Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ The Forbidden Wolf ❯ This Can't Be! ( Chapter 13 )

Disclaimer: I only own Kakarot, Genkao, and the mystery youkai.

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Me: KKKOOONNNIIICCCHHHIIIWWWAAA!!!! I missed everybody!!!!!! I've made new friends, got closer to the ones I already have, had some good and bad experiences, got a new puppy, homework's a bitch and I never have any free time anymore!! Not to mention that I've been deeply thinking on how I want to modify this story into one that satisfies my and will make you guys want to keep reading. I'M NOTHING WITHOUT YOU READERS!!!! YOU GOT THAT?!?! Ahem…(coughs into hand) Anyway, thanks for the reviews and please continue!! ^_^

 

Araxiel: Thanks for the review! Or should I say three reviews? What's wrong with bi guys?!

 

Sam4357: Thanks for the high rating. Yeah, there are people out there who give out flames without even reading the stories. It's stupid.

 

Stix: Thanks. I UPDATED!!

 

Me: (stares longingly at black tear gem Hiei gave me) Baka youkai. It's not my fault I get emotional at that time of the month!

 

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Chapter 13: This Can't Be!

 

(At the mysterious mansion)

 

“WHOA! This place is huge!” “And creepy!” Yusuke and Kuwabara stood gaping in front of the huge building while Kurama, Hiei and Kakarot observed it. It was a gray, dreary, four-story mansion that stretched to the limit of its huge brick-wall border. Intimidating-looking gargoyles loomed above their heads, almost as if they were going to come to life and attack. The mansion itself looked worn down but was still holding its weight. Broken windows seemed to have haunted life forces peering from within. The whole courtyard had a sense of misery and death clinging to the ground.

 

“This mysterious ki is definitely radiating from here.” Kurama attempted to concentrate on the main focus of the energy, but failed. “But it has lowered considerably.”

 

Keeping an eye out for enemies, the group walked past the bent-out-of-shape iron-gate and followed the cobblestone path towards the ghostly mansion.

 

“Y-You think any more of those weird zombie-things are in there?” Kuwabara said, shivering to himself.

 

“If you're so afraid that those pathetic excuses for guards will show up, then why don't you stand outside and keep watch,” Kakarot said irritably. Kuwabara looked at her in horror.

 

“What are you crazy?! There might be more outside the wall!”

 

“I think that's the point baka!” Kuwabara gave a heated look towards his red-eyed comrade.

 

“How come everyone picks on the ningen?” Kuwabara moaned in despair as he slouched and crossed his arms.

 

Yusuke patted his friend on the back. “Hey there, buddy. Be glad that you're allowed to come with us. Most ningens that pass through the border between the Makai and the Hanyoukai are immediately sent back to the Hanyoukai ever since they took down the Kekkai Barrier. Or did you forget that?”

 

“He has a point, Kuwabara,” Kurama said. “Be thankful for this opportunity.”

 

Standing straight and rubbing the back of his head sheepishly, Kuwabara replied, “ Yeah. I guess you're right.”

 

`Imbecile.' Hiei thought. Strangely, the intense force that had been pulling him towards the enormous ki had diminished. It was almost like the ki was commanding his will to come to this mansion and left out any desire to not do so. He would have his mental guard just in case it happened again.

 

`Moron.' Kakarot thought. Somehow, she felt as though she recognized the place. The memory was like an irritating itch that she couldn't reach no matter how hard she tried. And nothing irritated her more than something just out of grasp that she couldn't touch.

 

They finally reached the front door. An iron troll stared at the gang with a metal doorknocker hanging from its mouth.

 

Yusuke grinned. “Think we should knock?”

 

“I doubt anyone's home Urameshi!”

 

“It was just a suggestion!” Yusuke shouted. Kuwabara put up his fists.

 

“Hey, don't-“ the two idiots started yelling at each other. Kurama and Hiei sweatdropped.

 

Kakarot had had enough. “Oh, for the love of Ra and Inari!” She pushed the boys out of the way and kicked the door down. It made a low moan and crashed to the floor, stirring all the dust in its wake.

 

“That's one way to barge in! Heh, heh.” Yusuke smirked as he walked in. He turned towards Kakarot. “Want me to carry you across the threshold, Kakarot? Or not!” He immediately pulled his outstretched arms back when Kakarot glared at him. Kurama chuckled to himself.

 

The youkai and ningen mix walked into the mansion. Kakarot looked down at the door swearing that she heard it say, “So she returns to the home of her doom,” but she shook the feeling off and continued inward.

