The sound of the bell rang loudly throughout the classroom and everyone leapt from their seats. I was in honors world history and the bell to leave had just sounded. Gathering my things quickly into my book bag, I caught up with the rest of the class to follow them out the door. Squeezing through the crowd we managed our way to the stairs and went our separate ways. My destination lay on the third floor.
As I set a foot on the bottom step, someone grabbed my arm and pulled me back. It was a boy I didn't know with brown hair and reddish orange eyes which seemed to glare hatefully at me even through his smile. "Hello." He said pleasantly. "Are you Kira?"
Slowly I nodded. "Why?" I asked.
"I would like to talk to you."
For some reason I shivered under his touch. "Well I have to get to class…"
"I'll walk you there." He said as he followed me up the stairs. We made it to the top floor of the school and he still hadn't said anything more.
"Are you just going to follow me or will you say something?" I asked, feeing very uncomfortable. He didn't speak so I turned to head into my classroom. At the last minute he caught my arm and pulled me further down the hall. "Hey, what are you doing?" I cried as I tried pulling away but he held me too tight. "Let go!"
"Shut up and come on." The boy hissed at me.
Frantically I looked around for someone to help but everyone was busy rushing to class and the hallways were empty. The tardy bell rang and I stared at the boy. "You've made me late, happy now? Let go!"
"I said shut up!" The boy snarled and I squealed as he jerked my arm to the side, twisting it. He dragged me into a corner of the room where the stairs were and threw me down. "Humans are so fragile…" He whispered.
My eyes grew wide. He speaking like he's not human! I thought. As I stared harder at him I saw some strange markings on his face along with a horn or two on his head. "W-what are you?" I gasped.
"So you can see?" The boy smirked. "I knew you were her."
"What are you talking about?" I screamed as I tried to push past him.
"You're not going anywhere." He hissed as he held me against the wall. "Word is the spirit detectives are looking for a new helper and that helper is supposed to be you. I can get a lot of money for bringing you in."
I stared at him in shock trying to process what he'd said when loud footsteps sounded throughout the stairs. "He-" The boy clamped his hand over my mouth before I could yell for help and smirked at me. He placed his hand on the wall beside my head and leaned forward. To anyone passing by it'd just look like another couple making out by the stairs.
Sure enough the boy coming down barely glanced at us before moving on. As soon as the footsteps disappeared the boy pulled away. "There's no hope for you."
"What are you going to do?" I whimpered fearfully.
"Oh don't worry…" The boy grinned. "I won't cause you pain. All I want is your death!" With the last word he slipped a long knife from his pocket and held it over me. My eyes filled with terror and all I saw was the knife and the boys face filled with a crazed look.
I screamed as he swung it down and jumped to the side, kicking the boy in the leg as I did so. He winced and clutched his leg as I scrambled down the hall, trying to make it to a classroom. I was jerked to a stop as he caught my jacket and pulled me back towards him. "Just for that I'll make it slow and painful." He snarled as he slid the blade slowly across my right arm. I flinched and squirmed but he held his other hand over my mouth, holding my head against the wall and keeping me from yelling.
Tears escaped my eyes from the pain and the boy was obviously enjoying it. Suddenly he cried out and fell to the side, skidding into the wall. I slid to the floor and blinked the tears away as I stared up. A new boy stood in front of me now. He had spiky dark black hair and was fairly short with red eyes but he was blurred by my tears. The brown haired boy wiped his cheek and staggered to his feet. "Where the hell did you come from?" He screamed.
The black haired boy smirked. "You need to keep up your guard better."
I gasped as the brown haired boy charged with his knife but at the last second the new boy drew a hidden sword and stabbed straight through the one charging. Kicking him off the sword, he wiped the blood off on the boy and put it up, turning towards me. The brown haired boy smiled painfully as he clutched at the others ankle. "Savor living while you can…" He murmured before darkness took him.
I stared in shock at the boy lying in a pool of blood in front of me and then back at the one who had done it. He was now muttering to himself. "I knew they'd be after her already… I'm glad I came." He kneeled down in front of me and smirked. "Are you scared?" He asked aloud.
