Chapter 57 Blood will Tell
The first clue Souta received of his sister's return was when the well house exploded in a shower of flames.
Its detonation was like a monstrous thunderclap accompanied by a wave of force that rocked his house hard enough to knock almost every unsecured item to the floor. The TV, artworks, dishes, anything that wasn't already on the floor or bolted down slammed to the ground. Every window along the back of the house and facing the well house shattered simultaneously and sent a deadly shiver of glass slicing through the interior.
Only dumb luck kept Souta and everyone in the house from being flenced alive by flying shards of glass. Standing in the hallway leading to the carport, -little more than a flimsy wooden shed which kept the elements from their vehicles- Souta had been nagged into showing Rin and Shippou the family's new truck. As Souta had been explaining that he was going to be driving soon and that his mother had begun teaching him about the car, the wave of force from the well house hammered his home and caused a picture to fly off the wall and smack the fox child Shippou on the head causing a small trickle of blood to flow down his face.
From beyond the door leading to carport, Souta had heard sounds of metal smacking against concrete. Undoubtedly the shovels, hammers, screwdrivers, saws and other tools that had been resting on wall hooks had been flung to the ground by whatever force had exploded from the well house.
Throwing open the door to the carport, Souta rushed out and stared in horror at the scene before him.
Fire was everywhere. It rained from the sky in deadly drops of burning radiance and flowed on the ground in a seemingly liquid blaze that lit the night and cast thrashing shadows across the house. Dancing gleefully in the shredded ruins of the well house, the flames tossed themselves back and forth in violent raptures, seeming to worship the figure in their center.
That can't be good, Souta thought in eerie calm as his mind struggled to make sense of the stimuli pouring in. His sister was back, his backyard was a storm of fire, and obviously whatever conflict had been happening in the past was being transferred back to the future.
Although Souta had never seen Wei before, Kagome's description of the man left no doubt in Souta's mind he was staring at Wei. The shimmers of firelight illuminating Wei's features accentuated to a frightening degree the otherworldly hate that seemed to be just barely contained within his body.
The only thing more terrifying than Wei's presence was the condition of his sister, Kagome. Held aloft by her neck, her unconscious form slumped down in whatever dreams or nightmares she was having.
Not thinking clearly, Souta grabbed a 2x4 off the ground and almost rushed off to attack Wei by himself before Kohaku grabbed him by his collar and hauled him back.
"Are you really so eager to die?" Kohaku whispered harshly, as though he were talking to an idiot child. "If Lord Sesshoumaru found Wei a challenge, exactly what are your chances?"
"Shit, let me go!" Souta demanded venomously. "What do you want me to do? Sit still? Wei is going to fucking kill my sister!"
"And he will kill you as well unless you listen to me," Kohaku said. "You said earlier that this Nissan carriage could transport things quickly? Have you ever heard about people being dragged to death by horses?"
Souta paused in silence for a moment while looking at his reflection in the bronze finish of the truck as comprehension dawned on him.
"Go get your weapons...Shippou, we need a distraction..."
