Fright Night
A/N: ZareEraz here! Happy Halloween everyone! Just another fun fic I've had on my computer since last year! I wanted to have a little Halloween fun with our favorite characters! Let me know what you think! :3
"WHY?! Why do I have to come with you!?" Watanuki wailed, being dragged by the collar by a dimensional witch.
"Because it's fun!~" The gang had ended up at the amusement park on Yuko's whim, clearly influenced by last night's alcohol.
"But I have homework to do, Yuko! And that's not including all the work you're going to pile on me later!" The girl struggled to free herself, twisting in her halter top and long-sleeved shirt combo. Yuko had made her put on "real" clothes and for some reason that meant she had to wear a black halter top with ruffles on the hem, a long-sleeved shirt to compensate for the crisp October weather, a pair of sparkly jeans (for the heck of it) and blue ballet flats. Her hair was pulled into her customary pony tail with her signature blue ribbon and she wore a scowl to offset the whole outfit and show Yuko her irritation.
"But Doumeki and Wari have homework too and they're here! Lighten up, Watanuki!" Yuko yanked on her collar again as they passed through the park's gates. Watanuki looked at Doumeki and Wari, and decided that clothes other than their uniforms was good thing once in a while. Wari was wearing a white, long-sleeved T-shirt with a gray vest and wide hemmed jeans, his bright smile plastered to his face. Doumeki on the other hand was solemn as usual, wearing maroon V-neck with a white three-quarter sleeve shirt under that, a gray jacket tied around his hips and long jeans over his sneakers.
"Yo." Doumeki held his hand up and Wari laughed, waving at the girl happily. Both boys were completely fine with this and it was pissing Watanuki off! But before she could start and new round of protests, she was yanked inside the park by her employer and then dumped on the sidewalk.
"Now let's have some fun!" The witched clapped her hands, perfectly happy in her new red jacket (the one Watanuki had to search all over Ginza for) paired with her favorite pair of black pants (the ones that hugged her every curve). And while the whole situation was supposed to be fun, Watanuki was still at an amusement park in the middle of the fall semester with a boat load of homework and regular work back at the shop.
"Yeah! Some fun!" The black Mokona shouted from Yuko's heart hip-purse.
"That's right, Mokona!~ The amusement parks are only open for a few more days before the winter season, so we should make the most of this opportunity!" She smiled widely. "Now what should we do first?" The woman took a quick scan around the park. "That one!" She pointed to a tilty, whirly ride where they were all piled into carts and then spun around the floor at a speed that would nearly make them throw up. "Let's go!"
"Oh no…" Watanuki was grabbed by the collar again and dragged into line.
"Don't worry, Watanuki! It'll be fun!" Wari smiled at the girl, making her heart flutter just a tiny bit.
"Whatever you say, Wari!~" She smiled back, her eyes squeezing shut with a huge smile. She broke out of Yuko's grip and walked next to the charming teen, all her attention on him.
"Simpleton." Doumeki huffed.
"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!" The raven snapped at the archer as they were herded into line.
"Calm down, Watanuki. Doumeki's just teasing, right?" Yuko smiled mischievously, stepping forward in the line.
"Whatever you say." He replied with a shrug.
"That's not an answer!" Watanuki pointed out while being shoved onto the concourse of the ride. They all piled into one of the cars, Watanuki shoved in between Yuko and Doumeki with Wari next to the brunette. The girl frowned, glaring at Doumeki and lamenting the tragedy of not being able to sit next to Wari. When the ride started and everyone started sliding back and forth on the seat, Yuko and Doumeki seemed to be in a conspiracy to squish Watanuki between then as hard as possible as many times as they could, irritating the girl more and more with each passing turn and stop.
"Would you stop trying to squish me?!" The girl yelled as Yuko slammed into her, the witch's elbow jabbing her ribs.
"Oh, quit being such a stick in the mud!~" Yuko giggled, sliding towards the edge of the cart as the ride spun them around again. Doumeki slammed into Watanuki from the other side as they tlited towards the right, his huge bulk pinning Watanuki in a Yuko-Doumeki sandwich.
"Gah!" The girl struggled to shift one of them off her but then the cart shifted again, throwing then in the opposite direction with Watanuki still pinned between the two people how were taller and heavier than her. Wari however, didn't get squished because Doumeki propped his arm up on the seat and held his weight off of his classmate, and Wari just giggled at Watanuki when she blew up at the archer for that. "So it's okay to squish me until the point that I puke but not Wari!? How is that fair!?"
"It's not!~" Yuko cackled as they walked out of the ride. "And that what's makes it fun!"
"It's not fun!" Watanuki retorted, folding her arms moodily. The witch ignored the girl and started looking around for the next ride.
"What should we do next?" Yuko asked, pointing to this ride and that ride, unable to make a decision on whether or not she wanted to go on the Ferris wheel first or one of the three roller coasters on this side of the park. Or maybe the huge swing set. That would be fun too!
"How about a roller coaster! Those are my favorite!" Wari smiled. Watanuki stiffened at the remark. Of all the rides…he just had to pick that one… It's not that Watanuki personally didn't like roller coasters, it's just that out of all the rides in amusement parks, people tended to die on roller coasters, their ghosts haunting the ride from their unexpected deaths. It was not a place that Watanuki wanted to be anywhere near at anytime.
"That's good for me." Doumeki agreed, nodding his head.
"I don't think that's a good ide-" Watanuki started
"Then let's go! To the roller coaster!" Yuko interjected before Watanuki could finish, pointing to the tallest and loopiest one of the bunch.
"Yeah!" Mokona shouted, jumping up and down on its mistress' shoulder. The witch grabbed Watanuki's hand and yanked her towards the long line.
"No! I said it's not a good idea!" The girl wailed at she was corralled into line, sandwiched between Yuko and Doumeki so she couldn't escape.
"And why not? Roller coasters are always fun!" Yuko replied. "Except when it rains because you get all wet and the rain feels like bullets to your face when you zoom around the track!" The woman became making whoosh noises like a roller coaster and then laughing when Mokona pretended to get shot from the rain.
"What are you…five?" Watanuki snapped, glaring at her boss.
"What's got you in such a bad mood?" Yuko's eyes suddenly got serious, looking at Watanuki from the corners of her eyes, like she was trying to get her to admit something. Watanuki blushed in embarrassment at being singled out and glared some more.
"Nothing!"
"Then what the problem?" Yuko teased, grabbing the girl's wrists and dragged her forward as the line made a huge jump forward. Watanuki tripped as she was pulled and landed flat on her face when Yuko let go of her.
"Watanuki, you're so funny!" Wari laughed, smiling at the flustered teen.
"You think so?" Watanuki smiled back, picking herself up off the ground painfully.
"No." Doumeki added.
"WHO ASKED YOU!?" The seer, got right in the archer's face, glaring for all that she was worth, spit flying out of her mouth from her explosion of anger. Doumeki just plugged his ears and leaned away.
"You're both hilarious! I love you comedy routines!" Wari laughed again, chuckling at his two classmates.
