InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Dusk Curse ❯ chapter 4 ( Chapter 4 )

Chapter 4

 

~Nashua, NH

~11:45 AM, June 3, 2000

 

Sesshoumaru brooded as he drove, glancing at the catatonic Kagome in the passenger seat. She was staring out the windshield with sightless eyes. Her hair was still mussed and her expression closed. He couldn't believe the difference he was seeing in her. She was starting to make him nervous. Her mumblings from this morning didn't make much sense. He tried to sort them out and understand them, but it was just about impossible, despite the fact that they were imprinted on his memory.

 

“Sesshou… In my room, he was there… I was so scared.”

 

And then, “It was me. I saw myself. And he told me… oh god. He told me to do it. And then he hurt me… he touched me…” And he had tried to quiet her, but she went on, ignoring him.

 

“Threw me… on the bed. I was bad, and he kept touching me. Then… my mommy.” That was when she had pulled away, finally looking and sounding somewhat clear.

 

“Mommy finally caught him.”

 

He didn't know what it meant. He put together that someone was sexually abusing her, maybe even physically, and her mother had walked in. But that was all he could get out of it.

 

“Mommy finally caught him.” Caught who? He wondered. But wait, if she had FINALLY caught him, it had been going on for a while, which meant it was someone close to her.

 

The thought struck Sesshoumaru that he had never heard anything about her father. He wiped the thought from his mind; after all, what father could do that, especially to his little girl?

 

After he had managed to calm Kagome down enough to make her coherent, she had been very quiet. He had managed to get her to change her clothes and then she sat and stared off into silence. He had picked up the hotel room and packed up their stuff and lead her out, carrying all of their stuff. He had no trouble with her getting out to the car, or getting the keys from her. She had handed them to him without a word and then got in the passenger seat. Her eyes were glazed.

 

God it was bothering him. Something wasn't right here. He hoped she would work it out herself; he didn't want to have to take her to a hospital or something. That would teach him to think he could play psychiatrist. He'd been told that going about treatment could backfire and make a patient worse, but he'd been too fucking proud and sure of himself, and now it was his fault she was like this. Damn him. Jesus, what could he do? And where that hell was he going?

 

He turned off the interstate into the next town and found himself in a busy city. Nashua, the sign said. He got out of the middle of town, and within fifteen minutes they were driving along a quiet street. He saw a playground, empty, and in a spur of the moment decision made a sudden turn into it. He cut the engine and got out, grabbing the keys before he shut the door. He went over to Kagome's side and opened her door, and she turned her eyes up to his, but it was like she was looking and not seeing.

 

“Kagome, can you undo your seatbelt?”

 

Kagome waded through the sea of noises and realized what he was saying. She slowly reached over an unbuckled her belt, letting it slid back. She turned back in the direction he was, seeing him blurrily through her eyes. She knew he was there, but it never really registered. She concentrated hard on the slow, obscured words.

 

“Will you get out?” It took her a moment to understand them, and when she did, she slid her leg out of the car, thinking hard to make her legs cooperate. She leaned forward and pushed herself forward. She could hear the wind blow past her ears as she stood. The noises around her were suffocating but she ignored them. She watched as best she could as Sesshoumaru shut the car door. It seemed to move in slow motion, and the noise of it slamming seemed to echo.

 

Sesshoumaru was moving behind her, and then next to her, and his arm was moving slowly forward and then grasping hers, she could feel as each of his fingers closed on her arm. She didn't resist him as she walked forward. She didn't wonder where they were going, or care. Everything around her seemed to be going so slow, and she couldn't stay with it. She felt dizzy, but she was walking straight. And she did have one coherent thought, and that was to obey.

 

She found a slowly swinging swing in front of her. The creaks were drawn out and long, squealing it's protest. She found something turning her around, and she realized a moment later it was Sesshoumaru. He pushed on her shoulders and she gave way easily, sitting in the swing, eventually bringing her hands up to grasp the chain that held it. She knew that in front of her was a road, and then on her left was a teeter-totter. Her car was parked, unmoving, diagonally to her right. Then, it was moving, back and forth, like it was drunkenly trying to walk. It hit her a second later that she was the one moving, on the swing, back and forth.

