InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Moving Pictures ❯ Discovery ( Chapter 16 )

A/N: Yes, it's late. I'm sorry. Did anyone see NIN at the Bowl last night? Man, what a concert. They are as good live as they are in the studio.

 

FFnet: gothic-ember - I believe in happy endings. Lucifer001 - the `xlemonx' things are markers for text that I cut out. The full chapter, lemons included, is posted on my mediaminer account.

 

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any other character created by Rumiko Takahashi.

 

Chapter 16 - Discovery

 

Charlotte stared at her computer screen, willing it to find her a good excuse to request more time off. She had to do it soon: midmorning was rapidly waning and her boss would be taking lunch soon. The music pumping into her ears through her headphones prevented her from hearing him until he tapped her shoulder. She jumped and snatched off the headphones, hitting pause on her mp3 player.

 

“Can I have a word with you in my office?”

 

Winston leaned back in his plush desk chair, tapping a ballpoint pen against the armrest. His gray eyes were calm and serious, his lips slightly pursed. Charlotte sat across from him and tried not to fidget as she waited for him to speak. Normally a prankster, his solemn mood was a little disconcerting.

 

“How was your vacation?” he finally asked, leaning forward abruptly and fixing her with an intent gaze.

 

“Uh, fine, I guess…”

 

“Mm hmmm. Meet anyone… interesting?”

 

She blinked at him, confused and a little incensed. “Winston, I don't think-“

 

“I can smell him on you.”

 

“What?”

 

“I've suspected for years, but I wasn't sure until you came in this morning.” Charlotte touched her ears briefly, in a moment of panic wondering if she'd lost her human shape. “Oh, don't worry, you look human, but you're as human as I am.”

 

His statement hung in the air, ricocheting through her brain like a rubber ball in a squash court. She glanced out his office window: palm fronds waved in the breeze, cars whizzed by on the freeway. Everything seemed normal; no flying monkeys were dropping out of the sky to carry her away. She turned back to her boss, eyes narrowing at his smirk.

 

“I didn't know you were looking for a mate, otherwise I'd have tried to find out about you sooner. Introduced you around.”

 

“Around? How many are there? I thought my brother and I were it!” She quelled the rising hysteria. It was too much to handle, all of her firmly held beliefs being shattered in two weeks.

 

“Very few, barely enough to keep the species going. Which is why it's important that we keep tabs on unmated weres.”

 

“I'm not looking for a mate.”

 

“Oh? You smell like you've already found one.”

 

She sighed, resigning herself to the weirdness of the conversation. There were others and she'd never known? And she'd been working for one for the past six years? A sense of elation washed over her; even though she had to leave Sesshomaru, she wouldn't have to be alone. “It's complicated. Why… why have I never sensed them?”

 

“For the same reason they don't know you - they hide their scent. Like I said, I wasn't sure about you until you came in smelling like him. Where did you find a dog? I haven't seen a dog in years…”

 

“Uh, yeah, about that…” She rubbed a hand over her face, sorting through her thoughts for the best explanation. “He's from out-of-town and he's helping me find my brother.”

 

“He's missing? Have you called the police?”

 

“It's kinda out of their jurisdiction.”

 

He waited for her to elaborate, but she left it that, sending him an imploring look. “Okay… And you want more time off to look for him.” At her nod, he sighed and leaned back into his chair, resuming his pen tapping. “How much time?”

 

She shrugged, “Hopefully no more than a couple of days, but I don't really know.”

 

“Why didn't you just call in sick?”

 

“I'll be out of reach as soon as I leave.”

 

He sighed again, heavily, wishing he could smoke in his office. A cigarette sounded really good right now. “I had a project I wanted you to start… small, but urgent.”

 

“I could take it with me and work on it during down time. I really don't think I'll be gone that long.”

 

“Okay. Email me when you can with questions or updates.” He handed her a project folder thick with papers. “And take care of yourself. Dogs are known for their possessiveness.” He winked at her as she took the folder and stood.

 

“I will. Thanks, Winston.”

 

XxxxxxxxxxxX

 

Sesshomaru flared his nostrils, trying to catch the scent that had almost eluded him for the last couple of blocks. He would never have noticed it had he not smelled it before on Charlotte in her human form: an odd, generic human scent. Almost seamlessly blending with the stench of humanity, it had caught his interest through its unusual blandness.

 

He had left Charlotte's apartment in an uncharacteristic fit of frustration. The smell of her saturated her apartment, reminding him both of what he wanted and couldn't have. Instead of bothering with the elevator and maze of corridors that was her apartment building, he had let himself out the balcony, summoning his demon cloud to take him to the street below.

