Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Wind Knoll's Curse ❯ Chapter 44

Jason continued walking about the town with the other two beside him. Fog was everywhere, but he could just make out what was about the town. Every moan and growl put him on edge after the previous incident at the liquor store. “There has got to be a place we can go to, so we can rest for awhile.”

 

“How can you even imagine sleeping in this dump? This place is cursed!” Kirk felt the need to point out. “Whatever happened here probably killed everyone.”

 

“Don't say that!” Jason growled at his friend with a wave of his hand at Kirk's words. “We should wait till morning to continue our search. There has to be apartments around here somewhere.” Continuing down the roads, Jason eventually came upon a few small motel rooms on Willard Drive. With the forest so close to where they would be staying, Jason had to admit a bit of fear in wanting to stay there, but he knew there was no other option.

 

Carol stepped forwards to gaze out at the dreary, dead woodlands before them with a harsh swallow. She could hear the damned moaning and screaming further down the road. “What do you supposes is down there? It sounds like there are quite a few of them further into the forest.”

 

“I don't know,” Jason said, as he opened one of the doors to the motel. “And quite frankly, I don't want to know. I just want to find Justin and get the hell out of here as soon as we can.”

 

“But what if you can't find him!” Carol didn't feel like wandering the streets alone at night. She had a feeling that the mornings might not be that much better.

 

“I will find him!” The man sighed with a shake of his head. “Now, come on. Let's get inside. I am sure nothing can find us in here.” Once everyone was inside of the cheap looking motel room, Jason shut the door behind them and locked it. He also went around to make sure all of the windows were locked so nothing could slip in to surprise them. Turning on the flashlight, he placed it on the nightstand in the room to help light the room a bit better. There were only two beds and a small sofa near one of the windows. A TV was in the room as well, but Jason knew it probably wouldn't work, so he didn't bother touching the dusty remote in the room.

 

Kirk realized that somebody would have to take the sofa, so he raised his hand to the matter. “You guys can get the beds. I'll take the sofa.” Taking off his jacket, he tossed it upon the floor before trying out the softness of the couch in the room. Seeing as he was tired, he wasn't about to complain about how tough it felt beneath him.

 

Carol was a bit resistant to sleep, as she kicked her shoes off onto the stained floor beneath her. “What if those things about the town manage to come inside and get us?”

 

“I'll make sure they don't,” Jason insisted, as he rested his back against the headboard of the bed he was on. “I'll keep watch until you guys fall asleep. I don't think I'll be able to sleep too much with Justin on my mind.”

 

“At least get some sleep,” Carol insisted, not wanting the man to be tired later when they were to continue their search. She grabbed onto the covers to pull over her body and attempt her best to sleep. The cries of the damned made it hard. Covering her ears, Carol closed her eyes tightly to try and block it all out.

 

 

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“Jason!” Carol called, as she shook him from his slumber. “Jason, wake up!”

 

Grumbling, he massaged between his eyes from the feel of the light touching him through the windows. “What is it?” He yawned, forgetting where he was momentarily. His eyes gazing about the motel room, he found that everything appeared normal. Recalling what happened last night, Jason threw the covers off of himself and got to his feet to find nothing was broken and nothing was stained with the usual rust and blood. “What happened? Everything looks…normal.”

 

“The town is the same way,” Kirk pointed out, as he looked through the blinds hanging over the window nearest to him. “Everything looks like it was never disturbed.”

 

Jason grabbed onto his jacket and shirt to put both back on quickly, as he headed outside of the motel room to look up and down Willard Drive to find everything in perfect shape and condition. “What the hell happened…? We all couldn't have been dreaming last night.” As he stood there in shock, he noticed someone further up the street walking across the road. “Hey! Hey, you!” Jason took off after the figure he saw. “Wait!” He watched as they disappeared into a local bookstore.

