~Easier To Run~

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AN: The thingies { and } mean the person is speaking telepathically, ok?
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Chapter 4: The Burning
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Mare sprinted down the road after the firetrucks, hoping against hope that wherever the Makinos were, they were safe. All she could think of was, if anything happened to them she wouldn't be able to live with herself. They were the closest thing to a family she had.

As she grew closer to the ranch, she began to see the black smoke above the trees much more clearly through the night sky. It looked like Yusuke had been right--it was serious. Not slowing down for a second, Mare was tempted to transform into her horse form to get there faster...but with all those humans around, it just wouldn't work. The scenery was all a blur to her now; she only paid attention to reaching the Makinos' ranch as quickly as possible.

Turning down another road, Mare could now see the flickering of a bright light through the trees that separated the ranch from the rest of the city. She tore through the tiny forest and suddenly stopped dead at the clearing, seeing the bright orange-red flames dancing atop of the house. Her hands went to cover her mouth in shock. How could this happen? She watched as the five or six fire trucks parked as close to the burning house as possible. Twenty or so humans dressed in yellow jumped out of the fire trucks and immediately began hooking up tan hoses to the trucks. After doing this, they aimed the hoses at the burning house and water began streaming out of them onto the fire.

The house was burning very fast. Mare had to make sure that the Makinos were safe. She took off running towards all the commotion. Running past all the red trucks, she began to look around frantically for her human family.

One of the men in the yellow suits noticed her and put a hand on her shoulder to stop her.

"I'm sorry miss, we can't let you past this area," he said.

"But what about the family?" She asked him. "Are they all right?"

He gave her a quick nod. "They're fine. They weren't home when the fire started." He motioned towards a family of four huddled together, watching helplessly as the fire swallowed up their house and everything inside it.

Mare looked back at the fireman. "What about the horses?"

"They're all out in the pasture," he answered. "We don't think the fire will spread to the barn, but we're keeping a close eye on the animals just in case."

Mare nodded silently, and the fireman left to help his comrades. Crossing her arms, she hugged herself tightly and looked at the ground. How could she let this happen? She had sworn to protect the Makinos, and now she had let them down.

Hearing the sound of hurried footsteps approaching her, Mare turned around. Yusuke, Kurama, and Kuwabara were there. They all saw the sadness in her eyes, and exchanged sympathetic looks.

"Is your family all right?" Kurama asked gently.

"Yes," Mare nodded.

"How did this happen?" Yusuke wondered. Mare had been wondering the exact same thing, herself. It could be a number of different things. She knew that the Makinos were very cautious about fire hazards, so it wasn't likely that they had been careless and left something on. Suddenly, something out of the corner of her eye made her look over at the forest.

"What is it?" Kurama wanted to know, although she got the feeling that he had seen it too.

"I'm not sure," she replied, keeping her eyes trained on that same spot. What she was sure of was, they were being watched. Suddenly she saw a flash of somebody's face in her mind--light orange skin, dark crimson-colored spiky hair and fiendish yellow eyes. Grinning evilly. But after a split second, the image was gone. Who could that be? After a moment's thought, Mare dismissed it from her mind. Right now, the owner of that face was the least of her worries. She turned her attention back to the fire, which was slightly decreasing in size.

She shook her head. "I can't believe I let this happen," she said before she could stop herself. The others looked at her in confusion.

"What are you talking about?" Kuwabara asked. "This wasn't your fault!"

Mare shook her head again, and suddenly the face flashed in her mind again. This time she also heard his voice: {You have been warned.} She gasped suddenly, and looked around frenziedly for the source of the sound. He, whoever 'he' was, had used telepathy to speak to her. Warned about what? She glanced at the others. Yusuke and Kuwabara were staring at the blazing fire, but Kurama's expression had gone from sympathetic to serious, almost as if he'd heard the message as well.

Mare stared at the spot by the forest where she thought she had seen something run by. {Warned about what?} She asked. There was a long pause. {Answer me!}

{You can't escape us...Phedra.} The voice replied. And then it was gone.

"What on Earth...?" Suddenly it all clicked. Her head snapped over to the Makinos. They had been a target. But...Thuurei was dead...wasn't she? "No," Mare answered herself. "She's alive."

She had Kurama's full attention now. "What are you saying?" He wondered, no longer feeling the need to pretend he didn't know she was a demon. "Explain what's going on."

Mare only shook her head. "I'm a danger to them. I have to leave." She began to take a few steps backward. "They'll be safer without me here."

"Wait," Kurama began, "please tell me..." But she had already turned down the road and was running away from them as fast as she could. Yusuke and Kuwabara turned around, watching her go.

"Mare! Where are you going?" Yusuke called after her, but received no answer.

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Yukina and Kayko had just barely turned onto the last road and were running as fast as they could.

"Those boys!" Kayko fumed as she and Yukina panted their way down the road. "I can't believe they just took off without us!"

"Oh my gosh," Yukina stopped as the two girls suddenly noticed the bright glow the flames were giving off even from about a half mile away. It was like a giant night-light.

"Oh, no!" Kayko cried out. "Poor Mare!" They were about to continue running when suddenly an ear-splitting neigh sounded in the night. Stopping dead in their tracks, the two girls watched as a beautiful coffee-colored horse with a long maroon mane and tail raced past them. It seemed to slow down a bit when it went by them, turning its head slightly. The fierce--yet at the same time amiable--blue eyes stared into theirs, gazing into the depths of their souls. It felt very eerie and strangely comforting at the same time. It only lasted a second, but it seemed like a lot longer. Before they knew it, the horse was shooting on down the road and the connection broken.

Kayko shivered involuntarily. "That was odd... I felt like I knew that horse somehow."

"Yes, I know how you feel," Yukina replied, also with a hint of uneasiness. They looked up as three figures came running down the road in the same direction as the horse--Kurama in the lead, followed by Yusuke, and then Kuwabara. All seemed to be in disbelief.

"Hey!" Kayko yelled as they all ran past her and Yukina.

"Sorry Kayko, this is important!" Yusuke yelled over his shoulder as they kept running.

Kayko sighed impatiently. "YUSUKE!"

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Pronunciations:

Thuurei (Too-ray)

Phedra (Fed-rah)

AN: Yeah, short chapter, I know. The next one will be longer, and also EVERYTHING will be explained in case you're very confused, which you probably are. Don't worry, you should be. It'll all make sense in the next chapter. Don't forget to review, and many thanx for reading my fic! ^_^

Next Chapter: The Truth Comes Out