Chapter 2 “Dangerous Myths”
Kyoko’s hearing came back before she even opened her eyes. When she heard Shinbe’s voice announce that she must be pregnant, her eyes quickly shot open and she pinned him with a death stare.
“I…” she was immediately cut off when Toya pulled her into his arms and half crushed her against him.
“Don’t do that! You about gave me a freakin’ heart attack.” He held her tight till he remembered everyone was watching. A tick started in his jaw, knowing what was coming.
“Aww, how sweet,” Kamui smirked, “Toya’s all lovey on Kyoko. I didn’t know you had it in you.”
Toya let go of Kyoko so fast that she fell back against the arm of the sofa. “You’re gonna have my fist in your face if you don’t shut up, brat.” He growled, but his expression softened again as he stepped back and looked down at Kyoko as she sat up. “What I meant to say is… what are you trying to do, finish the heart attack you started last night?”
“Keep it up and I just might,” Kyoko said with a smirk directed at Toya. “Then I’ll go hide in Kyou’s room.”
“Why would you hide in there?” Toya asked, feeling instant jealousy.
Kyoko sighed and blew a strand of hair out of her eyes. Toya was intelligent, but sometimes if it weren’t for his looks… she’d swear he was mentally five.
“Because Kyou has nerd proof wards on his door,” Kamui supplied without looking up from his new laptop, which he was keeping far away from Toya.
Toya growled and spun around to face the youngest of the group. “Keep it up Kamui, and I’ll bring your whole computer system crashing down on you.”
“This coming from the man that doesn’t even know where the enter key on a keyboard is?” Kamui asked with one eyebrow arched. “I’m surprised you even know where the power button is on a monitor.”
Toya leaned toward him, “I wasn’t talking about the hard drive.” His lips hinted at a wicked smile when Kamui gripped the laptop tighter and cringed.
“Enough!” Kyou said, his voice echoing his authority. “Everyone take a seat. Kyoko, you may stay on the sofa if you wish, and no Toya… she is not sharing it.” He leveled his brother an irritated glare.
Toya started grumbling about certain men with sticks and microchips up their asses before plopping down in Kyou’s chair. Kyou stared at him with the deadpan expression for which he was famous. When the silver-haired man felt a small tug on his hand, he looked down at Kyoko, who moved her feet so Kyou could sit on the other end of the sofa.
Kotaro and Yohji sniggered as Kyou took the invitation and sat down, resting Kyoko’s feet on his lap.
“As you are all aware, tonight is Halloween,” Kyou began.
“Duh!” Toya muttered, trying not to glare at Kyoko’s feet touching his brother.
“Which means,” Kyou continued while glaring at Toya. “Tonight, there will be increased activity. Pagan rituals will go wrong as usual, and the increased paranormal activity will escalate as well. All of us will be on high alert for the next twenty-four hours. Considering that Halloween parties will last longer into the night, being it’s Saturday… I believe you all get the idea.”
“Yeah, yeah, we got it.” Toya exclaimed. “Whoa, watch out for naked women running down the street being chased by lesbian gang bangers, ooh!”
“Where?” Shinbe asked loudly, having not paid much attention to anything since Suki had walked in.
Kyou massaged the space above his eyebrows as he felt a slight pressure building. He and his brothers hid their powers well from the world, but sometimes he wondered if they had not regressed a bit too much. They had been sent here to keep Kyoko safe without her knowledge and to rid the world of as many demons as they could. He’d set up the agency as soon as he had realized what her choice career had been.
Kotaro spoke up, “The police department has assigned my squad to the town square tonight because of the overload on the police force. Other cops will be there off and on because last year, the block parties didn’t die down till dawn and several people went missing that night.”
Kamui nodded, flipping his laptop around to show everyone. “Guys, we have a witch in town.”
“Here’s a news flash kid… tonight we have a lot of witches in town,” Yohji smirked. “Some of them sexier than others.”
