Author's Note: Hello! As the story description states, this is going to be a fic about a young girl who follows Kagome through the well and ends up encountering a certain Lord of the Western Lands. Ahoy, I see romance on the horizon! The really, really, really distant horizon, to be clear. As I want to keep everyone in-character- particularly the oh-so-stoic Sesshomaru- and I can't exactly see him falling madly in love with a human, especially one as annoying and chirpy as Evey, this is going to be a very slow-blooming love story. However, I promise to try and make the build-up as realistic, entertaining, and enjoyable as my humble writing skills will allow.

Here is a little background to set the scene: I am making Kagome just a little older (about 2-3 years) then she first appears in the anime, so that she is closer in age to Evey, who is 17. Evey is an American transfer student who is spending a semester in Japan, and she befriended Kagome during her first week at her new school. The girls are in high school right now. This story is set later on in the anime- although that isn't too important, save for the fact that Naraku is still alive and kicking, and the Shikon Jewel has not been made whole yet; Inuyasha, Kagome and co. are still searching for jewel shards. There will be other villains of my own creation, but I find Naraku just so creepy and well-written that I can't bear to write a story that doesn't feature him as an antagonist.

With that said, enjoy my little story! Reviews and constructive criticism are very much appreciated! And if you spot any mistakes- grammatical, or mistakes regarding characterization, continuity, or anything else- please do not be shy about letting me know so that I can correct my errors!

Disclaimer: No, I do not own Inuyasha (but how cool would it be if I did?). Maybe one day...

Chapter 1: Into the Well

I wasn't trying to snoop. Really. Honest.

But you have to admit, it was kind of weird. Kagome Higurashi- and her grandfather, weirdly enough- could rattle off a list of her many illnesses without missing a beat, but then whenever I actually saw her she looked perfectly fine. No back-bending osteoporosis, swollen feet, broken bones, raging herpes, and whatever else she had been 'out' with.

In fact, she looked better than fine. Healthier, actually. She was slim and fit- her legs were ridiculously toned, and I was so jealous- and she had become an absolute beast in gym class. Her behavior had changed, too; sometimes she'd just be staring off into space, lost in thought and totally oblivious to the world around her, or even talking to herself. I swear that on at least four occasions I'd heard her mutter 'sit!' under her breath, to no one in particular.

Oh, sorry. I should explain how I know all this stuff. I'm not stalking her, I swear. Although I am following her around with a video camera right now, and she has no idea that I'm behind her. I know that looks pretty bad, but it's all perfectly innocent. Promise.

I guess I should explain. My name's Evelyn- Evey, for short- and Kagome is- or was- my 'introduction buddy.' I'm an American, grew up in the States and transferred to Tokyo as part of a senior student exchange program about two months ago. It had seemed like a good idea at the time; I had pretty much mastered the language, and I've always adored traveling, so coming to a new school in a new country had seemed like it might be pretty cool.

And it was pretty cool, more or less. Sure, I got really, really confused about the currency rates every now and then- my first time buying a cup of coffee, I had accidentally overpaid by about fifty dollars- and sometimes I forgot a word or two, but that was all to be expected. What I had not expected was my new school uniform. I mean, seriously. Seriously. These stupid green skirts are just so not cool. At least twice a day some sinister breeze turns an otherwise normal, nondescript moment into a frantic- and not always successful- battle to hide my, er, lady parts from the clear and unobstructed view of anyone within fifty feet.

The other not-so-cool part of this little adventure was the fact that my introduction buddy- Kagome Higurashi, the afore-mentioned stalkee, who had been assigned to be my 'guide' around this foreign town- was never around. She had showed me around school, made sure I had all my books and things, and we had hung out several times. But even then, she had tended to disappear for a day or two- heck, sometimes six or seven- at a time, with her grandpa claiming that she was grievously ill, and then out of nowhere she'd be back at school and totally fine.

I mean, it was weird. I'd tried talking to her about it a few times, but the conversations hadn't exactly been informative. They'd gone something a little like:

"Gee, Kagome, I heard you were out sick again. But you look fine…"

"Oh, yeah. Uh, it was, let me think, pneumonia! Yeah, really bad pneumonia. Boy, am I glad I'm feeling better."

"Pneumonia? But doesn't that put kids in the hospital for a really long time? You were only gone for two days."

