(A/N: Look guys! I'm still here! I haven't fallen off the face of the planet. Once again, I was pwned by real life and writer's block. But here it is! Enjoy! This chapter is also dedicated to my Windy-chan, who showers me with love and lets me borrow her angst bunnies from time to time. I LOVE YOU WINDY!)

--Chapter 11: Non tiembo mala--

He walks along the path towards the house in the distance, humming merrily as the gravel crunches beneath his bare feet. He clutches the brilliant vermillion roses in full bloom tightly in his small hands and every time he sees them, a small smile crosses his face. He is able to forget about the bandage across his forehead and the soreness in his abdomen. He just knows his mother is going to love them; she always enjoys the gifts that his older brother brings home.

When he opens the door, he finds his mother sitting in her favorite rocking chair, the one his father made. She is staring out the window with her chin cradled in her hand. "How beautiful,' he thinks to himself as he walks over to her with light steps. There's no telling what sort of mood she may be in. "Mama…I brought these for you. The man at the flower shop said you might like them." His face flushes slightly in pleasure, giving her a smile.

At first she doesn't acknowledge the shy offering as she continues to stare out the window. He waits, quietly, hoping that he will have done something right for once. Instead she turns towards him with tears shining in her eyes even as an angry hiss escapes her lips. "Red, huh? Like your filthy hair! And your filthy eyes! How dare you mock my pain like that? Evil child, damnable child!"

Her hands swipe madly at him, the flowers dropping to the floor forgotten as his hands move to protect himself from the blows. "No! That's not true…I just wanted…like Jien…."he insists, tears pricking in his own eyes.

"You'll never be like Jien! Dirty, filthy half-breed brat!" Her screams are shrill and wild, animalistic in her rage. She pushes him forward, manicured nails raking across the tender skin of his cheek. She keeps them long just for this, he knows though he wishes he didn't. He doesn't strike back, afraid to raise a hand against the woman he adores.

"Mama, please stop-" He slumps against the wall, tears flowing freely as they mingle with the blood welling to the surface of his skin. He starts coughing, his lungs burning as he struggles to breathe against the hands that wrap tightly around his throat.

Her face is contorted with rage, cheeks red and her eyes bulging. "You have no right to call me that! I'm not your mother!" He can feel his windpipe beginning to collapse beneath her crushing fingers as his vision starts to blacken at the edges.

As quick as those hands had captured him, he finds himself sputtering for breath as the form of his brother looms over him. Jien looks at him impassively, seeming at a loss at what to do. "Go to your room," is all his brother says, clutching the crying woman to his chest. He runs then, far away from her broken sobs and her anger, even as her voice still rings in his ears…

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A loud, blood-curdling scream echoed in Gojyo's head as he shot awake, dimly aware that the sound hadn't come from his nightmare. He rubbed his eyes, watching as he caught sight of Aria darting past his open door as she called out down the hall, "Doctor! Come quick!" A sense of dread filled the redhead and he willed his muscles to move when he realized that the horrible sound was coming from Goku's room. Not even bothering to pull on a shirt, he hurried into his companion's room.

The sight that confronted him left his jaw slacked. Goku's body was convulsing violently as his back bowed away from the bed, his sheets stained the bright crimson of fresh blood. Ear-splitting cries of anguish poured from his mouth, mixed with the jumbled words that Gojyo couldn't make out. The white of the boy's bandages were heavily stained and the scars on his forehead had turned an angry red as though they had been aggravated recently. Another scream escaped him, his convulsions growing more erratic. He rushed to the bedside, unsure of whether or not to touch the younger man out of fear of hurting him further. "Where's that fucking doctor?"

Hakkai and Sanzo appeared in the doorway, both priests glancing around to assess the situation. As soon as the brunet's eyes fell on Goku, he immediately made his way to the bedside. "What happened? We heard the commotion from down the hall," he asked, swiping a hand across Goku's damp forehead. His convulsions had begun to slow to tremors, even as small moans of pain continued to escape from him.

"I don't know. I heard screaming and I saw Aria running to go get the doctor." The redhead's voice was hurried and his eyes were panicked. He didn't even need to voice the question that was laid bare in his eyes.

"I'm sure Goku will be fine. We just need to figure out what's going on with him." He offered the other man a reassuring smile, turning back to the prone form on the bed. Goku was trembling and pale, though his cheeks were flushed as though he had a fever. "Where does it hurt?" he asked in a gentle voice, trying to do his best to keep the boy calm and coherent.

