I will once more thank RoryKat for helping me with the grammar and exotic words. Thanks a lot, you are increible helpful and a good teacher : )
23:40 Hour ….
Kagome jumped over bodies on her way to the entrance. The main doors were blasted open and no one was left to stop her from entering once she ran up the stairs to the lobby. While the light was out, the fire from the grand ballroom was enough to light up the entire way to the reception. More people lay strewn around, several with torn clothes or missing limbs, making a grotesque sight, one that Kagome fortunately had seen before or else she wouldn't have been able to continue.
Huge cracks decorated the walls, ceiling and floor and too often she heard the sound of collapsing walls or falling beams. The heat was also starting to get uncomfortable, but she pushed on nevertheless.
"No, this isn't good!" she mumbled after seeing the way to the grand hall was burning. "I can't go back to the ballroom this way. There must be another way to the basement."
Kagome ran back to the lobby and jumped over the reception desk where the receptionist lay scorched in a pool of blood on the floor.
"Please! Excuse me sir, but are you awake?" she asked and pulled him up to a sitting position by his blackened arms. "How do I get down to the basement from here?"
The man didn't answer. His head tipped forwards and fell off. Kagome screamed, jumped away from the body and cursed before she composed herself. "Seems I have to figure out this one on my own. Let's see. The vampire that almost took me by surprise came up from behind and was therefore not coming from the ballroom. The main stairs!"
Kagome looked around and found the sign she was looking for, "Stairs" it read, along with another one that said "Elevator" on the wall. Below the signs was an arrow pointing out the direction.
"Bingo!" Kagome exclaimed and hurried over to the hallway that took her to the stairs.
Although large cracks littered the walls and every picture lay smashed upon the steps, it was still intact. She jumped down the stairs, but after passing the first turn, it became dark. Once more, Kagome pulled out the phone and channeled her powers into it until the device glowed like a torch. Her descent continued until she ran out of stairs and came face to face with a dark corridor.
"Alright, which direction should I go first?" she said to herself and heard the building groan into its very foundation. Frightened by this ominous sound, Kagome darted down the right corridor.
Although most of the floors above were destroyed, the basement seemed remarkably intact, although quite a few of the doors she passed had been forced open when the pressure following the explosion spread through the building. This allowed her to peek into the rooms behind quite easily.
Eventually, Kagome came to a corner that was illuminated from the other side. She heard noises and cautiously peered around it, not knowing what she was going to find on the other side.
The corridor was a dead end, on the other side was a large storage room with crates and boxes in various sizes. The center of the room was littered in bricks, dust and wood, piling up under a large crack in the ceiling. Above the crack, flames roared and sent smoke into the room. Kagome was about to leave when something moved under the bricks.
"Hello, is someone there?" Kagome asked.
A groan told her someone was still alive under the rubble. Kagome bit her lip. If she wanted to go home and rescue Yuka, she wasn't sure if she had time to rescue anyone here. Another groan followed and a blood-drenched, female hand revealed itself.
Kagome sighed, who was she kidding? She would never abandon people in peril, and this wouldn't be an exception. "Hang on in there, I'll dig you out!"
She had to hurry. The fire was spreading and filled the room with more smoke. Kagome got down on her knees and flung the bricks aside, desperate to finish before she suffocated or the rest of the ceiling came down. The hand was attached to an arm, which lay underneath another body. Seeing it was not only one, but two people in the heap, Kagome dug further and soon exposed a crushed body. The clothes were embedded within the flesh, making it hard to tell what she was looking at. She saw the remains of an arm and what she supposed was a twisted leg. Blood was everywhere, and at one end she found the skull, cracked open and with its interior on display. Despite the revolting sight, Kagome didn't stop. She wormed her hands under the body, pushed it up and away and discovered a familiar red kimono underneath.
"Ma'am! Are you alright? Can you move?"
