InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Midnight Blood ❯ Strange ( Chapter 3 )

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Author's Notes

Lol, I knew it would happen. Ah well, quality over quantity I guess…I'm one short from one of my favorite numbers. I wonder who will snag the tenth review.

Trust me, I know the story is slow now, but I have a habit of juicing things up. I'm not really much of a flowery writer. I could, it's very easy to do, make a totally mushy, fan-servicy story, but that would mean throwing the story out of the window, and there's nothing I love more then a good story to go along with all the mushy. So bear with me, and I hope you enjoy!

LAST CHAPTER WITH THIS WARNING! Sequel to my story “Nightwalker.” If you haven't read that story yet, I suggest you do if you don't want spoilers or if you want to make sense of this story better. If you don't care, well, I hope you enjoy yourself anyway.

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha, nor do I take credit for Romiko Takahashi's genius. I'm not that good at marketing.

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REVIEWERS: Thanks again, SO MUCH to those who are kind enough to leave a review! It really helps to hear from people.

@SPLENDID GODDESS: I LOVE you and your wonderful reviews! ^_^ I'm glad the story is keeping someone interested. As for Kagome's status, I'm not telling, that would ruin the surprise. Thank you for the review!

@LUNABELL: Glad your happy about a sequel. Hmm, Tales of Graces eh? Well, it adds a game to my list. YAY! Thanks for the heads up and thanks for the review! Glad to see that you've still got interest in the nightwalker world.

@UNISTAR: Wondering who the enemy is eh? When they will find out about Kagome and Lucy indeed, and Narek…hmm…I'm not telling! Thanks for the great review! Always good to hear of reader's curiosity!

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Chapter Three: Strange

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They rushed the injured nightwalkers into the house, and, within a second of calling, Inuyasha appeared by the doorway, followed by a beautiful woman with dark skin. She came into the crowd, took one look at Kouga, picked him up, and disappeared down the hall. Meanwhile, Inuyasha helped the girls carry the rest of the injured nightwalkers into the lounge, where they set them down on the couches and chairs. “What happened?” He asked the girls as he helped a young man into a chair.

Natalia shrugged. “We were just starting our turn of guard duty when they appeared in the woods, exactly as they are now.”

Inuyasha leaned toward the man he had in front of him, asking softly. “Are you all right?”

“Don't worry about me, Kouga-”

“Rukiya will take care of his injuries.” Inuyasha assured him. He looked over the rest of the nightwalkers. All of them were covered in black and blue bruises with cuts on their faces, arms and torsos. The nightwalker in front of him had a nasty, red gash near his eyes, which was starting to scab. Inuyasha shook his head. “This needs to be looked at. And our doctor's busy at the moment.” He sighed. “Always short handed when shit hits the fan.” He mumbled.

“Don't worry about us,” said the nightwalker sitting at the other end of the room, “this is nothing compared to Kouga's wounds. We'll heal.”

Inuyasha sighed. “Lilliana, stay here and help me with them. You two,” he pointed to Kagome and Natalia, “please, go and keep a lookout in case they were followed.”

Without a word to Inuyasha, Natalia pushed Kagome out of the room and back outside the house, where she told her to cover the other end of the mansion. Reluctantly, Kagome did as she was told. When she reached the other end of the house, she opened her eyes and ears and waited in case something came near the house, but her mind kept returning to Kouga. There had been a black hole in his chest. His rips, muscles and tendons were visible, dripping with both blood and some green, slimy liquid, which Kagome had guessed must have been nightwalker venom. And the nightwalkers that brought him here: all of them had the same red cuts on their chests.

Why were they after hearts? Was it some sort of rare nightwalker delicacy? As far as Kagome knew, all nightwalkers fed off of humans. The only nightwalkers that fed from their own kin were mates and children, but, even then, none of them ever ate the flesh of a nightwalker. It was against the rules to eat the flesh of humans, because that would call attention to the nightwalker world. If too many humans were to suddenly disappear, the humans would notice something; hence it was forbidden to feed on the flesh of humans. Even if it were allowed, Kagome couldn't bring herself to eat something that she had once been. She couldn't understand it. What, other then some twisted sense of taste, could nightwalkers possibly get from eating each other? There had to be more to it.

