I will thank RoryKat again for the sound advices and grammary corrections I am being given. This time I have not only learned a new word, but that poetical sayings not necessary sounds that good when they are translated into another language!
24:00 Hour…..
Inu Yasha brushed past the teenagers with Eri and Ayumi on his tail. The room was crammed and in constant movement, but after having searched the width and length of it three times without finding Kagome, he was starting to feel the frustration.
"Say, Inu Yasha?" Eri began. "Kagome once mentioned you come from outside Tokyo, but you seem to visit her often. What do you and Kagome do when you visit her?"
These were the kind of questions Inu Yasha hated. He knew very little about what people did in the future, besides from attending school and taking tests, of course. Heck, they might even think he was courting her! Kagome always scolded him whenever he said something stupid, so maybe he should avoid being too specific this time. That would keep him out of trouble!
"You know, this and that," he said.
"This... and that?" came the shaky reply. "Exactly what do you mean?"
"If you want an in-depth answer to that, try asking Kagome instead when you see her! She will be more than happy to fill you in."
This was obviously the right thing to say, and he congratulated himself when the following silence gave him a long moment of peace from further interrogation.
Their search eventually took them back to the lobby.
"Where the hell is that woman?" he grunted, crossing his arms.
"Hey, don't speak about Kagome like that!" Ayumi scolded.
"Keh, she is always late!"
"At least we know where she isn't. Perhaps she and Yuka went to you-know-where?" Eri said.
Inu Yasha looked at her. "You-know-where? What do you mean?"
"The ladies' room."
"What, do women have their own room here? What's happening at that place?"
"She means the toilet, stupid!" Ayumi replied.
"Then why didn't you say so?" Inu Yasha snorted. "Why make things so complicated? Let's go and find out."
Conveniently, on the wall not far ahead was a sign for the toilet, a bit of crucial information Kagome had mentioned to him on one of the rare occasions she had tricked him into accompanying her to the mall, or hell as Sota called it.
He was about to enter when both girls rushed past him and blocked the entrance.
"What in the world do you think you're doing? Walking into the ladies room?"
"Looking for Kagome of course!" he answered as a matter of fact.
"No! You can wait outside while we look. You and Kagome might be that close, but there will be other girls in there. We will be back in a few moments."
Both went in and a few moments turned into a very long time. "Kagome said trouble was going on, but if trouble means not coming back from the toilet, I am out of here!" he growled. With his back leaned up against the wall, he watched the door, waiting for Kagome and her friends. Several other girls exited the room and acted rather jumpy when they saw him.
The smell wasn't good and he eventually moved a bit further down the corridor where there were less people. He kept walking until he stood at the top of a grand staircase. Inu Yasha tilted his head. A foul stench wafted up the stairs, probably too weak for the humans to notice, especially with all the other smells around, but not for him. There was also another, weaker scent that stung in a different way.
He sniffed the air. "You gotta be kidding me! If Kagome was worried about something, it must be downstairs!" Kagome's noisy friends still hadn't shown up, and seeing no reason to wait for them, he went down the stairs and let his nose guide him.
Kagome brushed dirt and dust off her clothes before entering the corridor again. The basement was horribly dark. She withdrew her spiritual powers from the pipe to conceal her presence, venturing into the unknown in utter silence.
She stopped every so often to listen for footsteps or voices, trying to sense if she truly was alone. Her hand clenched around the pipe, ready to strike any monsters that might appear. But the consuming darkness and eerie silence didn't reveal its secrets. Her imagination was more than happy to fill out the unseen surroundings.
Kagome held one hand up in front of her on her slow journey, and it turned out to be a good choice when it saved her from a nasty collision with the wall when the corridor made a sharp turn. This time though, Kagome didn't have to wander far before she heard something. She stopped and listened.
Yes, it was footsteps. They grew softer the longer she listened; somebody was walking down the hall, away from her.
Kagome held her breath and tiptoed after them, trying to catch up, yet still keeping her distance to avoid detection. Soon she also heard voices:
"How far is it?" a feminine voice asked.
"Not that far, the club is this way. Sorry about the poor lighting, the lightbulbs seem to be broken," replied a male voice.
"I hope there aren't rats down here!"
"I wouldn't worry about that. This is a respectable hotel; I am sure they don't have any sort of pests."
Kagome's eyes widened. It sounded like Yuka! And she was willing to bet the male voice belonged to Sosuke. What was the bastard doing down here with her best friend, and what was this talk about a club? There was nothing down her aside from dead bodies and blood-sucking vampires!