Aria entered moments later with a man that neither priest had seen before. Gojyo stiffened when he caught sight of the man, taking a step back. He was tall, with thin balding black hair and severe blue eyes accentuated with wire-rimmed glasses. His gaze raked over the four of them disapprovingly. "How long ago did this start, Aria?" The biting question was a bit ambiguous, as though it wasn't certain that he was talking about Goku's situation or the priests' presence.

The woman looked startled at being addressed so suddenly, looking away and avoiding the doctor's eyes. "I came in to check on Goku since he wasn't feeling well earlier, and when I came in he was writhing on the bed and there was blood…." Her voice caught in her throat at that.

"Get a hold of yourself. You're a nurse, please act like one." His words were curt as he began to examine the boy for himself.

"It appears that his wrists and feet have opened up again," Hakkai offered, the corners of his turning down. He didn't like the doctor at all upon his first impression. Doubt was written all over the man's face and the slight sneer in his expression didn't help at all. "I think that-"

Anything the dark-haired priest had been planning to say was lost when Goku began to scream again, the convulsions wracking his body. Golden eyes were wide with panic and his chest heaved with pained breaths. "Grab him before he hurts himself!" the doctor bellowed.

Sanzo, who was nearest to the bed, scowled before he clambered on top of Goku's bucking form to pin him down to the best of his ability. "Stupid monkey," he muttered, though his eyes were clouded with anxiousness. When his hands came in contact with the boy's clammy skin, a sharp pain that felt reminiscent of a bolt of lightning slithered up his spine and made his grip tighten. The hospital room melted away like dripping candle wax, and the sound of Hakkai's voice become muddled as if he was speaking through a thick cloth. A glance down at the brunet beneath him told him that he wasn't the only one experiencing this, but Goku's eyes looked more panicked than before.

"It's happening again."

Before the blond could ask what he meant by that, the pungent smell of old blood and fresh death assaulted him, making him gag. The sound of screams followed, tortured and painful to hear. Their surroundings were shrouded in darkness, so much that the priest couldn't tell where the sounds were coming from as he looked around. The background shimmered, and several robe-clad figures appeared in a circle around where Goku lay pinned. They were chanting so quickly that the blond couldn't understand what they were saying, but the timbre of their voices did not indicate anything good.

After a moment, the chanting ceased and one of the figures stepped forward. The upper half of its face was shadowed by the dark hood, but the visible part was contorted into some semblance of a smile as its head titled down. A pale hand emerged from the folds of the robe, through it was distorted, as if Sanzo was seeing it through clouded glass. His hands tightened on the boy's shoulder and instinctively he moved his body to shield Goku's heavily breathing form. The boy had broken out into a cold sweat at their appearance, as though he had seen them before. The priest didn't get the chance to ask, once more interrupted by the goings-on around them.

"A crown for our King," the same figure spoke in a raspy voice, undulating only once before tucking it back inside its robe. The wounds on Goku's forehead burst open again like overripe fruit, blood leaking down his face as a scream tore itself from his throat. With a growl, Sanzo tried to calm him down before looking up to glare at the figure looming over them.

"What the hell?"

His question was ignored as the hand remerged from the folds and waved once more over Goku, the sound of chanting in the background from the other members in the circle beginning again. "Tokens of His sacrifice for us." Just like the wounds on his forehead, the bled-through bandages disappeared and his wrists began to bleed anew. The cloying scent of something sweet blanketed them, overpowering the scent of death that the priest could still taste on the back of his tongue.

Goku moaned in pain, tears leaking down his face to mingle with the red rivulets still streaming from the openings on the crown of his head. "Make them stop, Sanzo…make them stop." It was a pitiful sight, but the blond could only stare in morbid fascination at first. When he snapped from whatever trance had fallen over him, he shook the boy roughly.

"Get a grip, monkey. I'm here, all right? I'll make them stop," he urged, locking gazes with the stricken teen beneath him. His breath caught when pain-fogged golden eyes cleared slightly and a bit of a smile played on the boy's lips. The once taut body beneath him went lax, a soft sigh escaping the boy as his eyes closed.

"Okay…I trust you." The blond was momentarily startled by the words and then a small smile crossed his features. By the time Goku opened his eyes again, it had disappeared as though it had never been there in the first place. Sanzo had looked back toward the robe-clad figure, drawing back when a loud crack sounded near his head, sounding vaguely like the sound of a whip.

