Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Wind Knoll's Curse ❯ Chapter 14

Scarlet grabbed onto a few things to pile them upon the bed in a hurried fashion. She dared not wait around in fear of what her father may very well do to her. Even if a demon was confronting him, she was still terrified of the man. The doorknob of her bedroom door turned putting Scarlet on edge as she turned around quickly with her hands gripping tightly upon the bedside. She was more than relieved to see it was only the wind demon.

 

“What's going on?” Scarlet asked as she never got to witness the end of that fight between the two. “Are you okay? Is my dad going to race up here to cause trouble?”

 

“Don't worry about him,” Jin advised as he rubbed his forehead. “Just pack up your belongings and let's get the hell out of here.” The demon sat upon the side of the bed, leaning back ever so slightly with his feet raised a bit off the ground in attempts to relax. When he saw all of her belongings piled upon the bed, he looked around for something to place them in. “Where is a suitcase for you?”

 

“There is one in my closet…,” Scarlet answered though her voice appeared to trail off for a moment as she gazed over at her door. As the demon got up to grab the suitcase she would need, Scarlet released a subtle sigh to herself thinking about her mother's room and belongings. “Demon, do you think you could grab a few of my mother's things and bring them to me?”

 

Jin placed the suitcase he managed to pull from the closet on the bed near her gathered belongings. “What do you want me to get from her bedroom?”

 

“Can you grab her personal religious things?” She asked, packing in some of the items she had already pulled from her room to put in her suitcase. “Also, there is a photo album in her nightstand drawer…I would like to take that with me.”

 

“Alright, kiddo, continue getting packed up, and I'll go get it,” Jin said as he departed from the bedroom to go to the closed off quarters, which once belonged to Cynthia Baker.

 

The room smelt of a musky scent as he made his way through the chipped, painted doorway. Some of the belongings were well preserved and taken care of while others had collected dust and cobwebs. He grabbed the Touya statue he figured Cynthia held close to her as well as her demonic `Bible', and the photo album Scarlet had spoken of. The album had a bit of dust on it that the demon blew off to see the old inscription written upon it.

 

“The life of which I cherished and was created with the Ice God's love,” Jin mumbled to himself, opening to the first page to look at the first few pages filled with pictures of Cynthia as a baby growing up to her adulthood. He eventually closed the book in his possession before heading back to Scarlet's bedroom.

 

Scarlet couldn't help but jump slightly at the door reopening again so soon. Her hand against her rapidly beating heart, she opened her arms to accept the items he had brought her. “This should be all I need. Anything else in this room can be replaced or is not worth remembering at the Wind Temple.”

 

Jin grabbed onto the suitcase and flung it over his shoulder while he headed for the cracked window to open it up further. The demon made his way outside leaving Scarlet behind for a moment, so he could place the luggage down on the driveway, knowing he couldn't carry both outside at the same time. With the suitcase on the ground, he hurried back up to the window, opening his arms to accept Scarlet within them though she appeared hesitant to do so.

 

“Come on,” he insisted softly. “There is nothing you need here. Everything you will possibly need and more will be at my temple.” When it appeared more coaxing was required, he continued. “Your step-dad isn't going to hurt you anymore. You won't need that knife anymore either. You will be safe—I promise you this.”

 

Scarlet looked back at her bedroom she had come to know and love before finally slipping out through the windowsill. Her hands slid over his tight skin about his neck to embrace him tightly. She closed her eyes as the demon headed down towards the ground below to lift up her belongings. Scarlet didn't want to watch herself leave the house she mostly grew up in as change was difficult for her to accept even if for the better.

 

“Don't worry,” he said over his roaring wind currents, which kept them above the town. “We will be there in no time. Flying makes getting to and from places much easier.”

 

Scarlet squinted through the harsh wind as they headed towards the mountains, which overlooked Wind Knoll. The two of them landing before the marble doors of the Wind Temple, she gazed up at the towering building while rubbing her arms to keep cool. She moved out of Jin's way as he opened the doors to let himself on inside before bothering to follow behind him.