“Those witches aren’t sucking the life out of little children,” Kamui pointed to a list of names in the children’s ward of the hospital. “All of these kids are in comas, and it has all taken place within the last week. The doctors are stumped, because in every case, the kids were out after dark and all the tests they have run are showing no injuries. They simply won’t wake up.”
Kyoko frowned as she tried to concentrate on the meeting. It was hard because she couldn’t shake the strange feeling that had stayed with her since she had seen the man across the street, then felt what she could have sworn were his arms around her.
Pushing the memory away for a moment, her face grew sad thinking about all those children in the hospital. She had read once that if a witch took part of your soul, you fell into a deep sleep. Then you would have nightmares forever while the witch fed off your fear. Were all those children now stuck within those dreams, crying out for someone to save them?
“I don’t guess a bucket of water dumped on her head will work but I want to be in on the hunt for something that cruel. How will we know the witch if we see it? Has anyone ever seen one? Aren’t they just humans who have tapped into an overload of magic?” She started firing questions as she tried to sit up, but Kyou placed his hand across her ankles to keep her from doing so.
Kyou didn’t look at Kyoko, hoping she would think it wasn’t intentional as he curled his fingers around her ankles like a bracelet. At the moment, he had a protective barrier around her that was only held in place by his touch… plus, he simply wasn’t ready to lose contact with her just yet.
He’d felt the powerful aura surrounding her just before she passed out. And although he had pushed it away from her… he still felt its presence lingering. That alone was enough to anger him. He had placed demon wards all over the building and in every corner of every floor within the drywall so they would not be noticed.
His golden eyes rose to the huge picture window that sat in the middle of the outer wall. The weather for today and tonight was supposed to be clear and cool, so where had this strange storm come from. As he watched the rain closely, he noticed a silhouette where the rain did not pass through.
Not wanting the apparition to know he had located it, Kyou turned his attention to Shinbe’s overly happy description of a witch.
“A real witch was never human. Their souls are demonic and eternal. They keep their lives sustained by taking the life force of children and feeding off their nightmares. That is their food source. As for what one looks like, since so many children have already fallen victim, by now she should be in rare form… young, beautiful, and even angelic in appearance.”
Shinbe cleared his throat and erased the erotic picture lingering in his mind’s eye. “She will not show her true form until she is in the middle of taking another’s life force or in battle. What she looks like during a feeding is truly hideous.”
“You would know,” Toya stated in a dark voice.
Shinbe sent Toya a look that told him to remain silent and for once, Toya had the decency to drop it.
Yuuhi was standing beside the chair his brother Amni was sitting in, but his eyes were on the rain outside the window when he spoke. “She will be in the center of town within the block parties, near the children’s festival, but she is not the only demon there. She is wary of those with powers superior to her own. That’s why she is on a feeding frenzy… storing power for the fight she knows is coming. She will add victims to her feeding frenzy tonight.”
Tasuki rubbed the chill bumps on his arms. “I really hate it when you do that,” he muttered as he watched Yuuhi’s eyes. The only difference between the boy and a true albino was the fact that Yuuhi had deep black eyes, and when he got a vision, the blackness would grow… and that was just creepy.
As Tasuki watched, Yuuhi turned his eyes on him and the ebony pupils became huge and luminous.
“It will not be a witch that you face tonight,” Yuuhi turned back to stare out at the rain as if he hadn’t just frightened Tasuki to death.
Tasuki clinched his hands into fist, knowing the child wouldn’t tell him just what he was up against. Deciding to ignore the rest of the room, most of which were snorting quietly in amusement, he walked over to the cabinets that held all kinds of demon weapons and pulled out a small bag of sea salt and quickly slipped it into his pocket.
He knew a few things about true magic, and if sea salt didn’t kill the witch or demons accompanying her… then it would at least give him a head start.
Amni smirked as he watched Tasuki grabbing the salt. This was too good to pass up. Silently clearing his throat, he did a very good impersonation of the Wicked Witch of the West.
Tasuki had to have jumped a mile out of his boots, turning around with a hand to his heart, glaring at the blonde psychic.
“Good one Amni!” Toya exclaimed.
“Go to hell!” Tasuki growled.
