InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Palm of Your Hand ❯ Work Song ( Chapter 18 )

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

Disclaimer: InuYasha is the property of Rumiko Takahashi, not me. I'm just having fun and making no money doing it.

Work Song

"I really appreciate all you've done for me, Jen...you'll never know how much it means to me that you were willing to give me a chance."

"Oh, stop it!" The woman who had been Kagome's boss for the past seven years said, as she used a hand to fan at her teary eyes. "You're getting me all choked up."

Kagome smiled and wrapped her arms around her boss's shoulders. "I'm going to miss all of you." she said as the woman returned her hug.

"We are going to miss you too. Now go on!" she said, breaking the embrace and shooing Kagome away with a wave of her hands. "We have to save some of this mushy stuff for when you actually leave in two weeks." she chuckled.

Kagome giggled. "Okay. I'll see you Sunday." she said as she exited the front door of the bar, making her way across the street, her boss watching her trek to ensure her safety.

Kagome turned and shot a wave back towards the bar as she pushed the key into the lock at the bakery. Jen returned the wave as Kagome slipped inside, keying in the code that disarms the security system and locking the door behind her. She had just put in her two-weeks notice at the bar. Her co-workers were all sad to hear that she would be leaving, but they were genuinely happy for her. She knew InuYasha would be ecstatic, and she could hardly wait to surprise him with the news the following evening.

She flipped on the light switch as she entered the kitchen and immediately noticed that whoever had closed up shop the previous evening had neglected to empty the overflowing, industrial size garbage can by the back door. "Lazy asshole." she grumbled to herself and she placed her purse in the cabinet. 'Probably should take my ring off too, I guess.' she thought as she slipped the ring from her finger, stopping to admire it for a moment before placing it carefully on the shelf next to her purse.

She closed the cabinet door and sat her backpack containing her 'uniform' overalls on the floor. 'Probably shouldn't change into my clean clothes before I tackle this.' she thought as she sized up the large trash can. Sighing loudly, she rolled up her sleeves, cinching and tying the drawstring tight before attempting to remove the large, heavy, black plastic bag. With a loud grunt, she hoisted it as high as she could, which was unfortunately about six inches short of clearing the lip of the can, before dropping it back down.

Turning the garbage can on it's side, she dragged the bag out onto the floor, silently praying that it wouldn't tear open before it reached its destination. She unlocked the deadbolt of the back door and rolled the bag out into the alley. Looking the dumpster up and down, she decided that it would be pointless for her to even try lifting the bag into it by herself. She edged it over, a few feet at a time until it was propped up against the side of the dumpster. 'There...someone else's problem now.' she thought cheekily, dusting her hands on the front of her shirt. Standing up straight, she gasped as she felt cold, hard steel pressing against the base of her skull.

"Didn't your daddy ever teach you that little girls shouldn't go into dark alleys alone at night?" a gravely voice breathed against her ear.

She drew in a breath to scream, but the stranger's hand was over her mouth in a flash; the stench of malt liquor and stale cigarette smoke invading her nostrils. In all her years of working in a bar, she had never found the smell of liquor quite so putrid and foul as she did at this moment.

"You scream," He slid the gun across her face, just far enough so she could get a glimpse of it before holding the barrel against her temple and pulling back the hammer with his thumb. "and you're corpse will be the next thing that gets thrown in that dumpster." he threatened before hesitantly sliding his hand away from her mouth. He moved the gun from her head to the center of her back before pressing her forward, toward the door from which she had exited. "Is anyone else in there?" he asked her. "And don't fucking lie to me." he added forcefully.

Kagome was trying to seem brave, but her shaking hands and legs were betraying her. She was trying desperately to remember what she was supposed to do in a situation like this. She felt like it was a bad decision to enter the empty bakery with this guy, but was it safer to try and run? Unlikely.

"M...my boss is in there." she stuttered. Hoping that it didn't sound like the obvious lie that it was. She cringed as the man jerked her head back by her hair before positioning the gun directly under her chin. "I thought I told you not to lie, bitch!" the criminal ground out through his teeth.