I nodded. "W-what is he?" I stammered.
The boy raised an eyebrow. "You can see the markings?" I nodded and he stared at me for a moment. "He's a demon, sent here to kill you."
My eyes widened. "What? Why?" I cried. "Are you here to kill me too?" I added, pressing back against the wall.
"If I was you'd be dead by now." The boy replied. "You need to get that arm looked at."
At the mention of it, the pain in my arm suddenly shot through me again and I clutched it uselessly as the pool of dripping blood increased. "I don't understand…" I muttered dumbly as I sat there.
The boy took my hand and hauled me to my feet, handing me my book bag. "Go back to your class. I'll take care of him." He said, indicating the supposedly demon boy.
"But… what's going on?" I continued.
"I will come to your house one night and explain it then. Be ready for me. It will be dark and will happen in secret. Don't ever tell anyone that we met here, understand?" I nodded slowly and he pushed me forward to get me to hurry. With one last glance over my shoulder at him I staggered down the hall to my class.
Everyone stared at me in shock as I entered, clutching my arm with a bloody hand. The teacher freaked out and ran at me asking what happened. "Someone attacked me by the stairs." I muttered.
"Why didn't you yell?" The teacher asked.
"He wouldn't let me."
"So there's some guy on the loose?" A boy in my class yelled out.
I shook my head. "Someone else came and chased him away. They're both gone now…"
"Well Kira, you need to get to the office and call home quickly. That looks really bad. Was a weapon used?" The teacher asked.
"A knife." I whispered as I left quietly.
"Let me go with her!" I heard someone shout and turned to see Scott running out after me. After a pause the teacher nodded and allowed him to come and we went silently side by side for a while. Scott followed me back to the stairs and watched me as I froze and looked around. "What are you looking for?" He asked.
"The blood." I replied. "It's all gone except for mine…"
"Was there more?" Scott added.
Slowly I nodded before approaching the stairs hesitantly and heading down them, Scott right behind me. "So…" He began. "There's some freak on the loose with a knife?"
"I guess so." I muttered, wincing as I held my arm. "Why'd you come?"
"I hate that class, just want to get out." Scott explained. I simply nodded and continued down to the office.
When I entered I was immediately swarmed and asked tons of questions as Scott stood by listening. All I told them was that a boy had pulled me into the stairs while everyone was in class and that he had cut my arm before someone chased him away. Seeming to accept my answer, they called my mom for me and she arrived shortly. Saying goodbye to Scott, I went out to the car and climbed in where she then rushed me to the hospital. It took twenty three painful stitches before everything was done with and I could return home.
I skipped the next day of school and instead slept in and tested if I would be able to write. It seems I could but it was pretty painful. The day after I returned with a heavily bandaged arm and was swarmed with curious or concerned people. After a while things returned to normal.
Every day after the incident I checked back at those stairs and stayed alert for the boy who had saved me but never saw anything strange though I dreamed about plenty.
After a few more weeks I was brought back to the doctors to get the stitches taken out and the bandage was removed, showing a long, thin scar across my right arm. Though the scar remained, the cause slowly faded as months passed and summer break started. The days were then spent sleeping and lazing around on the computer, totally forgetting the boy's promise to return one night. I should have remembered…
Wow, I haven't seen that one yet... what song is it based on? I was on the computer... again. I'm always on. At this moment I was replying to a post on a friend's site. I looked up and sighed, glancing at the door and then pausing to listen for voices upstairs. I was home with my youngest brother, the four-year-old, Jack and my sister, the eight year old, Megan. I was responsible for making sure they went to bed, but you know kids... they never listen to an older sibling. It sounded like they were quiet... for now. I looked back to the glowing computer screen in front of me and clicked the next screen name on my friends list.
