Chapter 2

Yagi gripped hold of his pistol, desperately turning as he tried to see what was making the low growling sounds he'd heard. Something bad was out here and it was hunting him. He was certain of that. But he couldn't see a damn thing out here.

"Yagi!" he heard Obata call out.

"I'm over here!" he yelled back.

He turned and felt as something landed on his back, jaws digging down into his shoulder. He screamed out as a chunk of flesh was ripped out. He felt blood spilling down his shirt and he spun around. He felt his legs give way and he fell to the floor, his weapon falling out of reach. He paused as a foul smelling air past over him. He looked up and saw amber eyes looking down at him. And another pair. He screamed out as jaws leant down towards his face. His screaming stopped as his throat was ripped out, blood spurting across his face and the ground. He reached out feebly as the jaws closed around his face.

"Did you hear that?" asked Kubo as the five members of the team rejoined.

"A scream, definitely sounded like Yagi" said Obata.

"Yagi? Yagi are you out there?" asked Sadamoto over the walkie-talkie. No reply. "Damn it Yagi can you hear me?"

He paused as a low threatening growling was heard. Yukari smelt something rotten, dying flesh. A loud snarl scared her and then she turned to the others.

"Move!" called out Sadamoto, "Go, get out of the grass and into cover" he said.

Yukari didn't need to be asked twice, sprinting away, followed by Kubo and Minamo. Sadamoto held his pistol and followed the group. Obata turned away and held up his weapon- the South Korean Daewoo K3. He unleashed a quick burst of heavy gunfire, before turning, running as fast as he could carrying the weapon.

"Where the hell are we going?!" called out Yukari to Sadamoto who was behind her and catching up.

"I don't know, we just need to get to some cover!"

"Look, a house" called out Kubo, "We can get in there!"

"That's not a house, that's a bloody mansion" muttered Yukari as they rushed towards the large building. The unseen creatures raced after the small group of soldiers as they tried to reach the house. Yukari swore and turned, releasing a blast from her shotgun. She didn't hit anything but it certainly made her feel better. She fired once more, holding up her hands in apology as she narrowly missed Obata. She promptly turned and continued sprinting.

---

Slowly the room began to come into focus as she groaned and held up her head. She placed her hands down on the polished floor and slowly pushed herself up, standing up and wobbling slightly as she moved forwards. She glanced down.

"Ack!"

She found herself completely naked. Despite being the only person in the room she automatically covered herself and slowly moved across, sticking out a hand and grabbing a towel. She wrapped it around herself and stepped out of the bathroom. This place was huge! Just where was she? She turned, thinking she'd heard something. Nothing there. This whole place seemed empty. She was in some gigantic mansion. Why was she here? Why was she the only one around?

She found herself on the second floor, walking past a flight of stairs. A wide foyer was below. She walked past it, following an automatic route, despite not fully knowing where she was going. She pushed open the door and stepped into the room. An athletic sports-like pair of shorts and a T-shirt rested on the bed. She slowly changed into them, the towel resting on the bed. A small piece of paper ripped from a notepad rested on a desk. Holiday soon! Hooray!

She walked away, leaving the room, and barefooted walked down the carpeted stairs. A pair of shoes were strewn at the bottom. They fitted her- that was lucky. She paused as she heard footsteps. She knew she'd heard something that time, it wasn't just her imagination. She turned and ran up the stairs as a man suddenly appeared running towards her. She had to get out of there, who knew what that man wanted or why he was here.

"Hey stop!" called out the man, the girl ignoring him and running up the stairs. She was certain the bedroom door had a lock, she could just...

"Kagura please wait!" he yelled. Kagura paused. The man knew her name. He ran up the stairs and placed his hand on her shoulder. She gripped it tightly, the man groaning as he heard something crack lightly.

"Who are you?" asked Kagura, not releasing her grip.

"It's me Kagura, Officer Kimura" replied the bespectacled man. Only now did she recognize the police uniform. She slowly released her grip, and the man grabbed hold of her.

"Come on Kagura, we have to get out of here now" he said.

"Did you just cop a feel?" she asked. She was certain he had.

"That's not important right now" replied Kimura. "We have to get moving, something bad is out here."

Following the man Kagura ran down the stairs. Both stopped as the door handle moved. Kimura pulled out his regulation pistol and watched as a group of armed man and woman entered the building, slamming the door shut behind them. A silence fell across the room as one of the soldiers stared directly at Kimura, who stared back in wide mouth surprise.

Kagura watched as one of the men pointed towards Kimura.

"Lower your weapon now!" he called out.

"I'm a law offi…"

"We are a governmental military group, drop your weapon now!" said the man. Kimura nodded and slowly placed the gun on the floor. One of the other men rushed over and pushed Kimura down on the floor handcuffing him.

"Hey, what are you doing?" he protested.

"We can't leave any risks that may compromise the mission."

"I'm a police officer for Christ's sake."

"I am truly sorry" said the man who had spoken first, "But for now you remain like this." He looked up at Kagura, who backed away slightly. "Who are you?"

Kagura held up her hands. "I don't know, I just woke up and I was here…"

"You live here?" he asked walking across to her.

"I don't know, I just woke up here."

"I am Sadamoto" said the man, trying to appear non threatening. "Who are you?"

"I'm Kagura, apparently" she replied, shaking slightly. "I don't know what's going on."

"Hey Yukari…on seconds thoughts Minamo get over here" said Sadamoto. One of the women walked across to him. "Just keep an eye on her ok, we can't leave her on her own in this situation."

"Yes sir. Why did you choose me?" she added whispering.

Sadamoto smiled. "Obata and Kubo aren't exactly the best, and Yukari would kill her before look after her" he said. "You are the best one for the job- as usual."

"Thank you sir."

"Come on Miss Kagura, down here, you are ok now" said Minamo. "I'm Minamo Kurosawa."

"You know, she was ok when she was with me too" muttered Kimura.

Kagura slowly walked down the few remaining steps. All these people with guns, what was going on? What had she gotten into?

Sadamoto moved away from the two and crouched down in front of Kimura. "She doesn't know much about what's happening. Do you remember anything?"

"Yeah I know some stuff- but I'm mostly in the dark just like you. Some really weird stuff has happened out here."

"I want you to tell me what happened" said Sadamoto.

"Yeah, I can do that" said Kimura looking up at the man. "I can tell you what I know- but I don't know if it's very much."

"Good. Yukari, block up that front door, Kubo, Obata secure the building."

Authors note: In my stories so far Yomi and Kagura have been the most ignored of the Azu girls, so I decided to have Kagura as my protagonist in this tale.