Chapter 7

Horror by Moonlight

Lil sat by the hospital bed, watching her grandfather sleep a deadly sleep. The metal frame surrounding the sides of the bed were tangled with various tubes linking to the man's veins. He looked calm and peaceful; even his moustache was still curled. Lil had been by his side since 6 pm; the clock now read 12 pm. Her head bobbed sleepily, struggling to stay awake. Oh, Grampa. What's happening? Where did this evil come from? Why did it do this to you? She mused sadly. The lights in the room had been dimmed. She stood up and walked down the hall to the snack machine. She returned with an armful of snack foods that would do to sustain her: three Root beers, popcorn, Cheese puffs, a giant bag of M&M's, and a giant bag of Reese's pieces.

She thought about how James would scold her or eating so much junk food. Laughing, she laid out her unhealthy buffet and dared him to wake up so he could scold her. Playing Tetris on her cell phone occupied her brain for a while. "Hey," a soft voice said. It was Botan. Lil turned and greeted her. Botan sat down in a chair beside Lil returned to her Tetris game. "Kurama told us what happened."

"How is every one?"

"They're all fine; a little depressed for you, but they're safe and sound. I flew up here to check on you. I wanted to see you for myself, not just talk on the phone."

"I'm fine." She said glumly. The silence lasted for a quarter of an hour. Botan said in a very quiet voice, as if someone else was listening in, "There is definitely a specter in your grandfather's house. I don't know where it came from or what it wants, but it is stationary to only the house."

"The others should leave the house and find a hotel to stay in."

"No," Botan said, "We went off the property and talked it over. We're all staying to help you and James."

"That's nice of you all, but you are in danger."

"That doesn't matter to us. We've been in worse scrapes then this and come out alive." Botan's eyes and jaw were set firmly. Lil smiled tiredly. "Get some rest," Botan draped a blanket from a nearby closet over her shoulders and made her lie down on a row of lined up chairs. "I'll keep watch for a while."

"Thanks, for everything."

Hiei stealthily flitted through the darkened halls, on patrol. The girls, and Jin stayed in Shizuru and Botan's room with at least a dozen old-fashioned candle-lamps with the bulb shaped glasses over them to keep the wind from snuffing them out. They had no more light bulbs after the incident that afternoon. Yusuke, Kurama, Touya and Hiei were on patrol around the house and grounds for any sign of supernatural activity. Hiei was assigned to the top floor and roof. The fourth floor was not much to patrol at all, but it was the spookiest part of the house in the dark.

The second half of the fourth floor was blocked; or was, until Hiei shoved the piano out of the way. The exposed door behind it was unlocked. He opened the door and carefully entered the room. It was empty, but for a small window near the slanted ceiling. This very window was on the small tower where Yukina and Lil clung for dear life in the rain. He looked out of the window; it gave a small view of the woods behind the house. He rubbed his hands on his arms to keep himself warm; wait… Hiei never got cold. The door snapped shut. He spun around, drawing his sword. His Jagan glowed a deep purple; the Presence was near. He blew out foggy breaths in the cold, cold room. "Back. Off." He snarled to the darkness around him the freeze lifted and his breaths became invisible again. The doorbell rang, nearly making him jump out of his skin.

Lil and Botan cautiously entered the front door from leaving the hospital. Kurama and Touya escorted the girls to the room where the others were. "How is he?" Jin asked; the rest of the girls were sleeping. Lil wiped her nose drearily, "He's stable, but he's still in a coma."

"We're taking turns keeping watch. We rotate by the hour; Shizuru has the next watch." Lil nodded and made herself a pallet on the floor to sleep on. She wiped her eyes repeatedly; Jin sat beside her and ran his hand through her hair. "Don't be sad lass, everything will be okay."

"How can you guarantee that, Jin?" she said, sadly.

"How can you not believe he will be? You're so optimistic, but when things turn bad you forsake all hope! Shame on you!" he said, wagging a finger. "Practice what you preach, lass. I have faith; your granda' is a' sturdy as they come, and there ain't nothing we can't do when we want to do it. We can beat this." Lil smiled, "I'm sorry Jin." and went to sleep. Jin's watch ended and Shizuru's began. The moonlight waned, and one by one, they served their watch. At about 3 AM, Lil was sitting up to watch, when she had to use the restroom. She reached for the doorknob and turned it. The door stuck; the lock had accidentally been left turned and the door locked from the inside out. "Gotta go, gotta go!" she thought impatiently. A light bulb appeared over her head. Her room was just next-door; she could go there, couldn't she? She would only be gone for a moment. Slipping quietly out the door, she darted into her room and relieved the building pressure accordingly.

