Chapter 11: NIghtmares
They were getting closer to their destination, it was strange really, the attacks had lessened as they got closer, not much had happened. It had been almost 2 days with no attacks at all.
Hakkai looked over at Goku as he continued to teach Kerri, she was getting better, she could at least throw punch and kick properly now, amazingly Goku was a good teacher…
Sanzo was reading a paper as Ebony went off to wash, and Gojyo was staring into space a blush on his cheeks…Gojyo blushing? There was something wrong there.
A cold wind blew past making the hairs on the back of Hakkai's neck stand on end as she shivered slightly glancing around, there was something else…a feeling he had, dread? No…nothing was out of place, other then the blushing Gojyo…he could still hear Ebony, she was fine, so what could it be?
"Is it dinner time soon Kerri?" Goku asked as Kerri nodded as she dropped her hands as Goku grinned at her his eyes drifting to Gojyo momentarily before snapping back to her, the grin never leaving his face.
After a simple, but delicious, dinner and many compliments from Goku they all went to separate places around the fire to sleep. As the tired lids fell they wouldn't have guessed of the horrors that waited them in sleep, nightmares more horrid then any that ANY of them had ever faced.
"Hee, hee, hee, sweet dreams Sanzo Ikkou…sleep well indeed"
The warmth of friendship, the light that was others around him, supporting him in times of need and pushing him to go further then any time before. They were all there, his friends, they were always with him, and always would be, they would never leave him alone, never.
A cold breeze touched his skin making him shiver as he looked around, one was missing…no two…until there was only him and the other left, it was cold now, and so dark he could barely see the other.
"G…Gojyo?" he stuttered as the other walked towards him, his footsteps slow and echoing loneliness. Cold seemed to permeate from the other and envelop him in it's frozen embrace making him shudder.
"G…Gojyo…where is everyone?" he stuttered, there was no answer, this could not be Gojyo…could it?
A cold hand on his arm, bruising him with the force it held, the tug of a strong man as he was pulled from his place on the dead brown grass, towards a mountain.
"No…not there…please"
Chains surrounding his wrists, his ankles, chains holding him down and freezing his life, chains that let him see and feel, but never leave, never grow or age, an eternal hunger began to gnaw in his belly.
"Gojyo…please…"
The other just turned as behind him cold metal bars rose from the ground to connect with the roof of the cave entrance leaving him fully trapped.
"Gojyo….GOJYO"………………….Why? (Elendur – Guess who…Shy-Phantom – Um…Kougaiji? Elendur – Not quite…)
That carefree smile, those innocent eyes hiding all the pain, that warm hand and sunny demeanour that light up his life, and his world.
The grass was greener with him, the sun brighter, everything was so much more beautiful.
"Goku…hey stupid monkey, wait up" he called as the young man turned and laughed at him, calling to him, taunting him.
"Wait up" he called again as the light got further, eyes widening as he began to run towards it, he couldn't leave him, leave him in this darkness, the grass beneath his feet withered and darkened, the sun above lost it's shine and the sky darkened.
"GOKU" he called until his voice was hoarse as he shivered, when had I become this cold?
"Hey...where did you go? Stupid monkey" he said his voice shaky as he spotted the back of his light, something was wrong, why didn't he turn?
"Goku?" he asked as he set a hand on his shoulder to turn him, he felt cold to the touch, he pulled at the shoulder trying to turn him, he pulled again with no result, he walked around to face him only to see his back.
"Hey…stop this game" he called in anger and fear, he needed to see those eyes, those soul captivating eyes.
Goku began to move, he was going away from him, chasing after him he couldn't catch up, he was running whereas Goku was only walking, but he couldn't catch him.
"GOKU STOP..PLEASE DON'T LEAVE ME ALONE" he called getting no reply he was soon out of sight as he fell to his knees as tears welled.
"Please…don't go…" he whispered as his hands gripped bare earth.
"GOKU" he shouted as his head tilted back and he screamed his sorrow to the sky. (Elendur – Maybe I should have written names…Shy-Phantom – If they can't tell who it is then they're obviously idiots. It's so obviously Dokugakuji Elendur --")
Those soulful brown eyes, that coppery hair, those delectable lips. The small things made her more beautiful, the way she pouted, her frown, the way her lips would quirk into a smile, that smirk even as she teased him.
"I want to tell you about me" he said as she nodded, she was ready to listen, her hand gently took his own as he began to talk, letting her deep inside his head, the room around them blurred to nothing, there was only her, that small soft understanding smile, the nod of her head, the way her hair moved as she shook or nodded her head, the warmth of her hand. She accepted him, he was telling her everything and she understood, he had told no one before, not the priests when he was a child, not his master, no one, he had been scared to let anyone in, but he felt he could trust her, let her know him, let her know his deepest darkest secrets, his pains, his triumphs, everything.
The room darkened, it must be nightfall now, he had been talking so long, the smile was fading from her face, don't let it fade, smile more for me.
"What is it?" silence, would she not say something? No words for him, tease him, make fun of him, anything, please speak his mind begged of her as the fire in the room began to die, it flickered like the hope in his heart and finally died down completely leaving not even a warm ember that could be nursed back, his heart was dying.
"Don't go…please" he begged as she stood to leave and he grabbed one of her hands holding her there as she looked at him a frown on her lips.
"I'm sorry, please…don't hate me…don't leave me" she pulled her hand from his grasp as he stared after her as she picked up his gun and played with it for a few moments.
"Please…if you're going to hate me…kill me…use that on me, if you hate me…please…I can't live if you hate me like this" he begged as she aimed it as his head with a smirk before tossing it to him and walking out, as the door slammed closed he felt his heart shattering into nothing, his very soul was broken by her.
