Something felt… strange. I was surrounded by a pearly substance and as I sat up, the liquid dripped down into what appeared to be a white lake. Looking around, I was enshrined in a thick fog and a man stood over me in a green striped kimono with his left eye closed. His black hair was long but it tapered off to the side, as if gravity held no sway over it. The man raised his hand and placed it on my head… and he smiled...

...

As I walked down the street and wrestled with my books while trying not to drop them, I reached into my pocket and pulled out my phone. It was new, a present for my sixteenth birthday, and I was excited to try out all the new games and apps. I pressed the power button and the home screen popped up, but right away it began to fizzle out. I wondered if I could have forgotten to charge it that morning. "These things die easily you know!" my mom's words came back to me and the memory of her wagging her finger in my face.

"Yeah, I know. Don't worry, I'll be careful!" I had responded while slipping my shoes on and running out the door on my way to school.

Once again, I tried pressing the power button but it refused to respond and continued freezing up. A vein bulged menacingly in my forehead as the blurry home screen faded into red and four short words appeared, "You will be ours."

I stopped abruptly in front of a large gate, looking ominously at my phone. "Oof!" a voice crowed as it bumped into me and we clambered to the ground.

"Ow!" I moaned as I rubbed my soar backside and stood up from the hard sidewalk. The other individual rose quickly and extended his hand to me graciously. I gladly took it. He was dressed in monk's clothing with long (very long) black hair and strikingly blue eyes. I couldn't help but enjoy the warm feel of his hand as it grasped mine. Suddenly I recognized where we were; at the alley leading to the Nura house.

He looked down at me with those eyes and I felt dazed.

"What a beautiful girl…" he thought. "I apologize. Are you alright?" he asked me politely.

He had the smile of an honest man and I nodded back at him, "Oh… yeah."

"Well then, take care," he tipped his hat and continued down the street. I watched him as he passed down another alley and disappeared towards the north side of town. I turned to look back the way he had come; through the Nura's gate. I could hear more than one voice inside, but no one I could see. Despite how empty it looked, the house emanated a kind of otherworldly warmth which I found strangely comforting. In the sixteen years I lived in that neighborhood, I never found it particularly unwelcoming or unpleasant, but strange nonetheless, and I was intrigued.

Later on my way to school, I stopped at the bus station. However, there was something off about it that day. An abandoned phone lay on the nearer side of the street. The glass screen spider-webbed and a matching red plastic case sat next to it. As I looked closer, I realized the case had not been produced in red. Rather, it was stained red, and it looked like blood. A few drops also speckled the broken screen, looking like caught flies on the cracked glass. Turning around quickly, I wondered why the others waiting at the station -even those standing on either side of me- took no notice of it.

I was suddenly pushed from behind but caught myself before I fell into the street. "Sorry," a voice called. I turned to face the man who spoke.

He was looking around confused and I wondered, "Could he not see me?" but held it to no great importance.

The bus pulled around the corner, coming to a stop in front of us, and I got on with everyone else.

...

As I got off the bus heading for class, I became increasingly curious about the house I passed that morning, the Nura house. "Who was that monk? Who do the voices I keep hearing inside the Nura house belong to? And what is this warmth I feel coming from beyond those concrete walls?" After entering the classroom, I decided it was time I learned more. I mean, who could tell? Maybe this feeling and that strange text this morning were connected.

As I entered the classroom, I noticed a group of kids whispering to each other and I couldn't help but overhear part of their conversation.

What I heard frightened me.

"Did you hear?... Oh yeah, I can't believe it… Kaya… dead!... It happened right near the bus stop… Yeah, it's true! I saw the body. It was-" At that point I didn't want to listen anymore and walked swiftly away.

"What the hell is going on with everyone today?"

When I sat down, I turned to Kurata, intending to ask him about his home with the Nuras, but he halted just past the group of whispering students. He looked up at me with a strange expression and I knew he heard them too. I quickly looked away and decided to try asking Rikuo or Tsurara instead.

