AN: Thank you for all the lovely reviews/comments! I hope you enjoy this chapter as well.

Chapter 2: The Sanctuary

The Western Sanctuary was so far out in the middle of nowhere, Rin had no choice but to drive there. Normally, she would just hop on a bus or train and walk to her destination, but the nearest bus stop was ten miles away, and the bus only went in one direction every two hours on the weekend. It was fine. She hadn't driven for a while, so her car needed a little exercise anyway.

She set out before dawn, anxious to make the most of her vacation days. The ticket sat in its envelope on her passenger's seat, and her phone lay in a cup holder, barking out directions at her. Soon after turning off the local highway and onto the mountainous back road that would take her to the resort, a barbed wire fence rose up alongside her, almost like the land it ensconced was some military facility rather than a wilderness sanctuary. The sight of it made her somewhat uncomfortable, as if telling her, "DO NOT ENTER," but she brushed off the feeling and looked back at her GPS—

Which had just lost signal.

Well, that was alright. She liked it best when she could be disconnected from the world out in nature. She had looked at the maps beforehand and knew that there was only one turnoff on this road to get to the sanctuary.

Or so she told herself, but when she drove for another fifteen minutes and ended up at an intersection with another mountain road, she realized she must have missed the turnoff. She turned around and headed back, keeping her eyes peeled for any sort of entrance.

It was so hidden in the trees, she almost missed it.

The turnoff was only a gravel path—one she might have mistaken as a maintenance road if she hadn't spotted a trail marker with the dog crest next to it. For a high-class resort, you'd think they'd have a huge sign or something out on the road to direct people to it.

She pulled in, uneasiness crawling down her back as the towering trees closed in around her. The fact that she felt unsettled bothered her more than the sensation itself. Why should she fear the forest? She loved the outdoors.

Only a moment later, the gravel road evolved into asphalt again. A brick sign with the Western Sanctuary logo beckoned to her from ahead, the road splitting around it into an entrance and exit, each barred by a black, wrought-iron gate with the dog crest on it.

Now that's more of what I was expecting. She glanced in her rearview mirror but couldn't see the main road anymore. Why is it so far back in the trees though, where people can't see it? She shrugged the thought off. Perhaps it had been visible back when it was built and the trees closed in around it. Nature did have a tendency to reclaim its territory.

She pulled into the entry lane and next to a kiosk, where she rolled down her window. A male voice—prerecorded, but with a deep, engaging charm that still made her want to come in—spoke from the kiosk.

"Welcome to Western Sanctuary. Please insert your ticket."

Rin dug out the black ticket and fed it into the machine. The kiosk slurped it up and whirred for a few seconds before saying, "Welcome, Kagome Higurashi, to Western Sanctuary, where you can be your true self. Please proceed through the gate and head straight down the road to the resort for check-in."

At the kiosk's words, the gate swung open in front of Rin, and she pulled her car through. No sooner had the back of her car passed the gate than it was closing again, and like magic, all of the uneasiness Rin had felt for the last half hour while driving beside the resort's land melted away. She drove along the road a little further until she spotted another turnoff and a sign. One way pointed to the resort; the other pointed to the sanctuary parking lot.

She paused, tapping her fingers against the steering wheel. Surely if she didn't plan to stay in the resort, she didn't have to check in, right? It had to be like a national park—once she was in, she was in, and she could go where she wanted.

Decided, she turned in the direction of the parking lot. She knew Kagome would probably shake her silly to know she wasn't going to the resort, but being pampered really just wasn't Rin's style.

She pulled into the parking lot, which only sported a couple other cars, some of them so covered in fallen leaves that they appeared to have been there for a while. An information board advertised itself at the edge of the lot, so once she was parked, she went out to investigate. The board marked the start of the trails and showed a map of the entire sanctuary. Stacks of brochures tucked in plastic bins illustrated the same map but gave more detailed information.

There were several trails to take, each leading to different areas, such as a lake, a mountain peak and a bog. She smiled as she took it all in. She was going to explore it all over these two weeks!

Just then, a crack like thunder rumbled through the area. Rin frowned and looked up at the sky. The sun had only broken over the horizon half an hour ago, but despite the semi-darkness, there wasn't a cloud in the sky.

