Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Wind Knoll's Curse ❯ Chapter 2

The moon rose steadily that evening as Scarlet managed to survive dinner with her father and make it up to her bedroom by taking the staircase. He was in one of those moods where he really didn't care about what was going on and the fact that she had a job merely left way for a smart remark on his end. Scarlet didn't let it affect her as she made it to the door to her bedroom where she would have her peace for the day if anything for the long nightly hours she stayed awake just to watch TV and write poetry and short stories. Her door creaked open as she invited herself inside, tossing the book she bought early that evening upon her messy bedcovers she neglected to fix before departing the house. “Man, what a day this has been,” she muttered as she sat upon the side of the bed to kick off her sandals so her feet could be at least free.

 

The wind from outside blew through her cracked window causing the pages of the Wind Spell Book to flip slowly thanks to it being slightly rough. The sound of the pages turning on their own catching her attention, Scarlet looked down at the book to see it opening to nothing in particular as she closed it back to view the cover. Searching it from front to back, she saw it had no description. The spell book merely had a symbol on the cover that represented wind. She could only wonder if the spells could really call to a God let alone a `demon' as Silvia claimed the wind creature was. It was tempting to try at that moment seeing as her nights were long and filled with nothing but her own works there at her writing desk near the window.

 

Scarlet looked at the window she kept cracked on the hot spring and summer days from where she was sitting as she scooped up the book into her embrace. She walked over to her only view to the outside world seeing as it was near her writing and reading desk anyways and watched from the second story of her house as the fog began to gather. It was always bad around eight or so at night and it was hard to even see past the lamp post that rested near her mailbox. It sometimes gave her inspiration but it also gave her fear like some of the other citizens of Wind Knoll.

 

Pulling the book away from her body, she opened the first page to see an introduction chapter and she couldn't help but sigh almost irritably at herself. “What could it hurt?” She wondered aloud as she sat down at her desk to start reading the book. Scarlet turned on her lamp as she sat down at her writing desk that was next to her television that rested to the right of her. Opening to the first page, she read what she could in hopes of finding a good `laugh' for the night.

 

The introduction was everything that I already knew about the `Gods' around my town. I knew that Jin the Wind `God' was a man of infinite power and used the wind to convey his thoughts and moods. Whenever he was happy, he took care of the fog when the sun rose and kept Wind Knoll heavily guarded during the morning hours. Sometimes his wind would guide travelers in and out of the town and sometimes, if they were heavy sinners, he would let them get forever lost in the Fog of No Return.

 

But whenever he was angry, he would use his wind to unleash tornados and destroy part of Wind Knoll. Whenever this happened, people who believed in his powers would pray for his forgiveness on their or other's behalf or say spells from this very book I was reading to make him stop. But if he didn't, nonbelievers and `sinners' would be slaughtered at his temple as a sacrifice or atonement for their sins. It was a reason that people never suggested that the Wind `God' was ever angry…for if they did, someone would pay for it if the anger never ceased.

 

It was also stated that Jin was the demon found in the area Wind Knoll stands upon thanks to lost travelers eons ago. He was found hovering several inches off of the ground training in the middle of the fog with the Ice `God', Touya. Many other creatures expressing amazing power over humans surfaced from the foggy corners of the woodlands and they too became part of the people's beliefs. Some people say it was the very depths of Hell that Wind Knoll was build upon to see such creatures…others argue it was the tips of Heaven and that's why it was build here…

 

Flipping the last page of the introduction, Scarlet made it to the next chapter dealing with the spells that could be used. They were minor, warm-up type spells for any beginner and it couldn't help but force out a scoffing laugh from Scarlet. “What is with these sissy spells? If this thing really works, I want to do something big.”