Kagome closed her eyes tightly as every muscle in her body tensed, tears and quiet sobs escaping against her will, her knees threatening to buckle at any moment. But for her involuntary whimpering and sniffling, the alley remained quiet for several seconds as she waited for the inevitable gunshot, her entire body trembling almost violently.

"I've been staking the place out for weeks. A young girl, working alone at night... it makes it an easy target, wouldn't you agree?" he said calmly as he withdrew the gun from her chin and twisted his fist into the back of her shirt, pushing her in the back door and closing it behind them.

Kagome, still in shock, gave no response.

"All you have to do is give me the money, don't scream, don't turn around, and don't fucking lie again, and I won't blow your brains out all over the goddamn walls." he threatened.

Kagome actually felt slight relief at his words. It sounded like maybe, just maybe, he was only here for the money, and if she complied with his demands she would survive this ordeal unscathed. "The safe is in my boss's office. Through that door." She pointed in the appropriate direction. She led the man into the office and opened a cabinet, inside was a small, gray safe with a black keypad. She actually didn't know the safe's code, but knowing her boss, it was probably the same as the code for the security system. She held her breath as she punched in the numbers with her thumb. Every muscle in her body relaxed at once when she heard the clunk of the lock bolt sliding open. She mentally cheered as she quickly reached in and pulled out the cash tray, sliding all the cash out of the dividers.

"Put your hands behind your head." he said after she passed the money back to him. She complied. "Where's your purse?"

'Greedy son of a bitch.' Kagome thought to herself. "It's in the first kitchen cabinet to the right of the door."

He led her back into the kitchen. "Stay in front of me...and don't turn around." he said as he opened the cabinet.

He reached inside and pulled out her purse. She could hear him rifling through it behind her back. Slowly and carefully she glanced to the side just in time to see his hand reaching back into the cabinet and grabbing her ring. 'Damn.' she mentally cursed. She had hoped that maybe, just maybe, he would overlook it. No such luck...

"Oh, how sweet." The man said facetiously. "Did your boyfriend give this to you?"

Kagome pressed her lips in a thin line, refusing to acknowledge him.

"Well, it don't really matter. It's mine now." he said smugly as he slipped the ring into his pocket. "I wonder how he'll feel when he finds out you lost it." he chuckled, before pulling her back roughly against his chest. "I wish I could see the look on his face when he finds out what else I'm gonna take from him." he said pointedly, keeping the barrel of his revolver in contact with her head.

Kagome's heart sank into her shoes. Her mind threatened to shut down. She couldn't' believe this was happening to her...

Then, as disgusted and terrified as she was, she suddenly had a moment of clarity. Firing the gun inside the building would be his last resort, as it would more than likely draw enough attention to get him caught. The odds weren't exactly in her favor, but she felt like it was worth the risk. She was going to be brave. She was going to fight this guy.

She might not win. In fact, she may very well die today, but she wasn't going down without a fight.

Frantically she searched her mind. Trying to remember the self defense moves that Ru had taught her years ago. As she felt his disgusting hand slither around her waist to the zipper of her pants she did the first thing that came to her mind. She quickly leaned forward and threw her head back as hard and as fast as she could against his face. He let out a growling cry of pain as he clutched his nose, the blood beginning to flow almost instantly. Kagome took that opportunity to turn around and send her knee hurdling into his groin with all the power she possessed. The robber doubled over for a second and both of Kagome's hands shot toward the hand that held the small black revolver.

"You've done it now, bitch!" he threatened angrily as he grabbed her around the waist and tackled her to the floor.

As the scuffle continued, Kagome somehow managed to slip one finger against the trigger, firing the gun into the wall with her last ounce of strength. The next thing she knew his hands were around her throat, choking her as he slammed her head into the hard vinyl tile floor. 'InuYasha's going to be so mad at me when he finds out I'm dead.' she thought as she struggle to draw a breath. Had she not been in the process of being killed she probably would have chuckled at that ridiculous thought. That was the last thing that crossed her mind before everything went black.