Kagome felt her chest tightened and found that she was breathing faster then normal. She suddenly felt exposed and anxious as thoughts of Lucy's warning came back to her mind. A horrible thought hit her. What if those nightwalkers were searching for something, or someone, like a nightwalker that shouldn't exist? Kagome rubbed her hands up and down her arms. She suddenly wanted to go back inside the house and hide, but she bit her lip and stayed her ground.

“Don't be stupid.” She told herself. Even if they were looking for her, how would they know she was fourth generation? None of the family members had ever addressed her particular situation publically. If they knew, they would already have found her. As far as she was concerned she was in the same boat as every other nightwalker. Yet Kagome couldn't get rid of the lingering feeling that she was in danger of some invisible force that out there, feeding on the hearts of her kind. Again, Lucy's words came to her mind. She was special in some way. All Kagome knew about nightwalkers like herself was she had inherited all of her creator's abilities. Would that mean, that if the nightwalkers were to eat her heart, they would gain all of those same powers?

Kagome shivered. She wanted to see Lucy, and demand that she explain the implications of being a fourth generation nightwalker. If she wouldn't give in to Kagome's anger, perhaps she would give in to her sudden sense of fear. Kagome looked around the mansion's surroundings nervously. She felt that she was being watched from afar. She felt as though, any second, some nightwalkers would come out from some underbrush and jump at her saying, “We found her!”

Kagome slapped her hands against her cheeks, trying to push those thoughts away. She was here to guard her family, not to wallow in her own paranoia. And yet, Kagome thought, it wasn't the feeling of being attacked that she was frightened of. It was the thought of not knowing.

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Deep within the city, near a bus stop, stood a pale teen with his hands in his pockets. His hair was black and cut short on all sides of his head. On his lip and nose there was a ringed piercing. He also had several studs on the ridges of his ears. His punk-style clothes were ripped in several places. People walked by him without sparing him a glance. As far as they were concerned, he was just another teen, but Alexander Morrison was anything but a normal teenager.

Several minutes later, a young girl joined him at the side of the street. She sat down at the bench and said, “Well?”

“I did find something.”

“What was it?”

“That old club downtown. There was a fight in the alley behind it, but I'm sure humans don't fight by ripping their opponent's skin off.”

The girl suddenly stood and faced him. “Did you interfere?” She said accusingly.

He clicked his teeth. “Odd, I seem to remember a certain family head telling me `not to interfere no matter what my weak emotions tell me to do.' I'd have my shit handed to me if I ignored that order. Am I right, Lucy?”

She sighed tiredly. “Enough of your cheek, Xander. Tell me what you saw.”

He looked at the street again. “I saw two nightwalkers gang up on one guy before three of his friends came out to help. They killed one of their attackers, but were injured by the other one. It was one hell of a fight.”

“Anything else?” Lucy said impatiently.

Xander shuddered. “Yeah. Those attackers were like animals. They growled, snarled, it was like watching a rapid dog rip into a bunch of bunnies. The victims managed to kill them, barely.”

Lucy walked past him and motioned for him to follow. “Did you see anything out of the ordinary?”

“Oh, I did see something fucked up. Whenever they would rip off part of their victim's skin, or get blood on their hands, they would suddenly start eating the flesh, or liking their fingers, as though they were starving, like a pack of fucking zombies you see in old black and white.”

“Damn.” Lucy stopped walking and tapped her forehead with her index and middle finger.

“What's up?”

“All the signs are pointing to it.” She said to herself. “If they're eating and aiming for their chests, and the feral nature. Someone knows, but who?”

“Uh boss, you gonna fill me on what the fuck is going on?” Xander waved his hand in front of her face.

