SUMMARY: A Goth girl, local to central Oklahoma, is back after two years with her mother to visit old friends and family. Many children's memories consist of wonderfully happy times on holidays such as the Fourth of July all their problems seem to disappear. However, this Fourth of July will only be filled with dread and woe for the star of our show. She beholds gruesome sites and terrible frights that night; is even nearly burned to death. Luck the Spirit Detectives were in town for a little vacation themselves. Things are bound to spiral out of control once they rescue her. How can they all keep their heads? Especially Hiei. HieiOC Rated for later violence and gore factor. Possible lemon towards end chapters.
Tragedy, Horror, Action, Mystery, Comedy and Romance all rolled up into one. Don't think it's possible? Think again.
Chapter 1
"Hell yeah! Fireworks, baby!" a Goth girl practically shouted. "The best part of the Fourth of July is by far the making of things explode." Her statement, followed by and evil chuckle, was more than enough to clear her and her father's path as they walked into the neighborhood grocery store: Albertson's.
The girl was a rather odd sight in the small southern town. She was a Gothic, black and white photograph reject. Her skin was quite literally white as snow, which, it being the middle of summer and all, made her all that much more of a peculiar sight. She wore a black tank-top that had "Let us Prey" written across the front in bold white letters and baggy black pants with white stitching hid her shoes from sight. A leather black trench coat hung half-hazard from the crook in her elbows, the temperature being to warm to wear it properly. Black raven tresses fell to her hips and many of the strands had fallen free from her messy, low ponytail. The only blotch of color stood out like a beacon. Her voluptuous lips were a magnificent bloody red. Her eyes were like liquid pewter with a rim of black around the iris, the only dividing line between the white of her eyes and the white of her flesh were her long, thick, black lashes that naturally curled in a sinfully innocent manner. A wide leather collar was set around her neck and an ankh dangled beneath from a thin chain, both made of a strange white metal. Leather wristbands adorned her wrists and a menagerie of rings encircled her fingers, made of the same white metal as the ankh and chain around her neck.
Her father, surprisingly enough, was a much more normal sight. He was heavy set with a salt and pepper beard and his graying, already thinning hair was lopped off in a short buzz-cut. Unlike his daughter, he had a dark, red-brown tan much resembling the skin tone of a Native American. He wore a white t-shirt that advertised donating blood and had a big, green, cartoon-like dragon on the front that was smiling. The shirt had used a pun on the animal and told people to "Dragon in". He also wore khaki pants and some simple brown loafers. A silver Fossil watch glinted on his left wrist and his old wedding ring hung from a chain around his neck. He was just a normal Oklahoman with a not so normal daughter.
"Alright, you go pick out some cereal and I'll go find the super glue," her father said. The girl nodded and walked off quickly to the cereal aisle.
Upon her arrival, she saw four boys in the aisle, staring at the boxes of cereal as if they would rather be doing anything other than grocery shopping at the moment.
The first one she laid eyes on obviously thought he was a badass. She could tell simply by the way he stood; his hands jammed into his pockets, slouching slightly, ad his head cocked at an ever so slight angle and held high. His brown eyes told of a different male, however; a male that was a total softy. His black hair was slicked back in a mock '80s fashion with what seemed to be enough gel to suffocate a small child. The Goth girl almost laughed at this thought, but stifled it. Her current specimen for examination wore a short sleeved, black dress shirt and faded blue jeans with a pair of high-top Chucks.
The boy standing next to him had to have been one of the most stupid people she had ever seen. He may as well have had "Idiot" tattooed on his forehead. Disgustingly orange hair sat atop his head in a curly Elvis Presley-like mound that more so resembled a nest for vermin than hair. At that thought, an image of a small mouse popping its head out of the boy's hair almost caused her to laugh again. The moron was wearing a white undershirt that had been tucked into a pair of light-blue slacks being held up by a black belt that matched his shoes and beady eyes.
The next boy had long red hair that was just a couple of inches short of being as long as her own and hung in hi face some. His emerald green eyes shone oddly in such a way that puzzled the girl a great deal. They appeared to hold wisdom and dignity beyond his years. The Goth girl took a bit more care upon inspecting this one. He was slender, but from what she could tell and by the way he carried himself, he was very much in shape and probably not a bad fighter. He wore a creamy white, Chinese tunic with a high collar and cloth toggles with matching pants and slippers.
