"Come on!" Kagome cried out and banged the steering wheel as the car puttered to a stop. Turning the key and continued to press down on the gas pedal proved to have no effect in bringing the car back to life.
The car let out a sputter before hissing and steam rose from under the hood. It rolled to a stop after a few meters. Letting out a groan, Kagome's head dropped, forehead pressing into the steering wheel and letting the horn off which woke her brother up with a start.
"Vampire ninjas attack!" his voice was slurred with sleep but he still managed to shout it out.
Raising her head off the horn, she turned her young brother with a raised and tired brow. "Vampire ninjas?"
Either she heard wrong due to being on the road for too long, or her brother really had just called that out. It was a good thing she had decided to take this trip, and no sooner it appeared. Souta had choose to get hooked onto the weirdest of games.
Souta blinked a couple of times before rubbing at his eyes and subtlety trying to wipe his mouth. He stretched and took in their surroundings. Furrowing his brows, he let out a yawn. "This doesn't look like New York."
"That's cause it's not." letting out a sigh, Kagome shoved her hands through her hair. "The car just broke down."
Souta grumbled under his breath and let himself sink back into his seat.
Shaking her head, she started the process of unbuckling herself, muttering to herself the entire time. Exiting the car, she stomped till she stood in front of the hood, glaring at the contraption as if it would magically start so they could continue their trip. After a few moments of nothing, Kagome reached down and let out a hiss when her fingertips brushed against the piping hot metal.
Snatching her hands back, her grumbles increased tenfold as she shook the injured appendages. Yanking down on her sweater sleeves, she attempted once more to lift the hood, and the moment she did, she instantly turned her face away from the steam that billowed out and upwards. Her nose wrinkled as the smell of oil and gas hit her, and it was only intensified due to the steam.
When it was finally bearable, she took a glance, which didn't really reveal much to her. She was pretty much car illiterate. Ok, she was car illiterate, and it was dark so she couldn't see or make anything out. Leaning forward, but sort of hanging from the raised hood, she thought to herself it couldn't get any worse.
When a distant rumble echoed through the air and she felt a sudden decrease in temperature followed by a drop hitting her cheek, she let her head drop. After a few moments, she closed the hood of the car and made her way back to the car. She was going to have to call someone, it was a good thing the man that rented out the car told her all the emergency numbers were in the dashboard.
Reaching across to said location, she pulled out the brochure and looked for the numbers she needed. Holding her thumb next to the number, she quickly pulled out her cell.
"So what's wrong?" Souta grumbled under his breath.
As she dialed the number and pressed her cell to her ear, she replied her brother's tired question. "The car broke down."
A tired snort was all she got. "I can tell that much."
Kagome could only roll her eyes at his slurred words. Instead of a dial tone, she ripped her cell phone away when all she got was a voice telling her the current number was unavailable. Trying the number, and a few others, she ended up with the same result. Perfect.
Here they were, in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night, in the middle of a storm.
A distant flash of lightning lit the area up, just enough for her to catch sight of a sign. Squinting her eyes, she took the sign in. With another flash of lightning, she managed to read it. A town, and it was within walking distance.
Glancing towards Souta, she took in his tired form. Nibbling on her lower lip, she contemplated her options. She could wait here until someone decided to drive by, but the road had been pretty much empty the entire drive. Why take back roads when there was a perfectly good highway? Or she could make the trek to this town and hope someone was still up and could help her, but that would require either dragging her brother with her and leave their stuff, or leave him here to watch over things.
Reaching in the back, she pulled her jacket forward and proceeded to put it on.
"What are you doing?" Souta shifted, more awake than asleep now.
"I can't a hold of any of these numbers, and there's a town just up ahead so I'm going to walk there. You can either come or stay here. It's up to you." zipping up her jacket, she pulled the hood of her light sweater free and flipped it to cover her head.
Souta blinked before looking out the windows. Dark forests surrounded them and it was starting to rain. It was still light, but the distant thunder and lightning told him it would pick up soon. "I think I'll stay here and keep an eye on things."
"Alright. Keep the doors locked. Call me if anything happens." looking at him before she opened the door, she could only smirk when he rolled his eyes.
"I know that much, sheesh, I'm not a kid anymore." Souta rolled his eyes.
Reaching over, she ruffled his hair. "I know you're not, but you're still a squirt."
He swatted her hands away. "I am not! Now go get help before I end up freezing to death, alone in the woods in a foreign country."
"You won't freeze to death. But there is a blanket and some snacks in the back. Along with your games as well." Kagome smirked.
"You brought them with you?!" he whipped his head towards her so fast, she would be surprised if he didn't get whiplash.
"Yeah, for cases like now." she pulled her hand back, her other already reaching for the door handle. "Alright, I'm gonna go now. Be careful, ne."
"I'm not the one about to trek through all that." he waved an arm to indicate the world outside the car.
"True, but still be careful." with that, she opened the door and leaned down to tell Souta to lock the door behind her. Waiting a few moments, she gave him a small smile and a quick 'I'll be back' and then made her way towards the town.
