InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Heart of Pain, Heart of Ice ❯ chapter 6 ( Chapter 6 )

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chapter 6: Gone

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Sessho umaru stopped in the middle of the den and stared at the door leading to the sunroom. He knew what he wanted to do. He wanted to run, to escape this incessant invasion into his private life. Why did father insist on making him do this? Actually, he had a good idea why. Tradition and security. In his regal way, Father wanted him to settle down, have a family, and continue the tradition of his ancestors. Well, he had chosen and his father would have to understand that his new mate was not of high social status.

InuYasha walked up behind, his steps ceasing at the doorway to the den.

Sesshoumaru turned to his half brother but said nothing.

Crossing his arms over his chest, InuYasha leaned against the door facing, the hint of concern quite alien in his expression. "Aren't you going to introduce me?"

"Not at this time."

"Why?"

"She is...resting."

InuYasha's brow drew together in confusion. "Is she recovering from the marking?"

He gave InuYasha a nod.

"When did you mark her?"

Sesshoumaru set his jaw, looked away, then stormed out of the den, pushing past his idiot brother. "Yesterday."

As he passed the entrance to the hallway, intent on the front room, he paused. A strange feeling prickled his skin. Without another thought, he hurried to the door of her room.

He reached for the knob but stopped, recalling he had locked it. The dog demon stilled...listened but heard...nothing.

Immediately, he grabbed the door knob, letting his poison sizzle into the lock, melting it away. It turned. The door swung open.

Sesshoumaru froze, sensing no one, seeing no one. He scanned the room. His t-shirt lay crumpled on the bed. The girl's clothes were gone from the night table. A flutter of white caught his eye, drawing his attention to the window on the far side of the room.

"No."

In a blink, he raced down the hall, passed his brother, through the sunroom then out the sliding glass door.

Out on the patio, he inhaled deeply, instantly locking on to her scent. It floated in the direction of the fence line. Fear laced the fading trail. She was afraid...of him. His heart began pounding in his chest. No, he could not let her get away. Quickly, he followed the lingering hint of her essence.

As he jumped the fence, he could hear InuYasha running up behind, calling him. Within minutes, he sped through the underbrush and down the paths, realizing in mid run where the dirt pathways were leading him: back to her house. She was heading back to her house. Sesshoumaru reached the end of the trail. He now stood behind the house, staring at a small window close the ground, probably a basement window. This is where she had slipped back in.

InuYasha skidded up behind him. "Hey! Sess! What's going on? Why are you in the neighbor's backyard and why is that girl's scent everywhere? Did she live here? Is this where you met her?"

Ignoring the hanyou, he turned and began walking around to the front of the house. His half-brother followed. "Sess?"

Sesshoumaru slipped through the shrubbery, walked across the driveway and up the cement walkway that led to the front door, consciously noting the absense of the black SUV.

As he approached the front door, InuYasha whispered low, "Sesshoumaru I can smell your mate's scent here, but....it smells....broken."

Growling, Sesshoumaru seized the door handle, melted the lock, then pushed the door open.

He walked in.

InuYasha stood at the doorway. "Sesshoumaru! This is breaking and entering! You can't....."

The hanyou's rant died to a fading whisper. He smelled it as well. The ghostly stench of fear and pain.

Standing in the foyer, Sesshoumaru surveyed the interior. Directly in front of him was a staircase leading to the second floor, adjacent this, a hallway that seemed to lead to the kitchen, to his right, a small living room and to his left, a doorway leading to a small den furnished with a television, chair, and couch.

Already, he knew. Already he could sense that she was not in the house. She was gone. The hanyou had taken her away. He strained with the effort to keep his fear and rage at bay, to keep the ache from tearing a hole in his chest. Now was not the time to become unglued. There may be a clue as to where the bastard had taken her. All he had to do was find it.

Slowly, he walked down the hallway and stopped at a door that seemed to lead under the staircase. He inhaled. Yes. This is where she spent most of her time. Beyond this door was her room.

His brother slipped stealthily up behind him. "Sess, what are you....?"

Sesshoumaru kicked the door. It splintered open, crashing against a wall.

The odor hit him hard. It hit InuYasha harder. His brother gasped, slightly gagging.

It was a phantom stench, but one so intense that he doubted it could ever be purged from the depths of the room it drifted out of: the sickening odor of blood and pain mixed with the nauseating shadow of tortured sex.

Swallowing the knot in his throat, Sesshoumaru descended the creaking stairs that led to the basement.

As he stepped down, the plip plop of dripping water reached his ears. Dank air clung to his skin. When he reached the bottom, he stopped to look about. To his right were storage boxes and crates, lining the stone gray cement floor. To his left was a room, a bedroom. He walked to the room that reeked of his mate's tormented scent. Standing in the doorway, he eyed the place where the girl had resided. A small window, high above on the far wall gave some light to the dingy surroundings. Directly below the window, against the far wall was an old wooden twin bed. It had a tattered, water stained mattress. There were no covers, no sheets, no pillow. This was the bed where his mate had slept, had been sleeping on only an hour ago. Near the foot of the soiled bed stood a wooden dresser. The room had no other items, no pictures, no curtains, no stuffed animals, nothing.

He turned from the room to look into the lavatory. The yellow dress she had worn the day before lay crumpled on the dirty floor. A blood stained undergarment lay on top of it. Sesshoumaru closed his eyes, trying to steady himself. Unable to deal with the sights and smells surrounding him, he immediately left the dreary coldness of the gray basement.

Diligently, he searched the rest of the house for a clue as to where his mate had been taken but found nothing.