A dim light appeared far ahead in the corridor; probably a torch belonging to either Yuka or Sosuke. Kagome decided she was close enough and kept her distance, not wanting to reveal her presence. She wanted to wait and see what kind of "club" Sosuke had been referring to. The man she heard Sosuke talking to earlier had sounded ominous and she didn't like it one bit. If Sosuke and Yuka's presence were related to him, it could be reason to worry. There was also the problem of how she and Yuka would get out of the basement. The door upstairs was locked from the other side. Sosuke seemed to know how to get out, but she was still in the dark, quite literally!
She continued down the hallway, the same one as she had walked seventy-five years ago and a few minutes earlier. Meaning that if the basement hadn't been altered, they would come to a dead end at the storage room. The light disappeared around another corner, which would be the last one if her memory served her right. Her suspicion proved correct when she heard new voices ahead and saw a brighter light illuminating the hallway beyond the corner.
Kagome pressed her back against the cold wall, hoping she wouldn't trip over anything in the dark and crept forwards. There was something strange about this. That some teenagers wanted a "private party" within a Halloween party wasn't unheard of, but the secrecy? And the location itself? She would have thought it would be in a hotel room, a large suite upstairs or something like that, not a cold and humid basement! And if there still were more vampires down here, this place would be a deathtrap for unsuspecting teenagers.
The sound of people talking grew louder, and when she stopped at the turn she could pick up the individual voices. Sosuke was there, and she heard him introduce Yuka to somebody. Nothing strange about that. Yuka was a very social person after all and was always glad to talk. A few more people came to chat and Kagome found nothing suspicious about the conversation. Then they moved and she could no longer hear them.
She crouched down, leaned forward and peeked around the corner. The first thing she noticed was that the original door at the end of the hall had been replaced. In place of a wooden door stood a heavy door of iron, wide open and with a fading sign that read "bomb shelter."
"If they only knew…!" Kagome thought dryly. After the war, the storage room must have been converted in case of another war that never came.
Beyond the vaulted door, she saw over a dozen people. Most of them did seem just a bit old to be people from her school and a few were clearly adults. Kagome pondered about what to do. Should she go back and try to find a way out first, or should she enter and see if she could convince Yuka and Sosuke to follow her back to the party? Inu Yasha should also be here soon, if not already! She sat down and focused her spiritual senses on him. Being the only demonic entity known to her in Tokyo, his presence was easy to detect if he was close enough. She didn't need to search for long before she felt his familiar aura, but her senses did also catch on to something she hadn't expected!
Unfortunately did she not get enough time to figure out what this meant before a guy came to close the door. Not wanting to let her friend be shut inside a room with strangers, Kagome jumped up, plastered a fake smile on her lips and revealed herself.
"Hi, sorry I'm late! Silly me went down the wrong corridor before I realized my mistake." she said, surprising the man enough to let her pass without a single question. He closed the door behind her with a thud.
The first thing Kagome did when she entered was to take notice of her surroundings. The old storage room had been reinforced and painted white. Most of the walls were covered in tall shelves with numerous long bags and a large table with drinks and glasses stood in the center. Beside the iron door was a narrow ventilation shaft high up on the wall, connecting with the corridor.
Sosuke and Yuka were standing at the back of the room, speaking with a bald, towering man. Neither of them had seen her yet so she pushed forwards while wondering how to confront them.
Many of the people around were hauntingly beautiful, as if everyone had been selected for their good looks alone. Kagome tensed and felt a cold, spider-like sensation crawl down her back as she passed them. Men and women who had seemed so lost in their drinks and private conversations turned their heads and scrutinized her with unfriendly eyes. But no one said a word to stop her, allowing Kagome to walk with a growing sense of unease until Yuka finally turned her head and caught her eye.
"Hi, Kagome! Sorry, I didn't see you down here before."
"I just came. I have been looking all over the place for you. You mustn't disappear on us like this, I was worried. Why are you and Sosuke down here when all the fun is upstairs?"
Both Sosuke and the older man looked at her. Sosuke was slightly nervous, but the other man had dangerous, piercing eyes. Sosuke's eyes darted between Kagome and the towering man. The man wore a dark suit that was fashionable, but not designed with his proportions in mind. He was tall and muscular, with massive arms and shoulders. He looked like he not only had the strength to squeeze all air from a person's body and shatter their bones, but that he would do it too if they pissed him off.
