Entrapment
"Eleven o'clock. The witching hour is upon us." Yuka smiled wickedly as she turned away from the old clock back to her friends. "It's time for the whole story."
Yuka made her way over to the large, dust-covered desk at the far end of the room. She used her feather-duster to clear a portion of the aged surface then seated herself upon it. Kagome, along with Eri and Ayumi, gathered around to hear the tale. Yuka set her flashlight under her chin, allowing the light to spill upon her face and give her an unnatural, spectral appearance.
"It all began on a dark night," she began the tale. "The great Lord had a young daughter. He had raised her from her childhood and loved her as his own, and she in turn loved her Lord, swearing that she would never be far from his side. But as the years passed and the girl grew into a woman, her heart began to turn to another. The girl, the young woman that she had become, had found love."
Yuka paused in her telling to allow Eri's swooning over the joy of young love. She smiled devilishly as she continued; expectant of seeing the happy smile on her friend's lips ripped away. For this story was no love story, this story was a tale of horror.
"But the young woman's love was not sanctioned by her Lord. The Lord warned his daughter against the boy she had fallen for, telling her not to trust the youth, telling her that he could only bring her heartache and misery. The girl was torn between her duty to her Lord and her love for the young man. But on that dark night, when evil lurked on the air, the girl made a decision that would forever be remembered by these old walls."
Yuka stopped again to let the story seep in. She pulled herself off of the old desk and made her way to the open space in the wall where a window once stood, shining the beam of her flashlight out into the darkened courtyard beyond.
"The girl decided that she could not abandon her love, and as the clock struck the time of witches play, she stole out of her bedroom and climbed down into the courtyard beyond. There, she met with her love, prepared to start a new life; one apart from her Lord. But she would never find that life, for it was darkness that waited for her in that courtyard."
Yuka's eyes flashed dangerously as she turned back to face her friends. As she told the tale, she could feel the unrest around her, and it filled her with dark exhilaration.
"The boy that she had fallen in love with was bound to the service of a demon so dark it has no name. He used his influence over the girl to bring her close to that evil, and it in turn used the tear created in her soul to turn her towards the darkness. She became possessed, her heart darkened, and her spirit corrupted by the evil presence. She turned away from the courtyard, in her hand carrying a magical blade of chaos and destruction."
From out of her bag, Yuka drew a small dagger. The blade glinted in the light cast off from the portable torches around her: dangerous, sharp, and deadly. One by one, Yuka confronted her friends at the tip of the dagger's blade, taking joy in the fear expressed in their eyes. But as she set the small blade to point at Kagome, Yuka nearly lost her place in the story upon seeing the anger burning behind her friend's contemptuous glare. But she quickly collected herself and continued with the tale.
"The young woman walked purposely back into the mansion, her mind empty of all thoughts but for the purpose given to her by the darkness. She made her way to this very room where her Lord sat at his desk working to maintain their lands. When she entered, the Lord looked up at her, and upon seeing the darkness in her expression, he became fearful for the girl he had loved as a daughter. He went to the girl and took her in his arms, trying to pull her mind away from the darkness. But the darkness would not be stopped."
A gasp of horror from Eri, had Yuka smirking in triumph. But she wasn't done just yet.
"The girl looked her Lord right in the eyes, and from her own dark, and deadened eyes, a lone tear slipped down her face as she lifted the blade and plunged it into the heart of the Lord."
"NO!" Eri cried in horror. "It can't end like that!"
"Oh, but it hasn't ended yet," Yuka smiled. "After the deed had been complete, the girl made her way back into the courtyard where her love was to be waiting. But when she got there, all she found was his body and his blood. The darkness cleared from her vision, and she saw the tattered body of the man she loved, and the blood on her hands which still held the evil blade. The girl cried out her horror and her anguish into the night. She sunk to knees in despair, and with the strength she had remaining, she took the dagger and killed herself."
"It's so awful," Ayumi sniffled as she tried to fight back her tears.
"But it's still not over," Yuka warned. "After the girl's death, the dark spirit that had started it all laughed out its triumph. From the pain and the heartache, from the betrayal and the blood, the dark spirit found power enough to create a form it had gone so long without. It believed that it had won. It believed that it was free of its imprisonment in the half-world between the living and the dead. But it was wrong. You see, the Lord's spirit could not rest after such a horrid betrayal, and so he remained to fight against the darkness. The two beings locked for eternity in a battle driven by hatred, and to this day, the anguished cries of their struggle can be heard ringing through the darkness of the woods."
