Soko here. This is chapter 10 of The Book. Please enjoy.

DISCLAIMERS

No, we do not own Yu Yu Hakusho characters. Yes, we own just about everyone else. ^^

Soko's POV

I'm running. It's dark. I can see nothing, not even my hands in front of me. I stop, pausing briefly in my pursuit of, what, I know not. All I know is that I'm utterly alone and afraid. I feel a presence behind me. I sharply turn to face my company. "Who are you?", I ask, trying to mask the fear in my voice. A dark-clad figure appears in a red light. "You should know.", the figure stated. I couldn't see his face. A cold chill shot up my spine, making my fur stand on end. "I don't believe we've met. Tell me, what do you want of me? Why am I here?", I ask, my voice bold despite my discomfort. The figure chuckles darkly. "You will find out soon enough, vixen.", he says. A similar red light envelops me. I turn and run. I'm afraid; I'll admit it.

Suddenly I'm falling. I try to grab onto something to slow, if not stop, my descent. My hand catches a rocky ledge. I dig my claws into the cliff-face, but I cannot hold on. I feel my nails pull away from my fingers and I begin to fall yet again. I am tumbling downward so close to the cliff that I hit another outcrop, shattering my left ribcage. Tears well up in my eyes as I cry out in pain. {Why can't I stop? I don't want to fall! Where's Mag? Or Xhi? Yoko, my beloved, where are you?! Someone help me!}

I look upward. I can see my cloaked kidnapper, and his creepy toothy grin. "Leave me alone!", I shout. His smirk only widens. A sound reaches my ears. Someone is calling my name. "Soko? Soko?" There is no one around me; even the cloaked man has disappeared. A dim light appears beneath me. I gaze at it as a picture comes into view. Yoko is sitting in the field… with me, lying unmoving next to him. I am falling faster, right above where I'm laying in amongst the flowers. "Soko?! Can you hear me? Soko, talk to me! Soko!" {It's him. It's Yoko.} I fall back into my body and sit up with a jolt, as if I had woken from a nightmare.

"Soko!?!", Yoko calls, worry dripping from his voice. I'm panting, fear squeezing my chest and making it harder to breathe. "Soko! Thank Inari! I thought I'd lost you!", Yoko exclaims, pulling me into a tight embrace. I wrap my arms around him, tears forming in my eyes as I cry again. My lover pats my back soothingly. "It's ok. I'm here.", he whispers. I pull away to gaze into his eyes. "Yoko, I had a nightmare. There was a creepy cloaked guy. He said he knew me, but I couldn't recognize his voice. I know he was evil; just looking at him made my fur stick up. I was so scared… so I ran away. I fell into this never-ending pit. I tried to grab onto something to slow myself down, but I couldn't get a good grip and I tore my fingers up. And then I was tumbling and hit the side of the cliff and broke my ribs. It felt so real, Yoko…", I said, talking at a hundred miles an hour and using extensive hand motions. Yoko stared at me, concern etched in his features. "Love, you left your body. That wasn't a dream.", he said. "How do you know?", I questioned, exasperated. He grabbed my hands. "OW!", I yelped, trying to free my hands. I looked down at them, noticing for the first time the blood that dripped from my beaten fingers. I gasped, causing my chest to explode with pain. I yelped, clenching my jaws together and trying not to breathe. "What happened to you while you were asleep actually happened, Soko.", Yoko explained, pulling me closer to him so that he could inspect my injuries. Finding that the damage to my hands was minimal and that my ribs weren't really broken, he relaxed a little and started to clean my hands. "Who do you think it was that took you from your body?", he asked. He pulled out a seed from his stash and grew it into a mature Angel's Binder plant. From it, he used the cotton-like blossoms to make bandages for my hands. I watched as he carefully bound my injured fingers and replied, "I'd bet all my loot that it was the man from my… 'nightmare'…", I said. Once my hands had been mummified, Yoko tenderly pulled my to my feet. "Let's go find the others… see what they think of this.", he said. I nodded and slowly walked with my lover towards the inner gardens.

We quickly discovered that walking caused more pain for me than I had originally thought. We came to the old oak tree that stood on the eastern side of the garden and decided to sit beneath its ancient boughs, amongst the gnarled roots that stuck out of the ground. I rested my silver head against the fox's shoulder. "I wonder where the others are.", he said softly, wrapping a strong arm around my back. "Inari knows… Maybe they're out by the – " A rustling sound above us interrupts my train of thought and catches my attention. Yoko and I look up. My golden eyes find two pairs of feet dangling off the side of one of the lower branches. I recognize Xhi's small feet immediately. {She and Jin must have wandered here over the course of the day.} From what I could hear, they were deep in quiet conversation, oblivious to the fact that Yoko and I were even there.

