Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Wind Knoll's Curse ❯ Chapter 8

Author's Notes: Sorry, sorry, I was busy playing around on the many games I got for Christmas, and I sketched the Christmas gifts I meant to give to my pals on my LiveJournal account. And since I have so many stories back up and running, I am going to work on them in the order of reviews they get. I don't want to disappoint those who actually don't fear speaking up on my work. XP

 

 

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Blossom opened the door to the closed shop with worry expressed clearly on her face. Her wavy, russet dyed hair kissing her skin with the wind blowing contently about the town, she felt a sort of eerie presence upon it as well. The door rang when she finally closed it behind her. Heading to the curtain, which covered the back room, Blossom made sure nobody was around before entering on inside.

 

The streets still slightly vacant, Scarlet headed for the store she had offered to work at with her hands buried in her pockets of the baggy jeans she was wearing. Her mind lost in wonderment, she almost missed the store. “I cannot believe I agreed to go to that young girl's house with that idiot.” Releasing a sigh, she grabbed onto the handle of the door, ignoring the `Closed' sign, knowing it didn't apply to her.

 

The ringing of the bell echoed throughout the store as Scarlet made her way to the front desk. She dropped her small coat she was wearing that chilly morning on the chair behind the counter. Scarlet rest her arms upon the glassy top with a sigh expressed, gazing about the empty store.

 

Blossom pushed the curtain out of her way to make it into sight. Spying Scarlet at the counter startled her, prompting her to jump back with her hand over her chest with a deep inhale. “Goodness, Scarlet, you scared me to death.”

 

Scarlet raised her head slightly from where it was hanging between her arms. “Sorry, I am a little early. I have been having difficulty sleeping lately. These…awful nightmares have been attacking me; especially when I am at the temples…”

 

The young brunette seemed to fidget slightly at the mention of the nightmares. “Wind Knoll releases those nightmares from the mist, some say,” she spoke softly. Her fingers strolled across a golden charm bracelet she was wearing, offering a brief smile at them. “Silvia enjoys them.”

 

Scarlet turned her attention fully on Blossom upon hearing such a twisted enjoyment from Silvia. She leaned in closer from over the glass counter to hear a bit better, like the two girls were trying to hide a perfect secret from others close by.

 

“That is why she often gets drunk and sleeps outside,” Blossom further explained. “She says she enjoys the frightening rush.” She grabbed onto Scarlet's forearm, which was within reach, with a firm expression. “But I advise you to be careful. Those dreams…I hear that they are actually soul wanderings. If your soul gets devoured by one of those beasts, you will die.”

 

“Do the Gods—I mean—the Demons show up for you during such a time?” Scarlet felt need to ask.

 

Blossom shook her head with a bite of her lower lip. “I cannot ask my demon guardian for help. If I do, he will find me.”

 

“Why don't you send someone to talk to him?” Scarlet inquired as she brought her hands back to her sides. “Maybe he is not going to kill you at all…”

 

The wavy hair of the brunette shook as she offered Scarlet her response. “I cannot send anybody to meet him. Those I am friends with have lost contact with the demons a long time ago.” She shook her head once more, digging into her purse to pull out her wallet to count the money that was within it. “Look, I am going to go get breakfast for everyone. When Silvia makes it in, tell her to work on putting the new inventory in their right spot.”

 

“Of course,” Scarlet meekly replied. “Be careful out there.”

 

“I will,” Blossom said in return with a brief wave over her shoulder.

 

Left alone in the store made it tempting for Scarlet to look over at the red curtain, which concealed the back room. She didn't wish to go back there unsupervised, so she remained where she was. Ducking behind the counter, Scarlet went hunting for something to read. The magazines sat in a tidy pile in the back corner. Grabbing onto one, she brought the chair closer so that she could sit and read what was going on in the town.

 

Unbeknownst to Scarlet, however, two of the demons were watching her closely from the store window. The wind demon shifted his ears at the sounds about them. He placed his hand upon the short ice demon close to him with a gentle nudge.