Lucy slapped his hand out of the way. “I want you to go back to the house and stay there until I tell you.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I'm going to go for a walk. I want to see these attackers for myself.”

“By yourself? Now? You're fucking nuts! Even you can't handle-”

“Get back to the house, Xander.”

“But-”

“Do as I say before I lose my temper. I can handle myself far better then you can. Go.”

Xander stiffened. “Just remember, if you kick the bucket, I'm the one who's going to have two pissed as shit nightwalkers on my ass.” And then he was gone.

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“Hey.”

Kagome turned to see Albier coming out of the house. “What's going on inside?” She asked when he came to stand next to her.

“You can go see for yourself. It's my turn to guard.”

Kagome nodded and walked into the house, grateful to finished with her turn. The moment she went into the house, Kagome swayed as the overwhelming scent of blood and anesthetic came into her nose. She fought between the urge to vomit and the swirling headache that suddenly pounded in her temples. When she got used to the smell, she was aware able to hear the hushed voices of her family members down the hall. Sesshoumaru and Kagura's scent was hovering around the door that led to the lounge. As she came toward the door, she caught a few words.

“You say they were feral?” Kagura said.

“Yeah. It was like they didn't understand a word we said. All they wanted was to…to eat us.”

Kagome leaned toward the door. “What did you do to these attackers?”

“Killed them. It was all we could do.”

“Did you dispose of the bodies?” Sesshoumaru's stern voice drifted through the air.

“N-no. I don't think so. We were so worried about Kouga that we came straight here.”

“So they might still be there?”

“Yeah, if the nightwalkers from our club haven't gotten rid of them already.” There was a pause.

“Thank you for your information. I imagine, it's been a rough night. You may stay here until you're leader recovers. I would ask, that you not leave until your injuries have healed.”

Kagome heard the sound of wood creaking. She stepped away from the door and ran down the hall, not wanting to bump into the family heads. She was beginning to get the feeling that these nightwalkers were possessed, or insane. No one sane would want to be a cannibal. She was being silly in thinking there was more to it. There had to be an explanation. Kagome punched the wall, growling. What was going on? So focused was she on an explanation, that Kagome didn't notice someone coming toward her, carrying a large stack of boxes.

Kagome collided with the pile of boxes first, and the stack swayed back and forth before tumbling over. Boxes rained down around the hallway. Kagome tried desperately to catch a few, but the boxes scattered in all directions in midair, and several of them broke open, spilling their contents into the air. In the split second that after she'd knocked the boxes over, and failed to keep them from falling, Kagome's foot slipped on a round object, and she fell against the floor. Her bottom hit the floor first, and then a box flew toward her head and Kagome fell flat against the floor to avoid it. The last thing she saw before another box flew over her head was Inuyasha completely lose his balance as the last box flew from his hands. He began to quickly fall over her and Kagome brought her arms up to cover her face. In the last second, instinct kicked in and Inuyasha slapped his hands flat on the floor on either sides of Kagome's head. As soon as he got his balance back, he eased his knees down onto the floor gently.

Kagome slowly removed her arms away from her face. She stared at Inuyasha's surprised face. Then they both let out a breath at the same time. “You okay?” Inuyasha asked.

“I'd have been worse if you had squished me.” Kagome laughed nervously. “I'm fine.”

“Good.” Inuyasha sighed. “Watch where you're going next time.”

“Look who's talking.” Kagome snorted.

Inuyasha squinted at her. “I was carrying a shit-load of boxes. It's not like I could see when there's cardboard in front of my face.”

“Couldn't you have carried two at a time, instead of stacking up boxes to the ceiling? That's a safety hazard you know.”

“Well, I need to clean out three rooms in the next hour and I'm a little shorthanded.”

“Whatever. You just don't want to admit that you're clumsy.”

Inuyasha looked as though she'd slapped him. “I'm. Am. NOT. Clumsy.”

Kagome tapped his nose playfully. “Yes. You. Are.”

