Sheâd been so nervous leaving the girls' school and taking a plane across the ocean, but now that she was home, a quiet serenity had settled over her. Mr. Sennin had been a lot of help sending her luggage ahead of her and having his wife deliver it to the house. Heâd even had her school records sent to the high school in town so that tomorrow all she would have to do was show up for class.
Seeing headlights move across the front of the house, Kyoko looked over her shoulder at the residence across the small two-lane road. The house was about the same size as hers, but different. Every light in the other house was on and with so many cars in the driveway⦠it looked full of life. Both were set close to the road with nothing but land around them as far as the eye could see. It was like they were the only ones out here on the edge of the forest and mountains.
The headlights in question were actually a jeep that came to a screeching halt almost in the front doorway of the other house. She heard grinding gears before seeing the door of the jeep open. Swinging back around, she realized how lonely this house really was.
Hearing the jeep door slam, she took off up the steps with the key and had the door shut protectively behind her before she even got the light on. For some reason, she wasnât ready to meet the neighbors with their happy family and normal life. Flicking the light switch on, Kyoko released the breath she hadnât realized sheâd been holding.
*****
Toya jerked the jeep into park and climbed out looking back at the house across the road. He could have sworn heâd just seen someone standing in the front yard. A dark eyebrow rose under his bangs as light appeared in the front room. He leaned against the jeep wondering who was in the Hogo house.
âDid you get the pizza?â
Toya nearly jumped out of his skin when Kamui spoke from less than a foot behind him. âDamn it Kamui! One day Iâm gonna take your head off before I realize itâs you sneaking up on me like that.â
Kamui smirked, âWasnât killing me once enough for you?â His stardust colored eyes lit up seeing the pizza boxes scattered across the back seat. Knowing Toyaâs driving, it was a wonder theyâd even survived the trip. Picking them up, Kamui started back toward the house only to realize Toya hadnât moved.
Following Toyaâs line of vision, he looked across the street not seeing any cars in the driveway. He barely acknowledged the fact that a faint light could be seen downstairs. âThe old lady was over there earlier today, probably just cleaning it again. I guess she forgot to turn the light off.â Kamui shrugged. âYou coming?â
âWhat are you, my babysitter?â Toya gave the halfhearted insult not even bothering to look at him.
âNope, but I am the pizza guru and I say if you donât hurry, you wonât get any.â Kamui took off laughing when he heard Toyaâs growl.
Toya waited until he was alone in the driveway before he started toward the Hogo estate. Heâd been in the house many times over the last fifteen years looking for clues as to where the priestess had disappeared. When theyâd first come into the human realm and entered the house, the guardians thought they were too late. They quickly realized the priestess had not been among the dead. They could still feel her life force within this realm and the demons were still hunting for her as well.
In the first memory Toya had of this house, thereâd been ambulances and cop cars everywhere. The mother and father were dead, and the children and grandfather were missing. Without revealing themselves to the humans, the guardians had waited and watched. As soon as the house was empty, they entered it⦠smelling the evil scent the demons had left in their wake.
A couple of days later, the body of the grandfather was found with his neck broken. The coronerâs office ruled it an accident but the brothers knew better. The old man was clutching a scroll that Shinbe removed from the scene before calling 911. Shinbe was also the one to decipher the scroll. The old man had snuck back onto the property and been in the middle of trying to make the house and land consecrated ground to ward off demons when heâd been killed.
The demons never strayed far from this area and over time, the humans caught on enough to think that the town was haunted. The feds had even sent their paranormal and extraterrestrial investigators many times thinking maybe it was an alien invasion. But they were usually a little too late to find the evidence. Toya and his brothers would try to get there first, to kill the demons or to at least cover it up.
For fifteen years the guardians had lived in the house across from this one and blended in with the rest of humanity as best they could. Kamui even became quite the computer geek to keep the government from red flagging them. No one ever asked how five young men had an endless supply of money and a huge house on the edge of town.
Toya stayed in the shadows as he stepped around to the back of the house. Glancing over at the pool, he noted it had recently been reopened. His gaze narrowed on the crystal clear water seeing a red hue slide through the liquid as if reaching for him. Narrowing his golden eyes, he took a step back from it.
