Raw Love [SLOW UPDATES]

Chapter 3

"A samurai?" Hope walks to the other end of Ric's office. Hope had ended up telling Ric who she really was because he had become suspicious.

"Yeah apparently he had this thing called an oni trapped inside him and it got out. It could be inside anyone." Hope is about to reply when someone knocks on the door. "Come in."

"Good morning daddy." Lizzie walks behind Ric's desk and places a kiss on his cheek. She walks back in front of it and stands next to Hope. "So I heard about the crazy samurai guy and I thought I could help."

"We just need to find the oni." Hope turns to Ric and braces her hand on the back of the chair in front of her. "I say we get a few people that we completely trust and split into groups of two to search for it."

"How are we supposed to know when we've found it? It could be anyone."

"I'm hoping it will try to attack us." Ric nods and then stands.

"Okay, Lizzie. Go split everyone into groups." Ric looks at Hope. "Take Hope with you."

"Why do I have to go with her?" Ric smiles as he stuffs his duffle bag with weapons and then slings that over with his shoulder along with his crossbow.

"Spend some time with people Hope. I've noticed that you've been spending a lot of time alone in your room." Hope looks down at the chair and sighs. "Is there something you need to talk about with Emma?"

"No, I'll go with Lizzie." Ric nods and then Hope follows Lizzie out the door.

****

"Okay so here's what happening guys." Hope and Lizzie had gathered Josie, Landon, MG, and Kaleb in a corner of the library. "We're looking for the oni. Dad has asked me to split us into groups of two."

"Are we just supposed to know what an oni looks like?" Lizzie rolls her eyes and then turns to the rest of the group.

"Hopefully the oni will attack one of us and then we can get crazy samurai guy to capture it." Lizzie's about to decide on groups when Josie says something. "What?"

"His name is Karuta." Lizzie rolls her eyes.

"Whatever." Everyone turns to Lizzie for their partners. "Okay, Josie you're with Landon, MG with Kaleb, and Hope's with me."

"Let's go."

****

"Hey babe what's wrong?" Josie had noticed how quiet Landon had been lately and she was worried.

"Nothing I'm fine." Honestly, Landon was still wondering why he saw Hope when he died, he'd never met her before. Josie tries to ask if he was okay again but he brushes her off. Landon sees Hope and Lizzie walking with MG and Kaleb back to the school parking lot. "Come on, let's go see why they're back."

"We didn't find anything." The other two groups agree and Karuta stays silent as he stands behind Josie. All of a sudden Raphael storms out of the school and tries to go past them.

"Raph? What are you doing here?" Raphael turns and looks at Landon, his eyes flashing red. Karuta jumps in front of them speaking Japanese.

"He says that the oni is in Raphael and that he needs to put into himself." The samurai and Raphael circle each other and then Karuta starts swinging his sword, Raphael dodging every blow.

"Wait no no no no." The samurai swings his sword some more but Raphael keeps dodging his swings.

"Motus." The sword flies out of Karuta's hand and lands across the parking lot so the samurai starts hitting Raphael and the werewolf lifts Karuta and throws him against a bus. He looks back at everyone and then runs off, Josie runs over to Karuta. He speaks in Japanese and she turns back.

"He said that could have gone better."

****

"Okay, so I put Karuta in one of the classrooms and left Landon with him." Josie turns to Hope. "How about this? Hope go with Karuta and Landon. The rest of us look for Raphael." Everyone nods and Josie tells Hope which classroom to go to. When Hope gets there, Landon is leaning against the window and Karuta is sitting in a chair facing the window, unconscious.

"Hey." Landon stands up and his eyes meet Hope's. "Josie dropped the barrier spell so I could get in. There's a demon loose inside the school so we have to get you somewhere safe."

"There is nowhere safe."

"Okay somewhere safer than here." Hope looks down at Karuta's sword on the table and picks it up. "If this is the one thing that can kill an oni, what if it's the one thing that can kill a phoenix too?" Landon takes the sword from Hope and looks at it, turning away from her. "Josie told me that you think the monster's being back is your fault. But it isn't."

"What do you know about it?" Landon puts the sword down on a desk and puts his hands in his pockets.

"Too much. Trust me Landon even though you might have the best intentions, not every sacrifice is worth it. No matter how much you think it is." Landon turns his head slightly to the side.

"You said this isn't my fault."

"It isn't." He turns fully towards Hope, meeting her eyes.

"Then whose is it?"

"It doesn't matter. We need to-."

"It matters to me." Both look at each other, Hope taking a deep breath.

"It's my fault." Hope takes a couple of steps towards Landon as his eyes widen in surprise. "I'm the one who went into the pit. It was the only way to save you."

"Why would you want to save me?"

"Because we were- we were friends."

"Come on there has to be more to it than that." Landon takes a step forward. "Tell me."

Hope looks at a plant on the counter next to her then looks back at Landon. "You're gonna hate me if I do."

"Let me make the decision for myself." Hope looks down and then up at Landon.

"We were in love." His eyes widen in surprise again but this time he doesn't say anything. "Yeah, I know you don't remember. I know that it doesn't make any sense but I can't let you risk your life because I gave up mine to save it." Landon lifts his hand and tucks a strand of Hope's hair back. "So we have to find another solution. One that doesn't involve you being possessed."

"Too late." Landon's eyes turn red and he shoves Hope against some filing cabinets knocking her unconscious, he then drops her to the ground.