Demon Rising

Chapter 5: The Omen of Rebirth

Chapter 5: The Omen of Rebirth

"Yes…The prophecies have been fulfilled. Finally, Jinkara will be reborn, and I will be rid of the curse of possecion. Finally, I shall be free. My family with be free. My ancestors will be pleased with me. I pity the man who will have to bear this curse, but for me, it’s a God send."

***

It was the first day of the new school year, and Vaugn was sitting at the dining room table with Coonai and Mr. Miasoto, talking about what he needed for the new year.

"So, I don’t need anything for the first day then?", Vaugn asked, with skeptisim in his voice.

"That’s right Vaugn. All the teachers do is introduce themselves the first day or 2, then after that, they get down to work.", replied Coonai kindly, taking a sip of her tea.

"Well that’s good. I hate carrying all my books and binders to school the first day. Those things are heavy.", Vaugn said in a mater-of-fact tone, finishing his breakfast.

Just then, the dining room door slid open, and Uni and Asuke walked in.

Vaugn looked around, still chewing his breakfast, and gave them the once over.

Both Uni and Asuke were wearing the same school uniform. It was a light blue and white, roomy dress with two pockets on the front, and a white blouse like top. The dresses reached down to just above their ankles, and Vaugn noticed they had the same black shoes with a strap that reached from the front around to the back. The whole affect was that of someone going out for dinner.

Vaugn continued to look at them, and finally swallowing his breakfast said, "Nice dress ladies.", and he turned back to the TV, which was airing a report about a failed robbery attempt of a convience store in downtown Tokyo.

"Thanks Vaugn, but you have a uniform to you know.", Asuke told Vaugn, as she sat down at the table and started to eat.

"I do?", asked Vaugn in a puzzled tone.

"Upstairs on your bed, Vaugn.", Coonai cut in, "I layed out you uniform and shoes this morning after you got up."

"Oh. So I guess I have to wear it then?", asked Vaugn in a voice of mock questioning.

"You bet you do. Girls aren’t the only ones who have to look decent at school you know.", Uni answered him, with a curtious smile.

"Well then, if you’ll excuse me.", Vaugn said as he stood up and left the room, heading to the stairs and going to his room.

Entering the room, he saw a folded uniform laying on his bed. Getting undressed, putting on the uniform and looking at himself at the mirror, he liked what he saw.

The unifrom was loose fitting, yet a some what formal suit. It consisted of light grey pants, that were loose in the leg, and creased in the middle of each leg, and the jacket too, was light grey, but had a stripe of light blue up the side. The jacket ended in a turtle-neck like collar with 2 buttons to close it or open it. Giving himself the once over, he liked the uniform. He was equally impressed by how well everything fit and was comfortable

Also on the bed were his dress shoes. Unlike the girls shoes, which were like slip-ons, his had actual laces. Slipping into his shoes, he was again surprised how well they fit.

Walking down stairs, and rejoining the family, he sat down with Asuke and Uni, now eating their breakfast, Asuke easting at top speed.

"How does the uniform fit Vaugn?", Coonai asked when Vaugn sat down.

"It fits perfectly, thank you. How’d you know my size?", Vaugn asked Coonai as he finished his drink.

"Your parents ofcourse. They sent over your measurements.", Mr. Miasoto said from behind his newspaper.

Just then, there was a ringing sound through the house, and Asuke practically jumped to her feet.

"Well, I’m done. Come on Vaugn, we’re walking to school with Imari and Kihari.", she said briskly, and walking to the door.

"Oh, okay.", Vaugn said taken back, but standing up and leaving the room with Asuke.

"We have to get to school early, so I can show you around. You know. Show you where your locker is, where our class room is, and just give you a general tour of the school.", Asuke said, still talking briskly.

"Good idea", replied Vaugn.

Reaching the door, Vaugn opened the door, and standing outside were Imari and Kihari, wearing the same uniform as Asuke’s.

"Morning you two?", Imari greeted them cheerily, "Ready for your first day of school Vaugn?"

"As ready as I’ll ever be", replied Vaugn.

"Well, let’s roll then.", Kihari said brightly, and with that, the 4 left the house, but before they could even take 5 steps, they heard 2 people coming up behind them from the house. Uni and Coonai were coming out of the house after them.

"Geez sis, I didn’t know you were so anxious to get to school.", Uni said sarcastically as she passed the four, met up with her own friends and started off to school aswell.

"Here Asuke, you forgot these.", Coonai said kindly. She handed Assuke 2 leather school hand bags with clasps to close the bag, and 2 sheets of paper.

"Oh geez, thank you Coonai. You’re a life saver!", Asuke said in a grateful voice.

"You’re welcome. Now you best hurry if you want to show Vaugn everything.", Coonai said as she waved good-bye to them.

"Here Vaugn, it’s our schedual for the year.", Asuke said , handing Vaugn his copy, as they walked down the sidewalk, passing through a park that Vaugn thought was a short cut.