 

The white candlelight made the white marble walls glitter like new fallen snow. Everything erected within the temple was made of white and soft gold and blue colors to compliment the sky the wind often hailed from. She walked down the walkway of the temple to head down to where the wind demon's statue was erected as the white carpet divided at the base of the statue to lead towards two doorways on either side.

 

Jin headed down the door on the left, waving for Scarlet to follow behind him, so he could take her to her new room. He parted the hanging fabric before the archway to head down the hallway littered with doors on both sides of the hall. They were lined perfectly in front of one another as they headed down the long corridor even as the corridor bent towards the right and left to offer more rooms. The wind demon turned down the right to find a bedroom, which was unoccupied.

 

Dropping the suitcase gently on the floor, he opened the door with a set of keys, which hung upon a hook near the doorknob. “This will be your new home,” he announced, opening the finely crafted wooden door slowly to show her the circular bedroom. A bed rested off to the right while a writing desk was near the foot of the bed with a few places for books to rest upon the shelves placed within it. A vanity was opposite the bed and right next to a door, which would lead to the small bathroom. A rocking chair was near a large, marble pillar, which was mostly used for keeping candles lit upon the embedded candleholders, that was through the middle of the room. “What you do is none of my business; however, I need you to be in this temple by six every night and do what I ask when I ask it. If you need anything, talk to the other people living in the temple, or you can come to me. However, if you want to see me, I might not be around as often as you might expect so be patient with me or summon me if it's that urgent.”

 

Scarlet took her suitcase back and placed it on the neatly made bed. “Well, it is nice to know I have more leeway here.”

 

“Make yourself at home,” Jin said with a slight salute to her as he headed for the door. “I won't be here for awhile, so if you need help, ask one of the priestesses to aid you.” He closed the door behind him and hurried down the hallway without another word.

 

Unzipping her case, she opened it up to reveal her belongings she would need to sort out to make it more homely for her. “It feels kind of lonely in here,” she mumbled to herself as she grabbed her clothes to help them over to the dresser, which was at the head of her bed. She couldn't deny she missed the window of her old bedroom, and with that little thought, she began to have second thoughts about the situation.

 

“Maybe this wasn't such a good idea,” she said, threatening to repack her suitcase.

 

“Why do you say that?” A young woman asked from her bedroom doorway.

 

Scarlet jumped from the surprise. Grasping onto her chest, she eyed the woman in slight anger. “My God, you scared me! I didn't hear you come in…!” She exclaimed softly.

 

The young woman with straight, short black hair made her way further into the bedroom. She wore the priestess garb allowed within the temple. It was a white, sleeveless dress with a slit on either side of the dress portion of the outfit and was kept up with a loose sash of a soft blue color with golden tassels hanging from it. “I heard from the demon you were coming here,” she said softly, sitting on the side of the bed to watch Scarlet closely.

 

“So everyone at the temples isn't blind to what he really is?” Scarlet wondered as she placed her hands upon her folded clothing, unsure of whether to unpack or not.

 

“Some aren't,” the woman said simply with a shrug. “That is what the makes this place divided in views. It sometimes causes inner problems, and the Wind Demon Jin has to keep everyone from fighting even if his words and warnings do fall on some deaf ears.”

 

“So more challenges will wait here,” Scarlet mumbled with displeasure covering her tone.

 

“If you keep out of the religious feuds, you will be fine,” she insisted. “My name is Andrea by the way.”

 

“My name is Scarlet,” the timid young woman responded as she reached for her folded up clothing to put up finally.

 

Andrea watched Scarlet closely catching her long-sleeved shirt raise ever so slightly to reveal the scars on her arms she placed there herself from dragging that knife over her flesh. “You injure yourself? Things must have been hard from where you came from.”

 

Scarlet looked down at the arm Andrea had noticed. She was quick to cover it back up with a sigh through her nostrils as she turned her back to the prying priestess to put her clothes up. “My mother—the woman I loved—died from an illness, and I shut myself up in my bedroom to try and avoid my abusive step-dad. I denied the religions based within Wind Knoll even if my mother was a considerable follower of the Ice `God' Touya.”

 

“You appear to be back within the loop now,” Andrea pointed out. “You are just following another `God'.”

