The fat, white circle of the moon hung silently in the black sky, the long black shadows of clouds rolling over it's surface like a tiger's stripes even as they stole away the light of the stars overhead. All around her, the wind off of the sea caused the boughs of trees to wave and clatter, the splayed tips scratching against one another like the naked talons of some kind of predatory beast. A low, mournful wail trailed through it all, adding a somber tone to the rustling of large, flat leaves and the tall grass that raised and fell like the waves of the ocean all around. In all that darkness, a single tiny beacon of light dared to shimmed between the trees, tracing back and forth through the grass, seeking something.

A shiver ran up along the lone girl's back at the eerie nature of her surroundings, briefly turning to glance back the way she'd come as the wind tore a bit of deadwood free to tumble through the branches. Warm brown eyes peered cautiously out into the darkness as she pressed her lips together into a thin line of concentration. Her mousey brown hair had grown some since she'd first arrived at the island so many months ago, just barely long enough to brush along her shoulders as the wind lightly tousled it this way and that. Her bangs had grown a bit long, necessitating that she part them to either side to keep them out of her eyes, though the way she kept tracing her thumb across her forehead suggested that it was a losing battle on this particular night. She was wearing a blue and white windbreaker that was zipped up to her throat, but around her hips the shape of her pleated blue miniskirt fluttered in the window, showing flashes of the pale flesh that was her toned upper thighs above the black pull up stockings she was wearing, though the tall grass tickled the backs of her knees all the same.

"Tch..." she clucked her tongue in irritation, shaking her head at her nerves as she turned her attention back to the fore, adjusting the strap of the backpack she was wearing. She tried to hold the grass to one side as she took another step deeper into the wilds surrounding the school grounds, a track of hard packed earth the only guide she had.

She felt so stupid, wandering this overgrown trail in the middle of the night, chasing after a dream. With the sun down, the landscape seemed foreign and alien to her, but her body ... her feet fell in familiar patterns, and the way she brushed a hanging branch out of the way and ducked under it tingled with the tantalizing promise of memory. She'd been this way before ... but ... something had happened. She couldn't remember what, but when her dreams had showed her the decrepit shape of an abandoned building squatting forgotten in the woods beyond the campus grounds, she'd woken up absolutely certain that she'd been to that place before.

There were more than a few gaps in Juniper's memories ... places where she'd gotten too close to this or that truth, and someone had seen fit to simply take it from her. This was the first time that she could recall one of those memories trying to resurface. She hoped that, just maybe, if she could find the place again, the rest of the memory would come back to her as well. Of course, there was also the possibility that this was some manner of trap, that she'd get there just to find whatever had planted that memory waiting eagerly for her arrival. That was why she kept rechecking her steps and peering into shadows, hoping that the strange creatures that lurked in the unseen places of Shokushu Island would somehow miss her unescorted trek into the island's interior.

Finally, Juniper pushed her way forcefully through a low bush that had apparently overtaken the trail, and looked up to see the flickering points of stars overhead. There, illuminated by the pale light of the moon, a long single-story with a tattered, peaked roof looked at her from the center of a broad clearing in the woods. As she raised her flashlight, there was no glimmer of glass that peaked out at her through the wooden boards that had been nailed over the windows that broke up the plain, weather-beaten facade of the building's exterior. Facing her, she could just pick out the front doors of the building within the pool of light cast by her flashlight. Solid metal double doors covered in a cracked and chipping layer of navy blue paint and rust. Through the simple door handle, she caught sight of an aged and rusted length of chain dangling from the door to the grass and cracked concrete steps below. The glimmer of a few new lock reflected back at her through the stalks of grass, but the chain looked as though it had been cut. Juniper glanced over her shoulder at the backpack she was wearing, thinking of the bolt cutters she'd taken from the groundskeeper's shed on her way over here ... it certainly had the feel of her straightforward approach to it, though she couldn't remember doing it.

Starting her way across the broad clearing, she could feel a slight tension in her head, a pressure, like something trying to come forward. Why ... why had she been here before? What had she been looking for? How had she even found out about it? The only chance she had for answers was going to be inside, she supposed.

The demon known as Slimer had taken the day enjoying the sights and sounds of the beauties playing on the beach. Yet as dusk approached he moved his camouflaged form down into the nearby woods. He always hungered for new prey, but he had another task at hand. Tonight, he had to retrieve a package. His contact had seemed excited and told him of information of ADD activities in this very system. Desperate to find out the purpose of the large structure, he moved towards the drop-off location.

He made his way through the oncoming twilight anxious to reach the building the contact had described. He had to be cautious. He knew he most recent activities had put him squarely as someone the ADD was looking to talk to to put it kindly. He had other enemies, and like a cold war agent, precautions were needed when dealing with stolen information.

His large form moved silently through the woods. His large four clawed feet were bare, as was the majority of the rest of him. He rarely wore more than his current brown loin cloth, as cloaking clothing required massive concentration to maintain for long periods of time. A simple tie held the material in place as it looped around his chiseled waist. His bronzed skin was blurred from sight only a slight shimmer around his bulky form to tell of his passing presence to only the gifted or the keenest of observers.

His catlike green eyes scanned the woods, and he paused to run a hand over his short spiky brown hair, a gesture of comfort. No sign of human or other species' agents looking to intercept him or his valuable intelligence. Yet, then he saw it. A light moving through the trees at the opposite end of the woods overgrowing the clearing surrounding the building.

He waited as the light and what appeared to be a solitary figure made it was towards the front door and entered. Who was it he wondered? Human ADD agent, another of the islands guests, or perhaps a demon bounty hunter come to try and collection on his head, yet whoever had gone inside, he would find out soon and make sure they knew exactly who they had ran afoul of soon enough.

He waited 15 minutes, patience perhaps his greatest virtue. Yet curiosity gnawed away at him, but he managed to contain it.

He moved towards the decrepit building not quite forgotten, but surely neglected, if not simply discarded. He had passed it a couple of times in his travels on the island yet he had never had a reason to enter it, until now.

He moved forward, propelled by four legs, the rear two on knees opposite of the front two, capable of folding in a contradictory angle to the front two. As he approached he raised an arm that would have belonged to a blacksmith in the middle ages, and pushed open the right metallic door, chain singing out as the metal rubbed on the handle, yet it had been recently cut and hung loosely not prohibiting entry this night.

As he moved inside, true night and the accompanying darkness had settled upon the Island of Shokushu. To the demon and his glowing green eyes, the darkness was not an obstacle, but rather an old friend. That blackness gave him assistance he needed most. For a demon who hunted his prey by stalking and capturing them unaware, the ability to function and see in all but true pitch black darkness was a necessity. His eyes allowed his to pick up the lowest level of light, even the tiny amount filtering around the boarded up windows served its purpose, and his surroundings were as clear if it were noon in the desert.