"Now, on the top of the schedual, it’ll show you who you’re home room teacher is, and the class teacher. The teacher who will actually be teaching you,", she added in responce to Vaugns puzzled look, "Every morning, we’ll meet in our homeroom, for role call and any news that is thought to be important, then we’ll head to our actual classroom for our lessons. Also, at lunch, we’ll meet back in our homeroom and eat there.", Asuke finished

"Okay, easy enough to understand. So let’s see,", said Vaugn in an offhand voice, checking his schedual, "It says my homeroom is 1C, and my classroom is 3F.", he said finally.

"Oh good! Me and Imari are in the same class and home room.", Kihari said happily, "What about you Asuke?"
"It looks like I’m in the same classes aswell.", Asuke said, also happily.

Vaugn and the girls were now walking down the sidewalk of a road that had many small buisnesses along it.

"So what does the whole, 1C and 3F thing mean?", Vaugn asked as they walked by a local pet shop full of noisy animals

"Well, the number means which floor we’re on, and the letter means what class room you’re in. So our home room is on the ground floor, in classroom C, and our classroom where we have our lessons is on the third floor, in classroom F."

"Okay, makes sence", Vaugn replied, "So we’re going to be in the same classroom all year right?"

"That’s right. It just makes it easier for the teachers.", Imari replied.

The group was now waiting at a cross walk, waiting for the sign to change and give them the okay to cross, when behind them, they heard a voice call out.

"Hey Imari, Asuke, Kihari!

Turning to see behind them, the group saw 2 boys jogging towards them, one of them waving at them.
The first of the boys was as tall as Vaugn and built the same way. Brawd shoulders, long arms and legs. He had wavey, light brown hair, and a rather squared head, though his jaw was rounded. His nose was on the larger side, and he had brown eyes.

The second boy, the waving one, was shorter then his friend and was skinnier. He had longer dark brown hair with red streaks in it, though his hair was straight, and not wavey. He had a more rounded face and jaw, though his hair gave him the impression of having a squarer head and face. His nose was smaller then his friend, and he had dark green eyes.

"Hey Shentin! Hey Nikkai!", called out Imari.

The 2 boys jogged up to the girls, and beamed at them.

"How are you guys doing? Have a good summer you 3?", asked the boy with the larger nose.

"Mine was great Shentin. My family went on a 2 week long trip to the hot springs. It was so relaxing!", replied Kihari as the sign turned green, and they started to cross the street.

"My summer was good too. We took a cruise up north, and man was it beautiful up there!", Imari replied, and the group was now walking down a very peaceful street, where Vaugn could see more kids in uniforms like his and Asukes up ahead.

"So Asuke, who’s your new friend.", asked the boy with dark hair

"Oh man, how could I forget! Vaugn, I’d like you to meet our friends Shentin,", she gestured towards the boy with the larger nose, who nodded, "And Nikkai.", she gestured towards the boy with green eyes, "We’ve known them since we’ve been in grade 2, and we always seem to be in the same class each year.", Asuke finished as the crowd of their fellow schoolmates start to get thicker.

"Hey, nice to meet you Shentin. Nice to meet Nikkai.", replied Vaugn, shaking their hands in turn.

"So what classes are you in this year?", asked Nikkai

"All of us are in 1C and 3F.", replied Asuke

"Same as us. Looks like you haven’t gotten rid of us yet girls.", Shentin said with a smile.

The group talked about thier summer holidays for the rest of the way to school. Vaugn, who had just met Shentin and Nikkai, was reminded of 2 of his friends back in Canada, and knew that he’d like these two very much.

"So Vaugn, tell us. Not to point out the obvious, but you’re obviously not from here. And not to sound rude, but, how come you are here?", Nikkai asked, not in an offensive tone, but in a tone of polite curiosity.

"I was wondering the same thing Vaugn.", Imari added, and Kihari nodded in agreeance.

And with that, Vaugn went into the same story that he had told the Miasoto’s in the van on his first night in the country. He told them about his dad saving Mr. Miasoto’s life, the gangwar that had broken out, and how Vaugn’s dad had arranged this with Mr. Miasoto for Vaugn’s sake.

"Wow.", said Nikkai in an impressed voice when Vaugn had finished his story

"Yeah. So until the trouble is over, Japan is my new home.", Vaugn said with a smile, seeing the surprised faces of Nikkai, Shentin, Imari and Kihari, "It’s not as bad as you’d think though. I mean, Japan is a beautiful place, I live with a good family, and I’ve always wanted to see Japan.", he finished.

Just as Vaugn had finished his story, the group had started to walk beside a stone wall about 8 feet high. Over the top of the wall, Vaugn could see his new school. Walking a little while longer, there was an opening in the wall, with 2 iron bar doors that could be closed to block the entryway.