 

Something large and yellow moved in on the edge of her vision, and she let her head move that way. The doors opened and little kids tumbled in slow motion out of it. They were moving, spreading out to her left and behind her. A few came her way and she watched them as they moved slowly past her and sat on another of the swings. Something in her mind demanded to know where Sesshoumaru was, and it tugged insistently until she turned her head and found him behind her, giving her gentle pushes to keep her swing moving.

 

Something warm and happy tried to spread in her stomach, a ghost of a smile flitted across her face, and then it disappeared. Something within her struggled to grasp it, to rebel at this half-living state. The warmth squished and then it was gone. Not important. Compliance was what was of importance.

 

A little boy was playing in the sand, diving a toy soldier into the dirt. Something bad tugged at the edge of her conscious, pulled her until she couldn't see at all for a moment. When her vision cleared, everything was still slow, but her eyes managed to focus slightly, and she saw the little toy soldier fly out of the boy's hand and far away from him. He looked up, following in with his eyes, surprise in them to see it not in his hands anymore. It flew out, and the boy got up, started walking toward the road. The toy landed right on the white, broken line, clattered, bounced, and stopped moving.

 

Kagome stood suddenly, shaking, terrified, she knew, and then it came. A large truck with a horse trailer on the back came around the corner, going far too fast, but still in slow motion. The boy was moving toward the toy, now jogging, tottering. His steps were slowed, but so was the truck. The truck rolled closer. They were on a collision course for disaster.

 

This all was seen, but not registered. She knew something bad was coming, that's all that really made it to her senses. She wanted to scream but she couldn't. She wanted to move, to stop it, but her body wouldn't move. Moment after moment, second after second.

 

Still the boy and the truck moved closer to each other.

 

Kagome knew she had to do something. She took one slow step toward them, and then another. Strength was flowing back into her. Her vision became worse, but she could feel. Purpose, feeling. It was all in her again, straining to be let out. She could hear her name being called in question, and then suddenly, with a burst of lights and noise and feeling she was free, and she was running, faster then she ever could have normally. The little boy was barely a few yards from the road, and she seemed miles from him. Adrenaline pumped her to even faster speeds, forward, get there, quickly. She had to stop that little boy. The fear tugged at her, all of her thoughts, her normal thoughts were rampaging around in her head.

 

Then her mind cleared, and she focused in front of her, on the boy who was only a few yards from her. Stop the boy.

 

She was closer, and then closer, and then she touched his shirtsleeve. She lunged forward, grabbing it, and then slammed on the brakes, digging her heels into the dirt, yanking the kid backwards, right into herself as she fell backwards she clutched at the kid. She rolled, trying to get as far from the road as possible. Her eyes opening, she hadn't known she had closed them, and she saw tires going inches from her face,

 

Zoom, one pair of tires. Whoosh, the others.

 

Then the trailer's tires, the air from them hitting her face, blowing back her bangs.

 

Whoosh.

 

Whoosh.

 

And then the truck was gone. It was okay, she had saved him. The kid was crying about his action figure, and she sat up slowly, aware of someone yelling, and another voice, a woman's, thanking her. She still clutched the kid to her, afraid that she was wrong. Then she realized that it really was okay. She let him go, since he was struggling, and saw him run to his mother. The woman had tears in her eyes and was hugging her son furiously.

 

Then she felt herself being lifted bodily to her feet.

 

“What the hell were you thinking?! Oh my god Kagome, I thought you were going to die!” Arms were thrown around her and she was smiling, oh god, she was okay, the boy was okay.

 

“Sesshoumaru. I had to save the boy. I had to.” She pulled back from him and smiled. His face was drawn, his eyes were angry as hell. She laughed. “Oh, I didn't mean to worry you. Oh Sesshoumaru.” She picked up her arms and wrapped them around him, loving the feel of him against her. But he was pushing her back.

 

“Kagome, Kagome. Your okay. Your not… This is the first time you've spoken since earlier. How do you feel? What happened?” He suddenly realized he was rambling and letting on too much and he shut up. But god he'd been so afraid. She'd ignored him trying to talk to her when she had gotten off the swing, and then she'd taken off like a shot, heading in the direction of the truck. At first he thought… oh he thought she was trying to kill herself in front of that truck. But she'd grabbed the little boy by his sleeve and yanked him back to her, sending them both toppling. She saved the little boy. And now she was okay, she was back to normal.

