InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Purity 8: Vendetta ❯ Fatalism ( Chapter 33 )

~~Chapter 33~~

~Fatalism~

 

-=0=-

 

 

Samantha leaned back and sighed softly, her eyes dark in the shadows of the blanket she had pulled over her head a few hours ago when she'd first felt the gradual decline in her youkai blood. The guard—she didn't know his name—was nodding off in the desk chair where the taijya normally sat.

 

`Where is he?' she wondered for the millionth time in the four nights since he'd last stayed with her. It worried her more than she cared to think about.

 

What if he'd decided to look for himself, to see if her family was out there somewhere, searching for her? What then? What if he ran into them?

 

That thought frightened her. Her family . . . if they figured out that he knew where she was . . .

 

`Don't be stupid, Samantha. How could they? They don't know the taijya, and even if they met him, do you really think they'd be able to tell from first glance that he was the one who had taken you, in the first place? Don't worry about him. He's strong enough to take care of himself.'

 

That thought was enough to bolster her flagging spirits.

 

But where was he?

 

She missed him. Desperately. It wasn't so much that she missed his companionship, per se, but she missed the familiarity, the innate understanding that, so long as he was there that she wasn't alone. She'd noticed it before, hadn't she? He had a way of making her feel as though everything really would be all right, even if her happy ending wasn't the same as everyone else's. Somehow, she felt as though her future were intertwined with his, and even if she didn't know how that was, she knew—knew—that she was meant to be near him; that even had circumstances been different, she'd have had the same feeling, the same compulsion.

 

To help him, to show him . . . to make him understand that there were still things in the world worth seeing, still things worth fighting for . . . Why she wanted to do this, she wasn't certain, and why she knew deep down that he would be back weren't questions that she could answer, but she knew.

 

The incessant tick of the clock was the only sound in the silence. It was maddening.

 

Twisting a long lock of coal black hair around her index finger, she grimaced as she shot the guard another quick glance. She didn't really have to do that, she figured. He was snoring loudly enough to wake the dead. She really hated the feeling of vulnerability that was way too hard to ignore in this place. It was just a matter of time, wasn't it? One of these times, she wasn't going to be able to hide her secret from them, and what then? It wasn't like she really thought that they'd stop their research just because she was human once a month. There was something entirely cold and calculated about them, wasn't there? They didn't care, and whether she was hanyou or human, it wouldn't matter, and she knew that, too.

 

But . . . would it matter to the taijya?

 

Letting out a deep, dejected breath, Samantha shook her head. He . . . he would feel bad, wouldn't he? He'd hate that she was more like him than he'd first thought, and . . .

 

And he'd hate himself for it, wouldn't he? He'd think that he'd done something unspeakable—that was, if he could come to accept that she really was half-human. She didn't really have a reason to believe it, but that didn't really matter. She knew it was true.

 

The last thing she wanted was to add to his list of regrets. He had enough of those already, didn't he?

 

But how long could she keep it a secret? How long before he figured it out for himself?

 

Her youkai was right before when it had pointed out that she wasn't trying very hard to escape. That was true enough, wasn't it? It wouldn't really be that difficult to push the guards away, especially in those moments when they freed her from her shackles so that they could bind her to the gurney, and they'd gotten a little more lax with her of late, as well. It wouldn't take much to gain her freedom—if she could escape without getting herself shot—and while she told herself that she stayed because she didn't want anyone else to go through what they were doing to her, there really was more to it, wasn't there . . .?

 

She stayed because . . .

 

Gritting her teeth as a slow understanding ebbed through her, Samantha closed her eyes. Trying not to think about it wasn't working, and really, if she did, would that actually help her at all? It wouldn't, and she knew it, and it might even have been funny if she were in any position to see the humor in anything. She wasn't.

 

“I don't know, Samantha . . . it's different for everyone . . . I knew from the start that your mother was my mate—at least, my youkai blood did. It took me awhile to catch up . . .”

 

That was what her father had said when she'd asked him how he'd known that Bellaniece was his mate. Her mother had insisted that it had been a more gradual process for her, but that Samantha should take care to listen to that voice because it was never wrong, but more importantly was something else that Bellaniece had said . . .

 

“He's the one who feels familiar . . . and you'll want to protect him, even if you think that there's no way you can . . . because mates protect each other. Your father protects my heart, and I protect his in return . . .”

 

Samantha heaved a sigh. She wasn't entirely sure she wanted to admit something that monumental to herself, not yet, but . . .

 

But the taijya had been familiar to her from the start, hadn't he . . .? She'd recognized something about him, something that had spoken to her, even when she knew nothing else about him at all.

