As if speaking was its breath of life, the spirit's features set themselves in place. Before them stood a boy, who was normal looking in every way except for his eyes. They were those of the Kurta, burning through the darkness of the room and adding even more menace to the boy's words.
"Come out. You're cheating."
"What do you want?" Kurapika said, an evenness to her voice that was, in its own way, as unsettling as the spirit's.
The boy's glare settled on her. Innocence and intense hatred intertwined in an unholy union and spread throughout the room.
"You can't keep hiding. It's my turn," The eyes flashed brighter, like a fire which has just received more fuel. He started yelling, his face beginning to contort. "Why can't you come out? You won. Come out. Come out!"
The boy began shrieking the phrase, growing louder and shriller each time he said it. As he listened, Leorio felt a sudden coldness. Just like in his dreams, the room was plunged into a scarlet sea. Why was this happening now? He felt like he was going to lose it if he stayed submerged in the noise and color.
"Stop it!" Leorio shouted at the boy.
And he did.
To Leorio's amazement, the spirit boy vanished and his own vision went back to normal. Leorio sat stunned, but then pulled himself out of it. He yanked on the chain for the desk lamp, illuminating the room. Beside him, Kurapika had yet to move. She sat still, her head bent down and her hands folded in her lap. Leorio decided it wasn't the time to ask what that had all meant. His eyes went back to the spot where the spirit boy had been.
He had been able to forget about it during the day, but now the memory of the white form he had seen standing over Kurapika the night before came back with a new meaning. This was more serious than he had thought. Not only was a spirit following them, but it was clearly a Kurta. He looked back at Kurapika. What had the boy been accusing her of?
He couldn't contain his curiosity any longer.
"Who was that?" He asked. There was a prolonged silence. As Leorio began to regret asking, Kurapika raised her head. He couldn't see her face clearly through her hair, but the low tone was all he needed to figure out what she was feeling.
"It was Sokiri. He was a friend of mine."
Leorio nodded. He debated a number of things he could say or do, but ended up laying his head back down on the pillow without saying anything. His eyes made a quick scan of the room to make sure their visitor wasn't lurking somewhere.
"I'm leaving the light on," He said as he shut his eyes. Kurapika didn't respond.
He hadn't meant to do it so soon, but Leorio fell asleep. When he woke up again, it wasn't to a sudden burst of scarlet or screaming ghosts, but the creaking of a door as it was shut. He rose and looked around lazily. He was jerked to wakefulness when he realized Kurapika was no longer in the bed or anywhere else in the room. Leorio threw back the covers and ran for the door. Going down the hallway, he found Kurapika in mid-descent on the stairs.
"Where are you going?"
Kurapika turned around and looked at him with a mix of tiredness, surprise, and a little embarrassment.
"I told you I was going to leave in the morning. I didn't want to wake you up."
"You're still just going to go after what happened last night?"
"I can deal with it on my own," Kurapika said. Leorio failed to feel as assured as Kurapika sounded. He knew he should just drop it and say goodbye, but the fact that Kurapika had tried to leave without him knowing ticked him off.
"I'm more involved in this than you think. I started seeing weird things the moment we showed up at that forest. If you think you can keep me out of this, you're wrong."
Kurapika was about to answer when a voice broke in from the bottom of the stairs. Pons looked up at the two of them with mild amusement.
"If you're going to break up, do it outside. There are patients down here."
"Sorry, sir," Kurapika said. Pons nodded and left. Kurapika then looked back up at Leorio. "I really do appreciate it, but I don't think I'll need your help. Once this is figured out, I'm sure whatever you're seeing will go away. Goodbye, Leorio."
"Yeah, see you later," Leorio conceded. He forced a smile. Kurapika returned a small one of her own and headed down the rest of the stairs for the door.
When Kurapika was gone, Pons poked his head back into the stairwell. "I've got some work for you. It'll take your mind off him."
Pons winked. Leorio said nothing and went back to his room.
000
After a quick shower and his first change of clothes in two days, Leorio was sitting downstairs at waiting room desk. This was normally Mrs. Pons' job, but whenever she was called out by the local mid-wife, Leorio took over patient check-ins and telephone answering. Being at the desk gave him the opportunity to use the computer to start looking up information on tree circles. No matter what Kurapika said, he was going to help any way he could.
