Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Wind Knoll's Curse ❯ Chapter 4

Author's Notes: Drew a random image of Scarlet and Jin on my DA account so you can check that out here: http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/38856215/

 

My artwork is another way I relieve stress and get my inspiration out. Though CGing is a pain in the butt. Yay, Silent Hill the movie is out on DVD and such though I will probably say the games are better. X3 I will have to take a peek at that. Pyramid Head is my bitch. XD

 

----------------------------------------------------------------- -------

The alarm went off early in the morning, waking Scarlet rudely from her slumber the coming day. Her hand slamming down on the snooze button, she got the horrible sound to stop before opening her eyes to the numbers there on her clock that stood close to her lamp. “Ten o'clock,” she mumbled in misery before pushing herself up off of her bed to sit upright under her covers. Her eyes wearily looked about the room to spy some of the candles she had used in the night hours to summon the wind god. Remembering clearly what all had happened, Scarlet just rubbed her face with her hands to try and wake herself up before pulling the covers from her body.

 

She managed to stumble towards the bathroom, her hands gripping onto the sink to keep her weary body up. Her bi-colored hair all a mess, Scarlet reached for her brush that she kept there on the sink counter to rake the bristles of it through her tresses to straighten her hair back out. The hair tie that she used to keep her hair back in a ponytail there near her brush and toothbrush, she picked it up and tied back her hair as she thought about the day ahead.

 

She was nervous attending her new job since she wasn't too keen on working with others. Her home was always where she had been forced to stay aside from school and so she didn't interact with many people. “I guess I can only hope the place has decent people—workers and customers alike,” Scarlet remarked to herself as she hunted through her medicine and makeup cabinet for her makeup she would need to put on.

 

As she worked on her makeup to cover up her blemishes and add a bit of color to her eyes and lips, the sound of a door opening and closing caught Scarlet by surprise. Jumping slightly from the sound, she looked at the wall to the left of her with a slight sigh before going back to tending to her eyeliner. “I guess dad is awake.”

 

Chris Baker was always bad about slamming the doors around the house, even when he wasn't angry. If anything, it was a way for Scarlet to know where he was and what he was doing. She has been with her step-father for so long she came to the point where she could tell what slam was out of rage and which wasn't. It appeared to her that her father was just closing the door to his bedroom for the morning and was heading out to do whatever it was he did every dawn.

 

Scarlet headed back into her bedroom, after working on her makeup and hair, to look for something to wear for her first day at work. She didn't have many fancy things like she recalled Silvia wearing but that didn't stop her from throwing her sleeveless maroon top with cargo pants, white elbow length gloves, and black belt on the floor. Her maroon top had a fancy design upon it in white that looked like a Celtic phoenix. It was one of her favorite shirts though she rarely wore it seeing as she hardly ever went out lately. Moving some of her cut bangs out of her face that were parted down the middle, Scarlet hunted the floor desperately. “Where are my damn boots?” She wondered as she lied down on her chest to check under her bed. Her hand rising up her comforter that draped down her bed, she eventually spotted her brown boots there resting in the darkness under her bed. “Ah, there they are.”

 

Pulling out her boots, Scarlet placed them on her bed within sight as she got her clothing on quickly. She wanted to get ready and hurry to her job without confronting her father on where she would be heading. While her father didn't really seem to disagree on the fact she had a job now, he didn't know that she wouldn't be attending her college classes anymore seeing as the job would be taking the place of it. College wasn't a priority for Scarlet at the moment seeing as her lethargic attitude wouldn't let her handle anything dealing with studying for tests and working on homework. If her father was aware that her college would suffer, Scarlet knew she would be punished for it.