"Friend of yours?" the man asked, and Kagome immediately recognized his voice as the one she had heard talking to Sosuke earlier.
Sosuke turned to the man and chuckled nervously. "Sort of. She and Yuka are friends, and you can hardly see one without the other close by. I… ehm, hope you don't mind."
The man set his piercing eyes on Sosuke, but gave him a smile, a smile as fake as Kagome's silly grin.
"Sure; friends of yours, friends of mine!" he said and spread his arms in a welcoming gesture. "My name is Takahira Morihito. What is your name little witch? Or are you a zombie?"
Kagome's lips twitched, she knew her dress didn't exactly look pristine anymore, but zombie?
"Witch! And my name is Higurashi Kagome" she replied before turning to Yuka again. "So, why are you here?"
"Oh, Sosuke said he had something he wanted to show me since we have so much in common!"
Kagome's eyebrow rose.
"Vampires! He and the people here are all fans of vampires, just like me. This is some sort of club, isn't that correct Sosuke?"
"Yes, of course!" Sosuke's reply came fast and was immediately followed up by a reserved nod from the man now identified as Morihito. Neither of them cared to elaborate the topic any further, but Sosuke refused to look at her and Yuka and stared into the room. Kagome tilted her head to see if he was looking at anything in particular, but there was nothing that caught her eye. He put a hand into a pocket on his vampire costume and seemed to grasp onto something, but whatever it was, he didn't pull it out.
"Sosuke, why don't you go and bring these lovely ladies some refreshment, I am sure they must be thirsty." The man said before the silence became uncomfortable.
"What, a drink? Oh sure, just hang on for a moment!" he mumbled and hurried over to the large punch bowl on the table, leaving her and Yuka alone with the older man.
"May I ask what you find so alluring about vampires that you chose to dress up as one?" Morihito asked.
Yuka smiled like the teenager she was; "I find vampires fascinating in many ways! They are immortal creatures of the night, dangerous and yet so alluring in their enchanting beauty. Their pointed fangs, deadly elegance and thirst for human blood makes them scary on one hand, but also adds to their mystery and romance. And they live for centuries before finding their true love, or death."
Kagome rolled her eyes, but not so Yuka could see it.
"I am pleased to hear that such a beautiful girl as you like vampires, Yuka," Morihito chuckled. The way he said it sounded creepy to Kagome, but her friend took it as a compliment and smiled. "What about you?" he asked.
This time, it was Kagome's turn to chuckle. "I am afraid that except for a few occasions, I haven't really thought much about vampires. They are an interesting subject though, especially the aristocratic specimens." One detail that hadn't escaped her was that no one but Yuka and Sosuke were dressed up as vampires. "My interests lay more in the realm of demons," she said, lowering her voice and turning towards the closed door with a warm smile on her lips. "They are such fascinating creatures who come in every size and shape, from the scariest beings to the cuddliest cuties. People fear them because they think they are so different from us that they must be evil. Granted, most of them have powers that go far beyond mortal measurements, but that doesn't necessarily mean they are all bad. Humans have also done great evil throughout history, and on a scale that dwarves anything else in comparison. Demons are just like people; some are good and some are bad. Besides, they have longer fangs than vampires...
And I like dogs! They are, without doubt, man's best friend!
Sosuke came back soon after with two drinks and found Yuka chuckling at Kagome's declaration.
"Here you go." The crystal glasses were filled with red liquid of some kind.
"What is it?" Yuka asked.
Sosuke fidgeted with his cape and attempted a small smile. "I assure you; there is nothing to be afraid of. It's an alcohol-free drink that's supposed to look like blood, but still have a taste that appeals to an older audience."
"If you say so," Yuka said and took a sip, which quickly was followed by several others.
Kagome put the glass to her lips and pretended to drink.
"Unusual taste, but okay I guess," Yuka said.
"Not entirely to my liking am I afraid," Kagome said politely.
Morihito gave them both a stern look. "Nevertheless, I hope you will drink it up. It isn't a cheap drink you are being served!"
Kagome faked another sip. "Oh, Yuka! I almost forgot! Inu Yasha is here! Don't you want to come up with me and say hi to him?"
"What! Did he come after all? I thought you said he wouldn't."
"I did, but he changed his mind. Come on, let's go and see him!" Kagome took Yuka's arm, wanting to drag her out if necessary, but Sosuke and Morihito blocked their way.
"Please, you just came. I am sure your friend won't mind waiting a little longer at the party, everyone has a good time up there," Sosuke smiled. "Stay with us for now and we will let you out later."
