A/N: Hey guys! Here's the next chapter! I keep trying to wrap it up, but then I remember all these loose ends that need to be finished, and of course I'm still considering finding a way to include Carmen's story, which really is a whole story unto itself, so we'll see what happens. But forget me, enjoy the next installment! :)
Chloe walked silently beside Kurama, her hand tucked safely in his. She was quiet because she didn't know what to say; she was afraid of what he might say. It was all over: Carmen, the medallion, Demon World. It was finally finished. In her heart she was scared that now that he didn't have to be here, he might just go back to college and they would go back to what they were.
"Are you okay Chloe?" Kurama spoke quietly. He'd noticed her silence all the way back from Carmen's trial.
She looked at him then away quickly. "I'm okay."
He knew that wasn't true, but he was clueless as to the cause of her distress. But he respected her silence. They walked up the front stairs of her house. He noticed something seemed very off about the house, but he couldn't put his finger on it.
Chloe let go of his hand and reached up above the door frame where her parents kept a spare key. She stuck it in the door, then her brows wrinkled. "It's unlocked." She twisted the knob and pushed the door open, gasping involuntarily. The house was empty, no furniture, no paintings, no rugs anywhere. Her feet moved before she realized what she was doing, her feet taking her upstairs to her parents' bedroom. She nearly screamed when she came face-to-face with a woman she had never seen in her life.
"Can I help you?" The woman asked sharply, blocking the doorway.
"Who are you?" Chloe demanded. "Where are my parents? Where is our stuff?"
The woman seemed a little taken aback. "You must be mistaken child, no one has lived here in months."
Chloe could see a couple over the woman's shoulder. They seemed very confused and were whispering to each other.
"No, my parents live here. The Scott's. This is our house!"
The woman sucked in her breath sharply. "Excuse me for just a moment." She smiled over her shoulder, taking Chloe's arm and pulling her downstairs, herding Kurama back down as well who was on his way up. She let go of Chloe's arm at the bottom of the stairs. "What is your name?" She asked Chloe, looking a little pale.
"Chloe. Chloe Scott, and I live here!" Tears threatened to spill over, but Chloe didn't let them. She was confused, she was angry, but she was not about to cry in front of this rude woman.
"Oh merciful heaven, you're the missing daughter." The woman paled, but pulled out her phone.
"The missing d-listen, I haven't been missing, I was gone on a trip! What happened to my parents? Where did they go?"
The woman didn't answer, she just pulled out a note from her pocket and began dialing. She put it to her ear and spoke quietly into it. "Mrs. Bauer? This is Francine Goodwyn." A moment of silence. "I'm fine, thank you. Are you sitting down? Good, because I have some startling news. She's here. She just walked through the door. Your niece, Chloe." Another moment of silence. "No, she doesn't know anything. Alright." Then she hung up. "Your aunt will be here in five minutes and she'll explain everything to you."
"Explain what to me? What the hell happened?" Chloe clenched her fists, the knot in her stomach tightening.
"It will be better coming from someone you know."
Kurama, who had been silent to this point, put his hands on Chloe's shoulders. "Will you excuse us, Mrs. Goodwyn?"
She nodded hesitantly and went back upstairs. She returned in a moment, leading the couple from earlier out the front. "I'll just be outside." She shut the front door.
Kurama turned Chloe to face him. He had suspicions about what had happened, and he thought only fair to try and brace her up for what could be coming. "Chloe, say something."
She pulled away from his hands, swiping angrily at her eyes. "I don't know why that rude woman won't just tell me where my parents moved and why." She crossed her arms, not really believing her parents had simply moved away, but still desperately hoping.
"Chloe, I- you should be prepared in case it's something..worse."
Within minutes they heard a car pull up, following by hurried footsteps coming up to the door. "Chloe?" A young woman with auburn hair burst through the door, followed by a man with black hair.
Chloe looked at the two of them, her lower lip quivering. "Aunt Nel? Uncle Scott?"
Her aunt embraced her, tears spilling down her cheeks. "Thank god you're safe!" She exclaimed, squeezing the girl tightly.
Chloe pulled back. "What happened to Mom and Dad?" She asked, working hard to keep her voice from shaking.
