InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Solstice ❯ Chapter 1 - Broken ( Chapter 1 )

Solstice

Notes: 8,552 words (Only posting words, not number of pages now since there's a discrepancy with Word and Open Office on number of pages). Anyway, here's a nice, long chapter for this story. I was trying to finish it MUCH sooner, but my life is extremely hectic right now. Anyway, onto the story!

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Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha or any of the characters thereof. Even though that is the case, please don't steal my plot, concept, or story out of respect for my creative endeavor as I would not do this to anyone out there.

- l - l - l - Change of scene, time, etc.
'Thoughts/dreams' will be in single quotes (IE: ' ')

Chapter 1 – Broken

The first thing Kagome felt was movement, a rhythmic up and down motion before pain... Her whole body felt on fire, if she had the strength, she would have cried out from the horrible feeling that ran from her toes all the way to the top of her head. The pain throbbed in time with the strange movement, sending excruciating jolts every time at the bottom of the motion.

The next thing that started to register was sound... She could hear a dull muffled sound that reminded her of being under water or having a pair of squishy yellow earplugs in. She could tell someone was talking but it was so distorted, she couldn't tell if the voice was male or female, nevermind hear the actual words. Just like an old radio, the sound began to get crisper, then fuzzier.

"... so much bloo-" She managed to catch a few syllables. "... hospi... ow..." In and out the sound came. She knew now, at least, that to voice was female. Besides that, it was oddly familiar but with her muddled thoughts, she couldn't place why the voice was familiar.

"... arm her u..." Another, different voice filtered into her thoughts. "... hypother..."

"Damn! I have no signal!" The female voice broke in angrily and time seemed to speed up as sound returned fully to her ears. With her hearing working, Kagome's mind began to pick up and she immediately placed the female voice as Sango's. So that would make the male voice she'd heard Miroku's if her memories were to be believed. He had, afterall, gone on the hike with them through the woods.

That's when reality crashed down into her firmly like a sledgehammer anr she realized that she was on someone's back and the up and down sensation had been caused by said person walking. Therefore, Kagome set out to do one of the most difficult and painful things she had ever had to do in her life... open her eyes...

She felt like she had run a thousand marathons and was finding it difficult to gather enough strength to do such a simple task. Something that was done hundreds of times in any given day, done without conscious thought. She was determined to perservere and after several minutes of struggling, finally pooled enough strength to open her eyes halfway. In the strain of trying to do such a simply task, a quiet groan escaped her throat.

The movement stopped... Kagome's eyes were out of focus... all she could see was a blur of white before her eyes. With them open finally, it seemed to be easier as she forced them into blinking in an attempt to make the image before her clearer. She heard more mumbling around her from her two companions, but was so focused on seeing something familiar that she completely ignored what was said. That is... until she heard her name said quietly and gently and felt something cold on her cheek.

"Kagome-chan, can you hear me?" Sango's voice penetrated her one-sense process and Kagome felt her face being turned by whatever it was that had laid across her cheek. Her blurry vision took in the whiteness only briefly as her head was directed in another direction. It landed on a blurry silhouette that slowly morphed into Sango's worried face as Kagome's vision snapped the focus and all blurriness disintegrated.

"Sango-chan..." Kagome murmured tiredly as she looked into a pair of worried auburn colored eyes. A relieved smile touched her friend's lips after seeing Kagome's eyes open.

"We need to get her inside, before the storm traps us out here." Miroku's voice broke in from next to her. That's when she realized that she was on Miroku's back and she also realized that she was being hit in the face with large flecks of snow. Not only that, the wind was whipping around and whistling through the trees.

"We're getting close, it should be right through that clump of trees." Sango said as she motioned behind her, Kagome's vision was clear but things were taking a few minutes to register in her exhausted brain. She was aware of a dull thrum of pain originating from her wrists, but she was too tired to lift her arms to see where the pain was coming from. She was aware that it was dark out and she was extremely cold, her teeth chattered as she lay motionless across Miroku's back.

"Good, lets get her out of the cold." Miroku replied and the two of them took off through the forest once again. Kagome felt a little bit of strength return to her and was able to lift her head up enough to peek over his shoulder and see in front of them.

She could see a dim light through the trees that was getting brighter the further they walked. It was flickering and a variation of red, orange, and yellow as they drew closer to the source. Then sound registered in her ears, the sound of yelling and screaming. As they broke through the final line of trees, a scene of complete chaos filled their line of vision and they stopped to take it in, frozen in shock an fear. There were people running every which way with the sounds of snarling following in their wakes. Kagome's eyes bulged in fear as an enormous black mass burst from around a corner and launched into the air, knocking a man down and going for his throat.

"Oh... my... god..." Sango mumbled as they watched in horror as the wolf tore the man's throat out, his cries of fear and pain echoing across the red stained snowy stretch of ground before them. They could hear more snarls and cries of pain echoing around the area, but none of them were able to move as they took in the scene before them.