Inuyasha gave her a petulant look. Then he bent his elbows and dropped his weight so that his chest touched hers. “Inuyasha!” Kagome whispered urgently. “Get off! What if someone comes down the hall and sees?”

Inuyasha put his forehead against hers. “Admit that I'm not clumsy and that you weren't watching where you were going.” He said in a bored tone.

“Oh grow up! It was a joke.” Kagome tried to wriggle out from under him but he put a hand on her shoulder to keep her down. Kagome glared at him when he smirked. “Admit it and I'll get off.” He said silkily.

From somewhere deep inside her, Kagome felt the sudden urge to resist. “Stop being so childish! Get off! If someone comes down the hall-”

“And what? We're mates aren't we? Let them watch.” Kagome stared incredulously at him, waiting for him to laugh. But he didn't.

“No! I can't, not like this! I'm not like Natalia! This is too embarrassing.” Kagome wriggled again, this time hitting him in an attempt to push him off. “Get off, get off, get off.”

“What's all the noise?”

Kagome froze. She bent her head to look down the hall. Claire stared at them. Then her eyes traveled over the boxes and scattered supplies. She raised her brows at their position on the floor. Kagome could feel her entire body burning with the uncomfortable heat of humiliation. Claire shook her head and then turned. “You know what, I'm not even going to comment.” Then she walked down the hall.

Kagome panicked and, finally, kicked Inuyasha off. She got to her feet, calling after Claire. “Wait, it's not…” But Claire was already gone from the hall. Kagome stood, staring at the empty space and feeling like she had just tripped onstage in front of millions of people. Then Inuyasha chuckled and Kagome rounded on him.

“That's not funny. Now she's going to think that we're both perverts who can't keep our hands off each other or something.”

Inuyasha laughed again, his hand pounding his knee. The sound was so joyful, it seemed to resonate in the hall, and Kagome felt a little less angry because of it. “So? Claire's always been a gossip and it's not like the family doesn't know what we've been doing.”

At this, Kagome's face turned white. “What do you mean?”

Inuyasha stood. “It's obvious. We're mates. And it's summer. We're expected to act sex crazed. Don't worry about it.” He bent to move boxes away from the center of the hall.

“By the way, Kagome.” He said as he began to pick up supplies and put them in their place. “You could at least help me with these, considering it was your fault they got knocked over.”

Kagome grumbled. “You'd think after embarrassing me on that that I shouldn't help you.”

“That was for calling me clumsy.” Inuyasha chuckled, pushing a full box out of the way and reaching for an empty one. “Gotta admit though, it was worth it to see your embarrassed face.”

Kagome smacked him upside the head. “Ow!”

“You're lucky I'm not as immature.” She said as she bent to help him clean up the hall. After a few moments of silence, with Inuyasha laughing quietly to himself every now and then, the floor was clean. Kagome lifted a few boxes and asked, “Why the hell were you carrying so many damn boxes anyway?”

Inuyasha shrugged, picking up the rest of the boxes and turning to go down the hall. “Clearing out our extra rooms. Our guests have to stay somewhere, and as I said, I need to do it fast.”

Kagome fell into step next to him. Slowly she said, “How's Kouga doing?”

Inuyasha scowled, his face losing any notion of the cheer it had several minutes before. “Not too good last I heard from Rukiya. She's cleaned the venom from his wounds and bandaged him, but she says that when he moves, the wounds reopen.”

“So what can we do?”

“Nothing. All we can do is get him blood and meat and hope that he has enough strength to pull through.” Inuyasha's arms tightened around the boxes. “For our sake I hope he recovers. We'd be in some bad shit if he died on us. It's bad enough that we have no control over when these attacks are happening, it would be much worse for our image if nightwalkers who came here for help end up losing a comrade. His family would be pissed. Plus, I hate the mutt.” Inuyasha grated his teeth. “But I'd hate even more if he kicked the bucket and I couldn't get my hands on the killers who did it.”

They exited the main house and walked out into the storage room. It was a small, wooden shack built a few ways off from the main house. As Inuyasha finished staking the boxes, Kagome stood by the doorway, reflecting on what he'd said. “Hey Inuyasha?”

