Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Wind Knoll's Curse ❯ Chapter 10

 

 

 

Scarlet had a difficult time sleeping, but eventually found herself dozing off only to have the red numbers upon the clock show it was noon. She didn't have to work that day, so it wasn't a problem that she had slept so late. Massaging her forehead, which was pounding slightly from the overdose trip last night, Scarlet moaned slightly under the covers at the feel of the light outside pouring through her window.

 

“It's too bright,” she grumbled, covering her eyes with her hand for a moment.

 

The wind blew harshly against the closed windows on the left side of Scarlet's bed, making the curtains move on the other side. Jin made it to the windowsill of the young woman's bedroom window. Opening it up from the other side with his strength, he slipped inside to find Scarlet groaning under the covers. “I see you are still in bed. Aren't you supposed to be at work?”

 

“No work today,” she grumbled, putting the pillow over her head.

 

“What about college? Don't you go to college?” Jin asked coming over to the bed to feel of Scarlet's forehead.

 

“I dropped out. No doubt I have been withdrawn from my courses since I haven't shown up in awhile,” she answered with a yawn.

 

“Do you plan on getting up at all?” Jin inquired as he pulled the pillow off of Scarlet's head. “You need to at least eat something considering your failed suicide attempt last night.”

 

“I am too tired to move,” Scarlet groaned, searching for her pillow, which Jin took from her. Blinking her eyes up at the wind demon, she growled at him slightly. “Give me my pillow back, you bastard.”

 

Jin tossed the pillow at Scarlet, letting it hit her in the face gently as he did so. “Alright, I guess I will just pop downstairs and find something for you to eat.” He walked over towards the door to open it slowly to let himself outside. “So what exactly do you eat?” The wind demon asked with a scratch of his head.

 

“I don't care,” Scarlet grumbled as she fixed herself back under the covers. “Just make me something to eat if that is your wish.” Truthfully Scarlet couldn't care less about eating at that moment. Her body was still trying to recuperate after the overdose. She was also still trying to make sense of the conversation she only heard half of last night when she woke, seeing as she could only feel the ice demon.

 

Jin sighed with a shake of his head at her irritation over him still before finally departing for the kitchen. He made his way down the stairs to see if the house was clear on the lower level before bothering to make anything for Scarlet. Jin knew if Chris Baker was awake and within a room nearby it would cause problems if objects were caught moving on their own. He traveled cautiously up and down the lower level's hallway to check each room before realizing the man wasn't there.

 

Making his way back to the kitchen, he opened the cabinets to search for what was left in the house. He was more or less surprised to find hardly much to work with, but Jin found a few pasta noodles, shrimp left in the fridge, with broccoli, and alfredo sauce in there as well. “This will just have to do for now, I guess,” Jin sighed, closing the cabinets he had left opened on his way to the stove.

 

Scarlet remained upstairs for the time Jin stayed downstairs to make something for her to eat. It would be an hour or two before her door would reopen to reveal the wind demon with the meal he had prepared. From where she was hiding under the covers, Scarlet could smell it—prompting her to move from her covers slightly. Her weary, gray-green eyes looked at the tray he held with the plate on top filled with a type of meal she never had before in awhile. “Since when did you learn to cook?” Scarlet asked.

 

Jin chuckled as he sat on the bedside to place the tray on the space he eventually emptied out on her nearby nightstand. “What, you thought I couldn't cook?” He wondered.

 

“You don't appear the type,” she honestly answered as she sat upright in bed to look at the pasta dish he managed to make.

 

“Well, when I was human, I used to cook for myself and my friends,” Jin answered, shaking his hands a bit from the heat, which was bugging them. “It's a trait I haven't left behind among several others.”

 

“Is the annoyance another?” Scarlet asked as she brought the warmed plate over to her lap. Looking at the dish before her, she couldn't help but conflict with her feelings in wanting to eat it or just wanting to sit and stare at it to remember old times.

