Chapter 10
The Revelation
"What? What have you got?" Yusuke asked.
"I know where Chesa's body is. She foresaw her own death and drew a picture of it, right?" Hiei and Kurama nodded, "She was electrocuted in the bathtub," he said.
"I read in a book about criminals that they leave evidence near the scene of the crime. Tear up all the bathrooms in the house and we'll find at least another clue, if not her body." Lil went out of the cellar one last time, followed by every one else. "Every one split into pairs with your roommates and search your bathrooms for anything suspicious. I'll check my bathroom alone, as much as I don't want to. "
They ran up stairs and separated, flung bath rugs around and pulled down curtains, overturned baskets and other things. They met back in the hall pair by pair and waited for Lil. "We left her alone again, damn it!" Yusuke cursed and ran into her room, kicking the door down to the bathroom. Lil lay face down on the floor, unconscious. "LIL!" Yusuke screamed; Chesa could reach her in the dream world and kill her. He picked her up and hastily set her on her bed. The others ran in and crowded around her. Kurama pushed his way through, checking her pulse. "Her heart is beating fast," he said. Hiei removed the ward to his Jagan, "her mind is racing; she is in the girl's control." She began to twitch spasmodically.
"Neural kinetics, heart rate, blood pressure; all are way higher than they should be. She's having a heart attack." Kurama turned and looked at the clock, "one hour until midnight, the fourth."
How can you see into my eyes like open doorsLeading you down into my core
Where I've become so numb
Lil stood in the darkness, bristling. "Why are you doing this to us, Chesa? We don't want hurt you, we just want to help!"
Without a soul my spirit sleeping somewhere coldUntil you find it there and lead it back home
A little girl walked into view, "I don't want you to take papa away from me like mommy did. You won't take my happiness away!" She growled, her eyes changing into reptilian orbs. Next to Chesa, a large brown animal appeared looking like something from her drawings. "Kill her," Chesa commanded, pointing towards Lil. With a shriek, the teen bolted in the opposite direction, into a crayon-drawn forest. The beast charged after her on its unevenly shaped legs, snapping its mouth full of sharp teeth. A huge bird with scissor-like talons swooped out of the sky and made a grab for Lil. "Chesa, stop this! We don't want to fight you!" she cried. Images of the little girl's face floated around her, laughing. Lil came to a crooked house; it was very familiar. She ran in and tore up the stairs as more ghastly animals chased her. Lil tripped and fell on her front on the stairs. Turning, she watched the animals come closer to her, growling and gnashing their teeth; she put her hands up, screaming.
Hiei's mind raced, they had only one way of helping her while she was in this state. Putting two of his fingers together, he jabbed Kurama in the neck; Kurama fell over unconscious. "What are you doing, Hiei!" Yusuke shouted.
"Killing us." He said, pressure-pointing the others. "We can leave our bodies and help Lil in the dream world; if we hurry, we can still make it back to our bodies before we die." After they all had fallen to the floor, he pressured himself and fell to the floor, twitching. The flow of blood to his brain was slowly constricting, he had about ten minutes before he was dead. His spirit popped out of is body, hovering over his self. He looked at the others lying on the floor, "C'mon! Get out! You can come out of your bodies and be back before you die! We have to help Lil!"
Wake me upWake me up inside
I can't wake up
Wake me up inside
Save me
Call my name and save me from the dark
Wake me up
Bid my blood to runI can't wake up
Before I come undone
Save me
Save me from the nothing I've become
Yusuke shuddered violently and arched his back, a transparent image flowing out of him. Yusuke's ghost form floated over his body. "Am I dead?" he asked as the others were released from their bodies. Hiei lead them all into Lil's head and into her dream. "Lets kick some ghost butt!" Kuwabara said, flying through the childish forest. They came to the house and burst through the door; each of the ten companions wore a scowl and attacked the monsters in the house with their fists, even Yukina. Lil was freed from the grasp of a clawed animal. Several deep cuts had appeared on her skin. "You came for me?" she asked.
Now that I know what I'm without
You can't just leave me
Breathe into me and make me real
Bring me to life
"Of course we did!" Botan said cheerily. Hiei pushed the bubbly ferry-girl out of the way, "Lil, your heart; you're going to die if this dream keeps up. We can't stay here long; we have to get back to our bodies before time runs out."
Wake me upWake me up inside
I can't wake up
Wake me up inside
Save me
"I can't wake up until I find her, Hiei." Lil pleaded.
Yusuke nodded, "We'll stall these crappy creatures as long as we can, you just try to get through to Chesa." Before Lil could feel relieved, the walls oozed blood and the lights became dim and shadowy. Chesa stood at the top of the stairs; her brown hair stood on end, writhing like the head of Medusa. "You won't get papa away from me!" she roared in an unnatural voice.
Call my name and save me from the dark
Wake me up
Bid my blood to runI can't wake up
Before I come undone
Save me
Save me from the nothing I've become
"Chesa, your father is dead! He's probably been dead for years!" Lil said, slowly climbing the stairs towards the girl.