 

It had taken the near death of that boy to get her out of her catatonic state, and it had broken for whatever reason. Maybe it was the need to help others that had got her out of it.

 

He didn't care, she was okay. God, she had scared the hell out of him.

 

“Sesshoumaru?” He turned his attention to her, suddenly finding that he had missed the sound of her voice, and was very glad to hear it now.

 

“Yeah?”

 

“I'm hungry. I don't think I've eaten anything this morning.” He wanted to laugh at the ridiculousness of it, that her first thoughts were about food. The relief of tension made him smile, though he wouldn't let the laugh come out the way it wanted to.

 

“Lets go eat. Its lunchtime, did you know?” She shook her head and her eyes went wide.

 

“I didn't. Is it really? I don't care, I'm starving.” She tucked her hand under his arm and he turned them back to the car. Kagome felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned to see the mother of the boy she had saved.

 

“Um, hello.” She looked nervous. “I just wanted to thank you, you could have been killed. It was so close…”Her face was pinched, but then it smoothed out. “Thank you.” The woman looked like she was going to cry so Kagome smiled.

 

“Your very welcome.” She turned back to the car and started back towards it, next to Sesshoumaru. In front of the car, she stopped, as he was about to lead her to the passenger side.

 

“Ut-uh, buddy. My car, hand over the keys. Give.” She held out her hand, but Sesshoumaru scowled at her.

 

“No. Not after all that just happened. Not a chance.” Kagome sighed dramatically.

 

“Look, I know I must have let you drive it before, but I want to drive now. It will help calm my nerves. I like to drive. Now please just give me my keys.” The truth was, she had no nerves to calm, and she was calm as could be. Sesshoumaru eyed her, studying her eyes, her stance, the color of her skin, as if weighing the decision. She sighed in impatience. Finally he grudgingly relinquished her keys into her waiting hand. She took them and went around to get in.

 

“Now for some nourishing food!”

 

~**~

 

Same place.

12:11, June 3, 2000

 

Sesshoumaru watched her carefully, but he could see no outright signs of anything being wrong, besides how ridiculously happy she seemed. Her eyes were clear and sparkling, her hands on the wheel were steady, and they gripped the wheel firmly but not clutching it.

 

“What has made you so happy?” he asked. Her answer shocked him.

 

“You like me.” She gave him a happy, shy smile.

 

“What?”

 

“I said, I know you like me. You're not so cold to me anymore. What with everything that was happening, it took me a while to appreciate that fact.” She blushed. “And I like you too.” She blushed deeper, her eyes shyly straying to him.

 

Sesshoumaru was thoroughly confused. Such a small detail would make her so happy? What was wrong with her now?

 

“I think you're delusional.” She laughed.

 

“Don't you remember how at the beginning we were fighting all the time and couldn't get along?”

 

He gave her a small nod.

 

“Yeah, well, I think we're friends now, after all that's happened. Don't you think so?” He couldn't stop staring at her. Finally he just shook his head in wonder and looked away. `After all that had happened.' Jesus Christ. He let a small smile touch his lips. He stayed silent, but they both knew his answer was implied, and the knowledge made his heart feel light and jittery at the same time. Driving through the middle of town, Kagome made a sudden turn to the right.

 

“Here we go! This looks like it will do.” Sesshoumaru looked at the place they were parked in front of. Jay's. That's all it was called. He unbuckled his seatbelt and got out, locking his door. Kagome was already heading to the door.

 

“Hold it.” He called. She stopped, curiosity on her face, and came back towards him.

 

“Do you have money on your person?” Her eyes went wide and she shook her head.

 

“Whoops, oh well, it will only take a second to grab some.” She went to get it but he stopped her.

 

“I'll cover it.” He told her, his voice firm. A smile played at her lips.

 

“But I already owe you… um… actually it was seven fifty. I don't want to owe you anymore.”

 

“Think of it as my taking you out to eat. I certainly wouldn't be much of a gentleman if I let you pay, would I?” She giggled.

 

“I guess not. But I'm not going to let you pay for everything either, I brought money, I can take care of myself.” She insisted, slipping her hand in the crook of his elbow again. He gave her a quick look.