 

Eventually she was ready as she stood there in the clothes that she felt would be her best for the job. While double checking in the mirror, her sight couldn't help but be drawn to her left hand where she burned the wind design within it. She had bandaged her hand when the demon had left during the night and Scarlet couldn't help but recall the encounter once more that still seemed so surreal. Her fingers moved slightly as she made a fist regardless of the pain that still stung her as she did so. She hissed in displeasure as she reopened her hand to look at her bandaged palm once more to remember the promise she made.

 

“I promised him I would suffer through the scriptures once more for the sake of asking about my mother,” she mumbled as her eyes met with her reflection there on her dirty mirror. “I can only pray this one time that I can get the answers I seek…Please don't let me down, Jin the Wind God,” Scarlet pleaded as she brought her burnt hand to her chest.

 

 

 

 

The traffic lights changed regardless of the fact that there was hardly any traffic to tend to out there on the foggy streets. Scarlet had never seen it that foggy before seeing as she mostly slept through the morning hours. Some of the houses and shopping stores came into view as she walked towards her destination there in the lonely streets. Even now at 10:30, the entire town seemed dead though a few bodies could just be seen there in the thick mist making their way to their jobs or to school. It made her feel uncomfortable only able to hear the people walking on the pavement as she headed for Willard Drive where the Black Magic Store rested as quickly as possible.

 

The store's front door soon within sight, Scarlet hesitantly grabbed onto the handle and opened it to be let inside regardless of the sign that said they were closed. She had managed to make it before eleven hit and was relieved to be on time. Peeking inside for a moment, she looked for Silvia, believing the woman to at least be at the counter only to find an opened newspaper that was left on the obituaries. Her flesh crawled at the mere sight of such a thing as she looked down each isle for a worker at the store.

 

“Hello?” She called wondering who was there as she started to head for the back room where Silvia was last time. Just as her hand was about to grace the curtain, a voice came from behind her as well as the bell to indicate that someone had entered the store. Turning around quickly, Scarlet saw a young woman, probably in her early twenties as well, with wavy brunette hair that touched the woman's shoulders and with a dark set of sapphire eyes. Her shirt a tight, tucked in white sleeveless shirt that showed off her rather large bust to any who dared look and she wore tight jeans that flared at the bottom to cover her sandals that were thin in heel and quite decorative with a bit of designs placed upon them.

 

“Oh,” the woman began as she continued onward into the store, “I guess you are the new hired help Silvia told me about.” She sashayed over towards Scarlet with an extended hand to her with a bit of a smile on her face. “Hi, I am Blossom Owen and I work the shelves and merchandise and all that lovely stuff. You are?”

 

Scarlet gazed down at Blossom's hand she was extending, taking it with her right hand. “I am Scarlet Baker.” Noting the confused look on Blossom's face when she took her extended left hand with her right, Scarlet showed her the injured left hand she couldn't use too well at the moment. “Sorry, my hand is burned. I cannot do much with it.”

 

“Well, you better be well enough to help me put everything up,” Blossom explained as she headed into the back behind the curtain Scarlet was about to go into. She merely disappeared for a moment to resurface with a few boxes that she placed at Scarlet's feet that were of different sizes. “We got new items in so I need you to take these boxes filled with spell books and put them on the shelf in alphabetical order over there.”

 

Scarlet followed Blossom's finger pointed over at the third isle from the door as she nodded to acknowledge she heard her instructions. “Alright,” she replied softly as she bent down to pick up the boxes, putting the smallest one on top.

 

Blossom picked up the rest of the boxes and headed for the last isle to start putting things up that needed to be restocked as she tried to get acquainted with the new employee. “So, where do you live?”

 

“I live on Lavender Lane,” Scarlet answered as she opened the boxes to pull out the spell books so she could put on the shelf. “House number 355 right down that road. What about you?”