- AAWWOOOOOOOOO -
A precision placed howl from out of the darkness in the woods beyond had Eri and Ayumi clinging to each other in fright. Kagome spared a glance out of the window, before she turned on Yuka.
"Alright, Yuka," she stated forcefully. "You've had your fun. Now it's time for us to get out of here."
"But we haven't even seen the upstairs!" Yuka whined. "Eri wants to see. Right, Eri?"
"Uhhh..." Eri stuttered "Actually…"
- THUD….scccrrrape…THUD…scccrrrape… -
"What's that?!" Eri cried as she looked up, half-expecting something to drop down from the ceiling by the way the rotted panels were shaking with each of the heavy impacts against it.
"It sounds like footsteps," Ayumi whispered fearfully.
"Footsteps?" Yuka asked incredulously. "Of what? Someone with a peg-leg? It's probably just a shutter banging against the wall or something." She started her way towards the door to the room.
"WAIT!" Kagome grabbed Yuka's arm, forcing her to stop. "You can't go up there!"
"And why not?" Yuka snapped as she brushed away Kagome's hand.
"Because…" Kagome trailed off uncertainly. She couldn't tell Yuka that the reason that the upper levels of the house should be avoided was because she had began to feel a demonic presence up there. Though the presence was rather small, there was still no reason to go looking for trouble if they could avoid it. "Because it's getting late," she responded instead. "We need to start heading home."
"Oh, lighten up Kagome." Yuka hissed. "When did you turn into such a worry-wart?"
Yuka brushed past Kagome forcefully and made her way out of the room, gesturing Eri and Ayumi to follow. Kagome grit her teeth in aggravation at her friend's outrageous stupidity and lack of self-preservation, then pulled her bow from her shoulder and started after her friends.
Kagome caught up with the group at the bottom of the grand staircase. Yuka was already on the second step, but Eri and Ayumi had paused cautiously at the base of the stairs.
"Maybe Kagome is right about this one, Yuka," Eri tried nervously to talk her friend out of her plan.
But Yuka was insistent. "I'm not going to be scared off by a stupid bump in the night! Besides, there might be some of that treasure you've been hoping for up there."
Ayumi sighed and looked away from the argument to Kagome who was making her way towards them. But even as her lips began pulling into a warm smile at the sight of her friend, a shifting shadow caused the blood in her face to drain away, leaving her deathly pale and staring wide-eyed at the dark corridor Kagome had just emerged from.
"Ayumi?" Kagome questioned in concern as she neared her friend. "What's the matter?"
Ayumi tried to answer, but her voice had been stolen in her fright. She did manage to lift her hand though, to point behind Kagome into the darkness. Kagome turned back to where she had come from guardedly and Eri and Ayumi paused in their argument to look back into the shadows.
Again a movement was made deep within the shadows. The girls held their breath as they waited for whatever it was to emerge, but what lay concealed did not emerge. The shadows shifted again, and the group of girls got the distinct impression that whatever it was, it was moving back down the hallway.
Kagome sighed in relief. She didn't want to have to face whatever demon lurked here without some form of back up. She sincerely hoped that such a creepy display would be enough to chase Yuka away from her foolish ideas. Unfortunately, Yuka was far more stubborn than Kagome was giving her credit for.
Yuka quickly dismounted the stairs and started after the retreating shadow. "Don't just stand there you guys," she called back over her shoulder. "Let's find out who that is."
"I'm not so sure that is a who," Kagome warned.
"Oh geeze, Kagome!" Yuka exclaimed. "What else could it be?"
'You want a list?' Kagome's inner voice questioned.
"It's probably some kid out here to do the same thing as us," Yuka continued. "Well, I'm not about to let some prankster get the better of me!"
Yuka spun around and began marching her way towards the dark corridor. Kagome clenched her fists in anger and in frustration as she watched her friend foolishly walking right into the path of danger, but with no way to stop her impulsive and determined friend, Kagome was left with few options but for following along, praying things would not take a dangerous turn for the worse, and keeping a firm hold on the only source of protection her small group had: the bow of a miko.
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
"Do you hear that?" Yuka asked quietly as she drew her friends close, urging them to switch off their flashlights.