 

“Yes well, it won't hurt to allow a friend to pay for your meal, would it?” She gave him a shining smile. His heart fluttered.

 

“No, as long as they are a friend, I guess it wouldn't hurt.”

 

~**~

 

~From Lowell to Lawrence to Haverhill into Salisbury.

~1:30-5:30PM, June 3, 2000

 

After lunch, they continued the drive, heading further south, and then Northeast on Interstate 495. After three hours, Sesshoumaru was completely lost and starting to get agitated. But Kagome seemed unfazed. She turned off the interstate and kept going on the same road, seeming to know where she was going. Music floated out of the speakers. She had long since found a station that came in good. He just sat back and watched her.

 

An hour later he rolled down the window, wanting some fresh air. His nose was assaulted by the smell of salty air and he pulled his head back in.

 

“The ocean?” he asked her. She just gave him a big smile. Within another hour he could see it, rolling in and out. It lapped at the sand, pulling some of the loose golden silt back into the water.

 

Kagome found a place to park and jumped out of the car, not bothering to lock the door. Sesshoumaru had just undone his seatbelt and reached over and grabbed her keys, then stretched to lock her door. He got out and locked his own door, watching as she stretched her arms straight up, inhaling deeply. Behind her Seagulls swooped at the rolling water. The beach was empty, looking abandoned. He couldn't help but return her smile when she turned to look at him.

 

“I don't think you had to lock the car. There's no one around.”

 

“I didn't want to take the chance. If the car was stolen, we would have a hell of a time getting back to the nearest town.” She shrugged and motioned for him to follow her out to the shore. The water lapped continuously, memorizing. He followed her slowly, unsurely, pocketing the keys. She turned to him.

 

“Well, come on!” He was shocked to see her stripping her clothes, running toward the water.

 

“Kagome, should someone come…” He grated out harshly. She turned around, clad in only her bra and panties.

 

“Are you afraid? Cuz I'll just go by myself then, if you're scared.” She was joking, but it hit a nerve. He struggled to stay controlled and joking.

 

“Scared am I?” He stalked closer to her, and she giggled, running into the water. A hundred reasons why he shouldn't do it crept through his mind, but his hands were unbuttoning his shirt anyway. He shrugged out of it and then slid his jeans off. She stood out of the water, smiling at him, dripping water.

 

The sun was setting behind her, just like that first time they had shared a moment together. Her body was outlined in golden light and deep blue water, an angel come down from heaven.

 

He walked into the water, only in his boxers.

 

Kagome turned and ran into deeper water, striking out and swimming farther. She turned floated back toward shore on her back, and then suddenly the world was darkness.

 

She came out of the water sputtering, surprised as hell. She treaded water and saw Sesshoumaru a few feet from her, a lethal grin on his face.

 

“How dare you dunk me!” She gasped, and then lunged at him. He didn't bother to move away, and she grabbed a hold of his shoulders, pushing him down. His hands grabbed her waist out of reflex, and then he pulled her down with him. She just had time to remember to hold her breath.

 

They both came up and let out a large gasp of air. Kagome shivered.

 

“The water's cold! She complained. Her hands stayed on his shoulders, and his on her waist. He seemed to notice this and dropped them, swirling them in the water to make sure he stayed afloat.

 

“The waters up here are. If we were down in Florida, now it would be a bit warmer.” He touched her arm. “You are cold, we should get out.” She grabbed his arm just as he was about to turn away. He slowly turned back to her, waiting, treading water. She pulled herself closer, and closer still, and reached her hand up out the water and touched his cheek, tracing a line to his lips, her hand shook. She didn't know if it was cold, or something else. He didn't move. She was leaning closer, and she shut her eyes as their lips touched. She pressed their lips more fully together, and then pulled back suddenly. She was blushing deeply, his hands had found their way to her waist again.

 

“Your cold.” He said, his voice sounded shaky, not like him. She nodded and finally pulled away from him enough to swim back to shore. He was right behind her.

 

Once out, they brought their clothes back to the car, realizing quickly that clothes covered in sand would not be comfortable. Sesshoumaru retrieved the keys out of his pocket and unlocked the trunk so they could get their clothes. They dressed in an awkward silence and got into the car. Kagome took the keys from him and placed them in the ignition, but didn't turn the key. She turned to Sesshoumaru suddenly.

