My beloved world of Darkness.

Chapter 2. The Hearse Song

It was three in the morning when a raven flew onto the Nura Clan territory.

“One of ours?” Masami asked her brother. “It's giving off a slight aura.”

“No,” Kuroumaru said, hefting his sword. “Let the others know.”

Masami transformed into a crow and flew off while her brothers continued to watch the raven.

After a few minutes of looking around the raven transformed into a wizard, who gestured for his comrades to join him.

Five entered the house, looking very much awake, seeing as how it was early afternoon in their homeland.

The mansion was silent, hundreds of eyes watching them from behind doors, rafters, floorboards.

A wizard jumped when he leaned too far over the Sakura pond and saw Kappa's eyes for a moment.

“What is it?”

“Thought I saw something.”

“In a pond that small? Impossible.”

The wizards moved on, entering the house.

“Take off your shoes, mongrels,” Kubinashi muttered from his hiding place in the shadows.

“Lumos.” One of the wizards said, his wand tip bursting into white light.

“Don't you laugh as a hearse goes by or you will be the next to die.” A little girl sang, her voice echoing and seeming to come from everywhere.

“Who's there?” one of the wizards, a tall dark-haired man, called.

“They wrap you up in bloody sheets. To drop you six feet underneath.” She sang, giggling ever so often. “They put you in a pinewood box. And cover you up with dirt and rocks. It all goes well for about a week. And then your coffin begins to leak.”

“Uh, where did the door go?”

"Somethings not right here."

“Follow me.” One of the wizards who had been there that afternoon said. “I remember the way.”

“And the worms crawl in, the worms crawl out. The worms play pinochle on your snout. They eat your eyes, they eat your nose. As you begin to decompose.”

“Its this way.” Said the wizard.

“Lumos.”

“A slimy beetle with demon's eyes. Chews through your stomach and out your sides. Your stomach turns to rancid grease. And pus pours out like melted cheese. You spread it on a slice of bread. And that's what you'll eat when you're dead.”

“Where is that coming from?” One of the wizards asked and all the watching Yokai grinned as they felt his fear leak out from his impressive self-control.

When the chorus started, it wasn't just the little girl yokai singing, but the entire household, their combined voices thundering in the night.

“And the worms crawl out, the worms crawl in
The ones that crawl in are lean and thin
The ones that crawl out are fat and stout
Your eyes fall in and your hair falls out
Your brain turns into maggot pie
Your liver starts to liquify
And for the living, all is well
As you sink further into hell.”

The fire appeared, not burning the house but surrounding the wizards.

“Apparate.” Their leader ordered, turning on his heel but he stayed put.

“I can't!" A wizard cried.

“And the flames rise up to drag you down
Into the fire where you will drown
Your skin melts off as you descend
And Satan tears you limb from limb.”

Aotabo had appeared at the end of the hall, barely distinguishable through the fire but the six oni he had with him were clearly visible as they leaped in and out of the fire, grabbing wands and ripping clothes, going right through the shield the Aurors had erected as if it was none existant.

“Your suffering will never end
And the worms crawl in, the worms crawl out
They'll eat your guts and then shit them out
And when your bones begin to rot
The worms remain, but you do not.”

The wizards were suddenly outside, all scared out of their wits, the moment they realized that they were outside, they grabbed each other and ran for the gate only to come to a stop like a little girl, Yukari, her eyes cold and dead, was standing. She sang the last verse, eerily alone after the entire household had joined in their voices.
“So don't ever laugh as a hearse goes by
For someday, you'll be the one to die
And when Death brings his cold despair
Ask yourself, "Will anyone care?"

She moved out of the way, giggling and the wizards ran past her, hiding behind the only one who had managed to keep his wand.

The laughter grew as more and more yokai appeared on the wall and gateway, watching them flee like the humans they had claimed to be above.

--------------------------------
“Tell Professor Dumbledore everything you told me.” Said the head of magical law enforcement.

“Yes, sir.”

“We went to retrieve Rikuo Nura as ordered but the house changed.”

“The corridors are endless, the rooms even more so. And the voices, hundreds of them, singing, but we couldn't find anyone.”

“Until the demons appeared.”

“Demons?”

“Horrible things. They shredded our robes, stole all our wands except for Morgan's and set everything on fire. We tried to apparate but it was useless.”

“The one behind the flames was worse. He wore a necklace of skulls and his head was covered in horns.”

“Then we were outside and there was this little girl.”

“I don't think that was a little girl.”

“Her eyes."

"She wasn't human.”

“She let us pass through the gate and when we looked back the walls and courtyard were covered in monsters and they were all laughing.”

“We could hear them for miles.”

Barry Crouch Sr. sat back in his chair. “Your thoughts, Dumbledore.”

“It seems that your men have wandered into a yokai nest.” Said the headmaster of Hogwarts.

“Yokai?”

“Spirits and demons that inhabit Japan. If this Rikuo Nura lives within a Yokai nest, he is most assuredly a hanyo, the child of a yokai and human, who has decided to follow their yokai blood instead of their human side, which is where they gain their magic from. My advice is this: Leave him be. You cannot force him to do anything he does not want to. Not even dementors could get near him without being cut down.”

“We can't touch him.” Crouch summed up.

“Essentially.”

Crouch sighed. “I'll mark him as a false alarm.”

“Don't be so hasty. I will speak with him.”

“You'll what?”

But Albus Dumbledore had already vanished.