The creepy vision disappeared as he watched the steam rising off the heated water and he tried to shake off the feeling that heâd just stepped on his own grave.
He shrugged off the possibility that someone couldâve sold the house. If it had ever gone up for sale, the guardians would have been the first to know and they would have bought it. Besides, if some stranger had secretly bought the place, the fact that the house is haunted would quickly get rid of the new owners⦠or at least it would be haunted if it needed to be. He and his brothers would make sure of that.
Toya held his hand over the lock on the sliding glass door and heard a soft click. Slipping inside, he closed it behind him and stood listening. The house was so silent at first that he thought heâd been mistaken, but then he heard a soft voice coming from the living room. Following the sound, he stopped near the shadowed doorway.
There was a girl standing in front of the cold fireplace and she was looking above it at the wall. Toya glanced up seeing the huge family portrait that had always been there. It was of a man with silver hair, almost like Kyouâs. But this manâs hair was shorter, coming only to his shoulders. His face seemed very young, but there was a look in his eyes that held wisdom beyond that of a mere human.
The muscle in Toya's jaw jumped knowing the man was mortal⦠very human, and very powerful in his own right. This man had once been called a wizard⦠just not in this lifetime. Now they just call them scientists and physicists. Torsion fields and worm holes were never meant to be tampered with by humans. His appearance hadnât changed no matter how many times he and his family was reborn into the world.
Toyaâs gaze moved to the beautiful auburn-haired woman cuddled up next to him. She was holding a toddler in her arms while the father had a small girl with auburn hair sitting in his lap. The children couldnât have been more than a year apart in age. Toya had come here so many times⦠staring at the picture. He was sure all the guardians had.
The little girlâs eyes sparkled like emeralds even in the muted color of the photo. She had her fatherâs eyes. Her lips were pouted as if the photographer had just told her to be still and a pretty blush colored her cheeks.
The little girlâs eyes sparkled like emeralds even in the muted color of the photo. She had her fatherâs eyes. Her lips were pouted as if the photographer had just told her to be still and a pretty blush colored her cheeks.
âIâm home Momma⦠Papa,â Kyoko reached out and touched the elegant wood that framed the picture. Her sight lingered on her little brother as she tried to put his face to memory. âTama.â
Tamaâs eyes were the same color as hers, even though in the picture some of the baby blue hadnât yet faded⦠but she could tell their true color. He was smiling like he had just done something wonderful⦠so full of life. Mr. Sennin said Tama had vanished when her parents were killed. Could he still be out there somewhere?
âI wish you were here with me Tama. It would be nice to know at least one person at school tomorrow.â
Toya forgot to breathe as he reached out and gripped the door frame to steady his suddenly weak knees. He took a quick step back, deeper into the shadows as the girl turned full circle to look around the room. When her emerald eyes caught the light⦠the breath heâd been holding rushed out of him as if he had been punched in the stomach.
She had long auburn hair, and at that moment her lips were once again in a state of melancholy. His golden eyes trailed down her school uniform, the likes he had only seen in catholic high school movies. The skirt was short, reminding him of a cheerleaderâs uniform followed by long shapely legs. Sheâd unbuttoned the shirt enough that Toya knew the nuns would not have approved.
He had seen her before⦠on the other side of the heart of time. The maiden statue that held the time portal in her hands⦠this girl mimicked the stone, born into flesh and blood. Heâd found the priestess and she was breathtaking. He closed his eyes to the phantom memory of kissing her⦠it wasnât his memory to keep.
Kyoko bit her bottom lip feeling frightened now that she was out here in the world without Mrs. Crap and all her rules. Maybe it was because this was her first time for everything. âCome on Kyoko,â She said out loud to break the thundering silence as she picked up her suitcase. âIf you want to be ready for school tomorrow, then youâd better go find a bedroom and unpack.â
Toya stood there a few moments longer⦠relearning how to breathe.
*****
In the foothills, miles behind the Hogo house, a tremor could be felt as the scent of the priestess was carried across the land by the October wind. Blood red eyes flashed open and the claws of demons could be heard scraping against stone walls as they reached for her.