 

Touya nodded at the young woman he could now clearly see. “Yes, that is the one. She cuts herself and still does with her mother gone.” He placed his hands into his pockets to keep his hands occupied. “Her mom was Cynthia Baker. Last night she was in trouble, and I tried to help her out. She nearly suffocated in her sleep.”

 

Jin sighed, shaking his head in disapproval. “Those demonic souls are getting braver every day. I worry what will happen to some of the weaker humans in this town, where the spirits mostly rise.”

 

“Since she is closer to you at this moment, I will warn you now that she has an abusive father, who drives her to cut herself,” Touya said, pressing his palm upon the window before him to try and gather the energies on the opposite side. He closed his eyes and breathed slowly to concentrate on Scarlet's soul.

 

“I thought you said she mostly does it spontaneously,” Jin said with a flick of his pointed ear.

 

“Some humans are known to enjoy cutting themselves,” Touya mumbled as he moved his hands about the glass slightly. “Scarlet is just one of them.” He opened his eyes slowly with a deep exhale followed by an equally serious swallow. “Okay, if I were to rate her spiritual energy, I would say she is semi-close to calling to Hell.”

 

“I thought as well. I could hear it humming slightly whenever I am around her,” Jin informed. It was known that souls in the afterlife could hear the living souls singing to the dead. The louder it was, the closer the soul was to passing.

 

“It hums louder whenever she is bleeding from a deep wound she creates on her arm,” Touya explained further. “I would be careful of that. She eagerly wishes to join her mother right now, but I feel it is best she remains here.”

 

“Will you go in there with me?” Jin asked, he peering down at the ice master close to him.

 

Touya expressed a sigh as he thought on Jin's offer. He had other people who had given so much to him to have his protection. Scarlet, on the other hand, was just trying to get back into the studies to get answers she had gone years without. It made the ice master view her as selfish, but he knew, even in his past, he had been selfish himself. “I will go in with you, but do not say a word to her about me being there. She has to be able to see me for herself,” Touya stressed.

 

“Agreed,” Jin said with a shrug as he made his way on inside with Touya right behind him.

 

Scarlet felt the wind of the demon brush across her face. Her bi-colored hair wavering at the wind demon's presence, she looked over towards the door to see the redhead making his way towards the counter. “Do you not have other people to bother?” She asked with a grumble, closing her magazine.

 

“And it is good to see you too, kiddo,” Jin chuckled as he hefted himself up on the counter so he could have a place to sit. “I went to go talk to someone before coming back to check on you. The only reason I bug you as much as I do is because you summoned me.” He shrugged his shoulders with a slight smirk. “Besides, demons are a lot faster than you realize. I had time to check on Teresa and talk to her before coming to you.”

 

Touya gazed at the elbow length gloves Scarlet had on with a tilt of his head as the two bickered at one another. “She has fresh wounds on her arm,” he announce mostly to Jin as he grabbed onto Scarlet's arm without thinking.

 

The very hand of the ice demon, who was invisible to Scarlet's sight, startled her as her injured arm was shot with a deadly, frozen bite. Jerking her hand back, she hissed in dismay, fixing the fabric on her arm as it was with confusion. “What—how did you do that? What was that!” She exclaimed in wonderment.

 

Jin tapped his fingers upon the glass counter in thought. “It wasn't me,” he said truthfully, like a child who had been scolded by his mother.

 

Scarlet could sense something in his tone as well as something in his expression. He was hiding something, but she knew it would just be a pain in her backside to try and get him to tell the truth. Her mind wandered back to Blossom when she gazed out at the foggy morning, which rested beyond the glass windows to her left. “Demon Jin, do you know of one of the demons named Kurama?”

 

“Which Kurama do you want?” Jin asked with a slight shrug of his shoulders.

 

“How many `Kuramas' can there possibly be?” Scarlet wondered with a scoff at Jin's stupidity.

 

“Two,” Jin answered simply.

 

“How about a Yoko Kurama—does that one ring a bell? He is a silver looking cat, fox person,” she tried her best to explain with a few hand gestures.