The thunder echoed again, and Rin pulled out her phone on instinct to check the forecast, only to remember that she had no cell signal. She turned the roaming signal off to save battery and then looked back overhead. It neither looked nor smelled like rain, so she would chance it.

After all, it wasn't as if she could leave, what with her entry ticket being used up, and it wouldn't have been the first time she had been caught camping in the rain. It came with the territory.

She ran back to her car; grabbed her specialty backpack, fitted out with all her camping essentials; and took off down the trail that headed towards the mountain. She decided to start her vacation on the path that would use the most energy, so that later she could spend a few days relaxing by the lakeside fishing. She would need the fish to eat by then anyway—she had only packed enough light food to supplement her plans to forage and fish.

The forest trail soon spit her out into a valley spread out before the mountain. Wildflowers and grasses rustled in the breeze as she walked past. It took her an hour to reach the base of the mountain. The fresh air that filled her lungs melted the months of built-up stress with every breath, and the autumn sun that kissed her face was just warm enough to keep her from growing too chilled in the mountain air but not hot enough to make her uncomfortable while walking. Her heart thrummed in her chest from exertion, pumping out endorphins.

Yes, this type of vacation was exactly what she needed.

She took her time ascending the mountain. While there were several trails of varying difficulties, there were also a few cliffs that beckoned to her, and she just had to pull out her rock-climbing gear and scale them. She craved the burn in her arms and legs that only hauling herself up a cliff side could bring.

As such, it took her most of the day to reach the summit, and when she did, she collapsed onto a boulder and took in the vista.

It was still early enough in the fall that plenty of green dotted the landscape, but fiery patches of leaves shone through. The lake that had been marked on the map curled around the base of the mountain's other side, and she traced the stream that extended from it until it got lost in the trees. The only sign of human civilization she found for kilometers around was a large, traditional-Japanese building complex to the west.

That must be the resort, she thought. It's farther out than I realized.

Having taken in the sights and snapped a few photos and selfies with her phone, she connected her solar-powered charger to it, set it in a patch of sunlight on top of the boulder, and then lay back herself against the rock, letting the warm rays soak into her and the breeze cool off her sweaty skin.

She ended up dozing for half an hour under the sun before getting up to continue her hike. She took the trail that led down the other side of the mountain, which apparently passed by a series of waterfalls that fed the stream that flowed into the lake.

Although the walk up a mountain burned her thighs—in a good way—going down a mountain had always been Rin's least favorite part, gravity scrunching her toes against the fronts of her shoes and stressing her knees.

About an hour into her walk, she stopped, finding a fallen tree blocking the path. Although…fallen didn't appear to be the right word. The thick trunk appeared to have been cut clean through.

"What in the world could have done this?" Rin wondered aloud, going over to investigate. She ran her finger over the slice and gasped at its smoothness, as if a giant machine saw had gone through it. But when she looked around the area, she found no tracks from machinery or equipment.

Then she noticed more trees knocked down towards the east. Abandoning the path, she followed the trail of destruction. Some trees, like the first, had been cleaved in two. Other stumps were jagged splinters, as if the tree had been broken in half from some huge force. The leaves on the trees were still full—a mix of greens and yellows, not dried-up browns—so they had just gone down within a couple days.

Did a tornado go through here recently? I don't recall there being any bad weather in this part of the country, though.

The memories of the strange, thunderous sounds she had heard that morning came back to her. Was this the source of the noise? But what caused it?

Then she noticed the gashes on the trees—ones that looked like claw marks. Except they were far too large to belong to wolves, bears, or large cats.

A chill ran over Rin's spine. Only one species had the power to cause such wanton destruction without any equipment. Don't tell me all this was done by…demons?

Her heart accelerated, sending her body into high alert. She looked around, wondering if they were still around.

If so, she needed to get out of there.

She had never seen a demon before, but she had been taught all about them.

Demons had long plagued humankind, but with the evolution of technology, humans were eventually able to fight back against them more effectively. With the rise of industrialization in Japan during the Meiji era, humans started to even the battlefield. Once World War I ended, they had turned their new technology away from each other (for a time) and towards the demons, all but annihilating them.