Her husband's body must have protected her from the blast because she had been carrying him, but Kagome didn't dare have too much hope as the woman lay face-down in the rubble. She turned her carefully around to see her face. The woman was bruised and bloody and bloody, but she breathed. Kagome gently laid her hands upon her to search for extensive injuries and broken bones. She didn't find any deep wounds, but she had no idea of how her body had fared on the inside.
"Can you hear me? Please say something to let me know if you are conscious!"
"Akito, where is he?" she said hoarsely.
"He is safe outside, I told him to go with a policeman and find shelter with his uncle outside the city."
"Good," she whispered.
Kagome put a hand under the woman's head. "Is it difficult to breath? Can you stand? I am afraid we can't stay here, the fire is spreading fast." And as if to emphasize what she said, another piece of the ceiling fell down and sent a cloud of dust into the room, making it hard to see.
Kagome coughed and waved her hand to get rid of the dust. "Let's get you out of her and find a doctor." She gripped the woman's arm to lift her up, but she cried out. "No, stop. It hurts too much, I can't!"
"Yes, you can!" Kagome said firmly. "Just hang on."
Ignoring the protests and her pain, Kagome began to pull the woman up, but an eerie hiss made her freeze.
"Who's there?" she demanded.
No answer came, but through the smoke and dust, a shadow began to rise. Arms and fingers flexed, testing joints and bones as the foggy figure gradually became more visible. The sluggish motions came to an end when nothing seemed out of order, and a head turned towards her.
"You again!" Kagome hissed. It was the thin and tendinous vampire from before. The sunken, red eyes and the ragged clothes reminded her of that of a corpse, and it probably wasn't far from the truth, seeing what state the creature was in. It had its eyes set on them and gave Kagome a wicked grin that showed a row of pointed teeth.
"Stay away, you have already caused enough harm, you foul creature. I will fry you if you don't leave us alone!"
The woman in her arms managed to pry her eyes open and let out a wheezing scream when she saw the nightmarish creature crawl towards them. Filled with renewed determination to spare this woman from the grizzly fate she knew was about to come, Kagome pulled loose a steel pipe from the rubble and raised it like a mace over her head. The vampire didn't flinch. It crawled closer.
"Don't say I didn't warn you!" Kagome threatened and sent a wave of holy powers into the pipe, making it glow and sparkle. "Stay away!" she shouted and rose, pulling the woman up with her.
The vampire halted and bared its teeth. The smoke made Kagome cough and dragged her out of the rubble and further away from the undead.
Her eyes were fixed on the vampire. As she walked backwards and away from the crumbling ceiling, he started to follow. She held the pipe in front of her, ready to defend herself and the woman. As soon as they reached the end of the room, the vampire struck!
The attack came swiftly. It leapt towards them with inhuman speed, but Kagome was ready. She waited just long enough, and then she lunged at him. The spiritually powered pipe flared through the air and hit the vampire's side, making it howl in agony as it twisted to avoid further damage. It landed with its feet and hands on the floor, baring its teeth like a wolf and growled. Kagome took a combat stance, bending her knees slightly and holding up the pipe like a bat, ready for the next strike.
The vampire sprang towards her and Kagome wielded the pipe as she had seen Sango wield her sword. The beast had expected this because it ducked out of the way, rolled around Kagome, grabbed the woman's foot and pulled. She felt her grip on the lady vanish in a blur, and before she could catch her, the vampire was already dragging the woman away.
"Alright, you asked for it!" Kagome shouted, swinging the pipe in front of her again. She took a deep breath and charged.
The vampire jumped back with the woman, landed on the mangled body of her husband and waited until Kagome was ready to strike. It kicked the carcass and sent it flying at Kagome. It hit its mark and the weight of the dead body pinned her to the floor. She struggled to get it off and succeeded, just as the vampire sunk his fangs into the base of the woman's neck. Hurt and unable to fight back, the woman whimpered when blood began to ooze and darken her red kimono.