"Oh, well, it wasn't that bad of pneumonia. It was a pretty mild case."

"Oh. But… you just said it was really bad. And where did you get those bruises? And that nasty cut on your arm? And-"

"What?! Yeah, coming! Sorry, Evey, I think I hear, uh, someone calling my name. Gotta go, catch you later!"

And then she'd run off before I had a chance to push any further. I was totally perplexed by the whole situation- clearly she wasn't sick all the time. I mean, come on. Last week her grandpa had announced that her appendix had burst, but then three days later she was back in class and mopping the floor with our poor peers in a game of volleyball. I'm sorry, but people whose appendixes have just burst do not play- and win, no less- volleyball tournaments. Nuh-uh, no way.

I was so going to get to the bottom of this. She was hiding something, and I was determined to find out what. Not in like a creepy, paranoid, obsessed way, mind you- I'm really just concerned. It seems like every time I see her in class, she's got a fresh bruise or bandage or something. Whatever's going on, she's getting hurt, and I am definitely not okay with that.

So yes, I'm kind of following her right now with a video camera in my hand, and I realize that looks bad, but it's all perfectly understandable. I was sitting on a park bench, see, working on a project for our science class- I had to videotape and take notes on the life cycle of different kinds of flowers, which is just so boring- when Kagome had rushed past me. And no, she didn't see me because I was crouched in a bush with my video camera, but that's not as creepy as it sounds. I was videotaping some boring old flowers, not her. But then I saw her rushing off, throwing glances over her shoulders, with her backpack bulging, and I decided that following my friend would be decidedly more interesting than watching a dumb flower grow. Because, seriously. Have you ever watched a flower grow? Trust me, it's pretty dull. It basically just sits there. So, so boring.

I'd only been following her for a few minutes, camera at my side and backpack slung loosely over one shoulder. Turns out that stalking people is actually pretty exciting- every time she stopped to look around and see if she was being followed, I had to dive into a bush or behind a tree or something. Yes, I felt ridiculous, and yes, I had twigs and leaves sticking out of my hair. But I was determined to find out where she was sneaking off to, and no measly bushes were going to stop me.

It's when her house comes into view that I began to feel not only super creepy but also super dumb. Suspicious or not, Kagome was apparently just going home. I sighed and was about to call out her name when she glanced at the house and, adjusting her backpack, turned to walk past it. I cocked my head to the side, wondering where she could be going, and side-stepped to watch from behind behind a blooming cherry blossom tree. I continued to watch as she jogged up the steps of the old Higurashi shrine and, looking around one final time to make sure she hadn't been followed, stepped inside and slid the door shut behind her.

"What the…" I muttered, starting forward again. I had just about reached the shrine steps when an eerie purple light glowed from behind the doors. I paused a moment, then rubbed my eyes. "Kagome?" I called hesitantly. Surely I was imagining things.

There was no answer, and abruptly the light vanished. I hesitated for a second, then mounted the steps and tentatively slid the heavy old door open.

Empty. The shrine was totally empty, save for some broken boards and an ancient, crumbling stone well right in the center of the room. I blinked against the darkness, baffled. Where on earth had she gone?

"Kagome?" I called again, propping the door open wide and then inching forward into the gloomy room. "Are you in here?" Well, that was certainly a dumb question. Of course she was in here, I'd just seen her walk through the door.

But… well, where was she? This place wasn't exactly chock-full of hiding places. There was only one door, and all the windows had been boarded up long ago. My eyes landed on the well. Surely she wasn't… she couldn't be… in the well.

I stepped up to the well's stony sides and peered down into its blackness. Totally empty. Okay, this was starting to get kind of creepy. "Kagome?" My voice echoed a handful of times and I shivered, suddenly wanting very much to get out of this place. "Kagome, this isn't funny! Where are you?"

My eyes were slowly adjusting to the gloom, though I couldn't quite see to the bottom of the well. How far down did it go? And what was at the bottom? Water? Mud? My friend? I swallowed tightly. Kagome didn't seem like the kind of person who enjoyed jumping into ancient, abandoned wells- come to think of it, I have no idea what kind of person enjoys doing that- but I really couldn't think of any other explanation for her disappearance. I glanced around the shrine again, chewing my lower lip anxiously. There wasn't anywhere else for her to have gone. There just… wasn't.

