InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Bewitched ❯ Chapter Eight-A ( Chapter 9 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Disclaimer: I don't own InuYasha, so please dont sue me!!!!

I'm sorry that it has taken me forever to post a new chapter for this story but I'm trying really hard not to screw up my senior year and most of my time during the weekend has gone to editing and posting previous work on ff.net I'm still frustrated about what happened to animespiral so please bare with me.

This is only about half of the entire chapter eight and I'm trying my hardest to finish this chapter. The story is actually almost done I just have to find the free time and get over my writer's block. I'm also not too happy with a few other things but I'll be celebrating my 17th b-day on the 4rth of October, so wish me luck! ENJOY!

Bewitched

By Miztikal-Dragon

Chapter Eight-A

As the day progressed, Kagome’s condition only seemed to get worse. Her chest hurt and every fit of coughing brought the blood from her mouth to her palm, it wasn’t good. Something told her that it was payback for going out into the woods that night searching for InuYasha, and she would have to deal with it, besides it wasn’t as if she would die from it. Naraku was making sure of that much and in a way she hoped that this sickness would steal her away before the scene was set up and she would have to endure a slow and painful death. She wanted to die in her sleep, not while screaming as her skin melted off her body surrounded by smoke and the flames of hell.

Kagome could hear the loud murmurs of the gossip people were speaking, some were louder than others and she felt the shame that they placed on her name, she felt the despair of every ‘sin’ she had brought to the town of Salem the minute she was born. People were cruel when they wanted to be and neighbors and friends were now her enemies, people who despised her because they didn’t know the truth, or they were too wrapped up in their own lives to care about anything but the purging of evil.

The food was horrible, but then again it wasn’t her mother’s cooking so of course it was bad. Kagome fought against her tears as she sat in her solitude, Naraku allowed her no visitors so her mother and grandfather weren’t permitted to see her. She would die alone and suffering the pain of her decisions, he was making sure that she knew her consequences. The weather on the outside of the cell was beginning to warm up, but on the other side it was like winter all over again.

Her sneezes and sniffling were left on deaf ears, nobody dared look at her unless they wished to be bewitched by her malevolent powers, or wanted to have a curse fall upon their name. It was things like that which gave Naraku the power over the people, he had pulled a blanket over their eyes letting them see only what he wished them to. It was the perfect crime for a man with more intelligence than any holy man would have. Naraku was tainted and some how Kagome prayed that she would take him down with her if she died. She hoped that it was possible to kill a demon when she had nothing but herself left, well and InuYasha, yet she wanted him to live.

~~oOo~~

Naraku smiled evilly as he walked down the dirt road surveying the townspeople as they did their ordinary things. The whispers of witchcraft had just about corrupted their hearts and turned them against each other and it made him smile with pleasure. If he couldn’t make her marry him he would take everything from her and make her see the errors of her ways, she would know pain by the time she was tied to the stake. There was no safe place for innocence.

Making his rounds to the Pratt’s home, Naraku checked on the young boy who had been “bewitched” by Kagome. The blisters were healing nicely and were almost gone and the pale skin was turning to its normal color, Koga would be alright. He wanted to laugh as he watched the boy with his black eyes, nobody suspected that Naraku was the culprit behind the “bewitching” that he was the demon hiding with the darkness in their town and not the beautiful maiden paying for his sins.

Villagers begged for their homes to be blessed as he continued on his way, each other them believing that if he did the ceremonies that they would never have to worry about demons coming to their homes and taking the most precious of things from them. That wasn’t the case though, Naraku could do no such things, but then again if they believed that he could who was he to set them straight? He was the minister of the town of Salem, he was the top authority and he worked hard to get that title and the only thing he was looking for was Kagome’s final days of life, the death of the nuisance InuYasha and for another beauty to come along so he could take her as his wife and complete his plans.