"We need to hide." Miroku said as he grabbed Sango's hand and dragged her back into the woods, shifting under Kagome's weight. "Sango, wake up!" He hissed quietly as he gave the frozen woman a light shake. Her eyes cleared and she swallowed thickly as they took in the scene before them.

Some of the smaller out buildings had flames licking up the sides of them as they skirted around the small resort through the woods. They didn't know what was going on, but by the looks of it, nature had gone completely berserk and was attacking everyone! They saw several large figures barreling through the area, wolves by look of them, though they were larger and more ferocious than any they had ever seen before. They also noticed a group of crows feasting on a figure that was lying unmoving on the ground, when they picked their heads up, their eyes held a distinct red tinge. A little further along, they passed a group of what looked like squirrels that were chasing a woman who was screaming with her hands over her head.

"What the hell is going on?" Miroku hissed as they stayed out of sight just passed the treeline.

"I don't know, but we need to take cover. I don't like the idea of staying out in the woods with the animals acting this insane." Sango whispered back as she stayed close to Miroku's side, her eyes darting around to make sure nothing came up behind them or at them from the sides. For the time being, they seemed to be out of sight, out of mind. There were easier meals to get for the rampaging beasts.

"Some place elevated where the wolves can't get at us. We have to wait until Kagome is strong enough to walk, then we can get the rental car and get the hell out of here." Miroku agreed as he shifted Kagome into and easier position to carry her.

"How about up there?" Sango asked as she pointed to a small circular window nestled right under the eaves of the main building. It looked like it lead to an attic of some sort so should have few ways for anything to get in through. They'd be able to hide out until morning and sneak down to the car to get to safety.

"Yeah, I think that's our best bet." Miroku agreed with a slight nod and a determined look in his eyes. "Stick close to me, all right?" Sango nodded and moved closer to Miroku, her eyes darting around them in every direction at the same time.

Sango and Miroku took a few moments to gain their courage and to make sure the cost was clear in the small expanse of snow between the trees and the building before them. They could see a shoji door that was halfway slid open being illuminated by flickering lights on the side of the building. It appeared that a lot of the lights were out in the main building so they were hoping they could sneak in without incident. Sango looked down around her and found a large branch, holding the thin end so she could use the heavier end as a club if something came after them.

"Okay,on the count of three, we're going to run for it." Miroku whispered to Sango, who clung to his side, holding the club like her lifeline, which it quite possibly could be. "One, two, three!"

On the hissed 'three', the two of them tore out through the few remaining trees and headed for the sliding shoji door, hoping that there wasn't something horrible in front of them. Kagome felt her throat constrict and her eyes bulged as Miroku took off across the snow toward the building. It wasn't a far distance, but they really weren't sure what they were going to find once they got inside, they also weren't sure where the entrance to the attic was located. Kagome wished she had the strength to run on her own, Miroku was very exposed without his hands in case they were attacked, so therefore, Kagome was exposed as well. She couldn't defend herself if they were attacked, let alone keeping her friends safe.

"Hurry!" Sango hissed as the flickering light from the building grew closer. With a last burst of speed, they ran through the shoji door and Sango slid it shut behind them, cutting off most of the flickering light and plunging them into darkness.

"Stay close to me." Miroku whispered as they turned to look down the dark hallway. The couldn't hear anything coming from further inside the building, though the sounds of screaming occasionally rent the air coming from the outside still.

"I'll lead." Sango said as she gripped her 'club' tighter and took the lead down

the hallway.

The pair walked slowly down the hallway, being careful to avoid planks of the floor that were creaky or weak so they didn't draw attention to themselves. Sango lead the way down the hallway with her club held high, her jaw locked and eyes determined. She peeked around the corner and didn't see anything in the gloom so took a tentative step forward, eyes searching for anything out of the ordinary. The small group crept stealthily along the darkened hallway, keen eyes looking for signs of attack and also for signs of an entrance to the attic of the building.

"We'll need supplies." Miroku whispered close to Sango's ear as the stopped at an intersection in the hallway, both tentatively inching their way forward. Sango nodded slowly to indicate she had heard his hushed whisper that was barely more than the sound of a breath of air being released. She cocked her head to the left, indicating that they were going to head toward the kitchen.

Kagome's chest felt tight from anxiety as her eyes scanned the dark surroundings in the apparently abandoned building. She felt inexplicably exposed and nervous as she lay across Miroku's back prone to any sort of attack. Her arms and legs felt like lead weights and she knew they would hinder the entire group if they met with any attack. She knew her friends' were taking a big chance by dragging her along with them into the unknown. She could still hear pained shrieks from time to time echoing through the trees from outside that made her skin crawl. She was nearly ready to tell them to just hide her in the pantry since they'd just entered the kitchen, but she knew her friends would never agree to leaving her behind even if sh jeopardized their safety. She had to admit, she could never leave either of her friends behind either and would fight to her last breath to protect them.

