I felt like I was in a daze for the next couple of days. My heart was fluttering almost constantly, giving me that butterflies-in-the-stomach feeling. I couldn't get my mind off Hiei. Sometimes my feelings flickered from intense embarrassment to excitement. I wondered when he was going to come back. I couldn't wait, yet I didn't want to see him at the same time. What to do, what to do…
Kurama, as intelligent as he was, of course noticed that something was different with me. I could tell by the way he smiled at me when he caught me daydreaming. I wished to ask him what he was thinking, but I was afraid that I didn't want to know. I didn't need someone else to tell me I was in love. I refused to believe it! Especially if I was going to die soon, anyway!
The next time anything of significance happened, weeks after the thunderstorm, I was leaning over a toilet, vomiting from the pain wracking my brain. I had long since thrown up anything left in my stomach, and now only stomach bile was coming out. I knew my stomach was aching from hunger, but I couldn't even feel it over the agony in my head.
"Jenie?"
Kurama's mother knocked on the door to the bathroom, waiting patiently until I called her to come in. She gently opened the door, smiling modestly at me.
"The doctor's here. Should I send her in?"
I couldn't even go to the hospital anymore. I was too weak to do very much anymore. I even refused most of the visitors that came from school, like classmates and teachers. Even Kuwabara, Keiko, and Yusuke. There was no way I was going to let them see me in this pathetic state.
I'd lost twenty pounds, and I had been slightly underweight to begin with. My skin had lost its rosy pale glow, and now was a sickening ash-grey. My blonde hair was dull and frizzy. I must look awful, but I wasn't even able to raise myself to my feet enough to look in the mirror above the sink. Not that I really wanted to. My appearance made me glad that Hiei hadn't come to visit again. I couldn't bear it if he saw me like this.
The doctor came into the bathroom, and helped me to my feet. She practically dragged me back to my room so I could lie on the bed while she checked up on me.
I felt her fingers pressing on my wrist to monitor my pulse, then examine my eyes, throat, ears. The next was my favorite part. I absolutely hated needles, but the powerful painkiller she injected into me soothed the pain and sent me into a state of drugged bliss for several hours. And then the pain would come back, and I'd spend the rest of the time until the doctor came back the next day puking my guts out. So that was that my daily routine had become.
The doctor left shortly, after trying to convince me once again to go into hospice care. I did feel sorry for burdening Kurama and his mother, but I really didn't want a stranger taking care of me until my final days. Since I was dying, I decided I deserved to be a little selfish.
The doctor came back, and opened the window to let the fresh air in. I closed my eyes, enjoying the feeling of the wind blowing across my face. My nose crinkled up as I smelled something that really shouldn't belong there.
The scent of rotting corpses and human blood.
My eyes shot open at the sound of ripping clothes. Uh-oh. It suddenly looked like my doctor wasn't really a doctor. Now, he-she-it looked like a cross between Bigfoot, the Swamp Thing, and a puddle of mud. I already knew it was useless to scream. I didn't have enough strength to do so. Within seconds, the demon's disgusting arms wrapped around my waist, yanking me to my feet and throwing me over its shoulder. My face was buried in the strange, slimy flesh of its lower back, and the stench quickly forced me into unconsciousness.
**************
I woke up what felt like an eternity later, but probably was only a few hours. My head felt like there was a writhing snake inside it that had sharp spikes instead of scales, and was steadily growing to a size where it would burst my skull apart. I clenched my teeth together to stop myself from crying out.
It was dark wherever I was, cold, and I think I heard water dripping somewhere. At least I hoped it was water. Despite what many people think, death did have a smell, and it was all over this place. I was kind of glad I couldn't see anything around me. What I was imagining was bad enough already.
"Hello?" I called out curiously. Nothing answered back. I didn't know whether I was relieved or not. I didn't want to be alone, but compared to some things that could be lurking in the darkness, maybe solitude was better.
Hiei, I called mentally, hoping he would suddenly appear out of nowhere like he had so often before. But no angry little fire demon appeared out of the nothingness this time. I was completely alone. Now what was my fake doctor going to do with me? What did she/it even want with a nearly dead girl like me?