Looking at the school, it was, in Vaugn’s opinion, rather unimpressive, unlike the other buildings he’s seen so far. It was a large, square building, white as marble, with windows all on the face that he could see. At 4 stories high, it was large, but still unimpressive.

"So we’ll head to homeroom together then?", asked Imari as they walked through the gates and headed towards the front door

"Sorry, but I was going to show Vaugn around the school quickly.", replied Asuke, as they reached the front door and Nikkai held it open for them to walk through..

Entering the school, Vaugn could see that he wasn’t the only new one at the school. Many other people were using maps to find their way around. Many of the people were walking into rooms after checking the rooms with maps, only to come out again, having realised it was the wrong room.

"This way Vaugn,", Asuke said, nodding to her right, "I’ll show you where our lockers are."

"Okay, cool.", said Vaugn, following her down the hall. Vaugn saw that there were many teachers standing outside their rooms, greeting the new students, "Hey Asuke, how do you know your way around?", Vaugn asked her, shooting her a curious look.

"Coonai and Uni showed me around at the open house the school had 2 weeks into the summer.", replied Asuke.

Walking a little way from the front door yielded a large, spacious room, full of stacked, small square lockers. Each person that was there, was standing on a wooden platform that was 2 inches above the ground.

"Each homeroom has their own locker stack Vaugn. As we’re 1C, we’re the third locker down.", Asuke told Vaugn, and sure enough, 3 rows into the room, a sign sticking out read ‘1C’.

Each locker had a combination lock on it with the code on a little tag. Vaugn chose his locker, and opened his locker easily, and looked inside. Though the locker was small, only about a foot square, it stretched for about 2 feet back, so it could easily hold all of Vaugns books and binders.

Looking beside him, Asuke had taken the locker next to him, which she had already opened, and was digging in her bag for something. Eventually finding it, she pulled out a pair of light blue shoes. Pulling off her black shoes, she put them in her locker, and slipped into her white ones. Seeing Vaugns confused look, she said to him, "This is to keep the school clean. We don’t wear our outdoor shoes inside the class. You have a pair too. Coonai packed them herself."

And sure enough, in his own bag, were white shoes aswell. Following Asuke’s lead, he too slipped out of his black shoes and into his white ones and locked his black ones in his locker.

When Vaugns possessions were safely in his locker, he and Asuke started off on the tour.

From what Vaugn could make out, everything he really needed to know was on the bottom floor. The headmaster’s office was on the bottom floor, along with the library, the school store and the nurses office.

Asuke also showed Vaugn the Gym and field that they’d be using. The Gym and field were what Vaugn liked the most about the school. Vaugn liked being active, and the gym was huge, big enough for him to go for a very long run in and burn off some extra energy. The field too was impressive. It had a baseball diamond, aswell as outdoor track and field for track and field events. It also had a big soccer field that was recesed into the ground. It had sloped sides all around it, so people could sit on the grass and watch.

Just as Vaugn was takin in the whole of the athletic field, he heard 3 loud chimes overhead.

"That’s the warning bell Vaugn,", Asuke told him as she and Vaugn started to walk back to class, "It rings 3 times when you have 3 minutes to get to class. If you’re late to class you’ll stay after class for half an hour cleaning the classroom.", Asuke finished as she passed a bustling group of 11th graders getting to class.

"What happens if you’re so late, you miss an entire class?", Vaugn asked, thinking of what had happened to his sister when she missed an entire class because she had a zit.

"What happens is you go see the headmaster.", replied Asuke with a slight shudder as they reached their homeroom, "I hear he’s the headmaster from my junior high school.", she added in a slight wondering tone."

"Well that’s not to bad.", Vaugn said, opening the door to the classroom.

Asuke didn’t reply right away, but instead, lead Vaugn over to the desks that had been saved for them by Imari, Kihari, Shentin and Nikkai.

The room was rather nice. It had a wall full of windows letting in lots of light, a couple of sinks in the back of the class room, the front wall was covered in a giant blackboard, and all over the room were posters that had mangificent pictures of the landscape of different countries.

Vaugn took his seat between Shentin and Nikkai, Asuke sat between Imari and Kihari.

Sitting down, Asuke continued to look around the class, and finally found what she was looking for.

"Hey Vaugn, you see that guy over at the front of the room.", Asuke said in a slight whisper, pointing to a boy with glasses and a pierced nose at the front of the room

"Yeah…and?", Vaugn asked, with raised eyebrows and a shrug to Asuke

"Watch this.", Shentin said all of a sudden, he cleared his throat and said if a very loud bark like tone, "Doko!", and the boy at the front of the class, suddenly went white, and stood straight up at a attention, his arms pinned to his side, his chest thrown out, and his head held high.

The class around them was laughing, even Imari, Kihari, Shentin and Nikkai included.

Vaugn, still confused looked to Asuke, "And that proves what?"

