Kagome stifled a sigh. The last thing she wanted to do on Halloween night was spend it wandering around a dusty museum, and yet, here she was. The museum had just gotten a windfall of old artifacts, and since it had come near Halloween they were doing a special showing from eleven at night to one the next morning. Her grandpa, obsessed as he was with old artifacts, had insisted the whole family go.
At least I don't have to suffer through it alone. I tricked Miroku and Sango into coming as well.
Not that they were happy about that. "You know, Kagome, when you promised us a night of fun, this wasn't what I imagined," Miroku grumbled.
"No wants to know what you imagine," Sango quipped. "But he is right Kagome. This isn't very fun."
"I know," Kagome replied. "Sorry guys, I just couldn't stand the thought of suffering through this on my own."
"So you had to drag us along," Miroku sighed.
The three teenagers trailed along after Kagome's family, all of whom seemed to be having infinitely more fun than they were. The group stopped in front of a statue that stood in a corner. Kagome studied it and was surprised to see how detailed the carver had made it. It almost looked like it could breathe.
"This," said Grandpa, "is a depiction of a hanyou. Hanyou were half yokai, half human. But like anything with yokai blood, they were completely evil."
Kagome studied the statue critically. The boy, or hanyou or whatever, looked young, perhaps nineteen or twenty, which wasn't much older than Kagome herself. His hair was long and flowed out behind him, lifted by some forgotten breeze, and two dog ears sat on top of his head. He was half crouched, like he was about to spring on someone, and his hands were flexing wicked looking claws. His lips were pulled back in a feral snarl, and his face twisted in anger.
He certainly doesn't look friendly, but I don't know if he looks evil. The more that I look, the more it looks like he was…scared.
"Kagome!"
Kagome jumped when Sango yelled in her ear. "Did you have to do that?"
"Since we've been trying to get your attention for the past three minutes, we thought it necessary," Miroku told her. He looked at the statue and raised an eyebrow. "So, this is the kind of guy you like; the bad boy."
Kagome blushed. "What are you talking about? He's just a statue."
"Him?" Sango asked teasingly.
"Well, the statue obviously isn't of a girl," Kagome defended herself.
"Could it be that Kagome has fallen in love with a statue?" Miroku asked striking a dramatic pose. "It was love at first sight!"
Kagome rolled her eyes in frustration and embarrassment. "It's a rock, Miroku! You're such an idiot!"
Miroku smirked at her. "I dare you to touch it."
"What? No way, we're not allowed to touch anything in the museum."
"Is it really that?" Sango asked, "Or are you worried that something might happen?"
"Like what?" Kagome asked.
"Well, it is Halloween night," Miroku mused. He leaned towards the girls and whispered, "Maybe he'll come to life."
"This is stupid," Kagome said. "I'm going to catch up with my family."
"Are you scared?" Sango taunted.
Kagome glared. Sango didn't normally join in Miroku's games. She must have been really bored to do so now. "It's rock. What's there to be scared of?"
"Then touch it," Miroku countered.
Kagome sighed. They weren't going to let this go anytime soon. "Fine, if it'll get you to shut up, I'll touch it."
Kagome glanced around to make sure no one was watching. She reached out her hand and quickly touched his chest, right over where his heart would be, had he been alive.
"Ouch! It shocked me!"
Sango laughed. "Kagome, it's stone. Stone can't shock you."
"Well it did," Kagome said rubbing her injured fingers. "Come on, let's get out of here." They caught up with her family, and to Kagome's relief they were finally ready to leave.
As they approached the exit, Kagome just happened to look up at the clock above the doors.
"Midnight," she murmured.
A sudden deafening crack sounded, making everyone freeze. Kagome looked back at the room where the new finds were.
"Maybe he'll come to life."
"It couldn't be," she whispered faintly. Her legs moved of their own will and carried her back to the room. Surrounded by a crowd of confused people lay the remains of the statue she had touched.
It was hollow.
The stone laying on the ground was nothing more than a thin shell.
"Did anyone see what happened?" a security guard called out. Apparently, no one had.
"Oh dear, who would do that to museum property?" Kagome's mom asked beside her. It was the first time Kagome realized that her family and friends had followed her. Kagome glanced at Miroku and Sango. They looked almost as uneasy as she felt.
"Maybe we should go," Kagome said.
"Absolutely not!" Grandpa declared. "I must know who would do something so horrible!"
Kagome backed away. She didn't want to know. She just wanted to get out of the museum.
Miroku and Sango followed her. "It's got to be a coincidence," Sango said. "There's no way that has anything to do with you touching it."
Kagome took a deep breath. "You're right. It has to be coincidence."
She turned planning to wait out in front of the museum until her family got done, but was blocked by a wall of red. She raised her eyes to greet the smirking visage of the hanyou; the living, breathing, hanyou.
His golden eyes burned into her as he said, "Afraid not." He caught her chin in one hand and tugged her closer. "And you belong to me now, wench."