"It's not a routine!" Watanuki whined. The line moved a few feet forward during the discussion and while Watanuki's guard was down, Yuko grabbed the girl waist and pulled her forward with the line again, but neglected to keep a hold on her (most definitely on purpose) and let her fall on her butt.
"Ow! Yuko!" Watanuki growled, rubbing her butt.
"Sorry! But the line moved forward!~" Yuko said, hiding her sick smile behind her hand.
"You're the devil." The seer hissed. Watanuki picked herself up again and kept at least three feet between her and the witch, safeguarding herself. That is, until Doumeki stepped forward and bumped into her back, sending the girl tipping forward again. However, instead of falling on her face, Doumeki caught the girl's wrist and propped her up before she could hit the ground. Watanuki blushed, refusing to make eye contact and spit out and insult to keep herself from thanking the bastard. And that when she felt it: a cold presence lingering around the rollercoaster. But it was only a feeling, probably just the breeze. Watanuki shivered, wrapping her arms around herself in the chilly October weather and followed Yuko up the line to the ride. She frowned, eyeing the seats of the roller coaster train when it was finally their turn to board.
"Something wrong?" Doumeki asked, coming up behind her.
"Yeah…why and I sitting with you?!" Watanuki snapped, sliding into her seat, the cold sliding up her sleeves as she did.
"Because Wari doesn't like sitting in the front." Doumeki replied, taking the seat next to the girl and pulling down the safety bar.
"Then why couldn't I sit behind with him?" The girl yanked down the safety bar harshly, locking it one too tight for comfort. She ignored the pinch of the bar on her stomach and shoulders and continued to glower.
"Because Yuko didn't want to sit with me." He replied. "I'm 'too boring.' That's what she said."
"He's right!~" Yuko poked her head through the gap between the seats. Mokona giggled from under her jacket, snickering at the girl's obvious displeasure. The conversation was cut off when two employees of the park walked down each side of the train to check safety bars, pulling on the restraints to make sure they were locked. After that was done, they were sent on their way, the chains of the ride pulling the cars up the huge rise that would lead to the fast and loopy descent of the roller coaster. Yuko, Wari and Mokona were all shouting and whooping, throwing their hands into the air as the cars climbed higher and higher, laying the park out before them like a living map when they cleared the trees, nothing but track below them.
"Ooo! Let's do that one next!" Yuko squealed, pointing out of her car. Watauki cranked her head over to see where she was pointing. It was one of those rides that swivels you around in mid-air as the ride tilts and swoops around the concourse. Watanuki's stomach clenched in the anticipation of the nausea that it would induce.
"You're a monster." She sighed. "Why are you picking all the thrill ones that make me want to throw up?"
"Because it's funny." Yuko teased. "You're going put on a brave face and then when we get on, you'll flail around like an idiot!" She cackled.
"She's right. That is funny." Doumeki agreed, nodding his head as the train reached the top of the climb.
"WHO ASKED YOU?!" Watanuki shouted, waving her arms around as much as she could in the restrictive seat. Before anyone could answer, the cars slid over the peak of the track and went whoosing down, just like Yuko's sound effects.
Watanuki's glasses nearly came off from the sheer force of the wind and she plucked them off her face before they flew off her head. Yuko and Wari screamed, behind her, laughing as the first turn came up, Right, the left, up a small hill, a dip below another track. Watanuki screamed too, more from the speed than out of fun and she peeked over at Doumeki, who was calm sitting with his arms crossed as the ride threw then around the track.
"Aren't you even going to put your hands up?" Watanuki yelled at him, her words broken as the cart jiggled and she bumped against it as they went into the first loop-de-loop.
"Like this?" Upside down at the top of the loop, Doumeki smoothly put his hands in the air, looking at the girl like she'd just asked him for a pencil. She watched him for a second, her own hands in the air and then shook her head, bonking it on the restraint around her shoulder.
"No, put them now. You look weird!" She yelled back, the train coming out of the loop. Left, up, around and down again, the cart zoomed on. Mokona thought it would be funny to jump out of Yuko's jacket and grab onto Watanuki's pony tail, waving about in the air like a piece of laundry.
"Mokona! You thrill seeker!" Yuko laughed.
"Watch me fly!" The black fur ball joyfully yelling, yanking on Watanuki's hair as they turned.
"Ow! If you fall off I'm not saving you!" The girl hissed as the pork bun yanked on her hair again. "In fact, I hope you do!"
"How cruel!~" Mokona whooped, laughing as they took another turn. Yuko was still laughing and screaming and Wari was holding out his hands to make sure Mokona stayed in the train as much as possible. Doumeki was still just holding onto his restraint bar, calmly enjoying the ride in his own way. Left turn, right turn, up a small hill and brake to slow down, he ride was over. Mokona flipped from behind Watanuki's head to the front when the train caught on the brakes, flying right into Watanuki's nose as her body lurched forward. "Ha, ha!" The fur ball cheered, wiggling all over her face.
"Get off me!" Watanuki growled, trying to breath around his fat body. Yuko reached forward and plucked the creature off of her employee's face and stuffed him back into her jacket as they pulled up to the exit. As they exited the rollercoaster, Watanuki felt a shiver skitter up her spine, just like the breeze before, only now she was realizing that it wasn't a breeze. It was a spirit. She saw something out of the corner of her eye. The girl's head snapped to the side, but when she looked, whatever it was had already disappeared.
"Something wrong?" Doumeki stopped walking and looked back at the girl.
"No." She answered, slipping her glasses on. Doumeki watched as she stomped past him, following Yuko as she nearly skipped to the swivel ride and then several more thrill rides before settling down to eat some a late lunch. Several times throughout the morning and early afternoon, Watanuki felt the same chill run up her spine, and every time she looked for the source, but it disappeared before she could find it. Except once, when Watanuki thought she saw a small girl standing in the shade of a game booth, watching her back. But when she really took a look, no one was there. The girl had disappeared.
"What should we eat?" Yuko asked, oooing at all the food stands in the park for their dinner/snack/whatever the heck Yuko wanted it to be.
"Hamburgers." Doumeki suggested.
"I'd like a hot dog or too!" Wari said.
"I'm thinking a hamburger would be nice too." Yuko added.
"Me too!" Mokona agreed.
"I'm not hungry." Watanuki said, her stomach still queasy from the last ride and the presence that lingered around her senses.
"You light weight. That ride wasn't that bad!" Yuko poked the girl in the cheek, pushing against her bone and getting right in her face with an evil grin.
"Shut up." Watanuki pulled away, walking over to an empty street table and flopping into a chair.
"I guess she isn't feeling well." Wari whispered, hiding his mouth behind his hand.
"She's still a light weight." Yuko whispered back behind her own hand.
"Let's eat." Doumeki finished, before they all walked off to get their own food. The trio (plus Mokona) all congregated at Watanuki's table and started eating, Wari even offered some of his fries so that the girl could eat something, no matter how small. Watanuki accepted the offer with a smile and then got ticked when Doumeki snagged some of her fries and ate them, causing quiet a scene that had everyone laughing (except Watanuki of course, because she was the mad one). Even Doumeki's eyes held a smile, even if his lips didn't.