Suddenly feeling eyes on her, the Goth girl turned her gaze to the last of the odd party. The two looked each other up and down, emotionless expressions on both their faces. The boy before her had spiky black hair with white streaks that made an almost star shape in his tresses. He wore a plane, black wife-beater, black pants with a white belt and black boots. He was rather muscular, but not overly so. When they both looked up at each other's faces again, their eyes locked and the Goth girl felt a chill run up her spine. She repressed a shiver and noticed the Goth boy do so as well. They both looked away and the Goth girl walked closer to the boys to get a box of her favorite cereal.
The red-headed gentleman watched a snowy white hand with long, black, claw-like nails reach past him for a box of Oreo Os. Suddenly realizing said hand must be connected to a person, he quickly moved out of the way and turned to look at the person he had mysteriously been unable to sense. All of the boys eyes opened wide and their jaws dropped.
"Holy shit your pale," the wanna-be-badass stated.
"Really? I had no idea," the Goth girl countered sarcastically. Her voice sent a chill through all of them that dissipated into warmth.
"Are you alright?" asked the red head. His sensitive hearing had picked up her uneven breaths.
She looked up at him quizzically. "Hn, asthma and firework smoke don't tend to mix all that well." She put the box between her knees and straightened up her hair casually. Replacing it in her binds she pulled a strand out on either side of her head to frame her almost ethereal face.
The red head chuckled a bit at her response and stuck out his hand. "My name's Shuichi."
"I'm Audra." She reached for his hand but stopped short, a sudden look of curiosity and thoughtfulness across her features. Her hand fell back to her side as she turned to look back down the aisle the way she had come.
"Something wrong?" Shuichi asked.
"Just...got a bad feeling all of a sudden," she replied. "It's like...bloodlust." Screams suddenly erupted from the few customers still in the sore and they all ran to leave. There was an explosion at the same moment. "God, sometimes I really hate it when I'm right!" She took off running in the direction of the screams with the boys following her.
The only cashier left so late at night was huddled under her counter, shaking like a leaf. The front of the store was in shambles. A light sparked above her as Audra knelt to make sure the cashier wasn't injured. There was blood on the front of her shirt and on her hands.
"Is this your blood?" Audra asked, fearing the worst. The cashier didn't answer. "Is this you blood?" she demanded, almost yelling and the cashier shook her head violently, blond hair flying all over the place.
Audra stood up abruptly and shoved past the boys, running faster than before, and began frantically searching the aisles for her father. When she got to the produce, it would appear her father had been added to the menu. A look of terror etched the face of his dismembered head that had been mockingly placed atop a stack of melons. Blood coated almost everything and torn and sliced pieces of her father's body lay everywhere. Written on the far wall was a message in her father's blood. She was in too much shock to scream as the boys ran up behind her and saw the scene before them.
Shuichi slowly read the message aloud. "'Walking through the spider's wake, your beating heart he soon shall take. Guard it well, for you have entered hell. Pain bleeds a free streamed river, potent and sweet, the frozen must quiver.'" Almost at the bottom of the wall beneath the odd riddle in fairly small writing, still in blood, was a short and simple message. "'Bid farewell to all you knew and all who cared.' What the hell...?"
"Dad..." she whispered faintly. Turning the message over and over in her mind, she ran for the exit of the store at full speed, leaving the boys to figure out what had happened on their own. Five minutes later, they followed her.
"What kind of sick bastard would do something like this?" demanded the badass.
"I don't know Yusuke, but I'm sure we're going to find out." Shuichi's reply sounded oddly cold for the red head as they ran down the sidewalk after Audra, who was no more than an ant in their sight.
"How the hell did she get so far away so quickly?" came the obnoxious voice of the idiot.
"Trauma equals super human abilities," Shuichi answered again. "It activates the autonomic nervous system, which stimulates feelings of intense fear via the 'fight or flight' response. This autonomic response with its sudden surge of adrenaline is used to prepare the body for either fighting or fleeing danger. It's the same response mechanism that enables a woman with the build of a twig to lift a car clean off of a child single handed. Now stop wasting breath, Kuwabara. I have a feeling you're going to need it."