 

The inside was grand despite its dusty and demolished appearance. A huge stairway reached up to the second floor followed by two more stairways that lead to the third and fourth floor. An extravagant, but worn and grayed carpet covered the whole floor. Seemingly endless corridors all around led to unknown parts of the mansion. More monstrous gargoyles stared at the group.

 

“Boy! The guy who lived here must have been filthy rich!” Yusuke stared with an admirable look.

 

“And had a lot of servants to keep it clean when he lived here,” Kuwabara said.

 

“More like slaves.” Kakarot looked around with a loathsome gaze. Yusuke and Kuwabara turned towards her in confusion.

 

They asked together, “What do you mean slaves?” Kakarot just ignored them and kept glaring as they continued to walk forward. “Hey!”

 

“What she means,” Kurama intruded, “is that a long, long time ago, the lords of homes as big as this did not have paid servants or indentured servants to take care of their homes.” He paused for a moment and gave a disdainful expression. “The `servants' that kept the keep of the homes were usually enemies that the lords had defeated in battle or any unfortunate youkai that happened to unluckily cross paths with the lords' soldiers. Once captured, they became the `property' of the lords to do with as he pleased or was likely to be reprimanded with harsh and cruel punishments. Unfortunately, most youkai barely survived these punishments and the few human servants didn't stand a chance.” Everyone minus Hiei had shadowed faces.

 

“Does this surprise you?” Hiei looked at his teammates and crossed his arms. “Youkai are known for their dark ways of living and you” he pointed to Yusuke and Kuwabara “should have learned in your baka ningen school that ningens did the same thing in their history and no doubt some still do it today. Now let's find the baka source of this ki so we can get out of here and I won't have to put with you bakas anymore!”

 

Ignoring the dark looks of his friends towards Hiei, Kurama said, “Hiei's right. We need to complete this mission as soon as possible and report to Koenma.”

 

“So, uh, what's the plan?” Kuwabara asked.

 

“How about each of us goes to a different floor and searches around since the ki can't be pinpointed.” Yusuke suggested.

 

“Uh, Urameshi? Did you forget that there are four floors and five of us? Who is going to be partnered up with who?” Everyone looked at Kuwabara, surprised that he was the first to speak out about that predicament.

 

“Gee, I forgot about that,” Yusuke replied while putting his hand to his chin in thought.

 

“I'll go below the mansion while you four go to each floor and search.” The four boys looked at Kakarot in puzzlement.

 

“What do you mean, Kakarot?” Kurama inquired. Kakarot rolled her and heaved a sigh.

 

“I didn't think that that human body clouded all of your youkai senses, Kurama! When we walk, deep down there is a hollow sound. Obviously, there is a basement or passageway or something beneath this mansion. I'll use my ookami side to find the way in and explore for myself.” The guys looked at each other and nodded.

 

“I'll take the fourth floor,” Hiei said.

 

“I'll take the third,” said Yusuke.

 

“I'll take the second,” Kuwabara said.

 

“And that leaves me on the first with you, Kakarot, until you find the door to below,” Kurama said with a hint of satisfaction that he would be the closest to his sister. Kakarot glared at him. She knew he wanted to keep watch on her.

 

“Yes, but don't think that we'll be going the same way. You go to the left while I go to the right so we can cover more ground until I find the way in.” With that said, she morphed into a waist-high silver wolf with four tails and dark blue and silver flames on her tails, ears, and paws. Dark blue streaks were also scattered on her fur. She took a look at the gang and ran off towards the right corridor, her tails swishing to and fro as she ran.

 

Yusuke, Kuwabara and Hiei looked at Kurama. “She has the ability to shift into an ookami, maybe some others animals now that she's older. The others just looked at him and then went their separate ways.

 

`Be careful, sister.' Kurama thought before he went off on his search.

 

(With Kakarot)

 

Kakarot took off running down the huge corridor using her nose to sniff out anything with a scent of mustiness that usually comes along with the dampness underground. Soon, a faint scent of something musty came within her reach and she quickly followed it. Suddenly, the scent stopped directly in the middle of one the numerous hallways she had followed. She quickly transformed back into her humanoid-form.

 

`What the bloody hell-` She finally caught sight of a mirror precisely in front of where the musty smell stopped. `So this is where I will be led down under.' She smirked to herself. `Now to move the mirror or smash it or melt it?' She opted for the second.

 

Stepping, directly in front of the mirror, she pulled her right arm back, slightly tensed her body, then slammed her fist into the mirror. Nothing. No shattering. No glass flying. Nothing.