Feeling refreshed, the group got up from the table when they were done and wandered off to the next attraction.
"Let's not do any thrill rides until we've digested please," Watanuki implored, "I have no desire to throw up."
"Throw up what? You hardly ate!" Yuko pointed out, walking with her hands behind her head and looking at all the rides, trying to decide what they should do next.
"And I could say the exact opposite about you! You ate too much!" Watanuki retorted. But Yuko wasn't listening anymore.
"Let's do that one!" She smiled, pointing to a building attraction rather than a ride. Watanuki's eyes followed her hand, traveling up the building to read the sign. She blanched, her eyes going wide at Yuko's stupidity.
"No. No way. There's no way I'm going in there!" Watanuki retorted, taking a few steps back.
"What's wrong, Watanuki?" Wari asked, confused as to why the girl was acting this way. "It's just a haunted house."
"That's exactly why I don't want to go!" Watanuki was scared of haunted houses more than she was of roller coasters, because where the spirits that died and hung around rides were only lonely, regretful spirits. The spirits that congregated in dark places, those were more malicious. She was scared of the haunted house for precisely the reason it was supposed to be scary: because it really was haunted. Even out here, she could sense multiple spirit roiling around in there, and she knew that Yuko knew that somehow.
"Oh, Watanuki." Yuko sighed. "You'll be fine. It's just a little fun."
"Yeah, well, your kind of fun tends to differ from my kind of fun." The seer shot back.
"Oh come on!" Yuko grabbed Watanuki and dragged her reluctant ass towards the haunted house. "As long as Doumeki's there, you'll be fine, right?" Yuko whispered to the girl as they distanced themselves from Wari and Doumeki. "He'll keep you safe so just have a little fun, m'kay?" Yuko smiled reassuringly, but mostly it just made Watanuki hate her more in that moment.
"You know why I hate doing some of these things! Because of the spirits that come after me!" Watanuki argued. "So why are you doing this to me? Making me do things that I hate?"
"Because, Watanuki…you need to learn something." The witch replied, falling into her mysterious tone of voice as they reached the entrance to the haunted house.
"Learn what?" Watanuki asked, as she was pushed into line, completely forgetting where she was.
"You'll see." Yuko said, giving the girl one last push into the haunted house before she could protest. Doumeki and Wari caught up with them and Watanuki was stuck where she was.
The haunted house wasn't particularly busy so the little group was onto the paths in no time. This haunted house was one of those ones were the employees let you wander wherever you wanted too, laying out three start points until you made your way out the exit at the back of the building. At the start, the lights were dim, pairs of soft glowing, red lanterns leading to the doors of the three different paths that were full of mechanical frights and dolls to scare people as they walked through. Yuko was carefully looking down each path, weighting the probability of which path would be funniest (scariest). Watanuki was shivering in her shoes, looking around in trepidation, her eyes flitting from one corner of the entrance to the other, searching for spirits. She couldn't see them yet…but they were there, hiding in the deepest, darkest parts of the haunted house. Watanuki could feel their presences breathing down her spine, licking up and down her skin. She was the only one who could sense them like this. Wari was clueless, Doumeki could only judge their presence by Watanuki and Yuko and Mokona were unconcerned as far as Watanuki could tell, so she completely alone in dealing with her curse. Why was I born with his curse? Its not like it does me any good, I just attract more trouble. Watanuki looked to her right, swearing she saw something slither past one of the paths, but found nothing there. They're here, just waiting for me to mess up and devour my soul.
"Watanuki." Doumeki's soft voice startled the girl out of her thoughts.
"Why are you bothering me?" She huffed, her eyes narrowing at her rival.
"You're acting strange." He replied.
"I'm not acting strange for someone who can sense spirits. I'm surprised on how dense you really are." She tipped her head down, feeling another spirit slide past her feet, but nothing was there. Maybe it's on a lower floor. "You can't sense them. They don't exist for you." She whispered, her voice tight and bitter. How nice it would be not to have this power! To be completely ignorant to a world that just makes people miserable and scared. You don't know how lucky you are, jerkass. You can't see them or sense them, and your very presence pushes them away.
"If they exist for you, they exist for me." Watanuki's head snapped up at his words, surprised that he said them so easily.
"You don't mean that." Watanuki challenged, glaring at his impassive face. Before he could reply, Yuko finally made up her mind on where she wanted to go.
"This one!~" Yuko crowed, pointing to the left path and waltzing between the red lanterns first. Wari was right behind her.
"This is going to be really fun! Right?" The teen turned towards his classmates as he walked through the door.
"Yeah." Doumeki replied.
"I guess." Watanuki shrugged, taking one, shaky step forward.
"If you get scared, you can always hold onto me!" Wari offered, but he looked like he didn't want Watanuki to take him up on that.
"Holding onto Doumeki might be a better idea!" Yuko called back already halfway down the first hallway. "And hurry up!" Watanuki growled at the witch, fisting her hands and wishing that she could just punch the woman in the face.
"I'm not holding onto anyone!" She retorted, stomping her foot on the ground.
"Quit throwing a temper tantrum!~" Yuko sang back. Doumeki was already following Wari now, passing the lanterns and into the haunted halls. Watanuki looked up at the two red lanterns, steeling herself for whatever she found inside.
"Red lanterns that the dead carry, huh?" She mused. "They're not far off, really." She took a deep breath, pushing down her spirit-induced nausea and stepped past the lanterns, their light fading into the darkness as the hallways closed around her.
A small girl watched her go. Standing just outside the lanterns light, she followed the strange girl with her eyes before disappearing completely. But her footsteps softly padded behind the strange girl; waiting…waiting for the perfect moment to…to…to have what she wanted most. She'd have her…she'd have her...before…anyone else could…that girl was hers now and she wasn't giving up her prey now. She took one step, two steps, three steps. She passed under the red lanterns unseen, her shadow invisible to human sight. She would have that girl…she just had to…
…
"AHHH!" Watanuki screamed, her voice echoing along with Wari, Yuko and Mokona's as the fifteenth grotesque spirit doll jumped out at them.
"Ooo! That was a good one! I wasn't expecting it to jump out from the tori gates!" Yuko chuckled, her scream morphing into howls of laughter. Watanuki sighed, strung out from the whole haunted house endeavor already. It had only been about twenty minutes since they'd entered and all the girl could do was scream in the dimly lit hallways and paths as things dropped from the ceiling, jumped out from behind fake bushes, ajar doors and dark corners. There was only a little light, illuminated by bulbs somewhere under the path they were walking on. It was like a catwalk of sorts, some part hovering over the ground from two feet away and some climbed towards the ceiling to make the drop more dramatic and scary. And then there were points where the ground and the path were the same and just when Watanuki got comfortable with winding paths, fake demons popped out to scare the shit out of her and everyone else. Except Doumeki, who didn't react to the attempts of having his shit scared. That's probably because Watanuki was having her shit scared enough for two people. She was startled by the mechanics of the haunted house, no doubt about that, but she was also scared of the spirits running around her feet and crawling on walls around her. Their eyes were watching her…following her every move. She could feel them sense her, desire her, desire to eat her. They were all around her and the only thing keeping her safe was a boy she hated. She was just about ready to shit herself.