Audra was only getting farther and farther away. Yusuke finally just stopped and growled in frustration. "This is pointless! Trauma or no, for her to be able to out run us of all people like this, there's no way she's just a normal human."
The rest of the group stopped as well and looked at him. "Now that you mention it, Urameshi, it is pretty weird that I couldn't sense her come up to us," Kuwabara responded to Yusuke.
"I didn't even hear her footsteps," Shuichi admitted. "Hiei?"
"I saw her," the Goth boy answered, "but only after she had been standing there a while. I just barely picked up her presence with my jagan."
"We've got to find her," Shuichi said.
"What about the message beneath the riddle? She must be running home to try and save her family." It was Yusuke's turn to be the voice of reason.
Shuichi suddenly seemed very flustered. "Shit!"
Audra ran down the street at a breakneck pace for almost five miles without pausing or slowing her pace. Having completed this stretch in just over twenty minutes, her asthma began to kick in full force. The more she wanted to stop, however, the more she pushed herself. She finally made it to Tenth Street. Only four more blocks, she told herself desperately. One block down, another; there's the Red Dog. She mentally checked off her list of landmarks, and suddenly realizes her legs involuntarily slowing. "No..." she whined.
She passed her own street. Her brother was out shooting fireworks with his friends. One more block. She turned down her grandmother's street. Her mother, aunt, and cousin should still be there. Running almost to the end of the dead end street with her head down, she didn't see the display until she was already there.
Their naked bodies were mauled and almost unrecognizable, strung up by her ropes, nooses around their necks, hanging from the big maple tree in the front yard. Even her dog was strung up with them, his entrails hanging out of his abdomen, and blotching the ground beneath him with a bloody pile. Nausea struck Audra like a tone of bricks and her stomach soared to her throat. She turned, putting a hand to her mouth, fearing she may vomit at any moment. Helplessness engulfed her as she stared at them.
She remembered her brother and once more began to run up the street, stumbling from fatigue as she went. When she reached the gas station on the corner that led to Tenth Street she almost collapsed. She wasn't used to running and her asthma that hadn't bothered her for years until now was acting up because of allergies anyway. Her lungs screamed for air and her chest felt as though it was splitting. Her body was using so much energy to breathe it was a miracle she was still standing, though as Shuichi said, "Trauma equals super humans."
Pausing for only a moment, she prepared to run another block's worth to her home, but her brother's car came racing down the street at well above the speed limit. The car swerved into the gas station parking lot and headed straight for Audra, who couldn't have moved even if she had wanted. Her brother's car suddenly swerved at the last second and crashed into one of the gas pumps instead, but, amazingly, didn't explode quite yet.
Her brother and his friends had been mauled as bad as the rest and they slid into the windshield, terror filled their cold, dead eyes. Audra screamed and staggered backwards, tears beginning to form in her pewter-like eyes. The car caught fire and she was sure it was close to exploding as she slowly backed up towards the convenience store, trembling with sorrow and fear. Then suddenly, she felt anger well up in her throat.
"You weren't supposed to die!" she screamed, her voice ragged and torn with malicious rage and grief. "You have a fiancé to take care of...You the one of us that was supposed to be happy; to grow old with a loving wife and kids...You were supposed to be happy..." she sobbed. "You were supposed to get out of this stupid town and be something; someone important!" She began to yell again, the flames were almost to the pumps. "You hear me? You weren't supposed to fucking die yet!"
FWOOSH! Flames engulfed the pumps and with an almost deafening roar, Audra was thrown against the wall to the convenience store, producing a sharp squeal. She slowly and carefully sat up, vaguely aware of the pounding in her skull and right wrist. Slumping against the wall, she swallowed the blood in her mouth from biting her tongue and noticed the searing flames steadily close in around her. Tears steamed down her face almost uncontrollably though she made no sound at all, the smoke overpowering her weakened lungs.
