The Curse Within the Human
-Chapter 4-
The Trouble Begins
(The day after they met Michelle)
"How are you feeling today, sir?" The owner of the hotel was visiting a guest room, checking Cane with his bandages. She brought in some new bandages and started to unwind the bandages around his chest.
"I'm feeling just fine, ma'am. Thank you." Cane smiled gently at the owner. "If it wasn't for you, I would've died in that room."
"But if it wasn't for you crawling out of the room half dead, you would also died." She started to wrap the new bandages around his chest. "Do you want me to make a report on this?"
"No, it's fine."
"Are you sure? That woman is out there somewhere. She did this to you, did she not?" She questioned him.
"Don't worry, she wasn't herself. She's not that kind of person to just kill and run off. I don't blame her since it was a full moon. For some reason, people get irritated on a full moon." Cane explained to her.
"So what are you going to do?" She asked him, a little worried about her guest.
"That's for me to decide. And ma'am, don't say a word about this. Not to anyone. You never saw the woman nor me the other night. You never saw a thing. Don't mention about it, ok?" He glared at her for a moment.
"Mention what?" She smiled at him, showing that she understood what he meant. He smiled back, and slowly got up, he grabbed his shirt and put it back on.
"I should get going," he finally said.
"But wait, can I at least support you with food and medicine?" He turned to her and smiled again.
"That would be great. Thank you."
(On the road, flashback)
Inside the Temple of the Rising Light, there stands a miko, giving her prayers to the Merciful Goddess. A little girl was standing right behind her, with a pouty expression on her face. She knew she did something bad, she just didn't want to deal with her master right now after that Sanzo priest just left.
"Miko Amy-sama, can I go now?" The little girl asked.
She sat there a few more minutes, finishing her prayer. When she was done, she stood up and took off her small gold crown, revealing her long and shiny blond hair in the light that shined through the window. She turned around and stared at the little girl.
"Have you figured out why you're here?" Amy asked her.
Her crystal sea blue eyes made the little girl flinch a little. "Yes…I stole a scripture from that Sanzo priest…" She stayed quiet. The Sanzo priest who she spoke of left with an unemotional expression on his face.
Amy bent down to look the little girl in the eyes. "Not only that, you were being rude to him. He is a higher rank then you. You're suppose to respect him, since you're a miko-in-training."
"But he's an as-!"
"Do not speak of him like that, not as long as I'm alive, you understand?" The little girl gave Amy a nod and glared at the floor. Amy sighed heavily. "It doesn't matter which Sanzo Priest comes to our temple, you respect him. Understand?"
"Yes, ma'am…" The little girl slowly turned around to the door, and started walking. She knew her punishment would be double the chores. But hopefully she forgot.
"Wait."
The little girl stopped and turned around, facing her master, the one who was a mother to her in everyway.
"I know why you're aggressive…the full moon is coming soon…I can see why." Amy smiled gently at the little girl. "I'm sorry, I forgot about it. It's best that he left so he wouldn't see you."
"Am I going to be put in the shed again?" The little girl asked.
"It's not up to me, it's up to you, if you don't want to hurt people. Your dad has been doing that ever since you have received that curse, did he not?" She said to the little girl.
"He has…but he was the only one that was so nice to me…"
Amy walked over to her and embraced her with her arms; the little girl hugged her back.
"Don't worry, young one. You don't have to tell me anything yet. When you're ready, you can tell me everything." Amy's arms tightened a little around the little girl. "You're lucky that you're even alive…you have strong holy powers…and you need to learn how to use them wisely…Michelle…"
(End of Flashback)
As the wind flow through her hair, Michelle just got done analyzing her memory. Or better yet, an unexpected flashback. Why did that memory come to her now? Things have been strange ever since she first met the Sanzo Ikkou. Things that she can't figure out yet. But there is something about this group that she feels she has to know.
A couple of days have passed by ever since Michelle joined their group. They have just arrived in a town, a town that Michelle was in before she left as a youkai. She kept on wondering if Canon was all right. Right now…they were at the hotel…but…Michelle was afraid of what will happen then.
"Ack…my stomach hurts…" Goku complained.
"That's because you're hungry, you stupid monkey," said Gojyo.
"Grr…I don't have enough strength to even fight back, damn cockroach…" Goku insulted Gojyo.
"What did you say!"
"Dammit, will you SHUT THE HELL UP!" Screamed Sanzo.
