Chapter 6

Peaceful daylight

Kurama was walking outside through the small garden. He only considered it small because the only visible tended flowers were nearer to the house; the rest melted in with the earth around the house. The plants were starting to die, but he knew they would return in the spring. He sat down on a cold, smooth slab of cement with a lattice back that served as a bench. A tall wide tree was growing behind the bench, shedding its leaves like dandruff in the brisk wind. The flaming red leaves fell around him like Armageddon. 'Its nice here away from the city; I can finally here the trees.' He picked a leaf from his hair and leaned against the latticework. The branches rustled in the wind, sending more leaves down on him.

"Hello, Hiei," he said without looking up. Said yokai made a small 'hn' before jumping to a lower branch on the tree. "Its very… quiet here." He commented bluntly. Kurama nodded, "Yes, I suppose it is, considering we're the only ones here. The others have fallen asleep at the breakfast table."

"Idiots must have stayed up too late."

"Yes, due to their activities in Lil's room, as well as on the roof…" he purposely left his sentence hanging for the fire yokai to want to pry.

"The roof…?"

"Yes, if I heard them correctly as they were in the halls, Yukina had been sleepwalking and ended up on the roof."

"WHAT?!"

"No worries, she was rescued by Jin and Lil; one could hear their bickering a mile away." Hiei had disappeared from the tree.

A shriek was heard from the house, then a loud crash. Kurama could not help but laugh. Hiei would be angry with Lil and Jin, but he would not hurt them. Badly. The wind master streaked by with Lil in his arms; Hiei quickly followed, sword drawn, swearing loudly. The chase ended when Jin flew into a tree, not breaking his neck by some stroke of divine intervention. Lil, who was still conscious, scrambled up said tree, the very one Kurama was sitting under, shouting challenges to Hiei. He followed her up the tree, and after several minutes of the tree thrashing about, they both fell from the branches, tired but at a truce.

Kurama picked the leaves out of his hair, having been showered with them during the fight. The poor tree was half bare in the chilly wind. "James has left the house, yes?" he asked. Lil nodded. "That is good; the sight of Jin flying would have given his heart a skip."

The remainder of the morning was spent making, eating and cleaning up the remains of breakfast. All but Touya, Kurama, Hiei, and Kuwabara had fallen asleep again in the living room. Touya, Kurama, and Hiei went to the third floor to spar a bit, leaving a lonely Kuwabara to watch TV. Lil woke from her much needed rest, having an odd feeling. She went to the kitchen and called her grandfather's cell phone. "Hello?" his voice was heard on the other end of the line.

"Grampa? There's something weird in the house."

"Weird? How so, dear?"

"Yusuke thinks there's a ghost in the house."

"You should know better than to believe in such things." He chided her like a child.

"You know how Gramma used to see… things, she said evil things grow stronger if you pay attention to them."

"So don't pay attention to it, it's as simple as that. Goodbye now, I have to get going."

"Bye," she hung up. She realized she was shivering. Looking at the thermostat, the mercury dropped quickly, like the weight in her stomach. Lil wrapped her arms around herself, watching her breath appear before her. Her toes went numb, and her feet stuck to the tile floor. The large windows in the kitchen went very dim and the lights flickered off. Lil closed her eyes, breathing slow, deep breaths, trying to block it all out. The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end; she could sense the Presence near her. Staying calm with a blank mind was becoming very difficult.

"Hey, Lil." Touya walked into the kitchen, followed by Kurama, Hiei was elsewhere. The lights came back on, and the temperature of the room shot back up, hitting her with a blast of heat. Lil still clenched her eyes shut, breathing slowly. "Lil? Are you alright?" Kurama touched her shoulder, where her hand was. He hissed through his teeth and pulled his hand away. "Your hands are freezing, and you're shaking! Is something wrong?"

Trembling, Lil opened her eyes and looked straight at him, "Don't say anything. Follow me." in a cloud of blonde, she tore out the back door and into the woods, leaving her grandfather's property. Kurama and Touya followed, stopping with her next to a stream about a quarter mile away from the house. Lil was leaning against a tree trying to catch her breath when the two yokai caught up with her. "Lil, what's going on?" Touya asked, giving her a strange look, furrowing his eyebrows and narrowing his eyes, as if she had a terrible secret.

"My grandfather's house is haunted." She said, staring at the stream, watching the water sparkle as it ran over the stones and pebbles.

"Haunted? Are you sure?" Kurama stated more than asked, in his logical voice.

