Hey people. I decided to update this because of a review I just got recently.
Chapter 7: Secret Passage
The embers were unbearably hot. Haru looked around frantically, trying to figure out a way to escape this burning death trap. Black smoke was rising to the ceiling, lessening the amount of oxygen they had. He looked over at Akito, seeing that he wasn't doing very well at the moment. He could hardly breathe because of the heat and the increasing amount of smoke. They were in big trouble now; what were they going to do? How could they escape?
What if we really can't escape this? Haru wondered to himself miserably.
'I can help you,' said an eerie voice.
"Who's there?" he questioned, looking around.
"What are you talking about, Haru?" Akito managed to ask him.
"I have no idea," confessed the younger Sohma.
'Please, let me help you.'
There it is again, Haru thought to himself, still looking around, trying to pinpoint where the voice was coming from. A strange coolness swept over him ever so slightly that he barely felt it. As he turned his gaze upward, he came face-to-face with a shimmering white face that was so transparent he could clearly see the smoke above it. Oh shit, a ghost.
(scene change)
Momiji looked around nervously. He had gotten separated from the others, and now didn't know where he was. "Ha'ri?" he said quietly as he searched for his older relatives. "Yuki? Kyo? Where are you guys?" He walked into an empty-looking hallway, almost immediately regretting it afterwards. The walls were moving, not a good sign. However, when he turned around to try to go back the way he came, another wall had blocked his path. Fear overcame him quickly, causing him to huddle in a corner. He didn't want to leave this spot, not wanting to get into any more trouble than he already was in.
He suddenly realized that the wall he was leaning against was moving again, pushing him down the hall. Standing up, he began walking cautiously ahead of the wooden structure. A loud rumbling sound came to his ears. What was that? It seemed to be coming from above him. Momiji dared to look up, seeing a large hole in the ceiling above him. And that meant… that that sound he heard was… "Oh no!"
(scene change)
"Where did Momiji go?" Yuki asked suddenly, looking around for the small blonde boy.
"I don't know," Hatori admitted.
Kyo looked around also, the best he could. However, he saw no sign of the cheerful rabbit. "This isn't good," he mumbled.
"Yuki," said Hatori, "take Kyo back to the others. I'm going to go back and look for Momiji."
"Okay," said the violet-eyed boy. "And do be careful."
"I will be." Then he left to search for his younger relative.
(scene change)
'I can help you escape this trap if you'll let me,' the ghostly figure told Haru. It looked over to Akito. 'He won't last much longer unless you trust me.'
"Fine then," said Hatsuharu Sohma. "Show us how to get out of here."
The smoke was becoming thicker and thicker, making it more and more difficult to breathe. Akito coughed violently, getting weaker and weaker by the second. He barely noticed when Haru grabbed his arm, but turned his full attention to the younger Sohma when he began dragging him over to one of the walls. Swallowing nervously, Haru pushed on it, making the wall slide inward. After giving a sigh of relief, he pushed on it even more until there was enough room for the two of them to fit inside the small opening he had just made. The change in temperature was evident in here, much cooler than the blazing hallway. Giving the moving wall a final shove, Haru felt it hit yet another wall then looked to his side. There was an opening into another room. He pulled Akito inside, wanting to get him away from the fiery death trap they were in just minutes before. "We're still alive," he said proudly to the Sohma head.
"Yes, you're right," Akito said gladly.
After a few moments of filling their lungs with clean oxygen, they decided to look around the new room. It looked older than the rest of the mansion that they had seen so far. Stone walls, no electricity, a long and narrow hall to their left. The only light that seemed to be coming inside came from the fires in the other hall and the ceiling, which had holes and cracks in it. "Looks like a forgotten part of the mansion," said Akito, still looking around them. "It has been hidden for so long that they have forgotten it completely."
"We can hide out in here then," said Haru. "At least until morning. It looks like the sun is setting by the color of the sky."
"Yes." Akito looked Haru in the eye. "To make sure that we aren't caught alive by Akina, do you mind moving the wall back to where it was before?"
"No problem," said the black-and-white-haired teen, doing as was asked of him. He didn't want to go through another experience like that for the rest of his life.
(scene change)
Yuki and Kyo made it back to the others safely. "You're back!" exclaimed Tohru. "Thank goodness!"
"Where is Momiji though?" Kisa asked worriedly.
"We got separated," explained Yuki, setting Kyo down on the floor. "Hatori went back to look for him."
"Did you guys ever find Shigure and Ayame yet?" inquired Hiro.
"No, not yet." Yuki sat down next to Kyo, obviously deep in thought. What had happened to his brother Ayame? And what about Shigure? He wanted to find out, no matter what. Sure he didn't always get along with the two older Sohmas, but that did not mean that he didn't worry about them. "When are we going to go looking for them?" he asked the others.
No one answered, unsure of what to say themselves.
(scene change)
Hatori searched every hall he came across. "This place is like a damn labyrinth," he growled, frustrated that he couldn't find Momiji anywhere. Where on Earth was the kid?
He kept walking, though. The fact that Momiji may still be alive kept him going.
Momiji ran as fast as he could down the long corridor, the rumbling sound getting louder. He paused for a moment and looked behind him as he heard the rumbling silence, only to end up watching a large boulder drop from the hole that was in the ceiling. Unfortunately, the hall he was in went downhill, causing the boulder to come tumbling down after him, increasing speed every few feet. The blonde boy resumed his running, wanting to make it to the end of the corridor as fast as he could and, hopefully, being able to escape into a different area.
The round stone followed him still, unable to slow or stop. But Momiji kept moving, not wanting to be crushed under its great weight. This was not the kind of vacation he had wanted to take, not at all.
(scene change)
The sun was gone now, and the stars displayed a beautiful picture above the mansion. Akito and Haru gazed up at the little sky diamonds almost peacefully. The lovely picture in the sky sent a relaxing feeling through them, yet they couldn't help but still feel saddened by Shigure and Ayame's deaths. They were blood-relatives, and now they were gone. Just a few hours earlier they were as alive and healthy as they could possibly be, but now… they were no longer among the living. They had been killed by someone who was once very close to the Sohma family, and to them.
"Akito," Haru said quietly.
"What is it?"
"Do you think that there really is a way out of here?"
Akito looked at him in surprise. "Giving up already, Hatsuharu Sohma?"
"It just seems so hopeless."
"That's what Akina wants you to think," Akito told him. "There is a way out; I can feel it." He layed down on his back and kept watching the stars. "By the way, Haru… how did you know about this passage?"
Haru settled himself down next to Akito. "A ghost told me about it."
"A ghost, eh?"
"It's the truth."
"Alright," yawned the head of the Sohma family. Looking into Haru's grayish-green eyes, he said, "How about in the morning, we begin searching for the rest of our family?"
"Sounds like a good idea to me," answered Haru, surrendering to an uneasy sleep.
Akito nodded and let himself fall into the depths of the sea of dreams.
(author's note)
What do you guys think of that? Good enough for ya? Please review. By the way, fanfiction is starting to get on my nerves cuz I couldn't put symbols for scene changes like I used to, so that's why I spelled them out. It's being mean to me.