 

Jin scratched an itch embedded within his fiery, red hair. He appeared miffed about the mere sound of the silver fox demon's name. “Um, why would you want to contact him for?” He grabbed onto her arm to bring it closer to him to reveal the cuts, which were embedded underneath the cloth. “You want to add more cuts to yourself?”

 

Scarlet jerked back her arm but not without whacking Jin upside of the head with a growl. “First of all, that is none of your business what I do with my arm! And, second, why do you say such a thing about the demon? Is he bad?”

 

The wind demon rubbed the side of his face she had touched with an annoyed look at her. “As far as Yoko Kurama is concerned, he is not exactly your most `loved' demon. Kurama himself even considers that half of him a sin and a burden. He is a heartless demon who enjoyed the smell of human blood poured on his temple's steps, until it became a putrid stench to him. He is not somebody you want to speak to unless you wish to die.”

 

Her stomach churned at the mere thought of such a demon coming to her. Scarlet fidgeted slightly, worrying for her co-worker regardless of them not knowing one another for a long while. “So Kurama is a lot nicer than that counterpart?” She inquired.

 

“He is pretty much a completely different person,” the wind demon answered. “He is a lot kinder than the fox version. But why would you want to talk to him for?”

 

“Jin, please don't go prying into my business, okay?” Scarlet begged with a slight narrow of her eyes. “Can you please just send him to me or something? It is urgent I talk to him.”

 

“Okay, but you're not breaking your promise to come with me to see Teresa,” Jin reminded her with a shake of his finger.

 

“I promise I won't,” Scarlet stressed through her clutched teeth. She was getting rather irritated at the demon. “Now will you please leave so that I can finish my job?”

 

“Picky, picky,” he chuckled, pushing himself up off of the desk. “I guess I will leave. And here I thought you wanted a guardian—somebody to watch over you. I guess I was wrong,” Jin slightly teased as he cautiously waved for Touya to come with him.

 

Scarlet merely rolled her eyes, turning her focus back upon the magazine she had stretched out upon the glass countertop. Her cheek resting within her palm, she sighed irritably as she hoped that the demon would leave her in peace.

 

Once Jin and Touya were outside, the wind demon turned to the touchy ice master. “Why did you touch her if you didn't want her to know you were there? She can feel, you know. She isn't numb to that.”

 

“I am sorry,” Touya responded, pressing his finger close to his lips as he thought on Scarlet's energy. “I could just tell she sliced herself earlier in the day. Did you not sense it with her spirit humming quite loudly?”

 

“Yeah, I could tell,” Jin responded with a slight shrug, looking back at Scarlet.

 

“And you didn't care to do anything about it?” Touya was confused a bit insulted at the fact Jin appeared to care less about it. “Jin, you are the only demon she can see now—why not try acting more like a demonic guardian `God' to this woman and make sure she doesn't slice up her arm again!”

 

Jin scratched the back of his head, twisting his mouth to the side with a subtle hum in thought. “Alright, alright, but she hates that I keep harping on her already.” His elfin ear wiggling at the swirling wind, Jin could hear a voice calling upon it. He turned his neck to gaze over his shoulder to the east in a soft alertness. “Touya, I need to go take care of something real fast. Do you think you could look after Scarlet for a little while? Also, if you could contact Kurama once she leaves work that would be great.”

 

The ice demon sighed, his arms crossed over his chest. “Jin, I cannot stay here all day, you know that.”

 

“You won't be,” Jin promised with a toothy grin as he grabbed onto Touya's shoulders. “She doesn't stop working until five or so, goodbye for now!”

 

Jin spoke so fast that Touya hardly had a moment to spare when it came to words. Expressing his pouting face, Touya grumbled as he turned back towards the windows to look through the glass at the young girl. “You owe me for this one, Jin.”

 

 

 

 

The sun began to gradually set behind the towering mountains later on in the afternoon. Some of the town's people were scurrying home due to the fog getting a bit thicker than usual at the early hour of the evening. The ice demon was resting against the windows of the magic store where Scarlet worked, sitting down on the concrete sidewalk as he waited for the young woman to leave the store. The wait boring him into a slight slumber, Touya's head hung between his arched legs.