Kagome frowned. "Let us out? I thought everyone was free to come and go as they pleased? So why close the door, and why have your party down here in the basement? Why can't I go and find my friend?"
"Her boyfriend!" Yuka chirped with a silly smile on her face.
"I want to go and get him; I can even bring him down here if you want."
"No! You stay here for now. We have a few more guests we would like you to meet, I expect them to come at any moment." This time it was Morihito who spoke. He was stern and his eyes were hard. "Have they arrived yet?" he shouted, calling out to the man who stood guard at the door.
"Nobody has knocked yet!" replied the guard.
This brought everyone's attention to them, and Kagome became certain she didn't want to stay there anymore. Nobody said a word, yet their eyes were full of mockery and arrogance. Some people looked at each other with creepy smiles. A couple raised their glasses and held them up in a soundless cheer for each other. Another group turned their heads to the door, as if waiting for it to burst open at any second. The world began to spin and Kagome felt as if the walls were closing in on her. She wasn't claustrophobic by nature, but the already dense atmosphere became almost suffocating. She put her glass on a nearby shelf, took a deep breath and let her spiritual powers reach out to take comfort in Inu Yasha's familiar aura. He wasn't far away.
"Kagome, are you alright?" Yuka asked anxiously, but Kagome ignored her.
"Who are these friends of yours?" Kagome asked after several moments of silence.
There was a dangerous gleam in Morihito's disapproving eyes. "I believe you can call them our main attraction for tonight, and I assure you that they will be happy to meet the three of you."
"Me too?" Sosuke sounded surprised. "I thought you said I should leave once I brought you…" he didn't continue his sentence but looked at Yuka.
Yuka, who only now started to take notice of the heavy atmosphere, attempted to reassure Kagome and Sosuke, "Hey, come on guys. What's up with the mood? Nothing wrong with a bit of entertainment, right? If the adults say we can stay, I'm sure it's okay."
Kagome, Morihito and Sosuke stared back at Yuka who swayed backwards and bumped into a wide shelf. On each shelf lay a stuffed bag, each approximately as long as an adult and grey or dark green in color. The one closest to Yuka must have been badly secured because it slipped, threatening to fall to the floor.
"Whoops! My bad!" Yuka said and turned around so fast to catch it that the contents of her glass spilled out on the floor. "Sorry, sorry, I didn't mean to…"
"Iiiiiiiiiiiccckkkkkk!"
Yuka's ear-deafening scream stung her ears and drowned the sound of glass smashing against the cold floor. "Yuka, what is it?"
"It's… it's… a hand!" she cried, jumping out of the way and pointing at the bag.
Its zipper hadn't been properly closed and a pale, naked and wrinkled hand stuck out. More was revealed when the arm it was attached to also slipped out. Beside her, Sosuke froze, but Kagome rushed to the bag and tore it open.
The body of a girl fell to the floor. She had been dressed up in a fairy costume, but it was ripped in several places. Her skin was so wrinkled that it looked several sizes too large, and several sets of punctures littered her exposed skin.
Yuka kept screaming and Sosuke grew pale and swayed where he stood. But their eerie host was silent, just like the rest of the guests.
"YUKA, SHUT UP!" Kagome snarled and turned to Morihito.
"I ask you one more time, who are you expecting?"
The towering man refused to answer, though his smile widened into a grotesque leer. Kagome defiantly grabbed the bag from another shelf, unzipped it and exposed the contents. The nearly naked body of a middle-aged man was revealed.
She took a deep breath, looked at the many shelves that were filled with bags and sought out her powers. "Tell me, am I wrong if I assume that all of the shelves are filled with dead bodies, Morihito?"
He laughed at her; low, chilling and unamused.
"No, little girl. You won't be wrong. Go ahead and open each bag if you wish."
"Why?"
The other guests moved closer, forming a half circle around them. "You have been suspicious about us since you first entered Miss Higurashi. Neither were you invited in the first place, like you pretended at the door. Yes, I could hear you, and so could everyone else. Entertain us if you please and tell us why you came here! Dead bodies don't seem to shock you as much as your friends."
"I came looking for my friend, I didn't like it when she suddenly disappeared with a guy she hardly knew!" she said and gave Sosuke a furious glare. Sosuke's eyes darted between her and Morihito. He looked ready to bolt, but was trapped between the wall and the other party guests. Yuka was trembling like a leaf and tears poured down her cheeks. "But on my way here, I think I must have met some of the guests you keep talking about. They are vampires. Real vampires, yet skinny and ugly!"