Thinking back to the statement she had made to her father about explosions when they had fist entered the grocery store, more tears flowed from her tired eyes, her vision blurring and she curled herself up into a ball. She began to feel like she was falling. Ever so slowly falling; like sinking in deep water. She was dying, just like everyone else, and she knew it. She sluggishly wiped the tears from her eyes as best she could. Well...if it's time for me to die already, then God damn it, I'll die with dignity. She sat up as straight as she could and put on her bravest face as the inescapable fire closed in tighter around her.
That's when she saw it. It was like the flames directly in front of her were turning black. At first, it was just a little lick of flames, but in only a few short moments, there was a patch of black flames almost as big as a car. Audra strained her eyes and she swore to God she could see someone in the fire moving towards her. She couldn't tell who it was, but he looked so familiar. The lack of oxygen must have been affecting her memory. He was less than a foot away now and she could see some of the edges of his clothes were on fire with the black flame.
The strange man extended a flaming hand and Audra suddenly realized the mysterious dark flame was coming from him. At first, she was terrified. He was pyro-kinetic for cryin' out loud! Something told her, however, that she could trust him. She extended her own tired shaky hand to his and he grabbed it, pulling her to her feet. She stumbled and fell into him from exhaustion. The flames that had caught her own clothes on fire turned black as well and all her pain just melted away.
The boy's arms gently caught her from falling to the ground and carefully picked her up bridal style. He calmly walked back the way he had come through the fire until they were both safe, not even looking back as more explosions erupted. He heard the sirens of fire fighters and police cars fast approaching. Three other boys stood before him. They were the boys from the store. Hiei carefully set Audra on her feet, still keeping his arms around her shoulders just incase her legs gave out again and she began coughing. When the fit passed, she wearily looked up and her eyes widened when she saw the red head.
"Shuichi?" she asked in a broken voice and went into another coughing fit. This time her knees did buckle. Hiei just barely caught her, and slowly lowered her to the ground. "W-what are you doing here?"
"We thought you'd be in trouble. I guess we were right." Shuichi rubbed some dirt off the side of her face. "Don't worry. Everything's going to be alright. It'll all be okay." His words became muffled as Audra's consciousness melted away.
Not even an hour after the incident, Audra awoke to find herself in an agonizingly white room. Exhaustion fatigued her body, but obviously her mind had decided it was just too dangerous to remain asleep and so had given her body just long enough to regain the amount of energy it would take to move around for a short period of time. She turned her head and saw other hospital beds, much like the one she herself was lying on, with curtains pushed back that would normally serve as dividers for privacy. She looked up as a curvaceous, amethyst haired, black eyed nurse walked in.
"Welcome back to the land of the living," she said.
"W...where am I?" Audra's voice sounded weak and cracked. "And who are you?"
The nurse smiled kindly. "My name's Kitoushi, but you can call me Kit. Right now, you're in the infirmary at Spirit World Palace."
"Spirit World? How the hell did I get here?" Audra exclaimed.
"Oh, those Spirit Detectives brought you in. There's no need to worry, you aren't going to die any time soon. I've dealt with many more serious injuries than some simple smoke inhalation and a few burns." The little Goth girl repositioned, propping herself up against the surprisingly comfortable pillows behind her, but stopped and cradled her suddenly pounding wrist. "Let me see," Kit commanded gently. "Hm, it's definitely broken, but I just can't help but wonder how I missed it before. Oh well." Kit took her wrist in both hands and her hands began to glow, startling Audra. Her wrist began to feel warm and the pain drifted away.
"Um...thanks," she said, clenching and unclenching her fist and rotating her wrist.
"Hold still, and try to breath normally," Kit said and placed her hands on Audra's chest. The same light emitted from her hands and Audra felt her lungs warm up. "Well, that takes care of the last of the smoke inhalation. So, do you remember what happened?"
She was silent for a moment. "All too well." Noticing the look of hurt on Audra's face, Kit thought it best to leave the girl alone.
Yusuke, Kurama, Kuwabara and Hiei stormed into an elegant office and glared at the being sitting at the desk. It was a small child. He had brown hair, brown eyes and was wearing all blue with a large hat on his head and a pacifier in his mouth. He looked up as the boys entered, an obvious look of confusion on his face. "Is there something wrong?" he asked.