Miroku walked across the kitchen with Sango and gently settled Kagome's tired body on the ground behind a counter in a kind of alcove that gave her a view of the door without being seen. Miroku pointed to his eyes with two fingers and then pointed at the door, not wanting to make noise and draw the attention of anything yo their slinking forms. Kagome nodded as she understood that he wanted her to keep watch while he and Sango gathered supplies in case they became stranded in the attic for a time.

Kagome stared at the door intently, the anxiety that gripped her belly more than enough to keep her conscious even though she would like nothing more than to just go back to sleep. She could hear Sango and Miroku quietly stripping the cupboards grabbing all that they could carry but never broke her eyes away from the door. She had a feeling even when they found a safe place to hide, regardless of the fatigue she currently felt, she had a feeling the adrenaline would keep her awake.

She strained her ears to hear any sound that was out of the ordinary while she blocked out the quiet rustling and clinking from behind her. She sucked in a harsh breath as she heard a quiet clicking sound on the hardwood floors and her heart jumped into her throat. The sound was faint but it seemed to be getting louder as the seconds ticked slowly by. Kagome swallowed the lump in her throat and with adrenaline alone, managed to grasp the edge of the counter above her and pull herself unsteadily to her feet. She panted from the exertion but as her eyes focused on a dark shadow that blocked the dim light under the crack of the door, she knew they hadn't gone completely unnoticed.

Before she could hiss out a warning to her friends, the door creaked open and a low growl reached her ears. She purposely swept her hands across the top of the counter, looking for a knife or something blunt that had been left out before all of the craziness had begun. To her horror, all she found was a ladle laying within reach, which she grabbed to at least have 'something' in her hand. She managed to release the counter, retaining enough balance to stay on her feet as she took a defensive stance.

A small sliver of light spilled across her body as the growling grew louder. A flash of gold caught her attention as a large white wolf stepped into the room, it's eyes flashing dangerously. It's head was lowered and it's teeth were bared viciously as saliva dripped from it's open mouth onto the linoleum. Kagome gulped nervously as fear gripped her chest. She took a step back and promptly bumped into a counter, jarring a large pot loose that clattered to the floor with a loud clang.

"Shhh..." Sango hissed as she turned toward her friend, a bag on her back filled to the point of bursting. Her breath caught in her throat at the menacing sight that she saw. An abnormally large, white wolf was stalking toward a shaky-legged Kagome who was holding nothing but a ladle up for defense. "Miroku!" She hissed, getting her dark-haired companion's attention. Miroku had already spun in Kagome's direction and looked grimly at Kagome's figure taking slow, deliberate steps backward as the wolf approached.

Sango reached down slowly and stealthily to grasp the large branch she had brought as a club that she had leaning up against the counter next to her. She gripped it as best she could as both she and Miroku slowly inched their way closer to Kagome. None of them wanted to make any sudden movements as the wolf slowly stalked toward them across the open expanse of floor.

"Guys... what do I do?" Kagome whispered quietly as she took a few more careful steps backward. The white wolf was still slowly advancing on her as she tried put some distance between them.

A snarl from the other side of the closed swinging door caught the attention of the white wolf as his head turned to look behind him. Kagome could see pale shadows under the crack of the door moving continually as if there were multiple beasts pacing to and fro on the other side of the door. While the wolf was distracted, Kagome made a beeline for her friends and took a place between them, leaning slightly on Miroku to keep her balance. Sango took a step forward and held up her 'club' aggressively, glaring at the wolf and daring it with her eyes to come any closer.

"We need to go while it's distracted." Miroku whispered as he stood protectively in front of Kagome and a mere step behind Sango. He had a bag bulging on his back and a large potato sack full of what appeared to be jugs of water. Making sure they had enough to drink had taken priority over food since you could go longer without food than water. Kagome had learned a phrase from CSI a while back that said you can go 'three minutes without air, three days without water, and thirty days without food' that was really hitting home now.

Miroku began nudging Kagome backward toward another darkened doorway while he and Sango followed suit, all three of them taking their time so the wolf wouldn't notice their imminent escape. Instincts and adrenaline was flowing as the three inched closer to the door... ten feet... five feet... three feet... one foot... Kagome's back bumped into the door with a soft thump as she reached back carefully to twist the doorknob. This, unfortunately, was enough to gain the attention of the white wolf, whose golden eyes snapped toward them. Kagome noticed a strange flash of red enter it's eyes as a loud snarl escaped it's throat and it's claws clicked on the linoleum as it began to trot toward them, gaining speed.