She stepped out after washing her hands, cautiously turning her head this way and that. Lil saw her balcony door open, and swinging with the wind that she could not feel. She walked forward to close it and heard faint laughter. It came from outside, so she followed it onto the balcony. She looked around but saw no one. Her instincts were going crazy, sirens and lights went off in her head, but she stayed still. The laughter came again; she looked up to the tower with the very small window she had dangled from just the night before. She could make out a pale face just behind the glass; it was the little girl. Lil felt a pair of hands on her shoulders and she fell over the edge of the rail. She screamed; and was engulfed by heat.

By the time she stopped trembling, she realized it was Hiei's fiery body heat that warmed her. He leapt down from the roof and caught her. "Baka onna, what are you doing here?" he scowled.

"The little girl, " she whispered. Hiei's glare melted away, he said, "It has become hostile." He jumped back up onto the balcony and set Lil down. "Go back to the watch, the sun will rise in a couple of hours." He said. Lil nodded and scurried back to Shizuru and Botan's room.

The sun rose behind a dark, dangerous cloud. Lil returned to the hospital with Yukina and Keiko. The others walked a little more freely in the house, straying to different areas in twos and threes, and replaced some light bulbs. No sign of Her had been noted since Lil was on the balcony. Hiei had returned to the room in the attic. The Presence that threatened him was the strongest in this room. Perhaps the little girl had lived in this house at one time; perhaps this was her bedroom. The yokai sensed him before he entered the room, but Kurama's voice still startled him. "Any clues?"

"None here that I can see."

"Maybe its something we can't see here."

"Like what? The walls feel splintery, the air smells dusty, and don't even try to ask me to lick something in here."

"No, I meant something not here." The red head approached the small window, gazing out. "I have a feeling there is something crucial about this room we're missing, even though it's bare."

"You're the thief; you're supposed to be good at finding what's hidden." Hiei said, leaving the room. Kurama stayed behind, for a moment. 'We can no longer ignore this spirit; that only angers it… Where did you come from? What do you want?' he thought. James was the only one who knew anything about the house, and he was in a coma. His fist slammed on the wall, "Damn it! What am I missing?!" Kurama rarely got angry or lost control. He looked at his reflection in the glass of the window. His face was lined with his frown, his eyes were wider than usual, and the green had shrunk, making him look deranged. Resting his head on his hand, he sighed and exited the room. "Maybe I'll have a cup of coffee; with lots of cream and sugar. Yeah? Yeah." He seemed to be talking to himself.

Several minutes later, Touya, Jin, and Hiei were in the kitchen, twitching uncontrollably, and holding large mugs of steaming brew. "This stuff is great, I can't believe I never bothered to try this stuff! Hee hee hee!!" Kurama chattered, taking another swig of the unfiltered caffeine. Jin was sitting on the table with a huge grin, holding his cup, "Javajavajavajavajavajavajavajavajavajava-" Touya was watching the others curiously, eyeing his mug suspiciously. Hiei took up post in the middle of the kitchen floor, hopping up and down at an alarming speed, like a Russian dancer. "This stuff is great!! Heh, coffee, coffee, coffee! Where do they get this stuff?" he said, spilling his coffee on the floor due to his bouncing, but not noticing.

"Colombia." Kurama said, draining his mug.

"Colombia? Oh it's the best, we should go there!!"

Jin leapt off the table and drifted toward the ceiling, "We can go there now! Huh, lets go to Colombia and get more coffee!!" Touya discreetly dumped his coffee down the sink, not wishing to be tainted by the draft of maniacs. Jin saw this and jabbed a finger at him. "Sacrilege!! He has slandered the drink of Colombia by destroyin' it and refusin' the bitter goodness!!" Kurama and Hiei turned on Touya with narrowed eyes. The ice master's eyes became very wide; if he had pupils, they would have shrunk to dots by now. The three coffee addicts tackled him to the ground and force-fed him raw coffee grounds. He choked trying to scream for help and coughed the grounds up in a spitty cloud like a whale spouting. Jin dumped the remainder of the coffee pot, which had cooled to a safe temperature, into Touya's mouth. Poor Touya had to swallow in order to clear the grounds out of his throat.

Shivering convulsively, he slammed his head on the floor. The three stared at him, taking him for dead. "Did we kill'em?" Jin said fearfully. Touya sat up quickly, twitching uncontrollably. "Coffee is good!' he said in a high pitched voice. "He's a Brother!" Jin cried.

"Come friend! Let us fill our faces with caffeine and sugar products!" Kurama yanked Touya up and steered him toward the fridge.

The sun had set too soon, leaving the house in the shadow of the mountains and forest. Shiziuru walked into the kitchen, welcomed by the empty wrappers of coffee, candy, snacks, ice cream, and cake. The three boys who caused the mess were stationed at the table with bags of ice on their heads. "Too…much….sugar." Jin groaned.

