kai yukimara [rewriting]

8: History of Lies

By the time Kira and I had come to, Stiles was gone. After I was incapacitated, we were lucky enough that Deaton arrived and was able to stop the Nogitsune from causing anymore harm with a shot of Wolf Lichen. It wasn't a permanent fix, but a quick one. Sheriff Stilinski came and picked Stiles up after he decided that he wanted to voluntarily commit himself to Eichen House. I'd heard enough from Derek about Peter's time in the place. Out of my mind or not, I'd never willingly put myself in that hell hole. Who knows if you'd even make it out? I mean, good luck to Stiles though! I'm sending him positive, non-psychotic vibes. Yikes, that didn't sound too convincing. Anyway, the following day, the pack created and executed a plan to retrieve the Shugendo scroll. The mission definitely did not go as planned but no one lost any limbs so I'd call that a success. What we learned from the scroll was that the only way to exorcise the Nogitsune's spirit is by changing its host's body.

Stiles as a werewolf would be...something else. But the chances of that becoming a reality we're looking better and better as time passed. Even in Eichen House, the Nogitsune had managed to once again take control of Stiles. He had escaped the so-called "inescapable" mental ward. For the past few nights, sleep had become a bit of a non-factor for me. When I did sleep, I had nightmares. And it was almost always the same one. It's nighttime and I'm alone in the middle of a desert with no end in sight. The only thing that allows me to see is the large moon beaming down on me. For a moment, it almost seems peaceful before the sound of scraping metal sings out from behind me. I turn but there's never anyone there. But when I turn back, the Oni materialize before me, swords drawn. "You've already marked me! I'm not the Nogitsune!" I call out to no avail. I reach up behind my ear, pulling it back to show them.

"See! Look! Loo-" I run my fingers over where the raised kanji previously was and feel nothing but smooth skin as if it was never there. "No. That's impossible. It's..." All of a sudden, a hand reaches out from behind me and grabs my left wrist tightly, forcing me to turn around. I see the ferocious sharp silver teeth before I notice the bandages. The sight sparked a familiarity that frightened me to my core. How do you know me? How do I know you? A cry leaves my lips as I instinctually shut my eyes like a child. "Let me go!" I try to snatch my wrist away but he doesn't even budge. I place my free hand on top of his, hoping that the Kitsune in me would hear me screaming out. Thankfully, she does and as I opened my eyes, the Nogitsune's arm ignites. He falters, letting my hand go. The flames didn't harm him, they just caught him off guard. I cautiously backed away from both him and the Oni, tripping backwards over my own feet as I scrambled.

"You're the reason they're here! For you! To kill you!" I said shakily, managing to point a finger at the bandage wrapped monster. With the distance between us, I was able to really look at him. He was dressed in what looked like an army uniform which made no sense to me though war sounds like the literal definition of a perfect place for a Nogitsune to be in the middle of all of the chaos and death. "But they're not looking at me are they, senshu?" He teased. "Senshu, who..." I was unable to finish my statement as my eyes trailed from the monster to the Oni. And he was right. They weren't looking at him. Their illuminated eyes were peering at me. All of them. When I turned back to the Nogitsune, he was mere inches away from me. Taking advantage of my sudden gasp for air, he produced a powder from his free hand, blowing it into my face. The substance itself seemed to be alive, working it's way down my throat and through my nostrils before I can hardly feel my senses. I drop to the ground, gasping for air as the nogitsune walks away.

"I'll see you soon, Kōjin" He said. As he fades into the vast darkness, Kira appears over me with her hair pinned back unlike her usual down style. "Wake up!" She said sternly, shaking me harshly. And then I wake up. The dream always feels like it last forever but in reality I'm asleep for less than an hour. I haven't mentioned it to the pack. I think I'm just psyching myself out and I don't need to add more to anyone's plate. The demon's played too many tricks. This is probably another. The Nogitsune wants to exhaust me so I'm more susceptible to his mind games. Today is Saturday. A day where people usually catch up on rest. But demons don't rest. And neither does the pack. My dad decided to go into school today to prepare a few things from Monday's class so I decided to accompany him, mainly because I had my own intentions. I needed my art supplies from my locker to draw a picture of the Nogitsune from my dreams. I keep replaying it in my mind so why not translate it to paper. I just can't get the glimmer of its metallic teeth out of my mind.