InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Malice ❯ Damnation: Breaking the Body ( Chapter 2 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Chapter 2: Domination: Breaking the Body

She stood on the path, staring out over the lands spread out below her. They had been descending from the mountain pass all morning, and still had a ways to go.

The view from here was awe-inspiring, just as it had been the night before on the other side of the mountain. The day was beautiful, high clouds occasionally passing over the sun, not cold, yet not too warm, and a nice breeze.

And yet... she felt uneasy. As if she needed to enjoy the beauty around her now, before it all disappeared, before she could no longer enjoy it. Hardly aware of the troubled frown on her face, she glanced behind her, vaguely worried for her companions.

"Sango, Miroku, stay close. We need to stay together. Something's out there."

Miroku looked down at her from his position riding pillion behind Sango. She didn't look good. Glancing back up, he caught Sango's worried look. Nodding, he called down to her. "What is it, Kagome? Do you sense something?"

Brow wrinkling with concentration, he looked troubled when he looked back down at her. "Powerful youki." He shook his head uneasily. "I know we decided to keep searching for Naraku but... I don't like this, Kagome. Kirara, maybe you should take me down. Someone should stay on the ground with Kagome, Inuyasha will kill us if something happens to h--"

Kagome stopped him before he could finish. "No. Inuyasha has nothing to say. If something happens to me, it's my own fault. You are not responsible. And if he doesn't like that, it's too bad. It's not like he's here to defend me, so he can hardly blame anyone else for his own failure. He vowed protection to me, you guys didn't. It's not your fault that he decided that he'd chosen to protect the wrong woman, and chose to rectify that mistake now."

Sango looked a bit shocked at the words coming from her best friend. "Kagome..."

Shaking her head slowly, she smiled suddenly at her. "It's alright, Sango. What will be, will be. I'm just kinda tired, and wish that whatever was coming would just get it over with already, you know?" She looked out over the landscape again. "I am glad that we left Shippo with Kaede this time, though. I don't like the feel of what's out there."

Sango nodded and put a name to what they all knew. "Naraku."

Kagome began moving, heading down the road once more. "Let's try to get off this mountain and down into the open terrain below us. I'd rather have room to manuever if we're gonna have to deal with him."

Miroku dismounted from Kirara and followed after Kagome. "Wait, Kagome! Don't get too far ahead, aren't you the one that said to stay together? Kagome, get ba--" he jumped back with a muffled curse, falling to the ground in shock.

Because one moment, Kagome was there, and the next, she was not.

She was just... gone.

It was six days since Inuyasha had left them.

Kagome struggled to breathe, she could feel his arms around her, and it brought back a memory, a memory of watching helplessly as Kikyou was carried off by Naraku, of seeing the anguish in Inuyasha's eyes.

At least Kikyou was unconscious, she thought bitterly. I wish I was, gods, I wish I was. She shivered in revulsion, her skin crawling at every place that his body touched hers. She felt... violated.

And this was just the beginning.

She could feel him looking down at her, and refused to give him the satisfaction of seeing the fear and revulsion in her eyes. He would enjoy that, she knew. If I can't fight him physically, I'll fight him spiritually... I can't let him win! I won't!

Naraku watched the woman in his arms, and chuckled. She had such strength... he would gain so much pleasure from tainting her, breaking her. The very thought sent an erotic frisson throughout his body, and he knew that she'd felt it when she flinched.

Yes, my beloved, pull away from me in disgust - it brings me joy to feel your revulsion, your hatred and fear, I want it all. All. And I will have it.

Coming to a halt finally, he looked around at the place he'd chosen for the opening salvo in the destruction of the Miko he hated. This was a place that would make what he was about to do a thousand times worse, because it would remind her as she was violated of just why he'd been able to take her from her friends so easily.

He chuckled again as he set her on her feet and she immediately backed away.

Kagome felt sick, all she wanted was to scrub the feel of him off her skin, even if it took all her skin off, anything was better than how it felt right now.

If she'd only known how much worse it was going to get...

"So... Kagome, beloved." He smirked at the shock on her face when she heard what he'd called her. Gesturing around him, he asked, "Do you recognize this place, beloved?" He deliberately said it again, smiling wider at her expression.

"What's your game this time, Naraku?" She forced herself to stand tall, refusing to back down. "And I thought it was Kikyou you considered your 'beloved', poor woman."

Naraku laughed outright. "You didn't answer my question, Kagome. Do you recognize this place?"

She looked around, feeling a cold chill when she finally realized where he'd brought her. Pain and sadness combined in her heart, and she felt sick at the bitterness that swelled inside her. Grimly, she fought it down.

"Yes, I do, as I'm sure you knew I would, or you wouldn't have brought me here. And you still haven't answered my question, Naraku. What's with the whole 'beloved' thing? I'm not Kikyou, you know... I'd have expected you at least to know the difference, even if Inuyasha hasn't figured it out yet," she sneered.

"Already feeling bitterness towards him, beloved? Good. Very good. And why shouldn't you? He deserves it." Turning and looking around him, he smiled at her. "Urasue's old home - I bet this brings back memories; if only the sorceress had left well enough alone, eh? Things might have been different for you. But as it is...."

Walking towards the stone tub that she'd lain in as her soul was ripped from her, he reached its side and stood, gazing thoughtfully down into it.

"You are wrong. Kikyou is not, nor ever was, my beloved. Onigumo was enamoured of her, not I." He looked at her then, watching as her eyes darkened and her hatred swelled.

Beautiful....

