CHAPTER THREE

Hatred emitted from every pore stitching together Yukio's skin as terrified hazel eyes stared into the barrel of a gun. A small gulp echoes through the village as troll gets the courage to glance up. Once the troll left Rin's side he hummed to himself while skipping up the stairs. However as soon as he landed on a lamppost a gun was shoved in his face. Now both were locked in a deadly game, one that would surely result in the troll's life ending. Yukio cocks his gun and traces the trigger.

"Wait wait wait! You can't kill me!"

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you."

"Because you need me to find your brother." He smiles when Yukio lowers his gun and places it back in its holster. "I'll help you find him… if you promise not to kill me."

"After everything you've done?!" Yukio snaps causing the troll to flinch and cover his face.

"How about…. I'll help you find Rin and send you both back home… If you let me live?" He challenged Yukio's deadly gaze only to grin widely when the younger twin sighed in defeat.

"If I ever have to hunt you down again I'll end your life"

"That's fair," troll giggled to himself. Yukio eyed the camera obscura that was now resting in the green bastard's hands; two pieces. "Have you heard of all gods' village?"

"No… Is that where you have taken us?"

"Yes. Another name of it is the lost village because on the night of a ceremony the village vanished. However people could become trapped in the spirited away village by simply walking deeper into Minakami forest."

"What type of ceremony?"

"Ah! Interested? Yay yay! One twin sacrifices the other to appease the hellish abyss."

"Sacrifice?" Yukio begins feeling nauseous as he realized why the troll took them to this particular time.

"Younger must strangle the older. The village disappeared because one twin ran away while the other had to be killed by the village. Her anger spilled out of the abyss and killed everyone. That night replayed until twin girls accidentally stumbled upon this village and performed the ritual. However you two are further back in time than that horrible night. The only time fraternal twins were successful and I made sure they were ghosts! How brilliant am I?" With his question Yukio shoved his gun back into the troll's face. With a yelp he covered his face and peeked out through his fingers.

"We are not going to perform that ritual."

"You'd better get your brother back before you both fall into that day."

"Where is Rin?"

"I'll show you but you have to escape the village by yourself. If you do that, then time will be restored."

"How do we escape?"

"There is a passage under an old tree. You should be lucky this is before the time they closed off that exit. It's a good thing you two are exorcists."

"Why?"

"This camera fights ghosts. Your brother had so much demonic power that it just broke," he laughs while pretending to fix the camera. Troll unhinged his jaw and swallowed both parts of the camera; Yukio tried ignoring the strange sounds coming from the troll's throat.

Yukio stares at the large lock engraved into the huge double doors. Groaning he glances to the troll who was searching lazily around a tree. An exited eep echoes through the air as troll pulls a millipede from its dirt home. Yukio quickly looked away before watching the demon eat the bug. Trying the doors again, Yukio pushes against them hoping they would open; he had no such luck. He rested his forehead against the wood and took in a deep breath. Yukio jumped when something slimy touched his hand. Looking down he sees the troll tugging on his hand; some yellowish liquid dripping from his wrist. Yukio yanked his arm back and shook the slime off.

"Oops. I eat messy," troll laughs.

"Please tell me that wasn't your spit."

"I can't because it was," he laughs again. "You won't get that open unless you have a key… Or break it. Your call. If you want the key you'd have to look all over this village." Troll's eyes go wide when gunshots erase his hearing. When Yukio returned his gun to its resting place the butterfly lock resembled cheese and was hanging from the door. Yukio then swung open the doors and hurried across the bridge. "Could have warned me," troll whined while rubbing his ears.

Still in his strange haze, Rin watches himself stumble down a corridor. The child who dragged him inside this house vanished at some point but Rin couldn't remember when. Rin decided to fight against his body but every time he tried he became more intoxicated. He felt himself losing to sleep which coxed him to let his body take over; however his stubborn attitude had upset whatever was leading him to become angry. His body continued to shut down. He opened his mouth to scream for Yukio but no sound came out. Through blurred vision, Rin saw a door slowly open in front of him. He knew he had opened it but he couldn't feel the door on his fingertips. Standing in the middle of the room was the little boy from before. He turned towards Rin with a huge smile on his face. Rin's legs carried him to the child and buckled under him so he was eye level with the child. Rin's conscious state evaporated once the boy wrapped his hands around Rin's neck; Rin's body became limp.

Yukio's ears picked up heavy footsteps once he opened the main door to the house. Ignoring a warning from the troll, Yukio let his ears lead the way. Slamming the left door open he ran towards the second door and within that small room and swung it open to the point it fell off. Tossing it aside, he enters a corridor where instinct told him to continue straight. Troll whistled down at the door as he crawled over it; he was positive he would wind up dead if he stayed with the younger twin. Yukio let cuss words fly when he came to another door. When he entered the room behind this door he searched it with his eyes. No life to be seen. Yukio was going to turn around and try another freaking door when a thud from the other side of the room made his feet freeze. Hope filled him when he heard the creaking of another door opening. Dressers and shoji walls blocked his vision of the other side, irritating him to no end. Bounding the corner Yukio catches a sight that nearly knocks the breath out of him; the lower body of a demon being dragged away, a tail the last visible thing before the door shuts.