 

Thumbing through the spell book for a moment, she stopped when she saw out of the corner of her eye a picture of her mom by herself when she was younger and before her mother had her. Cynthia was in her early twenties at best with a straw bonnet on her head that she kept firmly on her head thanks to the wind blowing about her long strawberry blond hair in the wind that was to her buttocks at the time. She was wearing a sleeveless summer dress that was white with a picture of a few butterflies and flowers sewn within it. Scarlet began to remember how she blamed Touya the Ice God for so many things when it came to her mother's death, and she stopped looking to him, finding him to be unimportant, especially if he wasn't going to answer her prayers. Her fingers gripped onto the frame of the picture that was there on her desk to look at her mother closely before placing it back there where it was to search eagerly within the spell book there before her.

 

“Those two Gods were claimed to be friends with one another,” Scarlet said eagerly as she continued hunting through the many pages for an answer. “There has to be a way to summon him and get answers from Touya, the Ice God!”

 

After skimming the many pages there before her, she eventually came upon the `summon spell' Silvia spoke of that was in the book on page 180. the fancy ink set upon the pages that clearly stated it was the Wind's Call summoning spell, caught Scarlet's attention as she read what it did and what was needed for it. She was desperate for answers at this point and was being run by that desperation. Pressing her finger under the words she was going to read, she read them aloud to herself.

 

“In order to beckon to the Wind Demon's form, you must first cleanse your body thoroughly inside and out. Do not drink any kind of alcohol or do any kind of impure drugs that could taint the inside of your form or the Wind Demon Jin will not be able to locate where the call is coming from. The demon is best known to hunt for the light being deprived of it for so long. Line the good majority of the room with pure white candles and light them all at night. Let that be the only light the Wind Demon can search out in the endless dark while wearing the Wind Demon's pendent or crest.”

 

Scarlet paused a moment in her reading, having a list of all the things she would have to do as she cupped her forehead in her palm. “White candles to litter my bedroom at night? If my dad ever saw that, he'd shoot me for making such a mess and not to mention making such a wasteful purchase. He's so picky about what we buy these days.” Flipping the page in her hand back and forth, she couldn't help but swear to herself. “Dammit, I also don't have a crest or anything of him either.”

 

Sighing, Scarlet looked back over at the picture of her younger mother as she debated on what to do. It was probably a bunch of garbage anyways—to be able to summon the Wind God from beyond his temple. To think on how ridiculous it was, she closed the book while remaining fixed upon her mother's younger days. Her chin meeting with her desk, she brought the picture closer to her face again to eye her mother better, managing a smile for that moment at being able to recall the good times she had with her deceased mother.

 

“I guess I can't really deal with this tonight,” Scarlet said, closing the book upon her desk as she hunted around the area for her remote control. Her palm resting upon the side of her desk, she searched underneath it for the TV remote she always put in different spots in her room before her fingers finally came upon it hidden on the floor next to her rolling chair. Flipping it towards her television set that was close by she turned it on to no station in particular before tossing the remote on the foot of her bed.

 

She preferred to have her television running on low volume or at least her CD player if she was writing so the silence wouldn't frighten her and keep her focus when she mostly wrote down her thoughts on the clean sheets that lined her desk every morning and night. Wind Knoll was a town that literally died at night. Nobody could venture out into the thick foggy darkness unless they wanted to die a slow, painful death by getting lost in the endless fog. The crickets and birds were even too frightened to be about or even near Wind Knoll at night so it was horribly quiet, minus the thunderstorms and tranquil blowing of the wind that prompted trees and bushes to speak.

 

Scarlet grabbed a pencil in her stack of writing utensils sitting on her desk to start writing the beginning of a romantic poem that could set her mind at ease being the hopeless romantic she was at heart or at least at times. Scribbling away at some words that she felt would flow together to make the rhyme she had set, she began placing the lines together in hopes of it coming out the way she had planned as the night went on. The night was always her time to be creative even if it cost her every afternoon.

 

 

 

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The commotion outside of her window woke Scarlet rudely early that morning as she was trying to sleep from the long night she pulled. She had forgotten it was The Festival of the Gods that day but the people outside celebrating sure weren't going to let her forget it. Her eyes batting open, she eyed the blurry numbers on her clock that said it was at least eleven something in the morning before Scarlet looked over her shoulder at the windows that weren't blocking out the noise. Once she managed to find the strength, she got to her feet and stumbled over to her cracked window to look outside at the crowded streets. The Ice Temple was nearby her house and those worshippers were obviously celebrating out and about it.