 

Carol and Kirk followed behind Jason, making their way into the store as well. Walking into the bookstore, they found it void of many people. Books were perfectly upon the shelves and in the display cases up front. Not a thing was out of order. Spying one of the workers there, Jason jogged towards them in hopes to get some answers.

 

“Hey, I need to talk to you!” Jason insisted, as he grabbed onto the shoulder of the white haired man, who appeared in his thirties or so. “What is going on here?” He looked down at the nametag on his shirt. “Andy is your name, right?”

 

“It would appear so given my nametag,” Andy remarked almost coldly, as he continued to look through the books on the shelf. “What is it you'd like to know?”

 

“My friends and I came here at nightfall, and everything was different,” Jason explained, as he followed Andy around the store. “We were chased by some damned thing that breathed fire, and it nearly burned us alive! Blood was everywhere, the roads were cracked and everything!”

 

Andy sighed heavily, as he turned around to meet Jason face-to-face. “It was the curse that was placed upon the town,” he explained with a clear expression void upon his face. “At nightfall everything changes to how it was that day that the demons cursed the town and burned it.” His fingers tapped upon the book in his hands. He couldn't help but be reminded of that day. “And those of us who just live here are forced to spend our nights in fear. We cannot escape. The curse won't let us.”

 

“What about those monsters out there!” Carol desired to know. The image of the flaming creature couldn't escape her mind as she slept and even awake it still haunted her. “What about that creature made of fire?”

 

“It had some kind of symbol on it,” Kirk went onwards to explain, as he rubbed the hair upon his chin. “It looked like a Celtic flame.”

 

Andy shook his head and sighed. “That must have been one of the fire demon's worshippers. Anybody in this town that was baptized under a demon befell the curse and can only walk the town at night.” Putting up the book he had, Andy pushed his way past the strangers to continue on his daily work schedule.

 

“What about my brother?” Jason demanded to know. “Hey, I am not through talking with you just yet!” He hurried after Andy to grab the man by his shirt collar. “I want to know what happened to my brother, Justin Thompson. Have you seen him?”

 

Andy didn't budge in emotions, regardless of how threatening Jason was trying to be. If he were ever killed, it would be a sort of reprieve from the town's clutches. “I've heard of Justin Thompson, but I will tell you this—you better hope you don't ever run into him.” When Jason released his shirt, he straightened out his collar.

 

“Why? Why do you say that?” Jason didn't want to believe that anything horrible befell his twin brother.

 

“Your brother was a high priest under the wind demon,” Andy explained further with a shrug of his shoulders. “The symbol on his hand overtook his body and he became a monster like everyone else in this town.” He was quiet, allowing his words to sink into Jason's mind. “If it is your brother you're searching for, you've come here in vain. He'll only come out at nightfall, and if he finds you, he will kill you.”

 

“What-I don't understand…!” Jason cupped his head within his hands, unable to let all of it sink in. “Why is this happening? I still don't understand what you're talking about!”

 

Andy exhaled irritably at Jason's inability to grasp what was going on. “Welcome to Wind Knoll,” he mumbled almost morbidly, as he walked back to the front counter to make sure everything was in order.

 

Carol knew nothing else could come out of asking more about Wind Knoll, prompting her to grab Jason by the arm and tug him gently. “Jason, come on; let's get out of here. Obviously, we're not going to find Justin here anymore if what he says is true.”

 

Angry about these turn of events, Jason stormed out of the bookstore they were within to head back out onto the streets. Finding a bench not too far from them, he sat down almost looking defeating once he managed to recollect himself. “All this way, and possibly, for nothing. Please tell me I didn't lose my brother to the damned.” He looked over at his sympathetic friends. “Don't tell me I lost my brother.”

 

“I don't know what's going on, Jason,” Carol admitted with a heavy sigh, as she joined him on the bench. “All I do know is we better get something to eat and find a way out of here, or we'll be stuck here forever as well.”

 

“She's right,” Kirk chimed in from the sidelines. “Whether we find Justin or not, we have to get out of here.”

