InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Midnight Blood ❯ Darkness ( Chapter 14 )

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

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Wow, it has been a while since I uploaded anything.  I apologize for the wait, I would have uploaded sooner, but, let’s just say, I haven’t had a very nice summer.  But it’s all behind me and I’m hoping things will look up.  I don’t know if anyone really reads these chapter notes, but I gotta say, all that negativity really helped make this chapter.  Nonetheless, here it is.  
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DISCLAIMER: I don’t own Inuyasha nor do I take credit for Romiko Takahashi’s genius.
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Dedicating this chapter to Splendid Goddess and Angel Up Above Heaven for their great reviews and their words of encouragement.  Thank you SO MUCH!
@SPLENDIDGODDESS: That’s it.  I’m calling you Reviewer Goddess from now on.  No, you don’t get out of this one, it’s WAY too late for that, you’re too insightful and awesome for your own good.  Also, who says that Inuyasha and Kagome will even have time to worry about killing each other now?
@ANGEL UP ABOVE HEAVEN: Your review took me completely by surprise.  I hadn’t checked my account in a while, and had given up on new reviews, but seeing yours made me SO happy.  Especially when you said you liked the scene with Lilliana and Narek.  I would like to put more sexy scenes between them, but I don’t know if my readers are up for it.  Thanks for the review!  Enjoy!    
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He felt the impact seconds after he heard the crunch of his body hitting something, and before he could even figure out where he was, what he hit, or even react to the trail of fire that was blazing in his tender back, he found that he was sinking.  It was dark, no light, and whatever muck he was sinking into was pulling him down and fast.  He flailed his arms, trying to swim in what felt like thick syrup.  His lungs ballooned against his rip cage.  There was no up, no down, no shape, only black, and he couldn’t breathe.  He eyes bulged, his mind screamed, his arms and legs began to lose feeling.  
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‘Weak.’
-_-_-_-_-_-_- He kept kicking and pulling with his arms and legs, trying to propel himself forward in the darkness that was so deep, not even his enhanced eyes could see through it.
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‘If you let something as small as this defeat you, you might as well sink.’
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Liquid began to fill his lungs, his chest began to tighten as though his ballooned lungs were being squeezed and yet he threw all the strength he had into one final push and finally breathed air.
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‘So you’re not so weak after all.’
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Inuyasha hacked, growled, and breathed in again before he was dunked back into the water as something hard, another wave, hit him from the side.  He breached the surface again and panted, breathing in air as though he was a newborn baby clearing out his windpipe.  The sloshing of water drew hit attention and he dove to avoid another wave.  
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Where was he?  He resurfaced again and looked up.  There were no stars in the sky. In fact, there was no sky.  What stretched out above him had no moon, no stars, just black.  He looked around him but saw nothing.  Impossible.  He could see in the dark; he was a nightwalker.  
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Screams.  Inuyasha turned his head toward the sound.  
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‘‘Lilliana! Kagome!’’
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But he never got an answer.   He fought against endless waves, using more and more of his dwindling energy to stay afloat in that literal sea of darkness until, mercifully, his foot hit something solid.  Ground.  He sunk under the water, traced the surface with his feet, walked along the floor till he found shore, and collapsed from sheer exhaustion.  He wasn’t even sure if he had slept, or if he had just laid there for hours staring into complete darkness.
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Finally, he pushed himself to stand on shaking legs and looked around.  Still nothing.  ‘‘Okay, so my eyes are useless.’’  Closing his eyes, he breathed in deep.   The scent of earth, trees and salt water came to his nose while the sound of wind, water, and rustling leaves caressed his ears.  Following his nose and ears, he made his way into the forest with his hands outstretched in front of him like a blind man.  He touched something rough and hard.   
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‘‘Tree.’’  He said, opening his eyes.  ‘‘Okay, you goddamn voice.  Where the fuck am I and why can’t I see anything?’’
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Silence.  Inuyasha sighed.  ‘‘I should have known you’d shut up the moment I have a question.’’  He leaned against the tree and slide down.  Wherever he was, it was cold.  Shivering, he pulled his jacket off and squeezed the water out of it.  ‘‘So this must be that place that Kouga, Kagome, and I experienced.   Nothing but cold and black, the only thing that’s missing is the paranoia, and what the fuck is going on?’’
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No answer.  
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‘‘Last thing I remember, I was at Lucy’s place watching Kagome wrestle Lilliana into the floor. Then there was that feeling again.’’   
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He rubbed his shoulders, though whether it was because he was shivering or afraid, he wasn’t sure.  ‘‘Come on, Inuyasha, think!  I’ve felt that feeling twice now.  The first time, I was sure something had happened and I just knew I was in the most danger somehow.  I still felt like I was in the most danger.  But this time-’’
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He remembered.  He had felt fear and fatigue.  And then, ‘‘The voice spoke to me again.  ‘Soon you’ll be in the land where all true nightwalkers are born.’  Is that where I am?’’  He looked around him as though a light would suddenly reveal where he was, illuminating some ancient forest and ruins that explained his situation, but nothing came to him instead.   