 

The Festival of the Gods lasted all day on April twenty-fourth. It was to celebrate the creation of Wind Knoll and its founding. In the holy scriptures of each temple, it stated the five gods helped build and protected Wind Knoll until departing for the heavens. The people of the town still believed they continued to do so to this day and the ceremony focused primarily upon giving thanks and attention to them until the stroke of midnight when the day was clearly over—the one night where they would stay out past eight. Needless to say, the parties lasted for quite awhile and people ate, drank, partied, prayed, as well as drop off gifts to the god or gods they chose.

 

Scarlet could remember clearly, from that window, many times she would be woken early in the morning around eight or so by her mother to attend the festival and help put up a few things at Touya's temple. At the time it was a joyous day but now it just soured her to the point where she closed her window to try and block out the jubilation occurring outside.

 

The window slammed closed thanks to the force Scarlet put upon it, she walked back towards her bed, rubbing her eyes to try and focus on what was going on around her. She felt pretty loopy and dizzy as she made her way to the bathroom that was not too far from her bed she used as a crutch before making it to the doorway. The door closed behind her just a little bit, Scarlet supported herself wearily upon the sink that was underneath her mirror cabinet. Her fingers turning the squeaky faucet so she could splash her face as she sighed out her exhaustion while she thought on what to do that day seeing as everything would be closed.

 

“Today is going to be so boring,” she muttered groggily, cupping her hands under the water to bring to her face in hope of waking herself up. “I wanted to work on that spell, but I don't have the things it asked for—.”

 

Pausing for a moment, Scarlet remembered that Silvia was going to keep the store open to praise the Gods there with other fellow co-workers who believed in what she did. She knew if anything, Silvia's store would or could have the items she needed. Being that she was now an employer working off her debt on the book, she didn't find it unfitting to ask for more to put on her debt seeing as she wanted to keep the job for some reason other than money she could use on herself.

 

Her eyes wondering back to her cracked bathroom door, she thought on what to do, especially involving the questions her father might ask if she were to leave today. He hated The Festival of the Gods and if he found out she was participating in pure `devil worship', she would be punished severally. She had nothing else planned for the holiday and college was out for it so she couldn't get in trouble for missing classes.

 

“If he asks,” she said to herself, “I will just lie.”

 

Grabbing onto a towel, she dabbed her face dry before grabbing some makeup to use to cover up any blemishes she felt might raise a few questions if not set people off. She may not have cared about her looks at times but that was before she even retrieved a job and was forced to interact with others. The bottles of makeup, combs, and many other helpful girlie beauty and hair treatment products knocking together, she eventually found the makeup she was looking for to dab upon her face to get ready for the crowd she would be walking through that day.

 

 

 

 

 

The noise was worse outside on the streets. Everyone was either already drunk or working on it with the drinks they had set out for everyone of drinking age to enjoy. Scarlet had to fight her way through drunks and crazy religious freaks to make her way down to Willard Drive where the Black Magic store was located near the oncoming country side of Wind Knoll. Even if the place did view the gods as demons, she never thought she would be so happy to see it as she dashed towards the store that was her only island of safety at that moment.

 

The little bell situated over the door rang as soon as Scarlet invited herself inside to find nobody within the first room or even behind the counter. She walked cautiously about the area with her guard about her since the store still put her slightly on edge. “Hello,” Scarlet called, “is anybody here?”

 

In the back of the store was an area closed off by a red, flowing cloth. When Silvia heard the bell as well as a slightly familiar tone calling for assistance, she couldn't help but push it slightly out of the way to see who was there, surprised to see Scarlet. “Hi there—I didn't expect to see you here today. What do you need?”

 

Scarlet could tell Silvia obviously forgot her name, thus avoiding it when she spoke as she tried to press a smile regardless. “Hi, I was wondering if you would by any chance have white candles for me to use.”