 

A disturbing sound echoed throughout the streets just down the alleyway between the music store and dollar store on the opposite side of the street. It was a disoriented, grunting sound. Touya opened his narrow eyes to gaze across the foggy street into the darkened alleyway when the sound graced his ears.

 

Touya pushed himself up off of the cold ground as he kept his attention on the horrid noise. “A demon spirit is on the loose,” he mumbled, clutching his fists tightly at his side. He didn't care to think twice about remaining at the store to wait for Scarlet. The safety of the town was more important than just one single person's life to him as he quickly ran across the street to take care of the problem.

 

The door of the Black Magic Store opened with a simple ring as Scarlet excused herself from her job with the night shift finally coming in. Blossom and Silvia exited the store with her, cigarettes in hand. Scarlet avoided the smoke the two puffed into the air as she examined the time on her wristwatch she put on that day.

 

“Well, I have to go to Teresa's house so that wind demon will stop bothering me,” Scarlet mostly said to herself only to have the other two overhear.

 

“The wind demon is bothering you, is he?” Silvia pried, pulling the cigarette away from her mouth to blow the smoke upwards. “And who the hell is Teresa?”

 

“Teresa is some girl who is sick with cancer, and Jin wants to take me to see her, so I can talk to her,” Scarlet explained. She couldn't help but express a simple frown at the mere mention of the two.

 

“I'd be careful with him,” Blossom said, tapping the top of her cigarette twice before placing it back upon her lips. “Demons, whether `gods' or not, are known to like human virgins, and I am sure he is just waiting to get you alone with your guard down.”

 

“Please, demons like humans whether they are virgins are not,” Silvia added with a scoff.

 

Blossom nudged Silvia with her elbow even if she herself found it slightly humorous. “But I would be careful, regardless. It could be your life on the line if you screw up with him.”

 

“Please,” Scarlet jeered with a roll of her eyes. “I can hardly stand the guy as it is. I highly doubt I will be spreading my legs to him anytime soon.” Turning on her heels, the young woman headed down the street in hopes of meeting up with Jin so he could lead her to this young girl's house.

 

“Never say `never',” Silvia joked next to Blossom as she leaned against the wavy, haired brunette. The two giggling girls headed for Blossom's car just down the sidewalk so they too could get underway.

 

Scarlet waved off their last words to her with a shake of her head. She watched cautiously as the sun wavered in the sky just beyond the mountains. Her feet skipping into a faster pace, she hoped to make it to Teresa's before the moon would rise to cloud her path. As she turned the corner just down the street, Scarlet inhaled sharply at the sudden appearance of the wind demon. She cupped her hand over her eyes to massage them before snapping at the demon, which now stood before her. “Jin, you scared me!” She hissed in a low whisper, so those nearby couldn't hear her.

 

Jin raised his brows at her with a throaty laugh at her reaction that he always found amusing. “Are you ready to go?” He asked with a wave of his hand. “It will be dark soon, so we need to hurry.”

 

“What about Teresa's parents?” Scarlet asked as she skipped a few steps to catch up to the wind demon she had to follow clear across the town. “What am I going to say to them?”

 

“I will be there directing you,” Jin said almost sternly as he walked onwards with his eyes fixed on the horizon. “Teresa's parents cannot see me. And as I told you, Teresa is expecting you, so do not worry. Damn, you worry too much.” Running his fingers through his wild hair, he extended his hand to Scarlet, who was having difficulty keeping up.

 

Scarlet tensed at the offer and even stuck her nose up at it. “I am not a child. I don't need your hand to cross the street!”

 

“Goodness,” Jin snorted with a shake of his head, taking back his hand. “Fine, but if you're going to be that slow, could you at least get on a bike next time?”

 

She said not a word to the impatient demon. Jogging most of the way through the town, Scarlet and Jin eventually made it to Teresa's home buried on the far side of town. It appeared to be a one story house just on the outskirts of a graveyard to the east of Wind Knoll. The fog appeared to remain there, refusing to budge even if the demon's wind touched it. It made Scarlet's skin crawl as foreign sounds seemed to originate from the graves beyond the broken fence.