Kurama was the one to answer. "Yes, Koenma, there's something very wrong. We've got a dying girl in you infirmary. She's suffering from smoke inhalation and trauma." His voice softened. "Her father was murdered. There was blood everywhere and then she ran off. I'm almost positive it was a demon, and we have reason to believe the rest of her family is dead as well. It left a message." The red head dug around in his pocket momentarily before producing a piece of scrap paper and handed it to the toddler.
As her read the odd riddle, Koenma's eyes began to widen. By the time he finished, they were as big as saucers. Yusuke found it appropriate to ask, "Are you okay, Koenma?"
The talking infant gulped and cleared his throat nervously. "A man came by about an hour ago and gave us a riddle just like that one, but we haven't been able to make anything of it yet. He said it all pertained to a girl, whom I'm guessing is the one you brought in. I never saw his face, but he said he wanted to help; that he wanted to protect the girl, but all he can do is drop hints and warning when our hearts and minds are equally open to them. I wasn't going to bother you about all of this until the riddle was solved, but I suppose that is impossible now. Do any of you have even the slightest idea what the riddle could mean?" Koenma asked with an exasperated sigh.
"I think," started Kurama, "that they need her; as in, this girl specifically. The real, big question is why."
"Let me see that," Yusuke demanded, snatching the paper from Koenma. He read it over to himself noiselessly, though his lips formed the words as his eyes flitted over them. After a long moment his features changed to that of recognition, and he slowly said, "Sacrifice...That's it! It has to be. Whoever's doing this needs her as a sacrifice."
"Why would they need to sacrifice her though?" Kuwabara asked. "What makes her so special that he wouldn't just go after any pretty girl?"
"So where's the missing link?" Hiei asked.
"I don't know," Koenma stated miserably. "I'll have Botan go check on the girl."
"Audra," Yusuke said. "Her name is Audra." He, Kurama and Hiei all held the same look on their faces; an odd combination of anger, pain and sympathy.
"Very well, I'll have Botan go check on...Audra." Throughout this, Kuwabara obvious thought he had missed something, confusion scrunched his features.
Audra looked over as the door opened yet again, only this time it wasn't Kit at the door. The moment she saw her, Audra knew they wouldn't get along. The girl in the doorway had blue hair held up into a high ponytail and light amethyst eyes. She wore a pink kimono and held what appeared to be an oar in one hand.
"You're awake," she said. "That's surprising. My name's Botan, what's yours?"
"I'm Audra," she said in a tired voice. Really, she just wanted to sleep, but absolutely nothing would let her.
Botan smiled sympathetically. "I know you must be exhausted, but I need you to come with me to meet someone."
"Who?" she asked, just getting comfortable again.
"His name is Koenma."
"Koenma...I read about him in a book once. The co-ruler of Spirit World and King Enma's son, right?" she inquired.
"The very same," came the chipper reply. "Do you need any help getting there? I could send for one of the boys if you want."
"I'm fine..." Audra stood on shaky legs and was indeed fine for the most part, but after taking only one step, her knees buckled and she fell to the ground. "Then again..."
Botan rushed over and helped the young female back onto her bed. "Kit!" Said nurse popped her head inside the door. "Send for one of the boys would you? Audra needs a bit of help getting to Koenma's office."
"Sure thing, Botan," Kit responded, and went to do just that. After navigating through the almost torturous maze of hallways to Koenma's office, she knocked on the door and then peaked her head inside. "Koenma sir, could I borrow one of the boys for a moment."
"If you make it quick; which one of you wants to go?" Koenma asked. "Oh, now don't all of you jump up at once. Yusuke, go help this young lady." With a sigh, his top detective complied.
Kit led him to the infirmary and then went back to her desk. Upon his entrance, both Botan and Audra looked up. "Good, you're finally here. Mind giving us a hand? Audra, this is Yusuke, Koenma's number one detective." Audra nodded.
"Hey, kid, how you holding up?" Audra shrugged at his question and stood. Yusuke effortlessly picked the girl up and swung her around, gaining an ever so slight smile from her. He laughed and walked out the door and headed back to Koenma's office, Audra cradled in his arms. Just as they arrived outside of Koenma's office, she stopped him.