"Wah!" Yuko screamed as an ogre doll lean out of a doorway, leering down at them menacingly. She stopped suddenly, taking a step back away from the doll, and Wari did the same, right into Watanuki's foot.
"Ow!" Watanuki yelped, jumping back and running into Doumeki as her foot ached.
"Sorry, Watanuki!" Wari apologized, reaching out to touch the girl.
"Its fine, Wari! No harm done!" The girl shrugged it off, holding her foot and hopping a little to keep her balance (and to get away from Doumeki). Wari's had fell to his side and he smiled at her. Yuko started cackling again ahead of them, already moving onto the next turn.
"Let's go, before she gets too far ahead." Wari suggested, tipping his head forward.
"Yeah," Watanuki nodded. She rubbed her foot for a moment more and then set it down tenderly. His heel went right into my toes, ow. Watanuki hobbled for a minute while her foot got used to working like it should before going to catch up with the group. Or she would have, if her foot hadn't caught on a loose board and sent her sprawling on the floor with a crash. Now her whole body hurt, especially her elbows, knees and face. "Ooooowwwww." She moaned, propping herself up on her elbows.
"Are you okay, Watanuki?" Wari called, looking back at the girl from a fair distance. Doumeki had stopped walking too, looking back at her with that stone face. Not wanting to admit to them that she really did hurt herself, the girl got onto her hands and knees and then knelt, brushing off her clothes.
"I'm fine! Just give me a sec!" The seer stood up and was about to run towards them when she realized that her shoe was missing, the one that Wari had stepped on a few minutes earlier."Guys! Wait!" The girl was hopping on one foot now, looking all over the dark floor to find her shoe. "I lost my shoe!"
"Hurry up and find it then!" Yuko called back. In the next moment, she squealed at whatever had popped up from the floor and burst into giggles afterwards, laughing with Mokona.
"I'm serious! I can't find it anywhere! Can you just wait for a minute?!" Watanuki yelled, jumping when a some spiders dropped down from the ceiling, startling her for the third time in that hallway.
"We're going to leave you behind if you don't hurry!~" Yuko called back. Watanuki looked up and saw the woman waving her hand in the dim lights of the haunted house. They rounded a corner and Watanuki heard both Yuko and Wari scream. "That was a good one!"
"Yeah it was!" Mokona agreed enthusiastically. They disappeared down into the next room, leaving the seer all alone. She fumed for a few seconds, stomping her feet in a mini-tantrum before looking for her lost shoe, kneeling down on the floor.
"Where is my damn shoe?!" Watanuki grumbled, ghosting her hands over the floor. Her finger caught on thin air for a few minutes as she squinted her eyes in the darkness. Then she felt it again, the shiver running up her spine. It was stronger. The girl froze, her body going rigid. She felt it. It was coming closer. It was nearly upon her and she could almost hear its footsteps. Watanuki's breathing sped up, weighting down her lungs, filling ears with its heavy panting. The moment lengthened, stretching out as whatever was following Watanuki caught up to her, leaning over her body, watching her. She couldn't move, couldn't think. She needed to run, she needed to escape, but she was scared stiff, paralyzed. It was there. Behind her. Breathing its aura across her skin like skittering insects running from rain. She was shaking, unable o form a shout for help, unable to breathe now as the spirit leaned in closer. She was choking on her own air, the silence sucking out every sensation from Watanuki's body except her frantic heartbeat bashing in her chest. She was going to get eaten, she knew it.
Doumeki was just up ahead of her, but would he save her if she screamed for him? Would he realize that she was in real trouble and not just fooling around in the haunted house? Probably not. She couldn't scream for help because it would just mingle with the other screams that filled the building just a little while ago, before the spirit showed. Watanuki's eyes started watering as she tried to hold back her tears. She was trembling, completely terrified of the presence behind her. She refused to look back, refused to look and see what was going to eat her. She closed her eyes tightly, squeezing out a few tears before the aura shifted, readying to strike.
A ghost doll shot out of the wall with a mechanical shriek right above Watanuki's head. The girl let all her trapped air out in a blood curdling scream, curling into a ball and throwing her arms around her head in an effort to protect herself. And then she remembered the spirit behind her and whirled around, her eyes frantically searching for the spirit.
It wasn't there. There had never been one right behind her. She'd scared herself, that's what she'd done. Of course there were still spirits around, hiding in the shadows, but the hallway behind the seer was empty.
""What a dumbass." The girl mentally sacked herself and stood up. Still shoeless on one foot. She hopped a few feet back down the path, still looking for that infernal shoe. She scoured the ground's shadows, but still couldn't find her ballet flat. That's it! I'm never wearing flats to an amusement park ever again! It's just silly how easily they can come off! She sighed and scratched her head.
"Hey! Yuko!" The girl called, turning to look the direction she should be going. Nothing. No call or shout to hurry up from behind a doorway or around the corner. "They left me! Those bastards!" a demon shot up from behind a fake doorway, startling the girl again. "God dammit!" She yelped, hand on her chest in fright as she stumbled back. "These infernal dolls are more irritating now than scary! And I can't find my shoe!" As she turned to leave and just forget about her shoe, Watanuki spotted something half-hidden under the railing.
"My shoe!" She laughed, reaching down to pick up her errant shoe and get the hell out of that hallway before she punched in one of the dolls. Her fingers hand barely touched it when she felt something brush against her back. "If it's another one of those dolls I'm going to lose it." Watanuki pivoted to glare at whatever mechanical demon was annoying her now and can face to face with a spirit. A real one.
It was huge, covering most of the wall in that tiny hallway, looming over the girl with its rows and rows of sharp teeth gnashing and snarling, poised to gobble her up.
She screamed, staring into one of many sickly, yellow eyes of the spirit, struggling to run as its tentacles snaked up her legs, clamping tightly around her muscles, squeezing her bones until her legs went numb. A yank and she was thrown to the ground, her shoulder slamming onto the floor painfully. She dropped her shoe and it rolled away into the darkness. She screamed again, opening her mouth as wide as it would go and yelling as loudly as she could, twisting as her legs were pulled back along the floor, closer to the railing and further away from any sort of doorway out of this situation. Watanuki's heart was pounding, her blood racing in her veins, blurring her vision with its frantic pace. She screamed, her voice suffocating in the tiny hallway, joining the delightfully scared screams of the people wandering the building. She was one of many screams, but hers faded away entirely too slowly to be any sort of game. It was pulling under the railing, her legs sliding under the catwalk of the hallway, disappearing into the darkness. The girl clawed at the ground, trying to slow her descent, carving marks in the floor as she slid another inch down. She wailed and shrieked until she was cut off, a harsh yank from the spirit pulling her head to the railing. She smacked her skull against the metal and knocked herself unconscious, her voice dying off and her body going limp, making it that much easier for the spirit to pull her into its clutches.