Her aunt and uncle exchanged a glance. "Why don't you come with us back to the hotel and-"
"No!" Chloe spoke evenly, determinedly. "Tell me now. … Please."
Kurama moved closer to the girl, somehow knowing in his heart what was coming.
Her aunt swallowed hard. "Your parents were…killed, Chloe."
Everyone seemed to expect Chloe to faint, or yell, or do something. Instead she asked "What happened?"
"Why don't you sit down?" Kurama spoke quietly, putting his arm around her shoulder.
She pulled away and repeated her question. "What. Happened."
Uncle Scott pulled Nel into arms as she began crying. "A few months ago your parents didn't show to the store. There was no note left on the door, no explanation for the customers. Finally one of them, a Mrs. Sato, came looking for them."
Chloe knew Mrs. Sato. She'd been a friend of the family before she began shopping at the store. She'd often watched Chloe when she was a child.
"She called all their phones first, without any answers. Both cars were here, but there was no sign of anyone. The door was unlocked, so she came in. She found your parents in their bedroom, dead. She called the police, and tried to call you, but your phone was in your bedroom. The police assumed the killer must have kidnapped you. They searched for you for two months, but finally, with no leads since the investigation began, they concluded you were most likely dead by this point and had to close the case."
"I never gave up on you." Nel turned and went to hug Chloe.
She stepped back, her eyes looking down at the floor. "How did they die?" Her voice was quiet, but it had an odd ring to it.
"Chloe dear, you don't-"
"I want to know!" She snapped, her brown eyes flashing.
"Their throats were slashed, and a message was written on the wall." Nel's eyebrows furrowed. "But it made no sense. It said 'Be sure to thank Carmen. If not for her, they need never have died. –A.' Does that mean anything to you? They never could figure out who Carmen was, or who 'A' was either."
Without batting an eyelash Chloe replied "I've never heard that name before in my life. Will you please leave now? I'll call you later." Her voice sounded strange, even to her own ears.
Her aunt seemed startled. "But Chloe-"
"Please. Just go."
Her aunt reached into her purse and pulled out some paper and scribbled something on it. "Here's our number at the hotel as well as my cell phone. Please call." She pressed it into Chloe's hand before unwillingly walking out the door.
Chloe breathed heavily, walking quickly to a window in the empty living room. She shoved the window up and inhaled deeply. But she still felt like she couldn't breathe. She clutched at her chest, feeling the world begin to spin. She was vaguely aware of arms holding her up when her legs gave out, but it could have been the boogieman for all she knew.
Kurama held her up, managing to catch her just before she passed out completely. He lifted her into his arms once she completely passed out. He turned around when the door burst open.
"Chloe!" Haru shouted, looking around until he saw Kurama. "She knows." It was more of a statement than a question.
Kurama nodded. "Her aunt and uncle told her."
Haru came over and looked pityingly down at her white face. "I just heard what happened so I rushed over. I was hoping to be here when she was told. Listen, my car is outside. How about you bring her out and I'll take her back home with me?"
"It's alright, I'll take her next door to my house."
Haru felt annoyed, but he didn't show it. "With all due respect, Shuiichi, she'll be better off at my house. She knows my house, she knows my father, and she knows me. Not," he held up a hand "that she doesn't know you, quite the contrary. But we've been best friends since childhood. I think she'll feel more…" he searched for the appropriate word "at ease to grieve with me."
Kurama hated it, but he felt that Haru had a point. Also, as Yoko was demon just like Carmen, it was no stretch of the imagination to think that she might blame him for her parents' deaths as much as she would blame Carmen. "Alright, but just for a couple days."
A couple days stretched into a few days. A few days stretched into a week. A week stretched into a couple weeks.
Kurama glanced at the calendar from his position at his mother's dining table where his was sipping some morning coffee. He'd been waiting patiently for Chloe to call ever since she'd been driven off in the limo with Haru. He hadn't heard a peep since.
Suddenly there was a knock at the front door.
He set down his mug and went to answer. "Hell-" He stopped short when he saw who was outside his door.
Carmen looked up at him, her green hair in one braid over her shoulder. "Hello Kurama. Where's Chloe?" She asked.
Kurama, none too happy with her, responded just as coldly "Not here."
Carmen sighed. "Then she's at Haru's." She turned and walked down the steps.