Furious, Kagome stumbled back on her feet. "This is it! I have had enough for one night! You and all your kind can go to hell!" she roared and charged across the room.
The pipe in her hand flared brighter than the sun, fueled by her anger, and blinded everyone. The vampire let go of the woman's neck and raised an arm to shield its eyes. Kagome had already decided where to strike. She put all her might into the swing and smashed the tube into the vampire's head with a sickening crack, like a watermelon shattering on the floor.
The head exploded in a shower of blood that painted the wall behind in red, though it didn't last for long as it evaporated into nothingness seconds later.
The rest of the vampire's body fell to the floor where it started to disintegrate. The skin shrunk and tightened over the body. Then the flesh underneath disappeared, leaving only a skeleton structure kept together by skin and clothes before it turned to dust altogether.
Kagome dropped the pipe and caught the woman in her arms. She was bleeding heavily from the wound on her neck.
"Hush," Kagome cooed when the woman in her arms began to cry. "He is gone now and won't hurt you anymore. Let's get you out and find your son."
It was an optimistic thought. She could see the once beautiful lady had a hard time breathing, and each sob was accompanied by an ominous, gurgling sound from her lungs. With the possibility of grave internal damage, combined with the chaos the air raid must have caused, Kagome doubted the woman would last through the night. If she wanted to save her and get home at the same time, she had to come up with a solution fast.
Thinking over what she could do, the only thing that came to her mind was using her powers to heal the woman. She had heard rumors that some priestesses of the past had the ability to heal wounds, but Kagome had never seen it done, nor had she attempted it. Regardless whatever ancient customs and practice dictated, Kagome willed her powers into the poor lady in her arms. She conjured up an internal image of what she wanted to heal and sent a wave of energy into her. Kagome didn't know what to expect, but when nothing visible happened, she sent another wave, and then another until a continuous stream flowed from her. This eventually caused a pink glow to emerge and spread through the woman. The bleeding stopped abruptly and her skin lost its sickly pallor. Her breathing was no longer labored and the rasping was gone, but it came at a price; Kagome felt her energy rapidly draining and grew more and more tired herself.
When the woman took a deep breath and began to move, Kagome stopped the healing and sank to her knees, panting heavily.
"What did you do?" she asked and stared in wonder at Kagome.
Kagome panted hard, but looked up with sweat on her face and a tiny smile. "I am a priestess, a real one. But I have never in my life done anything like this before, so I am afraid it tired me out when I healed you."
"Healed? Like magic?"
"Call it whatever you want. Do you feel pain anymore?"
The woman got up on her feet and carefully examined her limbs, "A little bit, but the worst is done. I don't know what to say."
"Then don't say anything," Kagome said and rose. "Let's get away before we both suffocate; it is starting to get hard to breathe in all this smoke. And please shut your eyes for a moment and let me guide you out of this room."
"Why?"
"I will tell you once outside." Kagome replied and was careful not to let her gaze lead the woman to look behind at the mangled body of her husband.
"Close your eyes please." With one hand still clinging to the pipe, she took the woman's hand with her free hand. Kagome guided her cautiously past the gruesome sight, around the corner and into the dark corridor where she told her to open her eyes again.
"Where are we now?" The woman asked, squinting her eyes and peering into the darkness.
"In the basement."
A loud rumble from above shook the building and sent a plume of smoke through the corridor.
"And we need to leave, I don't know how much will be left standing after tonight, but I fear most of the hotel is collapsing from the inside." Kagome dug out the cell phone, ready to use it to illuminate the surroundings as she had done before. To her astonishment, the device came to life on its own when she accidentally hit the buttons. Had she fully charged the battery with her powers? The electronic glow was far from enough on its own, but Kagome found the torch app and activated it.
"Is that supposed to be some kind of torch? It is so small," the woman said and looked at her.
"It is actually a telephone with a lot of applications, but most of them won't work for another seventy years or so. Try to think of a Swiss army knife, just with different kinds of gadgets."