 

`So much for that.' Deciding that fire would be more effective, she raised her ki until a deep blue flame appeared in her right palm. Gathering it into a baseball-sized orb, she hurled it at the mirror. Again nothing. It was just plain indestructible.

 

`I'm going to feel so much like Kuwabaka if that mirror just pulls open or slides to the side,' she thought as she walked closer to the mirror. Looking closely into it, she felt a wave of fear overcome her and stepped back.

 

`I must be losing my mind! Am I afraid of my own reflection…or what may lie behind this mirror?' Once again, she stepped towards the mirror, while avoiding her reflection though that didn't stop the uneasiness she felt, firmly grasped the outside of the mirror and pulled. Nothing. She then pushed it at every angle imaginable. Nothing.

 

She jumped back and glared at the mirror, almost willing it to open or face her wrath. She was pissed. What in name of Ra and Inari was it going to take to get that damn mirror out of her way?!

 

`Blood and death,' something seemed to whisper in her mind.

 

“Nani?” she whispered whirled around to see if her brother or someone else was there. No one was.

 

Turning back to the mirror, she thought, `Blood and death? What does that mean? Does someone have to die or…' Slowly, she raised her right index finger to her mouth and bit down on it with her fang until blood started dripping her in mouth. Stepping up to the mirror yet again, she raised her finger up to the reflecting glass and steadily wrote shi, or death, in kanji.

 

Instantly, the mirror became transparent. It was dark, but Kakarot could see a long path of stairs that led downward. Carefully, she stepped through the mirror until she fully crossed through it. She turned around and looked back to the mirror. It was still see-through.

 

Pushing away her unease, she started the long passage down the stairway. Being that she had ookami within, and her added flames on her ears and tail, she had no need to summon a fireball to light her way and could easily see down the steps. The air soon grew thicker and clammier. Kakarot started feeling a bit more apprehensive.

 

The steps seemed to last forever, but eventually Kakarot walked on firm and even ground. She started walking down the brick path. What she saw next made her heart slam into her chest, her breath uneven, and her blood run cold.

 

Cells were lined up next to and across from each other. Simple and complex torture tools and instruments with dried blood and skin lay strewn on the walls, and floor, and in the cells. As she continued to walk down the path, Kakarot saw decayed remains of what must have been slaves and prisoners. Their jaws were open in soundless, never-ending screams and they were stretched out as though trying to crawl away from something horrible. Some were chained up in the air by their arms or to the wall with strange devices hanging from within them.

 

It was too overwhelming for Kakarot. The scents seemed so fresh, but she knew that the poor beings had been there for a few centuries. She could smell the blood and the rotten flesh and could practically hear breaking bones and the pleas and screams for mercy and guards and torturers ruthlessly punishing their victims. She could smell the scent of what should never happen to women, much less men, but it was there and it terrified her.

 

She could see images in her mind. They raced into her mind and then left as quickly as they came, leaving space for even more terrifying images. She could hear the cruel laughter of men and the slicing and tearing of flesh. She could almost feel it. She had to get out of there! Her mind couldn't handle it! She was going to run out of air! Her heart was going to rip out of her chest! Her blood was going to freeze!

 

She started running down the path fast. The cells and their possessions blurred past her but the images still came. Silent screams pleaded for her to free them or end their misery. The hall didn't seem to end! She was gasping now, her eyes wide and her face paler than any ghost. Sweat trickled down her face and into her eyes, but she quickly brushed them off. She had to get out! Why hadn't she run back up the stairs instead of going further in?! Why?!

 

She crashed into something firm and solid. Before she had a chance to look up, she was slammed up against a wall. Ignoring the pain and fuzziness in her mind, she slowly peered up and looked into a sinister smirking face.

 

“So, my favorite play toy has returned,” the deep voice said while firmly grasping her chin while pushing his body up against her successfully trapping her from freedom. Kakarot eyes widened in horror.

 

`But I killed him!'

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Me: I'm really sorry for not updating for what feels like forever. I hope I can update soon, but only fate will decide. (arms wrap around me from behind)

 

Hiei: (smirks) Where did you learn about youkai slaves?

 

Me: (turns head away) You've threatened to do all of that stuff I wrote to me a thousand times. I haven't forgotten.

 

Hiei: (slams me up against a wall, traps my body with his, and firmly grasps my chin) Do you remember what I threatened would happen after this?

 

Me: Uh… (blushes uncontrollably)

 

Hiei: Let me remind you. (Kisses me deeply)

 

Me: (thinks to self) Maybe I wouldn't mind being HIS slave.

 

Hiei: (thinks to me) Not slave. Pet.

 

Me: (thinks to self) Or pet.