"I'd like to maintain some dignity if you don't mind," she said and Yusuke set her on her feet. Bringing herself up as straight as she could, she focused all the energy she could spare on walking without stumbling too much. Yusuke kept a hand on her back as she walked in and stared at everyone in the room.
"Audra I presume," Koenma stated, gaining a nod. "Have a seat." She complied. Introductions were completed and Koenma then explained all that he had to the boys. When he finished a silence hung over the room and he waited for some kind of reaction.
"So, what happens now?" she asked, her voice still tired and weak, but with an air of command that demanded an immediate answer.
"You will stay with Yusuke for a while until we can sort something out. The boys will be your protectors and it would be best to have at least one of them with you as often as possible. Have you ever been to Japan before?" She shook her head. "Do you know any Japanese?"
"A little, but not enough to get by."
"Alright, I'll have someone brew a potion for you. It will basically give you all the knowledge of the Japanese language that you need and then some. I had one brewed for the boys as well to teach then English and a few of the other most common languages." She nodded in understanding and Yusuke and Kuwabara grimaced at the remembrance of the foul tasting liquid they had been forced to drink. Koenma began to speak again. "Since the potion will be done in about a week that should give us enough time to formally enroll her in one of your schools. Until then, when the rest of you are gone, Hiei, she will be spending the day with you. What grade are you in, Audra?"
"I'm a sophomore," was her simple, monotone answer.
"I guess you'll be going to school with Kurama then, and that works out perfectly since he's in the same grade as you. Okay, so you'll stay with Yusuke for a week and then we'll put you in Kurama's care after that so you'll always have someone to walk home from school with. Just remember to call him Shuichi in front of anyone else." The young ruler gained yet another nod. "Good, I'll have a portal opened for you all."
As if on cue, a portal opened beneath their feet and all of them fell through to the human world. When Audra landed, her knees buckled and she fell on her ass. Arms wrapped around her and lifted her into their arms, holding her bridal style. She looked up and saw Yusuke yet again.
"Come on, shorty," he said. "Later guys." A round of farewells were heard from behind him as he walked down the street, the half asleep Goth child settled in his arms. Upon arrival to the apartment, he set her on her feet and opened the door, holding it open for her. She walked groggily into the living room and stood, staring around. "Don't worry, everything will be okay now," he said. "The guys and I are here. We won't let anything happen to you." As he rubbed her back, he ushered her into his room and set her on his bed. He got a white undershirt and a pair of green and black checkered pajama pants and handed them to her. "You can sleep in my room until we can get the guest bedroom set up."
"But...where will you sleep?" for a small moment she almost looked innocent.
Yusuke chuckled. "On the couch of course." He put a finger to her lips before she could protest any further and walked out of the room, closing the door behind himself.
Audra slowly changed into the pajama's he had given her, and while the green and black checkered pants seemed to fit fine-probably left over from when he was younger- the white undershirt he had given her was huge on her. The sleeves went to just past her elbows and the bottom hem fell to her knees. She liked baggy clothes though, so it was okay. After folding up the clothes she had previously worn, she slowly crawled into bed and pulled the smooth white sheet over herself along with a blanket. Not long after, she fell asleep.
The next morning, Audra snapped awake about three hours after sunrise in a cold sweat and looked around frantically. She had had another nightmare, but it wasn't like the ones she was used to and had on a regular basis. No, this one was much more frightening to her, and she just wished that she could remember what it was about. She stood, feeling much better physically than yesterday and silently walked out of Yusuke's room. She went into the kitchen and fixed herself a cup of coffee and then went into the living room to sit down. Yusuke was there now and he looked up at her and smiled. The two watched TV for a while, waiting for any news from Koenma or for the boys to come over.
Not too far away, Kurama, Hiei and Kuwabara were hopelessly lost. "I told you," Kuwabara started, "we should have made a left down that one street."
"Which street?" Kurama asked, slight annoyance seeping into his voice.
Hiei simply walked behind the two, thoroughly peeved at the both of them, for two reasons. One, Kurama had somehow talked him into coming to see if the girl was okay and two, because they were too stupid realize they were standing in front of Yusuke's apartment complex. He cleared his throat and the two turned around to look at him. He was standing in front of the sign. Kurama sweat-dropped.