As I was reading their post I heard the front door squeak slowly open. It always does that so I stood up and closed and locked it. As I was returning to the computer I heard someone speak in a loud whisper, "Watch it!" I nearly jumped out of my skin! I quickly turned and looked around, killing the music I was playing to hear better. I saw nothing and put a hand on my heart, feeling its quickened beating, my eyes still wide. I peered into the darkness around me and finally deciding there was nothing there, I slowly sat back down, rubbing my eyes. This is what I get for spending the last six nights up past 2... I thought. I looked at the computer's clock. Only 10...I'll wait for people to get home and by then it will be late enough to go upstairs. I decided, turning back to the computer to finish up.
About 40 minutes later my parents and other two brothers finally came through the door.
"Are they asleep?" was the first thing my mom said.
"Well, I sent them up at least..." I replied as I got up. I headed for the couch in the family room where all my newly gotten manga and pocky lay all over the cushions. I gathered them all up in my arms and turned to my dad who was settling down on the other couch. "I'm going up now..." I said.
"To sleep?"
"I don't know... just up." I responded. On my way I stopped by the computer room and unplugged the laptop. Picking it up, I carried it to my room as well. I had prepared characters for a new story earlier today and was planning on starting it somewhere were there would be no or little distractions. I settled down on my bed and began to type.
Kira came out of the woods, her ears twitching agitatedly. "Why are you still following me?" she yelled over her shoulder. There was no response. "Come on! I know you're there, I can smell you!"
A small brown puppy with one black ear came stumbling out of the woods after her. He paused for a moment and began changing his shape. When he was done he resembled a boy with shaggy brown shoulder length hair and one brown dog-ear and the other black and the small tail of a puppy...
I paused to look at the clock. 11:51... I've been working for a long time, I thought. I looked around my room. All the lights were off and everything was illuminated by the glow of the computer screen. For some reason, I liked it better this way, just sitting there, headphones on, computer in my lap, in the dark. I didn't want this to end very soon and hoped I wouldn't get tired quickly so I could stay up. I blinked a few times and mouthed a few words to the song I was listening to, I'm sorry I can't be perfect... I sighed and looked around again as I began to continue my story.
...As he looked up at her, Kira noticed that one eye was green and the other blue. "So?" she asked. "Why have you been following me?"
He shrugged, "I don't want to be alone anymore..." he started to walk closer. "How come you're all alone?"
Kira looked down, hiding her face as her eyes swirled blue. "I got separated from my brothers..." she began but then recovered, her eyes turning green again. "But I don't need any help!"
I stopped again, this time for a different reason. My CD had ended. I moved the computer off of my lap and stood up, reaching for my CD case. I opened the player and took out the Simple Plan disc and put in Good Charlotte. Replacing the headphones on my head, I slid down beside my bed and leaned against its side. I placed the laptop on my legs and continued to type, occasionally mouthing some words. I just want to live!
The puppy boy looked offended and sat down where he stood. "I just want a friend..." he sighed. "I've never known any friends or family."
Kira looked at him and sighed as well. "I was separated from my family for over 500 years. I just was reunited with them and now I'm lost again." She looked around. "And nothing here looks or smells familiar!"
The boy leapt to his feet. "Let me come with you! I'll help you find them!" he said excitedly, his little tail wagging as he
"Ahh-" My scream was stifled as a hand covered my mouth. I looked around wildly but my attacker was behind me, on my bed. Another hand came forth to cover my eyes. Oh my God, what's happening? I thought frantically. My first guess as to who it could be was the man seen around our neighborhood with the gun but that didn't make since. Besides, he hadn't been seen for over a week! I reached up and started clawing at his hands with my long nails but another set of hands grabbed them away and held them to my side. There are two people? I thought, trying to struggle free. One's to my left... I felt one hand let go of my hands and doubled my efforts at getting free. It was no use, when he shifted he had renewed his one handed grasp on me. Next I felt the headphones lifted gently from my head. At least I can hear now... I thought. And if they wanted to hurt me they wouldn't have been so careful and they would've done it by now...wouldn't they?
"What are these?" I heard a man ask.
"Put them on your head, the padded parts over the ears." The other responded in a cold voice. He sounded annoyed. He doesn't know what headphones are? I thought, growing more confused every second.
I looked at the computer, still in my lap. The clock read 12:21. My dad will still be up!