"Doko made the mistake of getting on the headmasters bad side in junior high. Since then, he’s been so by the book that he makes the guy who wrote the book look like a loose cannon.", she told Vaugn, with a slight pitying look at the boy.

"Okay, now that’s a little scary.", Vaugn replied, with a startled look on his face

"Mind you,", Nikkai said beside Vaugn,his arms folded infront of him, his elbows resting on his desk,"It could aslo be because Doko’s dad came to school and shouted at him infront of the whole school for about 35 minutes back in junior high. If that had been me, I’d be sure to keep all my toes in line."

Vaugn and the others had been talking for about 5 minutes when a man with a very short haircut and glasses came walking in. Instantly, everyone in the class stood up at attention. Vaugn looked around at them with a puzzled look on his face, and was just about to ask Asuke why she was standing, when she hissed at him out of the corner of her mouth, "Stand-up Vaugn, or you’ll be in trouble!"

Vaugn nodded and did as he was told, just as the man turned around and told everyone to be seated. Following everyone else lead, Vaugn sat aswell.

"Welcome to your new year of school, aswell as your new school period,", the man said in a very wheezy and boring voice, "I am Mr. Takushi, you’re home room teacher. I have some things to go over before you get to your class. Firstly…"

"Oh my god! That guy was so boring!", Vaugn said exasperated, his head tilted back and looking at the ceiling, and his arms hanging loosely at his sides.

"I know Vaugn, but it’s only for about 15 minutes a day.", Asuke replied, but her eyes too were droopy. Coinsedently, everyone in Vaugn’s homeroom looked like they were about to fall asleep.

The homeroom period had went on for about 45 minutes, during which Shentin and Imari had to be constantly woken up.

The 6 friends were walking to the 3rd floor to get to know their new teacher for the year. Vaugn noticed that now that the homerooms were out, that certain people with orange sashes were walking through the school, with what looked like note pads and pens in their hands.

"Hey, who are those guys with the orange sashes", Vaugn asked the group as they started up the stairs, in which they had just passed one of the sashed people.

"Those are prefects", Imari replied

"Prefects?", Vaugn asked, with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah. Their jobs are sort of like hall monitors. Except these people can hand out detentions and punishments to students who they feel are breaking the rules. They’re sort of like teachers, but for the halls.", Nikkai elaborated

"Should I be worried then?", asked Vaugn, as the friends started up the next flight of stairs

"Not really. A lot of them are push overs, and only people who really deserve to be written up, actually get written up.", Shentin replied, stretching his arms. He had been one of those people in the class who had literally fallen asleep during Mr. Takushi’s greeting speech.

Emerging onto the 3rd floor yielded quite an unusual smell. It smelt like rotten eggs, gun powder, vinegar, and several smells Vaugn coudn’t put his finger on. This must be the level of the school where all the science classes are Vaugn thought.

"Phew, that’ll wake you up fast.", Shentin said, shaking his head and looking wide awake.

"Come on, let’s get out of this smell. Hopefully the room will have it’s window open.", Imari said, and they all hurried to classroom 3F and found 6 desks next to the window, in which they opened imediatetly, the fresh air flooding the room and helping to disipate the bad smell.

Sitting in the room, Vaugn noticed that it looked exactly like his homeroom, except it had posters of nature, like lightning hitting the ground, tornadoes, shooting stars, and much more.

The class had all assembled, but had no time to talk before the teacher arrived. This man was younger then their homeroom teacher, but had a shaved head. He also had a small beard, a pointed chin and nose, and dark blue eyes.

"Welcome class, to your new year of school,", the man said briskly, "This year is your first as high school students, and as such, won’t be easy. I plan to keep you busy all year so that you know everything that I have planned for you. The first order of buisness, my name. It is Mr. Kucaiko. This year will be rigerouse, and I plan that you will all be more then prepared for the final exam. Also, I expect my students to be behaved and polite. Meaning no talking while I am.If ever you need help with your studies, I’ll be more then happy to tutor you. Now, let’s get to work everyone.", Mr Kucaiko finished, and reaching into his desk, pulled out a stack of papers.

Looking at Mr. Kucaiko, Vaugn got the impression that Mr. Kucaiko was going to be a hard teacher.

"You’ll have all class to finish this refresher quiz. It’s not for marks. It’s just to see how much of what you learned last year is still in your heads.", Mr. Kucaiko said, but in a much more gentle tone as he handed out the quiz.

"Alright, you may begin", Mr Kucaiko said to the class, sitting down behind his desk and smiling at the class.

This isn’t so bad, thought Vaugn, it could be worse.

And with that thought, Vaugn turned to his quiz and started to answer as many questions as he could.

***


Two weeks into the school year, and Vaugn had learned a few things. The first, and possibly the most important thing, is that Mr. Kucaiko was a real joker. Not only was he not a hard teacher, like he had pretended to be during their first class, but a very easy going teacher instead. He still taught everything they needed to know, but in a very easy to follow way. The second, and what Vaugn thought was the funniest thing he had learned: Mr. Kucaiko wasn’t really bald. Mr. Kucaiko had been wearing a bald cap, because he said it made him look tough and strict. Some how, Vaugn couldn’t help but like and respect Mr. Kucaiko for his acting skills.