 

Several humans had stared at him as he had landed, slack-jawed and bug-eyed like the animals they were. He had ignored them, gliding by them as if they didn't exist, which they didn't, as far as he was concerned. Wandering aimlessly, he had let his feet lead him through the cement paths. It had been at been at the front of a brightly lit shop that the scent had first snared him.

 

The smell seemed to be coming from a dark little alley between two impossibly tall buildings. It was littered with garbage and stank of urine and decay. Grimacing in distaste, he entered the alley, stepping carefully over a pair of human legs that disappeared under a lean-to made of stiff paper. He couldn't tell if the creature were alive and did not care.

 

The alley made a ninety-degree turn and was bordered by a high, intricately woven metal fence. He paused a moment to note its construction: he could pass on the design to his engineers. Several plump rats scurried under the fence at the sound of his footsteps. Another turn brought him within sight of the street, shiny cars rushing by as if the alley and its occupants did not exist.

 

A group of young toughs blocked his path to the egress of the alley, slouching against the building and whispering amongst themselves, casting him dark glances. The odd smell was coming from one of the taller boys. Sporting a thick red mustache, spiked red hair and a ring through his nose, he was undeniably the leader of the group. He threw Sesshomaru a toothy leer and flipped open a butterfly knife.

 

“This is our alley, motherfucker” the boy growled as his human pack gathered around him. He snapped his wrist and the wicked knife became enclosed in its metal sheath with a series of clacks.

 

Sesshomaru was not impressed. He fixed the pup with a bored stare and stepped forward.

 

“Hey, you deaf? I said, this is our alley. You wanna pass, you gotta pay.” Clack-clack-clack, and the knife-edge gleamed in the light from the street. A chorus of `yeah' came from his pack, which loosened their clustering behind their leader, pulling out various weapons and spacing themselves to completely cover the mouth of the alley.

 

Cocking his head, Sesshomaru wondered what the pups intended to accomplish with such ridiculous things. “You disgrace your race with such behavior,” his comment was directed at the leader; the rest of the pack was beneath him.

 

“Freaky fuck, don't know what the fuck you're talking about.” The tough brandished his knife but glanced nervously at his pack. He kept secret close; none of his gang knew that he wasn't human. He'd kill any that found out. And here was this brazen asshole showing his were features and crests, what the fuck?

 

“Don't you,” Sesshomaru was done playing. Disgusted by the depths to which the youkai population had descended, he was more than willing to put this poor excuse of a demon out of his misery. Summoning his acid whip to his fingers, he flicked it at the youkai.

 

The gang leader shrieked and jumped to the side, but not before he felt the searing tip of the whip slash across his chest. As a group, his fearless gang screamed and stumbled backwards. They prided themselves on using hand-to-hand weapons, had taken down rival gangs armed with guns. But they had never faced a whip of light that burned flesh and melted stone. One brave soul threw his knife at the chest of the strangely dressed silver-haired man and was rewarded with a quick but painful death as the whip sliced through his neck. The rest of the gang scattered, leaving their leader to his fate.

 

Sesshomaru ignored the fleeing humans, walking toward the youkai writhing on the ground, the acid burning into the muscles and bone of his chest. The boy cowered under a raised arm, whimpering and yelping in fear and pain.

 

“Pathetic.” He let the whip dissipate and stepped over him. The boy may live, if he was strong enough, but killing him as he groveled held no honor or sport. He had found what he had hunted, disappointing as it was, and was ready to return to her apartment. The city had lost what little intrigue it had held.

 

XxxxxxxxxxX

 

Fumbling for her keys in her purse, she tried to keep her computer bag from slipping off her shoulder. Yanking the keys free from the mess of receipts, packages of gum, and change that floated at the bottom of her purse, she muttered a curse and shoved her apartment key into the lock.

 

“Charlotte?”

 

She sighed inwardly and turned to her neighbor, pasting a bright smile onto her face and setting her purse and computer bag against the wall by the door. “Hi, Nestor.”

 

He stepped up to her, sidling between her and the apartment door. Watery brown eyes skipped around nervously and he pushed greasy dark hair out of his face with a nervous flick. “I need talk to you.”

 

“Can't it wait, Nestor? I'm in a hurry…”

 

Advancing, his sharp face twisted into a grimace. “It always has to wait! You never listen to me!”

 

“Fine, I'm listening,” Charlotte backed into the wall, startled at the change in his demeanor. She'd always thought he was weak, but now he was downright creepy. Glancing at the door, she wondered if Sesshomaru was inside and if he'd hear them.

 

“You're not listening!” He planted a hand on the wall next to her face, yellowing teeth bared in an attempt to snarl. He hadn't appeared to bathe in days and his breath stank of whisky and rotting teeth, making her wince at the onslaught of foul smells.