 

Silvia nodded once as she looked off to her right, “Sure we do, but why do you need them? We're closed for the day because of the holiday. My friends and I are just using it as a spot to worship the demons.”

 

“Well, that's why I need them,” Scarlet explained, scratching an annoying spot on the back of her head. ”I was looking at that book I bought last night and a spell required them as well as some wind pendent or crest—something like that.”

 

Silvia moved a knife from behind her back, startling Scarlet slightly at the sight of the jagged tip. “You're aiming for the summoning spell?” She asked, pressing the flat surface of the blade against her own cheek in thought. Silvia spied the fear and nervous stature about Scarlet and couldn't help but scoff a bit. “It's just a knife, girlie, goodness.”

 

“Yes, I was going to try the spell just to see if it would work,” Scarlet answered simply, “though I have my doubts.”

 

The raven haired store worker slightly sighed as she rolled her eyes off to the direction she was looking towards to head down one of the many rows of shelves erected within the store. Her finger tips gently touched the books and items upon the shelf to her right randomly before dropping the hand back to her side once she finally came upon the area that kept many different colored candles, scented and the like. “Here are the candles that you will need. Just pure white candles if you are intent on summoning Jin the Wind Demon. As far as the pendants and crests go, those are located up front in the display case.”

 

Scarlet hurried to where Silvia was standing to look at the candles she had there. There were several and of many different size, shape, color, and width. It took a whole section just to fit the verities in for the gods that were worshipped. “How many do I need exactly?”

 

“That depends on how big your room is,” Silvia answered as she hopped down from the ledge of the lower shelf she was standing upon. “How big is your room?”

 

“Well, gee, it's not like I measure it every day,” Scarlet remarked sarcastically as she crossed her arms to think on it. “But if you want to get a decent picture of it, it's a medium sized room that could probably only fit five people inside of it without it being horribly crowded.”

 

“Damn, that's a small room,” Silvia scoffed as she looked back over at the candles. “I would say take about…twenty if not maybe thirty. The more light in your room, the better chances you have of calling to him.” Her eyes looking to Scarlet, she tilted her head slightly as she touched one of the candles on the shelf above her head. “So how many are you taking?”

 

“How much are they?”

 

“What does it matter to you?” The young woman wondered. “You're only going to put it on your tab anyways, aren't you?”

 

Scarlet nodded as she scratched the side of her head with her thumbnail, “True. But I would still like to know how much they are.”

 

Silvia sighed as she looked back at the price since she didn't have them all down at heart. “I would say that if you were to get thirty, it would cover up for sure your tiny room and wouldn't be too expensive since if you get ten for only five bucks, and the next batch of ten you get free. So in all you would only have to pay at least ten dollars.” Her small, delicate fingers rapped upon the shelf's wooded surface a moment as she waited on Scarlet's answer. “Not too bad compared to the book.”

 

The young Scarlet nodded in silent agreement before grabbing a few that were bundled together by a fake golden band. “What about the crest or whatever it is I have to have next? How much is that?”

 

Silvia grabbed a few as well to help Scarlet to the front counter and display desk so she could check her out. “That all depends, what and who exactly do you worship? Or do you even take this seriously at all?” She wondered aloud as she got the candles to the counter before opening the display to grab the wind crest and pendent. They were both silver and held the form of a tornado with two doves, probably, taking flight next to one another in a Celtic type design.

 

Hearing the slight irritation in Silvia's voice, Scarlet couldn't help but blink a few times confused. “It's kind of hard to take anything seriously when you pray to your God to spare your mother from death and he doesn't even act as though he cares,” she sighed bitterly whilst looking off angrily to the side hoping to avoid criticizing looks from Silvia.

 

“Everyone feels that way when someone they love dies, but you have to know that there are a lot of people who worship him, and I am sure he can only take care of so many people,” the woman felt need to point out, placing her knife down on the counter. “Besides, demons don't work miracles. They merely wait for the people to die so they can take them under to hell with them.”

 

Scarlet's eyes widened in distaste at having to hear that as she pounded her fist down upon the counter top to catch Silvia's attention, “Don't say that! That's not true! You don't even know that's true!”

