Chapter 5 “Hell Hags and Shadow Demons”
Grandpa stood in the town square, scratching the top of his head as he played the scene in his mind for the fifth time in a row. Finally, he shook his head and shoved his hands in his pockets. He stared at the scorched areas where the harpies had been with a comical frown on his face. If Shinbe could do something like that… then why the hell hadn’t he done it in the first place?
Heat slammed into his back and he looked over his shoulder toward the stage when he heard the sirens in the distance. He inwardly winced when he saw that his explosion had started a full-blown fire.
Spotting a fire extinguisher that was propped up next to the sound system, he grabbed it and pulled the pin. He felt it was the least he could do, since he had caused the fire to begin with… not that he would ever tell the fire department that little secret.
Grandpa had just lifted the extinguisher to start attempting to put out the fire, when a tall man with long silver hair appeared in his path.
“Great,” grandpa complained, knowing if Kyou had suddenly shown up, then things were about to get real ugly. Something about his granddaughter’s boss had always given him a bad case of the cold chills. Sure enough, he wasn’t proven wrong. The fire roared and hissed as something flew across the inferno so fast that it left a path in the flames.
The hell hag screeched as it landed lightly on its feet, the black shredded dress fluttering in the wind. Its red eyes narrowed on the golden guardian with vengeance shining brightly in them. She had felt the death of her sister clear down to her soul and had come to seek out the murderer.
“You may have killed my singing shrews and lovelies, but I do not feel you’re powerful enough to have claimed my sister’s life! But you were there to hear her death rattle, which is enough to make your death spicy.”
Her rage escalated and her arms jerked out to the sides, looking for a moment like she was about to take flight. The flames behind her jumped outward, following her silent commands, engulfing the few humans unfortunate enough to not run away in time. The flames abruptly reached around the square, circling them and barring the fire department, or anyone else for that matter, from getting close.
The hell hag’s eyes slipped from Kyou to Grandpa, who was still present directly behind Kyou. The hag made the mistake of trying to attack Grandpa. She flew across the square, throwing a wall of fire at Kyou so he wouldn’t have time to intercept her.
“Hey there beautiful!” Grandpa exclaimed and turned on the extinguisher.
The white spray erupted from the small hose, catching the witch directly in the face. She retreated back, swiping the substance from her eyes. Kyou now understood where Kyoko received her inventive streak.
The flames suddenly shot upward and the heat became stifling, making it hard to breathe. She hissed at Grandpa before curling her hands into claws. The elder man blinked when fire appeared in her palms and he swallowed.
“Oh shit!” Grandpa cursed.
Kyou chose that moment to act, tracing toward the witch and delivering a forceful backhand to her face. She rose up into the air, spinning around multiple times before landing face first on the ground. Kyou’s golden eyes glared at the witch before sweeping his hand to the side and creating a hole in the wall of fire, away from spectators.
“Leave,” Kyou ordered.
Grandpa nodded and quickly ran through the opening, barely rescuing his long braid of hair from being burned off.
The hag lifted her face from the pavement before she rose up in the air like a marionette and smiled hideously. Kyou watched stoically as her disfigured face started moving around, slowly putting itself back together. Her cheekbone that Kyou had broken mended itself and her flat nose regained its shape.
“You’re going to be fun,” she cackled and sent a stream of fire toward Kyou.
Kamui's breath hissed between his teeth as he watched the hell hag on the monitor. There was no way Kyou should be out there alone, fighting that bitch. Searching the other monitors, he tried to figure out who was the closest. Shinbe had already left the scene trying to reach Suki. Tasuki, Yohji and Kotaro were also with Suki so that left Toya.
Upon spotting Toya and Kyoko on one of the monitors, he nodded in relief, seeing they were only a couple of blocks away. Adjusting his headset he spoke, “Toya, I need you in the band area like yesterday.”
“What the hell for?” Toya asked as he and Kyoko walked through the crowd. It had been quiet on their side all night, but something about the absence had left him feeling even more unnerved. “It’s quiet over here, but that doesn’t mean nothing will happen.”