"I want to see you back here in two weeks for a check-up," The sound of Pons' voice broke into the quiet waiting room. Next to Pons and the woman he was talking to, Leorio spotted a boy with his arm in a sling. Despite his injury, the boy looked happy, even proud. Leorio was immediately reminded of Gon and couldn't help but smile.
"Who's my next victim?" Pons asked as he came over to the desk and looked at the clipboard in front of Leorio. He groaned. "Mrs. Salet and whatever disease she has this week can come to my office in five minutes. I need to mentally prepare myself."
Leorio nodded and went back to the computer screen. He clicked on a promising web site. He was disappointed that he already knew everything it was saying, but a link to personal stories caught his attention. As he waited for the page to load, he looked out into the waiting room.
"Mrs. Salet," He called out to her. "Dr. Pons will see you now."
A well-dressed woman got up and walked towards him. Every time he saw her, which was often, she looked like she was in the middle of a very important task. She was complaining the moment she reached him.
"I can't believe you pushed my appointment back. I think I'm really dying this time. I have melonitis! My stomach feels like it's about to explode and I have all the warning signs for it. I'm tired all the time," She kept babbling on. Leorio resisted the urge to go back to the computer screen.
"That's horrible," Leorio said at last, trying to keep the irritation out of his voice. Having gotten something close to sympathy, Mrs. Salet left him.
Leorio scrolled down the testimonies. Most of them were about dares to the trees, which were commonly referred to as the Gateway, and about how scary it was being near them. Others were bizarre tales, one involving alien life forms using the Gateway to get experimental subjects. A long post from someone claiming to be a local historian proved to be more helpful.
Skimming the long introduction and early legends of the Gateway, he got to a paragraph about paranormal activity at the Gateway.
"Although there have been stories about benign spirits who wish to give a last request to their loved ones, most of the spirits who dwell inside the Gateway are not so kind. These are purported to range from those seeking to cause mischief to demons. Reports of demonic possessions have usually found a beginning in a visit to the Gateway. There have also been tales of spirits latching on to an individual and feeding off of their aura. This case is less common and only occurs in those with high levels of aura or intense emotions. Due to these beliefs, prevalent in the outlaying communities, these areas are avoided and…"
Spirits latching on to those with high auras or intense emotions. Leorio knew he couldn't be certain, but he felt he had just found their spirit.
The historian's comments continued, but Leorio couldn't find anything on how to get rid of the spirit. He put in a search for getting rid of ghosts.
000
The bus stopped, letting a couple off. Kurapika watched the doors wearily in case her pursuers happened to get on. When no one got on and the bus was back on the road, Kurapika felt it was safe enough to go back to staring out the window.
It was still another four hours to Rond.
She had stayed awake the entire night. While Leorio slept, she had thought about Sokiri and what he wanted. There had also been the agonizing times when memories would take over and force her to stop thinking so she could remember. It was very clear to her what Sokiri wanted. The problem was why.
Why would he demand that she join the tribe in death? The Sokiri she had known in life would have never said that. He rarely even got mad. Despite this, she wondered if it could be true. To die in that manner, maybe it could change even Sokiri.
She really shouldn't have survived, anyways.
Kurapika forced herself to stop thinking about that. She knew there was another possibility. Sokiri was not Sokiri, but an imposter. Leorio's mention of the circle of trees, a place rumored to hold predatory spirits, came back. That was the one she wanted to believe in.
Pat, pat, pat.
The sound of footsteps caught Kurapika's attention. A child from the front of the bus had started to run up and down the aisle, his mother warning him to get back to his seat. He giggled and kept at his sport. As he ran, he sang and shouted.
"Get back up here."
"No!" The child giggled again and ran further back. His mother got up from her seat and started to follow him.
"You're such a bad child."
"Such a bad child," The older woman sitting with them chimed in.
"Such a bad child," Whispered Sokiri.
Kurapika swung her head away from the people in the bus to the seat in front. Sokiri's arms rested on the back of the seat as he faced her. His eyes were missing.
Kurapika told herself it wasn't him. That didn't make anything he said hurt less.
"Why should you be the only one to live?"
Kurapika's hands gripped the edge of the seat.