Kagome shoved the door open and dashed inside, Miroku ducked in after her, pulling Sango along with him. He forcefully shoved the door closed while he and Sango braced themselves against it to keep it closed when the wolf impacted with it. Kagome squeaked in fear as her two friend were thrown back around six inches when the beast collided with the closed door. They found themselves in a small pantry filled with canned food and gallons of water and something else that looked like large barrels of sake.

Kagome fumbled around clumsily as she searched for something she could use to hold the door closed. Her friends were both putting their full weight against the door but it appeared the snarling beast was ramming the door as they kept bouncing against the door from a heavy impact. The hair on the back of her neck began to raise as a shrill howl rent the air around them. It was slightly muffled by the metal door and the walls of the closet, but it was clearly coming from the kitchen they had just vacated.

Moments after the howling started, the thumping on the door stopped and loud snarling filled the air around them. They could hear several dangerous growls and the sound of a wolf yelping in pain filled the air. As strange as it seemed, Kagome thought that there was a fight going on in the kitchen and the huge animal sounded like he was losing. Her blood ran cold at the thought of that monstrous creative losing to anything and she shuddered when she pictured what could be strong enough to cause that loud yelping that kept splitting the air.

"Hurry!" Sango whispered, as she fumbled around on the door, looking for any type of latch. She took a shaky breath and forced herself to calm down. She was on the brink of panic and it was making her move too quickly and make mistakes. A sigh of relief escaped as she found a heavy latch high up on the door and slid it into place, cringing at the squeal of metal that sounded. Miroku had been searching for a lock of some sort as well and managed to slide a similar, heavy lock into place toward the bottom of the door. Just for good measure, the two of them began to slide heavy barrels in front of the door and managed to shift one of the heavy metal shelves a few feet to block it.

- l - l - l -

It had been hours since the three terrified humans had barred themselves in the pantry closet of the kitchen. Kagome lay curled into a small ball on the cold, hard floor using a bundle of kitchen aprons as a pillow as she tried to get some sleep. The loud snarling and yipping of the animals on the other side of the door had long-since gone silent, but none of the occupants of the small space were quite ready to peek their heads out the door. It seemed that these creatures were more intelligent than normal wolves. The large white one with glowing golden eyes had managed to find them and open the door to get them. Granted it was a swinging door, but most animals wouldn't know the difference unless they were a pet that lived there. A normal wild wolf certainly wouldn't have know it could just be pushed open to get at the people that were surely inside!

After the initial burst of adrenaline that she'd felt when she saw those glowing eyes stalking toward her, Kagome had completely collapsed and fallen into a deep and restless sleep. She kept seeing the scenes from the area surrounding the resort replay on an endless loop in her dreams.

If her fatigue and night terrors weren't bad enough there was also the bitter cold to contend with. It seemed like at some point in the early hours in the morning, the power had gone out and they were plunged into pitch black. The cold had slowly been seeping into the tiny room since then. They, luckily, had plenty of warm clothes and all the trimmings for winter, that didn't prevent the cold from seeping deep into their bones, though. They were, thankfully, not exposed to any wind or else that risk of hypothermia and frostbite would have sky rocketed.

Miroku and Sango had been sleeping in shifts since they had barred themselves into the supply pantry the previous night, giving Kagome a chance to recover from whatever it was that had happened in the forest. They were completely clueless as to what had happened, but had a sneaking suspicion that whatever was wrong with the animals was as a result of it. They had concluded that some sort of weird 'ritual' had happened to their friend against her will but were drawing a blank as to what 'caused' the ritual to take place.

Kagome rolled onto her other side, looking for a softer spot in the floor so maybe she could get rid of the crick in her neck. Sango had woken her up periodically during the night to make sure she nibbled some of the food they'd grabbed and to keep her hydrated. She also seemed to be afraid that Kagome wouldn't wake up because of the blood loss. She felt a bit light-headed, but mostly she was just completely exhausted and was having trouble keeping her eyes open for any length of time.

"Do you think we should try to make a break for the car?" Miroku's whispered voice broke in to Kagome's lazy musings.

"I don't think Kagome can manage if we needed to run or fight just yet." Sango whispered back, her worried gaze falling on her friend's back. "We have plenty of food and water so I think we should just hold tight for a few days until she regains her strength."

"All right. I think that's probably the best idea." Miroku said with a soft sigh. "I just don't really feel safe in this little closet. I think we should try to get to higher ground somehow. I've been thinking, I can sneak around and find the entrance to the attic and come back for you."

"That's a terrible idea." Kagome mumbled tiredly as she slowly sat up and turned a half hearted glare at the tall, dark-haired man.

"You're awake! How are you feeling, Kagome-chan?" Sango asked as she untangled herself from Miroku's jacket and rushed over to check on her best friend who had just regained consciousness.

