As the sun set beyond the mountains, lighting the sky with a blazing pallet of fiery reds to deep indigo, the town of Takayama found itself in a rare state of calm. The historic-site-gone-tourist-trap was usually packed and bustling. But it was the middle of fall and an idle Tuesday night, so business wasn't it's customarily lively self.

It was in the shadow of this quiet evening that Heita and a small group of his friends decided to test the so-called "Mystical Essence" that their home so proudly boasted.

"Heita-kun," came a small, soft-spoken girl who timidly followed down a path through the woods. "I'm not so sure about this…"

"Haha, Keiko. Are you scared? You're in seventh grade already," he jeered. He ran a hand across his forehead, brushing away unruly hair that fell into his eyes. The girl put on a pout and eyed him with a slight edge.

"I'm not scared! It's all a bunch of wives tales, anyway."

"Where are we going?" Norihiko asked. He was the tallest of the bunch, lanky and thin.

"You never heard the story about the Quincy?" Heita stopped momentarily and turned to face his two companions. Norihiko gave a blank look while Keiko rolled her eyes and looked off into the sky. He continued on his way. "They were people who had the power to kill evil spirits," he explained. "There was this huge war a coupl'a centuries ago. They were all killed."

"Killed? Killed by who…"

"Deathgods…" Heita turned again and gave a creepy look to add drama. "The Shinigami."

"Oh, shut up. There are no such things." She was losing her patience.

"So you say… how do you know? What if we can't see them?"

"Where do you hear all these dumb stories, anyway?"

"My grandpa told me."

"Doesn't your grandpa THINK he's a Quincy or something."

Heita ignored her question. "Ah, here we are."

They came upon a clearing that looked like some overgrown garden. There was a decrepit fountain in the center that bore small statue of what appeared to be an archer on top, though it was eroded away mostly and hard to tell.

Sporadically spread around the vicinity were rocks and stones… it appeared to be a graveyard of sorts.

"W…what is this? This place is creepy!"

"Quit whining, Keiko. This is a Quincy graveyard. We're gonna try to talk to one of the spirits."

Despite her stubbornness, chills shot up her spine easily at his words. She gave him a stern look.

"Hey, they don't exist, right? So nothing will happen."

"Then why are we here?"

"To give it a try!"

"Ugh, you're so stupid! Why can't you be like normal boys and play video games or soccer?"

"Ah, you guys are giving me a headache." Norihiko's eyes scanned the area and then resolved to sit on a large rock. "So how are you gonna do this?"

Heita dropped his book bag to the ground and opened it quickly, removing a few odd items that included candles, a shiny stone, and an old run-down book. The latter he took in his hand first, flipping through the pages.

"Light those up for me, will ya?" he directed while motioning towards the pile of candles. Keiko and Norihiko eyed each other for a moment before she heaved a sigh and took to the task. The quicker they got this done, the quicker she could go home and eat.

The rest of the set up took at least twenty minutes. Drawing figures in the dirt, setting up the rock (which apparently belong to some Quincy hero) and other elements in the right direction, candles placed in certain spots. By the time they were ready to start, only slight traces of sunlight managed to fight their way through the thick curtain of darkness. Sounds of night had churned up and the air cooled down considerably.

The trio sat in a circle, the rock and a candle in the center. Keiko and Nori held their hand out above the items, the warmth of the flame pleasant, and Heita read out loud from the book.

The old Japanese words fell from his lips almost like it was a native language for him. Keiko started to find this whole ordeal kind of disturbing. She watched him in slight shock.

His voice stopped, with a slight echo bouncing off the trees. A few minutes of quiet went by before any of them spoke.

"Damn… I guess it didn't work…" Heita mused.

"I… I told you this was dumb…" Keiko squeaked, even though it was blatantly obvious she was scared. Her breathing was quick and uneven.

"Wait…" Norihiko lifted his hand quickly to hush them. They did and looked around wide-eyed.

"What is it, Nori?" she asked nervously.

"It's quiet…" he answered.

"Yeah? So?" Heita tried hard to figure out what his friend was getting out.

"Too quiet. Nothing is making a sound." The other two were suddenly made very aware of the stinging silence that surrounded them. Indeed, the crickets and birds and creatures of the night had all lost their voice.

Something scurried a few feet away suddenly, rustling the dying grass.

Keiko felt her heart fall in to her chest and within seconds leapt onto Heita, clinging to him desperately. He put one arm around her protectively, but knew he was probably just as freaked, if not more.

"L..let's go home. I'm scared…" she whimpered, tears threatening to fall. He nodded shakily and stood up, completely forgetting about his bags and everything there. Nori followed suit and the trio began to scamper away.

They didn't get too far before a loud blast came from behind, sending waves of shock through their hearts and their bodies to the ground. A loud shriek came from behind, with a piercing loudness that was unmistakably inhuman. They all covered their ears to try and block out the sound.

Keiko found herself crying in voiceless paralyzing fear, unable to contain the terror that gripped her. She couldn't move. Even the burning curiosity to turn around wasn't enough. She was completely frozen. She was only able to lift her head a few inches from the ground.

Heita, who had fallen a few feet ahead, turned around and looked in horror at the scene before him. The fountain was ablaze, and in front of it, a mangled corpse was pulling itself out of the ground. It wasn't much more than a skeleton with missing parts and remnants of skin hanging off here and there.

But it was moving, tried and true, as if it was living. The skull lifted up awkwardly at them and upon sight, lunged at the group. It took its bony hand and wrapped it around Keiko's ankle. Her eyes shot open and she reached out in front grabbing for anything she could as she was dragged backwards.

"HEITA!" she shrieked desperately. But he had been infected with the same disease she had moments before. He wanted to save her. Something inside pulled for him to move. But he simply couldn't.

The skeleton turned the girl over, and perched itself on top. It stared her down with gaping eye sockets, dirt and rotted flesh falling onto her face. She stared up at her end in dread.

The corpse stabbed its hand through her chest, straight into her heart, and started to suck whatever energy she had out. The two boys watched as an exchange of life happened. Keiko's body withered and rotted while the corpse's began to take shape and form. This went on for a few minutes until the girl was nothing.

The woman lifted her face, which was only half developed and somehow more gruesome than when it was just a pile of bones. She eyed them eerily, a creepy smile spreading across her face.

"You, boy…" she hissed at Heita. "You are one of mine. I thank you."

It wasn't long before they met the same fate.

Chap 2 Prev: Life in the Kurosaki household 7 years after Aizen's defeat, and some interesting news from Urahara.

Closing Credits: Hahaha, as always, I include these…

So there's chapter one. I really hate starting out with really long chapters, but I tend to be a long writer… bad habit? Good habit? I'm hoping I can keep up with this fic. I kinda like the outline I have and the direction it's going. I'm just silly when it comes to starting out. Heh.

I'm really in a Halloween mood, this chapter is kinda creepy. XD But I'm not too sure I'm happy with it. So far, I think chapter two is my favorite of what I've written…( 3 ½…)

I'll go into more depth about the Quincy lady in a few chapters. Right now I kinda want to introduce the characters mostly and a bit of the story…

Well, the upcoming chapters will be way more fun because it's all our favorite people coming back. I'm also going to try and get some drawings done, which will all have to be linked from my profile cause yeah. No linky linky from anymore.

Bah.

Enjoy! Please review; let me know what you think. I answer reviews often at the end of chapters, so. Yay. Thanks a bunch