I felt someone lean close to my ear and shivered. "Kira, isn't it?" I heard him ask. It was the one with the cold voice. I slightly nodded. "Ok," he said pulling away but keeping my mouth and eyes covered. "She can understand me. That means the translators are working still."
I was growing steadily more scared. Are they going to do something? Why don't they just do it? I hate sitting here waiting, unable to do anything! I tried shaking my head at least, hoping to free my mouth or eyes but the grip just tightened, hurting my face. I felt my eyes begin to water.
"Loosen your grip!" the other said. His voice was much calmer, more reassuring and nice sounding yet he still tightly held my hands down. "You're hurting her."
I heard the other grunt and his grip lessened. The other leaned close to my ear and whispered, "Now, we're here to help you, ok? What's that thing on you're lap? If you tell me I'll get my friend here to uncover your mouth and eyes." He promised.
My heart leapt, until I heard the other. "What are you talking about? I'm not going to do that! And I'm not your friend..."
"Hey, we were sent here to get her to trust us so she'll remember we helped her when we come for her later."
"Why couldn't you get her brother to do it? I don't believe him that he his. He's just trying to take her powers for himself."
"No he's not! You haven't been with him since we got here. He's been sulking around camp. He doesn't respond to insults or anything!"
"Well, that just shows how weak he is."
"Give me a break! He's been separated from her for over five hundred years!" My eyes widened, just like Kira from my story... I thought but was totally confused about everything else. Are they talking about me? My brothers? I don't understand! I took this time to try to wriggle free but even through their argument, they held me tight.
"Here, use this to make sure she doesn't yell out." From my left I heard the scraping of metal against something and felt the wind on my neck as it was passed to the one behind me and set on the bed.
He said in his cold, emotionless voice, "So, you're making me the bad guy?"
"Aww, come on!" he said, laughing. "You can tell by comparing our voices that you're the meaner one!" he turned to me again. "Now, as I was saying. We'll uncover you're mouth and eyes, and I'll release your hands but you have to stay quiet. My friend has a dagger and won't hesitate to quiet you. You can speak in a whisper and tell me what that glowing thing in your lap is."
I nodded and felt the hands release my face but the touch of cold metal appear on the front of my neck. I shivered but stayed quiet. My hands too were released. I started to turn my head to look at the one beside me but his hand shot out and stopped me. "No! You shall look only straight ahead. You're not allowed to see us yet."
He let go and I whispered, as quietly as I could, remembering the dagger pressed against my neck. "W-why not?"
"We'll explain it all later, the next time we meet."
The one on the bed stayed silent with the knife. It made me nervous. "N-next time?"
"Yeah," was the happy response. "We'll partly explain that in a second. First, tell me what that thing is."
"This is a laptop..." I said quietly, pointing to the computer, still sitting in my lap.
"A laptop..." he repeated. "What does it do?"
"Eh... well, it let's me write things without needing paper or pens and talk to people all over the world. That's mainly what I use it for..."
"Amazing!" he said, leaning forward to look at it closer. Just before his face appeared in my view, he shot out a hand to cover my eyes.
"Why's it so important?" I said, a little louder out of annoyance. The dagger pressed a bit harder as a warning.
"Well, we don't want to spoil a great surprise!" he answered. They both froze and my mouth and hands were held again as Megan began talking in her sleep across the hall. They waited a few minutes after it was quiet again and released me. I heard the nicer sounding one breathe a sigh of relief. "Well, we can't be discovered now after all this! It wouldn't work out right!"
"Haven't we wasted enough time then?" said the one on the bed, sounding annoyed again.
"Yeah, I guess..." he began to roll up my sleeve.
"It has to be the other arm! The one she writes with."
Beep, beep, beep! My dad's pager sounded throughout the house. The one beside me pressed up against the bed and grabbed my hands down as the one above me clamped a hand over my mouth and held the dagger to my throat again. For some reason, I froze along with them. The sound of my parents voices were heard downstairs and everyone was tense and nervous. Footsteps were heard right outside my door twice and then my parent's door squeaked shut. We all stayed still for almost ten more minutes. I think the reason I didn't struggle again was because I was now very curious about why they were there and I felt that I needed to know. They had me hooked.
