The Horror Flick
By Arysta
Part One: The One-Hour Challenge
It was the scariest movie that Kagome had ever seen, and near the end she couldn't even remember why she had wanted to see it in the first place. She watched as the climax built, the silence in the movie's background saying more than any scream ever good.
"Kagome-neechan?"
Kagome jumped. "I'll be there in a minute," she said, unable to tear her eyes away from the screen.
"I'm thirsty," Souta persisted. "Can I get a drink?"
"Yes, yes," she said. "Don't turn around," she said to the screen. Unhearing—it was a movie, after all—the man turned around. Eerie music hummed, and Kagome clenched her hand tightly.
"Hey, that hurts!" Inuyasha complained.
"Shush!"
Inuyasha laid back against the couch, mumbling, and on the screen the television flickered on.
"What is this?" Souta asked. "Is it a good movie?"
"Get out of here, Souta!" Kagome said, even as the girl began to pull herself out of the screen toward the unsuspecting professor.
"Keh," Inuyasha barked. "She's not so scary."
The professor's scream echoed, but Kagome didn't see what was happening. She had already pulled a blanket over her head and shut her eyes tightly.
The music changed, finally, and she began to breathe again.
"Are you finished hiding?" Inuyasha asked, lifting the blanket away. "It wasn't too scary."
Kagome ground her teeth, finally remembering why she had wanted to see the movie that had scared every one of her friends witless. Because of him. She flipped on the light, feeling marginally better after the room was illuminated.
"Neechan? Is this that movie?" Souta's voice was quivering. "The one that Hajime came over here to copy?"
Enter the wildcard. Kagome forced herself to sit up. "Don't worry, Souta. It's just a movie. It can't hurt you." She smiled at her little brother. Why couldn't he have just stayed in bed? It was after midnight, for crying out loud! Weren't little kids—well, human kids—supposed to be asleep by that time?
Souta looked to Inuyasha, and then back to Kagome, and she could see the tears sprouting in his eyes. "I don't want to go to bed!"
Kagome groaned. She should have known that her plan would blow up in her face. Not only had Inuyasha not been affected by the movie, but now she had to deal with Souta!
"Hajime said that his cousin… his cousin didn't copy the tape like he was supposed to and he.. he died!"
Kagome ignored the shiver that ran through her. She had heard this story, though it had never seemed so… well, scary, before. "Hajime's cousin died in a car accident," she reminded him.
Scenes of the dead teens in their car jumped to the forefront of her mind. She shoved them back forcefully.
Inuyasha was watching them both carefully.
"I don't want you to die!" Souta said, crying full-out.
"Ne, ne, don't worry," Kagome said, just as the lights flickered. She turned, her stomach churning and her heart speeding, as the television burst to staticky life. Souta wailed and flung himself into her arms, and even Inuyasha stood, hand on Tetsusaiga's hilt.
"It was a movie," Kagome told herself. "Only a movie."
"Maybe not," Inuyasha said grimly. "Maybe this tape is possessed."
"Possessed?" Kagome hissed out. It was becoming a struggle to breathe.
He nodded his head. "Some youkai live as images."
Souta's eyes widened.
"This was just a movie," Kagome insisted, holding the boy tighter.
Then the power went off.
All hell broke loose.
Kagome screamed and cursed as something hit her in the nose, and jumped to her feet. A loud thump echoed in the room. There came the distinct sound of a sword being drawn right before a shower of sparks blinded her for a moment.
"Osuwari!" Kagome yelled.
"Kagome!"
"You can't break that tape," she said. "Just in case it is a youkai—or a curse. We have to make a copy of it."
"Kagome," Inuyasha said quietly. "Don't move."
"What?"
"There's water on the floor."
"What?" She screamed this time. "Water?"
"Calm down," Inuyasha barked.
"Where's Souta? Souta? Are you alright?"
There was no response.
Kagome stepped toward Inuyasha's voice—and found her foot on an arm. "Aiiyeeeee!" She jumped, throwing herself toward Inuyasha.
"What it is?"
"An arm. A wet arm, on the floor."
Inuyasha cursed. "We need a light!"
She finally touched the familiar material of his fire-rat coat, and followed the fabric up until she could touch Inuyasha's back.
"Kagome?" His voice sounded strange.