“Tasuki!” Kyoko admonished. “Do you want me to call Grandpa again?”
Tasuki froze and felt a bone deep chill pass through his body. Yeah, there were things the agency faced that scared the shit out of him… but nothing was worse than a visit from the master of all terror… Grandpa Hogo.
“Not necessary Kyoko, just keep that weirdo away from me tonight,” Tasuki finally managed, hoping the old man wouldn’t show up in the center of town tonight. He had a way of just popping up out of nowhere when they were out on their demon hunts.
Amni grinned at him again, winking suggestively to make Tasuki blanch before turning back to the group. He pressed his fingertips together and closed his eyes as he called on his power of sight. Behind his eyelids time sped up, day turned to night, and he was flying past the vast skyscrapers of downtown. Amni abruptly found himself in the middle of the city after dark and surrounded by humans dressed up in Halloween garb.
Thrusting his supernatural sight out in all directions, he inhaled slowly, feeling for the things that did not belong… there were so many. Distorted shadows writhed all around him, absorbing people from all directions before vanishing from sight. Wraiths that looked like nothing more than filmy spider webs flew around him as if trying to attack, but there was nothing there.
On the very edge of his consciousness, Amni began to hear something sinister, almost like demon claws scraping against metal. Something screamed past him and he was jerked back to the present. He felt a small hand on his shoulder and looked up into Yuuhi’s knowing eyes. That’s when Amni noticed he was on the floor with the chair he’d been sitting in toppled over.
“No one should go out on their own tonight,” was all Amni said as he turned away from his brother and they both looked out toward the rain. The silhouette vanished, leaving the rain to fall within the empty space.
“Everyone will partner up tonight and have their cell phones with them,” Kyou ordered. “Kamui will track everyone from here, so call him if you run into trouble. Whoever is closest to your position will be sent to assist. Yuuhi and Amni will stay with Kamui, so he can relay any warnings if it comes to them.”
Kyou looked at Kotaro, “Kotaro, you and Yohji will patrol the city square for the police department, and wherever they send Tasuki is where Shinbe will follow. Toya and Kyoko will dress up to blend in with the festivities, and possibly keep their identities safe should something unforeseen happen. They will patrol the children’s area, on the lookout for the witch.” He gave a slight nod to Kyoko knowing that was her heart's intention.
“Amni, you and Yuuhi will also be doubling as the ‘clean up’ crew. Should anything get out of hand with too many spectators, you must be ready.” He silently gave them a look to let them know to do a mind wipe of every living being they sense if need be. “Suki will be waiting with the arsenal van for anyone who needs weapons or a pick-up.”
Toya crossed his arms over his chest, completely satisfied that he would be with Kyoko tonight, even if it meant he would have to dress up for demon night. Suspicion crept in when he realized Kyou had not offered his position for the night.
“What about you?” Toya asked suspiciously.
Kyou narrowed his gaze toward the window knowing they were no longer alone within the room. He had felt the air shift from movement not seen and the hidden power within it was staggering.
“This meeting is over,” Kyou kept his voice calm but demanding so as not to alert the others.
At first no one moved, waiting on Kyou to leave as he normally did after meetings. When it was obvious he wasn’t leaving, one by one they got up and vacated the area. Kyoko also took the hint when Kyou released his hold on her ankle. Within moments, the room was empty and Kyou closed the door behind them… locking it so he wouldn’t be interrupted.
He leaned his back against the door as he looked out at the empty room.
Kyou let his heightened senses scan every square inch of the area before lifting his gaze toward the window. He stared intently at a place directly next to the window frame. He knew this had to be the same entity that had caused Kyoko to pass out a few minutes prior. What he couldn’t figure out is why. It obviously meant no ill will… almost as though it was simply visiting.
However, Kyou couldn’t shake the sensation that he’d felt this entity before. Whatever it was, Kyou knew he needed to find out its secrets and why it was there. In the meantime, he actually humored the idea of staring at its hiding place until it either introduced itself or left.