 

“Does she actually live here?” Scarlet asked as she watched her step when walking through the thick fog, which clung to her knees. “This house almost seems parted from Wind Knoll.”

 

“Indeed she does,” Jin answered as he led the way. Jumping over a few small shrubs that were in the way, he headed for the small, wooden porch to wait for Scarlet. “Just knock on the door,” he insisted in a soft whisper, once she made it to his side.

 

Scarlet made it to the top step with a shake of her head. “The lights are off. I don't want to wake them.”

 

“They are not asleep,” Jin insisted, there in the foggy darkness. The crickets chirping nearly drowned out his soft tone. “They don't have electricity out here. Her parents have to rely on candles, so the house is dimly lit.”

 

Swallowing harshly to try and be rid of the lump of nervousness in her throat, Scarlet's knuckles rapped upon the wooden door. She cupped her elbows, moving from side to side anxiously at the sound of someone on the other side of the door.

 

The door opened to reveal the father of Teresa. He leaned against the doorway slightly with a rise of his bushy brows. “Hello, how can I help you?” He asked.

 

Scarlet looked up at Jin briefly to witness the demon nodding towards the man, signaling to hurry up. “I—um—I am looking for Teresa. Does she live here?”

 

The elder man scratching his beard, which was nearly as dark as the night, he opened the door a bit further to allow Scarlet to come inside. “Yes, she does. You must be Scarlet—the girl she has spoken of recently today.”

 

As she made her way inside of the small house, she spared a nod to the father of Teresa in agreement. “Yes, I am Scarlet Baker. I came here to speak with your daughter, if that is okay with you.” She looked at the many candles that littered the flat surfaces of the house. All were of different sizes, color, and shape. It made Scarlet think of her own bedroom lately, as she had the white candles all about her bedroom still from the time she summoned Jin.

 

“It is alright. Just don't stay too long, for she needs her rest,” he said in return as he guided her down the hallway, which rested beyond the kitchen area. Teresa's father continued down the hallway, illuminated dimly in candlelight until coming to the middle door on the left. Knocking upon the door softly, he called to his daughter. “Teresa, Scarlet is here.”

 

“Come in,” Teresa responded, her voice muffled due to the door in between them.

 

The father turned to Scarlet, nodding towards the door that remained closed. “You may go in to speak with her. You may also let yourself out when you are done.” Teresa's father excused himself, heading back down the corridor to go back to the living room where he currently had been resting for the night.

 

Jin hopped out of the way of the human man, watching him leave the scene before turning to Scarlet. “Go on,” he encouraged with a gentle nudge to her side.

 

Scarlet hesitantly opened the door to invite herself into the bedroom of Teresa. Candles littered the inside of the girl's room as well as a few `holy' items belonging in Jin's name. The room was fairly neat in appearance, from what could be made out in the slight darkness that the candles' light tried to chase off. Scarlet gazed at the bed, which rested beside a fairly large window. The dark curtains were tied shut with a sash, making the room even darker than the rest.

 

Teresa was in her bed, sitting upright with a booklet in her lap. Looking through the darkened room, she watched as the wind demon made his way over to her bedside first while Scarlet remained enthralled at the dancing candle flames. “It is good to see you again, Jin. I am glad you came.”

 

Jin smiled briefly in the dim light, making himself comfortable there upon the bed covers. “I am glad you are feeling a bit better than before,” he whispered in return.

 

Scarlet watched the two for awhile until a low, grunting sound of what seemed to be agony, came to her from outside. The sound disturbed her. Her eyes fixed upon the curtain beyond the bed, she witnessed a distorted shadow slowly creep across it. It stopped for a moment, as if to stare at those inside. Her heart pounding in fear, Scarlet backed up slightly with her eyes trying to make the noise go away.

 

Teresa followed Scarlet's gaze with a void expression. “You see them too, don't you?” She said finally to Scarlet, snapping the visitor out of her trance of fear. “They are always around here, especially with a graveyard nearby filled with souls of the damned.”

 

Shaking her head, Scarlet looked at Teresa with a cock of her brow. “What—what are you talking about?”