Frozen inside without your touch, without your love darling
only you are the life among the dead
The stairway stretched and became a jagged strip of land over an empty chasm of darkness. Flying monsters swirled around her as she struggled up the rocky stairs, clinging to the rail. The others fought the beasts as best as they could, unable to use reiki. Wind and lightning swept around them like some nightmare storm. "No! Papa isn't dead, you're lying!"
All this time I can't believe I couldn't see
Kept in the dark but you were there in front of me
I've been sleeping a thousand years it seems
Got to open my eyes to everything
Without a thought, without a voice, without a soul
Don't let me die here
There must be something more
"Chesa, it's been fifty years since your death." Lil said, dodging a demon-bird flying around her head. "Your father could not have lived that long to be alive to day. Please, you have to believe me! The man who lives here now is my grandfather!" The little girl's eyes wavered; tears welled up in the monstrous orbs. Lil came closer to the top, never breaking eye contact with her. "Your mother is dead too, she can't hurt you anymore. Please, stop this and let us help you."
"Lil, we're fading!" Yusuke cried. Lil looked back over her shoulder to him; his hands were becoming more and more transparent. "We have to get back to our bodies!"
"Give me a minute!" she yelled back. She turned back to the little girl, Chesa started to cry; her hair fell around her shoulders and the wind disappeared. The stairs began to shatter beneath their feet. Lil scrambled up the steps toward the falling child. Her companions screamed as they were sucked out of the dream world.
Wake me upWake me up inside
I can't wake up
Wake me up inside
Save me
Call my name and save me from the dark
Wake me up
Bid my blood to runI can't wake up
Before I come undone
Save me
Save me from the nothing I've become
The ground broke completely and Lil fell with Chesa. She grabbed the little girl out of the air; Chesa buried her face in Lil's shoulder, "I'm sorry!" she sobbed.
Bring me to lifeI've been living a lie, there's nothing inside
Bring me to life
Hiei woke up to a throbbing in his neck. He jabbed himself in the vital artery in his neck, reparing the damage to the vessel and the blood to his brain, roughly saving his own life. He quickly did the same to the others, pulling them away from death. Blood had started to come out of his nose by the time every one else was awake. Yukina stood, supported by Botan and Keiko, "Where is Lil, did she make it?" Lil was not in her bed. Hiei scanned the house with his Jagan, "Chesa's power is waning, I can see her now. She's upstairs, on the fourth floor." They tore out of the room, stampeding up th stairs. The attic was cold and empty. Kurama searched Chesa's room, "She's not in here." Yusuke eyed the only other door in the room. It was right next to Chesa's room. He wrenched the door open and gasped. The others crowded behind him to see.
The room was a dark, windowless bathroom. A transparent form hovered in the air, with wild blonde hair and green eyes. Lil cradled a smaller figure in her arms, a child with long brown hair in a tattered white nightgown. The glowing spirits descended slowly towards the bathtub. Lil's spirit laid down with Chesa's, falling back into her body, which rested in the tub. In Lil's arms was the old corpse of the little girl, right where she died. Lil whispered in her sleep, "It's okay now, Chesa, you can rest." The tub had long since dried up, but the antique toaster was still there, lieing at Lil's feet, still plugged in. Yusuke sighed, "It's done, she's at peace."
A while later, Lil woke up and midnight had passed. The doors and windows to the house opened and a sharp breeze passed out of the house like a sigh. They wrapped Chesa's body in a thick, clean, pink quilt and carried her into the woods. Each of the boys helped dig a very deep grave near the whispering river, under a tree with beautiful, fiery leaves; a peacefull spot. The girls lowered the small body into the grave and buried her, praying for her and set a flat stone at the head of the grave. It read: Chesa Birth- 1 4 '52 Death- 11 4 '60 Love her like she loves you.
The sun rose, pale and pink over the hills, and the eleven companions rested in their beds for the first time in days. The sun was climbing the sky at 11:37 a.m. when the phone by Lil's bed rang. She answered it sleepily, "Hu-llo?"
"Good morning sushine!"
"Grampa!" she grinned and jumped out of bed.
"I'm coming home to day, dear." Lil streaked through the hall way, banging on the doors and shouting at the top of her lungs. "Grampa's coming home! Grampa's coming home!" they piled out onto the porch, watching the yellow taxi pull into the drive way. Hiei allowed himself a small smile as they welcomed the man back with many hugs and slaps on the shoulder. When they finished rejoicing, they entered the house again. James stopped dead in his tracks; a strange, congeled red liquid had soaked his carpet in several rooms, coffee grounds were all over the place, various articles of furniture were upturned and balanced in curious places like ceiling fans and the tops of book shelves, windows were broken, and to top it all off… several rows of foot prints showed they had tracked in mud.
"Grandaughter?" he said quietly, watching from the corner of his eye as the others tip-toed away.
"Yes sir?"
"WHAT THE BLOODY HELL HAVE YOU DONE TO MY HOUSE?"
END.
Props to the band Evanescence
