InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Haunted ❯ Remembered Horrors ( Chapter 2 )

Well, here's Chapter 2! And so, without further ado:

HAUNTED

By Kanna_Hiraku

Chapter 2-Remembered Horrors

/watching me wanting me/
/I can feel you pull me down/
/fearing you loving you/
/I won't let you pull me down/

Inu-yasha stared at Kagome, fear still creeping through his blood. She shivered uncontrollably in his arms, her sobs growing more and more quiet. Finally there was silence in the clearing. Inu-yasha thrust the girl back so that she looked into his eyes.

"Kagome, what happened?" Because something must have happened to her, the hanyou reasoned, to get her like this.

Kagome stared at him blankly. "I-"

"Kagome!!" Suddenly Shippo popped up between them. He latched onto Kagome's leg, the only part of her he could get his arms around. Inu-yasha and Kagome both wore expressions of shock. A vein twitched in the half-demon's temple.

Shippo found a clawed hand around his tail and let go of Kagome. "What do you want?" he asked, glaring at Inu-yasha. The hanyou glared back.

"Shippo, can I ask you for a favour?" he said, almost pleasantly.

"Maybe." The kitsune crossed his arms as Inu-yasha raised his arm, so that he didn't have to bend over to get the message across to the fox-demon. "What's the favour?"

"I want you-to LEAVE US THE HELL ALONE!!" Inu-yasha bellowed, and threw the unfortunate fox demon across the clearing.

"SIT!" Inu-yasha suddenly found his face in the dirt . . . again. He sat up, radiating with what little pride he had left.

"What was that for?!" he yelled at Kagome, who was standing, glaring at him with her hands on her hips.

"For being a bully," she stated, and walked off towards the village.

Inu-yasha snorted. *Doesn't matter what mood she's in* he thought *she can never be too out-of-it to forget the damn-blast `sit' command* He sighed, and, with a running jump, leapt into the trees.

*~*

Kagome took her time getting to the village. She had a lot on her mind. What was with all the nightmares she had been having? Why had she blacked out at the well? And why-oh God, why!-had she broken down in front of the last person to show emotion to, Inu-yasha?

She gritted her teeth. *He-he didn't even try to comfort me!* she thought, her face flushing with rage. *I start crying, and all he can do is gawk at me! Ooh, that demon-half-demon-whatever!!* She continued to stalk through the forest, reeking with indignity.

Suddenly her legs turned to butter and she collapsed. "What is wrong with me?" she muttered, tears springing to her eyes once more. She leaned back against a tree and closed her eyes.

*try and escape try and run, pretty one you won't be able to run forever and when you stop. . .I will take you*

Her eyes snapped open again. "That voice-" she started, but a pink bubble popped up in front of her face.

"Is that Inu-yasha around?" Shippo asked. Kagome growled-her frustration very much overcame the kitsune's cuteness.

"Will everyone just leave me alone so I can think?" Kagome yelled for the forest to hear.

"What's-with-her?" Shippo asked, little beads of tears in his eyes, as he rubbed the spot on his head Kagome's fist had made contact with. "Huh-girls."

~*~

"So you just left her to wander by herself?" Sango's scolding could be heard throughout the village. "Isn't that just like a man-a girl starts collapsing and you just-run off?" She towered over a slightly disturbed Inu-yasha.

The hanyou nodded meekly. "I-well, uh-I thought it was the best thing to do! She was ticked off about something-"

"She made you `sit' again, didn't she?" Miroku asked nonchalantly from a safe distance.

Inu-yasha growled. "Yeah."

Sango sighed. "Well, what are you waiting for? Go out there and find her!"

"But-but-"

"No buts!" Sango hefted the half-demon onto his feet and proceeded to push him out the door. "She's been gone for too long-it couldn't have taken her this long to just get to the village!"

"Stupid bitch probably got lost in the forest," Inu-yasha muttered, but his heart wasn't in it. Though he would never-EVER-tell anyone, he was worried about the strange girl. And the incident that morning had left him wary. What if some sort of demon was trying to hurt Kagome? He couldn't let her get hurt.