~*~

Xhi's POV

"… and it always ends with me gettin' a chocolate sundae.", Jin concluded, finishing the explanation of his dream. "I seriously think you don't need any sugar.", I say, trying not to laugh. "Hey!", he whines, looking hurt. "I'm only kidding.", I assure him. He perks up. "Wait a minute, I hear something'." He focuses for a moment before looking down. "Hey, it's Soko and Yoko!", he declares gleefully. He waves at the two figures sitting underneath the tree. "Hello Jin.", Yoko laughs. Smiling, Jin picks me up and floats us down to the ground. "Hey Xhiko.", Soko greets, grinning slightly. I gaze at her and notice her bandaged hands. "What happened to you?", I ask bluntly. "Long story. I'll explain when we find Mag and Connor." "Explain what?" We turn around to see the missing pair emerge from behind a tree as they walked over to us. "Oh nothing; I just had an out-of-body experience.", she explained casually. We all just stare at her. "A what?", Mag and I asked flatly. "Someone took me out of my body when I fell asleep and everything that happened in my 'dream' happened in real life.", she elaborated, using air quotes. "Who would do that?", Connor asked, shocked. "Maybe it's the guys I keep seeing everywhere.", Mag guessed. "What guy?", everyone asks in unison. Mag shrugs. "No clue. He's just there and then… he's not there. I don't even think he's real anymore…" "What does he look like? And if you describe Karasu I'm gonna-" "Calm down, Soko!", Mag said hastily. "I don't think it's him." Yoko nods in agreement. "Karasu doesn't have that kind of power.", he said. "True…", Soko muttered. "The guy I keep seeing is dark and tall. I've never seen his face."

I tap my chin thoughtfully. "He's tall…", I say slowly, remembering some time long forgotten. "… with ebony black hair and silver eyes." They all stare at my with their mouths open. "How do you know that?", Jin asks, flabbergasted. I scrunch my face up. "I don't kn-" Suddenly I'm in a forest. A dark figure stands over me. I cower in fear. "Hush elf. No need to be scared.", he smirks, his silver eyes flashing. My pointed ears quiver and I hiss, "Stay back, human. You don't know what you're dealing with." "First of all, I'm not human. Second of all, I know exactly what I'm dealing with." He draws out a pendant. I recoil in horror. "Stay away…!" He leans down and touches it to my hand. I scream and jerk back. "Xhi! Xhi!" I open my eyes. Everyone was standing around my crumpled form. "What happened?", I ask, looking around for the figure. "You had a memory lockdown.", Yoko explains. "A what?!" "It's like a spell. When someone performs it, it makes you recall a memory, maybe even one you didn't know you had. Psychiatrists use them a lot with trauma and amnesia patients. Can you tell us what you saw?" I blink, but relay the 'memory' to the rest of the group. Well, everything but the 'elf' part. {I'll wait until later for that.}, I decided.

Bad Dude POV

"Good", I muttered to myself, reclining in my chair. "Now I have their attention. Time for phase two…"

Making up my mind, I call out, "Imlin!" "Yes master.", the servant said, stepping forward. "Give those kids from the prophecy a little gift, will you?" The boy bowed. "Yes master." The figure disappeared. "Good.", I say again. "Very good."

~*~

Mag's POV

I gazed at the ground I had tripped over. A tunnel? In the garden? I suppose it did make sense… {They are foxes, after all.} Regardless of why it was there, I had still tripped over the small hatch hidden in the grass. And probably sprained my ankle. Connor stood and offered his hand to me, which I gratefully took. We both stared at the iron handle. "I wonder where it leads to.", I muttered, my usually nonexistent curiosity starting to creep out. "It's probably best we leave it alone.", Connor said, pulling me away. I looked up at him before stealing a final look at the door.

We were walking through a patch of young trees when I heard soft voices. Connor replied to them as we came into their line of sight. Soko, Yoko, Jin and Xhi were gathered beneath an old oak tree. We joined them and were caught up on what we had missed. That's when Xhi zoned out again before collapsing to the ground. Jin crouched next to her, looking a bit worried. After a few minutes of calling her name, she came to. She's a little confused, but Yoko explained to us that it was something called a 'memory lockdown'. Xhi begins to tell us what it was that she saw. I wipe a strand of my red hair out of my face as I crouch to hear her small, quivering voice. "There was… there was… this… well, I guess you could say it was a guy… I didn't see much of his face. I just…" Her voice trails off; she makes no sound but… her mouth is still moving.

AHH! A white-hot searing pain screams through my head. My brain is likely to melt. Everything from my eyes to my ears grows hot and aches. Tears stream from my eyes… or is it blood? I can't tell. My vision blurs, all is dark… all is dark. I am vaguely aware of Hippo's tail brushing against my knee. {God, that cat is too fluffy. Ugh, don't think about that! Think about a way to make the pain stop!} Oh, my head… I… "Yes master. Very good." A voice: deep, dark, sultry, and malicious breaks into my head. Ouch! Suddenly, a tingling sensation takes over. I leave my body. I am floating up, up… and away? I can see again! Below me, Soko, Xhiko and the guys all look like ants. Somehow, I can see that Xhi's eyes are glazed over. {What's happening?} All is still. I know what's coming. It's horrible. I try to scream a warning to my friends below. I can do nothing. No sound comes.

Oh please! Let me warn them, let me tell them…! Someone, do something! For a few seconds, all is still; all is quiet. A false sense of euphoria before… A blood-curtailing scream breaks the silence, the sky turns red and electrically charged and then… it begins.