 

“Honestly, I don't know what I am doing or who I am following,” Scarlet announced as she headed back to her suitcase to pull more of her clothes out to put up. “It has all become…so confusing…”

 

“Why do you say that?”

 

Scarlet stayed over at the dresser with her fingers running over the woodwork in thought. “I always thought demons were evil…and yet here they are running Wind Knoll by their own rules of fairness and equality. It just doesn't make any sense to me.”

 

Andrea raised her feet slightly up off the ground while leaning back upon the bed as if to rock herself. “And this is a bad thing?”

 

“It is just confusing,” Scarlet corrected as she headed back to the bed to pull more things from her suitcase. “I never said it was anything bad.”

 

The clock within the temple ringing three times to show the hour, Andrea turned her attention to the door of the bedroom she left open before gazing at her watch. “Study hour,” she said vaguely to Scarlet as she got to her feet. “I will be in the prayer room if you need me. Welcome aboard, Scarlet. It was nice to meet you.”

 

“Likewise,” Scarlet said with a simple nod to Andrea, watching closely as the girl headed for the door to leave her in peace.

 

The room silent once more, Scarlet continued unpacking knowing that this would have to suffice for her new home. She feared going back to her step-dad after the fight, which broke out between him and Jin. Scarlet knew she would get the return of it if she dared step foot back into that building. Her hand coming across the photo album her mother had created during her times on earth till she became too ill to bother placing anymore pictures together. Scarlet never bothered to open it for awhile and even at that moment she hesitated doing so. Placing the photo album off to the side, she went back to the other things she knew needed sorting. She couldn't help but wonder, as she did so, where the wind demon had headed off to.

 

 

 

 

Jin had felt the slight fall of Teresa's human spirit, making him a bit worried as he headed for her house in the far side of Wind Knoll. The fog retreated under the wind demon's currents he arrived upon as Jin hurried over towards the window, which led into Teresa's bedroom. His knuckles rapping upon the window, he called for the sicken girl.

 

“Teresa, it's me! Open the window, and let me in!” He demanded in worry.

 

At first there was nothing. The curtains on the other side of the window remained steady for awhile, worrying the demon as he knew Teresa was in her bedroom judging by the bit of energy he could feel emanating from beyond the glass window. Eventually the curtains parted and the weary Teresa managed a smile to the sight of the demon before unlatching the lock on the window.

 

“Jin,” she said in a hushed tone, “what are you doing here?”

 

Jin hopped into her bedroom, closing the window behind him as he did so. He looked through the dim sunlight piercing through her window to notice she was worse than ever. The demon flinched at the sight of her pale body and skin, which clung ever so tightly to every bone in her body. “You don't look so good,” he expressed worryingly as he helped her head back down upon the pillow.

 

Teresa moaned in slight agony as her fragile body was helped back down to her bed. “I can't take this anymore. It's getting much too hard,” she admitted, closing her eyes for a moment as it took too much strength to keep them open.

 

Sensing her energy levels fighting to stay afloat, Jin bit his lower lip in worry as his fingers tapped upon the side of the bed in thought. “Wait right here,” he said as he headed for her bedroom door. “I will get you something to eat, and you will feel a little bit better.”

 

“Jin…,” Teresa began as she shook her head at his suggestion.

 

“No, you'll be fine,” he promised, eager to do so.

 

“Jin, I can't…!” Teresa rubbed her forehead before covering her eyes, as if wanting to hide the tears she knew would come from the mere fear of dying.

 

Heading back over to Teresa's bedside, Jin leaned in close to her with a sorrowful sigh at the situation. “Just promise me you'll at least try and eat something, Teresa. I am sure it will make you feel a bit better.”

 

“Jin, I have tried eating before, but I cannot keep anything down anymore,” Teresa whispered in a slight whining tone. “I just…cannot do this…”

 

Jin leaned forward once more upon the palms of his hands, which were resting on her bedcovers. “Don't do this to me now, Teresa.” His fingers ran through her stringy hair in attempts to sooth her. “Are your parents home?”

 

She shook her head wearily. “No, they are at work right now.”

