InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Dark Hour ❯ Mad, Mad World ( Chapter 23 )

Ch. 23

Mad, Mad World....

Sesshomaru kept his eyes trained on the road, pushing the car to its limits. He needed to concentrate on something besides Kagome. He couldn't help glancing over at her. Her ivory skin held a deathly pallor, small drops of moisture beginning to gather on her body. He cursed silently under his breath. The poison was taking effect, causing her body to try to sweat it out, but it was to no avail. The only cure was the antidote and only Naraku knew how to get it.

The only choice left to him was to bring her to the mansion. Sesshomaru returned his gaze to the road. He wasn't stupid, he knew it was a trap, but he'd do anything to save Kagome, to have her look at him with those misty gray eyes like only she could.

"Damn you, Naraku!" He hissed, gripping the steering wheel until his knuckles turned white. Naraku was the cause of everything bad in his life and it was time he got his due. Naraku had gone too far; first by killing Kagura and now by trying to kill Kagome. He glanced over at her still form, the only sign she was still alive being the sound of her shallow breathing. He reached over and smoothed his hand over her hair.

'Please god, don't take her away from me.'

~~~~~~

"I want the men patrolling the perimeter to be very cautious," Naraku told the smaller man walking beside him as he walked briskly down the hall. The man nodded vigorously. "My cousin has been known to pull a few tricks and I don't want to be surprised, got it?"

The man nodded before scurrying off to relay the message. Naraku was mulling over every aspect of his flawless plan. Nothing, not even his meddling cousin and his wench, could ruin his beautiful plan. Naraku smiled a smile of pure malice. He stopped in front of a large floor length mirror and pressed his fingertips to the glass. There was a series of beeps before the mirror slid up into the wall, revealing a steel door. Naraku pressed a code into the keypad and the door clicked open. As he descended the stairs into the darkness below, he couldn't help thinking that life was good.

~~~~~~

Sesshomaru pulled into the driveway of his cousin's ridiculously ostentatious mansion and slammed the car into park. As he exited the car, he eyed the armed guards watching him warily. He ignored them and hurried to the passenger side, scooping Kagome into his arms.

"Where's Naraku?" He demanded of a nearby guard. The man gestured with his gun toward the formidable building. "He's inside. You're to wait for him in the study." Sesshomaru made his way up the walkway and into the house. Once he reached the study, he deposited Kagome's steadily weakening form onto the sofa. He bent down to cup her cheek before going out into the hallway.

"Is anyone here?" He called out, finding the place eerily quiet. He didn't hear any voices or any sounds that anyone was there. 'What the hell is he up to?' Sesshomaru thought to himself, feeling uneasy all of a sudden.

"Hello, Sesshomaru."

Sesshomaru whirled around. No one was there. He looked around and realized that the voice had come from an intercom system located near the door. He frowned.

"Where are you, Naraku?" He demanded. There was a pause before Naraku's cold chuckle could be heard echoing through the entire downstairs. The sound made Sesshomaru want to cringe but he fought the urge.

"Dear cousin, I don't respond well to orders. You of all people should know that."

Sesshomaru shook his head in disgust. "I don't have time to play games with you, Naraku. Get out here and give me the damn antidote to the poison!" He looked around, expecting him to pop out from nowhere.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk," Naraku responded, his voice deceptively calm. "That's no way to speak to the person who holds your bitch's life in his hands." Sesshomaru clenched his jaw, trying to contain the anger that was beginning to boil in his veins. However much he might detest the idea, Naraku was more or less right. He did hold Kagome's life in his hands.

"I've done what you asked so now you give me what I came here for." Sesshomaru said, glancing over to where Kagome lay, her breathing becoming more difficult.

"Hmm," Naraku mused. "You think that's all there is to it, Sesshomaru? Did you really think that you'd come here and get the antidote just like that?" Sesshomaru's heart sank when he heard those words. He'd known it would happen, but he'd still hoped...

"What else do you want from me? You already took Kagura, what more is there?" Sesshomaru said, his voice rising. His entire body seemed to be humming with rage, a rage that had lain dormant for so long but was now threatening to be let out.

