Haunted, an inuyasha fanfic

The rain fell down from the heavens with practiced grace. The shadows of the night bounced off of every available surface, and the fog rolled in slowly. A single foot appeared from the dark, bare and perfect. The foot was followed by an entire form, enticing and unsettling all at once.

The wind blew the dark raven locks of the mystery woman, making her shadow all the more frightening. The woman smiled and knelt down to touch the darkness she was causing. She fingered a piece of dirt softly and finally picked it up into her hand. As she stood back up she crushed the dirt within her closed fist. The dirt crumbled and fell to the ground it had come.

-- Long lost words whisper slowly to me
Still can't find what keeps me here
When all this time I've been so hollow inside--

A soul catcher shot down from the sky, a white orb held in its legs. It dropped the soul, which immediately entered the woman waiting below. The woman breathed in a sigh of relief from the welcome soul.

She stepped over to the pond near by and looked down at her reflection. The image staring back at her seemed to be a mockery of what it should have been, of what it once was. The noble priestess, Kikyou, no longer gorgeous and full of life, now hollow and alone.

"What word of Inu Yasha do you bring?" Kikyou inquired to the soul catcher who has just returned. The odd creature landed on its mistress' awaiting finger and seemed to speak to her through its beady eyes. "Near by…"

Kikyou hissed as memories weaved their way into her mind. Days when life was good, when she actually had life for that matter. Looking back at her reflection she touched her pale cheek softly.

Inu Yasha had promised to be with her forever, fifty years ago. He had swore to protect her, swore his life to her, and now this is where she sat. Alone, with a broken promise against her, and vengeance that bubbled within her.

She was stuck, walking this earth forever. Neither alive nor dead, just being. Crossing over wasn't an option. Forced into this fake existence, eternally stuck with a body of clay. Kikyou looked up at the sky with dismay. Souls were getting harder to come by for some reason, and she was becoming weak.

--(I know you're still there)--

"Inu Yasha."

--Watching me, wanting me
I can feel you pull me down

Fearing you, loving you
I won't let you pull me down --

The name, once like honey, burned her lips. Every night dreams of him submerged her into further mental anguish. The man who caused her death, the man who fell in a love with another, the man she still wanted.

He would come around still, she knew that for certain. Sometimes in the dead of the night she could hear him, feel his protective gaze. He thought she didn't notice but his presence never went unmasked, at least not from her.

"Dear sweet Inu Yasha." Kikyou dipped a finger in the pond and watched the tadpoles swim away from her bony digit. Even the fish wanted nothing to do with her. But perhaps Inu Yasha could still be hers.

She knew it was because of him that she couldn't find peace. If he had died with her like she planned, they would have happily lived in hell together. Forever with him like he promised.

Kikyou found herself getting up and wandering to the end of her love's name sake forest. She looked on at the village she once resided in. She could see the hut her sister owned, the smoke rising from the chimney, and the unmistakable outline of Inu Yasha in the doorway.

She dug her nails into the bark of a tree and tried not to scream out. She wanted him so bad, but never successful. She still loved him and she knew he wanted her too, but there was always something in the way.

Before he could sense her she walked back into the forest. A tear formed in her eyes, the first tear since before she died, and fell onto the hard ground. It was followed by Kikyou's exhausted form.

--Hunting you I can smell you - alive
Your heart pounding in my head--

Inu Yasha knew that smell anywhere, Kikyou was near by. Coming up with a quick excuse he left the hut in search of the woman he once loved. Her soul catchers hovered near the entrance to the forest but Inu Yasha did not follow.

He sniffed the air to take in that uncanny scent of clay and bone. A scent that always invited him, but never welcomed him in. A shiver ran up his spine as the sound of her artificial heart beat began to pulsate. He wasn't sure if it was real or a figment of his imagination. Either way he continued to listen.

Inu Yasha wanted to run in the forest without a second thought, but common sense stopped him…he had to remember Kagome's feeling in the matter. Her fragile mind was so easily scarred and he didn't wish to harm her. Instead he sat down, his back to a tree, and waited. He didn't know what he was waiting for but he couldn't go in and he couldn't go back. What else was there to do?

--Watching me, wanting me
I can feel you pull me down
Saving me, raping me
Watching me... --

Kikyou had managed to stand back up and Inu Yasha could feel her eyes burning into him. Her lust for revenge was evident in her scent alone but Inu Yasha didn't move.

He wanted to go to hell with her, the temptation was great, but he knew better then to pursue death. What would it accomplish, a life in hell? A life in hell isn't really a life, even if it was with Kikyou.

She was so confusing in her death as well. She just didn't have the same state of mind he remembered. Inu Yasha had learned to know what Kikyou was thinking but he couldn't do that anymore. She just stopped making sense.

Kikyou claimed to want him dead yet she had only truly attempted a few times when they were alone. She had endless chances to finish the deed her restless soul wanted, but so far no results. Not that he wanted her to succeed, but he knew she was holding back, playing with his mind a little at a time. Did she want him to go mad? Was it in her sick plan? He would not fall victim. He was too strong.

-- I...(watching me, wanting me)
I...(I can) feel you pull me down
I...(fearing you, loving you)
I...(I won't) let you pull me down--

"I won't go with you." He whispered, just loud enough for her to hear. Kikyou smiled and leaned her weight on a large tree trunk. The lack of souls was getting to her.

"One day." Kikyou's voice trembled from behind the forest's density. "Maybe not tomorrow, or even today, but one day I will have you. A promise is a promise."

Her voice lulled Inu Yasha into a false sense of security that he quickly shook off. Her threat was clear as day yet his human love for her didn't want to let him believe her.

"You scare me sometimes, Kikyou. What you've become…" Inu Yasha sighed and stood up. "The woman I love is gone now. You are an empty shell, not even half of who I once cared for."

"You still want me." Kikyou growled. Another soul entered her body and she stood up more confidently, her voice just a little less unstable. "You will come to hell with me…you will..."

"No." was Inu Yasha's only reply. As he began to walk away, towards the hut of his friends, Kikyou slammed her fist into the tree her mouth curving into a scowl.

"You'll come back…you are always watching, wanting, lusting over me. You'll be back Inu Yasha…"

Inu Yasha stopped dead in his tracks, turned around, and gave the trees that hid her an icy glare. "I won't let you pull me down. I am through with the past." He whispered coldly, before running off to town.

All he heard as he made his retreat was an aggravated scream and the sound of Kikyou collapsing once more…but for once he couldn't care less.