"Don't go see her. She doesn't want to see you, and you'll only make it worse." Kurama spoke quietly, but her feet stopped moving.
"Make what worse?" She didn't turn around, but she turned her head slightly.
"Your brother killed her parents. That's why her house is empty."
Carmen was prepared for almost anything, except that. "He killed her parents?" She repeated, softly. "I had no idea, she has to know that. Did…does she hate me?"
Kurama could detect a trace of sorrow in her voice, but he ignored it. Carmen was a master manipulator. She could fake any emotion if she wanted to. "I don't know. She's not really capable of hating anyone." He didn't finish his thought, which was that Carmen probably deserved it after everything she'd put Chloe through.
"What you mean is that you haven't talked to her." Carmen turned around, a twinkle in her eye. "Which means it's just as likely that she hates you as that she hates me. Guess I'll just have to go find out which it is."
"Haven't you done enough damage?" Kurama stepped outside and shut the door so his mother wouldn't wake up.
Carmen's jaw tightened. "Because you've never done anything to hurt anybody." She replied coolly. "Besides, Alexander killing her parents was none of my doing."
"But you brought her into your mess, you put her on his list of things to destroy."
"Yes, you would see it that way. God, I forget what a small view you all have sometimes." Carmen turned back around and began walking away. "I'm going to go see her, even if you're not brave enough to."
Kurama watched her walk away, a bitter taste in his mouth.
Carmen knocked on the large double doors at Haru's father's mansion. She shoved her hands deep into the pockets of her peacoat. A maid answered the door. "Yes?"
"Would you tell Haru that Carmen is here to see Chloe?" Carmen didn't bother waiting for an invitation; she walked in and unbuttoned her coat.
The maid seemed a little startled, but she nodded and hurried off. A few minutes later Haru came down the stairs, his face showing his annoyance. "You may as well leave, I'm not going to let you see her." He said before his feet even hit the bottom stair.
Carmen looked back at him coldly, but a little amused. "Who said I was asking?" She walked forward, looking even more amused when Haru blocked her path. "Don't try and play with me, boy. I could rip you to shreds without blinking." She warned.
"I don't care. You've hurt her enough."
In the blink of an eye Carmen was behind him and jogging up the stairs. She knocked quietly on the door she sensed Chloe behind and then opened it. "Chloe?" She called softly. She shut the door behind herself and walked over to the window.
Chloe was sitting in a chair facing out the window, her eyes staring unseeingly through the glass.
"Chloe, will you answer me?" Carmen sat down in the chair next to her, pulling her legs up underneath herself. She reached over and shook the girl's shoulder. Chloe finally turned her brown eyes on the green-haired demoness, the lifelessness and utter devastation in them cutting her to the quick. "I didn't know about your parents. I had no idea that he had..." Carmen trailed off, her eyebrows furrowing slightly.
"You should have known." Chloe spoke quietly, but coldly.
Carmen drew back. "Excuse me?"
"You should have known that Alexander would kill my parents. Why? Because his hatred of you extended to his very core, and since you brought me under your wings, I now became part of you."
"I did know that you were brought into his line of fire, but I thought that he would be busy enough chasing us down that he-"
"I never understood how he could hate you so passionately. Until now." Chloe's eyes filled with tears, but she did not let them fall.
Carmen raised an eyebrow. "Oh really? That's interesting." She turned to look out the window. "Pray tell, what do you think you understand about his hatred for me?"
"You use everyone as pawns to help you reach your own twisted goals, whatever those might be. You keep everyone at a distance so you never get hurt. You would probably kill your own mother if it suited your needs."
Carmen chuckled at first, then let out a laugh. "Let me guess, I'm a heartless mercenary concerned only with my own personal gain and pocketbook? Whoever holds my purse strings holds my loyalty?"
Chloe scowled. "That's what they say. More than enough reason for Alexander to dislike you."
Carmen looked at the girl, for the first time surprised by something she'd said. "You seem to be attributing a great sense of decency or morality to my brother." She didn't bother disguising the amusement in her voice.
Chloe opened and shut her mouth a few times, unsure of how to respond. She knew Carmen was right about that one, but she hated to admit Carmen was right about anything at this point.