 

“I live on Rosewood Boulevard so I am knee deep in the Misty Woodlands. The fog has been awful lately, though I hear they plan on fixing that as well as the horrible crops farmers have been getting these past few months,” Blossom explained as she put up some of the figurines they had got in of the gods. Rosewood Road began to the right of the Earth Temple so it was hidden within the forested area of Wind Knoll. It was like a high class farming area that was well known for its crops it would produce for grocery stores. However, the weather had been awfully dry and so things were not going well. Some blamed the weather while others pointed to religion for answers. “So, what exactly is your religion? What demon do you worship?”

 

Having to be reminded that the creatures she had referred to as Gods all this time were demons once more made Scarlet halt in her production as her fingers tapped upon the shelf for a bit to show her thought in her answer. “I—I don't really worship…anyone. I used to worship Touya the Ice God but I stopped when my mother passed away near my sixteenth birthday.”

 

Blossom listened to Scarlet as she put up another silver statue of Shishi the Demon of Death on the shelf with all the other statues of him. “Oh, I am sorry to hear that. I praise Yoko Kurama the Demon of Earth.” Blossom continued putting up the next set of statues that were diminutive in size compared to the twelve inches wondering what to ask next as she was nearly finished with her task. “Oh yeah, I meant to tell you,” She began as she ran her fingers through her hair, “Silvia went out to get breakfast for everyone so she won't be here till close to 11:30.”

 

“Everyone?” Scarlet asked as she put up the last book on the shelf.

 

“Yes, everyone,” Blossom answered as she picked up her boxes to move into the back room once she finished as well. “Are you through with your boxes?”

 

Scarlet nodded as she handed the boxes over to Blossom, cupping her elbows in her palms gently. “How is Silvia buying breakfast for everyone?”

 

“She has the money,” Blossom expressed with a sigh as she moved the boxes out of their way. “It may not seem like it, but we get enough business to survive and pay those who work here $7.50 an hour. In the mean time we'll work the counter. Or rather, I'll work the counter and you can watch and learn.”

 

“Thanks,” Scarlet remarked as she hopped towards the counter with Blossom in front of her, leading the way. “This is my first job so I don't know how everything really works.”

 

The door up front soon opened once again before Blossom could go and change the sign to open. Silvia managed to open the door with a couple of bags from the local coffee store just down the street there in her hands and mouth. Blossom helped Silvia through the door as she held it open for her so she could flip the sign for the morning to `open'. The raven haired Silvia nodded to Blossom as thanks seeing as she had her mouth full with a bag she had a firm grip on with her teeth. Silvia handed Blossom a cup of coffee as well as a little bag with the coffee shop's logo upon it.

 

“There is your decaf coffee with a bagel and cream cheese,” Silvia said once she removed the bag that she had hanging from her mouth. Making her way over to the counter, she put down two more coffees and small to-go bags. “And I got you a latté with whip cream with a bagel and cream cheese seeing as I don't know what the hell you like,” Silvia continued as she pushed the items gently towards Scarlet as she took her own bag. “And this one is for me—a house blend decaf with a blueberry muffin.”

 

Scarlet took the items she was offered as she hid a yawn behind the hand that was bandaged. “Thank you,” she said politely as she got out her bagel so she could eat it for breakfast. “It feels like years since I have seen anything dealing with breakfast.”

 

“How long do you sleep normally?” Silvia asked with her mouth partially full thanks to the muffin she took a bite out of. As she picked at her food, her eyes wandered across the bandaged hand of Scarlet. A smirk of wonder crept across her face as she listened to the new employee with her elbows upon the counter.

 

“I sleep into the early afternoon,” Scarlet answered as she sipped a bit of her hot latté.

 

Silvia took the top off of her coffee to-go and started to stir it up a bit as she continued to eye the injured hand on Scarlet curiously. “So, how did that spell turn out for you?”

 

Looking over at Silvia, Scarlet could see she was looking at her injured hand. At that moment, Scarlet wanted to hide her hand in her pocket but she knew now it would do little good. Her shame was right there in front of the two demon worshippers to see and right after she told them what she thought about the whole ordeal. Looking over at Blossom who seemed equally interested raised her thin brows as if to egg the truth out of her with the look in her eyes. “Well,” Scarlet began with a slight sigh, “I did try the summon spell…”

 

“And did it work?” Blossom asked this time as she sipped her coffee.

