The Mistress of Macabre
AN- I'm on a role it seems, here's another one shot. If you have any questions, by all means ask away. This story is meant to be abrupt, giving you snip of what may eventually become a lengthy story, but that would be in the distant future. Enjoy the mystery of The Mistress of Macabre. Thank you, please review.
The dappled, ginger moon was full. The night was warm, but had a ghastly chill in the breeze. My gaze held that of the moon as it sprang out of the sky with radiance unbeknown to my kind, or even theirs. It brought forth a beautiful, yet deathly glow over the greenery. A bulky blur whizzed by a tree, coaxing the now browning leaves to race to the forest floor.
"Hello," my whisper traced through the cold air, my tone deep and even I could sense my melancholy intentions.
The blur abruptly halted, leaving in its place a pristine white wolf. Its striking amber eyes looked shocked as they scanned the vast trees to determine the source of their stalker. I winced under its stare. It could feel me… I just knew it. It could smell my dirty, fleshy skin beneath its irregular senses.
My mind betrayed itself as I hoped it would recognize me, hoped that it would soften those stunning eyes, and hoped that it would reveal what I begged it to see.
My short, normal human legs began shaking as I departed from my hiding space, and I stumbled out to meet the animal in the clearing. An animal, yes. It was a terrible, murderous animal. Its elegant strides made my inferior walk embarrassing as it met me half way. I was quivering in pain, anxiety, and hesitance.
I couldn't' bring myself to look at it. My pain was overwhelming, and I fought the impulse to shrink away into myself and weep. The demonic thoughts were chipping away at my conscience, aching for me to pursue my obligation.
This shouldn't be so difficult to do. All I had to do was strike him once. One single, individual time would suffice, but I couldn't coerce my shaky hand to grasp the black pistol stuffed into my satchel. Why? Why was this so complicated?
Fulfilling this obligation should have been unproblematic, but I had fed myself to the wolves, literally. My heart and mind clashed and I chose to believe the former, and now I was drowning among my enemy, our enemy.
And the steel beast was staring at me, not a cold stare, but one of complete understanding. I wanted to kick it, but it hurt to even think the idea. I suddenly couldn't fake my health, mental or physical. My knees crashed into the chilled, hard dirt beneath me. I spat scarlet all over it, leaving a warm, liquid pooling around my boots.
My coughing continued all through this. I was running completely out of time. The wolf was beside me now, furry face resting against my shoulder blade, trying to console me.
Snap - my control evaded my mind in that mere instant, and allowed my emotions to run ramped, and they shook my body until I thought I would hyperventilate. Blood stopped flowing from my lips, but my sobs were horrid. I could not believe my lack of control.
A balmy, rough tongue slid along my cheek and licked away the traces of my tears. I swung my arm weakly. I couldn't hit him though, and even if I had, my weak muscles would't have accomplished anything but furthering my exhaustion. He was my world, my love, my turmoil, and he would be the death of me yet.
I stared into his molten eyes and cried, wept so fiercely for him. My ego kept trying to convince my senses that I mourned for him, but in reality, I was only weeping for myself; My pain, my feelings, my torture. No matter how selfish and human I appeared to the naked eye, I was the beast among us.
That thought made me bite my tongue. I had no right to criticize him or his heritage, yet I continued to stare at his visage with blatant dismay. Back on his haunches, he sat with me as I clung to his coarse fur with my tainted fingertips. I thought my stained fingers matched my soul, for I was, ironically, the tainted being.
I blinked open my charcoal eyelashes and met a haze. Frightened, I sat up quickly, too quickly though, and I found a splitting headache to greet me. Glancing around, my cerulean orbs fell upon a sleeping Inuyasha lying in his rocking chair. After a few minutes, I blinked away my foggy vision, and just stared at him.
His trousers dirty and ripped at the knee, no shirt, and scruffy appearance gave him an outdoorsy look. However, he was, nonetheless, attractive.
I daintily reached up my right hand and felt my hair with its tangles and knots, and frowned. I couldn't imagine how terrible I looked right now, especially considering how bad I felt. A cold chill swept over my arms. Realizing I was being stared at, I raised my eyes to the rocking chair diagonal to me.
"You look tired," he stated hoarsely. I eased my mouth into a straight line, which was somewhat better than the former frown. After a few times at attempting to speak, I witnessed his golden eyes liquefy with a patience I never understood, nor will I ever.