"Where's Souta? We have to find Souta!" She said, still trying to find his face with her fingers. Inuyasha's back twitched beneath her touch. She leaned forward to reach higher, and her feet slipped on the wet carpet, squeaking loudly.
Inuyasha growled and leapt into movement, throwing Kagome off his back. She fell into the spreading puddle, and yelped once as her head smacked into the floor. Inuyasha's growl ran through her very bones. She got to her knees painfully, one hand reaching to feel the growing goose-egg on the back of her head. "Inu…" she said, then coughed and shivered. Her nightgown was wet, her hair straggled in her face and stuck to her nose, cheeks and chin. "Souta," she called hoarsely, blinking in a dual attempt to clear the darkness from her vision and to alleviate the pain that was still throbbing in her skull.
A whoosh nearby was followed by a crash, and Kagome felt the razor-sharp cut of nails on her leg.
"Kag…" the voice was rough, inhuman. Inuyasha's growl still rumbled, but fingers were fumbling for her ankle.
Kagome screamed again, and threw herself to the ground. She dug her nails into the wet carpeting so hard that she felt one break, but spared it no thought. The hand on her ankle was cold and small, almost childlike.
She sobbed in fear, unable to control it any longer. Had she survived youkai, mononoke, evil teachers and even Naraku to be killed by a movie? And what about Souta? What would her mother think when she came home to find them both dead? She sobbed again, and pulled away from the fingers that were tightening determinately on her ankle. She kicked ineffectually. She was barefoot, and she didn't know where her assailant was.
"Kagome, are you alright?"
She sobbed even louder at Inuyasha's roughly rumbled question. "She's got me," she whispered, afraid to speak, afraid to move, afraid…
She heard the squish of his oncoming footsteps in the soaked rug. The hands crawled up her leg. "Don't come closer," said. "Run away, Inuyasha. Run away."
"I'm not leaving you," he said.
"Find Souta and leave!" She tried to pull herself farther from the hands, to buy them time to escape. Her finger twinged where she had torn the nail. Her other hand was caught in unraveling fibers, immobilized. The hands were scrabbling up her calf now, but she could feel the rawness of her skin where the touch had been, the familiar ache of open wounds. Her stomach contracted and acid burned in her throat.
"Kagome's blood?" Inuyasha's growl built in the darkness, strangely, comforting her. Kagome's head still throbbed, her throat ached.
"Just leave! Hurry!"
"I will not!"
There was another woosh, and then Kagome felt something heavy smack onto her head.
There was nothing.
*****
"Onee-chan!"
"Souta!" Inuyasha blinked in the sudden brightness. Her heart began to unclench. Kagome's brother was alright. His hair was wet, his eyes were shining with tears, but he was alive. The youaki—the curse—whatever—hadn't gotten him.
Then he saw Kagome.
"Damn it."
"What happened? Is she okay?"
Inuyasha thrust Tetsusaiga back into its scabbard and took a deep sniff. The room was swimming the Kagome's blood-scent. His hands curled into claws, and before he could even consider moving Inuyasha found himself kneeling at her side.
She was still alive. If he looked closely, he could see the slight movements of her chest as she breathed.
"Bandages," he said hoarsely. "We have to stop the bleeding."
Souta nodded, and ducked away.
He touched her with gentle fingers, exploring the places she was injured. Nothing seemed life-threatening, though her fingernail had been torn to the quick and her legs were slashed and cut. She still bled sluggishly. Her face was pale and she shivered even though she was unconscious. He lifted her out of the water puddle and set her on the couch. He pulled the blanket over her to keep her warm, and tucked the long wet strings of her hair out of her eyes.
"Souta? Where are the bandages?"
"I can't reach them," Souta said, panting. "They're too high up!"
"Damn it," he hissed. "Don't move," he commanded her. "I'll be right back."
Even as he made his way to the bathroom, his mind was on revenge.
*****
She awakened to a flickering light, opened her eyes, and saw her hand covered with blood, her nightgown stained with it. Her heart thumped in her throat.
She knew she was dying.
She turned her head.
Wreckage surrounded her. The television was a dead husk, the carpet ruined. She didn't see Souta or Inuyasha.
They had gotten away.
She swallowed back her tears of relief and let herself fade back into the blackness—and faintly, very faintly, heard the phone ring.
*****
End One Hour
*****