“We have a pissed off hell hag playing with fire,” Kamui informed him bluntly. “And Kyou’s the one getting singed, so get your ass moving and help your boss and brother.”
Kyoko’s emerald eyes widened at the thought of flames leaping up around Kyou’s body and it made it hard to breathe. “Kyou,” she whispered and started to leave the area, heading toward the bandstand when she was pulled up short by Toya’s hand, grabbing her arm.
“No Kyoko,” Toya searched frantically for a reason for her to stay here. He didn’t want her anywhere near a hell hag. “Someone has to watch over the children and make sure nothing happens. I’ll be back so fast, you won’t even have time to miss me.”
Before she could argue, Toya leaned down and kissed her cheek, then disappeared into the crowd of milling families, his long cape billowing out behind him.
Kyoko took a few steps after him then stopped. Toya was right, someone needed to stay behind and keep an eye out. From what they’d heard on the com-link, it sounded like most of the team was out of commission.
Looking around at the families surrounding her, Kyoko couldn’t help but smile. It reminded her of all the times Grandpa and her mom had dressed her and Tama up for Trick or Treating and went out for the night.
Her gaze fell on a small little boy standing by the carousel. He was looking around with a confused and scared expression on his face. The child suddenly moved forward like he’d been pushed and jerkily started walking away from the crowd… but that wasn’t the strangest thing about the sight. It was the fact that the child’s shadow that was being cast from the light above him… was not in the shape of the child.
Her emerald eyes narrowed when the boy stumbled and she saw it this time. The shadow had risen up and pushed him in the direction of the alley. Moving closer, the boy turned his head slightly and looked directly at her. Her breath stilled when the streetlight shattered across tears running down his cheeks and the dark shadow of a hand could be seen across his mouth to silence him.
Anger ripped across her knowing it was a shadow demon. They were demons of pure darkness, created for the sole purpose of obeying orders that require stealth and cunning. Unless one knew what to look for, they were completely invisible.
From what she remembered of them in her studies with Kyou, they were servants without any needs of their own and that was what made them so dangerous. Their masters could tell them to do anything, and they would just blindly carry out the order. They were loyal to whoever ‘fed’ them, but had also been known to turn on their masters if they grew hungry enough.
Kyoko continued to follow the child while searching her hidden pockets to see if she had a weapon that would be effective against shadow demons. She stepped around the corner of the alley and paused when she saw the darkness writhing against the walls. The whole alley was literally painted with the creatures.
The child bent down and was forced to help lift the manhole cover in the center of the alley. Kyoko’s eyes widened in horror when she heard the inhuman cries of demons coming from underground and knew she was out of time.
She fearlessly ran toward the child just as he was being pushed into the manhole. She dropped to the ground, grabbing the little boy’s hand with one of hers and pulled. She felt tiny fingers wrap tightly around hers and hold on for dear life. She braced her other hand on the lip of the manhole to give herself some leverage and pulled harder.
Kyoko had actually succeeded in pulling him up a couple of inches before the child was pulled back down with just as much strength. She started to panic, now that it had become a tug of war and she cringed at the thought of pulling the boy’s arm from its socket.
She let go of the edge and tried to get a better grip on the little boy’s arm. This was a heck of a time for Toya to have to leave. Not wanting to distract Toya from helping Kyou, she kept her lips pressed together so she wouldn’t cry out for help.
“Kyoko, the small flare you have in your pocket, throw it into the manhole,” Yuuhi’s soft voice whispered.
“What would she need a flare for?” Kotaro demanded suspiciously as he glared up at the traffic camera on the light post.
Kyoko suddenly cried out when several shadowy hands reached for her out of the darkness. She realized with horror that they were trying to drag her down, along with the child. One of the hands latched onto her hair and knocked the com-link from her ear. She watched with rising panic as it fell into the manhole. She was suddenly on her own, unless Kamui had a way to see into the alley.