 

`Sesshomaru is right, filthy human indeed,' she thought as she tensed to knock him away. A cold hard object was pressed into her ribs and she froze, feeling the first prick of fear. Nestor had gone clean over the edge.

 

“It's exactly what you think it is,” he breathed in her face, pushing the barrel of the gun a little harder against her side.

 

“There are cameras in this hall,” she whispered. Was it loaded? Did he have the safety on?

 

He grinned lopsidedly. “There were cameras in this hall.”

 

“Now Nestor, you really don't want to be doing this,” she forced a sultry smile and looked at through him through her lashes. All she had to do was get the gun away from him and she could incapacitate him.

 

“Shut up, whore. You don't think I know what you've been up to? At least before you didn't bring them here to flaunt them in my face.”

 

“Wha… who?”

 

“Your lovers. Now you're shacked up with that freak with the tattoos. And I've always been right here!” He spat and emphasized his point with a sharp jab of his gun.

 

She suddenly felt Sesshomaru, a whirlwind of youkai energy surging into her apartment, and she reached out to him with her own energy, trying to convey her urgency and the need for stealth. She only hoped that he, like her brother, was sensitive enough to understand it.

 

“I'm sorry, Nestor, I never knew,” she purred, studiously ignoring her front door.

 

“You blow me off and brush me aside. No more, bitch.”

 

“No more,” she agreed and ducked her head in mock submission as she heard the door begin to swing open with the barest of whispers, thanking her lucky stars that she kept the hinges well oiled. Shifting slightly so that she was braced against the wall, she brushed gentle fingers over his cheek. A low growl behind him made Nestor glance backward and lessen the pressure of the gun. Charlotte slammed her forearm against the wrist holding the gun and her knee into his groin. The roar of the gun firing so close to her crashed through her head and she was only vaguely aware of Nestor twisting in agony as acid boiled out of his torso. His smoking corpse twitched next to Sesshomaru, crouched on the hallway floor with his hands clutching his ears. His eyes were screwed shut and his teeth were bared in a silent scream. If he were making any noise, Charlotte couldn't hear it.

 

She reeled against the wall and stumbled over to him, slumping next to him and nuzzling his cheek with her nose. A golden eye opened, bright and full of pain, and she pushed her head under his chin, wrapping an arm around his waist. His heart hammered against her, drowned out by the thunderous ringing in her head. Shaking, she clung to him, biting back the tears that threatened to spill. Finally, he relaxed slightly and ran a graceful hand over her back, holding her close before pulling them both to their feet.

 

“What is that?” he pointed to the shiny metal object still clutched in the dead man's hand, his voice was muffled and distant as she rubbed her ears in a futile attempt to hear better.

 

She swallowed stiffly, her stomach roiling at the sight of Nestor's ruined body, a melted, gaping hole in his chest. His face was contorted in a gruesome rictus of agony, eyes rolled back into their sockets.

 

“A g-gun… you did this?” she couldn't tear her eyes from her neighbor. She'd known him for four years, ever since she'd moved into this apartment. Sure, he proven himself a dangerous scumbag, but no one deserved to die like that.

 

Sesshomaru ignored her stupid question and nudged the gun with his foot. How could such a small device have created such an enormous noise and a rather large hole in the wall? He refused to contemplate what would have happened had that thing still been against the cat when it had gone off. He hadn't understood her desperation and fear when he first found them, had been angered by her flirtatious stance. Clarity had come with the blast of the gun and the acrid taste of explosive powder at the back of his throat. He had come close to losing her and it terrified him. What if Tenseiga had refused to save her as it had Kagura? How many women would slip through his fingers?

 

He came to a decision, deep within himself, of which his conscious mind was barely aware: her brother would return through to this time, but she would not.

 

“Uh, Sesshomaru?” Charlotte tugged at his empty sleeve, still staring at the corpse. “Someone will have called the police… we have to do something with the body.”

 

He felt her trembling through the fabric of his haori. `She isn't screaming or crying hysterically', he thought with pride. `She's still thinking clearly.'

 

“It is almost sunset. We will send it through the painting,” he gave her a little shove into her into the apartment. She returned almost immediately with a large sheet of black material, plastic, she called it. Once he had rolled the corpse onto its face on the plastic with his foot, she grabbed a clean corner and dragged it inside. Extending his hand over the mess left by the body, he let poison drip from his claws onto the floor, dissolving the pool of blood and several layers of flooring. With a quick kick, the gun followed Charlotte into the apartment.

 

“Can you use that?” he asked her as she wrapped the plastic around the body and affixed it with clear strips of sticky stuff.

 

She glanced at the gun with distaste, “Yeah, Charlie taught me how to shoot.”