 

Scarlet wasn't sure what to say. She wondered if it was okay to tell them that he came to her. Jin the Wind Demon didn't exactly like those who worked at that store, but she couldn't see what harm it would do at that moment. “Yes, it did…he came to me and he's going to help me with my problems.”

 

“And did you see that he was a demon?” Silvia inquired as she finished off her muffin.

 

Scarlet sighed, hating to admit that she was wrong as she shook her head from side to side. “Yes, yes, yes—I saw that he was a demon and he told me, alright? I was always taught they were gods. I didn't know what they were.”

 

“That's the tricky thing about any kind of religion,” Silvia remarked as she worked on her coffee. “It's like playing telephone for a thousand years—fact and fiction get intertwined and you can't tell what is fact and what is fiction.” Spying the newspaper she had out on the counter and was reading previously, she scooped it up in her hands and turned the page to continue reading. “I am surprised it worked for you though with you being a nonbeliever and a beginner at that.”

 

Sitting down on one of the stools behind the counter, she looked between the girls confused. “What do you mean?”

 

“Well, I have worked on the summoning spell for years and it only worked once for me,” Silvia explained. “I was working on summoning Shishiwakamaru but he only appeared once to me two years ago.” The newspaper's pages created the only noise at the time as Silvia continued to eye it interestingly while speaking to the two workers. “He told me I was doing something wrong in my practices but I am not sure what seeing as he never clarified.”

 

“What could you have done wrong?” Blossom asked as she moved her hair over her shoulder. “They're demons. Demons crave blood from humans and need the sinned and sinners to be sacrificed for their disruptive ways.”

 

“Human blood?” Scarlet wondered softly to herself as she recalled the knife Silvia had in her possession the day she came in for candles. “Do you guys cut yourself for the demons?”

 

Both of the girls looked at the astounded sounding Scarlet. They shifted their gaze over to one another as if to laugh sarcastically at her tone with their shared expression. “Is that a problem?” Blossom asked from over the counter where she was eating her breakfast so she could get ready for customers soon.

 

Taking another sip from her coffee, Silvia shifted herself upon the counter top so she could look at Scarlet as well as sit down. “We only take a bit of our blood and drink it in a goblet of wine in their honor. We don't cut our arm in pieces. Demons love human blood and it's how some survive. Sometimes we shed it on their temple steps. Didn't you know that?”

 

Scarlet went silent as she eyed the coffee resting in her hands. She felt terribly uncomfortable at that moment and confused about many things dealing with the beliefs she was dwindling in and out of. Man, this is going to be a long day, Scarlet thought as she tried to hide her embarrassment of the moment in her morning pick-me-up.

 

 

 

 

The fog eventually lifted throughout the coming hours, leaving traffic outside and in to start flowing a bit better. During the lunch hours, Silvia maintained the counter while continuing to read magazines and Blossom went in the back behind the curtain tending to something. Scarlet never bothered asking what it was about as she checked the shelves to make sure everything was in place that she had to put back up. As she headed back up to the front so she could sit down and wait on a customer, Silvia looked at her watch there upon her wrist and closed the magazine she was reading.

 

“I am going to take my break,” Silvia yawned as she got up from the back counter with her coffee she had yet to finish. “You take on the job of cashier and I'll be back in fifteen. If you have a problem, shout for Blossom.”

 

“O—okay,” Scarlet stammered as she watched Silvia head off into the back where Blossom was.