"It is amusing, in a way. I am, unfortunately, still merely a hanyou. The human core of what I am, desired Kikyou. But the youkai side of what I am becoming...." he grinned, and it sent shivers of fear down her spine, "that side wants you. You, Kagome."

Kagome almost couldn't fathom what he was saying to her, it was too much horror, too much everything, to comprehend. He couldn't mean... what she thought he meant. He couldn't. Please gods he didn't mean that... she almost sobbed at the sadistic look of pleasure he gave her as he realized that she had caught what he was saying.

Her soul was already screaming as he moved towards her, and she knew that nothing would ever be alright again. Because this time, there was no Inuyasha to save her. Inuyasha had left her.

Nothing would ever be the same again.

Not ever.

Kagome lay where he'd left her, blood still pooling under her from her broken body.

It was funny, in a way, he'd made sure that she hadn't been harmed any place that could be seen when she was clothed, meaning she'd be able to hide the wounds. Of course, most of the damage was inside, inside her body, and inside her soul, so no one would see that, anyway.

She knew that she was in shock.

She could feel panic underlying the numbness, could tell that her soul was still screaming, but it was distant, as though it was someone else. She was very much afraid, though, that her soul would keep screaming, would spend all eternity screaming in horror and fear and revulsion. And still, the numbness was gaining on her... and she welcomed it with open arms.

Naraku watched her, enjoying the sight of her, beautiful body covered in her own blood. She was not injured severely, but he had made sure that what he had injured bled deeply, and as he'd taken her body as his own, he'd smeared the blood over every inch of her skin from her neck down.

She'd never been more beautiful than in the moment that he'd forced himself into her, and the horror that had been in her eyes had sent him over the edge, as had the screams of sheer pain. He'd taken her, over and over again, knowing that the more he broke her body, the more he'd break her soul. The only thing he hated is that he couldn't break her heart.

Inuyasha had done that already.

He sighed. It was time to let her go, time to begin the next stage of the breaking.

He would be interested to see how she would deal with this in the next few weeks. He was already pretty sure that she wouldn't speak of it to anyone, that she'd try to hide what had happened. He was counting on it, actually, but if he was wrong and she did talk of it, well, then he'd adjust things for that. But he was pretty sure she wouldn't tell, he'd made it easy for her to do just that by making sure that all injuries could be hidden by clothing. He really hoped she didn't tell... he wanted to be the one to destroy Inuyasha by telling him what he'd done.

"Well, beloved," he sneered, "it's time to get up." He threw her clothes at her. "Wash yourself and get dressed. We have someplace to be."

She sat up, looking down, she reached for the clothes he'd thrown her, staring at them as if she wondered what they were. Glancing absently around, she saw the tub with water and slowly washed the blood from her body, before picking the clothes back up. Pulling them to her, she slowly dressed herself, thinking distantly that they didn't seem to help, she still felt just as cold as she had when she was naked.

She felt a thought enter her mind, one that seemed determined to break through the shell of numbness, and she fought it with a whimper, she didn't want to think, didn't want to remember anything. Finally finished dressing, she simply stood there, unable to care enough about anything to even flinch when he grabbed her, carrying her away from this place - she didn't even care where he was taking her.

She was frozen, and she didn't care, past, present, and future, all could disappear, and she still wouldn't care.

She opened her arms wide to the darkness that finally came and swept her away.

When she came to, she was laying in the clearing near the well.

It took a moment to recognize the place, because she was still hiding inside her mind, and didn't want to come out. So she just lay there, she could feel the ground beneath her, cold and hard, feel the breeze brush against her, she heard the sounds around her, small animals scurrying through the grass, insects buzzing lazily in the early evening air. It was all there, but even though all these things imprinted themselves on her mind, she felt no emotional response to any of it. And that was bad.

She knew it shouldn't be that way.

Stumbling to her feet, the only thought in her wounded psyche was that she needed to get home. Looking around, she was amazed to see her yellow bag. Apparently it had been with her through... everything. She cut that thought off immediately, not wanting to dwell on that. Home. Just-get-home. That's all. Home.

Carefully repeating those words in her mind, over and over, she made her way to the well, barely managing to climb into it before her strength gave way. She closed her eyes as the time stream caught her, and hurled her five hundred years into the future.

On the other side of the clearing, Naraku smiled. This had been the most enjoyable day he could ever remember. Even the day he'd destroyed Kikyou and watched Inuyasha get pinned hadn't been this good. He watched as she woke, stood, and tumbled into the well.

The first part of the destruction of Kagome was complete.

"Damn!" Inuyasha slammed his fist into the wooden planking of the hut. Another abandoned village, another dead end. Nothing had gone right, he was having no luck at all. If he didn't find her soon, he'd have to admit that he'd been led astray by a false rumor, again.

And if that was the case... he was terrified to think of what that could mean. No. Kikyou was out there. She had to be. Not just for her sake, but for Kagome's as well. Because if this had been a wild goose chase, only one person would have wanted him sent on it.

Naraku.

And that didn't bode well.

So he slammed his fist into the hut again, then headed out of the village, determined to find the Miko he'd been chasing. He would find her, then he would make sure she was alright. And then... he'd rush back to Kaede's, and make sure his other Miko was okay. He knew she'd be angry, and she'd have every right to be, really, because he'd never left her for this length of time before. Never. Which was probably why he felt so uneasy.

Probably.

It couldn't be because anything was really wrong. He couldn't accept that thought. Nothing was wrong. It couldn't be. He wouldn't allow it to be.