"Hey, Rikuo-" I began and he looked at me, but before I could get a chance to ask, the teacher came in and began roll call. So I sat back down at my desk awkwardly.

The teacher took attendance but when she reached the point on her list when she should have called out my name, her face contorted, like she was remembering something disturbing and sad. She continued down the list, but did not call out my name. Many students had their heads down and were staring disconnectedly at their desks. My childhood friend Kana looked the worst. Her nose was nearly touching her desk. She cringed and tears ran down her cheeks. Saori tried to comfort her as she whispered something to Rikuo and Tsurara. A ball of pain formed in my chest at seeing her so upset. I looked behind me and saw Kurata watching me closely and a few students near the back began whispering again before I turned back around to find Rikuo and Tsurara staring anxiously at me. The looks on their faces were full of surprise and concern. It was like they had just seen a yokai. Something felt very wrong...

Later that day, our class headed to the baseball field for Phys Ed. We split into teams and once again my name was passed over. Kurata, who was in the outfield, went to the edge of the fence and casually began talking to someone on the other side. I did a double take and looked back at the person Kurata was talking to. It was… that monk!

"They know each other?" I thought but quickly realized, "It would only make sense if they knew each other because I just saw that monk came out of the Nura house this morning."

Glancing over at Rikuo and Tsurara, I was reminded of my curiosity at how members of the Nura clan always claimed to be related, but never looked alike. "I guess he could be Tsurara's brother- with the blue eyes, attractive looks and all."

When I looked up from my thoughts, both the monk and Kurata were staring oddly at me again.

I suddenly felt very small and very alone. Why were the Nura's the only ones who seemed to notice me? And why were the other students pretending I wasn't there? "It's not like I'm dead…" I thought.

The image of the bloody phone on the sidewalk flashed through my mind. It was the exact same model as the one I received for my birthday. I reached into my pocket and ran my fingers over the smooth plastic case. "Did you hear?... Oh yeah, I can't believe it… Kaya… dead!... It happened right near the bus stop…" Those words tolled a warning in my mind and I remembered leaving early for school the day before (at least I believed it was yesterday) to catch the early bus to school. It was still dark then, but I could remember fighting with someone in the bitter cold and morning twilight there at that bus stop, and the glow of the 'bus station' sign as it reflected the light of the oncoming car when I fell into the road...

So then, it was true. I was dead. "I, Kaya "Kai-chan" Inohana… am dead."

Trying not to be noticed, I looked at my phone again. It was cracked like a spider's web and across the red background four simple words told me "You will be ours…"

"Who are these people?!" I thought as I distantly heard the echo of the case hitting the ground. Tsurara noticed and whispered something to Rikuo. I bent down slowly, picked up my phone, and tried to collect myself before making a spiteful effort to go on with my day which passed much the same.

After school, I waited until Rikuo, Tsurara, and Kurata left after club activities and I followed them.

Just before they reached their house, I decided it was time to come out of hiding. I intended to call out to them, however they stopped before I could, and a girl I didn't recognize met them. "Yura!" Rikuo exclaimed excitedly and both he and the girl smiled. However, Tsurara and Kurata seemed more than a little annoyed.

"Rikuo!" I yelled after them with a hand raised in greeting and all five of them, Yura and the Nuras, turned to look at me. The expression on Yura's face morphed into a fierce glare as I drew closer. I slowed down and my hand pulled back a bit in worry.

Yura immediately pulled a slip of paper from a little purse in her hand. "Shikigami Rentai!" she yelled and the piece of paper was engulfed in a ball of light which then molded into a fish. Its elegant tails wrapped around her arm as she called out something else and aimed the device at me.