Clutching her jacket closer to her after really securing that her hood covered her head, she kept her pace quick, but not a run. She did want to get this done and over with. She could only hope this town had a mechanic that was still open, or would be first thing tomorrow.
One thing she was glad of, that she was traveling on a road, and not through the forest. She still had bouts of clumsiness, and walking in this weather at this time of night, she didn't want to take her chances. Though she did jump slightly when she heard something snap to her side and froze when she saw a wolf.
She had enough encounters with Kouga's wolves to know the difference between a wolf and a dog that could be mistaken for a wolf. The creature staring her down was a wolf. Hearing the thunder rolling in closer, she managed to tear her eyes away and look back down the road. She could no longer make out the car, but knowing it was back there reminded her why she was willing to adventure out this late in an oncoming storm.
Shaking her head, she carefully started back in heading towards the town, peeking out the corner of her eyes. Her brows furrowed when she noticed the wolf was following her at a safe distance. It was either making sure it's territory was safe, or was curious. She had learned that wolves didn't attack people unless their normal food source had long since gone forcing them for other means.
But as she continued to walk, she noticed that it bravely got closer and closer. If this had been one of Kouga's wolves, she wouldn't have minded, but this was a normal wolf. Albeit curious, but normal. She forced herself to concentrate on what was ahead of her, she didn't want to trip or walk on something only to end up twisting her ankle or something as equally as stupid. When she felt something warm and wet brush against her she gave a startled squeak.
Jumping, she looked down, blinking wide eyes when the wolf was now snuffling her and the air around her. Standing perfectly still, she was unsure of what to do. It took a while, a daring lick to her exposed finger tips, the wolf darted back into the forest.
By the time she made it to the town, a good half an hour later, it appeared deserted. The street lamps were on, reflecting off the now wet pavement of the streets, there was not a single soul on the streets and all the windows were dark. Scanning the streets, she perked up when she spotted a warm glow from one of the buildings down the street.
Jogging towards the building, she let out a relieved sigh when she noticed it was the police station. And there were people inside. She panted the slightest amount when she arrived at the front door, her knuckles stinging with numbness as she wrapped them against the glass
The two inside glanced in her direction before the male stood up and made his way to the door. If it weren't for the fact that she couldn't currently feel much and wasn't freezing wet, she would have found the man rather handsome.
He unlocked the door and ushered her into the station which she did so with a grateful smile that showed her chattering teeth. She shivered and watched how both of them were now scurrying about with concern.
His brows furrowed as his eyes scanned her form in concern. "Is everything alright?"
"Oh f-f-fine! My car br-br-broke down though on the highway just outside your t-t-town. B-b-but my little brother is st-st-still there. Is your l-l-local garage open?" she ended up stuttering her words as her teeth continued to chatter, although she was finally regaining feeling in her fingers since they were burning.
"You left your younger brother in the car alone on a stretch of highway?" the man's voice sounded concerned and slightly disapproving.
"There was n-n-no way I was g-g-going to make him hike through that storm." she indicated to the pouring rain past the front door. "Especially with w-w-wolves in the nearby forests."
"Wolves?" the man turned to the other woman who gave the man a pointed look that said 'I told you so'.
"Emma, go get a blanket for..." he looked at her, trailing off with her name.
"Hig... ah, Kagome Higurashi." Kagome sniffled a little as she rubbed her hands together with hopes of killing the tingling feeling in them.
"Right, get a blanket for Miss. Higurashi." the man ushered her towards a nearby chair and then quickly walked about.
The woman, Emma rushed towards her with a blanket in her arms. She quickly shook it open and draped it over Kagome's shoulders when the man returned with a mug that had steam climbing out of it.
"It's coffee from this morning, so it might taste... horrible. But it's warm." he offered a lopsided smirk as he carefully handed her the mug.
"Thank you." she took a grateful sip of the black liquid. Like the man had said, it wasn't the tastiest of drinks, then again she had worse.
"Now, about your brother." his face became concerned once again.
Swallowing the sip she had taken, Kagome lowered her cup before answering. "He's in a rental car about... two to three miles outside your town heading north."
His brows furrowed at first before rising as her words dawned on him. "Two to three... that's about an hours hike from here."
"Sounds about right." Kagome muttered before taking a small sip of the warm drink. "Oh, and his name is Souta." she took her time with the name, remembering that some of the people she dealt with when they first landed in America had thought she was talking about a drink.
"Alright. You stay here while we go get your brother. Come along Deputy Swan, the day's not done yet." the man smiled at the less than amused look Emma gave him.
"I may be deputy and you may be the sheriff, but don't call me that." Emma turned towards Kagome, offering a reassuring smile. "Don't worry about your brother, we'll get him here safely and in one piece."
Kagome nodded her head as she huddled under the blankets. "Good to know. Thank you for helping."
The woman offered a smile before closing the door behind her. "Think nothing of it"
With that, the two ducked out into the stormy night and quickly made their way towards a police car. Sipping at her drink, Kagome watched them until they turned the corner. Taking one last sip, she stood up to inspect the room she was in. There were a couple of desks, filing cabinets, posters on safety and what not. Her eyes landed on the desk with the name plate that stated 'Sheriff'.
