XVI. DO IT, TRY IT.
MAKAI
"We have to get out of here," Mariah hissed at Narumi, clutching Marco's shoulders in both fear and protectiveness. He didn't react, still shell shocked at the incident that happened only a few hours ago.
"And go where?" Narumi asked. "How? How can we leave?"
Megumi didn't know what they were arguing about; she couldn't be bothered to try remembering her English classes' notes. All she knew was that she had to leave. But how? Shizuru and the others definitely had to be looking for her now, but did they know where to look? Would they be able to find her?
"How will we even get the door open, hm?" Narumi hissed back. As much as she wanted to leave, she didn't want to be given false hope. "How will we get past everyone?"
Anger welled in Megumi's chest, swirling around and threatening to pour up into her throat and out of her mouth. She wished she never fought with Shizuru before this. What if Shizuru wasn't on her way to find her? Was she just going to sit here and die? Be the little coward everyone thought she was?
Maybe.
She was angry at herself for giving in. Angry at herself for pushing away Shizuru. Angry at the youkai for locking her up. Angry at the goddamn ghost for putting her in this situation. Angry at Yamato for not listening to her. Angry at herself for again giving in back then.
"We're running," Megumi mumbled, catching Narumi's attention.
She groaned, switching to Japanese effortlessly. "Where? How?"
"The next time they come for someone," she replied calmly. Her head felt like it was swimming. "I'll volunteer. I'll distract them; you all run. When they take me, I'll run."
"You're mad," she gasped. "That won't work. We don't know how many of them there even are."
"Won't know until you've tried."
"What's happening?" Mariah asked, figuring the gist from Megumi's somber eyes. Narumi quickly translated the concern, and Mariah stared at Megumi with determination. "Tell her I'll run with her."
"You're both crazy," Narumi cried to herself, driving her hands through her matting hair.
"How often do they come around?" Megumi asked, which Narumi attempted to ignore. Still, Megumi asked again. "How often?"
She sighed. "Usually—"
The lock on the door heaved off, clanging against the metal door as it swung from its thick chains. They had little time to think; little time to take back their offers.
"I'll come back for you," Mariah said to Marco, who nodded softly.
"No, he's coming with us," Narumi replied.
"Oh, you're in?" Mariah asked, a twinge of sarcasm laced in her words.
"I think I'd rather die running than like a caged animal," she replied, eyes sad and glazing over with tears of fear.
Mariah nodded with sympathy and asked. "Is Mr. Arai running with us?"
"We can't all run at the same time; there'd be too many of us."
"That would require another sacrifice…"
"I'll do it," Mr. Arai spoke. The two weren't aware he knew much English. "You said sacrifice, right?" Narumi nodded. "Then I will go first."
"Mr. Arai, Megumi said she would go first," Narumi said.
"She is young." He shook his head. "If anyone should live, it is the younger generations. I will volunteer."
Megumi and Narumi stared at the man in silence, gratitude. Though Megumi wanted her chance to shine, she knew she had no plan outside of volunteering. What was she going to do? She couldn't do anything but give in.
The door swung open. He bowed his head before standing up. "Please, make my sacrifice worth it."
"We'll split up," Narumi said, hushed, as the heavy and thick leather footsteps returned. She turned to Mariah in English. "Mariah and Marco…" And then to Megumi in Japanese. "You and I."
The four nodded.
"Alright, kiddies." The laughter boomed. "Daddy's back! Did you miss me?" Everyone remained silent as the familiar ogre walked around them. "The old bat didn't give us much, so we have to fill our quota for the day somehow. And I'm looking for someone young and spry."
His eyes glanced over to Marco and Mariah instinctively held him close to her. He buried himself in her torso, heart beating wildly out of his chest.
"Take me!" Mr. Arai spoke up. "Please, take me instead. I am young and spry as well."