"See, I told you we'd find it!" Kuwabara said obnoxiously and started up the stairs.
Kurama sighed and said, "Thank you, Hiei," and they followed the oaf up the stairs and to Yusuke's apartment.
They walked in to see Audra sitting on the couch, her fourth cup of coffee in hand, and dust billowing out of a door on the other side of the room, not far from the kitchen.
"Urameshi, what the hell are you doin'?" Kuwabara asked. Audra looked up at him, nodded to Kurama and Hiei and turned her attention back to the news.
The dust stopped billowing out and simmered along the ground as Yusuke came out of the room and smiled at them. "Cleaning out the guest bedroom. Audra needs someplace to call her own, so I figured this would work."
"Do you need any help?" Kurama offered.
"Yeah, sure, I'm just gonna take a break real quick." The raven haired teen grabbed a drink from the fridge and took a seat on the couch next to Audra. The others took various seats around the room. After about an hour break, Kurama and Yusuke retreated to the guest room to complete its cleaning and what not. Kuwabara decided to help so the work would get done faster and they could all go play. That left Hiei and Audra alone in the living room. After what seemed like an eternity, Audra spoke, almost startling Hiei off his seat on the windowsill.
"Thank you for rescuing me," she said, her voice once again holding that spine chilling, gut warming underlay. Hiei looked over at her, but she looked like she hadn't said anything. She just remained facing the television like nothing had happened. Hiei smirked and returned his attention to the window.
"You're welcome," he said in a monotone. The girl's eyes widened some and she slowly turned to face him. His voice was so deep, so cold and yet she could hear so much more in his voice than just ice and venom. She knew instantly that he would indeed be a very interesting person to unravel. A smirked worked its way across her face and she went back to watching the TV.
"Finally!" Yusuke exclaimed, coming out of the guest room, now Audra's room, two hours later with the two other boys behind him. He popped his back and motioned for Audra to come over when she peaked over the couch at him. She got up and walked over, not making a single sound, as though she were nothing more than a figment of their imaginations. He put a hand on her shoulder as she looked into the room that would now be hers and her eyes widened at the sight.
The walls of the room had been painted a wondrous, deep scarlet and the carpet was, surprisingly enough, black. An industrial style desk sat against one wall and a matching bed with red and black sheets was beside it, shoved into a corner, the window right next to it. There was a big CD player with awesome speakers on the wall opposite of this with a CD rack and what looked like all of her favorite CDs.
"It was Kurama's idea to decorate it like this. He said that since my apartment is on his way home from his school, that it would be good if you just stayed here so you didn't have to move around everywhere. He bought the CDs for you and everything. Kuwabara and I just helped clean and set up. You've got him to thank for this." Yusuke said. Audra looked up at all three of them before suddenly throwing herself into Kurama, hugging him around the waist and burying her face in what was almost his stomach but really the bottom of his chest, because of their difference in height, almost knocking him over. As his right arm latched around her shoulders gently, his left hand grabbed the door frame to keep from falling backward.
"I take it you like the room then," he stated with a smile and wrapped both arms around her, squeezing her gently in a tight hug. Yusuke and Kuwabara smiled at him.
Audra pulled back and hugged Kuwabara next. He did help to clean and set up the room after all. Last but not least, she jumped into Yusuke's arms, latching her arms around his neck. Yusuke laughed and swung her around before placing her back onto her feet. She ran into the room and jumped onto the bed as though she were a small child once more, hugging one of the fluffy black pillows tightly and smiled at them; a true, genuine smile for once.
Hiei starred as all of this took place. He noticed himself becoming angry, but didn't know why, and when she smiled, he could have sworn his heart leaped into his throat. Needless to say, he was none too happy about how his usually grounded emotions were acting at the moment, so he sat on the couch so he wouldn't have to look at them. Sadly, the rest of them came into the living room and took up their previous seats, aside from Yusuke who sat on the floor now since Hiei was in his spot. Audra's original spot happened to be right next to Hiei. At this point, the poor young man was cursing himself.