 

Biting her lip as tears welled in her eyes, she let her forehead fall against the cold metal bars of the cage. Why did the understanding—the knowledge—hurt? The pain that swelled inside her was poignant, as bittersweet as the last days of summer, of realizing that one certain day, one special moment in time, could never, ever come again. As quickly as the arguments surfaced in her mind, they faded, gently but surely—as surely as she'd ever known anything else before. It really was hopeless, and she knew that, too. She couldn't ask him to love her, not even a little; not when she knew what had happened to his family . . . not when she understood why he felt the way he did . . .

 

Even still . . . even if she couldn't do more than show him that not all youkai and hanyous were the vile creatures that he believed them to be, that would be enough, wouldn't it? To release him from the ghosts of the past . . .

 

Wrapping her arms a little tighter around herself, she smiled sadly into the darkness. Her grandmother, Gin had told her before that she couldn't pick and choose the people whom she cared for; whom she loved. Samantha hadn't understood that at the time, but now . . . She supposed that Gin had been right, after all.

 

And why did those truths make her feel even more alone than before . . .?

 

 

-OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO-

 

 

“If you do it, you'll be sorry.”

 

InuYasha snorted loudly and turned around to face his half-brother. “How the fuck did I get stuck with you, anyway?” he grumbled but pulled his hand away from the hilt of his sword. Okay, so he had been considering busting down the stone fence with Tetsusaiga, but only because he was feeling a little more frustrated than normal, at the moment.

 

Kagome rolled her eyes and tugged on InuYasha's ear. “Don't be starting a fight, InuYasha. We're out here looking for Samantha, and Sesshoumaru is only trying to help.”

 

“Help drive me nuts,” InuYasha mumbled, inclining his head to alleviate the strain of Kagome's pulling fingers despite the marked scowl on his face. “We got it under control,” he snapped. “Go the fuck away, why don't you?”

 

Sesshoumaru didn't even blink at the intended insult. “Miko, Toga tells me that you've already checked the areas closest to the hotel.”

 

Letting go of her mate's ear, Kagome nodded. “We're working out in a circle. It seemed like the most logical way to go.”

 

He nodded once, his eyes narrowing as he stared around at the dilapidated buildings rampant on this side of Chicago. They were tired, old; most of them wouldn't pass a code inspection, yet it cost too much to rip them all down, so they stood, empty and forlorn—favorite spots for the less-than-savory members of society. Blocks away from the run down tenements and industries, the area was a bleak place, as unwelcoming as the wind blowing off Lake Michigan. “What an ignoble place,” he mused, more to himself than to InuYasha or Kagome.

 

Kagome pressed her lips together and let out a deep breath. “I hope that we don't find her here,” she ventured quietly. “Not in a place like this . . .”

 

“This place, that place—what the hell does it matter? We just find her and bring her home—end of story!” InuYasha growled.

 

“We will,” Kagome added, her smile much thinner than she meant for it to be.

 

Sesshoumaru shot InuYasha a bored stare. “Do not make me regret talking the authorities into letting you keep that.”

 

“Keh! As if you coulda stopped me, bastard.”

 

“All right,” Kagome interjected before the two could get into one of their full-blown name-calling bonanzas. “Let's just go, okay?”

 

InuYasha snorted again, but started walking, his hand resting on the ancient sword's hilt as his eyes shifted from side the side, his ears twitching as he monitored the area for any signs of danger.

 

Kagome rubbed her forehead. She'd figured that it would be something like this when the men had split up for the day. She wasn't entirely sure that it was a good idea to send those two anywhere together, but everyone else was already gone, so there wasn't really any choice. If they managed to get along for the duration of their search, she'd be genuinely surprised.

 

She had to admit, though. InuYasha was actually holding it together much better than she'd have thought. He'd never had much in the way of patience, and they'd been searching for so long now . . . If anything, he seemed even more determined, even more focused. She smiled despite her glum thoughts. He always loved to surprise her, didn't he?

 

“And you have sensed nothing, Miko?” Sesshoumaru asked at length. He knew the answer to that, she was sure, but just wanted to hear it for himself.

 

“Nothing,” Kagome admitted with a grimace.

 

InuYasha uttered a terse grunt. “Don't worry about it, bastard! We got it under control.”

 

“Baka,” Sesshoumaru muttered under his breath.

 

His cell phone rang, and InuYasha rolled his eyes, tapping his foot impatiently as he waited for Sesshoumaru to answer it.