"I never claimed to be a good person. And everything you've said of me is more or less true. But none of it would explain why my brother hated me as he did. Try again." Her tone was playful, lilting, which only served to exasperate Chloe even more.
"Fine! Maybe I don't know why he hated you so much. But I sympathize with him and the more time I spend with you the more I think I shall share his feelings." She swiped at her eyes, the tears starting to come even though she tried desperately to keep them in.
"Ah. But the difference is that you are a good person who dislikes me for being a bad person, while Alexander…" Carmen trailed off, smiling to herself and shaking her head slightly. "was a very bad person who disliked me for being a better person than him. So you see my quandary. To him I was too good, to you I'm too bad. What's a girl to do." She shrugged and stood, peering out the window up at the sky.
Chloe stared at her for a moment. There were times she didn't think Carmen quite had all her marbles. "Go away, Carmen. Leave. I don't ever want to see you again."
Carmen turned her blue eyes on the girl, trying to decide if Chloe was speaking from the heart or out of grief. "I'm not to blame for your parents dying, Chloe."
Chloe shook her head and responded coldly "Only in that it was not your hands that killed them. But it may as well have been."
Carmen sighed and stood. "Fine. Be a coward. Hide behind your grief. Here." She dropped a manila envelope into the girl's lap.
Chloe looked down at it, slowly lifting it and opening it. There were newspaper clippings and police reports inside. "What is this?" She rifled through. The headlines caught her attention. 'FAMILY TORTURED AND MURDERED OVER 2 WEEK PERIOD IN OWN HOME IN TURIN'. 'FAMILY STALKED FOR WEEKS DURING EUROPEAN VACATION BEFORE MURDER'.'EGYPTIAN POLICE STUMPED OVER SLAUGHTER OF AN ENTIRE ORPHANAGE'. She set down the papers, feeling sick to her stomach at the images burned into her brain. "So?" She shoved everything back in the folder, trying to regain her jumbled thoughts.
"That was all Alexander's work. He did that. For fun." Carmen emphasized the word 'fun'. "I managed to track him down, here, and find out who his next targets were." She looked meaningfully at Chloe.
"My family?" Chloe's eyes widened.
"Alexander was stalking you, Chloe. In another week or so.." Her green hair swung back and forth as Carmen shook her head. "So I gave him a distraction from his blood spree."
Chloe could hardly take it all in. "So they were going to die anyway?" Her lower lip trembled again.
Carmen nodded. "Yep. That's about the size of it. Are there any apples around here? She wandered around Chloe's room, hunting through the cupboards.
Chloe shoved everything back in the envelope. "So you did one good thing. But I think I'd rather be dead with my parents."
Carmen paused her foraging. "That's a rather silly thing to say."
"It's not silly!" Chloe snapped. "Everything that I know now, everything that I've had to live through…I wish I could just forget." She buried her face in her hands.
Carmen looked at her bent form, the image bringing up her own images from a time when she had been as innocent as Chloe. "You sound really pathetic right now."
Chloe's head sprang up. "Excuse me?" She snapped, standing up and looking at the demoness.
"Forgetting is easy – forgetting is a coward's way out."
"You seemed to be trying to do a good job forgetting something about your own life when I was at your trial." Chloe shot back, her fist's clenched.
Carmen's whole body went rigid.
"Just what were you trying so desperately to hide, anyway?" Chloe pushed, beyond caring anymore.
"I don't think there are any apples here." Carmen walked stiffly towards the door.
"That's great, just ignore the question and run away! You always do that! Why should I expect you to be any different? You know, there were moments when I thought you might actually be my friend!" Chloe was nearly shouting by this point. "Then you turn around and show the bitch you truly are! I was dumb; a person like you could NEVER be a friend to anyone!"
Carmen calmly shut the door behind herself and walked down the stairs.
"What happened?" Haru demanded, running up the stairs.
"She's hysterical, you should probably calm her down." The demoness continued walking. "You should take her to Austria as soon as her aunt and uncle can take her. And tell her I won't bother her again." Carmen opened and shut the front door just as smoothly and calmly as she had Chloe's door. But once outside she reached up to her face, wiping a single tear from her cheek.
Kurama stood on the tarmac next to Haru's plane. She was standing next to him, both of them watching silently as Haru loaded all her bags and then boarded the plane to give them some privacy. Chloe hadn't even looked directly at him since they had arrived.