However, just because there were so few left did not make them any less dangerous.

As the Demon Slayer Corps often touted in its commercials, the demons that survived may have been more human-like in appearance, but that only made them all the more treacherous and crafty than their brutish, animalistic brethren who had been wiped out. They had adapted to the changing world order. Now, they hid among humans in broad daylight. It was said you could be walking and talking with a demon every day and never know.

Just as every child had to memorize the 110 and 119 emergency numbers, they also had to memorize a third: 444, the Demon Slayer Corps hotline. Billboards, commercials and posters around the country urged citizens to call the hotline to report witnessed demon attacks or even send anonymous tips about suspected demons and demonic activity.

Rin grabbed her phone, checking again in vain for a signal. With that option lost, she instead took pictures of the trees. She could still report the damage to the Corps when she returned home. She hadn't seen an attack, of course, but as the Corps said, "No evidence should be ignored." Even if they couldn't track the demons since the attack had already passed, they would at least be able to put this area on their radar and watch it for future activity.

Of course, now the question was: Did she go back to her car and get out of here, or did she keep moving?

She looked up at the sky, which was already darkening into a mix of charcoal and burnt orange. Every day, the light faded faster. She would never make it back to her car before the sun set. So for tonight, at least, she was stuck out in the woods.

Still, I should get as far from this place as I can.

She turned around to head back up the mountain, since she had already come that way without incident. However, as she did so, something flashed in the corner of her eye. Her heart stuttered as she looked back, fearing a demon rushing at her.

But it was only a ray of sunlight glinting off something further into the forest along the path of destruction. It didn't appear to be anything living; rather, it shone like metal. If it was more evidence…it was her duty to record it for the Corps.

She stalked forward, keeping as quiet as possible. Hopefully the sound of so many chirping birds would mask any noise she made—

She froze. Chirping birds.

If the birds were here and talking, then the danger had long since passed. She sighed in relief and straightened, striding forward confidently until she came upon the object.

It was a sword—but the blade had been broken in two. She snapped a photo. She had seen enough crime shows to know she shouldn't tamper with the evidence, but she was still curious. This was no katana—it had the hilt and blade of an ordinary sword. Aside from the break, it was in pristine condition, as if it had been well-taken care of recently.

But what need did demons have for swords? Weren't they supposed to have fangs and claws? All the Demon Slayer Corps adverts indicated as much. Had a human been here, defending himself? But what human had a sword nowadays?

The mystery ate at her. Despite the possible danger, she had to know.

After all, part of the fun of vacations was a dose of spontaneity. And if her vacation was going to be cut short like this, she wanted to get as much out of it as she could.

She stood up, looking around the clearing for more clues. And then, when she peeked between two trees, she gasped.

A pale man with long, silvery white hair coming unraveled from a loose ponytail lay against a tree, his clothes all torn and bloody.

"Oh my gosh," Rin cried out, running over. She dropped her backpack and knelt beside the man, who she was surprised to discover appeared young, despite the white hair. "Sir? Sir, can you hear me?" she asked as she felt his neck for a pulse. She breathed a sigh of relief when it came through—not strong but not so weak he was on the verge of death. "Sir, if you can hear me, please say something. Even a grunt," she continued as she rooted through her backpack for her first aid kit. As a medical professional, she never left anywhere without some supplies in hand, and she had customized her kit with a few more items than store-bought ones normally had.

The man didn't respond, so she went about taking stock of his injuries. His face had some minor abrasions on it (though his skin was otherwise flawless, she noted jealously—what a beautiful man!). The tears in his clothing—a long trench coat lined in thick fur over a three-piece suit, of all things—revealed clotting gashes beneath it. His legs appeared to be alright, since there were no tears or bloodstains in his pants, but his left arm was in the most serious shape. At least one deep slash crossed over it nearly from wrist to shoulder, and the entire arm was so covered in rivulets of blood, there could be more wounds. He was lucky his arm hadn't been cut right off.

How has he not died yet from blood loss? she wondered as she looked over the wound. The way the shallower but still large cuts on his chest were clotting, he had been lying here for at least a few hours. It was a miracle he wasn't dead.

