CHAPTER 5

THE HAND

Kikyo, Sanga, Miroku and Hojo had searched most of the second floor without much luck at finding Rin and Kagome.

"It's like they just disappeared," Sango said as they walked down the hall. "We looked everywhere on this floor. Where could they be?"

"We haven't looked in the bedroom where the preppies were getting ready for the party," Kikyo said looking at the others. "Maybe they're in there somewhere."

"Why would they be there?" Hojo asked.

"Because they aren't anywhere else," she replied.

"Oh."

"I think we should look," Miroku spoke up. "It would be foolish to look everywhere but there and think they aren't here because the other rooms were empty."

"Right."

"Then let's go," Sango said. "We're wasting time just talking about it."

Nobody said anything but they did head in the direction of the room. When they got there they found the door hanging wide open and nobody there. Nobody that they could see anyway.

"Well that was a disappointment," Hojo said. "Where are we going to look now?"

"The third floor," Kikyo said closing the bedroom door. "That's the last place we can look."

Just then two figures came running down the hall toward them. They looked familiar and as they got closer the four friends recognized them as Kagome and Rin. For some reason the two girls looked like they had just seen a ghost or a hundred.

"Kagome! Rin!" Hojo exclaimed as the girls got closer.

The two girls didn't pay much attention they just ran by the friends screaming in panic for some reason. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"What's with them?" Sango asked as they ran by.

The others shrugged. They had no idea.

Suddenly they heard a noise down the hall. "What was that?" Sango asked.

"I don't know," Hojo said looking back the way Rin and Kagome had come from. "But I think it came from down there."

Slowly everyone's heads turned toward the darkness. They spotted glowing red orbs glating at them. They looked like eyes.

"What is that?" Sango asked grasping Miroku's arm.

"ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRR!" the owner of the eyes bellowed.

"I don't know," Miroku said grabbing her arm. "But I don't want to find out!" Miroku bolted, dragging Sango with him.

"HEY!" Kikyo shouted after them. "WAIT FOR US!"

Meanwhile in the tree Ayame and Kagura were still waiting for Koga to return with Kanna.

"Where is Koga?" Ayame asked looking down at Kagura who sat on a branch below her.

The red eyed teen shrugged and shook her head. "I don't know," she said looking down into the cemetary. "But he'd better come back with my sister."

"I'm worried," Ayame said pushing her red hair out of her face. "What if something happened to them?"

"Nothing has happened to them," Kagura said crossly. "What could have happened to them?"

"That ghost Priestess could have taken their souls," Ayame said.

Kagura said nothing. She hadn't thought of that. "If they don't get back here in ten minutes we'll go look for them. Okay?"

Ayame thought that sounded like a plan. "Okay," she agreed. "Ten minutes. Do you have a watch?"

"No."

"Well I don't either. How will we know when ten minutes are up?"

"After we've waited long enough."

"Oh."

And so they waited. And waited and waited.

Koga and Kanna were walking through the cemetary toward the huge tree where he'd left Kagura and Aayme. The problem was; he couldn't remember which tree they had been in. Since he couldn't remember he'd decided to look in all the trees even the ones that couldn't possibly hold two teenage girls.

"Koga," Kanna said after awhile. "What kind of tree did you leave my sister and Ayame in?"

"I don't remember," he replied looking up into a tiny scrawny tree that looked like a good breeze would knock it over. "It could be any of these."

"I don't think the scrawny trees would be big enough to hold them," she pointed out. "Wouldn't they knock them over?"

Koga had never thought of that. "You're right," he said after a moment's silence. "Let's go look in the bigger trees."

He started to walked toward a huge oak tree when suddenly a hand came out of the ground and grabbed his ankle. Before he knew what was happening he was being pulled under. "AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" he wailed grabbing for anything to keep him above ground. "KANNA! HELP!"

The white haired girl stared at Koga for a moment in horror. A bony hand had a firm grip on his ankle and was pulling him into the ground at a surprising rate. Kanna knew she had to do something and did the only thing she could. She ran toward the hand and stomped down hard on it. The hand's owner let out an ear piercing wail and let Koga go. The boy with the help of Kanna scrambled out of the ground and away from the grave.
"What happened?" he asked panting.

"I don't know," Kanna said staring at the grave. "But I don't think we should walk near anymore graves."

"Good idea," Koga said standing up. "Let's find Kagura and Ayame and get out of here before something else happens."

"AAAAAAAAAAAAACHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Inuyashas sneezed loudly as he and Sesshoumaru walked through the basement. "This place is full of mold and mildew," Inuyasha said rubbing his nose. "I'm allergic to mold and mildew."

"That's nice," his brother said flatly. "But that won't help us get out of here."

"I know that!" Inuyasha shouted angrily. "I'm just saying. AAAACHOOOOOOO!"

"There you go again," Sesshy said casting an annoyed look at his little brother. "Try to sneeze quieter."

"What? Achoo!"

"SHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Sesshoumaru said suddenly, putting a hand over his brother's mouth. "Do you hear that?"

"Mear Fut?" Inuyasha said through his hand.

"Listen." his brother ordered.

Inuyasha never liked taking orders from his brother but he did in this case. Now he heard it too. Voices. Somebody was talking.

"Who's that?" Inuyasha asked when Sessy had removed his hand.

"I don't know," Sesshourmau said walking over to a door. "But I'm going to find out."

Slowy he pushed the door open a crack then peeked inside. Who and what he saw made his eyes grow wide. "I can't believe it!"

A/N

Now who could it be? I'll give you a hint. He wasn't invited. I hope you liked the chapter.