Darious was sitting on the wide windowsill leaning his back against the frame and had one leg propped up in a relaxed position. He had heard everything and it had left him feeling an odd since of belonging that he was trying hard to ignore. He had always worked alone against the demons and here he had found a whole room full of … humans wasn’t the right word for some of them, even though that was what they were pretending to be.
His proof was the fact that the man knew he was there even if he couldn’t see him. However, the stare the man was giving him was challenging to his nature. The silver-haired male wasn’t human… he wasn’t demon… what the hell was he? Darious frowned a bit until a powerful aura swept through the room toward him. It wasn’t threatening… merely stating the man knew exactly where he was.
Darious narrowed his eyes at the man… Kyou, he’d been called. Where had he heard that name before? He froze in mid-breath and his dark eyes became bottomless pits. It was impossible.
When he had gone back to the monastery only to find it abandoned and the statue gone, he had searched the tunnels beneath the rubble and found the lost scrolls pertaining to the guardians. It was within those ledgers that he had heard of Kyou and his brothers. The monk’s writings had indicated that the guardians surrounded their priestess and protected the world from demons.
He had thought the guardians were a myth… nothing more than the hopes of man added to the dire scrolls' foretelling. He searched his mind for what the scrolls had actually said but the memory eluded him because he hadn’t paid the fables any attention. He’d left the scrolls where he had found them, only to return years later to find one more scroll added. It had been about the guardians.
One thing he did recall from the new scroll was that he was older than the guardians and they had abandoned this world the same time hell’s seal had been broken. Even the monks had not understood why they had abandoned him during his darkest times.
Now they were back and pretending to be human… living among them as if they belonged, while he was left out in the cold to fight the demons as if it was meant to be? What made the humans accept the guardians when they had always turned a frightened eye on him? All the humans had ever offered him was loneliness.
Darious stood to his full height as he drew his longings back behind the hard walls he kept them trapped in. If he allowed himself to feel, then he would only find pain… he had learned that lesson the hard way. He’d never needed anyone and he wasn’t about to start now… especially those who were weaker than him. He snarled silently at the man before taking his leave, shattering the window as he went.
Kyou stood there with his hands buried in his pants pockets letting the wind whip through his long hair. He arched an eyebrow wondering what he’d done to anger the entity. He was no closer to finding out what it was… but again, the familiarity of it haunted him. Something told him it would not be the last time they crossed paths.
Turning toward the door, he gave a knowing smile. He quickly pulled it open and stepped back just in time to see everyone fall through the entry.
They had left the room, but as soon as Kyou locked the door behind them, they’d crowded around it, pressing their ears to the polished wood. It took them all by surprise when the door was abruptly pulled open, making them all fall forward and onto the floor.
“I suppose this means I will have to retrain all of you on your eavesdropping skills,” Kyou stated before stepping out of the room. “And Suki, call the workers to repair the window.”
***** Toya tugged at the collar of his shirt growling in frustration. Leave it to Kyou to find a way to get him dressed up. The getup was almost similar to the crap he’d seen sappy vampires wear in the movies, complete with some lacy frilly thing around his neck. The pants only went to his knees and he was wearing white stockings. Stockings? What the hell did Kyou think he was… a pansy?
Toya had forgone the wig and settled for just tying his long hair back in a low ponytail at the nape of the neck with several locks falling down on the sides. The only part of the elaborate costume he did like was the long black hooded cloak with red lining. It actually went really well with the rest of the outfit. The other plus was the fact that Kyoko’s eyes had lit up when she had seen it on him.
His golden eyes softened when he glanced over at her. She had called him the sexiest vampire she had ever seen. His gaze trailed her body in the same appreciation.
She was dressed in an outfit as elaborate as his, but she took to it a lot better. Kyou had picked out a dress for her that was reminiscent of the Colonial era. It was a nice combination of red and black plaid with the little poof in the back that, to Toya, seemed to sway with each step she took. She was holding a black lace parasol and had a feminine top hat pinned in her auburn hair that served no other purpose except to be stylish.