"Are you awake?" Someone called to me in the darkness. I froze. But the owner of the voice didn't sound evil or anything. Innocent, and young.
"Who are you?" I answered, trying to sit up. A small hand touched my wrist, and I nearly screamed.
"I don't know." The voice said simply, now right next to my ear. I think it was male, but I couldn't be sure. It was far too high-pitched. "All I know is I've been here since I was born."
I felt a twinge in my heart, out of sympathy for this child. I reached out to touch him, resting my hand on his head. Something was poking out of his head. Something…Wait a minute…
I jerked back. "You're a demon!" I gasped.
"Am I?" He asked. I felt his hands touching the horns on his head, then feeling my head, realizing I had none. "I'm…different? From you?"
"Yes," I replied quietly, my heart still pounding in my chest. "Yes. I'm human. You're not."
"Am I…bad?" He asked. I bit my bottom lip. I honestly didn't know how to answer that.
"My name is Jenie," I said, and as much as I hated to admit it, I was beginning to like this boy. I'd always been fond of kids.
"Jenie…" He repeated slowly. "Do I have a name?"
"I don't know," I said, frowning. This boy, whoever he was, had lived down here in this darkness for years. What was his story?
But, escape was more important right now. "Is there a way out of here?"
"There is…" He said, and for a moment, my hopes soared. "But I don't know where it is."
"Do you think you could help me find it?" I asked, about to give up hope.
"Can't you see in the dark?" He asked curiously.
"No." I said in surprise. "Can you?"
"Of course!" He said cheerily. "It's so fun to explore down here! I don't think I could ever finish discovering new places!"
And yet he still didn't know of any exit from this place? Just how long had he been down here?
"Can I give you a name?" I asked, eager for the companionship.
"Yes!" The boy replied enthusiastically. I smiled in the dark, thinking.
"How about Niche? Or Eyebright? Eyebright's pretty. It's an herb."
"Eyebright!" He replied happily. He continued to murmur the name to himself, enjoying the sound of it.
"Eyebright it is," I said, reaching out to fondly ruffle his hair. The newly named Eyebright began to purr quietly, and I laughed. That laugh turned quickly into a cough, and I realized how long it had been since I'd last had a drink of water.
"Eyebright," I whispered hoarsely, causing him to stop purring. "Do you know where any water is?"
"Yes!" Eyebright said loudly. In the place wherever we were, his voice echoed. "There's a pool right over there! Come on, I'll take you!"
He wrapped his small hand around my wrist, attempting to pull me up. I tried my hardest to get to my feet, but I was still too weak. And the pain in my head that had been dormant ever since I had met Eyebright suddenly made an agonizing reappearance. I pressed my hand to my head, and sank back down to the stony ground.
"Can you not get up?" Eyebright asked in worry. I shook my head.
"No, I'm sorry…I'm really sick."
"I'll go get water for you!" He cried, and I heard the sound of his footsteps slapping against the stone. Then a splashing of water, more padding footsteps, and suddenly Eyebright was pushing his cupped hands against my lips.
"Drink, drink!" He chanted, tipping his hands up so the water flowed into my open mouth. It soothed my throat, giving me more strength.
"Thank you," I said, wiping off droplets from my lips. "Now, we need to get out of here."
"Why?" Eyebright sounded confused.
I wasn't sure how to explain to him that this was a prison, and we needed to escape. That the person who had probably raised him was dangerous.
"Eyebright…" I began. "Who was it that brought you here?"
"You mean Miss Nanaka?" He asked. "She didn't bring me here. I was born here."
Did that mean his mother had been a captive here, while she had been pregnant with him? How awful it must be to have grown up here…I felt around in the dark for Eyebright, finding his shoulder. I pulled him into a hug, feeling tears welling up in my eyes in sympathy. Eyebright had obviously never been hugged before, because he didn't know how to react.
I finally let him go, but I kept a hand on his arm. "What's is Nanaka's goal? What does she want from me? From you?"
"What every demon wants. Power."
I'm really fond of Eyebright. It might be fun to do a spin-off story with him as a main character...