 

The three managed to make it to a nearby bar and grill. Once again, hardly anybody was within the building. There was a female bartender in her early twenties cleaning the wooden countertop when they all walked in. The brunette looked up from her duties, not recognizing the newcomers. She could tell by their expressions alone that they were obviously from not around the town.

 

“Can't say I recognize you folks,” she pointed out. Wiping her hands off on another rag, she tossed it into the cleaning bucket behind the bar. “What unfortunate bastards you are to have come stumbling here.” She situated her short, tight white shirt on her body slightly as it was bugging her. “What can I get for you?”

 

“Something strong drink wise,” Kirk insisted, as he sat at the bar with the others.

 

“There is nothing strong enough to block out the fear, my dear,” the bartender said, as she tossed menus in their direction. “So what brings you all around Wind Knoll?”

 

Jason caught the nametag on the woman. “Well, Susan, I am looking for my twin brother, Justin Thompson. I know he is here, but I was told he was cursed with this town.”

 

“Rough,” Susan sighed, as she continued to clean a few beer glasses. “If he was baptized under any of the demons, you'll have no hope of finding him. He's damned and will never return to the way he was.”

 

“How do you know that!” Jason exclaimed, slamming his fists down on the countertop. “There could be a way to reverse it!”

 

“Wishful thinking.” Susan wasn't about to get her hopes up on the matter, knowing that the hell was to be their torture. “I would say if you plan on sticking around to be mindful of the Demon Mother.”

 

“What is that?” Kirk asked with a raise of his brow.

 

“She was said to be the wife to the wind demon,” Susan explained, as she leaned against the wooden countertop. “I don't know the whole story, but I do know that something happened to cause the wind demon to curse the entire town. She is said to walk these very streets looking for him.” When she was pointed to the drinks that each one wanted, she went about making them. “The Demon Mother used to be holed up within her house down on Lavender Lane at the Bakers' home, but somebody removed the boards, and she got free.”

 

“What was her real name?” Carol wondered, as she was given her drink. She took a straw to stir it a bit before bothering to try a taste.

 

“Nobody knows or remembers her real name,” Susan answered, as she crossed her arms upon the counter. “It was so long ago whenever she was spoken about. Besides, anybody that would is long gone now.”

 

“Do they ever expect the demons to return?” Jason asked, cupping his head in his hand trying to think there was someway his brother could be saved. “Maybe if they returned, the curse could be lifted.”

 

“They're not coming back.” Susan pulled herself from the wooden surface with a disappointed sigh in the matter. “They left us to rot in our hell. All because of one incident nobody even knows about.” She checked the time on the clock just behind her. “You guys better hurry up and decide what to order. Everything around here closes at five.”

 

 

 

 

With their meal finished, Jason stepped back out onto the streets again to find everything was indeed closing at five that evening. All of the people, who were still left alive, quickly locked up the buildings before hurrying to wherever it was they all stayed. He could see that the sun was working on setting and before long, Wind Knoll would be back to ruins for the nightfall. “I wonder who that Demon Mother is,” he said almost randomly to the others.

 

“Jason!” Carol scolded between them. “Don't tell me you're going to go looking for that thing.”

 

“What good would it do you anyways, Jay?” Kirk was interested to know with a shrug of his broad shoulders.

 

“I want to know who she is, and I want to believe I can possibly entice that wind bastard back here.” With that expressed through his teeth, Jason tore down the streets ahead. “If you guys want to come with me, you can. If you don't wish to, head back to the motel room. I'll see you there.”

 

“Jason, you're crazy!” Carol yelled down the street, watching as the man hurried towards Lavender Lane, which they came across earlier when they arrived. Sighing angrily in defeat, she waved over her shoulder at Kirk. “Let's go before the idiot gets himself in trouble!”