It was Sunday, and everyone in the family was enjoying a relaxing, quiet day at home. All of Vaugns homework was done and he was enjoying a nice long workout with Mr. Miasoto.

Vaugn was just finishing his workout and toweling off when it happened.

Wiping his face, Vaugn looked out the window, and then up at the shrine. So far, Vaugn had lucked out and got a very easy teacher in school and had made some really good friends in Asuke, Imari, Kihari, Shentin and Nikkai. As he looked up at the shrine, he saw the shelf that it was sitting on tilted towards him a little, and then, all of a sudden, fall to the ground, breaking the candles and the small statue of Budha.

Mr. Miasoto and Vaugn stared at the broken reminents of the shrine. Neither of them spoke for a moment. Then Mr. Miasoto, who had gone very still, spoke.

"The shrine. It broke. But that means…we’re in trouble Vaugn.", Mr. Miasoto breathed, looking at Vaugn. He had gone strangely pale in the face.

"You think so Mr. Miamoto?", asked Vaugn, trying hard to hide the skeptisim in his voice

"Yes I do Vaugn,", he replied, "When I was a kid, my grandparents had a shrine like this one, and when I was visiting with my parents, their shrine broke, and an hour later, their house had caught on fire. No one was hurt, but it was a sign of bad luck when it broke, and the bad luck struck that very night.", he finished, now bending down and picking up the pieces of the broken shrine.

"Maybe it was just a coinsedence that it happened like that Mr. Miasoto.", Vaugn said, and no sooner were the words out of his mouth, then they heard a scream. Not just one scream, but from the sounds of it, 2 screams. 2 screams, from 2 girls.

Looking at eachother- Mr. Miasoto pale and scared,Vaugn confused and quizical-, they dashed out of the training room and followed the screaming, it was coming from the dining room. They grabbed the door, and flung it open.

Looking in, they saw Uni, Coonai, and Asuke, all on the dining room table. Uni and Asuke were shrieking, and Mr. Miasoto and Vaugn couldn’t figure out why.

"What’s the matter girls?", asked Mr. Miasoto in very worried tone.

Coonai, who was sitting on the table, and looking as though this was a midly entertaining TV show, spoke first.

"There are rats in here father.", she replied, in a somewhat surprised voice.

"Where? How many?", Mr. Miasoto asked

"Under the table. There’s maybe 3.", she replied

Vaugn and Mr. Miasoto looked at eachother, then Vaugn, with a huge sigh, flung himself onto his stomach and went under the table. They could hear everything Vaugn was saying.

"Okay, where are you, you furry little buggers? Ah, there you are…come here you…gotch’ya", they heard, and slowly coming from under the table, they saw that Vaugn had the three rats by the tails.

"So this is what had you 2 so scared?", Vaugn asked, not even trying to hold back his huge grin.

"God, it was so gross, crawling all over us like that.", Asuke said histerically as Vaugn took the rats to the back yard and let them go, watching them scurry away.

"Is this the bad luck you were talking about Mr. Miasoto?", Vaugn asked, sitting down at the table and taking the tea Coonai had handed him.

"Well, it could have been worse, but it could be considered bad luck, as these 2,", he gestured towards Uni and Asuke, "hate rats, mice, and anything small and furry that scurrys.", he finished.

For the rest of the day, Uni and Asuke were still a little creeped out, but they got over it. Vaugn though, still found it funny that they were afraid of 3 little rats.

When Monday arrived, it came in with rain, wind, and more rain.

"The weather man said it was supposed to stay sunny and warm, not cold and damp.", Asuke said crossly as she pulled on her rain coat and boots.

"Oh well, it reminds me of home Asuke,", Vaugn replied in a somewhat happy tone, "This time of year, we always get cold showers like this.", Vaugn said, as he to pulled on his rain coat-really Mr. Miasotos- and unfolded an umbrella for him and Asuke.

Walking to school was not a fun event. Usually when they walked to school, it was a cool autumn morning. The cherry blossoms were now about half way through their bloom, and the flowers in the garden were at maximum beauty.

But today, it was so dark that all they could see were the areas lit by the street lights. Both Vaugn and Asuke were soaked to the bone after only a minute of walking. Vaugn and Asuke ended running the whole way school, and were completely out of breath by the time they were unlocking their lockers and stowing their rain boots in them.

"Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you,", Vaugn panted a bit as they entered their home room for the homeroom period, "The family shrine broke on Sunday."

"W-what?", panted Asuke, holding a stitch in her side.

"Yeah.", and Vaugn proceeded to tell her what had happened, and the timing of the rat incedent.

