Demon in the Shrine

"Halt, Demon!"

The woman's voice cut through the night, hard and strong and filled with conviction. The commotion around her suddenly stilled, all waiting on baited breath to see what would happen next.

A terrible, rasping roar cascaded across the courtyard, sending shivers of fear to run down every spine. Then, from out of the shadows being cast by the magnificent tree, the giant, hulking form lumbered into view. It was a hideous monstrosity of bulging limbs and sickly scaled skin dripping with putrid slime. Its crimson bled eyes burned with fury as it set its sights on the brave woman that stood before it. And again, the terrible roar was heard, trembling across the walls in a quaking echo.

But the woman held her ground. In her steady hands her longbow was drawn tight, the deadly tip of her arrow aimed directly at the beast. Again her voice lifted to cut into the still night air. "Demon, be gone!"

Still the creature roared, the sound hideous and repulsive, causing many to cover their ears. It rose up, gaining impossible height as it towered over the courtyard. The monster, the demon, the thing of nightmares come to life; it stood before the gathering it all of its terrible glory.

The sharp snap of a bowstring suddenly filled the air, causing the onlookers to take in a startled breath which held as they watched the priestess's arrow miraculously become immersed in a brilliant pink light to streak the distance between her and her target. When it reached the beast, it was enveloped in the creatures horrible bulk of a body, its brilliance seemingly lost in the hideous darkness.

A stillness followed, a breathless moment of anticipation. And then, with one final roar of fury, the creature lurched, its body shuddering in anguish. From where the creature had stood erupted an explosion of light, blinding to those standing too near. It showered down into the courtyard, the brilliant flame dying and being carried away into the night.

The creature was no more. On the ground where it had stood, now only remained a pile of blackened ash.

Cheers arose all around, voices calling out in elation and relief. The demon had been brought down by the hand of purity.

With a gentle smile lifting on her lips, the priestess turned to greet the gathering crowd. She accepted their praises and gratitude with humble thanks and gracious bows for a moment or two. But her calling was needed elsewhere, she explained softly to those around her, and turned away from the battlefield.

- - - - - - - - - -

"That was the best show ever, Kagome! I think Kiran actually peed his pants!"

Laughing softly at her brother's exuberance, Kagome gave him a sly wink. "I told you I could pull it off, didn't I? But don't forget to thank Mom and Gramps too. Mom worked for almost two weeks to stitch together that demon over the wooden frame, and Gramps…" She shook her head lightly. "I don't even want to know how he got his hands on enough explosives for that amazing pyrotechnics display."

"Yeah!" Souta agreed with a wicked grin. "Everyone's going to be talking about this at school tomorrow! We're going to be the talk of the town! The Shrine of the Demon Slayers!"

Pulling his plastic sword from his belt, Souta began leaping about stabbing into the air at invisible demons. "Tetsusaiga!" He called out as his battle cry, emulating his newfound hero, the hanyou boy in blazing red named Inuyasha.

For a moment, Kagome allowed herself to enjoy her brother's enthusiastic attempt to recreate on of Inuyasha's more devastating attacks. But it was getting late, and though the children that had gathered at the shrine earlier for their performance were thinning out and heading back to their homes, those no longer children but not yet willing to give up on the dark magic of the evening were beginning to come out and play.

"I'm sorry, Souta," she finally interrupted his game, "But I've got to get going."

The boy pulled himself back from his next swing of his plastic blade to face his sister. He smirked at her devilishly. "Got some big plans tonight?" he asked suspiciously. "With Hoooooojo?"

"Souta!" Kagome scolded him.

But he just laughed. "Come on, Kagome. Everyone knows that guy is totally hot for you! And I bet Yuka's got something or other planned. She always does."

Kagome scowled hard at her brother. "Annoying little twerp. Mind your own business." Though, in her mind, she was silently praying that Yuka really didn't have any plans on hooking her up with Hojo. At least not tonight. Tonight was a night for the girls. "I'm outta here," she told her brother with a slight wave of her hand, and not waiting for his response, she turned and walked away.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

"We saw the show, Kagome!" Eri cried with a small bounce of delight. The motion caused her breasts to bounce dangerously in the low-cut tattered dress she was wearing, but she only pulled her heavy cloak around her shoulders more securely before continuing. "It was incredible!" Her words were slurred slightly due to the set of plastic fangs she was holding in her mouth, but the frightening image of the vampire she was trying to convey was sorely corrupted by her wide, toothy grin.

"Yes," agreed Ayumi. Unlike Eri, Ayumi wasn't dressed to frighten. She wore a billowing gown of soft pink, the fairy princess costume completed by the sparkling wings extending from her back and the long silver wand she held in her hands. "You and your family really outdid yourselves this year."

"What I want to know is how you got your arrow to glow like that," Yuka cut in from her friend's praises. Like Eri, she wore a tattered black dress, but she had added a long silver wig and a sharply pointed hat to the ensemble. Complete with a long, crooked, nose of plastic and a heavy layer of green face paint, she looked every bit a wicked witch. "I mean, I got the explosions and I could basically see you mother's stitch work on that 'Demon', but the arrow…"

"Oh, come on, Yuka!" Kagome chided with a trace of glee. "I can't go sharing all my secrets with you. Where would the mystery, the adventure, the fun be then?"

Yuka tilted her long, crooked nose in the air at that. "Fine then," she huffed shortly. "If you won't tell me, then I won't tell you where we're going for this year's Halloween excursion."

Kagome's jaw dropped wide in disbelief. "You can't not tell me!" she whined.

Yuka smirked wickedly, causing the thick layer of paint she wore to crease deeply and give her an even more wicked appearance. "Too late, Kagome. Now you're just going to have to wait until we get there." Turning away quickly from her now gaping friend, Yuka gestured sharply for Eri and Ayumi to follow as she made her way towards the stairs leading down from the Higurashi Shrine.

"But…But…" Kagome stuttered as she watched her friends go.

"Come on, Kagome!" Eri called back from the top of the stairs. "Halloween awaits!"

Finally stirred from her unproductive stuttering, Kagome quickly ran to catch up with her friends. She may not have known where they were going, but she knew well enough to know that Yuka always had the best plans for Halloween night. As she chased after her friends down the long stairway leading to the street below, she was filled again with restless anticipation for what was still to come on this haunting night.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Alright, I guess that's all for tonight. Like last year, I'm going to try to get the end of the story out by Halloween night….but if anyone remembers last year, they also remember that I was a day late with the final post. Still, I'm gong to try.

Until then, Happy Hauntings!

Shadow