Ah and I deliver with another amazing chapter for you Halloween hounds to read. Wonderful, aren't they? Because of my sleepiness yesterday, I'm just going to say screw it. TODAY is MY Halloween. Trick or Treat?
Kurumu leaped backward, her nails lengthening reflexively. "H-how did you?"
"You can't keep me caged like an animal." Ura scoffed, her eyes pinning the succubus where she stood.
Just then, something dropped from the ceiling, disrupting the group. They all looked up only to see a figure racing away from them. Haiji leaped up and raced after them as the rest of the group looked to what had been dropped. Fang-Fang's body was completely unharmed… aside from the sword going from the front of his pelvis to the back of his neck. The pelvic bone had been shattered from the looks of it and Gin even crossed his legs at the sight of such a vulnerable place being pierced by something so blunt.
"We have to stop Haiji!" the wolf-boy coughed. "Whoever that was, they mean business."
"Did anyone see them?" Tsukune asked.
"No, they were bathed in shadow." Aqua told him.
"Come on, we have to find the two of them." Omote urged them, running out the door with Ura by her side.
There were the sounds of battle coming from down the hall, Haiji's karate yells echoing to them. Blows were being landed, that much was obvious, but on who was the question. The battle seemed to be moving down the stairs and all of the teens hurried to catch up to at least get an appearance on the person that was terrorizing them. Omote raced down the stairs as Ura leaped onto the banister, sliding down beside her sister as the rest of the team used variants between running, sliding and flying down.
A trail of blood led throughout the hallways and Ura stopped to examine it while Omote continued onward. The pinkette followed the blood trail all the way to the boiler room and found Haiji covered in hot tar. He was frozen in his signature karate stance and his mouth was open in horror. Omote glanced around the room and spotted the figure grinning at her before disappearing into a loose ceiling tile.
Seconds later, Tsukune and Aqua raced into the room, Mizore and Miyabi right behind him with the others not far behind. "Did you see who it was, Omote?" Tsukune demanded, panting out of breath.
"No, they disappeared into the ceiling before I could get a good look." The pinkette replied, a hand coming up to cover her mouth and stopping a sudden influx of vomit.
"H-how did he do this?" Kokoa breathed, coming around to Haiji's front and leaping back.
Miyabi moved forward and surveyed the figure. "What's wrong?" he asked, turning to the orange-headed girl.
"H-his eyes." She choked, turning away. "His eyes are gone even though he was fighting!"
"That's what the blood in the hall is from." Ura said, coming in through the doorway. "They have what appear to be traces of nerve tissue in them, moreso than blood. Whoever they were, they managed to take out his eyes before they even reached the bottom of the stairs."
"How is that even possible?" Aqua gasped. "They were still fighting all the way down here."
"Haiji's a skilled fighter." Ura explained. "He could just as easily have used his other senses to help him in his time of need. They just didn't seem like enough to save him from his inevitable fate."
"Inevitable?" Gin rounded on the silverette, nostrils flared. "What so it was inevitable he was going to die?"
"As soon as I said that whoever it was that killed him took out his eyes before they reached the bttom of the stairs, everyone in the room instantly knew that he would have died. Against a sighted murderer with a better feel for their surroundings than someone who only arrived tonight, Haiji's sudden vision impairment is most likely what led to his death."
Gin sniffed and turned to San, only to find the Siren standing at the door looking out. Her head was moving side to side and Gin thought that she might be crying over Haiji's death. Moving closer, the wolf boy realized that she was just looking around the hall for any more clues that could lead them to the killer.
"Find anything?" he inquired. San turned and shook her head, a frown setting her lips.
"Well, at any rate, we know Ura's not the killer." Miyabi sighed, finally happy to put that ridiculous notion behind them.
"We told you so!" Aqua and Kokoa cheered, hugging the red-eyed girl happily.
"At least someone had faith in me." Ura chuckled, hugging them back and winking at her sister.
"I don't know." Gin growled, eyes narrowed on the albino. "She could have an accomplice that she snuck inside. Maybe they were to keep us busy, convince us that she wasn't the murderer so that the next time someone died, we wouldn't point fingers at her."
Tsukune and Kahlua groaned, Miyabi smacking a hand against his forehead in exasperation.
"Look." The tentacle boy snarled. "At any rate, pointing fingers at anyone is getting us nowhere so why don't we stop this stupid theory for a while and focus on watching the ceiling?"
"Or the ground." Ura murmured, kneeling next to Gin.
"Why would we watch the ground?" Gin scoffed, glaring down at her.
"Because that's where San just disappeared into." The silverette replied nonchalantly.
"What?" Gin shouted, dropping to his knees and surveying the area, wondering if there was a trapdoor of sorts that could lead them all to any sort of door below the floor. He came up with nothing and Ura stood beside him. "Any way we could find her?" the albino inquired.
"When San knows she's in danger, she shuts her notebook and begins to sing." Gin responded, panting heavily in his panic.
"Then all we need to do is listen for her singing, correct?"
"Like you care!" Gin hissed, rounding on the girl and taking a swipe at her head.
Ura easily ducked the blow and sent a kick into Gin's chin as retaliation. "I want to help you." The albino snarled. "Why are you attacking me when it's clear I'm on your side?"
"Because no one can trust a ghost child!" Gin growled, leaping to his feet. "Everyone knows they're evil!"
Ura's eyes flashed and she delivered three more kicks to Gin's chest, slamming her foot into the side of his head before doing the same to the other side and giving a high enough kick that the wolf boy slammed into the ceiling.
Turning on her heel, the silver-haired girl strode from the room and out into the hall, beginning to listen for the sound of singing. "It's coming from above." She called to the rest of the group. They all nodded and began the procession up to the next floor, Gin in the lead.
"Where could they have taken her?" Tsukune grumbled, racing through the halls. "There aren't that many rooms in my family's house."
The singing was growing louder and the group sped up, eager to catch the killer before San was too severely injured. The sound was almost like dolphins screeching to each other and it was deafening to the ears. All of a sudden, however, the singing cut off. The group came to a halt, glancing at each other and wondering if that meant that the killer had been defeated.
There was the sound of something sliding into place and then deafening silence. No one moved, expecting San to walk out of one of the rooms nearby. When nothing appeared, Gin walked forward a few steps, glancing around. His form began shaking and they knew that it had happened again.
"San?" Gin shouted, running down the hall. "San!
Make sure you review, I'm getting sleepy.