The only problem with Kyoko’s outfit was it was short in the front… it only came up to mid-thigh while the back was long and dragging on the ground. The top of the bodice was also low cut and showing more cleavage than Toya ever wanted anyone else to see… anyone except him.
Seductive was the first word that popped into his mind, but he hadn’t shared that compliment with her. He had only teased her back by telling her she would introduce the young boys in the children’s area to their first crush.
Despite Kyou’s possible inner pervert surfacing due to the outfit, Toya had to admit his brother had showed impeccable style by choosing it for her. Neither of them had the scary monster look, so it was kind of perfect for hanging out around the kids at the festivities. If Kamui and Amni’s facts were right, the witch was going to take another child tonight.
“TESTING!”
Kyoko placed a hand to the side of her head and winced a bit while Toya growled at the listening device in his ear.
“Turn down the god damned volume, you hellish nerd!” Toya exclaimed loudly, hoping Kamui's speakers would burst.
Kamui giggled, “Sorry couldn’t resist. Oh and Toya, if you want to keep undressing Kyoko with your eyes, don’t do it here.”
“How the hell…?” Toya muttered looking around.
Kyoko grinned and placed a hand on Toya’s arm to get his attention, then pointed up to the traffic camera mounted on top of the stoplight.
“Son of a bitch,” Toya growled. “He’s tapped into the traffic control center again.” He grinned and looked over at Kyoko. “Why don’t I give him a show?”
Kyoko smacked Toya on the arm and glared at him with a red blush on her cheeks.
“The only one who’s going to see Kyoko naked is me,” Kotaro exclaimed good-naturedly from somewhere within the five city blocks that had been roped off for the Halloween parties. “I’m the one she truly loves.”
“HA!” Kamui exclaimed. “Kyoko goes more for the quiet types, which puts me in the lead at the moment.”
“You just yelled in her fucking ear with your testing… how the hell does that make you the quiet type?” Toya argued.
“Will all of you stop joking around?” Tasuki demanded. “We’re here looking for demons, not discussing Kyoko’s sex life.”
“How about lack of sex life?” Yohji asked, causing another round of chuckles.
“How about all of you shut up?” Kyoko ordered, suddenly angry that she was blushing ten shades of red. “Just because I don’t have a boyfriend, doesn’t mean you can make fun of me.”
Toya’s expression softened and he pulled Kyoko into a hug. “I’m sorry,” he whispered.
“OH MY GOD, CALL THE MEDIA QUICK… TOYA JUST APOLOGIZED!” Kamui yelled into the com-link.
“You know,” Toya stated. “I’m half tempted to go back and kick his ass.”
Kyoko giggled, “Don’t worry about that right now. I’ll let you have fun later.”
She smiled shyly, realizing that had sounded a little more X rated than she had meant it to sound. As their eyes locked, she noticed his hair had fallen down around his face, which was soft and tender in the dim light. Tucking a lock of his hair behind his ears, she kissed him on the cheek.
It was all Toya could do to breathe as he blushed at the double-edged comment and the feel of her soft lips against his skin. He smiled wickedly up at the hidden camera and stuck his tongue out at it before taking Kyoko’s hand and slowly leading her through the throng of people surrounding them. At least her last few words had shut everyone up.
The block party was in full swing, with music bands performing on every street corner and in every club. The partial moon hung high above, casting twisted shadows around them. They’d parked on the other side of the square because Kyoko wanted to walk through everything and get a lay of the area before they reached the children’s block.
She pulled Toya to a stop as she pointed to a drain near the sidewalk.
Toya nodded as he let go of her hand and stepped closer to it. “Hey Kamui, we got a grate removed from the drain near…” he looked around for the closest landmark which happened to be right in front of the drain.
He arched a dark eyebrow, “House of Screams… damn that’s cheesy. You want us to check it out?”
“Yohji and Kotaro can check it out if they will stop pawing Kyoko long enough.” Kamui answered in an irritated voice.
Toya growled as he turned and sure enough, Kotaro had his arm around Kyoko’s shoulders while Yohji’s was around her waist, his hand riding dangerously low on her hip. Toya rubbed his hand over his forehead as if he were in pain before he took long, determined strides toward them.
