Holy Hill by Luna C.

Creepy Entrance

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha

A/N: I haven't forgotten about my other stories, they would probably be updated this weekend, I'm just focusing on this story since it does have a deadline. Anyways enjoy!

Chapter 3: Creepy Entrance

They walked up the steps, nearly tripping on overgrown weeds, on themselves from clustering too close together and having heels stuck in large cracks. It took some time to reach the actual building itself as there were numerous steps. Kagome felt her feet hurting, her toes sliding to the front of her heels and rubbing uncomfortably against the material. If she knew that she was going to climb some stairs or just refused Inuyasha’s idea, she wouldn’t be in pain right now. But she was grateful that Sango chose to trail behind Miroku, holding onto his sleeve instead of her arm. She could actually feel a bruise forming and it hurt just to rub her arm.

Only the yellowed moon was their light, shining a stream on them as they blindingly reached the top, she almost resorted to crawling on these steps just to get her bearings together and not fall down a hundred steps down.

“Man, this place is a dump.” Inuyasha pointed out, looking around the dilapidated shrine. Vines crawled up the exterior walls, the torii gate they should have passed under was broken and laid messily stacked on one side, the bright red paint was chipped off and the wood underneath was rotten with fungi growth. Millions of crinkled leaves was scattered across the open courtyard, branches and thin trees too littered the ground, probably caused by a monsoon or a strong gust of wind that swept by.

The buildings itself were still standing, but the paint was chipped and roof tiles were clustered together on the ground, and they could guess it was damp inside since the tiles were no longer preventing the rain from coming in.

“I think we should spilt up.”

“W-why would we do that?” Sango asked, stammering over her words when Inuyasha proposed that idea, she didn’t want to venture inside a building that had no maintenance work done to it for a while and also, Miroku’s story spooked her a bit. She never liked dark places; if she were to go in by herself, she might as well stay outside. Though the shrine guardians looked rather frightening when the moon cast its shine on them.

“Well, we could cover more grounds if we split up, it’s a pretty big place.”

“What if something happens? Let’s at least form pairs, we’re not going in by ourselves.” Kagome informed Inuyasha, it would be safer if everybody had a partner. And also Kagome have been getting a weird vibe from this place, and it wasn’t a pleasant one, but one that screamed at her not to enter the oppressive building.

Inuyasha looked at her, pondering on what she said. “Are you using that plan to get close to Sesshomaru?” He laughed when Kagome started sputtering, knowing full well if they were to pick their partner, she would hesitantly but surely pick Sesshomaru.

“I’m just thinking it would be safer and we could still cover more ground.” She defended herself, forcing herself not to look at Sesshomaru even though she knew he was looking at her behind his mask. She wanted to curse at Inuyasha for announcing that, she didn’t like his teasing when it came to her and Sesshomaru, it embarrassed her and made her awfully shy around the older male.

“Right… well we pretty much know who’s gonna be with who.”

The large group were paired up and headed towards the entrance of the shrine. The half-opened doors beckoned them, but once again they reluctantly waited just outside, a couple feet away, as there was numerous possibilities that could be lurking behind. It was pitch black inside, not even the moon’s lights could penetrate the thin walls and into the ominous space. Luckily, there were some lanterns conveniently placed just outside, almost as if someone knew there were going to be some visitors brave or foolish enough to venture inside. It made Kagome nervous as the lanterns weren’t placed haphazardly, but neatly lined up and plenty for everyone, and even though they looked old, they were well-taken care of.

“Wait, don’t you think this is a little suspicious?” Kagome asked, noticing that everyone was not phased of the weird circumstances surrounding the lanterns.

“What?” Shippou asked, his hand gripping the handle of one lantern, eager to commence the adventure.

“These lanterns… it’s as if someone knew we were coming or something.”

“Doubtful,” Sesshomaru said, “They could have been here for a while, since the shrine was abandoned.” He was crouched over the lanterns, his scythe placed on the ground as he rubbed his fingers against the rusted texture of the lantern.

“Or someone was here before us and were trying to scare us.” Inuyasha cheekily commented, already holding a lantern and waiting for Miroku to light his up.

Kagome carefully selected hers, opening the small portal to the candle. Feeling over it, the candle felt particularly new. She tried to grasp Inuyasha‘s and Sesshomaru‘s ideas, someone from the neighborhood could be scaring them or they could have been here for a while. But she knew it didn’t explain why there was an exact count or how they came across these lanterns and placed them orderly by the front doors. Unless they went to the storage shed, but that was near the back of the entire shrine or they actually went inside and gathered them up.

“I don’t know, this all seem fishy…”

“Whatever, Kagome, all that big talk earlier was a front, now you’re scared. Hell, you even said it was abandoned so what‘s the problem?” Inuyasha drawled out, watching with amusement as the girl, with a sense of hesitation, went to Miroku, letting him light the unused candle inside before waiting for everyone else.

One by one, each had a light source, feeling a bit more eased when they could finally look at things without straining their eyes.

“Okay, so what’s the plan?”

“I think we should visit the major buildings on the grounds,” Miroku announced. “The main shrine, the prayer hall, and the ceremonial preparation building. Sango and I would go to the prayer hall.”

“We’ll take the preparation building.” Shippou chimed in, not giving Inuyasha the decision to choose.

“I wanted to go to the main shrine you runt!”

“Oh… too bad, I wanna see what’s inside the C.P building.” Shippou shortened the name, not wanting to repeat the long name of the building. He could tell Inuyasha wanted to thump his head again, but he dodged and started running towards his respective destination, skipping down the few steps of the main shrine, careful not to jiggle the lantern too much. Inuyasha ran behind him, grumbling about pipsqueaks.

“Remember to meet back here in a hour or two!” Miroku yelled out. He got confirmation when both boys yelled back. “Well I guess we should start this spooky adventure.” With a small chuckle when Sango grabbed hold of his sleeve, they started heading towards the prayer hall. Miroku turned his head back, sending a wink at Kagome before his attention was focused on the maiden in distress.

“Alright, let’s go.”  

Kagome gave a sigh, before following behind Sesshomaru through the front doors, the weird vibe increasing more, but not wanting to stay outside in the cold and alone. She wasn’t sure she wanted to do this anymore, but she felt safer with another person in case something were to happen.

She hoped nothing would happen. If something did, it would make this night a living nightmare.

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Prompt: Lanterns

Kneazle’s Halloween 2013 Challenge