“Hmm?”

“You said that it would be bad for our image if he died. Is there some, I don't know, bad blood between the nightwalkers and the King's family?”

Inuyasha looked at the wall behind Kagome. “To be honest, it's been tough getting control back over the nightwalker world. A lot of nightwalkers were used to the chaos that when we began to impose our rules on them, they wend completely shit faced and some rebelled. We were lucky enough to get a few loyal and capable families to govern different parts of the world.”

Kagome nodded. She knew that the family had stationed some powerful leaders to monitor nightwalkers in different parts of the world, but she'd never heard of any rebellion. “It was a mess. There would be small riots and conflicts all over, and we still had to see who was loyal to us or the old `king,' and people were angry with us for not being able to take control so quickly. Add in these random attacks that we can't predict or stop and people are even more pissed off.”

“Sounds like a regular government to me.” Kagome said.

Inuyasha shook his head. “If these attacks get worse we won't have to worry about just public opinion.” He waved his hand in the air as though pushing those thoughts away. “I still have work to do. Those rooms aren't going to clean themselves and…why are you smiling.”

Kagome blinked and then frowned. “Oh, I was smiling? I guess I'm just surprised that you told me about the riots that's all.”

“Why wouldn't I tell you? You're apart of the King's family, you should know.”

Kagome laughed. “I seem to remember a time when you didn't tell me anything.”

“What? Are you still talking about that? That was years ago, and you were still human.” The defensive look on his face made Kagome laugh again.

“I know. I'm just glad that you tell me things now. It makes me feel included. Thank you.”

Relief washed over Inuyasha's face. “Oh, uh, you're welcome. So are you going to stand there or are you going to help me with those rooms?”

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After two nights of worrying, Rukiya finally came out of her seclusion to meet with the family in the lounge. “His wounds have fully closed. Now all we have to do is wait for him to wake up.” She said.

“Was there anything odd about the Injuries?” Sesshoumaru inquired.

Rukiya flicked her long black braid off her shoulder. “Yes, there was a lot of venom in the area around his chest, but not near his heart. Strange, it was as though the attacker was trying get his heart without poisoning it.” She reached into her shirt pocket.

“I also found these,” Rukiya opened her hand. In her palm rested several black teeth. “Most likely from his attacker. Odd, nightwalker teeth aren't easy to pull out. Kouga must have been putting up quite a fight.”

“Of course he was,” said one of Kouga's family members.

Rukiya pocketed the fangs. “If those nightwalkers had gotten to Kouga's heart, he would have been dead. It's a good thing that you guys got him here right after the attack.” She then turned to face Sesshoumaru and Kagura. “Have you gone after the attacker's bodies?”

“Yes.” Sesshoumaru said. He kicked a medium sized box toward Rukiya's knees. “I sent some Christiano and Bill to the place that Kouga's family members said the attack occurred.”

Rukiya gave Sesshoumaru a quizzical look. Then she bent to open the small box. When she removed the lid, she gasped. The family and Kouga's men leaned forward as Rukiya pulled out a bone from the box, but it wasn't an ordinary bone. It was black, as though the bones had been pulled out a fire. “What is this?” She said.

“That was all we found.” Said Bill. “We got there and checked on the rest of Kouga's family, they're fine by the way, and they said that all they found after the attack were these bones.”

“When we picked them up, they were hot. No flesh, just bones.” Christiano added.

“I'm afraid that doesn't leave me with much to examine then.” Rukiya said. Just then, a series of ferocious screams echoed through the house. They were coming from above, from Kouga's room.

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Author's Notes:

I'm BACK and beating the writer's block! Anyway, I know the story is slow now, but trust me, stick around and pretty soon, things aren't going to be this peace. Why, it's almost time for the shit to hit the fan…Oops, I've said too much.

Anyway, please pardon the errors; I'll fix them later. I hope you enjoyed and I hope for reviews…Please?

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