"Damn woman," he hissed, as he leapt towards the forest. "Why'd you have to go off by yourself?"

~*~

Kagome sighed as she tripped over another root. She had wandered through the forest all afternoon, and now she was completely lost.

"Oh, if Inu-yasha saw me now . . ." she said ruefully. She gazed up at the trees and shuddered. All of a sudden the forest was a lot less `happy'. She couldn't see the sky anymore, and cold drafts blew between the withered trees and dry grass.

"Th-they'd better come and find me soon," the teenager said, rubbing her arms. She scowled as she looked down at her outfit. It definitely wasn't good for a day spent in a forest: short blue-jean shorts, a blue tank top, and black sneakers. *Oh well* she thought, *At least I brought along a sweater* and took off the zip-up she had tied around her waist.

As she put the sweater on, Kagome continued walking. *This is all Inu-yasha's fault* she steamed, not really because he was the one to blame, but because he acted like a bastard half the time, he wasn't there and it worked.

But then she thought: he had held her when she had cried and the look in his eyes when he pulled her back . . . he had been worried about her. There had been such a look in those amber eyes-they had held fear and concern, which wasn't something the hanyou showed very often.

Kagome closed her eyes to recall his face-maybe she was wrong about the whole Inu-yasha-worrying-about-her thing-as it had been that morning. But even as she pictured his face, it turned to one of the hanyou suffering. His features were stretched with pain, and-

*Wait a second* Kagome thought.

*flashback*

"I-was-so-scared!" Kagome sobbed. "I was-so scared-I wasn't going to see any of you-ever again!"

"What are you talking about?" Inu-yasha stared at her.

*end*

She remembered her dream.

~*~

Inu-yasha leapt from tree-to-tree with the grace and agility of an eagle in flight. The hanyou dropped to the ground and sniffed it, searching for any sign of Kagome.

"That's her," he muttered to himself, and took off again. He passed over a black-haired figure and stopped. "Hey, bitch, is that you?" he called over his shoulder. He backtracked and dropped down to the ground once more.

Kagome stood there, back towards him. He reached out and grabbed her shoulder. "Hey, bitch, I've been looking everywhere for you. Where've you-what the hell?!" He yelled as a stone statue suddenly appeared, crashing to the ground with his hands underneath. There was a special spell strip on it to prevent him from removing it.

`Kagome' turned to him, only she had Shippo's face. Inu-yasha growled. "Why you-get this thing off me!" *One of these days* he thought darkly, *I'm going to figure out how this damn thing works and use it on his head!*

Shippo returned to his normal body with a puff of smoke, and stood, arms crossed, a safe distance away in case the hanyou tried to kick. "I'm not letting you go until you apologize for hitting me," the kitsune proclaimed, and smirked. "And I have all the time in the world, you know."

Inu-yasha growled, then sighed. "Shippo," he said in a soft voice. "Kagome may be in trouble."

"What?!" Shippo stared. "But I just saw her a few minutes ago!"

"You did? Which way did she go?"

"Um . . . that way." Shippo pointed, then looked at Inu-yasha suspiciously. "You'd better be telling the truth, Inu-yasha," he said as he removed the spell strip.

Inu-yasha took off running, not even bothering to hit the kitsune again. Shippo stared, mouth open in surprise. "Wow, he must really be worried," he mused, and took off towards the village.

~*~

Kagome remembered her dream. The only problem was, she was once again a part of it.

*dream*

It started with a clear day, in the meadow where the well was. Kagome was sitting on the well's edge.

*What am I doing here?* she wondered *I thought . . . this was just a dream*

All of a sudden Shippo came through the trees, trailing a ribbon behind him. Kilala chased it, mewing. Kagome watched them as they ran around the well, seeming not to see her.

The fox-demon and cat-demon ran near where Sango and Miroku lay, staring up at the clouds. Sango was leaning against Miroku's shoulder, and the monk's hand was wrapped around her waist. Kagome stood and started walking towards them.