They immediately jumped back, both clasping their hands behind their backs and looking as innocent as possible. Kotaro even had the audacity to start whistling while looking up at the buildings around them like they were the most fascinating things on earth.
“Kotaro,” Toya growled, “keep your hands off of Kyoko.”
Kotaro pouted and Toya turned his glare on Yohji, who was actually stupid enough to return it.
“Don’t even think about it,” Toya stated. “Now are you two gonna check out that drain or do I have to throw you down in it?”
Kotaro threw up his hands in surrender, “Fine, fine… we’re on it. But I’m sending you my dry cleaning bill.” He quickly pulled Yohji out of harm's way when he noticed the idiot was trying to kiss Kyoko on the cheek. “Come on dummy, before demons aren’t the only thing you have to worry about fighting tonight.”
Kotaro touched his earpiece, “Hey computer nerd, where does this drain lead?”
“Hold on, I’m searching,” Kamui said slowly. “I think… yeah, got it! It leads right under the haunted house directly in front of you. Let’s see, it’s a pretty old place… give me a minute.”
“Just tell us if there’s a way into the drains from the house,” Yohji demanded.
“What the hell do you think I’m looking for?” Kamui yelled back. “I swear, you all seem to think that this stuff is always easy to find. It takes research damn it!”
Yohji gave Kotaro a deadpan expression, “This coming from the guy who can break into the CIA database in his sleep.”
“Whatever, we’ll leave you three to argue about it,” Toya stated. “I’m taking Kyoko over to the children’s section of the festival, so we can do our part.”
Toya put his arm around Kyoko’s shoulders and steered her away from them. They froze however when Kamui’s voice came back over the earpieces.
“Um, people… we got a problem.”
“What is it pipsqueak?” Toya asked, his voice changing tone at the seriousness Kamui was emitting.
“That drain leads into the house alright… through the basement. It also leads to the local cemetery about five blocks away. Apparently, the tunnels were dug during some kind of revolution. Local legends say it was an underground ‘highway’ for demon activity.”
“Damn, I’m glad I’m not you guys. Totally sucks to be you right now,” Toya said with a smirk. “Hey, Shinbe, Tasuki, think you can come over and help these ladies out?”
“I do humbly apologize Toya,” Shinbe said over the radio. “But Tasuki and I are on the other end of the square and unfortunately, we are currently preoccupied with our own work.”
“Yeah,” Tasuki stated then screamed.
“Tasuki?” Kyoko asked. “Are you okay?”
“He’s fine,” Shinbe said trying not to laugh. “He just got the life scared out of him by an old man and a teenage zombie wanna-be. Hey Tama, love the costume.”
“We changed our minds, we’re coming,” Tasuki growled. “Damn old man, always scares the crap out of me.”
Kyoko giggled along with Suki. It seemed Grandpa Hogo had found Tasuki.
“Tell Grandpa hello for me and I’ll call him tomorrow,” Kyoko said.
“I’m not telling that old geezer shit!” Tasuki exclaimed sullenly.
“Tell him or else,” Kyoko warned, as her emerald eyes grew stormy.
Kotaro, Yohji and Toya took two big steps back from the auburn-haired woman. When Kyoko got that expression on her face, there was only one alternative… run.
“Um, we’re gonna go ahead and check out the inside.” Kotaro said hesitantly. “We’ll keep you posted at what’s going on.”
Yohji didn’t even need prompting. They took a couple more steps back as though Kyoko might attack them once their backs were turned before hastily making their way to the house.
“Kyoko,” Toya said wonderingly. “You’re scary, you know that?”
Kyoko smirked, “It runs in the family.”
“Tell me about it.” Tasuki mumbled in her earpiece.
Suki could be heard laughing again, “And you guys all wonder why I love working with you.”
“Suki dear,” Shinbe said softly. “You can be scary all you want… it only makes me want you more.”
“Shinbe, shut up,” Suki said in frustration.