 

“Sesshoumaru, I…” She stopped, as if trying to make him understand something without words, something that words couldn't cover. He just nodded.

 

“I know.” She smiled her relief, staring at him for a moment, beaming, making him uncomfortable. Finally she turned her attention to the car, starting it up and pulling back onto the road, heading to the closest town. Salisbury.

 

And still the uncomfortable silence rang on; something delicate held in it that neither of them wanted to break. A tenuous connection of fragile understanding.

 

~**~

 

~Salisbury, MA

~8:52PM, June 3, 2000

 

After eating supper at a nice restaurant (Kagome insisted on paying, saying that he could foot the hotel bill) they drove around looking for a decent hotel. Of course, she tried to pick out some sort of rundown cheap place, but he wasn't about to take it this time. He opposed all of them, until they came to the Roshway motel. He started to pull into the parking lot, having talked Kagome into letting him drive.

 

“Oh no, oh no. I don't think so. This is one of the nicest motels in the area! No way…” But he ignored her and pulled up in front of the building.

 

“Wait here. I'm going to get us a room.” He was out of the car before she could form a full protest. She let out an exasperated breath and sat back against the seat. A few minutes later he emerged, a key in his hand.

 

“We're in the building over there.” He pointed across the way. She gave him a glare as he pulled the car into a parking place and read the number on the key to her.

 

“145.” Kagome went to the trunk and pulled out their stuff. She handed him his suitcase and carried hers toward the building. They found number 145, only one to the right of where the car was parked, and she waited while he unlocked the door and turned on the light. He stood back to let her enter first, and she walked in, clearly annoyed. She stopped dead a few feet into the room. It was a nice place, clearly expensive. She turned to Sesshoumaru, dropping her bag and putting her hands on her hips.

 

“Sesshoumaru! This has got to be one of the most expensive rooms in the place! It must have cost a hundred dollars! Or more!”

 

“Almost two hundred.” He was trying not to grin.

 

“Dammit, there was no reason to spend that kind of money. Just because I said you could foot this bill didn't mean to get the most expensive one you could!” Sesshoumaru shrugged closing the door and placing his suitcase on a chair.

 

“Why not? I have money. You may not, but it won't hurt my pocketbook at all to spend a night here. I wanted to stay in a nice place. It certainly won't hurt you.” If she hadn't known better, she might have taken that for a joke.

 

“Won't hurt anything but my pride, which is all I have left when it comes to you.” She muttered. Sesshoumaru shot her a look, and she blushed. “I mean, I didn't mean it that way…” Then she shrugged. “No, that's not true. I did mean it like that.” A scarlet blush stained her cheeks and she turned away, picking up her bag and finding a better place for it then the middle of the floor.

 

Then she decided to take a better look at the place. There was a fireplace with a loveseat facing it, and behind it was a small fridge, sort of like the one at the other place they stayed. She opened it and found that there were some fresh looking fruits in the bottom, and some alcoholic drinks as well as some normal sodas (The abundance of which seemed to be Coke) and then a pitcher of water. There was a small compartment at the top that held a bag of ice. She shut the small fridge and then opened the door to the left of it. There was a single, large bed.

 

She pulled her head out of the room and shut the door, looking around and not seeing another door besides the open door to the bathroom. There seemed to be only one bed in this place. The implications of that made her blush and she hurried over to where Sesshoumaru was fiddling with the fire in the fireplace.

 

“Sesshoumaru, there's… only one bed.” She said, trying not to sound too flustered. He stood up and faced her after putting away the fire tongs.

 

“Yes. I thought you would really jump down my throat if I paid the $235 for the two beds.” His tone was so nonchalant; like it was something he had considered and then shrugged off as unimportant. She tried to keep some semblance of the same attitude.

 

“Really? Your right, I would have. So, were you planning on having us… SHARE… the bed again?” She cleared her throat, trying to keep eye contact when he pivoted and stared at her. His eyes seemed to be pinning her to the spot. Her heart was going far too fast, and she had to think hard to keep her breathing from becoming obvious. There were many moments where he just stared at her. His voice was low and calculating as he finally answered her.