"Ah, yes. The lovely law enforcement agent. She was a lot of fun to kill, the way she screamed and begged..." Naraku let the sentence trail off, knowing how crazy it was making Sesshomaru. 'Yes,' He thought to himself. 'Give in to it.'

Sesshomaru clenched his hands by his side, staring fixedly at the wall. He couldn't block out the images of the blood and gore he'd seen at Kagura's apartment and could only imagine what pain and torture she'd gone through at the hands of Naraku.

"Yes, I rather liked watching the life drain out of her, seeing the realization in her eyes that she wasn't going to be saved, that you weren't going to save her." Naraku continued, taking shot after shot.

"Fuck you." Sesshomaru ground out. He wanted to smash Naraku's face in; anything to make him shut up. Naraku laughed. "And poor Kagome...guess that's just one more person who you've failed, huh?" Sesshomaru looked to Kagome, shaking his head. "I haven't failed her." He said, more to himself.

"Yet." Naraku interjected with a small humorless laugh. "Get your ass out here!" Sesshomaru yelled, his gaze flaring. "I don't think so, cousin." Naraku said. "I have something special planned for you and your little pet."

The door to the study slammed shut, the dead bolt sliding into place from the outside. Sesshomaru looked to the windows, but any thoughts of escape were dashed as metal shutters slid over the panes of glass. He should've known Naraku would have this place secured better than any military base.

"Damn you, Naraku!" Sesshomaru yelled out, quickly going to Kagome's side. He placed the back of his hand on her forehead. She was burning up, her temperature extremely high. Sesshomaru heard a barely audible click and then the quiet hiss of the ventilation system.

"Fuck." Sesshomaru muttered, already smelling the noxious gas filtering into the room. He was already beginning to get dizzy, his vision doubling. He shook his head to shake off the effects, but to no avail.

"Nara...ku." He whispered before crumpling to the ground in an unconscious heap.

"Wake up, you piece of shit!"

Sesshomaru flinched when he felt the stinging impact of a fist connecting with his face. He opened his eyes slowly, trying to get his bearings. His vision swam before him momentarily before settling back to normal. Inuyasha stood before him, a wide grin on his face.

"Finally decided to join us, huh?" He said, slapping Sesshomaru's cheek lightly. Sesshomaru glared at him, his gaze shooting daggers. "Where the hell am I? Where's Kagome?" He asked, looking around the room. The room was huge, resembling a small stadium. Inuyasha's grin narrowed slyly. "Don't worry about her. Naraku's taking good care of her."

Sesshomaru's gaze widened and he strained against the chains holding him. Inuyasha smirked at his futile efforts. "Give it up, big brother." Inuyasha told him, crossing his arms over his chest. "You're not going anywhere until Naraku orders it."

Sesshomaru gave up, knowing what Inuyasha said to be true. His thoughts were occupied with Kagome. What was Naraku doing with her? Was she even still alive or was she being tortured just as Kagura had been? He felt his heart tighten in his chest. He couldn't let anything happen to her...

"Worried, big brother?" Inuyasha taunted, his eyes dancing with glee. Sesshomaru smirked. "No, just thinking about what a little lap dog you are," He said casually, looking at Inuyasha with a bored expression. Inuyasha's topaz eyes lost a little of their gleam. "What the fuck are you talking about?" Sesshomaru shrugged, indicating he didn't really care. "When Naraku tells you to jump, you ask how high. I bet if he threw a paper, you'd go fetch it for him."

In a flash, Inuyasha was standing in front of Sesshomaru, his nostrils flaring in anger. "I'm no one's dog!" He breathed, his hand snaking around Sesshomaru's throat. Sesshomaru held his gaze, showing no emotion.

"You understand me?" He said, his voice getting louder. Someone cleared their throat, breaking the tension between the two brothers. Inuyasha dropped his hand and turned to the source of the noise. Naraku stood by the entrance, one eyebrow raised slightly.