 

As soon as Scarlet made it behind the counter, the front door opened and a few more customers came in. Most of the people who came to the store came for the history books, candles, and statues as they didn't believe in the magic spells the girls were selling. Every once in awhile someone would purchase one or question them, but very rarely were they bought. It made her slightly nervous to have a few customers within the store, but Scarlet managed a smile to them as she hunted for something to read in the stack of magazines Silvia had stacked back there. Her hands flipping through the pile, she eventually came across a decent magazine that had a few girly topics within it that Scarlet thought she would read for kicks since she always laughed at that preppy girl stuff.

 

Scarlet's grayish, green eyes darted about the words as she heard the door open once more. She didn't bother looking at who had entered as she continued to flip the pages of the magazine there sprawled out on the counter. The hands of whoever it was soon rested there on the glass counter top right in front of Scarlet making her look up at the looming shadow soon cast over her in curiosity. Jumping out of her chair and nearly falling to the floor, she grabbed onto her shirt tightly where her heart was beating wildly. “Good—God, you fucking scared me!” She hissed in a whisper so nobody would hear her.

 

Jin leaned forward on his hands as he looked at her a little closer with a soft laugh before hopping up to sit on the other side of the counter. “You're awfully jumpy today, aren't you?” The redheaded demon looked out at the store he had seen way too many times before with a subtle laugh in his throat. “So, this is where you got that book.”

 

Scarlet was starting to get irritated as she made sure nobody was watching her while she glared at the wind demon. “What are you doing here? Get out of here!”

 

“Calm down, girlie, I am not here to bug you,” Jin chuckled as he watched those within the store nearby. “I am keeping my eye on someone.” Sliding off of the counter, Jin walked through the store without any problems at all as he honed in on a young teen girl that was probably sixteen or so and had short dark russet hair with a bit of her bangs dyed blue and held brown eyes.

 

Scarlet could just see the two from where she was watching from behind the counter. Curious as to what he was doing at the store, she kept a close watch on the two since she still wasn't too keen on the knowledge of a demon being nearby even if he offered to help her with details of her deceased mother. She watched as the young teen looked right up at Jin without a problem and pointed to something there on the counter that must have caught her eye. She can see him? Scarlet wondered to herself.

 

Jin looked down at the teenager with a soft smile on his face. “Yes,” Scarlet heard the demon say, “that looks like me, doesn't it?”

 

“Should I take this one?” She asked the wind demon as she held onto one of the twelve inch statues in her hand.

 

“I don't see why not,” Jin responded as he stretched upward to show he was slightly tired. “The candles you'll want are back here too I believe.” His hand pressing to the young girl's back, he pointed in the back of the store before heading over there with the human he was intent on walking around with.

 

Scarlet remained confused there behind the counter but didn't say a thing as one of the customers plopped three of the history books and four different sets of candles there on the counter, catching her attention. “Will that be all?” Scarlet asked shyly as she started to punch in the appropriate numbers for the items placed before her. The woman answered with a yes but Scarlet didn't pay it much attention as she kept a watchful eye on Jin and the young female while she rang up the total of the items there before her. “Your total is thirty five dollars and fifty cents,” Scarlet replied once more.

 

The wind demon and the girl he was following around soon made their way up towards the counter, right behind the woman that was before them. Scarlet saw them both as she accepted the money handed to her to put into the cash register as she could only pray the crazy wind demon wouldn't do something stupid to make her lose her job. The demon did nothing but stand there though the woman in front could feel a bit of his presents with the wind being awfully abnormal in the store.

 

“Is something wrong?” Scarlet asked the woman before her as she seemed to turn her caller to the air around her.

 

“The air in here seemed to get a bit colder,” she answered as she rubbed her bare arms before taking her items in the bag. “Did someone turn the A/C on?”

 

“No, I don't think they did,” Scarlet said as she glared at Jin who was intentionally releasing a bit of the wind powers he had in the store. “But I will be sure to check that out so it won't be so chilly in here. Thanks and come again.”

 

Everyone at the counter watched as the woman left the store. Jin couldn't help but grin ear to ear as he chuckled in the back of his throat. Scarlet managed to catch it there on his face as she frowned at him not feeling embarrassed that she would be speaking to him now seeing as the girl could already see and hear him.