Going to his home after every worthless task had been completed, Naraku locked his door and resided in his room where he was free to let loose the laughter that he had been holding in all day long. It was the evil laughter of a malicious man who realized that nothing could go wrong and that soon enough the small town of Salem would know what exactly hell was. The gates of hell would have their strong hold in the “sacred” ground where god lived. Salem would be the place where the demons emerged from hell to reek havoc on the world and tainting everything in their paths.

~~oOo~~

InuYasha paced feverishly back and forth trying to come up with a plan to get Kagome out of her current predicament but only came up empty handed. He couldn’t think clearly with all the stress he was under, all the guilt that he felt. It was his fault that Kagome had become entangled in this mess, it had been him to steal her from her home and introduced her to a different lifestyle. InuYasha cursed himself mentally and out loud for the longest time, this problem wouldn’t be easily solved.

The only way out of it seemed to be death, there was no other choice. Somebody would have to die. Obviously he knew that, but couldn’t accept it, if he could he would take Kagome’s place, but where would that leave her? What would happen to her once he died if he could? Head butting the rock wall of his cave, InuYasha struggled to knock some sense into himself, he didn’t know where to start, he didn’t know how to begin.

He was running out of time and quickly at that he didn’t even notice that the day had passed him by. When InuYasha was finally able to pull himself out of his deep and sad thoughts, he slowly walked out of his shelter and into the woods. He knew someone would be able to give him the advice he needed and there he would be able to figure out how to deal with the stress and the guilt of his actions. InuYasha needed forgiveness for the crimes he didn’t commit, but the thing that was most important was getting back on the fallen trail.

The forest was filled with life, the anonymous birds singing their melodies from t heir hidden homes. InuYasha could hear the water flowing in the stream and what was once a place where he found solace was now a nightmare waiting to happen. It wasn’t hard to realize that was in fact stalling when in actuality time was pressed. A selfish nature was a habit most hard to break and InuYasha seemed to be no different than the villagers themselves. A coward in so many different ways.

Heading in the direction where he forest parted into a small clearing, he kept his head down, his amber eyes watching the ground below him and his feet. His heart was beating quickly and in a way with every step of uncertainty the organ appeared to be breaking. The other mysterious creatures that occupied the forest acted as if they were laughing at him, mocking him with an age old song. Their disappointment rang throughout the trees.

Gentle and glowing golden eyes greeted him, the gray fur surrounding it was like a blanket of smoke. The wolf was someone that InuYasha watched grow old and his respect for her was something greater than life. Going to where the wolf sat patiently, InuYasha sat down next to her and petted the beast, he had come for advice. The wolf knew as much and laid her head in InuYasha’s lap, waiting for the story to be told, there wasn’t much time left and she knew what it was about.

“I’ve screwed up really badly this time, Kagome’s been arrested for witchcraft because of me and I don’t know what to do.” He whispered softly his fingers brushing against the wolf’s tender scalp. “Some how I know that Naraku’s behind this, just like when they stole your life away. I know that this is somehow connected with Kikyo, I can feel it but how can I keep it from happening again? How can I prove my worth if I can’t even protect the one I love most in this world? Please Kaede, give me some advice. What can I do to save everything from destruction? I don’t have the strength to do this on my own.”

‘One’s strength is not shown by what’s on the outside, but the willpower on the inside. That’s where it counts the most. I can’t tell you what you should do InuYasha, you need to do that on your own. However I’ll say this much, the road not taken is often the most regretted. If you love her than go to her and do whatever it takes to keep her by your side. True love is a scary thing, it only comes to us once and if you forsake that love than you’ll wander for an eternity searching for what you’ve lost.’