 

Jumping slightly from the reaction of Scarlet, Silvia forgot that she was hell-bent on believing the creatures were gods and not demons. But remembering her remark earlier, Silvia couldn't help but sneer slightly. “Please, girlie, you don't even know what to believe anymore. If you were so into your own beliefs in saying their `gods', you wouldn't be here buying more things to help with the spell you're about to cast. You are merely being a hypocrite.”

 

“Maybe so, but I don't want to believe that my mother is rotting in hell!” Scarlet exploded angrily. “I am so desperate at this moment, I am willing to do anything to get the Gods attention, whether it's by a demon spell book or not! I want answers for why he let my mother perish slowly on her bed!”

 

“Who is `he'?” Silvia asked simply, leaning upon the counter with her forearms crossed in front of her.

 

Scarlet sighed as she massaged her neck having to think on him once again. “Touya the Ice God,” she answered somberly. “My mom looked to him even in her dying days.”

 

“And yet you want to beckon to the wind demon—makes sense,” Silvia said sarcastically as she held out the items still with a sigh. “Alright, since you worship or worshipped someone totally different, I would say go for the pendent; HOWEVER,” she emphasized loudly, “what you must do with it is something beyond just wearing it. What you have to do is engrave it within your flesh somewhere so the wind demon will know who to go to when you call to him.”

 

“Wait a minute,” Scarlet intervened with a wave of her hands, “I have to brand myself like a common cow to have him come to me?”

 

Once again Silvia showed she was getting annoyed as she put the pendent down on the counter a moment. “Look, you were baptized at Touya the Ice Demon's Temple, weren't you? If so, his crest should be cut into your body! You cannot be rebaptized, so you might as well burn this symbol into your skin somewhere unless you're a really good artist and can use a knife!”

 

Scarlet looked at her body a moment remembering where the crest was of the Ice God. It was a small snow flake Celtic symbol with two smaller ones below the biggest one embedded within her right hand and grew in size the bigger she got from when it was given to her as a baby. Opening up her hand a moment to look at it, she closed it once more to pay attention to Silvia since she knew more about this than she.

 

The store worker kept the pendent dangling from her hand, the swaying of the item almost hypnotic. “These spells aren't spells were you say a chant or a prayer and that is that. You have to prove how desperately you want to speak to them; the higher up the spell, the higher the price and the demand for you to show your eagerness to speak or please the demons. Be warned that there are even spells in there were you have to spill your own blood to entice him.”

 

Scarlet's fear was soon nonexistent at hearing that as she took the pendent. “That I am all too familiar with doing, so don't worry about that one. So how much is this thing?”

 

“Twenty-five dollars,” Silvia answered, ringing her up for the day so she could get back to what she was doing. “So that makes your total debt out to be ninety five dollars. I hope you plan on working all of that off. I would hate to destroy your little quest in getting answers from the demon Lords.”

 

Shaking her head, Scarlet grabbed the bags everything was put inside, “I promised you I would, and I keep my promises. Besides, I don't like being at home with my dad all the time…I don't like his company.”

 

“See you tomorrow then, bright and early,” Silvia said with a wave behind her as she headed back to the curtained area in the back.

 

Stepping out of the store with what she had bought, Scarlet sighed a bit as she headed back to Lavender Lane where her decrepit house was located. She prayed all the way there that her father wouldn't be at the door or near the entrance to the house or else she would be attacked verbally for what she had done—buy `useless' items. On her way home, however, she couldn't help but stop to look over at the Ice Temple that was a few feet away from her when she got to the beginning of Lavender Lane.

 

Scarlet sucked in her lower lip as she eyed the temple from afar, narrowing her eyes upon the entrance of the large church looking temple that was made of the finest white marble and blue that outlined most of the designs and the roof. She knew if she said anything horrible towards the Ice God, she would get in trouble with his worshippers all around her and the last thing she wanted to do was make herself the next sacrificial lamb for the Ice God whenever the winter weather got too crazy.

