Chapter 10: Yokai Insomni
It was the middle of the night. The sky was pitch black, the sun had been down for hours, and still Nate couldn't sleep. Nate's parents had booked a two bedroom hotel room until they were able to sort this haunted house mess out, and for some reason he couldn't get to sleep.
He had tried everything, counting sheep, warm milk, the whole shabang, and yet the boy had been sitting there for an hour still wide awake!
"Hey Nyate?" the nekomata at the foot of his bed called out.
"Yeah?" he tiredly answered, "can't sleep either?"
"Nyot since she showed up," Jibanyan sighed pointing to the corner. Nate couldn't see anything so he naturally assumed jibanyan was talking about a yokai. He sighed and began shining his light toward the corner, the black outline took on a petite feminine figure with a spectral tale instead of legs and a horn on either side of it's head.
Nate face palmed, " it is way too late for this."
"The night is still young, why waste it sleeping?" the yokai said in a distorted female voice. The boy looked back at the yokai who had now been fully revealed. The yokai had pale purple skin, a single red eye, and white hair braided in a way that made it resemble horns. She wore a very arabian eque dress that was dark purple and had golden lining, "let's stay up all night instead!"
"Alright who is she?" Nate asked in a deadpan tone.
"The names Insomni," the yokai lady said.
Insomni: A rank
Eerie
"Alright, let me guess, you stop people from sleeping?" Nate asked with a sigh, Insomni nodded in reply, "Ok, well what are you doing here?"
"My friend, Damona, invited me," Insomni replied.
"Damona did what?" Nate asked with a bit of anger. As if on cue said she-demon floated out of the bathroom with her hair down and wearing one of nate's shirts instead of her kimono. Nate could only stare at his fiance with confusion, "Why are you wearing my shirt?"
"I've been wearing the same kimono for like, one hundred and ninety years," Damona scoffed, "it needed to be washed, and I don't have any other clothes."
"Ok, you got me there, but what about her?" the boy replied pointing at Insomni.
"I can't borrow any of Insomni's clothes, they don't have leg holes," Damona replied.
"I mean why is she here?" Nate clarified.
"Oh, that. Yeah I met her in Blossom Heights and thought we could hang out tonight," the demon girl replied, "she's SUPER hardcore."
"I've gone entire months without even a wink!" Insomni added causing both yokai girls to burst out giggling.
"Ugh, are you two gonna do this all nyight?" Jibanyan asked, "Insomnyi even being here is making it hard to sleep already!"
"Nah, I'm a party girl," Insomni replied, "I can't be held up here all night!"
"We were thinking of going out, heard there's this cute cafe that serves yokai downtown!" Damona added.
"Oh no you don't, you think I trust you alone after the exorcist incident?" Nate asked.
"I won't be alone, Insomni will be with me!" the demon girl answered.
"She's dressed like a stripper," Nate said bluntly while trying to keep that thought out of his head, "I don't think that's a good sign."
"Fine, you can come with us," Damona sighed admitting defeat.
"No I can't, if my parents wake up and I'm gone, they'll freak!" Nate protested.
"With all due respect, master Nate… -_-" No-bot said surprising everyone in the room with it's sudden appearance, "there is a way that you can chaperone Mistress Damona without your parents knowledge of your departure. -_-"
"Wait, really?" the human replied.
"Of course, I can have a holographic image of you replace you, so if your parents awaken they will be none the wiser. :D" the yopple-bot said as its chest cavity opened up revealing a projector. The projector lit up showing an image of a sleeping Nate on the bed.
"Well… I guess as long as I get back by morning it'll be fine," Nate said.
"Good, now go get dressed," Damona demanded.
"As soon as you change back into your kimono," Nate replied.
"It's still in the wash," the half oni said with her signature grin, "not sorry!"
After a few minutes, Nate and the two yokai girls snuck out of the hotel, Nate making sure to tuck the key in his pocket.
"So you're seriously going out in nothing but my shirt?" the boy asked damona.
"Relax, I plan to get some more clothes for myself anyway," Damona said brushing the comment off.
"So where's this cafe you heard about?" Insomni asked her demonic friend.
"Downtown," Damona said motioning them to follow. What none of them knew, was they were being watched. From the shadows a certain lion-dog watched them, from his scarf he pulled a picture of Nate's family, "Well what've here?"