Something burned deep in my gut, compelling me to leave. Anything to get away from her. I felt my shoes connect with the sidewalk as I turned to flee, running as fast as I could, grabbing a sign pole, and swinging around a corner alley. I could feel my blood pumping and heard Yura's cries as she sent steaming balls of water to gun me down. Rikuo yelled at her, "Wait! Miss Keikain, hold on a second! We should hear what she has to say first!"

I chanced to turn around and watched as she sent another water ball streaming down the tight alley towards me. "Is this it? Am I really going to die here?! And I don't even get the chance to find out what's happening to me?!"

I could hardly think straight. All my focus was on the giant ball of water heading right for me. "Noo!" I screeched with my hands up to cover my face. My whole body shook with fear and something sparked in me.

I didn't want to die.

From out of my hands a faint light appeared and a shock wave pushed the water back, forcing it to collide with Yura and my friends, throwing them all into the concrete wall on the other side of the street.

Standing frozen in shock at the other end of the alley, I watched them. Shocked not only at what I had done but also Rikuo's hair was… had it turned white?

The shadow of an encroaching hat moved across my feet before something made of hard, hollow metal collided with the back of my head, hard.

"Kuro-" a deep voice purred out of the darkening alley. Rikuo, in his mature yokai form, stood up and sheathed his sword.

"Yes master. It's taken care of," said the monk with a stoic frown, tipping his hat once more while he stood next to me. It would be a while before I woke up again.

"Master?" Yuki Onna called timidly.

"Master Rikuo, are you hurt?!" Aotabo urged as he got up.

"I'm fine," replied Rikuo, removing his hand from its place atop Yura's shoulder. Yura stood, trying not to shake, and demanded to know why Rikuo wanted her to stop her bombardment of the yokai. But Rikuo would not answer her, and continued making his way towards Kurotabo as he began pealing my limp body off the cement where I lay.

Kurotabo stopped, his hand still on my shoulder. "This is the girl from this morning…" he realized. The tip of something black was hidden under the sweater of my school uniform at the neck and he pulled it down slightly to see what it could be. Black markings stained my skin, "It's… like a tattoo," Kurotabo thought curiously, though he seemed to be the only one to notice.

"She's a demon!" yelled Yura at Rikuo exasperatedly.

Rikuo began to speak to them in a calm and soothing voice, "Yes, I can sense it now. I couldn't before while in my human form."

Yuki Onna looked from her master to me worriedly, "But isn't that Kaya Inohana, from our class?"

"Yeah, I recognize her too," stated Aotabo. "Hey, doesn't she live just down the street?"

"I think you mean 'didn't she live' " Rikuo reminded them cautiously. "I heard about it from Saori in class today. She was killed over by the bus station. I thought at first I must have misheard, but now I see. Somehow, when she died, it appears she was transformed into a yokai." Rikuo knelt beside me next to Kurotabo.

Yuki Onna began to speak again, "So she really is dead..." When no one else answered, she restarted with more hope, "But I don't sense any yokai aura coming from her!"

"-That's because only those with extremely keen abilities such as an onmyoji or myself could sense it," Rikuo added. "Something isn't right here. Ordinarily, you would be right. We should be able to sense her aura easily."

Kurotabo was weary of humans and other unwanted eyes. "We should bring her to the house and sort it out there," he stated authoritatively while standing up and holding my limp body in his arms. My head fell back against his chest. For a moment he was afraid his heartbeat would wake me up.

"But are you sure about this?! Something is wrong! I can feel it!" Yura asserted.

A phone slid out of my pocket and Kurotabo caught it swiftly with his sleeve. He glanced at it for an instant before placing it in his robes.

"Well," Rikuo said as he began to change back into his human form and finished his sentence, "shall we all go inside then?"

A/N: I am a beginning writer and would love some input on this story. Tell me what you think in a review: What did you like?

What did you hate?

What kinds of things do you think will happen?

What kinds of things do you want to happen?

Or just tell me anything that's on your mind!

;3 Thank you! ;3

Love Spiritjumper