In a flash of dark blue lightening, the entire scene changed to the nightmare that caused her to wake up screaming. The grass burned with blue fire, as did the surrounding trees. Kagome's eyes widened with shock and she turned, only to see the well in ruins.

She heard screaming coming from the village, and started running in that direction. Her steps seemed slow, as if she was running through water. When Kagome reached the edge of the forest, she gasped. The village was burning with the same blue fire, and she could see no villagers though the screaming was much louder.

Kagome took a step forward, only to have her foot connect with something. She looked down and screamed. Kilala was there, her fur matted and burned, and cuts oozing blood were all over her small body. Kagome turned, and started to run, trying to block out that image. Then she saw Shippo.

*Shippo!* she tried to call, but no sound issued from her mouth. The kitsune turned, looking at her with woeful eyes. His cloths were torn, his tail singed. As he stared at Kagome, blue fire started rippling along his clothes, and he burned up without a sound. As the ashes fell Kagome just stood there; tears dropped down her cheeks.

Turning again, she saw Sango walking towards her, Miroku beside her. As they walked they started to crumble into dust, until they, too, burst into fire. Kagome started to breathe faster, fear growing as her entire body went numb with shock.

*Yes . . . feel the pain, pretty one. Feel the terror*

*That voice* Kagome spun around, hoping to catch whoever it was that was speaking. His voice sent shivers throughout her body, and she felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up as a phantom hand touched the back of her neck. *Who are you!?* She tried to speak once more, but nothing came from her mouth.

*I'm coming* the phantom said. *I will find you soon. But first-why not continue living this lovely dream?*

*Wait-I want out!* Kagome fruitlessly tried to talk one last time, to no avail. Tears ran down her cheeks, and she collapsed to the ground, a cold feeling in her heart.

*Kagome!* She looked up at the shout. Inu-yasha was making his way towards her, his fire-rat kimono gone. Bad wounds leaked blood, staining his silver hair and shirt. One dog-like ear was nearly non-existent. He held the Tetsuiga at his side; the sword was not in its battle-mode, no more than a letter opener.

*Inu-yasha!* Kagome called, standing. She began to run to him. But even as she ran, Inu-yasha's s clothes caught fire, only this fire was black. Still he strode towards her, until he went on his knees, his strength spent. Kagome stopped a foot away from him, horrified.

Inu-yasha stared up at her with hollow amber eyes, full of defeat and pain. As he reached for her, his body crumbled into burning dust. Kagome took a staggering step forward, falling to her knees. Her hands touched his ashes, still rippling with flames. She was so numb now she didn't even cry.

As she brought her hand away, Kagome stared at it stupidly as it started to burn with blue fire. She stared at her hands as they burned then crumbled away. As her arms began to go up in flames she started to scream, and was still screaming when she blacked out.

*end dream*

~*~

Inu-yasha's ears pricked as he ran through the forest. He smelled Kagome-she was nearby. But he heard screaming, and laughter-the laughter made his blood run cold, and he pushed himself even harder.

Finally he rushed into a clearing, sliding to a stop in the dirt. He looked around and spotted the girl laying on the ground, her back to him.

"Kagome!" the word slipped from his lips as Inu-yasha ran to kneel beside her. Turning her over, he gasped at how white her face was. "I've got to get her to Kaede," he muttered, and picked her up gently. In an eye blink he was off again.

~*~

A shadow watched him carry off Kagome, its red eyes gleaming.

"Massssster sssshall be pleasssed," it hissed, and sunk into the ground among the shadows of the rocks and trees, making its way back to the hand that had created it.

# # #

Yeah! another chapter done! Hope you people like it-and I'm sorry if anyone didn't like the part where Kagome hit Shippo-but this is MY story, and I'll do things as I want to! *glares at readers* So don't complain.

Until next time!

Disclaimer: Look at it this way: I will own Inu-yasha a) when the original writer *mysteriously* disappear *heh heh* and hands over all rights to me, or b) never. I don't own Evanescence's "Haunted" either.