Shuffling a little closer, she picked the name plate up. Sheriff Graham.
Placing it back where she found it, she moved back towards the window that looked out onto what could be called the main street.
The stormy night made it impossible to really see much of the town. But she didn't need sight to realize, now that she wasn't worrying about her brother, there was something off about the place. Magic. It was buried deeply into the earth of the place, and now that she recalled, it had started at the town's limits. So that meant a barrier. But what kind.
Was it to keep people out, or in? If it was meant to keep people in, she could only hope her brother was alright, and that she was doing the right thing about asking the Sheriff and Deputy in bringing him here. If it was meant to keep others out, then she wondered if he had inherited her ability to ignore that little bit and was able to enter freely.
As far as she could tell from the magic of this place, was that it was strong which meant that the one or ones that placed it there were powerful. If that was the case, she could only hope that the garage would be open in the morning and she could quickly take her brother and get back on the road as soon as possible. She did not want to cross paths with the ones responsible, especially with Souta present.
A shiver racked her body, breaking Kagome of her thoughts into realizing that she had finally regained feeling. But her sweater was soaked through and not helping her cause. Returning to her seat, she placed the blanket down and fumbled with the zipper only to struggle with freeing herself from the wet clingy material.
In fact she was so distracted from trying not to strangle herself with her own sweater, she didn't notice that the Sheriff and Deputy had returned with her amused brother.
"Sheesh... I leave you alone for a while and you begin to strip in strange places. I can't go anywhere with you sis." the amused voice of her brother broke through the silence.
Looking up with wide blue eyes, Kagome blinked at the look her brother was giving her, as if he were an exhausted parent berating their child.
"Haha, very funny squirt." she stood up straight, her brow ticked when her sweater fell with a wet plop around her feet.
With a grumble, she picked up drenched and freezing jacket. She wrinkled her nose as the warmth of her fingers was immediately sapped out. The quiet sounds of water dripped onto the floor surrounded them and Kagome pursed her lips.
"Here, there's a bathroom in the back." Emma stepped forward and led Kagome to where the mentioned bathroom was. "If you wait here, I'll get you some towels."
Kagome nodded with a smile as she began to wring her jacket out over the sink. She was a little upset with her situation, and that her brother was now also involved. Standing in wet jeans a damp tshirt in a magical town when she didn't think there was any magic left in the world. Shaking her jacket lightly, she pouted, it was her favorite jacket too.
"Here you are. It might not be much, but it's better than nothing." at the sound of Emma's voice, Kagome put the jacket down and accepted the towel.
"Thanks. Is there a garage or mechanic in town?" she began to towel her hair.
"Well there's Marco, but you'll have to wait till tomorrow." Emma offered a sheepish smile in apology.
Kagome nodded her head in understanding. "What about a place where me and my brother can stay for the night?"
The two walked back into the front where Souta waited with the Sheriff. Kagome had the jacket draped over her arm. Emma stuffed her hands into her jean pockets.
"There's Granny's, but I think they're asleep by now." Emma shrugged her shoulders.
Combing her damp hair out of her face, Kagome let out a huff. Of course everything would be against her, when were they ever with her?
"I have a spare room, though I hope you don't mind that you'll have to share?" the Sheriff spoke up, drawing Kagome out of her turbulent thoughts about the Fates.
Blinking as the offer filtered through to her brain, Kagome quickly shook her head. "Oh, I wouldn't want us to impose. I'm sure there's another..."
"Emma is right, there's only Granny's and she's most likely asleep by now. Besides, it's only for the night." he slid his hands into his coat pockets.
Nibbling down on her lower lip as her eyes slid to Souta, taking in his exhausted state. Sighing out through her nose she nodded her head. "If we're not imposing and it's only for the night..." she trailed off, still unsure of accepting his offer.
"I insist." he offered a small and polite smile. He then turned to Emma. "Deputy, I'm officially calling it a night."
"I told you not to call me that, but see you in the morning." she nodded towards the Sheriff. "Welcome to Storybrooke, hope you enjoy your stay."
"Well, whenever you're ready Sheriff." Kagome sniffled again before letting out a tiny sneeze.
Souta sniggered as he walked up to his sister and poked her in the side, letting out another snigger when she scowled down at him. "That's what you get when hike through a storm at night."
"Don't get smart with me brat." she scowled down at him as she sniffled yet again.
They both turned to the Sheriff when he cleared his throat. "Right, if you'll follow me, I'll have you both dry, warm and in a spare bed."
Kagome threw an arm around Souta's shoulder and followed after the Sheriff to his car. "Thanks again, for taking us in."
As they sat in the back while the Sheriff started driving, Kagome eyed the man with furrowed brows. There was something off about him, like a piece was missing and it nagged at the back of her mind. It reminded her of something, something important, something she needed to remember.
Drawing Souta closer to her, she felt a heaviness settle. She had a feeling there was something wrong with this town and she felt torn. Her instincts wanted her to run, to take Souta and never look back. But the miko in her wanted to stay and fix whatever it was that was wrong with this town.
AN: Yeah, another Once Upon A Time crossover. Read, enjoy, and review!