"I feel lousy..." Kagome mumbled as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes. "You're not going to go out there alone, Miroku no baka." She murmured as she tired a bloodshot glare onto the tall, prussian eyed man.

"So glad to see you awake, Kagome." Miroku said with a guilty smile in the direction of the two women. Sango was fussing over Kagome, making sure she was warm enough and trying to force feed her some canned sausages saying that she needed to get some protein into her body to get her body replenishing her blood supply.

"I'm really all right, Sango-chan." Kagome said gently as she tried to break away from Sango's coddling and fussing.

"I'm just so worried." Sango said quietly as she set the can of sausages on the floor beside her. Since they were in one of the pantry closets, there was plenty of food and drinks available in case they had to remain there for an extended period of time. It seemed so cut off from the world, though.

"Do you have a radio on your cellphone or anything?" Kagome asked as that thought ran through her head. "We should call the police or our parents and let them know what's going on out here." Sango and Miroku looked at each other for a moment before Miroku decided how to answer her.

"When I called for the police, it said that the phone was disconnected." Miroku said slowly as a worried look crossed his handsome features, and oddity in itself.

Miroku was good at hiding his emotions behind a smile or a carefree expression so to be able to see the worry on his face meant that he was truly concerned. Kagome couldn't think of two people she'd rather be with during a crisis like this than her two best friends, though. She was seriously worried about her mother, grandfather, and little brother now, though. What if this spread all the way to Tokyo? Was it just the animals out here that had gone crazy, or was it all of them? Kagome shook her head to rid herself of the negative thoughts, she had to keep her thoughts positive to prevent falling into despair. Their situation certainly seemed dire right now so she needed to keep her chin up and force a smile in the face of adversity.

"It's okay, we'll get through this." Kagome said with her best attempt at her normal optimistic smile. It must have helped a bit because the tension that seemed to hang over the small room seemed to lighten up a bit and Miroku's tensed shoulders seemed to relax a bit as he leaned back against the door.

He had positioned himself in a way where he would be able to tell if anything bumped against the door. He was also in the perfect spot to hear any noises that came from the kitchen behind the door. Sango's large club lay on the linoleum beside him and one hand rested upon it, stroking the smooth surface reassuringly. He had found a large butchers knife earlier in the evening and had shaved most of the bark off of it and smoothed it out a bit to prevent splinters. He had also split the top of the wood slightly and pulled the handle off of the knife before shoving the base of the blade into the split. He had tied it firmly in place with some strong twine Sango had managed to find buried in a box under the far shelf to make it a dual weapon. There was a miniature spear on one side and a club on the other to make it a much more potent weapon for their defense.

"Have you gone onto Youtube or anything to see if there are any news reports about this?" Kagome asked curiously as she searched her coat pocket for her cellphone. She didn't have a fancy Droid or iPhone like her friends, but she could at least look up text based websites on her phone's browser.

Kagome felt stiff from laying down on the hard ground for such an extended period of time. With her phone in her hand, she pushed the power button on top to show her screen and frowned as she saw the 'no service' icon at the top with a slash through her reception bars. They were in such a dead spot, she couldn't even get the time. 'Stupid cheap phone...' She thought to herself as she powered the phone off to save her battery for when they got out of the tiny closet they occupied.

- l - l - l -

Time ticked slowly on and the three humans holed up in the closet grew more and more tense with each passing moment. The minutes slowly resolved into hours with few attempts at conversation. Then the hours just grew longer and longer as the temperature continued to drop steadily. They couldn't judge how many days had passed but knew to must be several and still they could hear an occasional rustling noise through the door. They heard the occasional pan or silverware being knocked from the counter to clatter onto the tiled floor. Once or twice they even heard low warning growls or high pitched yips signifying more fighting taking place outside of the door.

"I think they know we're still in here." Kagome said quietly several days after they'd been forced to take refuge in the closet. It seemed that the door was able to keep the worst of them out, for which the occupants were grateful.

"I agree, it's strange but I think Kagome is right." Sango said with a speculative frown on her face as she thought this thing over. They had all been beginning to think the same thing, she was just the first one to say something out loud.

"If that's the case, how do we get out of here?" Miroku asked as he flexed his hand, having been gripping him miniature spear tightly in his fist for days so that his fingers were stiff and cramped.

"Is there any other way out of here?" Kagome asked as she rose unsteadily to her feet. She was recovering nicely from the incident in the forest but was still a bit wobbly on her feet and would get lightheaded if she stood up too quickly.

None of them had really checked around for any other exits out of the pantry except for the normal ones, doors or windows. Perhaps there was an air vent that was big enough for them to crawl through to the outer areas of the building and to the rental car. Kagome was starting to go stir crazy being holed up in such a small room as claustrophobia started to close in.