InuYasha watched as the aging wolf climbed to its feet and walked into the forest, leaving him there with his thoughts. Wise and knowing golden eyes glanced back at him for a moment before disappearing into the darkness and he was left alone once more. Falling deep into his thoughts, he didn’t realize that the sun had already began to set and by the time he was aroused by the screech of a bird. It wasn’t long after that was he able to gather his bearings and head in the direction of the sleepy town of Salem. Things had been winding down and now that the town thought that they were “safe” they decided that it was time to go back to normal. Though little did they know that normal was far from the truth and it would be still a while longer until they would be able to pick up the pieces of their town.

There was no salvation for the ignorant.

~~oOo~~

Kagome whispered silent prayers into the hay that she lay on, the night always brought about the worst of the cold. Her body trembled with shiver’s if things kept up the way that they were, she would die from the cold before morning. Hugging her shoulders tightly as she buried herself deeper into the chilly yellow-brown hay, she resigned herself to keep up her prayers. They were about the only things that she could think about that gave her hope for better days, if she was lucky enough to have them.

The sounds of clothes shuffling and heading closer to her confined quarters made Kagome turn her head to peer into the surrounding darkness, visitors weren’t allowed in the cell after nightfall, Naraku warned the people about Kagome being able to “send her soul” upon people and making them her slaves of the devil. It was a load of horse crap in her eyes, but who was she to say anything different, she had no credibility because she was a witched. A young maiden damned to the deepest pits of hell for her sins against god, for her betrayal to the heavens.

“Kagome are you still awake?” It was his pleading voice that brought her to her senses and pulling herself out her makeshift bed, she cast her eyes onto his shadowy form.

“I-InuYasha!” She spoke in a loud whisper as she rushed to him, her arms embracing him through the cold metal bars. “Oh god InuYasha.”

“Shhh it’s going to be okay Kagome,” he told her, his clawed hands sliding around her trembling form trying their best to soothe the poor girl.

“No it’s not InuYasha,” Kagome argued trying her hardest not to break down in tears though they were already stinging the back of her eyes with a vengeance. “They are preparing for my death. Naraku ordered that I be burned at the stake tomorrow and they are out for blood. I don’t know what to do anymore, but I don’t want to die. I wanna be with you forever InuYasha.”

Her tears fell from her eyes and cascaded down her cheeks then and all InuYasha could do was hold her as close as possible and listen to her sobs. They were weak and he could feel the sickness in her body, Kagome was giving up all hope of living passed the next day. Closing his own eyes, he fought against his tears of frustration, he wouldn’t allow Naraku to steal her away from him, InuYasha wasn’t going to let the evil of one mans soul take what InuYasha loved, he wasn’t going to let him win and kill someone that InuYasha loved. He refused to lose this battle.

“Listen to me Kagome,” InuYasha nearly growled in a low and harsh voice. His tone not leaving any argument otherwise. “I won’t let you die here like this. I don’t know just how I’ll do it, but I’ll save you from this place but I need you to trust me. I won’t give you up, I refuse to let Naraku win. Please say that you’ll wait for me, all I need is a little more time and I’ll show everyone how much I love you. They can’t take you away from me, I won’t let them. Please be strong and wait for me, I won’t abandon you I promise.”

“How can a demon like yourself protect her when it’s your fault she’s like this?” A harsh yet weak voice growled in the darkness. “How can you spout such words for a beast of hell? Controlling the hearts of beautiful young maidens, you’re nothing but something that needs to be banished to the flames. I won’t let you corrupt her anymore.”

InuYasha’s back stiffened as he heard the voice, it wasn’t Naraku, but then again the boy wasn’t wanted and his words were nothing but blasphemy. Releasing his hold from Kagome, InuYasha turned to face the one who had basically called him out. Amber eyes met cobalt blue and their glares were matched evenly. His face was yellow and InuYasha’s nose scrunched up in distaste, he remembered the fool standing before him, he had been the one who had spied on him and Kagome, this boy had caused a lot of unnecessary problems that could have been easily avoided.

~~oOo~~

E/N: That's all I have for you this time. Please accept my apologies and I hope to have the rest of it up asap. AND as always, please review!

-Krystal-