"You guys want to stay the night?" Yusuke asked. A round of positive answers was offered from everyone but Hiei who said nothing and Yusuke looked ecstatic. "Awesome, you guys want to watch a movie?" Again came a round of positive answers. "You guys pick something out. I'll go get some drinks and snacks and stuff. Hey, Audra, come help me?" The girl nodded and walked into the kitchen with him.
"So, what do you think of the guys so far?" he asked.
"They seem nice enough," was her simple reply.
"Seriously, what do you think of them?" A light chuckle was held in his voice.
Audra shrugged. "Like I said, they seem nice enough. I can't get past the thought that Kurama's hiding something though."
"Really? I'd have thought you'd think that of Hiei."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, he's all mysterious and stuff. I don't think even Kurama knows much about his past, and those too are pretty tight."
Again she shrugged. "Being mysterious and actually hiding something are too different things. Maybe I worded that wrong. It's not necessarily that I think he's hiding something per say, but kind of like he's always trying to make up for something bad that he did; something he doesn't want anyone to know about. It just doesn't feel right." She slopped some cream cheese and salsa into a bowl and began mixing it.
"Well, he does have a pretty rocky past." When Yusuke saw what she was doing he dawned a very confused expression. "What is that?"
"Oh, it's a chip dip that my brother used to make." Her voice grew sad towards the end of her sentence but she quickly set it straight. "It's just some cream cheese and salsa blended together. Want me to make something else?"
"No, that's fine. It looks pretty good really. I guess I forgot you were from America for a minute." The teen male provided a hearty laugh, and Audra smiled faintly in return. "What other kinds of snack stuff do you guys eat there?"
"Well..."
In the living room Kuwabara was making a fuss about every DVD that Kurama suggested. Many of them were very good movies, such as Underworld and The Transporter and the Lethal Weapon series. Kurama was growing very impatient, and to make a fox impatient is a very difficult task indeed, though Kuwabara seemed to be having no problems at all. Hiei wasn't paying attention, which was probably the only think keeping him from becoming annoyed, because he was too busy straying his ears to hear what Yusuke and Audra were saying in the kitchen. All he could hear were faint murmurs however. Then he heard Yusuke's hearty laugh. Not long after he heard a feminine chuckle. Obviously it was Audra, but her laugh made his face fall free of any tension it previously held. A look of almost surprise to its place and he suddenly realized he wasn't breathing. The thing was, it didn't feel like he needed to breathe anymore; like his lungs could never work again and he'd be just fine. Every sound around him became muffled and his vision blurred into vague shapes and colors. It felt as though an incredibly powerful ki washed over him as he heard her laugh again, the only clear sound; a sound that echoed with an eerie ethereal mysticism.
Two moving objects entered Hiei's line of vision as a bead of sweat trickled down his forehead, down the bridge of his nose and off his bottom lip. Tunnel vision ensued not a moment later and one of the figures became closer. His heart was pounding madly in his chest and ears and throbbed in his head. His breath quickened and a chilling fever seized his body. The face of one of the figures slowly became clear. It was Audra. There was a smile on her face and laughter in her eyes. Time itself came to a grinding halt as she laughed again.
This laugh was not the same however. It was not beautiful, but powerful and ominous. All but Audra was frozen in place and she herself slowed like an animation with too many frames. She turned to face him, a twisted grin slinking its way onto her face. The laugh of a demon's escaped her lips rather than that of an angel's, slow, dark and deep, powerful; not at all fitting. Hiei's eyes widened. Audra lowered her head as her eyes became nothing but empty white sockets wrapped with the shadows of death and narrowed into bone chilling slits. Her lips became as black as the darkest night and spread into a cynical, sadistic, shit-eating simper, divulging hundreds of trilling, acridly honed fangs. Atramentous tresses hovered, surged and scourged the air behind her in slow motion gathering speed, faster, faster and faster! She too seemed to glide towards him with increasing speed, until she was finally upon him! Just as suddenly as she had been there to attack him, she was gone. In her place were his three companions, and he was lying on the cold floor, drenched in sweat.
"Hiei?" Kurama asked tentatively. "Are you okay? What happened?"
Hiei didn't answer. Looking around himself, he spotted Audra in the back of the room, still holding the tray of snacks and appearing to almost be scared or worried. The two locked eyes as silence consumed.