Chapter 5

Witnesses: A Secret Revealed

I silently but quickly got down off of the bed. Natalie was a pretty light sleeper, but I had mastered the art of silent getaways. I opened the door and began running, barefoot, still in my day clothes, outside. Once I was there, I kept running until I was out of view of the temple, right next to a small stream. I was so light-headed by then that it was all I could do to stand up. Suddenly, the small spasms came, and I knew that it was time. As my vision blurred, I only hoped that I wouldn't scream.

(3rd person POV)

Hiei had been sleeping in a branch on the tree just outside his and Kurama's room when he heard a noise. He opened his eyes to see a small, dark figure running out the door and into the woods. 'What is wrong with this girl?' he wondered. Whatever it was, she was emitting a strange ki. He hadn't sensed it on her before, and couldn't shake the feeling that something…extraordinary – even for the demon world – was about to happen. So he did the sensible thing.

He followed her.

Stealthily, he jumped from tree branch to tree branch, never losing sight or smell of the onna. Soon, he sensed another being close behind him.

"So you sensed it too, Fox?"

The redhead nodded.

They continued to follow her until she came to the stream surrounding the temple, where she stopped and started to shake rather violently. She fell to her knees and started clawing at her stomach and arms. She turned her face up – right at them. They hadn't bothered to hide themselves and even a human could see them in the dark.

But she didn't seem to notice. They saw her face clearly in the moonlight. She was wide-eyed with a distant look and her entire face was distorted with pain. She looked like she was trying not to scream and was gasping and grunting and making choking noises as a result. Then, she began writhing and screeching and convulsing on the ground. The sight was almost unbearable for the two powerful demons. Even Hiei was disturbed. She was clawing at herself and her head was pouring blood. 'Where are her injuries coming from?' Hiei and Kurama wondered. 'She didn't even hurt herself there. It's like the blood is coming out of nowhere.' Her clothes soon became soaked through with red stains as she continued screeching and convulsing. Suddenly, it all stopped, and she stopped screaming, and the blood…disappeared.

The two men watched wide-eyed as she stopped writhing and lay down on her back with her eyes closed, breathing heavily. "GGRRRAAAHHHH!" she yelled suddenly and angrily as she started punching a nearby tree, tearing the flesh on her knuckles with the bark. After a few more minutes, she hit it more softly and rested her head on the tree trunk. Then, so softly that only they could hear it with their "super-hearing", she said-

"I hate this so much. I hate this I hate this I hate this. And now I get to come up with an explanation for my bleeding hands." Then she cursed loudly and colorfully and soaked her hands in the flowing stream, hissing and cursing some more at the sting. Finally, she got up and began walking back toward the temple. Hiei and Kurama stayed where they were and began a telepathic conversation.

Fox, what do you think just happened?

I don't know; I've never seen something like that before.

What should we do?

Nothing yet. Let's just see what happens next.

Should we tell the detective and the buffoon?

Now, Hiei, they have names. And no, I don't think we'll need to. Her screams probably woke everyone up.

Fox, if you put a bomb in their room they would still be snoring.

…

…

Well, we should get on back.

Hn.

(Sarah's POV)

I crept as quietly as I could back up to the front door. I walked through the open door (I thought I had closed it…) and up to my room, where I saw, sitting on her bed with folded arms…

Natalie.

"Ummm." I couldn't think of anything to say. But I ended up not having to. She took one look at my bloodied fists and her look softened considerably.

"You had another one, didn't you?"

I refused to look her in the eye, and nodded slightly. She got up and came over to me, putting a hand on my shoulder before gently embracing me.

"I'm so sorry. I wish every day that you didn't have to go through this."

I returned the hug. "Thanks, Nat."

She released me. "So what was it this time?"

"…a medieval slicing machine."

"Oh my gosh." Her voice was barely above a whisper and filled with horror and pity.

I smiled softly. "Don't forget what I said about pity."

"I know you don't like it, but you have to understand that that's a natural reaction when you hear something like that."

"Yeah…so, did my screaming wake you up?"

"No, but you did scream. When you were leaving, your breathing was getting ragged."

"Oh."

"And by the way, I know you aren't going to like this, but Hiei and Kurama followed you…and are at the doorway right now."

I gasped and spun around, to see the stoic face of Hiei and the concerned one of Kurama. "Ah man," I groaned.

After a few moments of very uncomfortable silence, I said "How much did you see?" afraid of what I knew they'd say.

"Everything, now talk onna."

"Hiei, you really should be gentler."

"She's fine, Fox." Hiei turned to me again with that same hard glare. "Now talk. What was all that about?"

I was caught. I knew that I couldn't lie and have it make sense, but there was no way that I could tell them the truth either. "Unh," I groaned. I looked to Natalie for help, but she looked as helpless as I felt. "Umm – I – well – it's just that – I – unh -"

"Spit it out onna, we don't have all night."