"So dad thinks the shrine breaking is responsible for the rats?", Asuke asked, and Vaugn could tell that she was close to laughing.

"Yeah, he does. And I bet he thinks that the rain is also somehow connected.", Vaugn said putting his hands behind his head, and kicking his feet up on his desk.

"Leave it to dad to believe something like that.", Asuke said in a very exasperated tone.

Just then, Imari, Kihair, Nikkai and Shentin walked in, all of them completely soaked head to toe.

While the others dried off, Vaugn looked out the window as a fork of lightning pierced the sky,thinking.

He did have to admit that it was a tad strange that when the shrine breaks, 3 rats get into the house and scare the living daylights out of Uni and Asuke, and then a mini hurricane replaces the day that was supposed to be sunny.

Tuesday arrived sunny, just as it was supposed, but the walk to school was when the unfortunate event happened.

Vaugn and the others were walking to school. It was a cool morning, and all of them had their jackets on. Vaugn was carrying his bag over his shoulder, and the group, while walking down the small buisness stretch on their walk to school, were talking about last nights homework.

"I dunno. Question 3a was kind of iffy. It could have gone both ways.", Imari was saying to the others

"It could have, but if you read it at face value, it could have only gone one way.", Nikkai responded

"True, it could have,", Vaugn started, "but then if you payed attention to the little details…"

SPLASH!

Just as the group was passing by a little resturant, Vaugn had been hit by a big bucket of what seem like water and that smelled strongy of wrotting pork.

"What the f...what is this!", Vaugn said disgusted as he got a whiff of the sick mixture and looking furiously at the person who had thrown the slop.

"Oh, I’m so sorry sir. I didn’t see you there and didn’t mean to hit you with the grease trap waste.", a tiny man said, who was dressed in an apron looking stunned.

"Um, what exactly is this?", Shentin asked, holding his nose and looking at the waste that was on Vaugns jacket.

"That’s the grease, drippings, burnt bits, and anything else that falls off of food and into our grease trap. Normally we empty it every day, but we’ve been so busy over the past 3 weeks, this is the first time.", the man replied, looking very apprehensive at the furious stare from Vaugn, "Again, I’m sorry sir", and with a very humble bow, went back into the resturant.

"You know, Vaugn, it looks like it’s only in your hair. The rest just got on your jacket…If that’s any consoltation Vaugn.", Asuke said looking himover.

"Little Asuke…but let’s get going,", Vaugn said, taking a few deep, steadying breaths, "I’ll just stop by the showers before class and wash it out. God this stuff stinks!", he finished, taking off his jacket, rolling it up and carrying it the rest of the way.

"You don’t think that this has anything to do with the shrine breaking do you Vaugn?", Asuke asked as Vaugn showered his hair clean before class.

"I dunno Asuke,", Vaugn said, emerging from the shower and drying his hair with a towel, "But hopefully this whole little streak of bad luck ends. Lord knows I don’t want to get covered with wrotten pig fat again.", Vaugn finished as he and Asuke started off to class.

***

It was Wednesday afternoon, and Vaugn, Shentin and Nikkai were gathered around Shentins desk eating lunch. So far, nothing bad had happened, which was lucky for Vaugn.

Even though they only had known eachother for 2 weeks, Vaugn, Shentin and Nikkai got along as if they had known eachother their whole lives. They all seemed to have the same personaltiy, which all of them thought was a little strange. They’re all easy going, love to laugh, and are always very calm. Today was no different.

Sitting around the desk, they were all talking and laughing about a TV show they had watched the previous night.

Just as Vaugn was talking about the part where a man fell off a ladder into a tub full of glue and then tripped into a bucket full of feathers, the classroom door flew open, and in came several girls, among them Asuke, Imari and Kihari.

All of them were wearing the same thing. They all had what seemed to be a white apron on, with their hair pulled and held back by a white bandana. They also seemed to be carrying a plate full of cookies. Spotting Vaugn and the others, Asuke hurried over to them, beaming at them.

"Hey guys!", she said brightly

"Hey yourself,", said Vaugn smiling, "What are you wearing?", he asked, still smiling and laughing slightly.

"Oh, I’m part of the cooking club. Every now and then we make cookies or cupcakes and give them to our friends. And today is one of those days. So, I made these for you guys.", she said beaming.

"Awesome", they all said together as she placed the plate on the table.

"What kind are they?", Shentin asked, taking one.

"Lemon cookies.", she replied happily.

"Cool.", Vaugn said, and he too took one.

When Vaugn, Shentin and Nikkai had a cookie, they all smiled at Asuke. Gently clacking their cookies together and saying ‘Cheers’, they each took a big bite of their cookies.

The change on their faces was faster then a traffic light. Nikkai and Shentin had been smiling, and when they took their bites, looked almost at once as if they were going to throw up. They both gagged, looked down at the ground and grabbed their throats with one hand, as if willing themselves not to vomit. Vaugn, on the hand, and only smiled less, though he seemed to be transfixed by something just to the left of Asuke.