 

Hurrying down the man roads as quickly as possible, Jason managed to find it to Lavender Lane. Jogging up the street, he looked for the Bakers' mailbox. Upon finding it, Jason looked over at the old building. It was the one house that looked as though it happened been touched in years. “Come on,” Jason said to Carol and Kirk, as he hurried to the front door to open it.

 

“Within the hour, the sun is going to set,” Kirk estimated, as he caught the time on his watch. “You better hurry and find whatever it is you're looking for, so we can get back to the motel room.”

 

“I just want to find out who she was and find a way to save my brother,” Jason insisted, as he looked through the desolate house and hurried up the stairs. He knew that a majority of bedrooms were on the top floor in a two-layer house. Hurrying into Cynthia's, he looked over at the nightstand to find the picture and the statue of Touya there collecting dust. He couldn't make sense of who was in the picture as he rummaged through the nightstand drawer.

 

Carol followed behind Jason. She stood in the doorway with her arms about her chest. “What could you possibly be looking for? Just because you might get to know who she is won't spare you the fact that you'll have to capture her. I think if this kind of demon gets a name for herself, that can mean trouble.”

 

“I don't care!” Jason yelled, throwing the nightstand drawer upon the floor. “If she's escaped, I am sure there is somewhere she is heading. Every creature, even the damned, goes to places they are most familiar with!”

 

Looking at the papers now scattered upon the floor, the blond woman knelt down to scoop up one in particular. “Whoever this woman was, her name is Cynthia. Looks like she worshipped the ice demon that once lived here.” When she felt she had Jason's attention, she showed the piece of paper that appeared to be a torn diary page from the woman's journal, which now was lying upon the stained carpet.

 

Jason took the page to look over it curiously. “She worshipped the ice demon, though,” he expressed through his labored breaths. “The one we're looking for worshipped the wind demon.” His eyes continued to skim the page until noticing an important note. “She had a daughter. I bet that daughter is who we're looking for.”

 

Kirk had already beaten them to the room belonging to Scarlet. He was looking through the many pieces of paper that Scarlet had written and drawn upon when she was there in that room. They all looked dated and almost to have been done by an elementary school child. Hearing Jason enter, he shot his head up with a sigh of relief. “Don't scare me like that.”

 

“Did you find anything?” Jason hurried beside Kirk to look through the random doodles and horribly written stories to find nothing in particular.

 

“Nothing but her old art and literature,” Kirk responded, as he tossed them on the ground with a roll of his shoulders. Removing himself from the desk Scarlet used to write upon, he moved to the nightstand to look there. “If you know she was the wind demon's lover, why not just find a way to the Wind Temple? I am sure that would make more sense than trying to dig up anything here. If she lived there, I doubt we'll find anything in this room but old memories.”

 

“But in order to even capture her, there has to be something of value she would come after.” Jason was intent to find something. When he came up empty handed, he sighed irritably. “We might have no other alternative but to go to the temples she might have been to.”

 

“That's a joke, right?” Carol chuckled nervously at the mere thought of heading to the temples that probably held many worshippers. “You want to walk into a death trap at night! You're insane, Jason!” She watched as Jason was still intent to get up and storm out of the building past Carol. “Jason!” She called after him, as she hurried behind the man down the stairs. “Jason, stop!” Grabbing onto his upper arm, she got him to stop at the foot of the staircase. “Look, I understand that you're desperate to save your brother, but what is done, is done! You cannot reverse what has already happened!”

 

“I'll do whatever it takes before arriving at that conclusion!” Jason hissed through his teeth, as he exited out of the building. He could see that the sun was just about to disappear over the mountainside. Exhaling heavily, he hurried back down the sidewalk as quickly as possible with Kirk and Carol following behind him.

 

“Jay, do you even know where you're going!” Kirk asked, as he struggled to keep up given the weight he had on his body. “I am sure neither one of us know where these temples are, and neither do you.”

 

“This town isn't that big,” Jason explained in his defense. “If I have to look all over this place, I will do it.”