"I'm sorry, miss." Said Hakkai, who was talking to the owner of the hotel. "They're always like that."
"Right…" The owner cleared her throat. "Anyways, you said five rooms, right?"
"Yes, ma'am." Said Hakkai.
"Alright." After she was done signing them in, she took a long look at Michelle. She looked back at her, almost like they were reading each other's thoughts. But that's when Sanzo kicked in.
"Come on, let's go," Sanzo commanded them.
Hakkai smiled, like he was playing along. "Yes, sir." They started there way up the stairs to their rooms. As the others were up ahead, Hakkai stopped halfway up the stairs and noticed Michelle wasn't following them. "Michelle, is something wrong?"
Michelle snapped back to reality and turn to face Hakkai. "Nothing is wrong, I just need to run a little errand real quick," she answered him.
"Already? We just got here," Hakkai new something was up.
"Yeah, I know…I just wanted to know if they have some sort of item I'm looking for," Michelle explained.
Hakkai stared at her for a few long moments. He knew she was lying, but what's the point on stopping her?
"Alright, just be back soon, ok?" He said.
"Sure." He nodded and continued his way up the stairs. As soon as he heard the doors closed, she turned to the owner. "Thank you for not saying anything."
"Not a problem dear." She nodded a couple of times. "I may not know what happened, however, you should be more careful."
"I'll try my best." And she does try her best; she can't control her youkai side. "Is…he still around?"
"No, he left this morning, I'm sorry." The owner answered her.
"Oh…" Michelle sighed and looked down at the floor, almost about to cry but was fighting for the tears not to come out. 'So he really did die…another innocent life gone…and it's all my fault…'
"He did say…" Michelle looked back up. "…That you weren't that kind of person. I guess it wasn't a one night stand…he knew you after all."
Michelle turned red. "You…thought it was a one night stand…?"
The owner shrugged. "What else would I be thinking? You were both drunk and looked like you barely knew each other." Michelle's face turned bright red. "Anyway…he's still out there. He said he was going to look for you."
'What…' "Wait…I thought you said he left this morning." Said Michelle.
"I did." The owner was confused.
"So…he's alive?" said Michelle, making sure she's not dreaming or anything.
"Yes, I never said he was dead, I only said he left this morning. As in, he left town this morning. Does that clear things up for you?" The owner was a little frustrated.
Michelle nodded. 'Yes, he's alive!' Her spirits lit up when she heard those words. "Thank you…"
"I don't think you should thank me. I already had enough thanks from the guy. You're lucky I didn't went out and report you, he stopped me from doing it," angered the owner.
Michelle flinched at those words. "I-I'm sorry…"
"Ah, well, it's ok. Just be careful ok?" The owner showed a little smile.
And Michelle smiled back and ran up the stairs into her room.
(Second Floor)
"Alright, I'm bored, lets play cards!" Gojyo yelled in excitement, already grabbing the cards out from his brown leather jacket.
"No thanks," said Sanzo as he blew out some smoke.
"Geez…you're no fun, Sanzo. Hakkai, Goku? How about it?" Gojyo asked the two other men.
Hakkai waved his hand with exhaustion. "No thank you, Gojyo. At least not tonight, I'm beat."
"From what? Driving?" Gojyo grinned.
They stopped talking as soon as they heard a knock on the door. Hakkai told the person to come in, and saw Michelle opening the door. Although, her expression was a little different from before.
"Did you find the item?" Hakkai asked her.
"Oh…no, I didn't. Sorry to trouble you," she showed a little smile, and Hakkai knew it wasn't real.
"Anyway…" Everybody looked at Sanzo. "How long will it take for us to get to the next town?"
"Ah, right." Hakkai grabbed the map from his pocket and laid it out on the table for everybody to see. Hakkai pointed with his index finger to indicate where they were. "We're right here, in the Moonlight Village." He moved his index finger a few inches to the left and stopped. "The next town is about three or four days away. At this point, we're half way there to India."
"Half way huh…" said Goku, a little happy but tired.
"Good, the sooner the better. We leave early in the morning." Sanzo commanded them.
"So early?" Michelle questioned him.
"Yeah, we always leave in the morning 'cause Mr. Grumpy has a short-temper," said Gojyo.
Sanzo loaded his gun and pointed it at Gojyo's head. "Another word and your lights are out."