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‘‘Lilliana.  Was this why she was freaking out?  That would explain why Kagome was trying to wrestle her into holding still.  I wonder where they are, and if they’re all right.’’
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He leaned back against the tree and brought his legs to his chest, trying to concentrate his body heat into a smaller package.
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‘‘Fuck.  What now?’’
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Kagome jerked when she heard her name.  ‘‘Inuyasha!’’  Another wave hit her, and she never knew whether he heard her or called back.  She fought against the water, but with each kick, she found herself drinking in more salt then air.  The waves threw her under and over as though she were a piece of driftwood; she sucked in one breath of air and then found herself breathing salt water the next second.  
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She was going to die there, in that endless abyss she had felt before, and the only saving grace, was that there was no evil voice speaking to her about ripping her heart out.  Kagome flailed her arms and legs as her mind began to go black.  Air.  She wanted air.  She wanted life.  She couldn’t die now!
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Something hard hit her in the stomach, and she felt bubbles escape from her mouth.  The hardness didn’t let go of her waist.  It hoisted her up and out, and Kagome’s ears heard wind as she broke out of the water.
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‘‘What?  You.  You’re not-’’
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She breathed.  Air replaced the ice-water in her lungs.  She didn’t notice that she was being moved away from the harsh waves.  She didn’t feel water move beneath her.  She didn’t see, but she heard him panting, whoever he was.  He put her down on soft sand.  As her nose cleared, the scent of living greenery and the ocean drifted to her.
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‘‘No.  You’re not her.  Well, I jumped into Raging Salt Lake for nothing.’’  There was an annoyed huff.
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Kagome turned her face toward the sound of the voice, but instead of asking who he was, she found herself wondering why she couldn’t see anything.  ‘‘Why?’’ He sounded amazed.  ‘‘You are in Ghost Forest.  No sensible nightwalker comes in here and turns on the light, unless you want to be eaten alive.  Which reminds me, why were you taking a swim in Raging Salt Lake?  You are lucky you didn’t get eaten by a sea worm.’’
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‘‘Wasn’t taking a swim.’’ Kagome spat in between gasps for air.  ‘‘Who are you and what’s a sea worm?’’
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He laughed.  Then he took a deep breath.  ‘‘You smell of human.  Ah, that explains it.’’
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Before Kagome could even try to understand what he was saying, he continued.
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‘‘You wished to know what a sea worm is?  It’s a massive worm that lives in seawater, ten meters high and sixteen meters long with a mouth as big as its head and four rows of square teeth.  If you had run into one, all that would have been left of you would be broken pieces of bone on this beach.’’
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‘‘W-what?’R 17;
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‘‘I’m going to tell you the truth, sweetheart.  I only saved you because I thought you were someone else.  If you want to survive in this world, trust no one, and don’t turn on the lights.  Follow your nose and ears until you are out of this forest, until you can no longer smell the sweet trees, until you can finally see the red moon in the sky.  Don’t stop moving until you are out.  Then you’ll be out of Ghost Forest, and safe.  Well, safe enough.  Stay here, and you’ll be spider food for sure.’’
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Kagome stood and reached out into the darkness with her hands.  She touched something warm and soft, and fisted it.  
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‘‘Let go.’’ He said patiently, but she was sure she heard a hint of warning in his tone.  She didn’t care.
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‘‘I-I don’t understand!’’  She squinted, hating the fact that she couldn’t see.
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‘’Where am I?  Who are you?  What’s going on?’’ She demanded hysterically.
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His hands pushed hers away.  She tried to hold on to him but his was grip so strong, it was though she was tying to hold onto metal using nothing but wet tissue paper.
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And then she alone.  
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Kagome reached out and around her, but felt nothing.  On the edge of panic, she was about to scream, until her hand found something.  It was a tree.  The scent of earth and forest reached her. Follow your nose and ears, he had said.  
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‘‘‘And don’t turn on the lights.’ He makes it sound as though I can make fire with my hands.’’  
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The darkness pressed against her as though it were a blanket smothering her face.  She felt dizzy and weak just from not being able to see her hand in front of her face.  How had he, whoever he was, seen her in all this black?  To keep herself from screaming and thrashing, she closed her eyes, and took a deep breath each time she stepped, reminding herself that she was awake and alive and not in some hellish nightmare where she could hear the voice of a sinister man promising her pain and suffering.  As each tear came ran down her face, she concentrated on the moisture and the coldness they left behind on her skin to keep herself from thinking.
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The scent of forest became less intense the more she walked, and the sounds of rustling leaves and bushes began to die down.  She must have been making progress.  Kagome choose her steps with care, walking slowly, focusing on making her footsteps as soft as possible on the earthy floor, for whenever she made a sound, another sound could be heard in the distance.  
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Breathe, step, pause, listen, breath and step, Kagome counted.  The air around felt thinner, easier to navigate through.  The scent of the forest was getting weaker.  Her eyes began to hurt.  Kagome opened them and, suddenly, stopped walking.  There was a tiny spec of red right in front of her.  Alarmed, brought her fists up, waiting for an attack from that red eye in the distance.  