"Everyone wants to protect the little squirt, huh?" he grunted. "Fine. You're young enough. But if you don't give enough, I'm coming back for more. Besides… maybe he isn't ripe enough just yet."
The youkai looked to Marco, and grinned. Marco, face still buried in Mariah's torso, felt the youkai's gaze upon him and began shaking. The youkai laughed, his voice booming in glee as it bounced around the dirty walls. He stepped towards Mr. Arai, and the man old enough to adorn male pattern baldness stiffened in fear.
And that's when the four moved. Bolting out of the dirty, empty room, the four glanced around at their surroundings. Long, stiff hallways littered with metal doors matching their own stretched on for what seemed like years.
"Left," Narumi said, grabbing Megumi's wrist. Then, in English. "You guys go right."
Mariah didn't hesitate; Marco grabbed her hand and the two dashed off. Megumi and Narumi hurried down the other way. Instinctively, Megumi reached for Narumi's wrist, and the two didn't even think of where they were headed as their legs carried them down the grimy hallway. All they hoped was that they'd end up somewhere—anywhere outside. To see a different scenery than the dirty off-white walls they'd been trapped in for who knows how long.
For how large the place was, there didn't seem to be many youkai patrolling the area. In fact, they'd yet to come across even one since they started running. It couldn't be possible—where were they hiding?
Finally, as they rounded yet another corner, a door came in sight. Still metal and large, domineering and confining, but this one had a window on it. They could see the light from the outside—they could see the trees and the sky from the outside.
"There!" Megumi tugged on Narumi's wrist and they hurried faster.
Their lungs burned and their legs ached, but they figured that would be the least of their worries if they stopped. It occurred to Megumi that they had never once looked behind them, and the thought sent chills down her spine. They ran into the door, pushing it open, and Megumi's thoughts got the better of her—she looked behind herself.
Nobody was there.
She breathed a sigh of relief as she turned around to step outside the heavy door that Narumi had just managed to open on her own. There, they were greeted with another towering youkai. His unnatural skin color and protruding fangs washed the blood from their face and to their feet.
They both moved to run back inside—and do what? They were unsure. They just knew they had to get away—
Megumi ran face first into another hard body. A different youkai now. They all adorned a similar uniform; heavy jackets, leather boots, with their own fashion twist. She hadn't a thought other than if they were organized or unoriginal. She had nowhere to run, regardless of which they were.
She felt the sharp, heavy pain in her neck as she was grabbed and lifted off the ground. She looked to Narumi, who had been caught by her waist as well by the youkai outside.
"Well, we got some runners!" One youka laughed. "A couple of mice escaped the maze by pure luck!"
The other laughed as well, his voice raspier than the others. "Heard there were a couple of mice on the North end too. They should be on their way to the chopping block now."
Fear struck Megumi; the blood in her feet having nowhere to go. Would they torture them? Would they just kill them? Maybe she should have stayed still and sat and waited for Shizuru—if she was even on her way.
Narumi put up a fight; she wasn't going to find out. Her slender legs swung upwards and knocked the youkai upside the head, startling him into dropping her. It did little good, as the youkai pounced on her before she could even get up to run.
"Take her out!" The youkai holding Megumi yelled. "We don't have time for that shit. We can count her as our quota—"
Megumi watched as the youkai lifted a hand that was bigger than Narumi's head. She wanted to close her eyes; she wanted to help. She wanted to not be here. She wanted them to stop. She wanted them to go away.
A familiar feeling welled up in her chest as she screamed, and she watched a soft, hot yellow light shine around her.
THE CAMPING NIGHT
The group of four were out of breath; running up such a steep hill in the dark was just another thing taking its toll on their bodies. They were scared to touch the walls for guidance, wary about every footstep they took. The air in the cave was growing colder and thinner. It felt as if they were running far away from the entrance and back down into its depths.
Megumi's legs were beginning to give out; the only thing keeping her going was Yamato pulling her along. The pair began to slow as they heard something in the distance. They stopped, unnerved, as they saw in the distance, upwards on the hill, a figure of a lonely woman.