 

“You could at least be on your best behavior when you're in a store, Jin the Wind Demon!” Scarlet scolded in a low whisper as she took the items that the teenager held and wanted to buy.

 

“Oh, you humans are no fun,” Jin retorted with glee as he intertwined his fingers behind his fiery red hair.

 

“You see him too,” the girl interrupted as she looked at Scarlet behind the counter.

 

Scarlet looked down at the nameless teen with a cock of her brow.

 

“I see him almost every day,” she remarked eerily as she watched the cash register for her total. “He comes to my house quite often and he follows me around some times.” Her brown eyes met with Scarlet's as she fidgeted with the money there in her hands. “I'd rather he be here beside me then the others I see outside my window.”

 

The chills that ran up and down Scarlet's spine prevented her from asking what the girl meant as she got the total to come up. Wondering what the girl meant with her expression, Scarlet looked up at Jin who seemed concerned for once and he dared not say a word to the look the frightened Scarlet was giving him. “Your total is twenty five dollars and ninety-five cents,” she mumbled in a bit of subtle shock as she opened her hand for the money she expected to receive.

 

The teenager handed over the right amount as she grabbed her bags that Scarlet gave her. “Thank you,” she responded as she headed for the door, leaving Jin to stand there at the counter still.

 

Jin watched the girl leave the store as he remained there before Scarlet for a moment. His indigo eyes shifted to the stunned woman who was pointing towards the door wondering who the girl was with her body language. The demon didn't answer her. He just stood there with a goofy grin that soon replaced his serious frown upon his features. “I guess I will see you later tonight if you ever decide to call me.”

 

She didn't know what to say to the wind demon as he left the store with the girl he had come in to follow. Scarlet tapped her fingers upon the counter top in thought before feeling an uncontrollable shiver rake over her body. “Man, that girl gave me the creeps. I wonder what she was talking about,” Scarlet muttered to herself as she went back to her magazine.

 

 

 

 

Around five in the afternoon, three more girls entered the Black Magic Store, catching Silvia's attention up front. Welcoming the three with a smile, she banged her palms on the counter to get Blossom and Scarlet's attention. “Hey, girls,” Silvia called to Blossom in the back of the store and Scarlet situating some of the merchandise on the shelves once more. “Nightshift is here, so get organized to head out.”

 

Scarlet's head shot up from where she was looking down at some of the spell books she had to organize. Pulling her attention from the items before her, she headed up front to see some of the girls that came in to take their place.

 

Silvia jumped over the counter and slid off to the other side to introduce everyone. “Hey, girls, this is the new worker who is in debt to us, Scarlet Baker. Scarlet, this is Lydia Samson, Maria Ferris, and Patricia Blankly.”

 

Scarlet looked to the girls and offered them a smile. Lydia Samson looked like she was probably in her mid thirties somewhere and had board straight strawberry blond hair that she saw fit to braid down her back while wearing a black bandana upon her head. Her skin was slightly tanned and she had dark ivy green eyes. Her shirt was black with large white words on them in some sort of gibberish that almost looked like symbols. She wore shorts that were of normal length and she had white tennis shoes on.

 

Maria Ferris looked to be somewhere from her late teens to her early twenties and had shoulder length, curly red hair with a soft toned blue eyes. She had a tucked in blood red shirt with torn jeans that flowed over her brown sandals. She was fair skinned and her nails were tipped red and awfully long.

 

Patricia Blankly had obviously dyed pink hair that was layered down to her mid back with reddish brown eyes. She looked about the same age range as Maria and had her nose pierced and wore bold makeup for her eyes and lips. She had a black tank top with a long sleeve fishnet like over shirt and wore baggy, dark colored jeans that covered her black boots.