"I understand," he paused, "if you no longer wish to see me," his low rumble echoed throughout the cabin.
My mouth fell agape. I knew I must look ridiculous, but I was completely dumbfounded. Couldn't he see how much hatred I had for myself? My own father, my own flesh and blood wanted me to kill the man I love. Not only that, but I had gone to see him, in his other form, planning on doing just that. The mere idea of him forgiving me and pretending as if he was in the wrong made me choke on a scream.
"Why the hell," I began irately, and I noticed his eyes widen minutely, "would I not wish to see you anymore, Inuyasha?" By the end of my question, which was more like a demand, I was fuming; fuming with self-loathing, with denial, with heartache.
"If anyone has the right to close themselves off, it would be you. You know why I was there last night, why I was sent, what I was..." I trailed off as a treacherous tear trickled from under my eyelashes. He quickly arose from his chair and sat beside me on the white, cotton sheets.
"How could you still be here for me, after all I have done? I lied to you, Inuyasha. I betrayed your trust and your affection. You can't possibly love me after all the pain I have caused." Once again, I was sobbing.
"Stop," he whispered, "Please, just stop." His long, toned arms embraced my quivering form and held me for so long; I thought I might die of contentment. After an unaccountable amount of time, my whimpers ceased and I looked up at him. I looked at his bare chest apologetically where my mass of tears had met his dirty skin. His large hands grasped the sides of my head and gently kissed me. It was short, but sweet.
"I have known about your clan for a while now," he started, and once seeing my pained expression, he gently pressed a fingertip over my lips to silence me. "Let me finish, Kagome. I knew the first time you spoke to me what your intentions were. My own father had told me of your clan, who hunt the man-wolves and exterminate. I was forewarned that you were sent by your family to "vanquish me," as your kind so finely put it. Those words now spoken, it did't change the fact that I fell in love with you, and am still in love with you. Just as you knew of me and my secrets, I acknowledged yours. My father warned us of your clan and of his worries if we came across you, but it did't in any way alter my attraction. Kags, I love you no matter what. If you truly wanted to kill me, you would have, but you did't't't. That's why I'm still here and haven't run off. I thought you knew me better than that." He smiled at me with such a serene quality, leaving me a pink tint on my usually pale cheeks.
"If you knew," I stopped and took a deep breath, "why did't you tell me?"
"I have already explained this. I love you Kagome, and you already know about my kind, so it's not important to ask why now." After watching my confused expression, he sighed.
"Or I thought I might need a snack in my other form, is that what you want to hear?" He huffed at me, and I giggled; which caused him to smile. My smile wavered, though, when I thought of my still soiled fingertips that were now a dirty scarlet color. Inuyasha's eyes followed mine and he caught his breath.
"But I'm dying Inuyasha. The coughing, the blood, the pain; those things aren't normal. How can I be with you when it will be so brief? How am I supposed to force you to sacrifice for me in my short life?" I forced my shaking hands to cease and lifted my head to meet his eyes.
"Don't worry about it. We'll take everything in stride, including each of our fates. If you leave, then I'll follow. You can't expect me to remain behind on this forsaken land without you to accompany me." His stern eyes eased a sigh out of me. Whether or not it was out of frustration or relief, I'm not even sure.
"What are we going to do though?" I questioned. His intense look made me shudder.
"Well then, when do we leave?" I asked.
He looked baffled and surprised all at once. I smirked. It was odd enough to see the accumulation of emotions on Inuyasha's face, because he was usually so reserved when it came to serious emotion, otherwise he was just plain brash. However, now he was just amusing to watch. I saw the understanding dissolve the confusion, and he engulfed my body with his strong arms again. We would run away together. Where? I had no clue, but that did't much matter.
"It's going to be okay," he assured me, as if I needed reassurance.
This was what I wanted. I loved Inuyasha, and if he wanted me, even after all of my attempts to destroy him, then he could have me. Of course, by leaving, I meant leaving the area. We would have to rid ourselves of the other wolves, and my clan of killers. The only problem remaining was if he could handle the beast inside of me. He knew of everything, including my upcoming fate. Spitting blood certainly wasn't normal, and I feared my sanity would be lost in my short life. The only other thing left for me to do was hope he could maintain a steel cage around my murderous humanity until I departed.