"What happened?" Shizuru asked, though she had already guessed the answer. "Shh!" Kurama rubbed his temples, "Not so loud!"

"Well, maybe you will learn to eat junk food in moderation now." She said and left the room. Kurama looked out the window, into the sinking sun. "The sun is setting, shouldn't Lil and the girls have returned by now?" Hiei discreetly perked up at the mention of his sister. Touya glanced at the kitchen clock, "Hours ago, actually." He replied. A low rumble echoed down from the sky. Rain pattered on the window. Lightening flashed another clap of thunder shook the house.

Jin stared out the window, toward the entrance to the driveway. "Its not safe weather to be out in; it could flood." Thunder roared fiercely again. Even Hiei jumped in his seat at the deafening crack. Yusuke and Kuwabara passed through the kitchen with Shizuru behind them. "The weather says there's a dangerous storm coming this way." Shizuru said. "We have to get underground if this thunder storm turns into a twister." They heard another clap of thunder and a flash of lightening so bright it lit up the kitchen and blinded them. The lights went out. Yusuke dug a flashlight out of his pocket; ever since the night before, he was never without a source of light. "Follow me," he said and led them into the basement on an old wooden staircase. Kurama drew a lamp weed seed from his hair and stuck it in a knot in the wood. The yellow light filled the room and they inspected their surroundings. Many bundles of cured firewood were in the basement, as well as boxes of decorations for various holidays.

"What do we do now?" Kuwabara asked, "Keiko, Lil, and Yukina won't be able to get in if we're down here."

"Lets call her," Shizuru said and pulled her cell phone out of her pocket. She dialed the number and listened for the dial tone. "The line is busy," she concluded after hearing the busy signal instead of the dial tone, "the storm has the airways down."

"Tell me about it," Yusuke said, flipping through the channels of a pocket radio, "the radios were clear five minutes ago, and now I can't even get the Spanish channel."

Lil, Yukina, and Botan had left the hospital shortly after the sun went down. As they approached the estate, a sheet of rain poured down on them. Yukina, dressed as a normal human, had ridden on the back of James' motorcycle with Lil, while Botan flew on her oar above them. They stopped at the gate; Lil pressed the intercom button, but it made no response. "The power must be out." She said to the others. The wind whipped at them, "How can we get inside?" Yukina shouted over the wind. "We'll have to climb over." Lil, said, taking off her helmet; Yukina did the same.

"No, I can fly us over." Botan said, lowering herself nearer to the ground. Yukina and Lil climbed on her oar and they rose over the gate and flew toward the house. The wind forced them back again and again, but Botan was a good pilot, after all. Lightening flashed dangerously and the thunder was deafening. They finally made it to the front door, soaked to the marrow. Lil tried to knob, but it was locked. "Crap, they must be in the cellar, this storm is really bad. Lets check around the back; none of the windows would be open or unlocked anyway." She quickly led them around the house to the back door; it was also locked. She growled and slammed her fists on the door, cursing loudly.

Jin jumped up from the floor and flew to the door of the basement. "Somethin's a-whackin' on the back door," he said. Hiei rolled his eyes. "Things have been hitting the house since the storm started; branches, small stones, birds-" the sound of shattering glass was unmistakable. The teens jumped up and charged up the stairs and pressed their ears to the door. "Is it a burglar?" Kuwabara said.

"Maybe a branch flew through a window." Kurama hypothesized.

"May be its you-know-what." Touya whispered to him. Shizuru pulled everybody away from the door. "One or two of us has to go and check out what that noise was." No one volunteered. "Little brother, I nominate you; all in favor?" six 'aye's were heard.

"What? Why me?"

"Because you are the least useful, so if something happens to you, you are expendable." Hiei said.

"That's not cool, man!"

"Alright, you big chicken," Yusuke stepped forward on the stairs, "I'll go with you." Shizuru handed them flashlights and opened the cellar door. "I'm not a chicken, Urameshi!"

"Shh!" they crept through the house, slowly sweeping each room with the white flashlight beams. The pitch-blackness seemed to swallow them whole, stifling and thick. The house was too quiet now; the boys made it to the living room, shining their lights on the shattered bay window. The glass shards were pilled at the windowsill, with no sign of a branch or anything that could have broken it. "Lets get out of here, Urameshi!" Kuwabara whispered.

"We can't we have to find what ever broke the window." A pair of cold hands grabbed their shoulders, digging sharp nails into their skin. They screamed.

Ounuyoshe- sorry! School is kicking my butt! this story shouldn't take more than twelve or thirteen chapters. The sequal to silver and gold is in the makings,, and i'm being very delicate about it. please, i ask your patience with me!