In fact, it was just that, an ominous black whip in the hand of the pale figure, the barbed end coiled on the ground like a snake waiting to strike. "Last, punishment for the sins of His followers," the voice thundered, rearing back with one hand and gesturing with his other. Sanzo found himself sprawled out backwards away from Goku, as though he had been shoved away by an unseen force. Looking up, he noticed that Goku's position had shifted. The boy was kneeling and struggling, tied to a post and bound by invisible restraints. A look of unmistakable horror crossed his face the whip sailed through the air and tore through his flesh with a sickening noise resembling a wet pop. Another scream erupted from the boy's mouth, blood flowing freely from the fresh wound on his back.

Sanzo growled deep from within his chest, getting shakily to his feet and drawing the gun that he always kept tucked away safely in the bottom of his suitcase; it lay hidden away amongst his spare robes and extraneous clothing. Experience had taught him to keep it with him at all times, though he wasn't sure why he had it now in this dream-like state the two found themselves in. He didn't hesitate to point it at the robed figure, obliviously continuing his ruthless attack on the bound teen. A shot fired, echoing deafeningly as it struck the figure hard in the upper shoulder. It hissed in pain and dropped the whip to clutch its wound, breaking whatever had been cast over them.

The darkness imploded in on itself and the priest found himself once more in the hospital room, clutching a heavily breath Goku to his chest as though he would never let go. It took Sanzo a second to regain his senses, realizing that they were back in the hospital room.

"Sanzo…are you…are you all right? What happened?" he dimly heard Hakkai ask, blinking to force his vision into focus. He pried his hands from the boy's shoulders and backed away, as though he had been burned by the contact. What the hell had just happened to him? "One minute you were talking to Goku and the next both of you were acting like you had disappeared from yourselves." The explanation was strange, and it didn't help that Hakkai's voice sounded perturbed at the prospect. They hadn't disappeared physically, but the blond wasn't ready to admit that it may have been something else entirely.

Goku lay on the bed with his eyes still wide and unseeing, probably from the immense pain that Sanzo was sure he was feeling. As though hit all at once, the boy began to sob and curled into a tiny ball on the bed, revealing his shredded back that had been reduced to a bloody mess. "Clean him up," Sanzo ordered impassively, getting to his feet and trying to ignore the shaking of his hands. With one more purposeful look at Goku's form, he stormed out of the room without so much as another word.

"What the hell, you fucking prick!? Come back here and tell us what the hell happened!" Gojyo shook an angry fist at the retreating blond, though a gentle hand on his shoulder made him pause. His body sagged as the anger left him and he felt himself steered in the direction of the chair that sat by Goku's window on the other side of his bed.

"I think the best thing right now would be to let him alone. Sanzo…just let him be," the brunet assured him, turning towards the more pressing problem of Goku's new wounds. The doctor that had been standing there looked at a loss for words, his severe eyes wide as Hakkai's sorrowful gaze met his own. "I do believe we've just witnessed Goku's receiving of the next Stigmata."

Aria had moved to start cleaning the wounds, doing her best to coax the still sobbing boy to lay on his stomach so she could treat them. "Goku…please lay on your tummy for me," she crooned, stray tears that she was bravely trying to keep in check flowing down her cheeks. Her skin was sickly pale and she looked shaken, so much in fact that she didn't hear what the doctor had said to her.

"Aria, you will stay with him tonight. I want you…." he stopped, turning then to Hakkai. "…to continue your search on whatever this is. Do you understand?" Though he didn't care for the man's tone, the brunet wisely nodded in response. The man nodded in affirmation to himself, turning to exit through the same door Sanzo had previously gone through. With a tired sigh, the priest turned to Gojyo, but before he could say anything, the redhead held up his hands.

"I'm not going anywhere. Just as long as you're sure that pissy blond is going to come back. Damn kid's gone and gotten all attached to him. It'd be a shame if he wasn't here when he calms down." It was spoken flippantly, but Hakkai recognized the sentiment for what it was, offering the other man a genuine smile that reached his eyes.

"Of course. Once we finish cleaning him up and get him to sleep, I'll go look for Sanzo." Gojyo rolled his eyes, sitting back in the chair and folding his arms across his chest. They all knew they were in for a long wait.

(Translation: I will fear no evil)