 

“Funny,” Jin chuckled with a roll of his eyes. Remaining upon the covers of the bed, which belonged to Scarlet, he noticed the subtle sadness in the young woman's eyes at the mere look of the dish he had made. He tilted his head to the side. “Is something wrong with the food?”

 

“No, no,” she replied with a shake of her head. “It's just…my mom used to make this meal a lot when she was alive…” The thought of her mom brought Scarlet to look over at her desk where she usually wrote in her journal to spy the picture of her mother from long ago. Sighing through her nostrils, she picked up the fork and started to fiddle with the noodles and the shrimp bites.

 

Jin hummed somberly at her saddened tone before snapping his fingers in remembrance at the conversation he had last night with Touya. “Speaking of your mother, I just spoke with Touya the other night, and he will be willing to meet with you to talk to you about her.”

 

Digging into the food set before her, she took a taste of the meal finding it to not be bad at all. “So that was who you were talking to the other night? I woke up and heard you speaking to someone, but I didn't hear anybody talk back.” Scarlet shrugged. “I figured you were chatting with another spirit.”

 

The redhead managed a soft laugh in the back of his throat. “I figured you might be awake once he touched you.” He lied down upon the bed there in front of him in attempts to rest with his arms overlapped behind his head. “I just didn't say anything at the time.”

 

As Scarlet continued to eat the pasta dish, her eyes wandered a bit in thought as she remembered what Blossom and Silvia said that evening at the store. “Jin, is it true that demons like to rape virgin women who are humans?”

 

Jin furrowed his brow in confusion at Scarlet's random question. He turned his head slightly to look over at her from where he continued to lie. “Pardon?”

 

She fiddled with the noodles on her plate with a hum. “Well, Silvia and Blossom told me to be careful, because demons love virgin, humans.”

 

Sniffling to clear his sinuses, Jin rubbed his nose slightly as he wondered how to put his explanation. “Well, the only `raping' you would get from a demon would be from those twisted souls you see crawling around town. As far as love making goes, there are some demons, who prefer human bodies over demonic ones.”

 

“Why?” Scarlet asked, nibbling on a piece of shrimp. “What is the difference?”

 

Jin couldn't help but laugh at her question. “There is a big difference between the living and the dead. While a demon can be seen in a flesh form, all demons are fallen angels and are technically dead creatures. We can have sex with our own kind, but it isn't the same as having it with a living, breathing human being.” Turning on his side, he rested his knuckles against his cheek. “Some demons do so to retain energy or to get more energy from the living. Others do it because of sex with a human being is like being alive again.”

 

“Have you ever done it with a human?” Scarlet asked curiously.

 

“No,” Jin answered in a laugh. “I am as you say—a male virgin?”

 

“Wow, that is surprising,” Scarlet mumbled as she finished up the food in her possession. “And here I thought you possibly threw your body out there for women being a free spirit and all. I guess I was wrong.”

 

The demon pushed himself off of the bed to grab the finished plate but not without taking a pillow, which was upon the floor to whack Scarlet with gently. “I have no reason to spread my legs to a woman I do not love. And not all demons are sex, craving maniacs like some of your human men.”

 

Scarlet grabbed the pillow back to whack Jin in return.

 

“I will just take care of these,” Jin grunted once he was smacked with the pillow in return. “So where do I put them?”

 

“Just rinse them off and put them in the dishwasher,” Scarlet sighed with a shake of her head. “Seriously, didn't they have dishwashers when you were alive?”

 

He shrugged at her as he turned to head for the door. “Not really—I was born years ago. Anyways, just promise me you will get ready for the trip to the temple tonight. I told Touya I would bring you to him.” Jin headed for the doorway to let himself back out into the upper hallway.

 

Exhaustion coming over her once more, Scarlet turned onto her side and lied down under her covers. A part of her was slightly eager to head to the ice demon's temple to ask of her mother, but another dreading it. The energy had built up enough to the point where she eventually wore herself out, and Scarlet closed her eyes to go to sleep.

