Disclaimer: I do not own HYD, only in my wildest dreamz…..

Chapter One: In the Dark Woods

Tsukushi looked at her dark surroundings worriedly. What have they got themselves into? The thick foliage prevented the moonlight from shining through, and they barely see where they are going even with the short little candle they held burning. This was the last candle, after it burns out too, they would soon be entombed in the darkness they had naively sought after in jest. She regretted not trying harder to put a stop to the nonsense earlier.

A sudden howl of the wolves froze them in their steps. Everyone looked around worriedly. The winds were strong and erratic that night. The howl of wolves sounded near, however, it could have been carried here by the winds.

"Troubles always seem to love company, they never did come alone." Tsukushi said dryly as she assessed the surroundings warily, looking for any movements at all in the bushes.

"Neither are wolves loners, they come in a pack," continued Zachary who, the only Caucasian in the group, "There are only seven of us left now. Are we even sufficient dinner for the whole pack."

At his words, Yuki, my best friend trembled visibly and held on to Todou more tightly. Tsukushi looked away, giving them some privacy, and feeling not just a little envious of their closeness. Although all of them were good friends, and were all in it together, Tsukushi couldn't help but feel alone and apart from them all. It was as if she didn't belong.

"Shut up, gaijin!" Todou spoke in a low harsh whisper, "Blow out the candle now and attract less attention to ourselves."

"Hai, I am a gaijin. But you are the baka!" Zac mocked derisively, "Blow out the candle? Whose attention are you trying to avoid, the wolves or the shadows? For your information, both the wolves and the shadow men fear light and fire."

Even in the faint light, a blush could be seen creeping up Todou's face. He wasn't used to being outwitted or mocked at. In fact, he looked about to throw Zac a punch. Zac, on the other hand, had a heck-care attitude and looked as if he was about to ridicule Todou further.

"Stop it!" Tsukushi cried out desperately, "What kind of a situation are we in now? We need to stay united and not fight amongst ourselves?"

"Yes, calm down, Todou." Yuki spoke in that always gentle voice of hers, her hand at his chest, beseeching him to stay cool and collected.

"And you, too, Zachary." Mariko and Mitsuki chimed in simultaneously, trying to maintain peace.

Junpei and Kazuya were the only ones who spoke not a word in the cross-fire. Kazuya was being his usual timid self. He was pale from the cold and probably out of fear for the darkness that lie ahead of them. As for Junpei, he was his usual cool self, standing apart from us all, indifferent from it all. Putting his bag down at a clean corner, he was already propping his head onto a makeshift pillow of his bag and preparing to rest for the night.

"Let's just prepare for bed," Tsukushi suggested in a tired voice as she observed Junpei, "We're all tired, there's no point in walking further."

Tsukushi really admired Junpei for his ability to stay so calm and indifferent in trying times. Sometimes, she really wondered if he was truly unfazed by the turn of events, or if he simply didn't care enough for life itself and that nothing ever did matter to him.

"But…." Kazuya started, his face showing naked fear and reluctance to rest for the night.

"I don't think we should rest either," Todou continued when Kazuya didn't seem about to speak past the 'but', "We don't have much time. 24 hours, that's all that we have before SHE claims the next victim. We have to find HER soon, or we'll all die."

"I agree. Even if we can't find her, we should continue to find our way out of this hellish place. The further we are from that ghost town, the higher our chances. Even if we have to rest, let's stretch it a little further first. After that, we'll take turns to tell stories and keep awake until the 24 hours pass. Maybe once we break the 24 hours dateline, we'll be able to cheat death and gain more time for ourselves." Mitsuki argued for continuing their search too.

"That's five against two." Tsukushi said resignedly, as she automatically counted Yuki and Mariko as on Todou and Mitsuki's side. Grabbing Junpei's arm gently, I persuaded him to move on with us.

I sighed a breath of relief as he took his stuff and got up wordlessly. I had been worried that he would be difficult. After all he never was a groupie, he always did as he wished, when he wished. I've already lost Susumu, I didn't want to lose him now.

Susumu… how she missed him…

This is my first attempt at a HYD alternate universe fiction. Constructive criticism always welcome! :)