"The light Yusuke saw, Yukina sleepwalking, the kitchen, it has to be a ghost." She was talking to herself, pacing and wringing her hands.

"Why exactly did you have us come out here?" the fox gestured to the trees round him.

"We can't talk about it in the house."

"Why not?"

"Hauntings derive their strength from peoples' attention. We'd just make it worse if we stayed." Touya looked back and forth the between them, staring at each other. Kurama looked at Lil like she was drunk and trying to convince him pigs could fly; Lil looked at him like he was an enemy. "If the house is haunted, why are signs showing now, and not in all the years James has lived there?"

"I don't know, but I'm sure about this."

"What do you suggest be done, if you can't talk about it indoors?" Touya said, stepping between them. Kurama put his hands in his pockets and looked at the ground. "Find the source of the Presence and try to fix it." Kurama found two pairs of eyes staring at him in disbelief. "Hey, that's what they do in the movies! We might as well try."

Lil pressed her fists together, "Lets do it."

The afternoon wore on and the evening came; the sun had set early and the inhabitants of the house went on merrily with their lives. Lil, and Kurama searched the house carefully and discreetly for any clue as to who lived in the house before James, or any events that happened around the surrounding property. They came up empty handed at 5 p.m. they flopped onto the couch in the living room. "Nothing." She sighed.

"Nada," he agreed.

"Zilch,"

"Zero."

The phone rang on the table beside her. She picked it up, "Hello? …Yes, this is she…WHAT?!" she jumped out of her seat. "…Oh…alright. Thank you for calling…bye…." She hung the phone up. "What's wrong?" Kurama stood up; Touya entered the living room hearing her scream. "Its Grampa, he was working…" she wrapped her arms around herself, "out of now where he had a heart attack. His coworkers don't know what caused it."

"Where is he now?" Kurama felt a weight settle in his stomach.

"He's in a coma at the hospital." Her voice cracked, tears coming to her eyes. She sat on the couch with her face in her hands. She could not yet cry, but she could not control herself either. Kurama and Touya sat down on either side of her, "Don't worry, Lil, he'll be fine. He's a strong man."

"I don't understand," she whimpered, "he doesn't smoke or drink and he's healthy as a man half his age. What could have-" her head snapped up. "It was-" Kurama covered her mouth, "Remember what your grandmother said about you-know-what." Lil leaned back on he couch and closed her eyes, ignoring the tears running down her face. Touya felt very bad for Lil, as did Kurama. The thought of losing something of great value was in their heads. The TV clicked on, showing static. "Kurama, this is no time to watch TV!" Touya said, disapprovingly.

The red head looked shocked, "That wasn't me!" Lil looked down at her seat, "Maybe someone sat on the remote." They checked all the way under the couch cushions and found nothing. "Very funny, guys! Come on out!" she said loudly. Kurama stared at Lil, "I don't sense any one else on this floor but us," she blanched, turning back to the TV. The static flickered across the screen. The lamps on either side of the couch flickered, and the light bulbs exploded. Lil jumped and screamed. The VCR mounted on the TV ejected a tape at an alarming speed. Touya pushed Lil to the floor, shielding her from any other attacks by the TV. Kurama eyed the tape wedged three inches into the drywall. "I don't think the You-know-what likes you, Lil."

"It isn't safe in this house anymore." Touya concluded. Lil sat up from being on her stomach. "What should we do? Should we warn the others?"

"No, we can't talk about it unless we're all off the property." Hiei appeared from a black flash. His Jagan was exposed and wide open. "Jiji is unwell; this house is-" he meant to say 'haunted' next but Lil stopped him.

"Shh! Shh! Sh!" Lil waved her arms. "Don't say it. You'll make it angry!"

"Yes, we just found out that James is in the hospital." Kurama helped Touya and Lil off the floor. "I believe that the next person to suffer will be Lil."

"What is your reasoning?" Hiei asked.

"Take a look at the tape stuck in the wall." Hiei's eyes flitted over to the tape and back. "I checked, and every other light bulb in this house has exploded. When night falls, there will be no light." He said.

"Lil," Kurama turned to her, "Go to James. He needs you with him, and it's not safe here."

"But, what about every one else? How can it be safe for them?"

"I don't know, but I do know you are in danger. Touya, Hiei and I can manage the house." Lil gave him the key to the house and put on her jacket. She took James's motorcycle in case the other's had need for the van. "Good bye," she waved, "and good luck," she whispered to Heaven.

Whew! finally off hiatus! Hows the story going? Like it? Does the plot need more? give me a call, it gonna get freaky in the next few chapters.