Prologue

A man stood alone in front of a large shrine. He looked up at the words with a sad smile. So many memories… he thought. He sat the heavy bag he had been carrying on the ground beside him and walked into the shrine and slowly began descending the wooden stairs that were inside the door. At the bottom was a large wooden well, boarded up and covered with evil-repelling sutras. They had been placed there by his grandfather, who had recently passed away. That is why they had decided to move…he was the only thing that tied the family to that place anymore.

"Papa?"

The man turned around and saw his ten-year-old son standing in the doorway, looking down at him with squinted eyes, the sudden darkness of the shrine interior blinding him. "Papa, what are you doing in there? I need some help with the heavier bags."

"Satoshi, come here," the man said, extending his hand to the child. "Do you remember your great-grandfather's stories?"

The dark-haired boy approached, grabbing onto his father's hand. "You mean great-grandfather Sota's stories about his sister? The girl who traveled through time and fought demons?"

"Yes. You know, you haven't been here since you were very little, so you probably don't remember this…but this is the well the girl used to travel back and forth through time." His son gasped. "According to my grandfather, I mean," he added quickly.

Satoshi stared down at the well. He could remember how the stories made him feel, and that same eerie feeling returned to him now. "What are those pieces of paper? What does that writing mean?"

"They're an ancient form of demon-repelling magic. They're called sutras. Great-grandfather Sota put them there to make sure no demon ever came through again." Satoshi let out an excited but quiet squeak and tightened his grip on his father's hand. He smiled at his son reassuringly. "Don't worry, Satoshi, they were only stories. He told them to my father, me, and now you. He always spoke of them in that amazing way, like he actually believed they were real…" His eyes stung slightly as he remembered his grandfather's zeal in storytelling.

"Yeah…he was good like that, wasn't he Papa?" Satoshi asked quietly.

"Very good like that…in a lot of ways. W-we will all miss him very much," the man began to choke on his words at the memory of the recent loss.

"I'll always remember those stories! My favorite parts were the ones about the brave dog warrior!" Satoshi began to jump around on the stairs, stabbing the air with an invisible sword. "I want to be just like him!"

His father laughed as the boy stumbled on a stair and landed with a hollow thud in the middle of a pile of dust. A voice called to him from outside, summoning him out of the dark, damp shrine. A man in a worn uniform motioned to him. "We finished with the furniture. Would you like some help with your bags?"

"Yes please," he responded. "Just place them in the back of the truck if you don't mind." His son popped out of the darkness and scuttled under his arm. He ruffled his son's hair and smiled. "It's going to be a long trip to America. I suppose we should get started, huh?" he asked the man from the moving van company.

"Yes, Mr. Higurashi."

…

Yes, short and sweet, but I just love little prologues like this. Chapter "one" is much, MUCH longer believe me…it might have to be broken into two chapters…I dunno, we'll see. Now, I'll go ahead and warn you the beginning is kinda boring, but I have to get all the background info on all the characters out of the way. It is important, but if you feel you simply CAN'T stand it, go to about halfway through and it gets interesting. Please review so I can see what need improving! sara-chan