"How long will you be gone?" Kurama asked, trying to break the awkward tension between them.
"I don't know." She kicked at a pebble with her shoe.
"Did I do something wrong?" He asked bluntly, turning her to face him.
Chloe still wouldn't look at him. "No. It wasn't anything you did. I-…I just can't be here right now, and I can't be around you."
He felt a sharp pain in his chest. "I understand not being here, but..why can't you be around me? I know you're grieving, but-"
"Kurama, please." She swiped at her eyes. "When I look at you, I just see…everything that has happened to me. I see my parents' bodies, Ethan..I see Alexander's eyes, I see demon world, Carmen…everything I want so badly to forget." Her voice wavered; she was struggling so hard not to burst into tears.
Kurama wasn't sure how to respond. He squeezed her shoulder gently. "Chloe, I know you're hurting, but-"
"There's no 'but' here." She uncharacteristically interrupted him. "I don't know when, if ever, I'll be able to move past all of this. And you're part of everything I want to stay far away from, not matter if you try to distance yourself. It will follow you. I'm sorry." She closed her eyes, leaned up and kissed his cheek, and fled onto the plane.
A few weeks later Kurama found himself at Kuwabara's apartment. He reached out and pushed the doorbell, putting his hand back in his coat pocket. A moment later the door opened.
"Kurama." Kuwabara looked shocked.
"Hello Kuwabara."
Kurama leaned back in his chair after he finished telling Kuwabara the basics of everything that had happened.
Kuwabara whistled. "Wow. Who knew the fate of the world's lay in the hands of a treacherous mercenary. But," he leaned forward in his seat "one thing I still don't get is why she had that guy kidnap Chloe. It doesn't make any sense. What was the point?"
Kurama shrugged. "I have no idea. Carmen was never the most..forthcoming."
Kuwabara shook his head and leaned back. "Poor Chloe. She really got tossed into the deep end, huh? Man if I saw that Carmen again, I'd..I don't know what I'd do, but I'd make her regret what she did."
"I doubt we'll be seeing her again."
Kuwabara stood up. "Come on, let's go meet up with Yusuke and Keiko. I was supposed to meet them for dinner anyway." He grinned.
Kurama smiled faintly and stood up as well. "That sounds delightful."
Kurama buried his hands in the pockets of his jacket as he walked away from the restaurant. He'd patched things up with Kuwabara and Yusuke. Hiei would forgive him, eventually. For now he was just happy to have two of his friends back in his life. The night was completely silent, peaceful, as he climbed into the driver seat of his car and turned it on. He let it sit for a few minutes, giving it time to warm up.
Finally he put his hands on the cold steering wheel and put the car in reverse. He navigated out of the parking lot. His car began warming up once he got back on the road so he could finally relax a little. He turned on the radio and slowed to a stop at a stoplight. A pedestrian started crossing in front of his car.
He tapped the steering wheel absent-mindedly, his eyebrows furrowing when the woman stopped in front of his car. They pulled down the hood of their jacket and Kurama suddenly felt a familiar aura emanating from her: Mayuri.
"Shit…"
Pain. Burning pain. Kurama opened his eyes slowly. The world was a blur around him. He could hear the hum of a whispered conversation. He blinked, trying to clear his vision. Three shapes slowly came into focus: Kuwabara, Yusuke, and Hiei.
"Hey! He's waking up!" Yusuke exclaimed.
"What happened?" Kurama asked hoarsely.
"That Mayuri chick tried to kill you again. How the hell did she survive what we did to her back in the cave?" Kuwabara asked.
"That was a clone." Hiei spoke from his position on the window seat.
Kurama started to sit up, only to go back down when a searing pain ripped across his chest. "Is she dead?" He asked to distract them from his grimace.
"Yeah. Carmen-"
"We all helped." Hiei spoke over Yusuke, sending him a warning look.
Kurama looked at Hiei. "Carmen was there." It wasn't really a question.
Yusuke rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Look, Hiei doesn't want to say it, but Carmen saved your life. We didn't show up until after she'd, um, finished off Mayuri."
Hiei pointedly looked out the window.
Kurama leaned back into his pillow. He could never quite figure Carmen out. Why was she in the area? Why had she helped? She'd seemed angry enough at him the last time he saw her.