"Showing a little brotherly love, I see." He said dryly. Sesshomaru glared at him, taking in gulps of air. "Where's...Kagome?" He demanded. Naraku smiled coldly. "Right here." He gestured behind him and stood aside as Kagome entered the room, her eyes dull and empty. Sesshomaru's heart sank. It wasn't Kagome.

"What's the matter, Sesshomaru?" Naraku asked innocently. He brushed a hand across Kagome's cheek. "Don't you like the new and improved Kagome?"

"Kagome? Kagome, can you hear me?" Sesshomaru said urgently, ignoring Naraku's mocking words. She continued staring into nothing, showing no signs that she'd heard him. There were no signs of life in her listless gray gaze.

"Come here, Kagome." Naraku commanded sternly. Kagome walked slowly to his side and stood there, waiting for further instructions. He tipped her chin slightly. Sesshomaru fought against his restraints, the sight of him controlling Kagome like some sort of slave more than he could bear.

"Kiss me." Naraku ordered. Kagome obediently tilted her head and pressed her lips against Naraku's. Sesshomaru looked away, helpless to do anything else. Naraku wrapped his hand in her hair, holding him forcefully against him. He bit down on her lip, delighting in the small bead of ruby liquid that gathered there quickly. He released her and stepped back, watching as she stood motionless, oblivious to the wound he'd just inflicted.

"She's mine now, Sesshomaru." Naraku said, his voice gloating. Sesshomaru returned his gaze slowly to meet with Naraku's, his eyes flashing. "Go to hell."

Naraku laughed. "Not just yet," He said. He told Kagome to hold out her hand and placed something in her palm. "Would you like to know how I did it? How I got this scrumptious little thing to obey my every whim?" He asked. Sesshomaru just stared at him. Naraku shrugged. "I'm going to tell you anyway."

He pointed at Sesshomaru. "Go stand before him." He told Kagome. She slowly made her way to Sesshomaru, her gaze looking right through him. "Of course, it all started with my father, more or less." He began, leaning back on his heels. "I needed to get him out of the picture so the company would finally be mine and that's when I got the idea...the most brilliant idea any man has ever had." Inuyasha listened to him intently, apparently as new to this information as Sesshomaru was.

"Rather than killing him, I decided that I could still use him. I decided to do research on mind control techniques and I came across a chemical formerly used by the military but no longer in use because of its harmful side effects. It was originally developed for use on prisoners of war, but the military scrapped the idea after many of the experiments with it went wrong. I, however, decided to tweak the formula, succeed where the military had failed." His eyes took on a gleam of pride. Sesshomaru made a sound of disgust, either ignored or unnoticed by Naraku.

"I built the mental institution as a front and also to get human guinea pigs. It was perfect: people actually brought me their family members and loved ones, unwittingly giving me the test subjects I needed!" He chuckled, the sound taking on a maniacal edge. "I started out with the mental patients, testing the formula on them, but it kept failing. Something in the chemical was too strong for the human system, but my father..." He looked directly at Sesshomaru, his eyes shining with his discovery.

"His demon blood wasn't harmed by the chemical. It even had its own surprising little side effect...but I'll save that for later." He said with a secret smile. Sesshomaru shifted uneasily. Even though a part of him didn't want to hear the sordid tale Naraku was spinning, another part of him was curious to know the rest.

Naraku continued on, beginning to pace restlessly. "I decided to extract some of my father's blood and inject it into a purely human subject and the results were positive. The subjects responded to the chemical, becoming comatose, unable to control themselves. After months and even years of exposure to the formula, they were completely susceptible to hypnotic suggestions, even able to carry out the suggestions and instructions given to them. After that, I was able to trigger them anytime I wished."

Sesshomaru shook his head in disgust. "That's crazy." He said. Naraku stopped his pacing and stared hard at him. "Why is it crazy? Why is it crazy to want to..." He paused searching for the right word. "Be god?" Sesshomaru realized then that Naraku was crazier than he'd ever let on. He was just as disturbed as the patients he'd experimented on.