I refused to look at them. I was afraid that if I did, my secret would just blurt out. So I just stared at the floor. When they didn't leave, I knew that I wasn't getting out of this so easy. So, here goes…

"Do you remember when I said 'That's what I saw' back in Koenma's office?"

"Yes."

"Hn."

"And when I asked if the influence of the White Phoenix could surface sooner than my 19th birthday?"

Same answer.

"Well…I asked because…I already have one of the Phoenix's powers-" I looked at them square in the eye, knowing that my look was more intense now "-I have the power to see and experience almost any point on the time stream." The boys' eyes widened slightly. "What you saw just now was one of my more…intense…episodes, in which I was in a dying body, being sliced to pieces slowly and painfully by a medieval slicing machine. That's another thing: the only…visions…that I have are always in the scene of a death or multiple deaths. The only one that was different was the one where I 'saw' Hiei telling Natalie to shut up when we first got here. My visions vary as well. Whenever I am witnessing our experiencing a suicide or accidental self-killing, I am in the body of that person and can feel, see, hear, and know what that person is at the moment. In other words, I become that person. Whenever I see a murder, I am in the eyes of the murderer. And when I see a terrorist attack or mass killing…" I looked away.

"What…?" asked Kurama, concerned and bewildered at the same time.

"…I am in the bodies of everyone dying at that time." I shut my eyes and squeezed them, as if suppressing tears, and clenched my fists and teeth together. "You have no idea how painful that is. I have seen every means of death except for the one where I die peacefully in my sleep at a ripe old age. In other words, my visions are bloody, traumatic, and disturbing. I keep telling myself that I have this…ability…for a reason, but I can't think of one. I can't even stop any of these killings from happening, no matter how close the person is. And I keep thinking that there's something seriously wrong with me, because a normal human wouldn't be able to handle that kind of…trauma…without going mad. Sometimes I wonder if I am losing it."

There was a painfully long silence in which Natalie put her hand on my shoulder in comfort, and Kurama looked considerably thoughtful, and Hiei was just looking at me in…no WAY!

"Do NOT look at me like that!" I screamed at him. Everyone looked shocked at my second outburst of the night. "Don't you DARE pity me! YOU of ALL PEOPLE! If you EVER look at me like that AGAIN I will…UGH!" I was steaming by now, enraged that he of all people would look at me like that. WITH PITY! That was one of the only things that could INFURIATE me.

Again, there was a prolonged silence.

A few moments later, Kurama noticed my still-bleeding fists. "We should fix those up for you," he said softly. I looked down at my bloodied hands.

"Perhaps I can help," said a sweet voice. Yukina entered the room, and I realized that she had been waiting just outside the door that whole time.

"Yukina, did I wake you up as well?"

"I'm guessing that the whole forest heard you screaming."

I looked down. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be. Let me see your hands." I obliged. "Oh, Sarah," was all she said before placing her own hands over mine and a bluish light surrounded them, engulfing my hands in a cool, watery-like energy. Only a few seconds later, the light faded out and my hands were as good as new.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome. Are you going to be okay?" Her crimson eyes filled with a comforting concern.

I nodded. "Yeah…I really think I will be. It feels nice to finally have someone else who believes me." I took a deep breath and said "So where are Yusuke and Kuwabara?"

"Present!" said two voices as they too emerged from the shadows beyond the doorway.

"Are you kidding me? Were you guys there that whole time, too?"

They nodded grimly.

I sighed. "Guys, I am so sorry. I never realized that I screamed so loud."

"Actually, Yukina woke us up and said we were needed. We didn't hear a thing," said Yusuke, with one hand scratching his head.

I stared at the two blankly for a moment, then started laughing. "F-figures. Haha."

"HEY! What do mean by THAT!" the detective yelled He tried to walk toward me, but was tripped by Natalie. "Oof! HEY! That HURT!" We all started laughing at the picture of Yusuke in his T-shirt and pants on the floor with a bashed in nose and flaming cheeks. Cruel, I know, but funny.

"Well," I said, "we might as well try and get some more sleep."

"I don't think you'll get much," stated Hiei, pointing behind me. Sure enough, the window right next to my top bunk gave us all a clear view of the rust-colored horizon. It was sunrise. I sighed.

"Well, Nat and I were planning on having an all-nighter anyway. I guess we got what we wanted.

"I'll start breakfast," Kurama offered.

"FOOOOOD!" yelled the two empty-headed detectives, trying to chase Kurama down to the kitchen and scrambling over each other in the process. Natalie and I started laughing, while Hiei only smirked, then left the room.

"I'm gonna go help Kurama with breakfast," said Natalie, winking at me.

"Have fun," I teased. She gave me a thumbs-up and left to follow the still-clambering buffoons.

At that moment, as I glanced back out the window at the rising sun, I felt peaceful, and had only one thought.

"Everything's gonna be alright."

That's what I usually thought before a disaster struck.