She stood up and began to walk toward the back of the pantry through the two rows of food that lined a narrow hallway. Her eyes scanned the top of the walls and the where she could see the back wall through the stuff piled onto the shelves. There were huge cans of pickles and soy sauce as well as giant bags of rice resting on the lowest shelves, but there were no vents visible on the bare expanses of wall visible.

She tried shifting some of the large jars and cans around and only succeeded in finding a flashlight that was blindingly bright buried behind some pickled eggs that were floating in a bright purple liquid with a sticker of an American flag stamped on the jar. She clicked it off to preserve the batteries since a flashlight could really come in handy. That's when a slight disturbance in the appearance of the ceiling drew her eye.

She rose onto her toes and squinted her eyes against the dim light as she stared up at the small circle in the ceiling at the very back of the pantry. She clicked the flashlight back on and shone it on the disturbance and gasped audibly at what she saw. Her friends heard her gasp and immediately jumped to their feet, dread gripping their chests.

"Kagome? What's wrong?" Sango demanded as she picked up a large butcher knife she had found going through some boxes the previous 'day'. They were guessing the days by the period when a little bit of light would spill beneath the door so Sango had been notching the wall. There was currently four jagged notches in the wall near the door. It was the best way to keep track of the days in their small dead-zone prison in the middle of nowhere.

Kagome climbed up onto the nearest shelf, glad that they were the heavy duty, industrial shelving units that were used in the stockrooms in stores. She set the flashlight down on the top shelf as she pulled herself up and with one heavy shove, pushed on the barely visible panel with a quiet 'click'. The panel slowly swung downward and a ladder slid out from it that almost reached the floor. Light flood into the room from the attic as Kagome carefully climbed down the shelves, panting from the exertion when her boot-clad feet touched the ground softly.

"What do you think? Safe to go up?" Kagome asked quietly, not wanting her voice to carry into the unknown space above them.

"I don't know, Kagome-chan..." Sango whispered back as she turned her concerned gaze skyward and gazed up through the open trap door.

"I'll go up first and let you know of it's safe." Miroku said seriously as he laid a hand on Sango's shoulder reassuringly.

"But-" Sango started but cut off abruptly when she felt his soft lips on her forehead in a gentle kiss.

"Protect Kagome, she's still recovering from the incident in the forest." Miroku explained unnecessarily. Sango's cheeks were stained red as she nodded, not removing her eyes from the tall, black-haired man. It was ironic that it took the natural order of things for him to show true affection for the brown-haired girl.

Miroku strode forward, gripping his make-shift spear in one hand as he approached the ladder cautiously. Kagome edged around him and stood next to Sango, gripping the taller girl's hand reassuringly as they watched their friend slowly climb the ladder. He took a deep breath before he poked his head through the doorway and they heard a shrill screech that made the hair on the back of Kagome's neck stand on end.

"Miroku!" Sango cried as she lunged toward the ladder to grab Miroku's leg and pull him back down the ladder to safety, hoping against hope that she wasn't too late since his head and shoulders were completely out of sight. Kagome gripped her hand strongly, holding her friend back to make sure she remained safe. After a moment, Miroku's head popped down and a small smile graced his lips as he looked at the two women.

"You're not going to believe this. Let's go up here!" Miroku said in a hushed whisper as he climbed the ladder and disappeared into the attic. Kagome and Sango looked at each other, a mixture of confusion, worry, and curiosity gracing both of their features.

Sango lead the way, Kagome following behind her on the ladder. It only took a moment for Sango to disappear through the opening before Kagome too, began to ascend the sturdy ladder. When her head broke the surface, a relieved smile broke across her face as she saw a small group of people huddling in the corner of the room. Miroku and Sango were reassuring them and saying that the room they had come from was completely secure and was apologizing profusely for scaring them the way he had. Apparently, the trap door they'd come up through was covered with a rug so they'd had no idea that it was even there when they'd sought refuge in the attic.

There was a scared looking woman with two children, a little boy and girl, huddled against her and crying quietly. Another lady, presumably her friend, was sitting beside her, rubbing reassuring circles in her back as she comforted the children as best she could. Beside her was a tall, middle-aged man and a teenaged boy who's eyes shifted around the room nervously, apparently expecting more rugs to suddenly lift up out of no where. Laying on the ground beside them were a few make-shift weapons of their own. The teenager had a metal baseball bat at his feet and there was an arrangement of long shards of glass strapped to long poles and nails pounded into boards around them.

"There is food an water below." She head Miroku explaining to the middle-aged man, who's eyes lit up at the mention of food and drink. The other occupants of the room looked just as intrigued with a slight edge of desperation at the corners of their eyes. "Will you help me bring some of it up?" Miroku asked as he turned his gaze to the teenaged boy, who nodded and licked his lips.