 

It didn't take long, and there wasn't much to discern from the actual side of the conversation that she heard. Sesshoumaru tended to answer in a series of `yes', `no', and `mmm's, so it wasn't surprising when he hang up quickly enough. “I must go,” he said, forestalling any contentious commentary from InuYasha.

 

“Go? Go, where?” InuYasha grumped.

 

“There is something that Zelig would like me to look into,” he replied smoothly. “I trust you shall keep him on a short leash, Miko?”

 

InuYasha started to growl low in his throat. Kagome elbowed him in the ribs to cut him off. “Have a safe trip,” she said instead.

 

The Inu no Taisho nodded once and turned to walk away.

 

“Keh! Why is it that he never does nothin' but piss me off?” InuYasha muttered.

 

Kagome sighed and shook her head. “Come on, dog-boy. We've still got a lot of ground to cover.”

 

He snorted indelicately but fell into step beside her.

 

Kagome suddenly giggled and lifted a hand to flutter over her lips.

 

“What's so funny, wench?”

 

She waved a hand dismissively. “I was just thinking . . . remembering . . .”

 

“'Bout what?” he asked dubiously.

 

Winding down to a gentle smile that somehow looked a little sad, she sighed. “Just remembering what it was like, traveling all over with Sango and Miroku.”

 

“Yeah,” InuYasha intoned in a surprisingly quiet tone. “Could have used his help right about now . . .”

 

“Sometimes I miss them so much that it seems like only yesterday that we last spoke,” Kagome admitted.

 

“I wonder if he ever stopped groping butts,” InuYasha went on. “He was pretty helpful for a human—more helpful than that damned kitsune . . .”

 

Kagome rolled her eyes. “Shippou was a child back then. What did you expect?”

 

“Even youkai children can do more than he ever did,” InuYasha argued.

 

Kagome sighed. It never did any good to argue with him, did it? “You know, you were always so hard on him.”

 

“That's because he was a pain in my ass.”

 

Kagome reached out and grabbed the kotodama rosary that he still wore around his throat. “You know, I could put the spell back on these,” she warned.

 

“Yeah, but you won't,” he goaded. “This is shit! Where the fuck is she?”

 

Kagome fell silent. She had no answers for that, either. In the time they'd been searching, they'd covered roughly a third of the inner Chicago streets. It was a slow process, but what other choice did they have?

 

“Why you so quiet, wench?” InuYasha broke through the silence that had fallen between them.

 

Kagome shook her head, pulling her coat closer around herself. “No reason,” she lied, pasting on a little smile that she only hoped would fool her mate.

 

He didn't look like he bought it, but he nodded just the same. “Let's go,” he finally said, increasing his stride. “Sami's waiting for us.”

 

 

-OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO-

 

 

`So they seem to travel in pairs . . . Makes sense . . . more than two would be conspicuous; less than two would be foolish . . .'

 

Lowering his binoculars, Kurt rubbed his eyes and drew back a little further into the shadows of the alley across from the Chicago Parisian Hotel. He'd followed the twin demons back here after he'd trailed them all over the city, figuring that he would be better off to figure out where they went and how they conducted the search for the little demon.

 

It also didn't take him long to realize a few things. For starters, if he just walked up to one of them and told them that he knew where they could find her, he'd be killed, dead, not because of what they were but because of who they were in relation to her, and while the idea didn't really bother him nearly as much as it should have, he'd come to some other conclusions, too. The biggest reason, however, was simple enough. If he died now, then he'd never be able to do what he planned after he got her out. He was going to systematically destroy the facility and all of the ones like it—destroy them so that they couldn't do this sort of thing to any other little demons who had family waiting back home. If her family wanted to kill him after that, then he figured that was fine, too . . . and with any luck, he'd be able to find the ones who had destroyed his family before the demons caught up to him . . . And the other reasons . . .? Lips thinning in a definite show of resolve, he shook his head. Other reasons . . . like . . .

 

Like the idea that he couldn't do anything that might jeopardize her life, and sending in her family to get her—after he took down the barrier outside the building, anyway—most certainly would. If the researchers panicked and killed her to get rid of the evidence . . . She'd been through enough because of him, because he hadn't understood her or her kind to begin with. The last thing—the very last thing—he'd do was to put her in danger just to assuage his own guilty conscience.

 

Like the knowledge that he couldn't let it go on; that he couldn't just get her out if there were even the smallest possibility that the researchers could hunt her down again and recapture her. No, when he got her out of there, it had to be in such a way that would allow him some sort of head start, enough lead time for him to get her home without the researchers being able to find her again. He'd considered getting her out and leaving her where her family would find her—at the hotel or something—but the problem with that plan was that he would then have to rely upon them to see that she got home, to see that they got her out of Chicago before anyone came looking for her, and he didn't even try to fool himself into believing that they wouldn't try. He didn't give a great goddamn what happened to the white-coats—that's what she called them—but . . .