Sesshoumaru stepped outside, glancing at his half-breed brother who was straightening from his bent over position near the shrubbery. He had been puking.

"InuYasha, I need you to get in touch with your detective friend."

InuYasha wiped at his mouth with his sleeve. "Kouga?"

"Yes. I need him to find someone for me."

"Your mate?"

"Yes....my mate."

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Her father loomed closer. "You did not answer me, Rin. How do you like your new room?"

Rin nervously glanced about. "It....It's nice."

She looked up to her father, daring to ask. "Did...did we move?"

He gave a nod and a smooth smile. "Yes, dear, we have moved."

Suddenly, Rin remembered something very important. She bit her bottom lip, praying he would not get angry. "Did you....bring....Teddy?"

Without answering, he walked over to the foot of the bed she lay upon and bent down. When he straightened, he held her Teddy in his hand.

Rin tried to control her excitement as he stepped closer, her teddy bear dangling in his grasp.

Never taking her eyes off her fuzzy friend, she swallowed while he held Teddy out in front of her. She wanted so badly to take him but....what would it cost? Did he want something first?

Rin chanced a question. "Can I....have him back now?"

Her answer was given when her father dropped Teddy into her lap.

By reflex, her arms wrapped around her furry teddy bear, hugging him close to her chest, his softness under her chin. "Thank you, daddy."

"Rin."

Hiding her happiness, Rin forced the small smile from her lips and blinked up at her father. "Yes, Father?"

She noticed his smile had fallen some. Coal black eyes studied her. "Tell me, Rin, where did you wander off to yesterday?"

Her skin turned to ice. Did he know about her going to the neighbor's house to see who had moved in? She decided to play it safe. "I...I went into the woods....to...look for....some flowers."

Her father reached out. She gritted her teeth as his fingertip raked over the scabbing puncture wounds on her arm. "And how did you get hurt?"

Letting her gaze fall to the mauve blanket bundled up beside her legs, she swallowed the panic. There was no getting out of this. She would have to tell him about sneaking out that morning. She only hoped he wouldn't hit her too hard for disobeying. "I...went outside....to the woods....I fell against a fallen log, some of the branches stuck me."

His fingertip traced a path from her elbow to her shoulder and pulled back the material of her dress, exposing the marred skin at the juncture between her neck and shoulder. Hot breath hissed in her ear. "Tell me, how did you get this?"

Rin squeezed her eyes shut, inwardly shaking. "I....was attacked....by an animal...I think it was a wolf...I got away and ran back home."

Trembling, she waited for it, the stars, the pain, her punishment for disobedience, but it never came.

Rin opened one eye to find her father had left the room. Letting out a sigh of relief, she returned to the task of welcoming Teddy back. Rin allowed a tear to fall as she embraced her friend. "I am so happy you are with me. I hope Father will allow you to stay here with me. We can sleep together and you won't get lonely like you did in that locked drawer."

The sound of approaching footsteps prompted Rin to wipe the tear away and protectively place Teddy on the bed between her and the wall.

The footfalls came closer. She did not look in their direction for fear of what her father might be bringing. Instead, she straightened the mauve blanket back over her legs and stared down at her lap. If she saw right away what he brought, it might scare her too much and she would accidentally....flinch. Sometimes he liked to....bring...things that hurt.

Her mouth began to water when she smelled the most delicious aroma. Then she heard the light clink of dishes as a tray was placed across her lap. Rin eyed the meal before her, vegetable beef soup, a roll of bread, milk , and a.... pink iced cupcake. She swallowed while breahing in deeply but did not make a move to eat any of it. This was twice as much her father normally let her have. Was he giving her this food or... was he....tormenting her with it? He had done that before, teased her with the sight and smell before replacing such an enticing meal with something not as....appetizing. But it looked good enough to risk asking. She peered up shyly to her father who stood gazing down at her with a neutral expression. "Is....is all this for me? Can I...eat it?"

He gave a single nod.

She smiled some. "Thank you."

Her father left the room.

Rin ate slowly, savoring the taste. The thought crossed her mind to save some for later so she took half of the roll and wrapped it up in a paper napkin then stuck it under the bed. She ate the rest, verily enjoying the iced cupcake for dessert.

After eating every crumb, she set the tray on the floor by the bed, grabbed Teddy, then snuggled up under the warm blanket. Rin smiled. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad. She had lost her freedom but she had gained a warm bed, food, a nice bedroom and...Teddy. And father had not hit her. Things were looking up. Now she could relax. Everything darkened as a wonderful contented sleeply feeling pulled at her eye lids. She fell into the warmest darkness she had ever known.

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It was darker. Rin blinked out of her doze to glance at the window. It was dark outside. Her bladder screamed to be emptied. Sleepily, she looked over to the door by the wooden dresser. Rin sat up, flipped the blanket off her legs, then manuevered the heavy chain so she could drape her feet over the side. After standing up, she staggered across the lush carpet, the links of the chain clinked as she moved towards the doorway. Indeed, it was a bathroom, and one with a bath tub and shower too! Sighing with relief that the chain actually reached, Rin went to the toilet, used it, then shuffled back to the comfortable bed.

Yawning, Rin snuggled back into the covers and closed her eyes.

"Rin."

Rin slowly opened her eyes to see her father standing by the bed. In her groggy state, she could barely tell what he was wearing. It looked to be casual clothes. His hair was not in a ponytail. The long black locks flowed over his shoulders and down the front of his shirt.

He reached out. His fingertip caressed her cheek. In a tone, low and dark, he spoke barely above a whisper. "It is time I reclaimed what is mine."