 

 

 

 

The fog gathered late within the night as the large clock in town chimed on the seventh hour. Stores closed around 6:30, allowing for those who were working to get home in time before the fog became too thick to see through. The streets silent once more, Scarlet remained asleep from the exhaustion she was feeling from not eating well. The murmur of her TV, which Jin turned on later within the afternoon, kept her asleep.

 

Jin caught the time on Scarlet's clock from where he was sitting at the foot of the bed. “That girl is still asleep,” he mumbled, scratching the side of his head as he made it over to the nightstand close to where Scarlet was resting. His hand resting upon her side, Jin shook her gently. “Scarlet, wake up already. It is time to go to Touya's temple.”

 

Moaning, Scarlet opened her eyes slightly before rubbing the sleep from them. “What time is it?” She asked, grabbing onto her clock to check the time herself. “Damn, it is late. Why didn't you wake me sooner?”

 

“You looked peaceful, and I didn't want to bother you,” Jin said in his defense, throwing the covers off of Scarlet's body. “Now let's go.”

 

Scarlet moved her bare feet to her carpeted floor below. “At least let me get freshened up. I look like shit.” She headed for the bathroom with a yawn and stretch.

 

“We're just going to Touya's temple; we're not going to dinner,” Jin felt need to point out as he sat down upon the messy, bedcovers with his arms crossed in a pouting fashion.

 

Scarlet ignored him as she got ready within the bathroom anyway. After she had managed to brush her hair and teeth nervously, considering the situation, she made her presence known before the wind demon so that they could depart. Taking a candle from her stash, she showed it off to the wind demon with a brief smile. “All ready—let's go.”

 

Jin hefted himself up off of the bedside, nodding towards the cracked doorway. “Come then. He is expecting us.”

 

As soon as the two stepped outside of the house, Scarlet lit the candle to help guide her way with the wind demon, who would part the thick fog a bit for them both. The roads eerily silent, only the swinging of old, rickety signs could be heard amongst some brave crickets, which were within the town's limits. The disgruntle moans of the dead brought Scarlet closer to the wind demon as she heard them throughout Wind Knoll as well.

 

Feeling Scarlet holding onto his closest arm, Jin looked down at her with a subtle sigh through his nostrils. “Don't worry about the demons you hear. They cannot get to you with me here.”

 

“Are you honestly that strong?” Scarlet asked, gazing up at him from where she was huddling close by.

 

Jin chuckled with a shrug at the young woman. “You'd be surprised.”

 

The giant, marble crafted, double doors opened steadily thanks to Jin pushing against them. The blue candles continuing to blaze throughout the temple, illuminating some of the followers, who apparently didn't make it home and were intent on staying behind the marble walls. Some of the people slept upon the pillows in the main room. Scarlet looked at them as she passed by with a whisper to the demon beside her.

 

“Why are some people here?” She asked, keeping her sight on those who were within the temple walls. “I have never seen this many in here before.”

 

Jin eyed the people nearby with a smile to the human close to him. “The temples are always opened to people who wish to stay—even weary travelers who stumble upon Wind Knoll by mistake.” He pointed to some of the humans behind the marble walls. “These people, who you see, are actually not regular citizens of Wind Knoll.”

 

“What!” Scarlet exclaimed in a hushed whisper. “But, that is damn near impossible! People cannot find their way through the fog without your help!”

 

Jin couldn't help but spare a laugh to her. “Honey, the wind works whether I am awake or not. I am just a messenger of the wind—I can bend the wind to my will. That doesn't mean that if I am asleep or with somebody else, the currents cannot find their way.” He made his way to the hallway on the far left of the temple, which led to many open rooms for visitors, worshippers, and workers of the temple. “You humans are so laughable with your assumptions.”