Refusing to release the child, Kyoko fumbled in her pocket for the flare. She made a mental note to start carrying around less stuff when she found it. Jerking it out, she cried out when her cell phone slipped out, along with a few other odds and ends and fell into the darkness as well. She winced when she heard the device crash far below, but it was a small price to pay if she could save the boy.
Hearing the child’s muffled scream, she tightened her hold on his hand and whimpered loudly, realizing she couldn’t light the flare without letting go. The demons abruptly tugged hard, making Kyoko lose her balance and she felt herself start to fall forward. She cringed knowing it was going to hurt but kept her death-grip on the child.
Kyoko’s eyes snapped open, not realizing she’d closed them when the flare suddenly lit on its own. The bright light almost blinded her and Kyoko saw shadow demons that had been closing in, ready to push her in from behind. She felt someone grab her from behind and jerk her backwards. She landed hard still clutching the child in her arms.
Not seeing anyone else in the alley, Kyoko scrambled off the concrete, lifting the boy up in a tight hug. Dropping the flare in her hand, she ran from the alley as if the hounds of hell were on her heels. Considering what she’d just endured… it wouldn’t have surprised her.
Darious stood in the darkness watching until the woman had left with the child. Once she was out of site, his gaze returned to glare down into the manhole, watching the blazing red light of the flare illuminate it.
He had heard the child crying out in fear within his mind and had come to investigate. He could always hear the screams of the victims and tonight the sound was overwhelming. Then he had heard her whimper… that sound had cut through his soul like a sharp blade. It was the same echo that had haunted him for so long… and it was reaching for him.
He had been surprised, as he hadn’t expected to see the woman physically fighting against shadow demons to save the child. He could still feel his irrational anger at the fact that they had actually tried to take her into the pit. How dare they touch her.
He continued to stare coldly into the darkness of the manhole, inwardly growling at the evil hissing coming from below. Holding his hand high above the opening, a tiny ball of flame appeared and rotated for a moment before he shot a stream of fire from it and directly into the manhole.
A cold evil smile appeared on his lips as Darious felt the shadow demons shrivel and die. Their darkness would no longer haunt this night and Kyoko was safe from them. She wouldn’t have to cry anymore.
***** Toya ran the few blocks over to where he and Kyoko had seen the bandstand set up earlier in the evening. His golden eyes were wide when he took in the giant ring of flames the firefighters were trying to put out. He could feel the dark magic of the inferno and shuddered knowing Kyou was in there battling the witch alone.
“Well, are you gonna stand there all night or are you going to help?” a voice asked from behind him.
Toya glared over his shoulder, “You know, if you weren’t Kyoko’s grandfather, I’d knock you on your ass.”
Grandpa Hogo shrugged, “That’s never stopped anyone else from trying. I’d have to hold back though once I got up, because I seriously doubt Kyoko would want me to mess up that pretty-boy face of yours.”
“You know, I don’t think you like me all that much,” Toya stated with a tilt of his head.
Grandpa chuckled, “You know that’s a crock of shit. I like you fine. Now get in there and help Mr. Freeze.”
Toya ran around the ring of fire and found a spot that no one was paying any attention to. Sometimes it was a complete pain in the ass to have to hide his powers and still save the world.
“Hey Amni, think your power can part this thing like Moses?” Toya asked into the earpiece.
Amni was already focusing his power on the monitor, “I’m no god but I’ll see what I can do.”
The flames in front of Toya started to bend outward like fabric being stretched. A small hole appeared and very slowly grew larger. Once it was big enough, Toya ran for it and dove through the opening headfirst. He landed on his hands and executed a perfect roll to his feet. When he looked up, it was just in time to see Kyou fly by his face… missing him by inches.
Toya stood there for a moment before arching an eyebrow and looking over at Kyou.
“Now why the hell can’t I have a camera when shit like this happens?” Toya demanded. “Because I know I’ll never see that again.”
Kyou shot Toya a glare that would have frozen most in their tracks… but this was Toya, therefore he had immunity.
