The Tormented

"Another town, another piss hole," Tsume grumbled, his chin tucked and eyes wandering over the pitiful excuse of a community. Kiba glanced back with a small nod of his head in agreement. "This place kinda gives me the creeps," Toboe whispered, his sheepish expression hiding behind brown strands. Hige merely rolled his eyes, a piece of jerky stuffed into his left cheek which he stole from a decrepit meat wagon.

"Everything gives you the creeps runt; a cat, a freaking feather falling from a bird less sky, even a—"

"Lay off Hige," Tsume snapped, his golden eyes squinting into the distance in front of them ,"He's right to get the creeps, there's something not right in this town…"

"You can say that…" Kiba softly spoke as they continued onward.

The street was fairly narrow, barely enough room for two cars to pass each other. But as the 4 noticed there didn't seem to be a single car in the town, at least not a functional one. In fact there didn't even seem to be any people around, the shambled buildings empty, various doors closed and boarded or wide open and empty. Even some of the multiple narrow walk ways leading to buildings in back were closed off by wooden fences, if a few dilapidated boards nailed together could be classified as such.

"You know, this meat tastes pretty awful," Hige mostly said to himself as he stuffed the rest of the jerky into his mouth. Tsume just glared at him, his mouth opening, then closing, and then opening again and yet with nothing to say to the glutton. Out of all the beings he had ever known, Hige really had the biggest appetite.

"Then why did you eat it?" Toboe asked, genuinely curious. Hige just gave him a side glanced. "Because it was there and I was hungry."

"Well, we're all hungry, but I don't think either of us would have tried some of that meat," Toboe replied, looking over at Kiba and Tsume as they walked slightly ahead.

"I wouldn't have touched that stuff even if my life depended on it," Tsume said, his steps slowing.

"Either would I…It smelt wrong…" Kiba spoke just before stopping, his attention shooting to a side alley up ahead and to the left. Soon they all stopped; their attention to the small alley opening. A short woman stepped from the alley her feet dragging along the ground. Her head was rolled on her shoulders, her eyes averted toward the overcast sky. She walked without looking each step agonizingly slow and leaving long tracks instead of tiny foot steps like she should have. The 4 just watched the entranced woman and listened to her pitiful mumblings.

"What's…What's wrong with her?" Hige quietly asked the others, his brow furrowing slightly as he started to get a strange feeling.

"I-I don't know," Toboe said, taking a step back as the woman began to wail towards the sky. High and piteous she screeched, ragged tears falling down her face as she began to thrash around her. Toboe yelped at the sudden movement, moving more behind Tsume who just stood his ground with a cold blank expression.

They watched the woman claw at the air, kick, scream. As if she was fighting some unseen enemy she fought for nearly 5 minutes, and yet nothing seemed to be around her.

"That's enough. We need to keep moving." Kiba finally said, having his fill of watching the tormented/crazy woman. But as soon as he spoke the woman stopped, her matted hair becoming still against her back. Hige and Toboe gasped at the eerily stillness, the sudden lack of movement. Tsume tensed as the woman's head rotated painfully slow towards the 4, her eyes red and blood shot from the intense physical exertion. She stood there in mid strike and stared at the 4, a frightful curving of the lips creeping onto her face.

"Youuuuu…." The woman rasped out, her voice course and choked from wailing. Kiba's nose twitched and he darted his eyes towards the right seeing another woman coming from a small alley way. And then a man followed by another, and another.

"I knnoow youuuu…" The woman squeezed out again, her body turning towards the 4 with a weak step.

"Kiba." Tsume stated blandly, having turned around seeing people stepping out of open alley ways, even alley ways that were boarded up, some people climbing over or going through broken boards.

"Guys, I'm getting a lot of scents here." Hige warned now tense, his stance wide and ready to bolt. Toboe's head darted back and forth seeing more and more people walking out onto the main street, all of them in dirty clothes, they're eyes blood shot and faces the same tormented expression as the first woman.

"I KNOW all off youuu--!!" The woman started to scream as she walked faster towards the 4, the other people starting to sob and wail in unison.

"I don't like this. We need to get out of here." Tsume said, his hand reaching for his sharp knife…

"I KNNoowWw yOOuu! WE ALll knoow YOUU!!!!" The woman screamed as she picked up her pace and darted toward the 4 as fast as her clumsy feet could take her over the few yards.

"Where do we go?" Tsume called, his voice raising just a notch as he saw more people start to dart towards them.

"We can't jump the buildings without having something to jump from!" Toboe screamed, his eyes wide and darting all around him at the surrounding mass of crying people.

"This is fucked up! This is totally fucked up!" Hige yelled, his fists ready to pound into the oncoming people.

"Then we run through them!" Kiba shouted as he darted forward on his swift legs, easily moving past the first woman who started to scream ,"ThE WolVEs arRRR HEEREE! THEE WOLVES HAVEE COMEE!"

…to be continued.