 

“Good. You will carry it with you.”

 

“But-“

 

“You will not question my judgment, Charlotte. It is powerful and can be used against our enemies. However, you must warn me before you use it.”

 

She opened her mouth to protest, and then closed it quickly, a warm, wondering smile lighting her pale face. “Okay, Sesshomaru.” She applied the last piece of tape to her Nestor roll-up and picked up the little handgun, popping open the bullet chamber. It was almost fully loaded: five bullets were nestled in the cylindrical chamber. She snapped it shut and stuffed it down the front of her skirt. `Sesshomaru One-Arm and Charlotte “The Cat” Beaulieu, that's us,' she thought with a wry twist to her lip.

 

“What about this situation amuses you?”

 

“Nothing. Everything. I don't know.” She scrubbed a hand down her face, and pulled her computer bag onto her shoulder. “It's time to go. Ready?”

 

He nodded and hoisted the body over his shoulder. Pressing it to the painting, he cleared his mind, letting the painting take it to wherever it would. The black plastic roll disappeared in a flash of blue light. Charlotte stepped up to him and he twined his fingers through hers. She would lose consciousness on the other side, but he would not let her fall.

 

Reaching toward the painting, they had almost touched it when she gasped out, “Wait!” She wrapped her free arm around his neck and dragged his head down, pressing her lips to his in a hungry, burning kiss. His blood ignited as he tasted her, memorizing her with his tongue and teeth. Too quickly, he pulled away with a last nip of her bottom lip and touched their fingers to the moving painting.

 

XxxxxxxxxxX

 

Charlotte woke smashed against something hard and unyielding, a strong arm holding her close.

 

“What's wrong with her?” a gruff voice asked. She blinked several times to bring the hanyou into focus, finding the floor with her feet.

 

“Disgraceful, my lord, having to support such a worthless creature with your own arm,” the unmistakable squawk of Jaken sounded behind her.

 

“Shut up, Kermit,” she grumbled, shaking the last of the fog from her brain and glancing around at her surroundings. They were standing in a narrow, windowless hall lit with guttering oil lamps. The walls sweat moisture from porous stone and moss grew between the cracks. Dank and humid, the air smelled septic. Inuyasha and Miroku flanked their women, who held the kit and the firecat.

 

Was she the only one who passed out when traveling through the painting? How embarrassing. Sesshomaru released her and stepped away, the passion of a few minutes ago banked by his usually icy expression.

 

Small arms wrapped around her waist, topped by a tousled black head. “Rin!” she cried, alarmed that the little girl was there but glad to see her nonetheless. Dropping to her knees, she hugged the girl back. “What are you doing here? It'll be dangerous-“

 

“An accurate observation. What is the meaning of this, Jaken?” Sesshomaru turned his cold eyes on his servant, who had begun to shake and stammer.

 

“It's not Jaken's fault, my lord,” Rin broke in. “Rin-I followed on my own,” she blinked up at her lord, her accidental use of the third person showing her nervousness.

 

“It was a foolish thing to do, Rin.”

 

“Yes, my lord.”

 

The monk cleared his throat. “I see that women dress differently in your village than they do in Kagome's.”

 

Charlotte gave him a bored stare, “No, I'm just not in high school.” She adjusted the strap of her computer bag, wondering what on earth possessed her to bring it in the first place. It wasn't like they'd take a break to let her do a little work.

 

“Now you really do look just like your brother,” Sango commented, eyeing her slightly pointed humanoid ears and normal eyes.

 

“Can we get on with this?” Inuyasha snapped.

 

“Please,” Charlotte agreed. She glanced around again. “Where's Charlie?”

 

“He is close.” Sesshomaru scented the air. The male cat had been taken through this passage recently and the trail led up the passage to the stairs at the end of the hall. “This way.” Drawing Tokijin, he led the motley group toward the stairs. Charlotte pulled the gun from her skirt and cocked it, holding it carefully so that her finger didn't touch the trigger but was close enough that she could fire it quickly if necessary.

 

The air became drier and more palatable as they climbed the twisting staircase. Passages opened up to the side as they reached a landing after landing. Sesshomaru would stop and sniff, but each time kept leading them up. The castle seemed strangely deserted, each hall they passed empty of servant and guards. Sesshomaru scoffed silently to himself at the brazen lack of security. He would never have allowed something in his own home.

 

Finally, the trail led into a passage and the group gratefully left the staircase. Though no one had complained, the climb had been long and the humans were feeling it. This hall was as empty as the others and terminated at a tall wooden door. Unadorned except for a metal knob in the center, it seemed to barely contain a heavy, malicious force.

 

Charlotte eased her finger over the trigger of the handgun. Whatever lay beyond the door was not going to be friendly.