Disclaimers, all the usual suspects, the only characters I own are the ones I made up, the rest including the Medicine Seller, belong to other people. I'm just barrowing them for a bit.

This is a very short prolog. More like thoughts. I actually have this all scripted out and if I get interest in the story and time to work it, I'll finish it. Thanks.

Rage

The Opening Scene

She sat her back to the wall and head down against the folds of her knees her arms wrapped around her legs. Just quiet as the others screamed terror around her.

"You know something." Not a question, a statement.

The young American looked up at the medicine seller, "if I know, I know not how I know nor does it come easily to me." She turned her face back to her knees.

She was expecting a lot of things, but the gentle touch of a hand on her head wasn't it, she looked up startled. The Medicine seller was there. His face close to her own.

"Then let me help you, before this thing kills us all." he said.

He was sure that the truth was here, with this one. A girl who simply wandered into the area shopping. Touring the country on a summer break from school she claimed. But when she came here, the mononoke reacted, responded.

Its form he had found, it's regret he was fairly sure he knew. But that was all he could get from the other people also here in this place. They had those pieces; the rest though he was sure was with this one. Truth.

"What can a foreigner do?" the man near the door demanded, he was an older fellow, having seen many wars in the past he harbored a strong dislike of those who were not his own countrymen.

Her head sunk down again at those words and the medicine man could have killed that old man in that instant. The girl didn't show her fear easily. But touching her he could feel it. A shaking right to her core, she was just as terrified as the others. She'd been in a kind of shock this whole time, since the woman had been torn to pieces by the mononoke.

But the medicine seller noticed something a lot of the others missed.

The mononoke had only attacked those who outright attacked this woman.

He had a feeling that the old man wasn't going to be lasting much longer.

"Save him." the young woman whispered.

He blinked at her and she looked up, her eyes glassy and grey "I know it wants me, that it hurts those who come after me. I know that much."

He sighed, the old man wasn't worth saving. He'd been a right pain the whole time. First he refused to believe in spirits, and now that the truth of that was shoved in his face in a way he could not disbelieve, he hampered the medicine seller the whole time with how this had to be anyone's fault, and especially the American.

"He's an old man." she said softly as if hearing his thoughts, she reached out and took his hand in hers "they have wisdom, but sometimes their years blind them to anything different. He's just an old man, likely with a family and friends, and people who would miss him." her head was down but he felt the splash of tears on the back of his hand, her knuckles turning white with how hard she was starting to grip him. "like that woman had a son. Who's going to be without his mother, because of me."

He paused, as he felt his sword clack. This was part of the Truth he sought, this woman was part of the reason.

"I will save him." he promised her and she released him. Going limp as a rag doll. He showed no concern, just staring at her a few moments longer, as if trying to piece something together.

The medicine seller stood and went to his chest. He was going to be needing tools.

"Something is coming!" a young girl screamed moving back from the doorway. The medicine seller moved fast, closing the door, for a moment closing them all into darkness as he held out his hands and covered the wall and doorway in strips of paper, each starting to glow red as an eye opened on them, blocking the creature outside their small room.

He began to set up the rest of his gear.

"They are burning!" a woman shouted backing up from the wall that cast its red light into the room. Fear a crossed all of them, all except the woman who had not moved from where she had been sitting this whole time, having said nothing except to the medicine seller.

"We have not much time, I'm only buying us time. I need it's form, truth and regret!"

"I bet it's that woman's fault!" the old man shouted and the medicine man cursed under his breath as he rushed to cover the wall behind the man with more wards. "Shut up!" he finally snarled at the man, everyone going quiet. "The more you speak the more danger you put us all in" he snapped after a moment's silence. Regaining his calm and composure. He was getting frustrated, this creature was whittling them down, it was all connected to this woman yet she knew nothing. He needed time to question her, and he wasn't getting it with these people screaming and passing blame.

He paused, the rage he felt, it wasn't his own! This rage wasn't his own!

"So your form wasn't what I thought" he said softly.

And into the fear filled silence, he heard the click of the jaws of his sword.

-000-

"Out of my way!" Carla felt a shove from the old man passing her to the subway. She bumped into a woman holding the hand of a young girl. "Are you alright?" the woman asked. Carla looked up and nodded.

"Just a grumpy old man." she smiled "I've had days like that too"

The woman gave a laugh and moved on, the little girl though was staring at her distrustfully.

Carla sighed and walked into the subway. Trying to ignore the strange feeling of being followed. The feeling had been bothering her all day. Let alone every time she turned around her day seemed to go from bad to worse. Her shoelace broke, her drink got spilled and even though she was right at the register they wouldn't give her another. Some kid ran into her on those stupid skate shoes. Making her drop her bag and her new shirt ended up with dirt on it. Her wallet and passport got lost and they were giving her issues with replacing it so she could go home. She had little money and while she spoke the language she was a foreigner and in a lot of cases, not overly trusted.

Some people where nice, there was that odd painted man who helped her up when she tripped up over a loose bit of pavement. He was odd in his old fashioned garments and wooden chest that looked like it would be a backpack of some sort. He was a bit rough looking, a little creepy even, but his eyes where lovely and the odd make up he wore somehow becoming on him.

She watched him move off as he seemed to be selling things from his chest. She wondered if he was some sort of drug dealer.

She saw a sign that after a moment figuring out the letters was able to read about a tour of some local haunts. It at least sounded interesting and the cost was well within her budget.

She was standing there when she saw that old man who pushed her and backed up, right into a woman with a small boy standing next to her.

"Stupid!" the woman said and shoved the girl. Carla ended up landing on her hands and knees and watched the contents of her purse go crash, her eyes following a particular item. A small dog statue.

It hit the ground with a loud smack and its head popped off, making it look like the story she was told of the statue. The Inugami.

She didn't see the painted man coming up on the group. Or the look he wore, one of intense concentration.

"oh" was all he said as the girl trying to gather her things and buy her ticket stared down at the broken pieces of her statue, as the woman barraged her with how clumsy she was and how she could have hurt the woman's son.

In another moment though the woman wasn't talking anymore and it was her head that was at her son's feet, the young boy staring in horror as the group slowly turned to see what was going on.

Then the screaming started.