 

Everyone exchanged hellos and handshakes before Silvia grabbed onto Scarlet's right wrist and Blossom's and hauled them towards the door rather quickly. “Alright, already, let's get going. I have seen this place for long enough,” she joked as she turned towards those left in the store. “I'll see you guys tomorrow and be sure to lock up when you're through.”

 

“See you guys,” Maria called with a simple wave of her hand as she hopped behind the counter to take Silvia's place.

 

As soon as the trio was out on the road, Scarlet couldn't help but stretch and yawn to show how weary she was from having to get up early in the morning. Blossom pulled out a cigarette she had been keeping handy as well as her lighter to light it. Blowing a cloud of smoke upward out of everyone's face, she scratched her cheek with her thumbnail while looking to Silvia.

 

“So, what do you plan on doing tonight, Silvia?” Blossom asked as she had her arms half crossed below her bust.

 

“I was going to go to head to Charlie's Bar -n- Grill to get semi-wasted,” Silvia joked as she waved a bit of the smoke Blossom was blowing at her now out of her face.

 

“Only `semi'?” Blossom scoffed, knowing that Silvia was the type to hit the bottle a lot at moments. “No wonder the demons don't come to you, you're never pure enough.”

 

Gently punching the perky girl in the shoulder, Silvia laughed at her with a shake of her raven locks that tumbled over her shoulders. “Shut up, bitch. What about you? Aren't you supposed to be healthy for the dreaded time in June?”

 

“Please,” Blossom retorted with a roll of her eyes at the thought of it. “With what I am cursed with, I might as well smoke two at one time. It would lessen my sentence.”

 

Scarlet was unaware of what was being said between the two girls as she merely found a time to interrupt their talking. “Well, I guess I will see you two later tomorrow if that is when you want me back in. Right now I should head home I guess.”

 

Silvia turned to Scarlet, who was about to leave, at the same time Blossom did. Not able to hide her smirk that crept across her face any longer, the raven haired woman nodded at the nervous Scarlet. “So, what do you plan on doing tonight?”

 

Stopping in her tracks, Scarlet turned around to look at the two curious girls. “Nothing special. I am a writer so I go home and just belt out poems and stories. It's nothing wonderful.”

 

“You mean to tell me you never really go out and do anything?” Blossom felt need to ask as she shifted her balance onto one side of her body, leaning to her right a bit.

 

She felt like she was being criticized as Scarlet stood there looking slightly down at her feet. “Ever since—my mom died, I had no reason or motivation to go out and do anything.” Her boots she wore kicked lightly at pebbles there on the concrete she stood on at having to think on her mother once more that day.

 

“If you want,” Silvia began, “you can come to Charlie's Bar -n- Grill with me tonight. I don't care and it would give me a designated walker to my house if anything.”

 

“Yeah,” Blossom chimed in with a smirk, “last time I found her passed out on the park bench near my street.” Her remarked earned her another slap to the arm thanks to Silvia wishing Blossom would be quiet. But Blossom couldn't help but throw her head back a laugh a bit at having to remember the morning.

 

“No, I don't think I will tonight, but maybe some other time,” Scarlet answered as she backed up a bit. She still had in mind to call the wind demon she spied within the store for she was still desperate for answers about her mother. Turning her back to the two girls, she waved over her shoulder as she hurried off towards her house. “See you tomorrow.” Hurrying as quickly as she could towards her road, Scarlet feared looking back over her shoulder. While she may have enjoyed the two as company compared to the company she got everyday, there was something about them both that really frightened her.

 

 

 

------------------------------------------------------

 

 

When the clock struck midnight, Scarlet couldn't help but stare out her window in thought as the candles were lit to keep light in her room. She had come to like the candles over her regular lamps now and she needed them anyways to call the demon back to her. It was a hard decision for her to make, however, at that moment as she looked from the window to the `spell' book on her bed. Biting at her nails a bit, Scarlet finally went to the bed and opened up the book back to the summoning spell that she felt would draw the wind demon back to her.