She was bloodied and bruised, glowing a faint, pale gray light. Translucent, the young adults caught on immediately. The noise grew louder—buzzing, fluttering. Silhouettes of insects, all different shapes and sizes, flew past the woman, blending into the darkness as they swarmed the group.
Screams of pain chorused within the cave walls. The insects bit and stabbed with their pinchers and needles, attacking without fear. As one took a hefty chunk of skin out of Kenji's calf, Megumi realized they were going to die here, eaten alive.
She closed her eyes, trying to ignore Kenji's screams. She wanted to not be here. She wanted them to stop. She wanted them to go away. An unfamiliar feeling welled up in her chest as she screamed, and she watched a soft, hot yellow light shine around her.
GENKAI'S TEMPLE
Birds chirping disrupted the first fright-less sleep he'd had in months. He struggled to open his eyes; he was comfortable in the futon, sleeping under the warm blanket with the cool morning air surrounding his exposed face.
His eyes shot open. The last place he remembered himself to be was on the steps of the temple, trying to reach Megumi. He had heard through the grapevine that she would be at a renowned spiritualist's temple, and narrowed down his options. He remembered being so tired, so fatigued, that he couldn't make it anymore—he had to lay down and rest on the stairs for a moment.
Next thing he knew, he was in a room—traditional tatami mat flooring and sliding shoji doors. Could he have been picked up by someone and brought to the temple? He looked around the cozy room, concerned, finding only the bed and a small round table with some sitting pillows laid around it. Minimalistic, but somehow cozy nonetheless. Perhaps it was the atmosphere—perhaps it was the fact he wasn't be plagued by youkai and ghosts.
He felt calm, safe. He sat up slowly, unsure, as he looked out the oddly placed, small window near the top of the wall. He then laid back down just as slowly and unsurely, desperate to fall back asleep, to sleep unbothered for the first time in a long time. He would be sure to thank whoever brought him here later.
Sleep was sorely missed and wholly welcomed. He'd forgotten why he was coming up to the temple in the first place. All he wanted was a few more hours to himself, for himself. Then he flinched, unsure how long he had been asleep, when he heard the shoji door sliding open. Instinctively, he shot upright, defensive, until he saw a young woman walking into the room.
Her all black traditional attire put him at ease. She must be with the temple.
She looked surprised. "You're awake! How are you feeling?"
Her hime-cut hairstyle was far more rigid and regal than her playful, youthful features and voice. She wore her hair in a high ponytail, the color blending in well with her attire. He could tell she was younger than him.
"Yes, thank you," he replied, bowing his head. "Do you own this temple?"
"No, Master Genkai does," the young woman replied. "I'm Kitajima, Maya. I'm her apprentice. You can call me Maya."
She walked closer to the table and set down a neatly folded pile of clothes. With further inspection from the futon, he found that they were his clothes, freshly washed and dried. He looked down at himself and found he was adorning a white yukata and…
"Wh… what are these?" He lifted his arms to find paper talismans taped around his wrists.
"Healing talismans," Maya replied calmly. "You had so many bruises and small fractures on your body. I wrote some talismans to help your body heal itself."
He looked around his arms and found the bruises were gone—and his aches, they were gone too. He looked to Maya again and bowed his head in thanks.
"You should get changed," she replied with a laugh, waving her hand to dismiss his bowing. "I'll be taking you to Master Genkai to discuss what's going on with Megumi, and with you."
"Megumi was here?!" he gasped. "So I was right? Wait… How did you know I know her?"
Had she been talking about him?
"My friends found you on the stairs to the temple and Shizuru identified you," Maya replied.
Ah, her. So she was in on this too. Of course she was. He stood from his futon and reached for his clothes as Maya stepped outside the room.
"I'll be waiting outside for you," she said. "Come out when you're ready."