A new rumble made both jump. Thanks to the light they were able to see a large crack open the wall on their side.
"Run!"
Both women put their feet in motion and hurried as fast as they could down the corridor, darting and dodging in zigzag to avoid falling debris.
Adrenaline pumped through her veins like molten lava as Kagome's head went from side to side, looking for the way up. "The stairs to the first floor should be here somewhere," Kagome slowed down and let the light beam sweep around. "Drat! We ran too far; we must turn back again!" she said and clenched her teeth when she saw half a dozen crates she didn't recognize.
A thunderous groan filled the air and Kagome made a dive to avoid being hit when the ceiling collapsed. The fountain of smoke choked and blinded her. It was hard to breathe, hard to see, she coughed and crawled on four limbs to get further away. Her light source was now reduced to a mere glow from the thick layer of dust. "Ma'am, where are you? Are you here?" Kagome called out to the woman as she coughed and choked on the smoke.
A few more bricks and stones tumbled down, but Kagome seemed to have escaped the worst. When her eyes finally adjusted to the fog, she turned around to look where she had been standing.
A huge heap of brick, mortar and wooden beams blocked the way she came, and the woman in kimono was nowhere to be seen. "Oh no!" Kagome gasped and stared at the damage. "Is she dead?"
The damage was severe. Kagome climbed up the mound and stared through a crack to the floor above. It was in flames.
"Hello?"
"Hello!" Kagome called back. It was the woman's voice.
"Where are you?"
"I am here, on the other side!" Kagome replied and realized that they must have been separated. "I can't reach you, the way is completely blocked."
"I can hardly see a thing, where are you?"
"But you can hear me?" Kagome asked. She climbed to the top of the heap and found a narrow opening, too small for anything but her hand to pass through. Kagome stuck her hand and phone through it. "Can you see this?"
"Yes!"
"Alright!" Kagome made a quick decision and dropped the phone. "Take it and use the light to find the way out. The stairs will be on your right side."
"What about you?"
"I can make my own light."
"You are trapped!"
"Don't think about me. I was not meant to go back with you. Go before the rest collapses. Akito is waiting for you!"
"But…." The woman didn't seem to like this.
"I said go! I will try to find another way out."
"What is your name? Who rescued me?"
Kagome heard the numbness of her voice and smiled. "Higurashi Kagome. What is yours?"
"Suzuki Ichika"
Kagome smiled sadly. "Nice to have met you Ichika, take care of your son, okay! The war will last for another eleven months. Tokyo and most other large cities will mostly be razed to the ground, stay in the countryside and don't worry about the peace. It will be a long and good one. Goodbye!"
She didn't wait for a reply. Kagome rolled down the heap, found the pipe and set off again.
With the smallest amount of energy she still could muster, she made the pipe glow just enough to let her see the surroundings. But not the body of the dead man she tripped over.
A moment of confusion turned into an ironic relief when she recognized the dried-up body. It was the rude butler she first had met upon entering this part of the cellar, which meant that the door to the right was the one she came from. Kagome got up and sprinted through the door, the pipe like a shield, but no vampires waited for her on the other side. She climbed up the familiar heap of debris and found the hole she originally came through and began to crawl.
The huge crater in the middle of the rubble appeared faster than what she remembered from her previous trip. And although her tunnel on the other side had collapsed, she found the hole from one of the vampires and went through that instead, gambling that it would take her to the other side. At some point, Kagome realized that the rubble she was climbing through, and the skeletons she had found, originated from the bombing. When the hotel had been rebuilt, they had simply used the mass from the old hotel to fill up the largest room in the basement! Regardless of the bodies that were still buried in it!
With bruises and a new collection of cuts, Kagome burst out from the rubble, tumbled down the side and hit the floor. She shook her head and stared at a wooden door before her.
"I am back!" she said to herself. She got up and brushed dust and dirt off her dress. Her night was not yet over and she had a friend to rescue.