Watanuki had vanished. The only sign she'd been in the hallway was a lone shoe, lying forlornly on the ground.
…
"She's not catching up," Doumeki observed, looking behind him after they passed through five more rooms.
"She's probably slow because she's scared. I heard her screams just a little bit ago." Yuko commented, using Mokona as a shield against a snake that had dropped down from the ceiling.
"Hey! I'm not bait!" Mokona retorted, wiggling out of the witch's grip and jumping behind her head. "Now you're the shield! Ha, ha!"
"I'm going to look for her." Doumeki stated, beginning the walk back to where Watanuki should be.
"Whatever you want. Just make sure you don't get lost too." Yuko said, her voice dropping into its sultry tones.
"Be careful!" Wari called, following Yuko as she walked off again.
Doumeki watched them go and then started making his way back. The haunted house dolls and spooks popped out at him as he walked past and while they did startle him a little, he never let it show on his face. They were all fake anyway, not like the real spirits that he and Watanuki faced all the time, which was why Doumeki was partly confused as to why Watanuki scared so easily. She dealt with things more terrifying than these stupid little dolls almost every day and yet, in the short time they'd been in the haunted house, she'd screamed more than Yuko (and she was just having fun). Around a corner, down that hall, through that room, one more hallway and Doumeki was back to where they'd left Watanuki, and he hadn't seen the girl at all.
"Did she get lost? There was only one other turn off…maybe she went that way instead." He thought out loud, standing by the railing and looking around just once more to make sure Watanuki wasn't trying to pop out and scare him as some sort of prank. He stood quietly for several minutes, waiting but nothing happened. No new guests walked through and Watanuki didn't pop out. The only thing that did happen was that the ghost dolls jumped up and shrieked every time he shifted, their motion sensors picking up his movement. He was getting bored. "I bet she took that one path and got lost. I'd better head back."
Doumeki shrugged and took one step away from the rail when something plunked against the floor. He looked to see what it was. Watanuki's lost shoe was rolling across the floor towards him, the one that she'd been trying to find when the group left her behind. The archer reached down and picked it up, holding it in his hand and looking around. "She's got to be around here somewhere. Or did she just leave it behind when she couldn't find it?" He decided not to dwell on the fact that it rolled to him on its own. Shoe in hand, the teen started walking back down the path to check the one turn off where Watanuki could've gone down another course when something strange happened. The shoe wiggled in his hand, trying to escape. He tightened his grip, looking down at the flat with slightly bunched eyebrows but the shoe slipped out of his grip and bounced down to the floor behind him, almost like someone had thrown it. Doumeki looked at the shoe, watching it roll to a stop where there was a gap in the railing. It stopped for just a second and then rolled over the edge, dropping somewhere below him. Doumeki cautiously made his way over to the rail and stuck his head through the gap near the floor, lying down on his stomach and peered into the darkness. The path he was on was a cat walk, about ten feet above the ground floor of the building. And there was the shoe, lying in the dim light on the concrete where it had fallen. Doumeki looked around, trying to see why down there was so important. Obviously, something wanted him to take a look. Either that or the shoe was possessed. Doumeki took his head out from under the rail and looked around. He thought about getting up and leaving the shoe behind. There was really no reason for him to go down there other than Watanuki's shoe wanted him too. And then he felt a slight pressure on his head, pushing it back under the rail lightly. If he hadn't been so sure that he was looking down the hallway, he would've thought that he'd moved his own head. But something had moved it, no matter how softly. Doumeki stared into the darkness again, making out some pipes, the shoe and a few floor lights so nobody would trip but were dim enough to not disturb the creepy atmosphere of the haunted house. He felt the slight pressure again, urging him to go down.
Doumeki got up and turned around, backing his legs and torso under the railing first before sliding his head and arms under last. He hung there for a moment, staring down and gauging his drop before letting go. His feet hit the concrete hard, sending jarring pains up his bones but he was fine. He shook out his legs and picked up Watanuki's shoe. The archer took one last look up at the cat walk, hoping that no employees had seen him sneak down here before walking across the floor and into a service corridor.
What he didn't see was the little girl floating down behind him, her feet silent on the cold concrete, smiling as she ghosted after him.
…
Watanuki's head was swimming. Even with her eyes closed, she could feel the dizziness messing up her brain and vision, her blood pounding over the goose egg she'd received. She ached everywhere; her muscles stinging with little cuts that she hadn't known existed until that moment. Watanuki cracked her eyelids open a millimeter, her blurry eyes scanning her surroundings. It was all one gray and black blur so she closed her eyes, disinterested in what was around her and just went back to taking stock off all the pain she was in. Her head throbbed (from hitting the railing), her shoulders were bruised (from hitting the floor), her torso felt like it had been squeezed by a giant octopus (which was basically true), her legs were all scraped up (probably from being dragged across the floor). And she was still missing a shoe. Watanuki groaned, rolling from her side to her back and noticing that her pony tail had come out also, her hair in complete disarray that would probably take thirty minutes to brush out if she survived this damn haunted house. She took a moment to wallow in her pain before trying to open her eyes again.
She carefully turned her head to the side, looking through the slits she'd created where her eyes were supposed to be, anything more was too painful. Still blurry (her glasses must've fallen off at some point) the girl deduced that she was in some sort of storage room for the haunted house because that was the only way she could explain the creepy clown doll staring down at her from on top of a pile of boxes. Seriously, the only logical explanation why anyone would have that weird ass, smiling voodoo doll in their possession. Watanuki quit staring back the creepy clown doll before it ate her or something and turned her head to the other side, rolling her clouded vision from the left to the right to see what other horrors awaited her.
Yep. Another creepy clown doll. This time it was decapitated, so it gave her a certain kind of satisfaction knowing that somewhere in that room, a weird ass doll was missing its head. Watanuki rolled her head so she was looking straight up and didn't see any more creepy clown dolls. Thank the lord. However, there were a bunch of extra hanging ghosts, spiders and bats that were just hanging out up there, dangling from the ceiling like bait on a hook, their grotesque shadows illuminated by a few windows that let in the fading evening light. It was almost dark outside, the sun's light turning from orange to gray. Maybe I should sit up now, she thought, scooting her elbows under her and slowly worked her tender body so she was upright. Sort of. Watanuki moaned as she slumped into a sitting position and took a look around for the spirit who grabbed her. She couldn't see anything in the mountain of boxes and sets that surrounded her, the shadows deceptively camouflaging wherever it might be. Not like she could do a whole ton anyway. She could hardly move, let alone run away or attempt to fight, and she wasn't much of a fighter to begin with. The least she could do in this situation was find somewhere to hid where the spirit couldn't grab her so easily. Of course it would find her (they always did, unfortunately) but at least she could defend herself somewhat.
