Holy Hill by Luna C.
Skeletons and Crabs
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha
A/N: Ooooo spooky... I don't think it's normal being scared of writing this lol! Enjoy this chapter! :)
Chapter 8: Skeletons and Crabs
“What the hell is that thing?” Kagome whispered, watching with mortified eyes as a figure swayed from side-to-side in a silk, blood-ridden kimono of pinkish hues stood before them, a haunting melody emitting through. She was finally glad as Sesshomaru could finally believe her, but to be caught in this predicament was not how she figured things would be. She thought they just needed to hurry up and get through the shrine to finally reach the outdoors. She didn’t want to encounter anything else and unfortunately this person popped up after turning the corner.
The humming stopped and so did the swaying.
The dimmed glow of the candle presented an ominous shine on the being, escalading the intensity in the room.
“D-do you believe me now?” Kagome shakily mocked, feeling a hard lump in her throat as the figure slowly turned its head. He has got to believe her now, who else would be in this shrine in the middle of the night.
Beneath the matted locks was a skeletal visual, and though the eye sockets were empty, they seemed to glare at them. Its teeth were bloodied and the entire face was scarred heavily. A soothing hum emitted once more, sounding like an ancient language, chanting it seemed as it repeated itself.
“Get behind me.” Sesshomaru ordered, wary as this thing turned its whole body, the kimono wide open. The organs were still clustered in its cavities, held there by some invisible force. They both covered their nose, the rotting stench overlaying the dusty smell of old.
“My god, I think I’m gonna be sick.” She whimpered, her eyes watering even as she covered her nose with her hand, it was overpowering and overwhelming. They hastily took a step back, watching as one boney leg crept forward, in its hand a staff, glowing with a fierce blue. They continued this way until they hit a wall, or more importantly the shoji door that led to the previous room. Kagome quickly turned around, pounding her fist against the door. “No! Why is it locked!?”
Sesshomaru gave her a quick look, taking his eyes off the advancing creature. The next second they looked back, it disappeared.
“W-Where did it go?” She stopped when Sesshomaru placed a hand on her shoulder. Her heart was pounding, she could hear it, feel it. She never been so terrified in her life. What exactly was that thing?
“I don’t care, we need to leave.” Sesshomaru was shocked, and he had to admit, that thing scared him. He supposed Kagome was right, there were strange things going on with this place. Strange things he didn’t want to find out.
However, Kagome saw something strange on the floor, an old photograph. Cautiously, she went to pick it up, narrowing her eyes at the family picture and widened when Miroku’s story was indeed true. It showed a family of eight, but the most peculiar thing was, all their faces except for the youngest were without features. She pocketed the photo, and Sesshomaru grabbed her hand before hurrying down the hallways to find an exit.
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“I don’t want to move.”
“Well runt we have to, I don’t want to get stuck here the entire night.”
“But what if that thing is still in there?”
“Then we just kick the shit out of it.” Inuyasha gruffly said, a thin trail of sweat was on his forehead, causing him to wipe it with his sleeve. They have been stuck in this position for that past couple minutes, stiffly staying in place against the wooden blockade.
“That’s not gonna work Inu-baka.”
“Well what are you gonna do if we run across it, scream like a bitch?”
“Shut up, you’re sounding like one.” Shippou then sighed and bravely—or foolishly—gathered his wits and took a step foreward.
“What are you doing?”
“You idiot, you said we can’t stand here all night, so man up and let’s go.” He taunted him, forcing the older boy to step away from the door. Their lanterns swung around, wishing it could light the entire place, but sadly, it could only light a couple feet ahead of them. They stayed close to the wall, their eyes looking around the preparation room for the figure that Shippou described. But luckily for them, everything was calm, though a bit stifling.
Finally, they entered another room, just as big as the other.
“I don’t know why we couldn’t break down a wall.” Shippou looked at Inuyasha when he said that. “What?” Inuyasha glared at the younger boy.
“Why didn’t you think of that sooner?”
“A lot of things were on my mind!” He shouted, defending himself. He was close to bobbing Shippou on the head again, and the young boy moved away, getting out of his range.
Shippou snickered, “You were just scared… it’s okay Inuyasha.”
“Shuddup… wait… do you hear that?”
Shippou looked at Inuyasha, noting that he was trembling, the loose fabric moving slightly. Shippou held his breath for a moment, carefully listening without his heavy breathing interrupting. It was a humming sound.
“Humming…” He shakily said, both boys looked at each and heavily gulped before looking ahead where the noise was coming from. “I think you should break a wall.”
“There’s nothing here to use.” He lowly growled, taking several steps back. The humming continued and escalated as if it was nearing. “Shit, it’s getting closer!”
They held their breaths, almost whimpering when the melodic humming crept closer to them and then disappeared. They both stepped back and bumped into something, a long chill coursed through them. Then, an odor whiffed through their nose causing them to nearly gag.
A heavy breathing teased their hair and with eyes impossibly wide, they slowly turned their heads up, coming face to face with a skeleton’s head.
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“Sango wake up.” He lightly patted her face, his fingers turning white from the costume makeup. He has been trying to wake the girl up for the past couple minutes with no avail. She was knocked out cold.
Miroku heard something from a distance, it sounded like a scream, but he wasn’t so sure. It could have been the wind.
His palms were sweaty, he felt sweaty, he never felt so terrified before. He was paralyzed when he caught a glimpse of what or who stood behind Sango, grasping her over-protectively and glaring at him. He released a shuddering breath, at least now it wasn’t around, but that didn’t mean they were clear. Something else could be lurking around, just waiting until his own guard has worn down. He didn’t want to be here when it happens, he didn’t know how he would take it.
Just then, he heard a groaning sound and he groaned softly to himself, reminding him of zombie movies. Unfortunately for him, it also meant that there was someone else in this room with him while Sango laid unconscious. Now he had to protect her body and himself, even though he wanted to leave the room and never give two hoots about it.
The floorboards creaked underneath, catching his attention.
Miroku turned his head, even if he didn‘t want to, even when all he wanted to do was close his eyes, but he knew if he did that, it would just appear directly in his face. He held his staff tightly in his sweaty grip, the rings above clinking together as his limbs trembled. He felt like he died right then and there as the most horrifying thing he has ever seen caught his gaze.
It was a child with disfigured limbs and deathly paled skin, crab walking backwards towards him, his chest facing the ceiling as his head was twisted in a way that faced him straight, bypassing the standard human figure. His limbs were angled and broken, but was able to balance himself, heading to him in a slow pace. His tongue lopped out, his teeth black while his wide, black eyes looked at him.
He couldn’t breath, this was simply too much for him to handle. First that strange boy, who looked like he drowned and now this thing coming at him. And unlucky for him, the lights from both his and Sango’s flickered before they were blow out, a twirl of strange wind fluttering by.
“O-oh sweet Buddha…” Were his last words as the abnormal boy screeched and from the stomping of the floorboards, he picked up speed.
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Prompt: Lich
Kneazle's Halloween 2013 Challenge