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But the spec didn’t move.  Kagome looked over her shoulder and around her.  The only visible thing she could make out was the spec of red, which, now that she looked closer, was not directly in front of her, but a few paces away.  Kagome took a step forward and breathed in.  The scent of the forest was really weak now.  She took a few steps back and found that the scent became slightly stronger.  
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‘‘Okay, I must be near the exit.  He said something about a red moon.  Is that it?’’
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She stood there for a moment and listened.  The sounds of the forest sounded farther away, but she could still hear calls and rustling within the darkness.  ‘‘Red or not, it’s better then being in all this black.’’
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She walked.  The red spot became bigger and bigger, and finally, Kagome walked out of the forest.  In front of her was a wide plain with black grass.  Above her was a black, starless sky, and, hanging in the middle of it, a moon the color of blood.  
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Kagome risked looking behind her.  Besides a few trees that marked the edge of the forest, she could not see into the darkness she had just come out of.  But she could see eyes, teeth, and mouths looking at her from between the trees.
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Kagome covered her mouth to keep from screaming.  ‘‘Where am I?’’
  
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Lucy stared up at the massive hole above her.  It stretched all the way to her penthouse apartment.  Rubble and dust decorated the edges of the hole, and injured humans were wobbling about on the first level trying to make sense of what had happened.  Sirens could be heard in the distance.  The human police would be here soon and would bombard them with useless questions about bombs or terrorist attacks.  
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She grinded her teeth together then turned on her two subordinates.  ‘‘Are you sure that’s all you saw?’’
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Xander and Chase exchanged a look.  ‘‘Yes.  One second, the three of them were in the apartment, then that hole appears in the floor and begins to suck them in.  By the time we came down here to look for them, you found us.’’ Chase said.  ‘‘Fast response time by the way.’’
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‘‘Damn it!’’ Lucy hissed.  ‘‘When I felt that disturbance in my abilities, I never could have predicted-damn it!’’
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‘‘Do you know where they are?’’
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‘‘Yes, I do, Chase.  And I can’t go after them.’’  She looked at the two men.  ‘‘And neither can the two of you.’’
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The sirens became louder.  ‘‘Get out of here.  Find someplace and lay low for a while until I contact the two of you.  Well?  What are you waiting for? Go!’’
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The two men left.  Lucy left the broken building just as paramedics rushed in and people came out to gawk at the event.  She made her way out of the smelly city, and, once she was free of the city limits, she ran.  On the side of a dark mountain, surrounded by dry plants and dirt, in the quiet, she closed her eyes.  Her consciousness flew, away from body, away from the city, away from the world.  She followed a trail of energy left by a specific being, searching from him.  She found him, but he wasn’t in the human world.  He was elsewhere, deep in a darkness she knew and hated.  She wasn’t surprised to find him there.  She knew he would find that place eventually.  It would call to him the same way it would call to any nightwalker who had awakened and nurtured his inner beast.  
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She could see him clearly, even though he stood in half-darkness, with the only light coming down from the red moon above him.  She knew that place, that horrible world.  Its stench still made her sick.  She called out to him with her mind.
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‘‘Narek.’’
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She saw him shrug.  ‘‘I knew you would find me.’’  His thoughts reached her.  ‘‘Though I am surprised that it took you this long.’’   
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‘‘How long have you been in that world?’’
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‘‘Six years.’’
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‘‘So you found your way there six days ago.’’
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He smiled.  ‘‘So time does flow differently between these two worlds.  That would explain why it took you so long to contact me.’’
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‘‘How did you get there?’’
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An image of a woman with silver hair floated in Lucy’s mind.  Tsubaki, Narek called her.  In her thoughts, she saw Narek track Tsubaki down and follow her trail to a deep, crime infested area of the city where he jumped into a black hole on the wall of an old, forgotten building.  ‘‘So that’s where they opened the link between the two worlds.’’
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‘‘You are going to seal that entrance.’’
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‘‘I am.’’ She said. ‘‘Our three guests have been dragged into that world.’’  
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‘‘So you would leave them here as well?  I assumed you were interested in nothing but their imprisonment.’’
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‘‘That world must never bleed into this one.  If they have been pulled there then so be it.  I cannot risk such a connection to be made, no more then I can risk the three of them falling into the wrong hands.’’
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‘‘So what is it you want me to do?  You would not have sought me out with your spirit unless you wanted something.’’
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‘‘You are correct.  There is something I want you to do.’’
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Narek grunted out a short laugh.  ‘‘And what makes you think I will still follow your commands?  In the years I have been in this wonderful world, I have learned much more then you have told me in the century that I have known you.’’
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‘’You’ve lived in that world for six years.  I’ve been in there for hundreds.  Even the oldest monsters in the darkness cannot give you the knowledge you seek, but I still can.’’
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‘‘I grow weary of waiting, Lucy.’’
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‘‘Do as I say and you shall be one step closer to receiving all my knowledge.’’
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‘‘What do you wish of me?’’
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‘‘I want you to find them, and kill them.  All of them.’’
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