 

But if she refused to fight back against them now, then it stood to reason that she didn't like the idea of hurting them, even if they didn't feel nearly as benevolent toward her. If things went awry and there was bloodshed from either side of it, she'd blame herself, wouldn't she? Not only that, but to potentially lead the researchers right back to her and her family, as well . . .? That would only serve to scar her even more deeply than she'd already been. He couldn't do that. He just couldn't.

 

No, the entire thing had to be done in such a way that it allowed the little demon as much peace of mind as she could have, and he didn't even delude himself into thinking that it'd be easy. Hell, no . . .

 

Getting her out of there was going to be a task, in and of itself. Too many security cameras, too many potential risks . . . He needed to find out exactly how he could do it without causing too much suspicion until after he was out of there with her, and that might take some doing. As it stood, every inch of that place was monitored by security with the exception of Holding Area One, and that one was only unmonitored because he'd inadvertently taken out the camera with a power hose.

 

But before any of that, he needed to figure out the demons' habits because the last thing he wanted or needed just now was to run into any of them inadvertently.

 

He wasn't at all surprised, either, to see the same bronze haired demon coming out of the hotel earlier, though this time, he was with a black haired one who had the same kind of dog ears as the little demon. They'd headed downtown. A few minutes later, another silver haired one emerged. He'd had to look twice at that one. It had the same ears as the little demon but the eyes were gold like her father and his twin brother. He was followed in short order by a huge one with short, shaggy hair and a marked scowl on his features.

 

They were frighteningly large, the lot of them, which only made him wonder why it was that the little demon was so tiny. Were all female demons that small? He frowned. He'd yet to actually see a female one other than the one he was trying to set free.

 

Still . . .

 

Shaking his head, he narrowed his eyes as another demon walked down the street, heading for the hotel, or so it seemed. Another silver haired one, though this one didn't have the dog ears. Lifting his binoculars, Kurt slowly adjusted them to get a better look.

 

What he saw, though, made him go dead still. Staring in mute fascination, he wasn't entirely sure that he wanted to believe what his eyes were telling him. The demon—definitely male—had the same coloring as the little one, right down to the dark blue eyes. As he observed, the demon pulled out a cell phone and spoke into it, and as he spoke, the worry marring his features seemed to deepen. Kurt wasn't entirely sure what to make of that one, but he couldn't help but wonder. The little demon hadn't mentioned having a brother. Still, they looked too much alike not to be siblings, didn't they?

 

The demon slapped the phone closed and stuffed it into the pocket of the black leather biker jacket that looked like it had seen better days before turning on his heel and striding into the hotel.

 

Kurt frowned. If only there was a way for him to get closer to them, for him to be able to eavesdrop on some of their conversations. It would make things infinitely easier, wouldn't it?

 

It was strange, though, wasn't it? He'd had more trouble coming to terms with the idea that the little demon wasn't the monster that he'd initially thought than he had in making the decision to let her go. Maybe it was simply because once he faced the realization that she wasn't at all like the monsters who had destroyed his family, the rest had been little more than common sense. Or maybe it was as easy as the knowledge that she really hadn't done a thing to try to hurt him in the length of time since he'd found and captured her.

 

Or maybe . . .

 

He shook his head, pushed away the irritation that he was letting himself get sidetracked when he had a job to do. Whatever the reason, she wasn't like those other ones, was she? She wasn't cruel, and she wasn't vindictive, and she wasn't trying to kill him. She was just sad and lost and lonely, and those were things that he understood, too, and if she could go home to a family who loved and cherished her . . .

 

Then he'd make damn sure that she did.

 

 

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A/N:

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sheastarr334 ------ BlkbltVette ------ OROsan0677 ------ Firedemon86 ------ malitiadixie ------ midcat (Would it surprise you to know that I'm done up to chapter 45 ATM? Lol) ------ CandyEars ------ darkangel05 ------ kittycatkitten ------- Sovereignty ------ AngelsRebellion ------ PikaMoon ------ Simonkal of Inuy

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Final Thought from Kurt:

Their baby …

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Blanket disclaimer for this fanfic (will apply to this and all other chapters in Vendetta): I do not claim any rights to InuYasha or the characters associated with the anime/manga. Those rights belong to Rumiko Takahashi, et al. I do offer my thanks to her for creating such vivid characters for me to terrorize.

 

~Sue~