Watanuki rolled over onto her hands and knees, her shoulders cursing her as they were forced to move after getting slammed to the floor earlier and the girl carefully maneuvered her bruised body around the maze of boxes to find a hiding place. It may have been ten minutes later or maybe an hour, but finally she wedged herself in between two background sets that were leaning against a wall and had a pile of boxes sitting at one end to close off the back, making a grotesque version of a child's pillow fort. Watanuki topped off her hiding place by putting a demon doll in front the opening so that if someone just got a quick look inside, they wouldn't see her. It was the best she could do and slumped against the wall, panting and exhausted from the amount of energy she'd had to use to even get this far. Hopefully, she was safe for just a little while. But with her luck, that wouldn't be the case.
Damn! Why am I always in these kinds of situations?! Why did I agree to come in here when I knew that there were spirits that probably wanted to eat me? Watanuki thought for a moment and then hit upon what had persuaded her (besides Yuko physically dragging her in here. That damn which had promised me that everything would be alright, as long as I stuck with Doumeki. That bastard was her back up plan for all of this and where was he when I might've needed him…not that I needed him that jerkass – don't want his help ever! – but he was with Yuko! And they left me behind! Watanuki sighed softly, too tired to even rant in her head anymore. Maybe if I just take a short nap…yeah. Her eyes drifted shut again, the darkness of her hiding place blurring into one solid shade of black. She drifted into a doze, the small noises of the haunted house fading away. She didn't hear the storage room door open, the slight creak it made in the quietness.
Suddenly there came a crash in the room that had Watanuki wide awake, slapping her hands over her mouth so she didn't scream. She was shaking, her feet scrambling to push herself against the wall, so she could melt into it and hide. It's the spirit! Its back! Watanuki whimpered quietly, biting her tongue to stifle the noise. Her heart leapt into the throat, choking every other sound that wanted to get out. Something was in there, with her. She could hear it scuffle across the floor, shifting on its feet or tentacles or whatever it used to get around. It was searching for her. Watanuki stayed as silent as she could, curling into a ball and forcing down the urge to cry. She was scared shitless, she had no idea what to do or how to defend herself or even how to get out of the haunted. If she was correct, the spirit had dumped her into the basement, where they kept all the extra stuff and there was probably a maze of halls and stairs that she'd have to run through to find the exit, and frankly, she was in horrible shape to do that. She probably couldn't even walk well, let alone run. She was stuck and she was alone. She was going to get eaten.
The thing moved again, walking around the boxes, still searching. Watanuki curled into herself tighter, willing her heartbeat to quiet down, the pounding of her pulse suffocating the noise she could pick up with her ears. She wanted to shrivel up, become so small that the spirit would never be able to find her, so she could stay hidden forever. Watanuki wrapped her arms around her knees, trying just to do that, pulling her legs into her torso until her bones hurt, pressing up against her muscles and chest so tightly that Watanuki felt her skin tingling from the lack of blood flow. She bit her lip, trying to quiet the sobs that wanted to push past her throat. She could stop those, but the tears escaped her eyes, trailing over her skin and soaking her shirt collar. She was going to die if she didn't stay quiet, if she didn't stay hidden. A footstep fell near her hiding spot. Watanuki's head shot up, bumping the sets she was hiding under. She held her breath as the wooden sets shifted, sliding just enough to alert anyone near her that she could be hiding under them. She waited, hoping that the footsteps would just pass by her, leave her alone in the silence and disappear.
One more step, this time…closer.
Watanuk's eyes widened as the sounds approached her hiding spot, getting closer and closer to finding her. She'd fucked up. She was going to die. She was going to die. She was going to die. The girl was crying again, still trying to be silent even as the thing drew near. She was going to die. She was going to die. Watanuki hiccupped, the slight noise finally breaking free of her silence. The footsteps stopped. They were standing right next to her, just a few inches away. All the stood between her and death was a few centimeters of wood and a stupid demon doll. She wished that she didn't have to be alone, the moment she really disappeared from this world.
Watanuki watched the opening of her hiding spot, that tiny crack that the doll couldn't cover. A shadow blocked out what little light there was, leaning over like Death himself. Watanuki stopped breathing. A hand was on the edge, dark fingers curling under the set. The doll was pulled away, completely opening up Watanuki's hiding place to whatever was looking for her. She watched the shadow move, bending down to look behind the sets, to look at her. She squeezed her eyes shut, unable to look at the last moment. It was there…staring at her.
"Oi. Watanuki." A voice called. The girl's head snapped up, hitting the top of the set and the wall with her goose egg. She winced as the tender bump was assaulted with a new pain, but pushed it away to stare at the person looking at her.
"GODDAMMIT, DOUMEKI! That's not my name!" She cursed, glaring at the man in front of her. He was holding the stupid demon doll and watching her with the same bore expression he always had on. But he wasn't the spirit and he wasn't going to eat her, so even though Watanuki was pissed at him for scaring her, she scrambled out of the sets and threw herself into his arms as he backed away from her. "Dumbass." She sobbed, holding onto his neck like her life depended on it.
"You look like shit." He commented, wrapping his arms around her in repose to her attack.
"Well, thanks for your sympathy!" She grumbled back at him. They stood like that for a few moments, Doumeki just letting Watanuki soak his shirt with her tears as she whined about all the shit she'd been put through since the day started, finishing up how now she was completely hysterical and crying onto her rival's shirt and she didn't even care enough to stop. Doumeki just listened, enjoying the hug while it lasted because he was pretty sure the next sort of contact he'd get from Watanuki was a slap to the face or a kick in the balls, depending on her mood. When the girl had finally stopped crying and released the archer just a little bit. He pulled out her shoe, glasses and hair ribbon from his jacket pocket.
"Where'd you find all my stuff?" She questioned.
"The shoe rolled towards me and the rest I found on the ground."
"Rolled towards you? By itself?"
"I don't know." He shrugged.
"And you found me by finding my stuff?"
"Yeah, kinda. There was this other presence guiding me, I think. But you're the expert on presences so I wouldn't know." Doumeki replied, holding out the seer's things towards her. The girl took her glasses and slipped them on, the boxes and shadows around the room sharpening up considerably so she could actually see. Then Doumeki handed the girl her ribbon and let her tie her hair up as best she could without a brush. When she held out her hand for her shoe, though, Doumeki didn't hand it to her, instead he knelt down and gripped her calf, and lifting up her leg and carefully slipping her ballet flat back on. Watanuki raised an eyebrow at him.
"I'm not Cinderella." She stated as he let her put her foot back down and stood up. "But that was chivalrous of you."
"I'm all sorts of chivalrous." He replied.
"No you're not." She retorted. Watanuki tried to stomp towards the door, but the second she tried to actually stomp, her leg buckled and she nearly crashed to the ground. Nearly, because Doumeki was holding her up, his hands around her shoulders. He sighed and threw one of Watanuki's arms around is shoulder, bearing up most of her dead weight so she could tenderly walk herself out the door without collapsing.
"See. All sorts of chivalrous." He replied.