Endless caverns and tunnels had long ago been dug out by those same claws. Tunnels that had slowly been shaped into elaborate hallways lit by torchlight from stone sconces. Carvings of demonic victories decorated almost every surface while the natural quartz rock in the ground added a glittering luster to the otherwise dark and dreary surroundings.
The large caverns were transformed into separate rooms containing bedrooms, bathing rooms and even what would have been thought to be a throne room with a chair carved from slick black rock. More quartz stone was inlaid in the walls of the rooms, reflecting the dim light of the torches and amplifying it. Semi-precious stones had also been found to inlay in the walls while long curtains of silk and brocade hung from the ceilings⦠procured by unknown means.
It was a castle built underground to protect a very precious thing, even more precious than the stones in the walls.
Within the bowels of the caverns, in one of the bedrooms, emerald green eyes were shadowed by curiosity as they quickly glanced up at the silk-covered ceiling, wondering what had agitated the demons. Feeling the still air stir beside his bed, he looked to find the man whoâd raised him from a baby and given him everything he had ever wanted⦠even the power to control demons.
âHyakuhei, have the guardians found us?â Tama asked almost looking forward to the fight. Being a teenager was hard enough for a normal boy⦠and Tama was nowhere near normal.
The corners of Hyakuheiâs lips curved ever so slightly into the hint of a smile. Everything within him stilled as he inhaled. âIt is the scent of the priestess that has rattled the demons tonight⦠I do believe she has come home.â
Tamaâs eyes lit up with dark excitement. âMy sister has finally come back to us?â He threw his senses outward, trying to feel her by using the power Hyakuhei had shared with him. He inhaled deeply, tasting the sweetness in the air but he could also taste the power of the guardians nearby.
If they had just let Hyakuhei go to his sister in peace, then none of this would have happened. Theyâre evil creatures⦠thinking theyâre better than the demons. It was the guardianâs fault that the demons went after his family when theyâd first come into this world.
On their arrival, the demons had run free⦠killing him and his parents because Hyakuhei had been injured the second Toya had shattered The Heart of Time. That injury had cost the demon lord control over the demons for a little while.
Hyakuhei had still been inside the time portal when it was shattered⦠causing his corporeal body to turn into that of a shade in order not to be destroyed. Had the guardians not done that, then Hyakuhei wouldâve remained in control of the demons. Neither Tama⦠nor his mom and dad would have been killed.
Hyakuhei had found him lying in his crib. The demons hadnât damaged his body like they did his parents, but he was dead just the same. Remembering how much the priestess had loved her little brother in the past⦠Hyakuhei used his remaining strength to become whole enough to breathe some of his life force into him, reviving the soul that had not yet left the body.
All this time, he and his savior remained hidden from the guardians, waiting on Kyoko to return. Over the past years, Hyakuhei slowly regained some of his strength but it still drained him when he used that energy to turn his body from a shade back into flesh and blood. As soon as that store of power was spent, he would return to being a shade. The only advantage of being a shade was that he could spy on the guardians⦠even be in the same room with them and they would never know it.
Many times when Tama was a child, heâd silently asked Hyakuhei why they didnât send the demons to attack the guardians. He had simply replied, âThere is no need for war when there is nothing yet to fight for.â Since Hyakuhei had used his life force to bring him back to life, not only could they communicate through a mental link but Tama could also see the shadows of Hyakuheiâs memories from his point of view⦠feel his feelings. He knew Hyakuhei was right to wait.
Tama remembered the stories Hyakuhei had told him about his sister. Tales of the human girl whoâd accidentally stepped through the time portal so long ago⦠bringing an entire village of humans with her into the demon realm. Hyakuhei and his twin brother Tadamichi had stopped the demons from killing Kyoko and the humans who suddenly found themselves within the massive demon realm.
While under their protection, Hyakuhei had fallen in love with her and given her the power to be his priestess⦠the power to cross between worlds so she could come back to him. In a jealous rage, his twin brother Tadamichi had stolen her from him and thrust her back into her own dimension, sealing the portal between worlds. It had been a malicious act full of jealousy over the priestess.