After the long pause my hands were finally released again and then my mouth. I closed my laptop and set it on the carpet in front of me. "Why do you need my right arm?" I asked very quietly.
There was a pause and then, "You have a disease." Said the colder one, much to my surprise. "You've had it since you were born and it's going to attack your body soon. There is no way to prevent it once that happens so you have to be injected with the cure now. It will start the symptoms right then but will also be able to fight it off and leave you alive. If you don't get it you will die by tomorrow night."
I just sat there in shock for several minutes. That was not what I had expected. "What are you talking about? I feel fine! Are you two some kind of psycho doctors? Why do you have to sneak in like this to tell me some made up lie?"
"It's not made up. It's very true and you will die if you don't allow us to save you!" he argued back, raising his voice a little. Then it grew gentle and, out of the corner of my eye, I saw the other turn to stare at him as he continued. "You don't want to die do you? I don't want you to die..."
I felt my face grow hot as it began to turn red and the man beside me was still staring. The feel of the dagger left my neck and I rubbed the spot where it had been as the seemingly colder man continued in this softer voice. "If you want to die then scream for help and we'll be gone, never to bother you again. If you want to live then stay quiet, shut your eyes and don't move."
The other one's gaze switched from the man behind me to my face as I sat thinking about what he had said. I opened my mouth and saw the one on the ground brace for the scream he knew was coming. I waited for the hand to clamp over my mouth or the cold dagger to pierce my throat, but none of it happened. It was like he wasn't even there anymore. "W-what will happen," I whispered as the one beside me relaxed again. "After I get the shot?"
I heard the reassuring voice answer from behind me. "You will experience great pain and then probably pass out. You're parents will find you here tomorrow and rush you to a hospital. You might scream from the pain and they'll come sooner."
I felt the bed sink a little behind me as the other jumped slightly on. "Don't tell her that! We want her to do it, not get too scared too!"
He jumped as my head slumped to my chest. "If I do... allow it, will you do two things for me before you do it?"
"What things?" said the one on the bed. The other just stared at me, amazed that I was even considering it.
I hesitated first, thinking it over and then spoke. "First you let me get on my bed so I'm not lying on the floor..."
"And second?"
"I get to look at your faces before you do it."
That's when the other jumped in, "No way! That's out of the question!" I felt the air go by me as his shirt was grabbed and he was pulled more onto the bed.
"What are you talking about? Of course that's ok!" the menacing tone had returned and I froze. The other was too startled to argue back. He was released and slid back to the floor. "Would you like to climb onto your bed now? You can look at him on your way up." The nice tone was back again and I marveled at how easily he changed.
I nodded and turned to my left. The man sitting there stared at the ground trying to hide his face in the dark. He was wearing all purple and had black hair, tied in a short ponytail on the back of his neck. My eyes widened as I thought of who it could be. I leaned a little closer. "M-Miroku?" I stammered. He slightly nodded and then covered his face. "But how...?" I nearly screamed as I felt something rub against my butt but clamped a hand over my mouth to stop myself. Instead I just glared at him and he grinned back. The other guy reached down and punched him right in the face. Miroku stumbled back and hit my desk.
"You could've blown it right there! You are very lucky she stopped herself or you too would be screaming right now, screaming for mercy!" his voice, calm a second ago, was now dripping with venom even in a whisper. I chanced a quick glance at him as I slowly climbed onto my bed, stopping in front of him. As soon as I looked away I looked back and stared. Unlike Miroku, he stared right back. He had tall, spiky black hair and red eyes. He seemed very short, even while sitting. I just stared at him, my face blank and unwilling to believe.
"You're the one from the stairs at school?" I asked and he nodded. Next I managed to stutter a name. "Hiei?" He nodded again, unblinking and refusing to look away. I clamped my hands to either side of my head and stared down at the bed, starting to mutter to myself. "This can't be real. I have to be dreaming. Somebody pinch me, I have to be dreaming!"