What was he even doing out here this far in the forest? And in a suit no less?

Was he dumped here? she wondered as she sorted through her supplies to set up what she'd need. He looks well-to-do. Was he mugged, and the thieves took him out here to dump the body? But this is private property, isn't it? So…did this happen at the resort?

She took out her small, handheld flashlight and opened his eyes to check for a concussion. They were crystal blue—Foreigner for sure, likely a resort guest, she thought—but his pupils were the same size, and they both dilated, which was a good sign. Then she noticed the slight ring of discoloration around his irises.

Contacts, she realized. Normally, she would remove those immediately, but since he didn't appear to have any eye or brain injuries, they would have to wait. There were more pressing needs first. Every second counted.

She repositioned him so that he was lying flat on the grass instead of sitting upright. Then, she gathered his voluminous hair (the silkiness of which she couldn't help but envy, given the perpetually kinky mess on her own head), tying it together and pinning it underneath him so it didn't get in her way. Finally, she cut away the rags of his left coat and suit sleeves. Blood had adhered the cloth to much of his skin, so she pulled out her water bottle, squirting some along the fabric to reanimate the blood and loosen it. When she was done, she took out a rubber strap and tied a tourniquet around his upper arm.

She needed to suture the wound. Thank goodness I got that extra schooling and certification, she thought. Because of it, she was legally allowed to suture a patient's wounds without doctor supervision—but she would still have done it regardless to save the man's life.

She glanced around the darkening forest. She'd have to work quickly, but with so many lacerations, it would take time.

Rin pulled on the pair of latex gloves she had stashed inside the kit. Then, she poured more water on his arm and used her spare towel to wipe the excess blood away. But when she wiped over a certain spot on his forearm, the blood stains remained. She tried again, and still the blood wouldn't come off. She looked at her cloth to see if it needed more water but noticed something else. How had the cloth gotten so worn down? It was as if the blood was slowly eating a hole through the fabric. She frowned and clicked on her flashlight, holding it between her teeth as she examined the area on his arm.

These aren't blood stains or gashes, she realized. Now that her lighting was better, she could see they weren't quite the color of blood either. Rather, they were more maroon, and they trailed down his arm and into his gloves. She cut through the fine but bloodied gloves and peeled them off. The maroon markings ended at his wrist and palm.

Tattoos? she wondered, examining them more closely. It certainly appeared that way, although the color seemed stronger than most tattoos she had seen. Maybe they were fresh? They're rather odd tattoos, though. As she was looking at his hands, she noticed something else. And his nails are very long for a man…even if they are well-manicured.

She quickly dismissed the thoughts, because it wasn't her place to judge, nor did she have the time.

Next, she pulled out a bottle of alcohol to disinfect the wound—singular, she now realized, since what she had first taken for lacerations were tattoos. She breathed a sigh of relief. Instead of being torn to shreds, he just had one, deep gash. That would make things easier, although he was still in danger of dying from blood loss.

Once the wound was clean, she got to work, starting at his wrist, where the skin was thinnest. The light dimmed as she worked, mopping any seeping blood as she went along, and eventually she had to rely only on her flashlight, positioning it so that the meager light would fall where she worked.

When she at last tied the knot after the final stitch, cut the thread, and removed the tourniquet, she sat back with a sigh and rolled her head. Her neck and shoulders ached from hunching over, and her knees and shins were damp and numb from kneeling on them in the grass for so long.

But she wasn't done yet.

The next most serious wounds were on his chest, so she cut away his suit jacket, vest, and shirt to inspect the wounds. None were quite so deep that they needed stitches, and they were already clotting, so she just cleaned and bandaged them.

Gosh, he has a nice body, she couldn't help but notice as she wrapped him. He had the kind of pecs that only movie stars and body trainers had, although his muscles were lean rather than bulky. Even his abs were nicely defined.

Once she was finished there, she sat back and wiped the sweat from her brow. Now that the adrenaline was leaving her system, when a cool, nighttime mountain breeze raced over her skin, she shivered.