Michelle stared at them blankly. "Uh…right…I think I'm going to go out for a walk. I might need the air." She put her hands at the back of her head and headed for the door.
"Already? You just got back up here," Goku said, with concern in his voice.
"Uh…yeah…well I've been tired from the trip, so a little walking will do. See you in the morning." She continued to walk and waved her hand at them as a jester of "See you later."
"Wow, something's up." Said Gojyo with a gloom look.
"Yeah, and so is the village." Hakkai said, and Goku and Gojyo stared at him with confusion. "I heard from the other guests, that women and children have been disappearing lately. Been happening for a week now. Seems to me that they disappear at night, the perfect opportunity."
"Hmm…" Sanzo put his cigarette into his lips and breathed into it. He took it out and blew out some smoke, relaxing a little. "Only two out of five will be taken if that happens."
"What do you mean?" Gojyo asked.
"I meant as in the girl and Goku. Since he's considered a stupid monkey with a child's brain."
"Damn you, Sanzo…" Said Goku as he started to clench up his fists, almost ready to punch him.
"Well, we all should be getting some sleep. Be on guard though," said Hakkai.
"And what about Michelle?" Gojyo asked him.
Hakkai thought about it. "She probably already heard it from the owner. So, I'm sure she'll be fine."
(Walking in the village outside)
'Maybe walking will help me clear my mind a bit…' Michelle sighed as she thought. She rubbed her eyes a bit, tiredly. "Damn…why am I so tired all of a sudden?" She continued to rub them for a bit, and yawned. "Dammit, I hadn't realized I was this tired…"
But she ignored her tiredness and continued on walking throughout the village. The night was cool to her, soothing, and relaxing. Plus, it was quiet, just the way she likes it. She stood in the middle of the street and looked up at the sky tiredly, and stared at the moon. Strange, one of her enemies is the one she likes: the moon. The moon was always so beautiful in the sky, with or without the stars. The moon was the important thing to her.
"Heh," she said as she looked back down. "Too bad you're the one who turns me into something I don't want to be." She sighed again, feeling even more tired. She rubbed her eyes again, as her vision started to get a bit blurry. "Damn, what is wrong with me?"
She went to her knees and tried to catch her breathing. She was getting weaker by the second, and she didn't know why. Would she make it back to the hotel if she even tried? Probably not, not in her condition.
"What the…" Michelle felt some kind of strange aura around her, no not around her…coming to her. She summoned her bow and arrow and switched into ready position. She tried to aim it at wherever she was feeling the aura, but it seemed like it was coming from all directions. Oh, God, please don't hit a human.
Suddenly, she felt a shadow over her. She froze in fear, feeling the shadow coming to her: The shadow with four arms and sharp claws and baring sharp teeth. She trembled in fear, she couldn't move, she was too tired, too sleep, so what can she do? Before she could even do anything, she felt a palm fell to her mouth, and was being dragged away…
That's when she fell asleep…
(Morning)
As the owner of the hotel walked out of her room, yawning, she went to her desk and checked the people who were in the hotel. She checked over the list twice, and noticed something isn't right: Someone didn't sign back in last night. When she looked at the name, she noticed that she recognized that person and gasped, dropping the check board. She quickly ran upstairs and slammed open of the guests' room.
"GET YOUR ASSES UP, NOW!" She screamed at the top of her lungs.
Luckily, it was only the Sanzo party that heard her yelling and they all gathered to where she was. Gojyo didn't have to do anything, since she barged into his room first.
As soon as he was done scratching his head from falling off the bead from the wake up call, he got up and walked over to the others, just in time to hear that one of their friends didn't come back last night.
"I was afraid she wouldn't come back…" said Hakkai, with a worried tone.
"A youkai's work, huh?" Said Gojyo.
"Most likely," said Sanzo.
"Damn, she's the 20th this week, how many more people will disappear until the thing actually comes out?" The owner was pacing back in forth, worrying with panic.
"Don't worry, miss. We'll get her back, along with the other women and children," said Goku, trying to comfort her.
"While we're on the subject, did anything else happen besides these disappearances? Like any strange visitors or something?" Sanzo questioned her.
The owner put her fingers to her chin and rubbed it while thinking. "Well…the only thing I can think of is that, someone is about to open a new bar soon, and he recently came the same time as the disappearances have been accruing."
"Ahh…we'll go take a look then." Said Hakkai.
"Right, in the mean time, can we have some breakfast?"