Kagome looked around the room and noted that the windows were hung with thick, dark blankets, blocking out much of the potential sunlight that could be spilling through them. There were various cuts and bruises on the man and the teenage boy, but the women and children appeared relatively unscathed. There were a few empty cans stacked in the corner of the room and there was a bucket shoved as far from where they were sitting as possible that had an unpleasant scent rising from it. It looked like they had been going on small trips out to get food and drink in the days they'd been holed up in there, and the men had obviously been the ones doing the dirty work.

- l - l - l -

"There were twelve of us originally." The middle-aged man, Tetsuya by name, was telling them as he speared a cold, round potato with a pair of chopsticks they had scrounged out of one of the boxes on the highest shelves. "We would take turns going out on raids to get food and drink, but the wolves managed to pick them off one by one."

"So the animals are still acting unnatural?" Miroku questioned as he listened with a critical ear and was listening for every detail so he could make his own assessment of the situation.

"I'll say! They're smart too!" Tetsuya explained as he took a drink from a paper cup sitting beside him. When they had first brought up the water, the people in the attic had drank several gallons. They had been opening the window a crack and managing to gather the snow to melt into drinking water, but it hadn't been snowing so everything within their reach was pretty much gone. Not only that, the birds had picked up on this and would wait to see a disturbance with the windows and would fly in and bombard them, pecking and biting, trying to cause as much damage as possible.

"They seem to know where we come out of the attic and have been waiting for us at the bottom every time the last two days." Ryo, the fifteen year old boy explained as he shivered at the memory. "They're big and their eyes flash red when they attack."

"You're making that up, boy!" Tetsuyo hissed as he glared at his nephew out of the corner of his eye.

"I'm not!" Ryo snapped as he turned an angry glare on his uncle. Kagome could see unshed tears filling his eyes as he tried to stay strong and keep them from spilling down his cheeks. "I saw it when they got dad!"

Tetsuyo didn't answer as he turned an annoyed look on the boy. He opened his mouth to say something, but closed it after a moment, his shoulders slumping in defeat as he decided not to pursue the argument. It appeared he didn't want to add salt to the boy's already unbearable wound. Kagome felt a pang of fear grip her chest as she thought of her family all alone on Tokyo with no protection. She said a silent prayer for their safety and then pushed them to the back of her mind so she wouldn't dwell on her feeling of unease and her worrying.

"Did you hear that?" Mikari piped up as a quiet scratching sound reached their ears. Everyone hushed immediately, fear because to pulse in their chests as they recalled the earlier outburst and tension filled the air.

"What is that?" Kagome whispered as she slowly rose to her feet and went to stand beside Sango's seated form.

"It sounds like something is trying to get in..." Umi said quietly as she gathered her daughter, Mikari, and son, Mamoru, into her arms protectively.

"Let's get ready." Miroku said as his features fell from their normal laid-back appearance to a serious expression of concentration and determination. He picked up his choice weapon and hefted it before tucking one of the kitchen knives they'd salvaged into the waist-band of his pants.

Kagome, Miroku, and Sango were the only ones who had had coats during the attack and had surrendered them to the children and opted to wrap up in blankets instead. Kagome swallowed the lump in her throat and let the blanket surrounding her shoulders drop to the ground. They had discussed a plan of action first while they had been eating so she knew what her mission was going to be. While Sango, Miroku, and Tetsuyo took the front lines, it was her and Umi's job to stay back and protect the children with Umi's friend Sachiko. It was secretly Kagome's job to watch Ryo's back and make sure the boy didn't get himself maimed or killed, though this was told to her on the side by Miroku. He had been horrified to hear that a fifteen year old had been allowed to go out of the relative safety of the attic when they had gone for supplies and vowed to keep an extra eye on the boy so the life his father gave to save him wasn't done in vain.

"A little closer, Ryo-kun." Kagome whispered as the scratching gave way to a low snarl. It was clearing something rather large trying to get into the main entrance of the attic. They could see the trap door jiggling as it was doing whatever it was doing to get through the door. The snarling got louder and a low 'caw' was beginning to emanate from the same region, which sounded like a very distorted and overly large crow.

The teenager edged a little closer to Kagome, standing protectively in front of the women. Umi was crouched on the floor, letting her kids bury their faces in her chest and stomach so their crying and cries of fear was muffled. Sachiko stood protectively at her side, clutching her weapon tightly and looking like she was about to faint or puke from anxiety.

"We'll be fine, Sachiko-san." Kagome said reassuringly, but wasn't convinced herself as her belly constricted in fear as a loud banging started and the trapdoor started to bounce upward as if something heavy was pounding up against it. There were more snarling filling the air and the clatter of what sounded like beaks and claws on the windows all around them on the windows and roof tiles.