"You just watched us all die, Kurapika."
It's not him.
"I don't want to be alone."
An arm reached out towards her and brushed against her face. It felt like a real hand. Slowly, a nail traced its way up her cheek, towards her eyes.
Kurapika jerked back and slid away from Sokiri and his empty gaze, ending up in the aisle. It was the child running into the back of her legs that snapped her back to reality. Sokiri disappeared. The child shouted and wriggled past her. She dropped back to her seat.
She would have to endure this until she made it to her homeland and buried the eyes.
000
Finding ways to get rid of an aura-sucking spirit was proving difficult. Leorio wrote down a few suggestions for protection against spirits, but couldn't find anything to make them leave. He would have to get to the library later and get on the hunter's website, where he would probably get more detailed information.
He got offline. As the internet window slid down the screen and revealed the computer's dark background, a reflection of someone standing in front of the desk appeared. Leorio quickly turned from the computer.
"Sorry about that, how can I –," He stopped talking and stared at the boy before him.
Unlike the night before, Sokiri had color to him. Light passed through his body, but Leorio could see the short brown hair and the blue eyes. The other thing different about Sokiri was that he wasn't angry. He simply stood before Leorio, his face expressionless. Leorio wasn't afraid, but he had no idea what to do.
Sokiri extended a hand. He remained silent as he pressed two fingers against Leorio's forehead. The hand was see-through, but Leorio could feel its pressure. He then felt ready to pass out.
But, instead of being engulfed in black unconsciousness, he found himself on a bus.
000
Kurapika's cell phone started ringing. Keeping her focus on her surroundings, she groped for the phone.
"Hello?"
"Kurapika, as soon as you can, get off the bus. You're in danger."
"Leorio, I'm fine."
"No, you're not. There's an evil spirit attached to you. I just saw it…Sokiri showed me. Look, just get off the bus and wait for me."
"Sokiri?"
"Yes. I think I'll be able to explain it once I get there," From his voice, Kurapika could tell he was getting ready to rush out to meet her. She felt if he was this worked up about it, it would be a good idea to listen.
"Okay. I'll wait for you."
000
When the call ended, Leorio got up from the desk and headed back for Pons's office. He knocked and waited for Pons to open the door.
"What?"
"I have to go. Can I have your car?"
"What?" For a split second, Pons' eyebrows touched as part of his disbelief.
"My friend's in trouble. I need to borrow your car," Leorio's urgency was increasing with every second that passed. Pons looked at him, then shrugged.
"The keys are in my coat down the hall. Who's going to watch the front?"
"I don't know," Shouted Leorio as he ran down the hall.
000
The doors of the bus swung open, allowing Kurapika to leave. The bus stop was in front of a vast corn field. Kurapika sat on the bench and at the same time her phone starting to ring again. It was Leorio.
"Kurapika, I forgot to tell you, but I found some ways to keep the ghost away from you for a while. You can…Come out and join us. Come out and join us!" Kurapika pulled the phone away from her ear as yelling got louder. The words began to blend together and then morphed into screams.
Kurapika ended the call, but the screams didn't stop.
000
Leorio sped up as he passed a car. It was about an hour to the bus stop where Kurapika was, but at the speed he was going, he would cut that time down significantly.
The images Sokiri had shown him were still clear in his mind. He had seen everything that would happen if he didn't get there in time.
It would feed. Kurapika would be…
At the thought, he pressed the gas pedal down further.
000
Kurapika felt a pinprick in her back. Like a full tub whose plug has been removed, energy started to drain out of her. Kurapika switched to zetsu and the rate slowed down, but she knew she was getting weaker.
Weak. She had promised herself she would never let that happen again.
000
He spotted Kurapika up ahead. She was lying on the bench, an arm dangling off to the side.
"Damn it!" Leorio pulled up and burst out of the car. He grabbed Kurapika's shoulder and shook. There was no response. As he picked Kurapika up off of the bench, the red-eyed Sokiri flickered in and out of visibility. He had no time to think about it. Leorio twisted around and ran back to the car. With Kurapika in the passenger seat, he jerked the car around and raced back towards Valise.
Ping-pong POVs. I've never done that before.
Next chapter: Kurapika x Angst x Hurray (?)