"And that's what I am," He said. "I have the ability to control anyone I want to, make them do anything I want them to just by injecting them with the chemical." He glanced at Kagome. "This is all my hard work made a reality. She'll do anything I tell her to, without having any control over her actions or thoughts." Sesshomaru looked at Kagome, her gaze seeing nothing.

"Open your palm, Kagome." Naraku ordered, watching her intently. She did as he said, looking straight ahead. Sesshomaru looked down curiously at the liquid filled syringe in her hand.

"And now for the finale, the crown jewel." Naraku crowed, throwing his arms wide. Inuyasha looked at Sesshomaru curiously. "As much as I detested you for all these years, cousin, I realized how much power and potential you held." He said matter-of-factly. "You could've been great if only you'd been a little more ruthless, forgetting about that thing known to some as a conscience, but what I like to call a pain in the ass.

I never understood you, how you could do the work that you did but not succumb to its evils." He shrugged. "I guess that's the difference between you and your half-wit of a brother," Inuyasha glanced at him, his look one of betrayal. "Oh, don't give me that puppy dog look, Inuyasha. We both know how weak you are and how you were always second best when it came to big brother." Inuyasha looked away, his pride damaged. He threw a murderous look Sesshomaru's way.

"Yes, you have a great deal of power just waiting to get out, but you never let it free, always locking it away. Well, now I'm going to do you a favor and release your inner beast." Naraku said, his gaze locking with Sesshomaru's. Sesshomaru's brow knit in confusion. "What are you talking about?" He asked, afraid of the answer. Naraku low laughter bounced off the walls, filling the stadium like arena.

"The head of my army, of course." Naraku responded, his voice dead serious. Sesshomaru suddenly felt as if he'd been dumped in an alternate universe, his world turned upside down. He remembered Kagome telling him what the little boy had said about the his master's army of darkness, but he hadn't known what to make of it. Until now.

"Kagome, dear, inject Sesshomaru with the needle."

Kagome nodded her head. "Yes, master." She said, her voice monotone. She stepped closer to Sesshomaru and raised the needle. For a split second, Sesshomaru saw a flash of regret in her gray depths, but it was gone before he could really be sure, her gaze returning to its lifeless state. She stuck the needle into his arm and pushed out all the liquid before plucking the syringe from his skin. She took a step back. Sesshomaru flinched, the liquid seeming to burn throughout his entire arm. It was as if he could actually feel the liquid traveling through his bloodstream, leaving a trail of fire in its wake.

"I'd take a step back if I were you, Inuyasha," Naraku warned, calling Kagome back to him. Inuyasha took his advice, eyeing Sesshomaru warily. Naraku watched as Sesshomaru's muscles clenched, his body trying to reject the chemical. A howl of pain erupted from deep within him, his skin feeling like it was being stretched in all directions. What was happening to him? He looked at Kagome.

"Ka...go...me." He called out, trying to fight whatever it was that was happening. Her gaze flickered, meeting with his. She opened her mouth, her lips moving wordlessly. Sesshomaru threw his head back, his body burning from head to toe.

Kagome watched as Sesshomaru writhed in pain, straining helplessly against his restraints. "Sesshomaru." She whispered, her mind screaming his name. Naraku looked at her sharply, not sure if he'd heard her speak. She was staring at Sesshomaru, her expression frightened.

"Not possible." He muttered, astonished that she seemed to be coming out of her hypnotic state without being told. Kagome fought through the haze that shrouded her mind. She had to get to him, force herself to move.

"Sesshomaru!" She called out, her voice shattering the force controlling her. She moved to run to him, but a hand caught her arm. Naraku brought her back hard against him, his arm wrapped tightly around her shoulders. He couldn't figure out how she'd gotten out of her hypnotic state, but no matter.

"Stay and watch, dear." He whispered in her ear. "The show's just about to start."

a/n: i wasn't going to write as much as i did, but my fingers just kept on typin and here's what i have to show for it! i really should be writing a paper for class, but i just couldn't help myself, had to get this chap out...please keep reading and reviewing and i'll see ya next chap!