"It sounds like a voice," Eri confirmed.
"It sounds like singing," Ayumi added.
"It sounds like…" The haunting melody rang softly in Kagome's ears. The voice was so small all that could be heard were the soft tones that it used. But still, something about this voice, something about this melody, something…there was something about it, something familiar.
"Come on," Yuka urged in a low whisper. She led the way forward without her flashlight, allowing the soft glow of the illuminant wand hanging around her neck to fill the small corridor with an eerie light.
Still, even once their eyes adjusted to the meager light their glow-wands were giving off, the darkness of the corridor was intense, making it difficult to navigate.
"Yuka," Kagome pulled up beside her friend. "You must stop this. This is madness! One of us will get hurt, or worse!"
"Kagome," Yuka sighed. "If you are so against me doing this, then why don't you go back and wait outside. You can even take Eri and Ayumi with you if you or they are too frightened to go through with this. But me, I'm going to find out just who it is that's trying to frighten us. And when I do that," she smiled, her dark eyes filling with even darker fires. "When I find them, they're going to learn that no one knows scary like me."
- Crrrreeeaaaakkkkk…….SNAP!!!! -
"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!"
Kagome and Yuka spun around to see where the scream had come from. They both gasped when they saw that the floor they had just walked over had given in to its age and wear and the pressures of being walked upon, and had given way underneath Eri. Ayumi was holding Eri's wrists in a death-grip, struggling to keep her friend from plummeting into the pit below.
"ERI!" Kagome cried as she dashed forward and leapt over the break to help Ayumi on the other side.
Together, Kagome and Ayumi managed to pull Eri up from her perilous position. The three of them collapsed back in a heap on the floor, panting in air as they strived to settle their racing hearts. After a moment, Eri spoke.
"I don't want to be in this place any more," she said shakily as she raised her eyes to meet Yuka's. "I'm going back."
"We're all going back," Kagome added firmly as she looked back to Yuka. "This place is too dangerous."
Yuka thought to protest, to argue that what lay ahead would be worth seeing, but as she took in the true terror in Eri's eyes and she heard the near-panicked, sharp draws of breath coming from Ayumi; she realized that things were no longer under her control. Eventually, she nodded her head in acceptance, and skipped the gap in the floor to join her friends.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The group of girls made their way back to the main entrance hastily. The kept the strong beams of their flashlights directed ahead of them as they made their way out. Kagome was in the lead when they reached the exit. She stepped through the doorway, but paused just on the other side when she heard Yuka's voice.
"Kagome! Something's blocking the way!"
"What do you mean," Kagome asked in confusion.
She had just crossed through the doorway with no incident, and she hadn't heard any other wood beams or floorboards breaking. But as she looked back and saw her three friends just inside the entrance, she realized what the problem was.
A demonic barrier had been set up at the door. She had passed through without any problems because of her abilities as a miko, but her friends were another story. Kagome stepped back across the threshold, drawing her bow from its position on her shoulder as she did so, and turned back to face the barrier.
"What do you plan on doing with that?" Yuka asked as she eyed the weapon in her friend's hands.
"Did you think this was just a toy?" Kagome snapped. "Did you think that I could live in a shrine my entire life and never learn to string an arrow in the most favored weapon of the ancient priestesses?"
"Sorry," Yuka replied defensively. "I just didn't know. That's all."
Kagome hung her head and sighed. "No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have snapped like that. Just step back ok? And I'll see about getting you guys out of here."
Kagome waited for her friends to pull away from her then set her sights on the barrier again. She drew back her bowstring, held it tensed for a moment to infuse her arrow with some of her powers, and released.
Yuka, Eri, and Ayumi starred wide-eyed in shock as they watched the simple arrow in their friend's hand begin to glow a radiant pink. When the arrow loosed, it trailed behind it a glittering wave of magical light that left the girls in wondrous awe.
But as the arrow struck the barrier holding the girls trapped within the haunted mansion, the barrier surged with a tremendous pulse of dark light; enveloping the beauteous stream of light, and consuming the arrow without effect.
They were trapped.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Good evening my ghouls and goblins. Having fun with these tortured souls are we? Well good, good.
Mwahahahahahahahaha!
The darkest Shadows are where even the brightest light dare not tread.
Disclaimer: Unfortunately my imagination only goes so far as to create plotlines not characters. I don't own any of them.