 

“No. I was going to sleep on the loveseat.” He said. She blew out the breath she'd been holding, partly relieved, but mostly disappointed.

 

Sesshoumaru had not missed the tension in the air, nor the look of disappointment. He tried to dismiss it as his imagination, but that was not possible, not at the minute anyway. God, how he wished he could have just told her yes, if only to see her reaction.

 

He sighed; right now he had something else he needed to do. He walked over to the fridge and opened it.

 

“Would you like a drink?”

 

Kagome looked up from where she had sat in front of the fire. She turned on the TV she hadn't noticed in the corner.

 

“Yeah, I'll have whatever you do. Thanks.” She was trying to be brave, she knew that he might drink something she shouldn't have, but she had never been drunk, and well, she wanted to try it. She forced herself not to look and see what he was getting them and instead tried to find something on TV to watch. After a minute she saw him in her peripheral vision and looked up.

 

“I don't know if you drink wine, but that's what I was having. Don't drink a lot. I shouldn't even be giving it to you, since your only 18.” He warned. She smiled up at him and took the glass, trying to keep her hand from shaking.

 

“You know, your only 18 too.” He ignored that. “I've never drank anything alcoholic before, but I'll try it.” She admitted, taking a small sip. It was slightly bitter, but it had a sweet taste to it as well, fruity almost. She took a larger sip. It warmed her insides on the way down, making her tingle.

 

“I think I like it.” She smiled brightly at him and he gave her a small smile in return. She nursed her wine along as she flipped through the channels. There seemed to be nothing on. She found a TV guide channel and saw that the movie The Green Mile was on, so she flipped to that channel and watched it.

 

She was surprised to find her wine was already gone, so she got up to get some more. She opened the fridge and decided to try something else. She told Sesshoumaru and he turned toward her.

 

“Make sure its liquor, not beer.” He said over his shoulder. She pulled out a bottle of Captain Morgan. She set it on the table and saw that there was a commercial on.

 

“Um… could I get a hand? I have no idea what I'm doing.” She saw him drain his wineglass and get up, coming over.

 

“Yes? Oh, you want a Morgan, the sweet liquor.” He pulled out the bag of ice and a can Coke. He put half of the can in her glass, and then the other half in his empty wineglass. He filled the glasses with ice, right to the top, and then poured some of the rum in, until the glasses were just about running over. He had filled the cup about a quarter of the way with the rum.

 

Sesshoumaru planned on drinking the same amount she did, he knew full well that he could hold his liquor, it took a lot to get him really drunk, unlike his brother.

 

“That's a real weak one to start you out with.” He picked up the glass and handed it to her. She took it and sipped at it. She rolled the tastes around in her mouth, trying to decide if she liked this stuff as well. She decided she did, the alcohol's bitter, yet sweet taste added to the taste of the Coke. She went back to the loveseat and saw that the program was back on. She really liked this movie, the ending made her cry every time. Sesshoumaru sat next to her on the loveseat; it was, after all, the only seat in the room.

 

When her glass was again empty, she refilled it with the Morgan, filling the glass halfway with rum and halfway with Coke. The room was slightly tipsy and turny as she walked, and her eyesight seemed to not be able to keep up with the speed of her eyes, but other then that, she felt fine. Better then fine, in fact, she felt good. REALLY good. She emptied her cup rather quickly and went to get another glass.

 

“Don't drink too much, especially your first time.” Sesshoumaru warned from the loveseat.

 

“I promise I wont hold you responsible for anything that might happen tonight.” She said, and then her eyes opened wide when the cliché meaning of the sentence she had spoken became clear to her. She giggled.

 

“I mean, I…” She blushed as Sesshoumaru waved a hand at her, understanding her dilemma and telling her that he knew what she meant.

 

For the first time, she didn't cry when the big black man was electrocuted for the murder he didn't commit.

 

Kagome had finished her fifth drink by then and was very happy.

 

“Hey, Sesshoumaru, I don't think you need to stay on the couch, ya know?” She giggled and patted his thigh. He seemed to ignore her, and she got up for another glass. He stopped her with a hand on her arm.

 

“Kagome, sit back down. You've had enough.” She did as he asked, sitting right next to him, almost on his lap.

 

“Whoops, missed.” She joked.