 

He tapped the top of her bed slightly. “I will be right back.” Jin hurried out of her bedroom and down the hallway to the kitchen in hopes of making something for her to eat. His hands rummaging through the cans and packages in the cabinets, he eventually pulled a frozen dinner from the freezer that had chicken pieces, rice, pasta noodles, and broccoli in it. Jin popped it into the microwave, eagerly waiting for it to cook right as he could tell Teresa was pretty much starving herself to death lately.

 

Teresa was fast asleep when Jin finished warming up the frozen dinner for her. She didn't hear the door open as the demon made his way back into her bedroom and didn't notice he was there until he started shaking her body tenderly. She moaned as she batted her eyes open unwillingly.

 

“Come on, Teresa,” Jin urged as he helped her sit upright in her bed.

 

As she lifted herself slightly off of the bedcovers, she couldn't help but shake her head slowly at the food she could smell. It was making her stomach ache and her gag reflexes threatened to act up. “Jin, I can't eat that…please don't make me…!”

 

Jin sat back down on her bedside as he took some of the food on a fork; he came closer to the hesitant Teresa. “Just take a small bite,” the demon insisted. The young girl shaking her head once more, he sighed softly with a pleading look. “Just take one bite, and I won't bother you anymore about it.”

 

Teresa sighed as she attempted to take the food upon the fork the demon was offering her. It was as if the taste was painful to her as she flinched trying to swallow it down and keep it down. “Damn...!” She swore softly, coughing slightly as her body disagreed with the food intake. “I cannot do this anymore, Jin.”

 

Placing the food down on her nightstand, he ran his fingers gently through her hair close to her sweating forehead. “What do you want me to do?”

 

“I can't stand being here anymore,” Teresa whispered between the two of them. “The cries of the damned souls get louder every day and night, and I can no longer sleep without fear…just take me to your temple.” She paused a moment to cough within her hands. “I want to be away from this graveyard and be within your care until I die.”

 

“Teresa, you know the chill in the air could very well kill you!” Jin exclaimed seriously.

 

“I would rather die on the way there than sit here waiting for it alone,” she responded honestly.

 

Jin looked up at the ceiling to think on what to do knowing that he couldn't just take off with Teresa without telling her parents first. Heading back towards the door, he opened it so that he could see the outer woodwork, facing the hallway. Moving his fingers slightly upon it, he carved in his symbol upon it to let them know where Teresa would be. Heading back into the room with the door closed behind him, he picked up the ill-stricken human into his arms with the covers embraced about her body as he did so.

 

“Alright,” he began with a slight grunt as he hefted her up into his arms. “I'll get you to the Wind Temple. You can live out your last moments there if you want.” Jin covered up Teresa with the covers she was within, hoping to spare her from the horrible chill. Opening up the window, Jin flew quickly to the sky not bothering to shut it behind him as he took off towards the base of the mountains.

 

 

 

 

With her things all put into place, Scarlet sat down at the writing desk to scribble a few ideas down on paper. As she did so, there came a big commotion outside of her closed door. It brought her attention from the lined paper she was doodling and writing poetry upon. Placing down her pencil, she got to her feet and headed for her arched door to open to the hallway beyond it. Some of the priestesses and priests were running down the carpeted hall to the front of the temple for some reason.

 

“What is going on?” Scarlet wondered as she just watched from her doorway. Her question was soon answered as Jin hurried through the hallway towards his bedroom with Teresa in his arms, looking worse than ever. Scarlet could catch the rasping sound the young girl made as she breathed heavily from her body, which threatened to break down.

 

Some of the priestesses made their way after the wind demon in a hurry, knowing he would need their assistance with the dying girl. Andrea was one of them as she jogged towards the back bedroom only to be stopped by the still curious Scarlet.

 

“Andrea, what is going on? That is Teresa,” the scarred woman pointed out with a bit of worry.

 

“You know her?” Andrea asked. “Well, right now I have to help the other priestesses with her, because she is on the verge of dying. The Wind Demon is protecting her for now and allowing her to live out her last moments here. He is going to need help.” With that said, she quickly hurried down the corridor towards Jin's bedroom.

 

Scarlet was curious as she watched them all disappear into the demon's bedroom with his acknowledgement. Closing the door behind her, she hurried quietly down to the cracked door, which led into the demon's bed chambers. Her fingers gripping onto the doorway, she peeked inside to find the demon resting Teresa down within his king sized bed as the others working under him watched and waited quietly for instructions.