 

 

 

 

Stepping back upon the outer area of Wind Knoll, Jin's wild red hair blew about in the tranquil wind. He was wearing his old, black ninja attire and had his swords he used back in the day. Looking down at Touya, he rolled his shoulders. “Are you ready?” Jin asked, as he moved the black mask over the slope of his nose to hide part of his face.

 

“Ready as I am going to be, I guess,” Touya responded, as he did the same. Using his energy, the ice master began to quickly charge towards the town with Jin taking to the air.

 

They managed to make it to the town by nightfall. With Jin lowered to the ground, the two began to walk the destroyed Wind Knoll Town. The sounds of the damned were almost everywhere. Jin couldn't help but draw his sword, as he wasn't about to let anything get into his way of what he was searching for. “I guess we should split up,” Jin admitted. “I know we both have different goals here, and I don't want to be here for long.”

 

“I'll meet you back at the old Wind Temple.” Touya didn't delay another second, as he hurried off into the town. He wanted to find Cynthia and bring her back as well as find a way to release all the other spirits that were possibly trapped in the walls.

 

Jason soon found his way to the old Ice Temple that once stood, almost in ruins, not far from Lavender Lane. Walking up to the front doors, he pulled them open slowly to see the inside of the dreary building. Part of the left wall was destroyed and blood painted the marble flooring. “One of these rooms has to belong to either her mother or her.”

 

“Jason, you've got to start thinking realistically,” Carol said, as she looked nervously about the main room. Every little thing that moved made her heart nearly stop. “There has got to be a thousand or so rooms here!”

 

Making it into the hallway, Jason looked over at an old map resting on the wall. Part of it was ripped and the edges were burned. “The demon himself had to have a room in this place. I am sure if we find that, we'll find just about everything we need.” His finger trailing over the map, he came across a rather obscure section off to the side that was covered up by broken glass. “Fuck it,” he grumbled, as he broke the glass to pull the diagram out of where it was. “Not like anybody here needs it.”

 

“Will you keep it down!” Carol exclaimed between them. “We don't need anything coming out to eat us.” She followed behind Jason only to find it getting colder by the minute. Trembling, she held onto her long-sleeved, black sweater she had on. “What's going on? Is it just me, or is the temperature really dropping?” Every word she spoke could be seen as crystalline vapor in front of her.

 

“I can feel it too,” Kirk agreed, as he wrapped his jacket tighter around his body. “What the hell is going on?”

 

Stopping at just the end of the corridor, Jason looked over to the left hallway to find why. An old priestess of the ice demon was pulling herself over the charred carpet beneath her with a few of her broken fingers and nails. Every time she breathed, it sounded like a rasping sound. Her palms dug against the ground beneath her, causing ice to cover the areas she touched. When she looked up at the humans, the left part of her face was covered in ice crystals.

 

“This way!” Jason urged, as he pulled on Carol's upper arm to direct her and Kirk down the right corridor. As they hurried through the maze of hallways, he could hear the horrific screams of the demon that was after them. Jason brought up the map to check where he was supposed to go next. He stopped shortly down the hall to make a quick left. After a few more turns, he found a door at the end of one of the hallways that was slightly broken down. “There! That's it!”

 

Once everyone was inside, Kirk picked up the door to try and situate it and a few damaged pieces of furniture in front of the entrance. “Maybe this will keep that thing out of here.”

 

Jason shined the flashlight around the room to find the desk where Touya often would write upon. Hurrying towards it, he began searching through the many papers quickly. “Here, take a stack, and help me find something about Cynthia or anybody named Baker.”

 

Everyone searched through the papers that Touya had documented about many different worshippers within his care. There were stacks of them, and some were burned or even frozen stiff from the chill about the temple. It didn't stop either of them from continuing their search. As they looked incessantly for what they were hunting for, the room began dropping in temperature again.

 

“That thing is back…!” Carol panicked, as she got to her feet and hurried over towards the bed to be behind it.