"Is-is something wrong?", Asuke asked, looking concerned at Shentin and Nikkai.

Coughing and taking a big drink of his juice, Nikkai asked, "How much lemon juice did you use?"

"I used 8 teaspoons. Just like the recipe asked for.", Asuke said, crossing her arm and starting to think.

"It tastes more like 8 tablespoons.", Shentin said, after he had finished his entire drink

"Aren’t teaspoons the big ones?", Asuke asked uncertainly

Both Nikkai and Shentin shook their heads.

"Darn it! I thought I had this time!.", Asuke replied, pounding her fist into her hand, "Oh well. This time I know I’ll get it right. I’ll have a new batch by the end of lunch. I promise!", she finished briskly, and picking up her plate, dashed out of the room and out of sight, Nikkai and Shentin staring after her.

"Man, that was sour, wasn’t it Vaugn? Vaugn?", Nikkai asked, and he and Shentin turned to look at Vaugn.

Vaugn was still staring at the same point in space that he had when he first tasted the cookie.

"Vaugn, are you okay?", Shentin asked slowly.

Then, as they watched their friend, Vaugn seemed to come back to life.

He slowly started to chew, which meant he still had the cookie in his mouth. Then they saw him swallow and sit there, still staring at the same place before he reached for his bottle of juice, opened it, and downed the whole bottle in one go. He put the bottle down, and then shook his head, his eyes wide and shocked.

"Man! What was that?", and then looking at the half eaten cookie in his hand, "Oh yeah. Phew. With cooking like that, I’m starting to wonder if Asuke hates me.", Vaugn said with a big sigh, his eyes still wide and shocked, shaking his head.

Vaugn, Nikkai and Shentin went back to their lunch, but it was with some difficulty. As all of them had swallowed their cookies, their stomachs were a little sore.

"Man, oh man. Mr. Miasoto was right. That shrine breaking was bad luck.", Vaugn thought, as he and Shentin watched and laughed at Nikkai, trying to finish his Lemon Chicken.

***

Thursday dawned sunny and bright. It was warmer then it had been on Monday and Tuesday, and there was only the slighest of breezes. Today, Vaugn was walking home from school alone because Asuke had a Cooking Club meeting. When Vaugn heard that, he was quick to leave and tell Asuke he’d meet her at home.

Walking home, Vaugn was thinking about the new project they had been given. For their Social Studies class, they’d have to watch the news every night for 2 months, and write down 2 stories related to politics. Vaugn was never really into politics, so he knew this would be a rather boring two months.

Walking down one of the streets Vaugn took to get to school, he was so preoccupied that he only snapped back to his sences when he ran into something.

Stumbling backwards slightly, Vaugn looked at where he was. Not seeing anything in front of him, he looked down, and saw what he had hit.

Laying sprawled on the ground was a very old man. His face was very heavily lined, he had a very long beard and was very thin. Laying next to the man was bag full of groceries. Some of the cans had rolled away and a couple of jars had broken.

"Oh no, I’m so sorry sir!", Vaugn apologised quickly, leaning down and helping the man to his feet.

"Thank you young man,", the man said in a very wheezy voice, "I should have been looking where I was going more.", he sighed and then said, "My groceries are ruined though."

"Here, let me help sir.", Vaugn said quickly, and he scrambled around, picking up the cans that had gotten away and putting them back into the bag.

"Here you are sir. Again, I’m sorry about that.", Vaugn said again, bowing to the man.

"Not at all young man…But, could you maybe carry my bag to my house for me. I seem to have hurt myself on that fall.", the man said with a slight apologetic tone

"Ofcourse I can,", said Vaugn. He always helped his grandparents when he was around in Canada, and even though he just met the man, he wanted to help, "How far is it?", he asked the man.

"It’s only a block from here.", the man replied and turning, started to walk in the same direction as Vaugn.

It was only about a 5 minute walk, but by then, they had reached an all residential area. The mans house was like the others, but smaller, obviously meant for someone living alone. It had a small white pikette fence running around the yard with a gate in the front. Pushing the gate open, the old man lead Vaugn up the path to his front door, unlocked the front door and opened it.

It was as Vaugn expected. The man had many old possesscions in his house. Old tea sets, pictures, he had an old quilt that must have been a family treasure, and many other thing that Vaugn saw, but couldn’t take in.

"Young man, if you could just bring my bag into the kitchen, that’d be great.", the old man said from the kitchen.

Vaugn did as he was asked quickly. For some reason, the house gave Vaugn a very uneasy feeling and wanted to be out of there as soon as he could.

Walking into the kitchen, Vaugn only had time to take in a small stove and window before something hit him very hard in the back of the head, and he fell face down onto the floor, out cold.

***

When Vaugn came to, he kept his eyes closed because his head was pounding. He groaned, and then started to move his neck around, working out the cramp that he had in his neck. Then, trying to reach up a hand to rub his head, he realised he couldn’t move his arms at all, or his legs.