She looked around, finally noting just how dark it had gotten. None of his other wounds looked as serious, and she needed to get them some light and heat. She took her flashlight and scavenged the area for tree branches. Luckily, from all the broken trees, there was plenty of fallen wood to be had. She brought some back and found a patch of dirt with the least amount of grass before setting up the logs to create a fire. Then she used some dry grass and leaves as tinder, pulled out a match, and lit it. She watched as the flame caught onto the boughs, and satisfied that the fire wouldn't die, she stood up and looked around.

She needed her patient closer to the fire, but how was she going to bring him there? He was at least two heads taller than she was—she had always been on the short side, to her everlasting irritation—and she didn't want to hurt him by trying to carry or drag him across the rough forest floor.

She snapped when the idea hit her. My sleeping bag! She could use it like a stretcher and then drag him over to the fire. It wasn't a perfect solution, but it was the best one she had. She unrolled her sleeping bag next to him and carefully shifted his body onto it. Then, she pulled him next to the fire so that she could see better and finish tending to him.

With his torso done, she methodically pulled off his pants to inspect his legs, and that was when she noticed the discoloration in his knee.

She felt around it, frowning. He wasn't awake to tell her where exactly he was in pain, but from what she could tell, it was dislocated. She would have preferred to know how he had gotten the injury to be sure, but it didn't appear to be so a serious dislocation that it would require surgery. Popping it back in should be enough to fix it. And she could probably spare him a lot of pain if he was knocked out while she did so. Without cell service and unable to get to the resort before tomorrow—which would still take hours to walk to—he would be in a lot of pain otherwise.

"Sir, can you hear me?" she asked one more time, just to make sure. He did not respond. She took a deep breath and then worked to pop his knee back in.

Once she was satisfied that it was in place, she grabbed some of the straightest fallen branches she could find and fashioned a splint for his leg to keep it straight. Even with his knee joint relocated, the poor man wouldn't be walking for a few weeks due to the strain. How in the world was she going to get him back to the resort?

She'd think about that later. First, she had to take care of the rest of his injuries. She cleaned and put band-aids on a few little scrapes on the rest of his legs and navigated around his boxers to make sure there wasn't any damage to his groin. Then she moved up to deal with the abrasions on his face.

However, as she started cleaning them, something lighter than blood came off on her towel, and when she looked back up at his face, she did a double-take, thinking she had left massive blood smears on his cheeks. The firelight cast a yellow-orange glow over everything, so she took her flashlight to shine a whiter light onto the cloth.

Mixed with the blood was a light, peachy smudge. She shined the light back on his face and noticed the faded smudge over the two marks.

It's those tattoos again! But he's covered these ones in makeup. Why? She finished cleaning one cheek, revealing two magenta stripes, the same color as the ones on his arms. Then she cleaned the other cheek and found two more. As she wiped off his forehead, she unearthed a blue crescent moon. Gently wiping his eyelids revealed two magenta stripes like tattooed eyeliner.

"What in the world?" she muttered to herself. "Why get the tattoos if you're just going to cover them up?"

The man obviously had money. If he didn't want the tattoos anymore, why didn't he just get them lasered off? It was like he wanted to keep them but also wanted to hide them.

Rin froze. Hide tattoos…or hide markings?

She suddenly remembered the contacts. Were they simple, clear contacts…or were they colored?

Rin set aside the cloth, put band-aids on the scrapes on his face, and then doused her hands in alcohol and wiped them. She pulled open one of his eyelids and gently grabbed the contact between her fingers, pulling it out of his eye.

The blue came away to reveal an inhuman, gold color.

Rin's mouth dropped open.

She had just spent all evening saving a demon.

Suddenly, the demon's other eye flashed open, and she shrieked, snapping her arms away. He reached out with his right hand and snatched the wrist that held his contact, holding it in such a tight grip, his long nails—no, claws, she suddenly realized—dug into her skin.

He spoke in a deep, silky voice that flowed through her ears in pleasure even as it thrust a spike of fear into her heart. "What are you doing here?"

AN: Sorry there wasn't much dialogue in this chapter. That's what happens when you go on vacations alone, lol. #RealLifeExperience But I promise there will be plenty of dialogue to enjoy next chapter, fuhuhu~ As always, thank you for reading, and please tell me what you think! See you next week!