Okay, chapter four. We're goin' strong. Yay!
I own nothing. Nothing, I say!
And... no one correctly guessed this chapter's victim. So... no one wins. Too bad.
But you'll all read and find out who it is, right?
And who do you think the next chapter's victim will be?
And if anyone would like to do me a huge favor... if you haven't already, could you go read and review my "Like a Red Rubber Ball"? Thanks.
So... enjoy chapter four of "Your Horrorscope for Today." Reviews are nice, thanks. And this one is dedicated all the Pisces of the world.
Pisces–
"Try to avoid any Virgos or Leos... with the Ebola virus."
"How the hell could she die? She wasn't even alive!" Yusuke stopped screaming, suddenly thoughtful. "Was she?"
Kari shrugged. "Technically, she's a spirit, but I guess if she had a human form..."
"So... Kuwabara and Botan. They weren't people Hiei particularly liked," Kaitou said.
The small girl burst into tears then. Clutching her brother, she sobbed, "That means I'm next!"
"Kari-chan, honestly." He patted her on the back a few times in an effort to soothe her. "We still have no proof that it was Hiei. And if it was him – though that's highly unlikely – I doubt he'll try to kill you. He won't have an easy time getting through me."
No one was convinced. Kari kept sobbing. Everyone just stared at him, like they couldn't believe that he of all people couldn't see that it was obviously Hiei.
So they were that sure that it was Hiei?
Perfect. It would take a lot to convince them otherwise.
Even though they were dead wrong.
"So, has anyone even seen Hiei lately?" Yusuke asked after no one said anything for a few minutes.
"The last I saw him was when... the day before Kuwabara..." Yukina couldn't think of a way to finish her sentence without bursting into tears.
Kari nodded in agreement. Her tears were starting to slow now. "Me too."
Everyone else agreed with her. No one had seen Hiei since then.
"Not that that's surprising," Kurama added. "Hiei likes to disappear for weeks at a time."
"So let's go track him down." Yusuke continued as though Kurama had said nothing. "Maybe not with the SDF, since they kinda want to kill me, but..."
"No matter who you send, Hiei will avoid them," he interrupted. "He's very good at not being found when he doesn't want to be found."
Kari sniffed. "Yeah. Hiei plays one mean game of Hide'n'Seek."
Everyone rolled their eyes.
"So what do you suppose we do?"
"Keep your guard up."
- -
They went to Genkai's every day for a few days. They plotted ways to find Hiei. So Kurama had to lay low for a while. Things even seemed to almost go back to normal.
Then Hiei came back from wherever he had gone.
He was immediately greeted with hatred, suspicion, accusations. And as Kurama had predicted, he denied all of it.
No matter what he said, he couldn't convince them that it hadn't been him. His answers were too generic for them – Where had he been? Demon World. What had he been doing? That was his business.
Hiei disappeared off into the woods after a while. He didn't have to put up with this.
The others started to go, too, shortly after. It was getting late now; they had to go home. Only Yukina and Genkai, the residents of the temple, stayed.
- -
Kari and their mother had only just started sleeping, but he had a long trip ahead of him. He needed to leave as soon as they were asleep – he didn't have time to wait until they were deeply asleep tonight.
And he couldn't take the car. Though it would be faster, it would undoubtedly wake them. He would have to walk to the station and then take the train. At least the temple was a short walk from the other station.
- -
As he climbed the never-ending staircase, he planned out the details. How would he keep her from screaming? Not that it really mattered, but the screaming would wake Yukina... Not that that mattered, either, but it seemed almost... cruel to frighten the koorime girl. She was so... innocent, so delicate.
Did she have duct tape lying around?
He crept around back, to where the old woman slept. The window was open – there was no glass in any of her windows.
Carefully, he crouched down near her bed. He reached underneath and stuck a plant seed between a board and the mattress, then he did this twice more. One at a time, he grew the plant out into a long vine. He wrapped them around her – gently, so she wouldn't wake – and secured her to the bed.
He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a book of matches. Swiftly, he struck a match, and tossed it on the bed, near her feet.
He watched as the blanket caught and the fire started to grow. He quickly retreated out the window. How long until she started to scream? Would Yukina make it there in time to save her?
He didn't have the time to stick around and find out, though. He needed to get back to the station and catch his train back home.
- -
What woke Genkai was the smell. Something was burning. Was it morning already? Perhaps Yukina, in her despair, had forgotten about some toast...
She opened her eyes. It was still dark. And the smell was closer than the kitchen, anyway. It was here, in this room.
Her bed was on fire.
She tried to get up, escape from the flames. But something held her back. She was tied to the bed.
She was burning at the stake.
This didn't surprise her. When she was young, psychics – people like her – were still burned at the stake. But that didn't stop her from screaming as the fire moved over her body.
- -
What woke Yukina was the screaming, as it grew louder, more desperate, more frantic.
"Genkai?" she gasped, worried. She was instantly wide-awake. The old woman sounded like she was in such pain, like she was being tortured. And was that the smell of smoke?
She ran to Genkai's room. She saw the thick, black smoke pouring out from around the door. She could feel the heat from the flames, even through the closed door.
She flung the door open, scared now – the screaming had stopped. And once she opened it, she received the biggest surprise of her life.
The entire room was engulfed in flames, and standing in the middle of the sea of fire was a very familiar figure.
"Hiei? What are you doing?"
- Kuramastrass -