"Shut up." She blushed, embarrassed that she had to be propped up but completely fine with it because she hurt everywhere. And when you hurt everywhere, it's nice to have someone else do the work for you. Or else they'd better just leave you on the floor and not touch you. Doumeki started walking, and Watanuki stared shuffling.
"You get yourself into too much trouble." He commented, glancing down at the girl and noticing all the nicks and scratches across her skin. Blood had welled above the skin and started scabbing in the time that it had taken Doumeki to find her. Not to mention that huge goose egg that had formed on the crown of her head, wherever she'd gotten that from. In short, she was a mess. A mess he'd like to correct once they got out of here because she looked like she was in a lot of pain, wincing and hissing almost every step they took. Winding around the maze of boxes, slowly for Watanuki's sake, the pair navigated around the room to find the door again.
"The only reason I'm in trouble is because you guys left me!" Watanuki grumbled. "Yuko said I'd be fine if I stayed with you. But did you stay with me? Noooo! Instead, you left me behind because I couldn't find my shoe and then what happens? I get attacked! Imagine that? Because I wasn't with you like Yuko said I should, I get roped into trouble that I shouldn't have gotten into in the first place because you were nowhere to be found!" Doumeki didn't reply because she had a point. But he'd also thought that finding a shoe wouldn't have taken so long. But she did get attacked so they both had points, but rather than make the argument and actual argument, Doumeki just let Watanuki win this one. Before Watanuki could rant away like she'd usually would, they both heard the creak of the door around two or three piles of boxes in front of them. They both stopped, with Doumeki listening and Watanuki trembling. The door didn't move after that and they did hear anything move, so either who ever had opened the door hadn't moved, or they didn't have footsteps to begin with which meant…a spirit.
"Douumeki…" Watanuki whimpered, her free arm flying to grip his sleeve. Watanuki's knees knocked together, weak and scared. She leaned against Doumeki, all the anger that had driven her body to move had evaporated at the prospect of seeing the spirit who'd attacked her and dragged her all the way down here. Doumeki felt her weight increase on his shoulders, the girl heavily dropping a few inches to the ground. He held her up though, knowing that she was probably scared shitless at this point. Even though he couldn't see the spirit, he was the one who needed to be put together now, keeping her alive until they got out of the haunted house. The spirit could stay here for all he cared (he didn't even have his bow to exorcise it anyway), as long as Watanuki got out safely with him, that's all he wanted.
"Watanuki," The boy whispered as softly as he could. Her head snapped up, her eyes swiveling to glance at him. "We have to go. We need to move." She nodded, her chest still heaving in fright. "I'm right here. Just hold onto me." She nodded again, this time more resolutely. Doumeki moved them away from where the door was, winding around to the right side of the room where they could see the door. Doumeki was almost completely silent as he moved around, but Watanuki, in her exhaustion, was not. Her feet kept shuffling on the concrete floor, making tiny noises that normally would be a problem but in this situation they could both end up in serious trouble. Doumeki stopped sneaking, causing Watanuki to stare at him in confusion, her eyes wide with fear. He unhooked her arm from his shoulder, and carefully and quietly reached behind her shoulders and knees, silently letting the girl know what he was going to do. She didn't look happy about it, glaring at him for a moment before she nodded curtly and he swept her into his arms. The archer shifted Watanuki until her side was pressed up against his chest, cradling her protectively and then got moving again. He tip-toed around another pile of boxes, carefully watching for the spirit the Watanuki could sense. The growing shadows in the storage room made it extremely difficult to see anything, but for Doumeki it was worse, because he couldn't see the thing that was trying to eat Watanuki.
"Doumeki…stop." The seer whispered. They were almost in the corner of the room, the door tantalizing close. But he stopped, watching Watanuki's face. She was staring at a spot that seemed to be in the opposite corner from where they were, but she was looking at the ceiling, her eyes narrowed but still fearful.
"Watanuki." Doumeki whispered back, waiting. Watanuki was staring into the upper corner of the room, watching the massive, spider-like spirit that was clinging to the ceiling; its multiple yellow eyes were scanning the room, looking for its prey, his three mouths gnashing its fangs in anticipation of a meal. Watanuki's hands unconsciously flew to Doumeki's shirt, clenching the fabric in between her fingers. Doumeki was waiting for her to say something, but if they moved it would see them and it would come after them. The spirit's eyes swiveled against, roaming the room and it shifted on its ten legs, getting agitated because Watanuki wasn't where it had left her. Doumeki stood, hiding behind they'd stopped behind and Watanuki peeked out from behind them, keeping an eye on spirit. After ten minutes or so, the spirit settled down, closing all but two of its eyes, and they roamed slowly, half asleep themselves. Doumeki didn't complain once while holding Watanuki even though his arms much be tired, he just tightened his grip and shifted a little bit to relieve the stress on his legs.
"Now." Watanuki whispered, pointing towards the door. Doumeki nodded. "Slowly." She added. He nodded again and started to move around the storage boxes towards the door. Watanuki kept her eyes on the spirit and Doumeki kept his eyes on the floor and on Watanuki, waiting for her to say something. They were twenty five feet away from the door, then twenty…sixteen….and Doumeki's foot kicked something, sending whatever it was rolling across the floor. The sound was jarring in the silence, the clatter alerting the spirit to their presence. Its eyes snapped opened, roiling and whirling around the room. Doumeki froze for just a moment, still trying to stay hidden, but Watanuki say it lock onto them, its mouths widening into a sickening grin.
"Run!" Watanuki screamed, ducking her head into Doumeki's chest. He was in motion in the next second, making a dash for the door. But the spirit was making its dash too, towards them, scuttling across the walls and ceiling like a lanky insect.
"Watanuki!" Doumeki urged, trying to get the girl to pay attention to the things he couldn't see. "Where is it?" Watanuki forced her head up, her eyes instantly locking onto the spirit. It was so close now, and the door seemed so far away. Three hands swooped down towards Watanuki and Doumeki, trying to grab both of them.
"Duck!" Watanuki shouted. Doumeki hit the floor, sliding baseball style, passing just under the clawed hands of spirit by mere inches. The spirit over shot them, crashing into the opposite wall of the storage room as Doumeki stopped his forward motion. But the spirit recovered faster, skittering to the floor and charging. "Back! Back!" Watanuki screamed, clinging to her friend's chest. Doumeki scrambled away from the spirit, getting back into a corner in the process. The spirit, loomed in front of them, weaving from side to side, like a cat watching mouse. Watanuki whimpered again, closing her eyes to the monster in front of her. And then she was moving, getting placed behind Doumeki's back as he shielded her from the spirit. "What are you doing?!" She gasped.
"I can keep it at bay for a little while, right?" Doumeki asked, bracing his arms against the two walls that trapped them. Watanuki peeked out from under his arm pit, blushing at his actions and nodding.