 

“He said to just pray to him,” Scarlet said to herself nervously as she shifted through the pages to look for a prayer that might be reasonable. Looking through the many pages there before her, she couldn't come upon any she would feel comfortable saying as she grabbed onto the wind pendent she wore. Please, she begged within her mind, just come guide me to Touya's temple…I need to see him now.

 

The wind about Lavender Lane started to blow gently about the streets and buildings nearby making the curtains about Scarlet's windows toss about as the wind picked up. When the wind got a bit too harsh for her to handle and she feared the candles being blown over to start a fire, Scarlet quickly hurried over to her cracked window to close it. With the window soon closed and locked, Scarlet let out a brief sigh as she moved some of her hair out of her face that the wind felt need to caress. Getting to her feet once more, she turned around to go back to her book only to jump back with a brief yelp of surprise.

 

“Did you need me?” Jin asked, standing there with his arms slightly open before placing them on his hips.

 

“How the hell did you get in here without me seeing you?” Scarlet asked almost demandingly as she placed her hand back on her rapidly beating heart.

 

“Demons are faster than you realize,” Jin answered as he scratched the back of his head for a moment. “So, do you want me to take you to Touya's temple?”

 

Scarlet sat down on her bedside as she managed a nod. She felt that her knees would buckle if she didn't with so many emotions now racing through her at having to tend to another demon she had neglected since her sixteenth birthday.

 

“Alright,” Jin sighed as he nodded at one of the candles. “Take one of the candles and bring it with you. You'll need some sort of light when you're in that temple.”

 

Getting off of her bed quickly, Scarlet grabbed onto a candle that she felt would suffice for the walk over to the temple in the foggy night. Turning towards the towering demon, she nodded to him a few times. “Alright—I am ready to go now.”

 

Jin used his wind powers to spread the fog out of their way while Scarlet shielded the candle from his demonic wind and used it as a source of light for them both. As she continued down the silent street with the demon by her side, she couldn't shake the weird feeling she got with that girl she remembered Jin following around. Her eyes gazing up at the tall demon that was staring straight ahead seriously, she wondered what to say to him about it to ease her mind in some way.

 

“So that girl you were with—who is she?” Scarlet boldly asked.

 

“You mean Teresa?” Jin wondered in return as he looked down at Scarlet for a moment. “Well…” His normal smile he held turned back into a serious frown of worry as he thought about the young teen he had been walking around with all day and for the past few months. “Teresa has cancer and I have been following her around for the last couple of months that her condition worsened. I am waiting for her to be bedridden and waiting for her to—die so then I can take her.”

 

“What!” Scarlet exclaimed softly so as not to wake anyone. “What about her family? Haven't they taken her to get treatment?”

 

“Wind Knoll isn't exactly the best place to live when it comes to ailments,” Jin explained with a sigh. “You should know that better than anyone. All anyone can do is pray for health and all we can do is try and help best we can when the nurses and doctors fail.”

 

Scarlet was aware that the hospitals at Wind Knoll were horrible. Their knowledge on illnesses and cures was limited due to the town being completely shut off to other places that could share such practices with those at Wind Knoll's health center. It was a reason her mother could only wait to die when she got sick and it made Scarlet wish she lived somewhere else. “What about the things she mentioned seeing? What was all that about?”

 

“It's best not to talk about that,” Jin spoke up quickly as he continued onward, almost rushing ahead of her.

 

“But—.”

 

“I said don't talk about it!” Jin nearly growled as he snapped his head in Scarlet's direction.

 

Having to see him so angry made her shrink back at the appearance of his fangs and having to hear him growl. Her body trembled and her knees threatened to give out on her as she watched the demon closely. When he pulled away from her all she could do was watch him walk ahead of her as she stayed closely behind him. What got into him…? She wondered as she continued towards Touya's temple.