 

Teresa turned her attention back on the curtains. Her bony fingers, which showed her sickness, wrapped about the sash that kept the curtains closed. The sash untying slowly, as if to tease Scarlet's overwhelming eagerness of wanting to know what was outside, it parted the curtains to show a damned being on the other side. The head, merely a head with no eyes for it to see and no hair whatsoever, attached to a hunched body covered in blood and dirt of some kind. The hands much larger than the entire body, it seemed, clawed upon the window in a twisted, sickening fashion with his jagged teeth bared for the girls to see.

 

Releasing a startled shriek, Scarlet covered her mouth as her back hit the vanity. The vanity shaking from the impact, some of the candles dared tilt over it hadn't been for Jin's wind to keep them where they were. “What the hell is that thing!” She demanded to know in a hushed whisper.

 

“It is a soul of the damned,” Teresa answered without a wavering sound in her tone. “They are always waiting for me.” She continued to watch the creature claw eagerly at the window with a muffled, low grunting sound of agony. “Because we have worshipped the damned for so long, all of us will suffer the same fate.”

 

Scarlet's breath hitched at the words Teresa spared to her. Her eyes welled up in tears of fear as she shook her head slowly, not wishing to believe such.

 

“I see them outside my window every night. Their numbers get larger every day,” Teresa continued, not showing any fear in what may happen to her. “I am waiting to die, so Jin may help me down to hell when my time here is over.”

 

“You—you are insane,” Scarlet muttered over the lump, which formed in her throat. “Why do you not get help for your sickness or at least stop worshipping the demons!”

 

The ill stricken girl turned to the wind demon as did the demon in return. “Not all demons are evil. No god would be next to me now in the flesh, helping me through such a time.” She turned to look back at the terrified Scarlet. “Jin the Wind Master has helped me through this time, and I would rather die with the damned, who try to ease my suffering with their sinned hands, than live with the holy, who enjoy watching me die.”

 

“You want to rein in hell…?” Scarlet inquired in confusion.

 

“I want to be loved in hell,” Teresa corrected. “I want to serve Jin in the afterlife to repay his time with me then serve someone who didn't care up in heaven.”

 

The candles at this time began to flicker ruthlessly under an eerie breeze Jin had no control over at the time. Scarlet watched as the light began to fade as some of the candles blew out one by one. The darkness seemed to creep across the wooden floor, like it was alive. Hands branched out from the floor as if to try and grab at Scarlet's ankles. Her palms pressed against the vanity behind her, she hefted herself up on the wooden furniture.

 

Her heart pounding louder than ever, she inhaled sharply several times during the tears she spilled. The room seemed to be painted black. Scarlet couldn't see the other two in the room with her, nor could she even hear them breath. It made her feel alone and scared. Her fingers gripping tightly onto the side of the vanity, she felt something sticky grace her trembling fingers. The candles quickly relighting themselves, Scarlet screamed briefly once more at the sight of the bedroom she could see yet again.

 

The room was smeared in blood on the walls and even on the floors as if to cover the slightly burned and musty wooden walls and floors. She gazed down at the vanity she was upon to see blood mating with her tensed palm. Jumping off of the vanity, she shook her hands to the best of her ability to try and be rid of the crimson liquid. “What the hell is this!”

 

“We are in hell all the time,” Teresa announced from the bed she remained within. “You were shut off to it until you reawakened. Wake up, Scarlet,” she seemed to insist with a slight clutch of her hands. “Wind Knoll shares this area with the demons and the damned. It has ever since it was built. It is not so bad. It will be paradise if we keep the demons pleased.”

 

“P—Pleased…?” Scarlet wondered.

 

“The demon `Lords' met,” Jin interjected with a stern look upon his face. “They have voted on whether or not to destroy Wind Knoll for the ridiculous human sacrifices. So far, everyone is safe, but if one of the demons add in another `yes' vote, everyone will be cursed, and this town will be a living hell for everyone.”

 

Scarlet couldn't find her breath as she remained there in that room. “Jin…I want to go home…!” Was all she could manage to say with every labored breath she took before departing from the bedroom.