Christmas break is over!! Wha!!!!!! No fair!!!! I only got a week off of school because my school sucks ass!!!!!!!! Wha!!!!!!!!!!! Anyway, time to thank reviewers!!!!!!

C.T. Saiyukily Twisted- I know I said he'd be coming out in the next chapter, but I thought I'd put him in this one instead. Sorry!! He will be in this one though and you can take a swing at him!! And if you need a new bat I got more!!

Devil Angel- Here's the chapter to answer all your questions!!! Can't spoil it!! Sorry!!

By the way, sorry it took so long for me to put this chapter up but it was typed up in the school computers so I couldn't post it!! Sorry!! But it's up now, and I'm working on the next chapter!! Hope you like this one!!

Chapter 8

The flames still roared brightly behind Sanzo and the others but did nothing to brighten the room behind the door. The smell of old blood and rotting flesh became even stronger when the door was opened. Goku had to cover his nose to try and block out the stench.

"Well, now we know where that smell is coming from, but what's causing it?" Gojyo asked as he looked around the darkened room.

"Let's find out," Sanzo said as he stepped into the room, gun in hand. Unlike the first room, no flames roared to life to lighten the area. Gojyo followed him with the others pulling out his shakujou staff while Goku grasped his Nyoi-Bo. None of them had any idea as to what type of creature lay in the confines of the room. They walked carefully into the room, their only light source being that of the flames that were lit from the outside, which soon went out the moment they stepped out of the room, leaving them in darkness. What they didn't suspect was to be watched by a pair of dark red eyes.

Goku looked around, trying to see anything. What he didn't expect was to fall flat on his face from tripping over something. "Ow! What the…?" He looked around to find what it was he tripped on. He felt along the floor for the object, and his hand came in contact with something hard and around. He lifted it to his eyes for a better look before paling slightly. In his hand lay the skull of some unfortunate youkai. The skull was missing its lower jaw and the back had a hole in it the size of his fist.

Cool satin cloth slipped over bare skin as Hitachi got dressed into her own clothes. In the chest they found all of their bags lying on the bottom. On the lid of the chest, Hitachi's sword and Kirashi's flutes were attached to the back fabric like a display. Each of the girls had grabbed their bags and gotten dressed in their normal clothes.

Hitachi wore a satin shirt given to her from the last village they had visited. It was an off white color with very small, light blue beads sewn around the color in an elegant yet simple design that looped elegantly at the very base of the V-neck. Her pants were loose and comfortable, made of the same fabric with the same type of beading leading down the side of the legs. On her feet she wore a pair of comfortable sandals that laced up her legs only a little bit. Around her neck was a necklace made of a leather strap and a stone-carved charm hanging from it, given to her by one of the village women.

Kirashi preferred to wear her baggy jeans that hung low on her hips and had jean chains hanging from it, different charms from the villages clasped on the chains. She wore a shirt made of leather that came from one of the first villages they had stayed at. It looked more of a vest than anything and only buttoned in the center of her chest, leaving her upper chest and stomach bare to the world. On her feet, she wore a pair of black leather boots with a two-inch heel on them. How she could fight in them, no one understood. Her hair flowed freely as usual. Around her neck was a black choker that had a metal symbol on it. At the moment, she was placing each of her flutes in their rightfully hidden places among her body and clothes.

Maki wore what looked like a long skirt, but was actually a pair of loose, flowing pants that were the color of the setting sun. Her shirt was the same color. It clung tightly to her body, but the long sleeves were only tight down to her elbow. From there, they flared out to be just as flowing as the pants. She had replaced the kimono string with her usual hair tie, but she also wore a sunset red headband to help keep her wild bangs out of her face. She wore a pair of red slip-on shoes that were just as comfortable as her clothes. She also wore a necklace about her neck that was given to her from one of the children in the villages. It was made of fine turquoise beads that were placed at every inch of the necklace.

Julin preferred more of the cute look than anything. She wore a flowing white skirt that reached her mid-thigh and had beads lining the bottom. She wore a white shirt with a folding collar that had 3/4 length sleeves. Over that, she wore a black vest that had no buttons and just slipped on over the white shirt. The collar of the shirt was laid flat against her body, leaving her upper chest and neck bare. Black leather boots that reached just below her knee were on her feet, but these boots didn't have a two-inch heel. On the ends of her braids, she had put a ribbon that hung down from each of them. On her upper chest lay a sword charm hanging down from the chain around her neck, handed down to her years ago by village men.

Each of the girls grabbed their bags, glad to have their rightful belongings back again. They were even happier to be back into their own clothes. Though the clothes the guys had given them were comfortable, they preferred clothes that actually fit and were more to their own tastes. What none of them noticed was the person hidden within the shadows, watching them with eyes fit to kill.

Goku yelped and tossed the skull away. Bones of both human and youkai lay scattered on the floor of the dark room. Shreds of old flesh and muscle lay on the ground, clinging to some of the bones they had been torn from. Swords and weapons lay shattered or splintered among the bones, showing that there was at least some battle between the creature and the unfortunate beings, the creature obviously winning.

"This ain't no bedroom that's for sure. This is a freakin graveyard," Gojyo said as he picked up one of the skulls on the ground, one being of human kind.

Hakkai knelt down and looked at the bones. "From the looks of these, I'd say most of these people were females. There are some males here, but they're mostly all females."

"Now how in the hell can you tell that?" Gojyo said as he looked at the bones. There were no signs of flesh or of any clothes that would suggest these bones were from women.

"The pelvis size mostly. Women's pelvises are larger than males because they are the ones who bare children," Hakkai explained.