I opened my mouth to call for her again- though I didn't know what good it would do, it wasn't like she had answered any of my other calls- when a glint from the depths of the well's blackness caught my eye. I squinted down at it and leaned over, furrowing my brow. What the heck was that thing?

It was small, and round, and kind of a silvery-white color. And it was gleaming. Metal? Maybe someone's jewelry? I couldn't quite tell.

After a long minute, I heaved a resigned sigh and tightened my grip on the stone mouth. Kagome was- had to be, weird as it was- down there somewhere, and I wanted to know just what that weird silver thing was.

"Am I really going to do this?" I asked myself aloud. Climb into a dark, abandoned old well in the middle of an empty shrine, after someone who may or may not be at the bottom? Despite the spiders and bugs and goodness knows what else was probably in there?

But what was my other option? Turn around and leave, and maybe not see Kagome again for another week? Never know where she had gone, or what that thing in the well was? Never figure out what was going on with my friend?

I inhaled deeply and steeled myself, overwhelmed by a sudden rush of courage. Was I really going to climb into this black, ominous pit? Why, yes. Yes I was.

I shoved by video camera into my backpack and, making sure it was tightly sealed, hoisted myself carefully over the stone edge. I braced both hands against either side of the opening and, gritting my teeth with the effort, began to slowly ease myself downwards. The stones weren't slippery, thank goodness, and they provided little ledges and handholds that helped my descent.

A few feet down, the back of my neck started to prickle. I froze, suddenly feeling a sense of dread, though I had no idea why. Actually, it felt like... like... someone was watching me. I swallowed tightly and looked to my right and left, but there was nothing- just hard gray stones and patches of brown dirt. The dim light from the mouth of the well, which was just a few feet above my head, suddenly seemed to darken.

I licked my suddenly dry lips. Was it just me, or had it suddenly gotten really cold? Like, really, really cold, and there was definitely a stream of fog pouring out of my open mouth every time I took a breath. I shivered, all of my previous feelings of courage and determination gone. This had been such a bad idea. What was wrong with me, climbing into an abandoned well all by myself? Was I insane? It was time to go.

But I couldn't seem to make my hands move. I'd like to tell you that it wasn't because I was literally frozen with fear, but... well, it was.

Somehow, I made my head move. Slowly, mechanically, I twisted it to the side, turning my eyes downwards, looking towards the bottom of the well... My jaw dropped in a wordless, soundless gasp. That silver thing, that awful thing that had piqued my curiosity... I could see it clearly now. Way, way to clearly.

Embedded in the dark mud at the bottom of this stupid, awful hole was an eye. A big silver eye, oblivious to the dirt packed tightly around it, and it was looking at me and holy crap it was so time to get out of here.

I stared at the thing for a wild minute, my heart pounding in my ears. An eye. There was an eye. In the ground. Watching me. An eye. It blinked, and that jolted me into action; I snapped my head up and, with impressive speed if I do say so myself, scrambled to grab at the stones above me. I hoisted myself up once, twice, nearly slipped, and managed to breathlessly latch one hand onto the rim of the well. I heaved upwards, kicking wildly with both feet to add momentum, and pulled myself up and over the edge.

Somewhere in the back of my frantic mind, the fact that the door was closed- and that I had definitely left it open, because what kind of lunatic would lock herself in an abandoned shrine?- registered. I was just starting to ponder the implications of that thought when a rush of icy wind hit me, and an enourmous face materialized out of thin air just inches in front of me.

I had just an instant to register the image- blood-red eyes, wild dark hair, huge, huge teeth that looked razor-sharp- before I screamed and lurched backwards, loosing my hold on the stones.

"No!" I cried helplessly, trying unsuccessfully to grab onto something, anything, as I fell back into the dark hole. The back of my head hit something hard, and a curious kind of numbness took over my body. Everything grew foggy and then, quite suddenly, I saw a soft purple light illuminate the stones around me.

"Wh...what..." I tried to mumble, but my voice slurred. The mud beneath me felt cold and hard, but I didn't remember my body making impact with it.

"Wha..." I tried again, struggling to lift my head, but it felt so heavy and warm, and suddenly the whole world was spinning. And then, quite suddenly, everything went black.