 

“Go and get me more blankets,” Jin instructed. “Make something warm for her throat as well for her to drink.”

 

The priestesses hurrying back out of the room, Scarlet moved out of their way as they dashed back down the corridor to do as they were told. The door left wide open to her now, she tried to stay in the shadows of the hallway, not wishing to bother them at all.

 

“You can come in if you want to, Scarlet,” Jin said with his back turned to her.

 

Scarlet looked around a bit confused before stepping inside of the demon's bedroom. “How did you know it was me?” She wondered as she came closer to the two.

 

“Each person has different energy levels and smells,” Jin answered as he looked over at her. “Yours is easily distinguished lately.”

 

She wasn't sure whether to take it as a compliment or insult, but Scarlet didn't inquire as she made it over to Teresa. Seeing how thin and pale the young girl had become, she couldn't help but flinch at the slightly grotesque sight. “Oh my…she doesn't look so good. Is she going to be okay?”

 

Jin sighed with a shake of his head. “I don't know.” Carefully he ran his fingers over Teresa's forehead, trailing them back into her hair, which wasn't afraid to fall off into the demon's hands. He picked the several strands off of his fingers, flicking them off to the side. “I am trying to keep her afloat, but it is really hard lately when she wants to throw in the towel.”

 

“You can't just let her die,” Scarlet insisted with a few shakes of her head.

 

“If that is Teresa's decision, that is her decision,” Jin mumbled equally unhappy about it.

 

“But—you're a demon!”

 

Jin looked over at Scarlet with a curious expression about her statement. His chin resting within his palm, he shrugged. “So?”

 

“So, can't you just give her energy or find a way to kill the disease!” Scarlet wondered eagerly, not wishing to see the girl die.

 

“Sweetheart, I am a demon,” he sighed as he got up to his feet from where he was kneeling by the bedside. “I am not God Almighty.”

 

Teresa stirred from where she was sleeping, moaning miserably from pain as she opened her eyes to the room around her. “Jin…!” She called desperately, threatening to cry from the agony her body was enduring.

 

Biting his lower lip, Jin shooed Scarlet towards the door. “Go on—go back to your room and close the door behind you. I need to…I need to talk to Teresa for a moment. Don't let anyone inside, okay?”

 

There was something in his voice that worried and scared Scarlet as she hesitantly nodded at his words. Scarlet left the room, but she didn't close the door completely. She was curious to know what it was that was nagging at the demon as well as herself when she heard him speak.

 

Jin sat down on the side of the bed, bringing Teresa back up towards his chest. “What is wrong, Teresa?” He asked.

 

“I cannot do this anymore,” she said, finally breaking down into heaping sobs. “I can't do this anymore…” She sniffled from the pain coursing through her weakened form there in the demon's arms.

 

“What do you want me to do?” Jin whispered upon her forehead where he kissed her pallid skin.

 

“I don't care what you do,” Teresa admitted, “just please make it stop…!”

 

Jin situated her within his arms slightly, moving her hair out of her face as he did so. “Go back to sleep,” he advised. “When you wake up, you won't feel a thing anymore.”

 

Teresa closed her eyes as the demon suggested. Her body, so exhausted, took no time at all to fall into slumber as it was running on empty.

 

Sensing Teresa was asleep, the demon helped her back down to the covers of the bed. His hands caressed her face tenderly before moving down to her neck. Both of his hands gripped onto her neck, and Scarlet watched in utter horror as Jin quickly twisted her collar to break the spinal column to end the girl's suffering.

 

Teresa's body went limp, and she quickly stopped breathing when her head sickeningly turned to the far right for her spine to be broken.

 

Sighing sorrowfully, Jin helped the dead girl down to the bedcovers once more. He arranged her body as if she were still alive, sleeping there. “You will be okay now, Teresa. Your soul is within my temple now, and your pain is gone.” Jin leaned forward to kiss her parted lips.

 

Scarlet backed up with her hand covering her mouth in terror at the sight she had witnessed. Turning on her heels, she ran for her bedroom threatening to vomit from sadness and disgust.