Morihito threw his head back and laughed, "We are all vampires! Everyone around you, except from your friend and Sosuke. How you managed to get away from those who still hide in the basement is beyond me, but that will change soon. They look skinny and ugly you say, but we all do until we have fed. Weak and ravaged, we wait a long time between each time we drink in order to avoid being discovered by society. But once a year our hunger becomes too much and we get together and have a party. And what is better to feed on than healthy, young teenagers who have the most delicious blood! But since I am such a generous man, I will give the three of you an offer. Once the unfed arrive, they will suck out every drop of your blood to sate their thirst, leaving nothing behind but a dry shell. But you are so young, beautiful and, if I might say, desirable. Let a few of us drink your blood until you are at the brink of your life, then you can be transformed and live on as vampires instead. You could stay young and fair for the rest of your immortal lives. What do you say?"
The attention was entirely on her. Sosuke and Yuka were on the verge of panic and seemed almost forgotten by Morihito. She had no idea how they would respond to this haunting offer, but a feeling cold as ice told that it was her answer that would decide their fate.
Her eyes fell on the door.
"You know what? I don't think your friends will be coming tonight!" she said coldly.
"What!?"
"As I said, I met them before! They have…. expired, so to speak. There is only one guest who is still missing, and he is coming on my invitation."
"Bitch!" Morihito's smirk morphed into a snarl that revealed two pointed fangs. "That is impossible! You are lying and I will have your blood for this!"
This statement caused an immediate uproar among the vampires, and Kagome placed herself protectively in front of Sosuke and Yuka as the undead closed in on them. The vampires, once creatures fair to behold, bared their fangs, crushed their glasses and twisted their faces into hideous sneers. A male vampire lifted the huge table with one hand in a show of strength and threw it against the wall.
"Ka..Kagome, what should we do?" Yuka cried from behind.
"I don't know much about your obsession with vampires Yuka, but my heart beats for one creature alone! We are going to get the hell out of here!"
Kagome glared at the vampires surrounding them and shouted:
"INU YASHA!"
A loud bang filled the room when an unexpectedly strong force attacked the steel door. Everyone turned to stare at it, except Kagome.
"Inu Yasha, help us! The people here are vampires!" she shouted and a new bang followed. Paint fell from the wall around the door and the closest shelf collapsed, but the armored door didn't falter.
"What the hell is that?" one of the vampires asked.
"Kagome!" Inu Yasha's faint voice came through the ventilation shaft. "The door won't open and the shaft is too narrow for me! Is there another way in?"
"No!"
A new round of attacks followed, making the light flicker. But to her horror, the room which had been constructed to keep bombs out was just as effective at keeping demons out. Kagome could feel the blood drain from her face when it became obvious that Inu Yasha's strength wasn't enough to break through. The vampires, who had been stunned into silence, grew confident again and a hauntingly beautiful female laughed:
"Whoever your friend is, he won't be able to save you now. The door can only be opened from the inside, and if he does get in…" she picked up a metal pipe and bent it with her bare hands, "… he won't last long, no matter how strong you think he is, we are all enchanted."
Morihito chuckled, "So much for your hero, it would be interesting to meet him, but now I think it is time for you to die. I can hear the angels calling for you already.
"The only one waiting for me is a demon!" Kagome hissed. Determined not to end up as yet another dead body in a bag, Kagome lunged sideways and grabbed a large knife from a nearby shelf.
With the knife in hand, she clenched her teeth, took a deep breath and tore it through the length of her arm. Kagome let out a bloodcurdling scream and sank to her knees. A long gash opened and the smell of fresh blood filled the room.
"Aaaargh! Please don't kill me!" she cried. "Have mercy, it hurts so much! I beg of you! Inu Yasha, please help!"
The pain she felt in her arm was horrible. Kagome did not have to act when she sobbed and cried as her blood dripped onto the floor.
The shock and surprise were visible on everyone's face, vampire and human alike.
Several moments of silence and disbelief followed before Morihito took a deep breath and licked his thin lips and laughed, clearly enjoying the smell of blood, "And what the hell do you think you will accomplish by doing this?"
His grin was quickly replaced with a confused look when Kagome threw him the blood-drenched knife.
He caught it on reflex.
Warm tears poured down her face, yet still Kagome could hear how her cries of pain morphed into hysterical laughter as she clenched her arm:
"Murder!"