 

“Kagome, I need you to tell me something, please.” She nodded, waiting. He plunged ahead. “What happened to you? Someone abused you.” Her brow furrowed and she shook her head.

 

“I don't wanna talk about that.” She said.

 

“You need to. Please, tell me what happened.” He tried to sound convincing, gentle. She shook her head more vigorously.

 

“Don't want to.” She said again. He sighed.

 

“What do I have to do to get you to talk about it?” He asked, not really expecting an answer. It was a rhetorical question, not one he really thought an answer would be given. So he was surprised when she answered.

 

“Kiss me.” His eyes widened.

 

“What?” he asked, not totally sure he had heard her right.

 

“I want you to kiss me, if I tell you what you want to know. I'll tell then.” She grinned at him. Slowly he nodded his head.

 

“Alright, now tell me what happened earlier today, after I got out of the shower.” She sunk into the couch, slowly transforming into a young girl instead of the adult, and eventually she spoke.

 

“I dunno why, but the word `alone' made me think of a time, I was about seven. I didn't even remember it until then. I was sitting on my bed, and there was this man in my doorway. He shut the door and came closer, and he told me to come closer. I did as I was told, and came over to him. I looked in the mirror, and I knew, this was a memory, of me, when I was younger. I realized that this was my Daddy, and he was telling me to do what I was supposed to, and not to make him impatient. So I did was I was supposed to and took off my big nightshirt. It was just a big t-shirt. He touched my face, and then his hand went lower, and I wouldn't let my legs be pushed apart. He got mad and threw me onto the bed, and when I still wouldn't part my thighs, he slapped me, hard. He told me that I knew better, and that I should do as I was told. So I did what he wanted.” She stopped, turned back to him.

 

“Is that good enough?” She asked, her pain obvious in her face. She so resembled a little girl who had done wrong, and didn't realize it was not she but her daddy who had done wrong. But there was more he needed to know, despite the fact that getting her to talk about it was tearing them both apart. He didn't think she could take it if she wasn't drunk.

 

“No, you told me more before, but you were mumbling and I couldn't hear you. I need you to finish it.” He said sternly, trying to be strong and get the whole story. He hated to make her relive it this way, but it was important that he know.

 

“I… okay.” She nodded. “He kept touching me. And doing things I didn't like. He started to get rough, and he was hurting me. He… put his fingers inside of me, and then…” She stopped, her brow uncreasing. “Mommy came home early. She found him out. That was the last time he… did that to me. Mommy didn't know, she felt so bad. She said he could never hurt me again.” There were tears coming slowly down her face. “He can't ever hurt me again, can he?” She asked him, her eyes meeting his.

 

He felt a stab of guilt for making her doubt it, for making her afraid. He pulled her into his arms and held her close. “Of course he can't. Never again.” He held her until he felt her crying cease. She pulled back and wiped the wetness from her face. Slowly, her expression turned back to the woman who was drunk, instead of the scared little girl.

 

“Ya know what?” She asked him, finally grinning again. He decided to humor her.

 

“What?”

 

“You still have to kiss me.” He had almost forgotten about that. He leaned forward and gave her a chaste kiss on the cheek. When he pulled back, she was frowning.

 

“That's not what I mean and you know it.” She said, shaking her finger at him. A slow smile spread across her features. “I guess I can ini… initi… initiate it.” She stammered out. She leaned slowly closer to him. He was unable to move away, his well of control having suddenly come up dry. She was leaning over him, her lips so close, and then she was kissing him, nibbling on his lip, her hands coming up to bracket his face. For a moment, he let himself fall softly into the sweet kiss. Her fingers slid into his hair and she applied pressure to the back of his head, deepening the kiss, tasting his tongue, flicking around, making nerves jump.

 

He yanked away from her, getting up suddenly and going to the door.

 

“I'm going outside, I'll be right back.” His voice was hoarse, and he hoped to god it was cold outside.

 

~**~

 

END

 

Cliffy, sort of. You'll see, after the next chapter. Hope you liked it enough to review.

 

 

RyuuYoukai@hotmail.com

 

I hope you enjoy my efforts. Please feel free to email me with anything, questions, comments, and/or ideas. I hope to hear from you.

 

RyuuAngel

 

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