 

I will get my answers, she grumbled to herself as she hurried towards her house that was just few blocks away. I promise you that, Touya.

 

The front door creaked open slowly as she peeked her head inside to hunt for her father only to find the coast clear. She could hear from the door that the television was running in the living room that was at the end of the hallway the staircase with situated in, which were only a few feet away from her. Scarlet silently closed the door behind her before hurrying towards the steps to race up them. Her sandaled feet beat against the carpeted stairs, only to snag her father's attention in the room further down the hall on the first floor.

 

“Scarlet, is that you?” He asked demandingly.

 

Scarlet froze in her tracks as she heard her father's voice. Closing her eyes tightly with an irritable hiss, she cursed silently before calling to her father in return like nothing was wrong. “Uh, yes, dad, it's me.”

 

“You weren't outside taking part in that devil worship, like the rest of those lunatics, were you?”

 

“No, dad,” Scarlet answered without hesitation, thinking up an excuse quickly. “I was just going for a walk. You know I don't worship Touya the Ice God anymore.”

 

“You better not be,” he clearly grumbled loudly to reach Scarlet who was at the top of the stairs by now.

 

“I don't,” she called back, jogging to her room. “I promise.”

 

Closing her door behind her, Scarlet let out a sigh of relief before locking it to make sure her father couldn't get into her room if anything where to happen that might draw attention to him in another room. Placing the bags on the bed that was still unmade, she opened them up to pull out the pendent that she would have to use to burn into her skin. “I guess I'll do this all tonight…just like the book told me.”

 

The pendent glistening off of the light it was granted as Scarlet placed it back into the bag just in case her dad demanded entrance into her room. The last thing she wanted was for him to see what she had planned on doing dealing with `devil worship'. Grabbing the bags she had, she quickly shoved them under her bed where she knew they would be safe until midnight.

 

 

 

 

The clock in the center of town chimed three times to indicate that the final hour of the day had passed and it was the end of The Festival of the Gods. Scarlet looked up from the short story she was writing to listen for the third chime before putting up her items to fish out the wind spell book that she hid within the many books she owned. Pulling it out, she quickly turned it to page 180 where the summoning spell was.

 

“Alright, I already took a shower before hand so now all I have to do is light the candles, right?” Scarlet said only to herself as she placed the book down on her bed for a moment.

 

Kneeling before her bed, she lifted up the covers that were draping over her bed so she could reach in and pull out the bags that held the items she would need for this spell. The thirty candles soon out of the container she had placed them within, Scarlet took off the band on the set of tens and started to set them appropriately across her bedroom so she could entice the Wind God to her room.

 

“This better work,” she slightly grumbled once she got the candles to look attractive to her before lighting the match. “If my room burns down because of this spell, I am going to be pissed.”

 

Scarlet was always leery about lighting candles in her room due to the fear of knocking one over or one being blown over. The fear of her room catching on fire prevented scented candles even though she enjoyed the smell of them. It took a few minutes, but eventually all candles were lit leaving only the spell as well as the wind crest to be applied into the equation.

 

Blowing out the last match, Scarlet grabbed onto the pendent that she would need to wear around her neck as well as engrave it in her hand. The pendent soon within her grasp, she leaned over to grab one of the lit candles off of her desk to hold the silver item over it in hopes of making it hot enough to burn the design into her left hand. She waited a few minutes before pulling it back and, without hesitation, Scarlet quickly pressed the hot metal against her palm to let it singe into her flesh. Biting her lower lip, she couldn't help but let out a silent, pain filled cry as she tried her hardest not to be loud. Panting heavily afterwards, Scarlet steadily pulled the item from her hand to see that it did indeed burn the item's design into her left palm.

 

“Damn,” she hissed through her teeth with a slight whence. “That really hurt…!” She knew her hand was going to be feeling quite numb for awhile as she managed to bring herself to her bathroom so cool off the metal on the pendent with the cold water she ran. Scarlet didn't think bandaging her burnt hand was an option as she left it the way it was before ambling back towards her bed where the book was.