"So because the pelvises are bigger, they're females? Damn," Gojyo said, scratching the back of his head in thought. He never thought that women and men would have different sized bones, just that they had different body parts.

"The question isn't whether they're female or male. The question is," Sanzo said as he looked at the bones, "what killed them?"

Goku wasn't paying too much attention to what the others were saying. He was too busy exploring the room. He swore he could've heard something coming from somewhere, but what and where he couldn't say. He looked around, avoiding some of the bones that lay scattered mostly on that side. Something was in there with them. Something really bad.

A pair of glowing red eyes watched as Goku circled around one of the columns in the room. The creature watched him with hunger. Though the blood of the female youkai was good, it wasn't enough to satisfy her hunger for food. She had the keeper of the inn under her control, luring in un-expecting youkai and humans into her lair to feed upon. But these four had wondered in on their own. She had to be careful though. These four seemed dangerous. She would have to pick them one by one and separate them from each other before killing them. She would pick apart one or two of them, but leave the rest to her nest of eggs that slept quietly in the shadows, ready to hatch any day. She would feed them the bodies, letting them have their first taste of flesh before releasing them onto the village to feed on their own.

She had to do it swiftly, without alarming them. The innkeeper could handle the four youkai who escaped. She slowly crept down the column behind Goku, making sure to stay to the shadows so that he wouldn't see. The other three were too busy talking about the bones. Lovely set of souvenirs, aren't they? She was determined to add these four to her collection.

"Come on. If we leave now, we can go and get those bastards back for what they did to us," Hitachi said. Each of the other three youkai could tell that she was pissed at the innkeeper. They couldn't blame her either. They were pretty pissed themselves at what they did to them.

"Yeah, let's beat them into the ground!" Julin yelled with excitement. It had been a while since they had a real good fight. Most of the youkai that they ever fought were weak and died within only ten minutes of the battle, which made it quite boring.

"Yeah, I'm ready for some ass kickin," Kirashi said. She was always ready for a good fight now and then. Mostly she just loved to use her flutes and watch with amusement as enemy fell into the trap.

"Alright, then let's go," Maki said with a smile. No one really knew about her. Usually if there was a fight, she'd join in with a smile. It was strange, how even though she seemed polite and nice, she could turn into one mean ass bitch in less time than it takes to blink.

"Let's hurry," Hitachi said as she started to quickly run out. She stopped suddenly as a dagger landed on the floor in front of her. She paused and looked around the room. "Show yourself!"

A small laugh echoed through the room, making it nearly impossible to find out exactly which direction it was coming from. Their eyes were then turned towards the shadows as they sound stopped echoing to center on one source. The innkeeper slowly stepped from the shadows, but he was completely different. He skin was paste white and barely clinging to his bones. His eyes were gone and his teeth were rotted to the core. Instead of looking like a plump, cheery man, he looked like a walking corpse.

"I'm afraid I can't let you leave here. You see, master is feeding and will probably need more food," the innkeeper said through this laughter.

"I'm not gonna get eaten by anyone! If you wanna fight, then bring it on you old man!" Kirashi yelled as she dropped her bag onto the floor.

"Kirashi! Wait!" Hitachi yelled, but it was too late. Her sister had already started to run towards the innkeeper, fists raised and ready to pound him. She never made it though. As soon as she was within arms reach of him, the innkeeper grabbed her wrist in an iron grip and lifted her off the ground. The others watched in horror as the innkeeper flipped Kirashi lover and slammed her onto the hard ground. Kirashi winced at the pain that shot through her body.

The innkeeper laughed once more as he stood. "You wont be leaving here anytime soon I'm afraid."

Hitachi glared at him. This was going to be harder than she thought it would be. But then again, she didn't think it was going to be so easy to get out either. Well, at least now they'll have some fun.

Goku looked around as he walked farther into the darkness, making sure he was still in sights view of the others. He could feel that there was something here. He just couldn't tell what or where it was. It was then that he felt it. Something laying on his shoulder. When he looked at his shoulder, he saw nothing at first. After a moment, he saw it. The thinnest of threads similar to the ones that were used on the girls to hold them up. Goku gently lift the fine thread and felt it. It was sticky and hard to get off his fingers, similar to that of a…

"Well, obviously something has been in here for some time to be able to eat this many people," Hakkai said as he stood back up.

"Yeah, but what and where is it?" Gojyo said. No one had time to reply. Their heads snapped up at the sound of Goku's yell.

"Goku!" Hakkai yelled. Sanzo quickly ran in the direction of the yell, Hakkai and Gojyo at his heels. Once they turned the corner, they found Goku half sitting half laying on the ground.

"Goku! What happened!?" Gojyo said as the three gathered around him.

Goku swallowed a bit and pointed up towards the top of one of the columns. "That!" The others looked up in the direction he was pointing and stared.

There, perched high on the ceiling was the biggest spider they had ever seen. Its long legs were covered in hair, and its eight eyes were crimson red. The body was huge and black with a dark red belly and a red stripe down the back. Its mouth was open and looked ready to devour them whole. A long trail of sticky thread hung down behind it, more of the bones tangled within it along with partically decomposed bodies of young women.

"That is disgusting!" Gojyo yelled as he looked at the bodies of the women. "How can someone do that to such delicate beauties!?"

"Ok, I think we have some problems now," Hakkai said as he looked at the creature. At least this explains all the bones.

Wow, this chapter is longer than the rest of them. Five pages long!! And that doesn't include the response to the reviews and this part. Wow. Anyway, there she is!! The disgusting 'master' for ya! Hope you like it! I know it sucked though!