Kagome swallowed thickly as dread gripped her chest and she felt her fear skyrocket while her eyes scanned around the room frantically. Miroku and Tetsuyo were attempted to put as much weight as possible on the trapdoor to keep it close, but they were failing miserably. Sango kept readjusting her weapons to make sure they were sturdy and in the exact same place that she had just put them, an apparently, nervous habit.

"Everything will be all right..." Kagome whispered, hoping she could truly believe her own words this time around. They seemed unconvincing, even to her ever-optimistic ears.

Moments later, with a loud crashing 'BANG', the trapdoor flew all the way up before dropping down, the built-in ladder sliding down automatically as the door descended. Screams filled the air around Kagome and she saw a large, white SOMETHING fly into the room and land on the ground with a deafening 'THUD'. She couldn't even scream as a large ball of fur barreled straight for her, bypassing both Tetsuyo and Miroku. Without a thought, Kagome dashed forward, completely ignoring the small birds and large, strangely distorted crow that poured into the room from the open door.

Kagome reached her destination in milliseconds and forcefully shoved Ryo to the side and managed to put herself between him and the large, snarling beast that was barreling full-force toward him. She gripped the broom stick tightly in front of her and planted her feet, her resolve forming as she decided she was NOT going to let this monster past her! She was NOT going to let the two babies behind her be killed by a wild beast! She was NOT going to let Ryo's father's sacrifice be in vain!

"Come get me!" Kagome cried as she swung the broom stick as hard as she could, aiming for the wolf's head. She could see a glint of gold catch from the dim light that filtered in through the open door and her breath caught in her throat for a moment, the broom was in motion as she swung it as hard as she could. Everything happened so quickly, she couldn't catch her balance when the impact she was waiting for didn't come. The wolf had side-stepped her and before she knew what was happening, she heard a large growl from the left of her.

A silent scream left her throat as she felt teeth sink in to her wrist and pain blossomed from the point. A sharp, splitting pain that sent electric jolts of pain throughout her arm and up into her shoulder. She followed her first instinct and began to tug on her arm, trying to pull it from his clenched jaw. It didn't budge, instead, she felt her stockinged feet start to slide across the wood floor, headed in the direction of the still open trapdoor.

There was chaos going on all around her, she could see weapons flying through the air, hearing yelling and screams of fear and a few shouts of triumph. She tried to call out to her friends as the broomstick feel from her hand, the pain being too great for her to hold onto it any longer. The closer she got to the trapdoor, the more terror that pulsed through her chest and the harder she fought to free herself from his vice-like grip. She could feel warm blood dripping from her wrist to the floor, but completely ignored it as she searched for anything on the floor around her that she could use as a weapon.

"Sango-chan! Miroku!" Kagome screamed as they approached the door, being only two feet from it now. "Help me!" She felt someone's hands grip her around the waist and couldn't hold back the scream of agony as the wolf's teeth sunk deeper into her bleeding wrist. Painful tears poured down her cheeks as she desperately fought for freedom, for survival, for LIFE.

"Kagome-chan!" Sango called as she watched her best friend get dragged toward the trap door by an enormous white wolf. It was the only large animal that had broken through the trapdoor, but the birds that were flying in in droves were enough of a distraction that Sango wasn't able to keep an eye on her best friend.

Sango fought against the tide of birds that were pelting her, snapping, pecking, scratching. All of them were trying to draw blood, the snatch out the soft parts, like eyeballs, or to just pull off little chunks of flesh to swallow whole. She had never seen anything so grotesque in her LIFE! It was seriously reminiscent of Alfred Hitcock's moved 'The Birds', an English movie she had watched dubbed into Japanese as a child.

All the blood drained from Sango's face and an ear-splitting scream ripped from her throat as the scene folded out before her eyes. Right before her eyes, Sango watched Sachiko get dive-bombed by a flock of birds and abruptly released her hold on Kagome's waist. Before Sango could even react, Kagome was pulled through the trapdoor, screaming for help as she disappeared from view.

"Sangooo! Mirokuuuuu!" Kagome's voice shrieked from far away, being nearly completely muffled by all of the commotion from the fight taking place around them.

"Noooo! Kagome-chan!" Sango shrieked as she forgot everything and bolted for the open trapdoor with every intention of diving through the hole and going after the bastard wolf who had dragged her best friend away.

"No! Sango!" Miroku's voice didn't even penetrate her thoughts as she ran for the door. Neither did the feeling of a strong pair of arms holding her back from the opening. All she could think of was her friend and her, surely, impending death and the desperate NEED to bring her back and protect her from all of the harsh things in the world. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she saw no sign of her best friend on the floor below the trapdoor except for a large pool of blood that was streaked as if something very large had been dragged off from the same spot.

::Fin::

December 15, 2011

Notes: Well, that's it for this chapter! I really love the idea for this story, I hope more people decide to read it, I think it's relatively original and haven't come across anything like this since I've been browsing around and reading fanfiction in this genre.