Opening his eyes and focusing the best he could, he saw that his arms and legs were bound to the arms and legs of a chair with very thick rope.

Looking around, he saw that he was in a sitting room which had all the windows closed and the lights extinquished, all except for one little flashlight. Vaugn focused on the light and saw that the old man he had helped was digging around in a chest, obviously looking for something, and muttering to himself.

"Yes, finally, the vesel for his rebirth has come to me. So easy it was too. Pretending to be a feeble old man. The prophecies were correct. It would be a man of great kindness. So sad I must place the curse upon his soul, but it will be worth it. Yes. All my family has suffered because of this accursed jewel. All the death I’ve seen. All the suffering my children went through, and my children’s children. Oh, when I get rid of it, we will all be quite happy. But to bad for the boy. Oh well. For me and my family, it is a God send."

"Hey! Hey! Let me go right now! What are the hell do you think you are doing?", Vaugn shouted, but the old man payed him no attention.

He continued to search for something, muttering all the while, and then with a gleeful shout, he straightend up, something in his hand.

By the light of the flashlight, Vaugn could see that it was a blood red jewel, with a black vein that ran all around it. It was about the size of a small apple, and seemed to be glowing on it’s own accord

The man then slowly turned to Vaugn, and Vaugn saw that the man was smiling, a very insane and duranged smile.

"Tell me young man…do you know what this is ?", he asked in a very buisness like tone, not his wheezy tone that he had used when he first met Vaugn.

"Ummm…a jewel?", Vaugn asked in a very sarcastic tone.

"Very good.", replied the man, taking a few steps towards Vaugn, his eye were suddenly blazing with excitement.

"Listen old man,", Vaugn said angrily, his patients, or what was left of them, finally running dry, "I’m going to give you two options. One: You untie me right now, and I don’t rip you limb from limb. Or two: You don’t untie me, I break free, and all bets are off.", Vaugn finished as he started to strain against the ropes, hearing the chair groan as he did.

"Silence!", the man shouted, his face even more insane then before, "To long have I waited for this moment! To long have I had to watch my family suffer all because of this jewel. And to long have you been safe from your destiny."

"What are you talking about? Are you senile or something? I told you to let me go!", Vaugn shouted

The man, on the other hand, was slowly licking his lips, and staring at Vaugn, he continued to talk, as if Vaugn had never spoken.

"This jewel, contains the most powerful demon of all time. He goes by the name of Jinkara."

"What?", asked Vaugn, thinking he heard the old man wrong.

"Do you believe in demons youngman?", the old man asked, in a very calm buisness like tone.

"No, I don't.", Vaugn replied defiently

The old man studied Vaugn for a moment, and then started to pace the room back and forth, speaking as he did, "This jewel contains the demon Jinkara. 1000 years ago, war raged on in the depths of hell. Lucifor himself faught in the war, trying to prevent the demons from escaping and taking over the surface world. The demons though, were lead by the most powerful amongst them. That was Jinkara. He was even more powerful then Lucifor himself. Because of this, Lucifor couldn’t just kill Jinkara, so he and several of God’s angels created this jewel. When Lucifor touched it to the forehead of Jinkara, he was sucked into the jewel, and sealed there for eternity. But fate had it that Jinkara could be released, if the jewel was touched to the forehead of a person with the mark of the angel. Tell me, what mark do you have on your left leg?", the old man finished, now only about a foot from Vaugn.

Vaugn had a birthmark on his left leg. It was in the shape of two wings.

"I have a mark on my leg that looks like.."

"Two wings. Yes, I know. That’s the mark of the angel. You are the one who was destined to let Jinkara out, and let him use your body to rule the world.", the old man said, now smiling and showing all his evry yellow teeth.

"You’re insane! You’re mad! This is just some god awful joke. Let me go right now!", Vaugn shouted, strainging harder against the ropes now.

"Enough. I grow bored with this ape’s tongue."

The old man hadn’t said those words. Instead, it seemed that the words came from the very room itself, and jewel started to glow brighter.

"W-what was that?", asked Vaugn, scared for the first time now

"That…was Jinkara", said the old man now smiling a very evil smile.

Suddenly and without warning, Vaugn had a feeling that he didn’t want that jewel to touch him. If it did, he couldn’t explain why, but he knew that terrible things would happen.

"Now hold still young man. I now pass my curse onto you. May Jinkara show you mercy, as he has never shown me any. And when he is done, may your death be quick and painless. It’d be the least he could do after you let him take over the world, like he tried so hard to do 1000 years ago.", the old man said, raising the hand with the jewel in it.

Vaugn looked at the man, his eyes wide and shocked, his breathing very fast.

Then, without warning, the old man pushed the jewel into Vaugns forehead.

Pain like Vaugn had never felt before flowed not only through his body, but his very soul.