 

Scarlet followed behind Jin carefully, seeing as she had never been in the temple too many times before. She turned many corners within the scattered hallways until stopping right behind Jin at a door, which was designed in the finest, blue marble—the entry almost appearing to be encased in ice. A cold chill emitted from the doorway, making Scarlet's teeth chatter.

 

The demon placed his hand gently on her upper chest. “Wait here,” he ordered in a whisper, heading for the door just down the blue carpeted hallway they were within. The blue lit candles danced to and fro, outlining the muscular demon's every curve as he sauntered up towards the mystical door. His knuckles rapped upon the door before allowing himself inside.

 

The chill got worse as the door remained cracked. Scarlet embraced herself and shivered from where she stood. She listened in on the conversation she could hear going on inside of the room Jin was within. It was slightly muffled, however, due to the two demons obviously whispering. Getting a bit impatient with the cold really biting at her body, she called to the wind demon. “Jin, I am freezing! Will you please hurry up?”

 

Jin eventually reappeared in the hallway where Scarlet was apparently freezing from the cold the ice demon was emitting. “Sorry about that,” he apologized. “Touya always uses an ice barrier about his room to keep people out unless he is expecting someone. He will lower it now.” Jin headed onwards down the hallway to head back to the temple's main room.

 

“Wait—where are you going!” Scarlet asked with her breath apparent on the cold air.

 

Feeling a tug at his arm, Jin looked over at the frightened human with a brief chuckle. “I am going to be in the main room up front. I am not leaving you. Just go talk to Touya.” Wiggling his arm free, he headed back down the many maze like hallways to get back to the front where he promised he would wait.

 

Scarlet rubbed her arms to warm them up as she headed for the cracked door just up ahead. The cold seemed to disappear the closer she got to where the ice demon was waiting for her. Placing her bony, pallid fingers on the door, she opened it further to reveal the room, which was hardly ever viewable to even worshippers of the demon. Her eyes widened at the sight of the crystals that littered the room and shined when the candlelight caressed them. The desks were covered in candles, mystical trinkets, and hand sewn blankets. One of the blankets catching her eye, Scarlet hurried over towards the chair in the center of the room.

 

“Oh my God,” she inhaled sharply. “My mom made this…!” Scarlet recognized the blanket from when she was growing up in her mother's care.

 

“Yes, Cynthia Baker made that,” Touya remarked from the bed he was sitting upon. “She was your mother, right?”

 

Scarlet snapped her attention towards the bed carved in mahogany wood. The bed's headboard curved over the demon to darken his figure from where he was sitting upon the king sized bed. The footboard of the bed even curved over, showing off the intricate Celtic designs. “Y—yeah…she did and…she was. She stitched his blanket for me when she was expecting me. She used to tell me she wrapped me up into this blanket after giving birth to me, and she added onto it every year so I could keep it…close to my heart…even when she died…”

 

Touya leaned forward to show off his pallid complexion in the soft candlelight. His narrow eyes pierced through the darkness at the young woman who had ignored him since the day her mother died. “I am sorry for your loss,” he said as he moved from the bed he was upon.

 

“Thank you,” Scarlet said somberly in return, keeping the blanket close. “But, how did this blanket end up here? It used to always be at our home.”

 

Touya swallowed harshly with a slight cough as he made his way over towards Scarlet cautiously. “During her final days, she figured you would hold animosity towards me with her death being so slow and hurtful for you, so she gave me the blanket to keep and to hold as a way to stay close to you.”

 

“My mom could see you?” Scarlet asked confused.

 

The ice demon nodded. “Her sight and hearing got better when she was dying as morbid as that sounds.” He opened his hand to accept the blanket, which Scarlet was still holding. With it reluctantly handed over to him, he held the fabric close with a brief smile. “Don't worry; I've taken good care of it.” He walked over towards the chair it was originally upon to sit down. “So, do you want to know about your mother and her death? That is why you are here, right?”