"Ebony…"
Her family, her sister, her brother, that warm feeling of love, the warmth that made anything better, even the pain and memories of her past, the love that cared for her and nurtured her.
Those encouraging voices that called her to go with them, the voices that made her heart feel at ease.
It was all a game, she chased, they ran, when she caught one of them, they would chase her, it was just a game. Chasing them she finally had them cornered they couldn't escape, she grinned at them as Hakkai smiled his reassuring smile at her, Kerri was also smiling, finally smiling again, a true smile from her heart.
There was a sound as they turned, as did she, she could see them, youkai coming, they were getting closer, and they began to fight, fighting so hard she could barely see, darkness covered the area and the cold seemed to fill her, the stench of death was everywhere, all she could do was to kill anything that moved, then she found her eyes clear…she could see…the game was over…
At her feet lay her brother, his eyes were wide open, his hands up in a form of defence, it was her sword that had killed him…the sword she had taken from that youkai…it was now impaling her brother her only brother, blood was dribbling from his mouth and his skin looked pale and cold to touch, stumbling back she screamed as a youkai came running at her in the moment of weakness and she grabbed another's gun an shot quickly as her eyes seemed to clear again as the youkai came into focus…it was no youkai, it was Kerri, shivering she watched as her best friend, her sister fell to the blood stained earth her eyes wide.
"K…Kerri…Hakkai…no…this can't be…I…oh god…no" she whispered as voices whirled in her head
"You killed us" "You killed me" "Murderer" "You were my family" "My sister"
"NO STOP, I DIDN'T MEAN TO" she screamed her hands over her head as if that would protect her as she spotted boots from under her crossed arms as she looked up tearfully at Sanzo.
"Traitor" was the only thing she heard before the sound of a firing gun.
That smile, those hands, her voice, the only place he could see her now, the only place he could tell her loved her, to lay with her, to hold her.
That field they had always played in as children, the schoolhouse she had helped him clean, everything revolved around her, his Kanan.
That house…their house…those people, the ones who had given her away to that man, the ones who had taken her, those monsters that had touched her.
That cell…her cries as she had stood before him, soiled and hurting…
"Don't…please" he begged as she held his knife to her, she didn't want to give birth to a monster…she didn't want to live knowing what she did.
"Please…I love you Kanan"
The knife falling, the blood that had stained him, her blood, the look on her face, the peace in her features, those eyes he loved, those beautiful green eyes, like his own…she fell to the ground as he fell to his knees.
A sound, from another cell, crying, it sounded familiar, dragging his tired body he looked in, it was Kerri and Ebony, they were here too?
"I'll get you out, I promise"
Promises are made to be broken, the knife Kana had used had fallen close enough, Ebony reached for it and looked at Hakkai her yes sad as his widened.
"No…not you too" Ebony's eyes closed as her blood stained the floor, a sad smile on her lips as she fell to the floor.
"Don't…Kerri…please…" Hakkai begged, he hadn't the strength to open the cell to stop her, he couldn't move, couldn't do anything as the crying broken girl lifted the knife and bought it down on herself.
"NO"
She had never know people like them, they were kind, didn't hurt her, Ebony had assured her that they were true, she was right. The wind blew through her hair as she sat in Goku's lap in the car a small smile touching her lips.
Maybe she could trust them…maybe she could really trust these males.
She jumped as a hand touched her back as she looked at Gojyo in shock as he grinned at her, he had only been trying to catch her attention, she was still a little jumpy.
Directing her attention to the scenery she node, ti was beautiful, the car stopped as they all hopped out, Ebony had gone to bathe and have a walk to work the stiffness from her legs, so she sat down watching the trees as she yawned, it must be getting late fro the darkness creeping over the forest casting eerie shadows over everything, it almost made it look as if the boys were all leering at her, their faces twisted into cruel parodies of their normal ones.
"Should I start dinner?" she asked as Goku pounced at her, she expected him to hug her and beg her to make different dishes he liked, but instead she found herself on her back his strong hands holding her down as she began to struggle, what was he doing.
"Stop it…Goku…hey…wait, don't" she cried as Sanzo arrived by Goku and helped hold her down as Gojyo and Hakkai began too rip her clothes from her, tears filled her eyes as she shook her head, not again, this couldn't happen, not again…please god no…not them.
"No Hakkai please…don't…" she whispered as he rested above her as a smirk took his lips and he began to hurt her as the youkai men had hurt her.
"NO"
5 people awoke with gasps of surprise and fear as they all looked around to see the other awake.
"Hey…can't sleep?" Gojyo asked trying to act normal, but a small quiver found it's way into his voice.
"Y…Yeah" Hakkai stuttered as he ran a hand through his sweat soaked hair and threw another piece of wood onto the fire.
"Just a bad dream" Ebony said as she looked across at the pale Kerri whom was gasping for air hugging herself tightly.
"Get more sleep" Sanzo grunted as he turned over before anyone could see how pale he was, see the sweat that covered his brow.
"Yes, some more sleep will do us good indeed, we need to get up early and get going again" Hakkai said with a forced smile as Goku lay back down.
"Easy of you to say" he muttered his eyes drifting to Gojyo…he wouldn't do that right?
"Goodnight everyone" Hakkai said as he lay down finally as everyone tried to get back to sleep, memories of their recent nightmares filling their every thought.
Elendur – I did promise a long one…
Shy-Phantom – I love your writing
Elendur – you would have done better
Shy-Phantom – Nah, I cried for some of them :'(
Elendur – YAY…wait…isn't that bad that I made you cry…SORRY
Shy-Phantom – It's GOOD…this time.
Elendur – After this we need to get some more comedy into it
Shy-Phantom – That we will…we just needed this for something, you'll all find out later…it will get funny though, but we needed depth, so it's not just some comedy, so ti has a purpose. So yeah…