"It stopped coming. It's just staring at us." The spirit would take a step closer, reaching for its prey with four or five arms before backing away, Doumeki's pure aura repelling it. "At least you're useful for something," Watanuki admitted. "But I don't know how long that's going to last." Even as she spoke the spirit was creeping closer inch by inch and only backing up when it was really necessary. There was a three foot gap…and then two…one… the claws were right in front of Doumeki's impassive face, even if he couldn't see them. Watanuki didn't want to die, but she especially didn't want Doumeki to get killed too because of her. She didn't want to be the one to get into trouble; she didn't want to get her friends into trouble. This was one of the reason s that she didn't have close friends in the first place (the other reason was that they all thought she was crazy. She hated that Doumeki was going to suffer again because of her. "Doumeki…I'm sorry…I'm sorry…"She whispered, hugging his torso, burying her face into his back. Doumeki glanced back, realizing that the spirit was right in front of him, probably reaching to kill the or something like that. He could die. He'd known that from the beginning, since the Angel Game, that being around Watanuki would draw lots of trouble to him as well. But he didn't regret it. He could never regret it.
Suddenly, just as the spirit was about to grab Doumeki by the throat and fling him away from the girl it really wanted, something streaked towards it like a bright bolt of light. The spirit was pushed aside violently, leveling piles of boxes as it crashed to the floor. Doumeki was startled by the sudden cacophony of noises and boxes that seemed to move by themselves and Watanuki was staring at the little girl that was glowing in the dark room. She could've only been about ten or so, and she was standing there calmly, glancing back at Watanuki. The seer's mouth opened in completely shock as the girl's spirit pointed to the door. She was letting them escape. She was helping her.
"Doumeki! Run!" Watanuki urged, wrapping her legs and arms around Doumeki's waist and neck. He was up in a second, running towards the door again. The girl's spirit was on the move too, following close behind them as the pair slid through the door and it slammed shut behind them. It rattled and bangs behind them, the spider spirit trying to get out, but the door had been locked from the outside and it would take some time to get it open again. The spirit howled, its screams only heard by Watanuki and the girl spirit. Doumeki kept running, navigating the dim hallways as best he could. Watanuki watched the girl's spirit floating just in front of them and pointed wherever she went, guiding Doumeki right down that hallway and then left and them up a set of stairs where they burst into the evening air. They were outside the haunted house, in one piece and without a bad spirit out to get them. Watanuki and Doumeki stood outside for a few minutes, panting heavily in the chilly October night, the seer sagging on the archer's shoulders, completely worn out.
"We're alive." She sighed, tipping her head to the side and looking at the girl spirit.
"Yeah." Doumeki replied.
"She helped us get out of there." Watanuki pointed to the girl's spirit, standing quietly next to them. Doumeki looked, but couldn't see anything. But he felt that same warmth that had been at the back of his head as he'd wandered the halls looking for Watanuki, guiding him to her hair ribbon and glasses in the dank corridors.
"Hmm." He hummed, agreeing with the seer. The girl's spirit smiled at Watanuki, nodding once before disappearing. And it wasn't the kind of disappearing that she'd come back from, Watanuki felt like that had been something final, something that the spirit had needed to do…to move on.
"Well, I see you made a friend." A familiar voice called, walking up behind the pair. Watanuki and Doumeki turned to look at Yuko, standing in the moonlight like a spirit herself. Mokona was on her shoulder and Wari was waving at them from behind the witch. "You took long enough. We were just about to leave you behind."
"Yeah, well, you're good at leaving people behind." Watanuki retored, tiredly glaring at the woman.
"But Doumeki found you so it's all okay. You look a mess."
"Gee, thanks Yuko." Watanuki replied sarcastically, getting off of Doumeki's back.
"Well, at least you're back in one piece." Yuko shrugged.
"Thanks to that spirit." Watanuki nodded towards where the girl had just been a few moments before. "Who was she?"
"That spirit was a little girl that had died at the park at some point. She wanted to move on, but couldn't because she'd left something unfinished." Yuko explained.
"Like what?" Watanuki asked.
"Well, what did she do?"
"She guided Doumeki to me and helped us stop the spirit so we could escape." Watanuki recalled.
"There's always one or two spirits lingering around amusement parks, tragic deaths from mishaps and unsafe rides. This little one was ready to move on, Watanuki. She just needed to be drawn out, which you did. So she helped you…helped you because she could." Yuko summed up. "She had probably refused to help someone who'd asked for her help before she died, that one regret eating at her conscious until she was allowed to help you escape."
"We did that much?" Watanuki asked.
"No. You mostly messed up." Watanuki face ticked into an annoyed expression as she started yelling at Yuko with what little energy she had left. After the girl had spent the last of her energy and nearly collapsed on the ground from her adventure, Yuko decided that it was time to leave, heading towards the exit with Wari and Doumeki while Watanuki shambled behind them, refusing to let Doumeki help her, even after all he had done. They reached the exit and passed beyond the gates after a few minutes of walking.
Watanuki sighed, relieved be out of the park when she heard some bushes behind her rustle. She froze, her imagination imagining all the spirits and horrifying things that could pop out at her at any moment. The bush rustled again as something inside it wriggled. Watanuki waited for the inevitable scare, still terrified from her previous fright that afternoon. The darkness of the fading evening stole whatever chance she had to spot whatever was in the bush, whether it be a stray cat or a spirit. Watanuki watched carefully as the others left her behind again, not noticing that she had stopped. Her breathing picked up again, her unstable psyche thought up all the ways that this encounter could turn south. Just when she thought she couldn't take the suspense anymore, a tiny demon leapt out of the bush, its red, monstrous face grinning threateningly at the girl. She screamed, running away from the demon as fast as she could and hiding behind Doumeki, using him as a shield.
"What's wrong?" He asked, placing a comforting hand on her back.
"That thing! That's what's wrong!" Watanuki pointed to the red face slowly approaching them, her hand trembling. Doumeki watched the demon come closer, his eyes following the red, grinning face.
"RAWR!" The thing leapt at Watanuki and she screamed again. A chorus of laughter followed her as she smacked the demon coming towards her face. It bounced away chuckling, its red face skidding across the ground. Watanuki looked at the dark blob in the darkness and two huge white and black eyes popped open for a second before closing again, still laughing.
"MOKONA!" Watanuki shrieked, ready to pummel the monstrous little pork bun to a bloody pulp. Doumeki grabbed her under her shoulders before she could do that, holding the girl's flailing arms in check as she raged at the creature.
"Oh, come on, Watanuki!~ It's just a mask Mokona won at a stand while you were busy getting kidnapped by a spirit." Yuko purred. "Mokona was just having a little fun, right?"
"Yep! It was fun!~" Mokona giggled, picking up its mask.
"I hate you all!" Watanuki screamed, and broke out of Doumeki's grip by pure ferocity. But Yuko was right there to snag her collar and dragged the seer away from her victim. The fur ball pranced behind Watanuki, teasing her with the mask as she tried to claw its eyes out. Finally Yuko had to smack Watanuki on the head to get her to shut up as they walked away from the amusement park , the moon slowly rising in the sky to light their path.
A/N: There you go! Read and review if you liked it! :3