"So yeah, evidently some yuki-onna owns it, so I think I'm gonna-" Damona said before they all heard something behind them. When nate turned around he didn't see anything, but then Damona said, "Uh, what do you want?"
That was Nate's que another yokai had showed up. He used his watch and it revealed a yokai that was very similar to one of Katie's yokai friends, except taller and thinner.
"You wouldn't happen to have been in the Adams house… say 2 days ago?" The yokai asked.
Damona's eyes narrowed in suspicion, "why do you want to know?"
"Just curious," he said taking out a strand of dark purple hair, hair that was the same color as Damona's, "this wouldn't happen to be yours, would it? Found it at the scene of an assault… on an exorcist."
"Awe crap, he's a familiar!" Damona said before firing a blast at the lion dog. The other yokai jumped to the side, firing a blast of blue flame. The fire traveled quickly and hit damona strait in the stomach, burning a whole in the shirt. Damona felt a sting of intense pain concentrated in the wound, knocking her to the ground. She moved her arms to see a burn mark on her navel. She stood up but felt the sting again. Her eyes widened in shock, "it didn't heal, but it always heals, no yokai has ever hurt me enough for a mark to last. What's going on?!"
"Damona!" Nate screamed running to her aid, he saw the marking on her stomach, "that looks bad."
"What in tarnation?" the lion dog said in response to this display.
Insomni's eye narrowed, "just what do you think you're doing!"
"Ma job!" the other yokai shot back, "stay out'a this or else."
"I don't think so," the cyclops yokai said before her aura began to swirl around her eye, "Never. Sleep. Ever."
A crimson circular beam began to shoot out of her eye towards the lion dog, shooting into his chest.
"Aah, ma eyes!" He screamed in alarm as said organs became bloodshot.
"Let's go!" Insomni said floating away.
Nate scooped up Damona Bridle style and began to follow her, "is he stunned?"
"Yeah, being physically unable to blink does that to you," the yokai replied.
"Wow, you are hardcore," Nate said in surprise.
"Save the compliments for when we're in the clear," Insomni replied.
The group had been able to get a good to blocks before nate heard something behind them. He turned his head to see the lion-dog sprinting after them, looking pretty pissed off.
"This guy just won't quit!" Insomni said in panic.
"I-insom-ni!" Damona forced out.
"Huh, what is it?" Insomnia asked.
"In… inspirit.." Damona tried to say, but the pain was too much to bare.
"I think she wants you to inspirit her," Nate said before it clicked, "Of course, if you inspirit her, her cursed skin will let her overpower that oversized pug!"
"Are you sure you can handle it?" Insomni asked the injured yokai. Damona forced a nodd. The cyclops yokai began to swirl her aura, spreading it to damona. Just like with dismarelda, the aura turned chaotic. The injured half demon mustered enough strength to float upward, she began to swirl her the aura into a sphere. The Lion dog skitted to a halt at the sight of the unholy orb, then braced himself for the attack.
"S-SHINY CHAOS!" Damona cried launching the orb towards her attacker. The chaotic aura knocked him back several blocks, the earth breaking at his feet. At some point, the aura faded… and the Lion-dgo fell to the ground, out cold.
The aura around damona faded as well, and she fell back into Nate's arms.
"Let's go before gets back up," Insomni said as both she and Nate took off.
About fifteen minutes later, the three of them came back into the hotel room. Nate immediately set Damona on the bed. Jibanyan seeing the frantic look on his friends face, came to his side.
No-bot took notice and dropped the false Nate projection, "Master Nate, what has befallen Mistress Damona? o_o"
"We got attacked, she got hit pretty bad," Nate sighed.
"I will tend to her injuries. :(" No-bot said taking out bandages.
"Is she gonnya be ok?" Jibanyan asked with a worried look.
"I don't know," Nate said.
"I'll do anything I can to help," Insomni said holding her medal out towards the human.
The distressed boy took it, "thank you, I just don't know who would do this."
Meanwhile, Komane was scarfing down an ice-cream cone, a scowl on his face. He took out a black phone and dialed a number, soon after someone on the other end picked up.
"What is it, Komane?" the man said.
"Gabe, yur gonna wanna hear this," Komane said finishing his ice-cream as his wounds began to heal.