 

Glad at that moment she was a right-handed person, Scarlet read the rest of what she had to do with her right hand keeping the book opened. “Wear the pendent around your neck, for it is not only a symbol of the Wind God's authority over you, but a beacon and light in itself for him to find you. Items such as these are also known as the `Demons' Eye', where you will be allowed to look within his eyes and see what he sees.”

 

Turning the page before her since it continued onto the next one, she saw an illustration of the Wind Demon on that page that contained the spell. Her eyes focused upon the image, it showed a man with wild, long, red hair hovering upon wind while pointing down to the right as well as looking there with his deep blue eyes. He had wings as well as wore white robes like the statue depicting Touya the Ice God. She gazed at it for awhile before outlining a bit of it with her hand finding nothing wrong with him and nothing demonic as she looked back to the spell she was to say aloud.

 

“Let's see,” Scarlet mumbled. “Block out all sounds around you and call to the Wind Demon by saying the lines below aloud. Make sure everything is done properly and that the only light is the candles lit within your room.” Scarlet made sure that was that as she looked down at the chant below. “Now, what do I have to say?”

 

I call to the Wind Demon of this earth.

He who protects and watches over me.

 

I call to the Wind Demon of this town.

He who teaches and guides me.

 

I call to the Wind Demon from above me.

He who keeps me from all evil.

 

I call to the Wind Demon from within me.

He who is inside me and birthed me.

 

Blinking a few times, Scarlet couldn't help but scoff a bit as she attempted the spell once she put on the necklace. “Oookay,” she chuckled sarcastically, “if that is what they want me to do.”

 

She had to reread the lines a couple of times so she would know what to say without looking at the text and being able to focus on nothing but one thing, as if she were meditating. When she felt she finally got the lines down, Scarlet closed her eyes and focused upon them so she could chant them repeatedly out loud even if it was laughable to her just like prayer was lately.

 

“I call to the Wind Demon of this earth, he who protects and watches over me. I call to the Wind Demon of this town, he who teaches and guides me. I call to the Wind Demon from above me, he who keeps me from all evil. I call to the Wind Demon inside of me, he who is inside me and birthed me,” she called out loud and seriously even if she felt like rolling with laughter.

 

Scarlet continued to chant the lines she could clearly remember as the wind continued blowing about just as it always had, the candles remaining lit. When she repeated the verses a seventh or so time, she eventually stopped to look at the room around her slowly. She was hoping when she opened her eyes she would see what she wanted to see, but alas, nothing happened. It was the same room as before, just with many lit white candles.

 

Sighing angrily in defeat, Scarlet got up off of her bed to go put medicine on her aching, burned hand. “This is stupid,” she grumbled as she headed for the bathroom. “I was stupid to actually believe in the crap they spouted!”

 

Making it to her bathroom, she looked at the damage done to her left hand only able to flinch at the wound wondering if she would be able to tend to it herself. Sighing, still angry at what had happened and how foolish she had been, she opened up the medicine cabinet in her bathroom that had a mirror attached to the front of the cabinet door that was above her sink. Hunting through the many medicines and creams she owned, Scarlet finally came upon the cream that was used forever ago for a couple of burns she got thanks to helping her mother in the kitchen when she was ill and had a hard time baking on her own. She knew it was in there somewhere and was lucky to find it. As Scarlet closed the bathroom cabinet she didn't notice the person standing behind her until she looked up at the mirror feeling someone was watching her.

 

Spying the shaggy, redhead standing behind her that didn't look at all human thanks to his horn, pointed ears, and weird overbite, Scarlet couldn't help but scream at the sight of someone else in her bathroom as she dropped the cream in her hand causing it to spill all over the floor upon doing so as she quickly spun around wondering if she was dreaming.

 

Before she could even ask who or what he was, the creature quickly ran over to her to cup her mouth to prevent her from screaming anymore. “Goodness, don't yell so loud! My ears cannot take the horrid sound!” He hissed softly, keeping his hand where it was over the wide-eyed Scarlet that was still in a panic over his appearance. “Now, what do you want?”