Carmen pushed open the doors to Eric's establishment, walking in and sinking into a chair. Her head felt like a thousand knives were being driven into her skull, and her shoulder… She looked down ruefully at her left arm, which she had wrapped tight to her body. Mayuri had both dislocated her shoulder and broken her arm at the elbow. She closed her eyes, trying to mentally shield herself from the pain.
Eric came out of his back rooms, stopping short when he saw her. "Carmen, you're back!" He exclaimed, relief washing over him.
Carmen nodded. "You didn't think I'd stay away forever, did you?" She tried to smirk, but it was more of a grimace. "You need to bring me a bottle of something and set my arm – twice."
"What happened?" He asked once he'd fetched bandages and a bottle of vodka.
Carmen took a long drink from the bottle. "Set now, questions later." She grit her teeth and took another long drink.
Eric took hold of her should and swiftly shoved it back in place.
Carmen growled low in her throat but showed no other signs of pain.
Eric then grabbed both her forearm and elbow and straightened it out.
Carmen's blue eyes rolled wildly and she grabbed the bottle so hard it shattered in her grip.
Eric opened her hand and picked out the pieces of glass before he wrapped the gauze around her lacerated palm. "Wanna tell me who you were fighting?" He asked again, tying it off and beginning to examine her head.
"Mayuri, one of Kurama's enemies. She nearly killed him before I was able to get there." She spoke softly, very seriously.
"But you stopped her?"
"I killed her."
"You know that will have repercussions."
"Not like the ones if I had let her live one minute longer."
Eric nodded and wiped some blood off of her forehead. "I should probably tell you that you have a visitor."
"Hello Carmen."
Carmen stood abruptly, her eyes focused on the black haired woman standing at the base of the stairs leading upstairs. The woman wore a strapless white dress that reached down to the floor, her bare toes just peeking out from the bottom edge. "Kali!"
The woman smiled and walked over, her bare feet moving soundlessly over the floor. She stopped in front of Carmen, suddenly breaking into light laughter. "Devi, you did it!"
Carmen felt a wave of relief wash over her. "It's Carmen now, actually. But, I fixed it? For real this time?"
Kali nodded, her violet eyes sparkling. "You'll always be Devi to me. And yes, as soon as you killed Mayuri time was corrected."
Carmen let out a breath of air and sat down in the chair. Suddenly she tilted back her head and laughed, a light, joyful laugh. "It's certainly been a long time coming, hasn't it?"
"You took your time, that's for sure." Kali smiled. "Are you ready to come back now?"
The smile slid off Carmen's face. "Come back? Why would I do that?"
Kali seemed taken aback. "Because you fixed it. Your punishment is finished."
Carmen drummed her fingers on the table. "I don't want to see them."
Eric opened his mouth, then shut it again. He knew that look in her eyes.
"They're waiting for you. They've been anxious about you so many times, they just want you safe again."
Carmen snorted. "They're the ones that banished me to this realm. If they were so damn worried they shouldn't have sent me here."
"But-"
"No 'but's!" Carmen stood suddenly, sending the chair skittering backwards. "For all I care right now they can go to hell." She stalked over to the bar, angrily searching through the bottles for something she liked.
"What are you holding out for Devi?" Kali glided over to the bar, her voice soothing as if talking to a skittish animal. "I told you I don't know how to bring that future bac-"
"I don't care if the chances are next to none." Carmen turned her blue eyes fiercely upon her friend. "I have to wait for him. I have to try."
Eric and Kali exchanged a resigned glance. "Very well." Kali leaned over the bar, meeting Carmen's gaze. "I'll stay with you for one year. If you haven't succeeded by then, will you at least consider leaving this realm?"
Carmen looked to Eric, who nodded, then back at Kali. "Fine!" She threw up her good arm. "How am I supposed to fight both of you? I promise that if I haven't found him or he hasn't appeared in the future again, I will consider leaving. And that's all you're getting out of me."
A/N: I feel really bad for Chloe sometimes while I'm writing this. She really got shafted by life. But, hopefully I get the next chapter out soon so you can find out how she handles everything. These next couple chapters should be awesome as questions are answered and you get to find out what happens with Chloe and Kurama :) Please review and let me know what you think!