 

Sure enough, the door, chair, and the dresser that Kirk had pushed in front of the entryway began to crystallize over in demonic ice. Everyone on the opposite side stood back, not wishing for the beast to find a way in to attack them. The demon woman could be heard clawing angrily away at the obstacle in her path while she screamed horrifically. Suddenly, on the other side, something appeared to be attacking her. The sound of skin being torn apart and blood spilling was heard from the opposite side of the door.

 

Jason was nervous about moving from where he was standing beside Kirk. Upon taking one step forwards, there came a harsh beating against the ice that had encased the door and the dresser. A powerful explosion breaking it all down, Jason and Kirk both brought their arms up to block the oncoming ice. Lowering his arms slowly, Jason saw the human looking Touya in the middle of the damaged doorway. “Who-who are you?” He asked.

 

“The question is, who are all of you?” Touya grumbled, as he removed the cloth from about his face. “And what the hell do you think you're doing here? This temple hasn't been active in many years now.”

 

“We're looking for information on this Demon Mother,” Carol responded from behind the bed. She wasn't sure if she should come out of hiding or not. “What are you doing here at night? It is a rather bold thing to do.”

 

Touya raised his brow, confused as to what she was talking about. Wiping the blood on his sword off on a piece of fabric he had hidden in one of his pockets, he sighed as he sheathed his sword. “This is my old bedroom. Who is it you're talking about?”

 

“You're the ice demon!” Jason exclaimed as he pointed at the ice master. “One of you came back!” He wasn't about to touch the demon in fear of being injured. “You must help us. We're looking for information on some Baker person.”

 

Hearing that last name struck a cord in his dead heart. “What Baker are you looking for: Cynthia or Scarlet Baker?”

 

“Is Scarlet Baker the wife of the wind demon?” Jason inquired eagerly.

 

“She was and she still is,” Touya sighed, as he went over to his writing desk to look through all the papers he had on his desk. “Is there something specific you were wanting to know of?” He found it hard to even be within that room. It was still hard to believe all the souls that were lost and damned. Each one was calling out to him in desperation.

 

“What caused the wind demon to curse the town? Was it something to do with Scarlet?” Jason inched a bit closer to Touya, finding his personality not as intimidating as he thought it would be. He placed his hand upon the demon's shoulder only to jerk it back quickly at the chill.

 

“Do you really want to know that?” Touya looked over at Jason with a raise of his brow once more, eyeing the three curiously. Not hearing any obligations on the matter, he explained. “Jin had been lonely for many years, and so, Scarlet was his first servant girl that he got to keep close to his heart. Well, she was about maybe six or so months pregnant, and her stepfather kidnapped her and beat her back at the Bakers' house. He beat her so badly that she lost the baby.” He looked over at Jason with a shake of his head, as Touya felt pity for his friend. “He was destroyed, so he voted on the town going under with his feelings.”

 

“Look,” Jason began eagerly, “I am looking for my twin brother, Justin Thompson, and so I need to find this `Jin'. He's the wind demon, right?”

 

“I know who you're talking about, but I don't know if Jin can help you,” Touya admitted, as he waved for them to follow him out of the room they were within. “Look, I have things I have to take care of here. If you want to look for Jin, he will end up back at the Wind Temple.” He made his way out into the corridor to try and find his way to Cynthia's old bedroom. “I am to surmise that if you've made it this far without dying, you'll be fine finding your way there. Just stay together, be quiet, and find any weapons you possible can to defend yourselves.”

 

“You're not going to help us!” Carol exclaimed in disbelief, as she followed behind the ice master at a decent range.

 

“I am afraid I have other matters, and if you stay around here, you'll get in trouble.” He quickly unsheathed his sword to stop them for a moment before turning around to face them once more. “As for you, Jason, I am sure Jin will know who you're talking about. I wish you luck on the matter. Now, if you'll excuse me…” Touya disappeared from in front of the humans to head to the upper floor to look for Cynthia.