“So, do you want me to help or should I just stand here and enjoy watching you get your ass kicked?” Toya asked, unable to hide his smirk. The silver guardian leapt away when the hag sent a lightning bolt at him, striking the very place he’d been standing.
“I think I’ll help,” Toya muttered, his sense of humor vanishing as he glanced over at Kyou. “Any ideas how to get rid of it?”
Kyou scowled at the hag before releasing a life force blast at her. “Unfortunately, not yet.”
The witch moved out of the way and the blast hit the remaining electrical equipment, sending sparks flying. Water from the fire department’s water hoses was spraying in on them and making the electricity dance around. Toya paused and a devious smirk appeared on his face.
“I've got an idea,” Toya exclaimed in a wicked tone.
The hag screamed angrily at the water coming in and threw her arms outward. The flaming ring suddenly got bigger, stretching higher and further. The flames swept over a number of firefighters, setting them on fire. Their fireproof suits would only last so long in the inferno and the guardians knew they were running out of time.
“Be quick,” Kyou ordered.
Toya ran past the hell hag, dodging her lightening and flame attacks. They suddenly stopped and Toya looked over his shoulder to see that Kyou had distracted her. Sometimes having Kyou as a brother was wonderful… though he would never part with that little secret.
Reaching the stage, Toya shed the long cloak and wrapped it around his hand and arm. Kyou always thought ahead when it came to their protection and, as always, Toya was grateful. The cloak was silky on the outside and velvet on the inside. However, between the two materials was a rubber lining.
Using the cloak for protection, Toya grabbed one of the massive power cables that had been ripped apart with its wiring exposed. A few firefighters were still raining in water and Toya could feel a very slight charge, even through the rubber. The substance wasn’t one hundred percent effective, but it would do what he needed it to.
Turning toward Kyou, he nodded and Kyou understood. He released another life force blast at close range, sending the hell hag directly toward Toya. Toya thrust his hand holding the cable out, making contact with the hell hag’s spine. The exposed wires stabbed into her skin and held. He immediately released the cable and quickly backed away.
“I doubt it will hold her for long. We need to move this to another location,” Toya shouted over the loud buzzing.
“Agreed,” Kyou stated as he heard the scream of the humans getting louder within his mind.
The hag reached behind her and tried removing the cable. However, the current was so strong; her twitching body was having difficulty obeying her. Both Toya and Kyou blinked when suddenly, a man with long black hair and a long trench coat was standing between them and the hag.
Kyou met the sneering gaze of the man evenly.
“Who the hell is that?” Toya demanded.
“One of us,” Kyou whispered, wondering if the man was even aware of that fact.
“What’d you say?” Toya shouted. “I didn’t hear you.”
“I’m… not sure,” Kyou stated with a frown.
Darious continued to glare at the other two before waving his hand in a dismissive gesture. He could still feel the rage sizzling within his blood from the sight of Kyoko being pulled toward the manhole by the shadow demons. If they couldn’t even protect one human girl, then they would only get in his way.
Toya and Kyou suddenly found themselves flying backwards through the wall of flames and into a cluster of trees on the outside of it.
“Oww, damn it!” Toya muttered. “I think I have a branch stuck in my...” he paused for a moment. “Oh, that’s you.”
Kyou snarled verbally at Toya before rising to his feet and approaching the wall of fire.
Bits of snickering and snorts of laughter came over the earpiece. Toya smirked then decided it was time to stop teasing Kyou for a while.
“So, how do we get back in there?” Toya asked.
“There is no need,” Kyou answered… though the statement held a hint of anger. Obviously the dark guardian had never learned to play well with others.
Darious turned his full attention on the hag once the interlopers were out of his way.
“It was you,” she hissed venomously. “It was you that killed my sister!”
Darious raised his hand toward her. “Make sure to tell your demon masters who sent you and your sisters home.”
Lightening streamed from his fingertips, striking the hag. Her body was already jumping from the cable and now the added voltage was slowly frying her alive. Finally, her body was unable to withstand any more punishment and it slumped in defeat.
