. But she continued to speak to me. "I am sorry for being so rude. Car rides tend to make me grumpy." "Its quite alright." I absolved. "It seems as though you have picked your room. Can I help the lady with her things?" I swept an elegant bow, hoping to make her laugh. My hopes were not in vain, as she filled the room with a tinkling, pleasant giggle. Offering her my arm, we made our way outside."

"Does this story have a point at all?" Hiei asked.

"You know what shorty? I didn't interrupt your story, I think you can hold your tongue until I'm finished." Hiei opened his mouth to make another remark, but Yusuke and Kurama glared, and Hiei shut his mouth again.

"Anyhow..."

"Over the next few months Sakura and I got to be really good friends. She and I attended the same school, but only had one class together, Art. However, we made the best of that one hour, and I discovered that she was a master of drawing. I, on the other hand, am not, so she gave me tips and pointers. Without her help, I doubt I would have passed the class. We could talk to each other about anything and everything, but there was something I could never tell her.

"A few days after I met Sakura, I began having strange visions about her. They started as dreams so vivid I would wake myself up at night, and gradually became more and more intense as I began having them randomly throughout the day. Every time it was the same thing, and every time it became was more and more gruesome.

"At first it was just a slightly distorted picture of her, curled in a corner, hugging her knees. There were tear tracks down here cheeks, and she was in a very bright room, back against a white wall. Her eyes were the clearest to me. They were open wide, and full of absolute terror. Suddenly the scean would change, and her face would come into startling contrast. Only her eye sockets would be empty, blood streaming from the gaping wounds. And I would wake up gasping.

"These visions got worse and worse as time passed, until I was watching her death over and over again, like a movie stuck on repeat. I would stay home for days at a time, puzzling over the horrific death. As the visions grew stronger and more frequent, I saw more. I saw her eyes being gouged out by a silver knife in the shape of a flame, plunging through her tender eyeballs and into the brain, then with a twist and a pull removed, to let the flow of liquid and blood down her cheeks. I began throwing up every time a vision passed, and lost weight quickly.

"One day, about three months after Sakura and her family moved in, I was kneeling in the bathroom, white faced, gasping for breath after a vomit session. This time the vision had been even more powerful, and I could hear her screams as she died. Suddenly the screams of my vision were replaced by the screeching of car tires. As the car faded away, I heard a real scream pierce the air. I stumbled to my widow and looked out onto the street.

"Yuki was restraining Sakiui, who was screaming and crying, weakly trying to break her husbands grip. Tashito stood on the porch, looking bewildered and scared, holing a phone in his hand. I rushed out of the house and over to the yard as quickly as my shaking body could. By the time I got out side there was a police car pulled haphazardly in front of Sakura's house. Two police men were running up to Sakura's parents. The police reached Yuki and Sakiui, who slid faintly from her husbands arms and sat limply on the grass. The three men knelt around her.

"I finally made it to the yard. Dropping between a policeman and Yuki, I gasped for a few moments, and then was able to speak. "What happened?" I asked. "I…I don't know. I heard the sounds of tires spinning away, then Sakiui screaming. I ran out here and caught her before she started down the street. But I don't understand why she was running." Yuki said. I nodded, and then looked at Sakiui, who still had tears flowing down her face. She was whispering: "My baby girl…were is she, were did they take her…oh my baby…."

"Half an hour later, myself, Yuki, Sakiui, Tashito and both policemen we were sitting in the living room. Sakiui had a cup of tea in her shaking hands, and she took a sip to calm her nerves.

"Ok, Mrs. Satomata. Tell us exactly what happened." The policeman nearest to me said calmly. He was probably in his thirties, with tranquil gray eyes and a quite demeanor. His partner was a bit younger and more fidgety, black eyes darted about constantly. Sakiui took a deep breath and set down her tea. "I was sitting in here, reading a book. I glanced out the window to see a black car pulled up on the other side of the road. I didn't worry about it, and about five minutes later I went into the kitchen. While I was in there, I heard a scream. Running back into the living room, I saw…"She paused, and took a shaky breath, but silent tears began to course down her face. "I saw my daughter being pulled into the car, obviously against her will. Oh my poor baby…." She started sobbing again.

"Yuki tried to comfort his sobbing wife, but a few tears leaked out of his eyes to. The police were conferring in whispers, and I was in shock. Sakura had been…kidnapped Bits of my vision danced before my eyes, and I was struck by adrenaline. What if my vision came true? But I couldn't tell Sakiui what fate might befall her daughter. The woman would never be the same. Battling with indecision, I arose silently and left.

"One week later, Sakura was found in an abandoned warehouse along the river. An unfortunate sailor who had stopped to explore the ruins stumbled upon her corpse. She was in a room painted solid white, with one glaring light. The police said the room had been prepared by a very deadly gang, who stored both their victims and the corpses of victims in the depths of the warehouse.

"The ground around Sakura was red with the blood that had been spilled when her eyes were removed. A silver knife, shaped like a flame, was clutched in her hand, bathed in her blood. An autopsy done found that she had been abused heavily during her captivity, and that she had killed herself in desperation to be saved from the pain.

Silent tears ran down Kuwabara's face as he finished his story. He snuffled and wiped them away. "She was killed because I never told anyone about my…premonition. Her fatality had weighed upon my heart since I found out she had died. I never wanted to have another vision again. I would sacrifice my powers if only to have her back. For a long time I never had another vision or 'feeling'. It was my fault she had died. I had to do something to get rid of the guilt that consumed my soul. Then one night, I dreamed of Sakura.

"She was dressed in white, and looked like an angle. She never spoke, just listened with a sad expression on her face as I begged forgiveness and wished for her to come back. I wept as I pleaded, wishing that she would return. As I ran out of strength, she reached down and touched my cheek. I looked at her and she smiled, and then vanished.

"When I awoke, I lay and though about my dream. Had Sakura really forgiven me? But I was just as much of a murderer as the men who had kidnapped her. I didn't understand it, but I began to heal. I gradually stopped tearing myself up, and the guilt that squeezed my heart began to decrease in increments. I started getting feelings again, and I started going to school. But her death will never leave my thoughts, and although she has forgiven me, I don't think I could ever forgive myself.

……………………& #8230;………………………… ;…………………………R 30;………………………… < p class="MsoNormal c31">Wow. I was going to end it after the description of her death, but decided it needed at least a semi-happy ending.