𝕀𝕟𝕤𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕒𝕓𝕝𝕖 || 𝕊𝕥𝕚𝕝𝕖𝕤/𝕍𝕠𝕚𝕕 𝕩 ℝ𝕖𝕒𝕕𝕖𝕣

Chapter 12

I finally got home after a 40-minute walk, sweaty and tired. Both my parents were out which meant I'd been forced to make my own way home. On the upside, it gave me the perfect chance to snoop around and try to figure out what secrets my family were keeping.

I went up into my room and got changed before wandering around my house. I didn't want to go and sneak into my parents' bedroom because that felt like crossing the line, but I did think that sneaking into their office was alright.

I walked down the hallway until I got to my parents' office, hesitating as I put my hand on the doorknob. Technically I was allowed in here, since my parents had never made a rule about not going in it, but I'd never been curious enough to go in and look at what they were working on. Until now.

I opened the door and slipped through, closing it quietly behind me. I knew my parents weren't home, and I knew I wasn't technically breaking any rules, but I still felt the need to sneak around and be quiet.

Inside the room, there were bookcases stacked on either side of the walls and two desks facing each wall. One of them was neat and tidy with only a few pencils laying around, while the other one was covered in papers and gadgets of all kinds.

I decided to start with the messy desk, my mother's, since she had made it obvious she knew about what was going on with me, though I suspected my dad did too.

I picked up some of her papers, my eyes skimming the words before I tossed them aside, deeming them unimportant. This went on for a while before I decided to give up on the desk and move to the shelves.

There were books lining the shelves as well as pictures, binders, and boxes. I took one of the boxes and placed it on my mum's desk, taking off the lid and looking through it.

It seemed to be filled with printed off information, and as I looked through it, something caught my eye.

"The Oni," I whispered to myself as I took the sheet of information out of the box. In big bold letters at the front of the page were the words Information on The Oni.

I read through the sheet and once I'd finished it, I was disappointed to find I had more questions than answers.

From what I'd gathered, The Oni were Japanese demons that hunted through the supernatural for dark kitsunes called a Nogitsune or Void. When they found the Nogitsune, it was The Oni's job to eliminate it.

Why were my parents talking about old Japanese folktales with Kira's parents? Unless they weren't really folktales at all. It had mentioned 'dark kitsunes' in it, whatever they were, but it had reminded me of Kira and how she'd said she was a Kitsune.

If Kitsunes were real, did that mean The Oni were too? And if they were real, how had my mother made these demons stronger?

I sighed and put the box away before scanning the shelves for any interesting books. My blood ran cold when I noticed a book called The Power of Fire. My heart was beating in my chest as I slowly took the book from the shelf.

Would this book answer my questions? Would this book be the key to figuring out what I was? My palms went sweaty with nerves just thinking about it. I took a deep breath and opened the book, eager to read the information and yet scared at the same time. What if I turned out to be something evil, like a dark Kitsune? What if I found out I was dying? Or being possessed?

I shoved the thoughts aside and started reading, quelling the anxiety bubbling in my stomach. I skipped past the introduction and first couple of chapters before I came upon a list. It had all the names of creatures that had something to do with fire.

I scanned the page, finding some familiar names and some new ones. Kitsune, Jinn, Ol'Higue, Hellhound, Fire Nymph, Basan, and Boitatá.

I started reading about a few of them, surprised to find how different from one another they were. The Jinn were beings of flame or air who were capable of assuming human or animal form. The Ol'Higue was about a woman who changed into a ball of fire at night and flew around in search of babies to drink their blood.

Something told me I wasn't that. At least I hoped I wasn't.

Before I could continue looking through the book, I heard my dad's car come home. I quickly put the book back into the bookshelf and ran to the kitchen, trying not to act suspicious, as my dad entered the house.

"Hey kiddo, how was school?" he asked when he noticed me.

"It was fine, but I have a lot of homework so I should probably work on that," I lied, really just wanting to be alone so I could think about what I'd found.

My dad nodded his head, and I took my leave, running upstairs shutting myself inside my room. I laid on my bed, looking up at the ceiling, and frowned.

All I'd learnt from the book were old folktales about mythical creatures that were associated with fire, and just because Kitsunes were real did not mean every other single folktale was real. That meant I had no way of knowing if anything I read on the creatures and their powers were real or not, which meant my snooping had gotton me no-where.

I groaned, rubbing my eyes. This was so frustrating. I was still processing the fact that Kira was a Kitsune and that I had immunity from fire and the ability to heal burns. I basically had fire powers, and the thought made me want to roll my eyes or hide under my blankets.

What was happening to me?

A/N:

Sorry for the short chapter. This was supposed be apart of the next chapter, but then the chapter was too long so I had to split it.

That's all for today. Please comment and vote if you enjoyed, and have a good day/night.

:)