Hiei reached out a hand and lightly pinched my arm. I slowly looked up and said, in a barely audible voice, "that hurt."
"So, I guess you're not dreaming." Hiei responded quietly.
Miroku slowly sat up and shakily started to pull himself onto the bed with us. Hiei pointed a finger at him and said, "If you know what's good for you, you'll stay down there!"
"I'm so confused! You're just anime characters. You're not real! And why are you together? You're from different shows!"
"You're right," Hiei responded calmly. "But the group from Inuyasha and us all found you at the same time so we're working together to help you, for now. Then we'll have to decide which group you'll go with."
"Go with? Why can't I stay here?"
"You have great powers hidden within you. We're going to help you realize them and then train you on how to use them. Inuyasha had a different reason but I'm not supposed to say that yet... I think he'd be the one who'd want to tell you that part."
"You mean, Inuyasha is... real?" I was in a slight daze. How could I believe this? It wasn't possible!
"Are you ready for the shot?" Hiei asked calmly. "Remember, we had a deal. Now you know who we are so you can talk to us in the hospital."
"L-look me in the eyes and tell me you are Hiei." I stammered.
He looked straight at me and, unblinking, said, "My name is Hiei. I am the one from the show you watch. Yusuke and Kurama are all outside too. So are Kuwabara and Botan, all waiting to meet you."
"Is Yukina?" I asked quietly.
Hiei fell back, caught off guard. "Y-you know about...?" I nodded and he looked away for a second and then recovered. "Are you ready?"
I paused and then spoke again. "One last thing, now look at me and tell me that I'm going to- that I'm going to live..."
Hiei looked at me, moving closer, and I thought I saw sorrow in his eyes but truth as well. "If you allow me to give you this shot then you will survive and have the chance to get all your questions answered."
I nodded and sat still and silent as Hiei went to work. He rolled up my right sleeve and pulled some things out of a bag I just noticed was there. He cleaned the spot he was going to stab and then pulled out the shot. I looked away, amazed at how big it seemed, and clenched my fist. "It won't hurt as much if you relax," Hiei assured me so I let my arm go limp. "Are you ready?" I took a deep breath and nodded as I felt the needle pierce my skin. I bit my lip to keep from crying out as it slid in further. I felt the fluids enter my arm and immediately my body began to ache. My eyes began to water and Hiei pulled out the needle. He held a pad to my arm to catch the falling blood until it stopped. He had been supporting me so when he pulled away I collapsed on my bed. My eyes growing blurry, I saw his outline slide off my bed and gather up the things into the bag. Miroku stumbled to his feet as well, nursing a bruised jaw. I reached a shaky hand out to them. "It hurts..." I managed to say before my arm fell and my body went limp, every nerve screaming.
"Remember us. We will come back for you!" Hiei said. He sounded a million miles away. That was the last thing I saw or heard that night. My head was pounding and my ears felt as if they were stuffed with cotton balls. My eyes stung so badly I held them tightly shut, but the water wouldn't stop coming from them. My stomach was tossing and turning and I felt like I would throw up at any time. My entire body felt limp and I seemed unable to move, like every bone in my body was shattered. It felt as if I was on fire, everything burning and I couldn't hold it in anymore. I started screaming until I was out of breath. Then I would stop, taking in huge gulps of air and then start screaming again. Occasionally I would thrash around and then go limp again. That was the most pain I had ever experienced in my entire life.
Eventually I felt several hands grab me around my legs and arms. The pain where I was touched tripled and I thrashed around, trying to make them let go. My thoughts were completely random and I couldn't think. All I knew was that I was in pain and they were making it worse so they had to leave. The problem was that the more I squirmed, the tighter they held so it just became more painful. When I went through one of the times where my body went limp they finally managed to get me off of my bed onto something hard and cold. It didn't help either. When I tried to get off of it they put hard straps across me to hold me still. The pain was at least five times worse than when I was just lying on my bed and I couldn't take it anymore. I threw up and in a few more minutes I was out cold, though even while unconscious I still felt the steady ache of my body.