It was then that Darious opened a portal below her and sent her crashing back into hell. Where there were two dead hags… there was bound to be a pissed off third one somewhere close by. He turned and strode toward the wall of flame that was slowly dying down. By the time he reached the edge, it was only hip high. Stepping through the wall, he promptly vanished as if he’d never been there.
“What is he?” Toya whispered, confused and a bit anxious.
Kyou didn’t answer. Instead, he started moving through the crowd and offering assistance to those that had been injured.
Toya couldn’t help but smile when Kyou knelt down next to a pair of twin boys no more than five or six years old. It never ceased to amaze him how much children absolutely loved the cold-hearted guardian… and it seemed that adoration was returned though Kyou would never admit it.
***** Kyoko watched the little boy finally smile at her from his mother’s arms as the thankful family surrounded their missing child and smothered him with kisses and hugs. They had been half out of their minds when Kyoko finally found them, thanks to the little one with her. The family had offered her their gratitude and openly wished there were more people as kind-hearted as Kyoko obviously was.
Waving at them as they left, she blew the boy a kiss then turned away before they noticed the tear that had finally escaped to trail down her cheek. Quickly wiping away the evidence and needing a moment to pull herself back together, she stood in front of the massive carousel ride, watching the strange serenity as it circled around and around.
It had always been her favorite ride as a small child and she remembered seeing all the other children smiling and laughing as they rode the metal horses up and down… around and around. However, something was amiss and Kyoko couldn’t help but frown at the scene. What was missing?
Tilting her head slightly, she watched the children’s faces as the carousel continued to run. It was then she suddenly realized what had struck her as off. None of the children on the ride were smiling.
Usually, there was loud laughter mixed in with the loud, almost off key music, but now there was nothing. The children seemed to be frozen in place, and staring straight-ahead as if they were scared to death… that’s when Kyoko saw her. At first, she thought it was some child’s grandmother, but with the next turn of the carousel, the old woman had become a young beautiful lady with the wickedest of smiles as she bent over a child.
Kyoko took a step forward as the carousel came around again. She saw that the witch had returned to the haggard old lady, now touching another child. Her emerald eyes flew to the first one who was now slumped against the outstretched neck of his horse as if asleep. She could hear her heartbeat echoing loudly in her ears knowing she had to save them.
Seeing the line of children at the entrance, Kyoko snuck around to the exit and went in from there. Not waiting for the ride to come to a stop, she quickly took hold of one of the poles and hopped up, using the nearest pony to balance herself. Getting her footing, her eyes widened in horror and anger when she spotted a small girl with blond hair asleep on the pony.
Fresh tears still ran down the child’s cheek and Kyoko laid her hand over her chest feeling her heart breaking for the little girl. The terror of those few moments must have been unbearable not being able to call out for her parents.
Anger engulfed her at the cruelty of demons and their cowardly acts. Attacking little kids that couldn’t fight back was one of the worst things they did.
Her emerald eyes flashed with an unearthly shine and she took sure steps forward holding onto the horses as she came to them. The ride actually felt like it was speeding up beyond its normal limit, making her dizzy, but her anger kept her pressing forward. Now that she was on it, she realized that the carousel was bigger than she had thought and her frustration was growing.
Each time she caught sight of the witch and started toward her, the vision would vanish and another child would be left lifeless. She felt like she was caught in some twisted nightmare left over from a Freddy Kruger movie.
Kyoko looked out toward the crowds on each side of the ride and her eyes widened in horror once more. The parents of the children were smiling and laughing, waving at their children as they rode by. That’s when it dawned on her… they couldn’t see what was really happening.
The entire carousel had been enchanted by demon magic, stuck in some crazy loop that didn’t end. They were trapped in between realities and even if Kyoko wanted to get off the ride, she knew she’d never be able to unless she found a way to stop it.
Cold bony hands suddenly closed in around her throat from behind and started choking her.
