Onigumo House

by SplendentGoddess

"Are you interested in a once in a lifetime experience that's to *die* for?" Kagome read with some dramatic flair that had Souta laughing. "If you think you have what it takes to survive what goes bump in the night then come for a stay at Onigumo House," said the ad her brother had found on the Internet. She should have realized it was too good to be true.

Blanket Disclaimer:

Inuyasha, and the characters therein, are the property of Rumiko Takahashi. I am in no way affiliated with Takahashi, or VIZ Productions.

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Happy Halloween!

Since last year's story was a spooky(ish) themed canon one-shot I figured it was time to go AU again. I've never tried anything quite like this one before, so I hope it goes over well. This one-shot was inspired by films like The Haunting, House on Haunted Hill and Ghost Ship, but unlike last year's fic I'm not actually copying the plot of one specific movie. Everyone is human in this universe, and to make things easier, it's an Americanized world. Enjoy!

Oh and PS, please forgive any typos or other errors I might have missed. Real Life caused me to really push it to the wire this year and I just barely finished the story before posting it. While I usually reread my last few paragraphs over and over as I'm writing I always normally do at least one if not two or three full rereads of an entire story once it's finished, which I didn't get a chance to do this time. Hopefully it's not too bad. Please still enjoy! :-)

Oh, and PSS...apparently there's a new rule that "individual chapters" have to be under 500,000 bytes? I know I've posted other one-shots near the 50K-word mark before but apparently the newly tweaked system won't allow new uploads of that size, so this is supposed to just be a one-shot, and is a one-shot over on , but I had a good enough place to break it up into two chapters for this site so whatever. Okay now enjoy! (I hope)

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Onigumo House

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Sighing as she glanced at the clock hanging on the back wall of the kitchen, Kagome willed the minute hand to move faster.

"Wait, did the freakin' second hand just go backwards?" she muttered to herself, shaking her head. When was the last time they changed the battery?

"Did you say something, Kagome?" Rin asked from her place beside the older girl, the eighteen-year-old making three chicken soft tacos while Kagome watched the French fries.

"Just wondering whether or not time's going backwards," Kagome answered nonchalantly right before the alarm on the fry bin went off. "Guess not," she added as she grabbed the wooden handle for the metal basket and lifted it out of the hot oil, dumping the fries into their large tray before putting a new batch down to cook.

"I've noticed that it's taking about an hour for every twenty minutes," Rin commented as she wrapped the tacos in their designated wrapping paper before putting them in a white paper bag that had 'On The Go Shinboku' printed in black and red letters on the side.

Kagome nodded her agreement before adding a large carton of fries to the bag along with some napkins and packets of ketchup before heading over to the front counter and handing the bag to the patiently waiting customer.

"Thank you. Enjoy the rest of your day," she said as she handed the bag over, smiling at the gentleman who politely said "Thanks," in return before leaving with his lunch.

She dropped her smile as soon as he turned to exit, blowing her bangs out of her face as she sighed at the lack of patrons in their little fast food restaurant. Busy days, as crazy and hectic as they could be, always went by so much faster. Today was dragging, and even though her 6:00am-12:00pm shift was finally almost over, her day was just beginning.

As soon as it was finally time to punch out, the first thing Kagome did after keying her ID number into the time clock was grab her trusty backpack out of her locker and head into the bathroom to change her clothes. Off came her black slacks and polo shirt, and in their place she donned her favorite black and blue checkered skirt topped by a white long-sleeved button-up shirt. Her beat up but comfortable enough black leather lace-up shoes and matching black socks were replaced by her favorite pair of black slip-ons without socks, her work clothes getting shoved back into the bag. Washing the grease from her face and trying to make her hair presentable, she was then ready to head across the parking lot to Shikon University.

Juggling college and a part-time job was exhausting, but she needed the money. She was grateful to have qualified for a partial scholarship, but once she was done with pre-med the real fun would begin, and her scholarship only covered up to the first year of medical school. She had plans for working certain programs that would help her with her growing debt once she started her residency at Tama Medical, but in the meantime, she was grateful the local fast food joint was willing to schedule her around her classes. Whatever spare time she had between work and school she usually spent studying. She wasn't going to become just any doctor, after all, but a specialist in rare and potentially hereditary diseases, especially Fatal Familial Insomnia. She didn't really care if she'd be in debt for the rest of her life, living on a ramen diet; she wasn't pursuing this career for the money.

Kagome still lived at home with her mother and younger brother, and probably would for years to come, unable to afford her own place. The elder Higurashi woman was widowed and working two jobs of her own to make ends meet, but she was happy to have her daughter at home, not wanting to hinder her future goals in any way. Kagome tried as hard as she could not to burden her already overstressed mother with even the tiniest extra expense, but she was bound and determined to become a specialist. It was her calling. Fatal Familial Insomnia was what took her father's life and, unfortunately, Souta had also tested positive for the PRNP gene when both she and her brother got tested after his death. She had fortunately lucked out, clean bill of health, but it was a fifty-fifty shot that if one parent had the disease they could pass it on to their children. Souta would most likely develop symptoms at some point in his adult life, and there was no known cure.

Not yet, anyway.

Kagome was running on backup energy reserves her school friends Yuka, Eri and Ayumi envied with a passion, but it was her passion to save her brother's life that kept her going. Working part-time at On The Go Shinboku didn't pay very much, but she saved every penny she could for her schooling; Kagome was a pro at living on a budget. She didn't have her own car so whenever her mom or one of her friends couldn't give her a ride she either walked or took the bus, and she didn't have a fancy smartphone for streaming videos online, her cheap pre-paid phone good enough for making calls. If she needed to look up a bunch of stuff on the Internet for her studies, that was what the library was for. It was her home away from home.

It was a sacrifice, not having a life outside of work and school, not getting to enjoy even going to the movies unless one of her friends decided to pay her way although such carefree moments were few and far between, but it was well worth it. She knew she was running herself ragged, but she just didn't feel like she had a choice. She was playing beat the clock, after all.

"I don't know how you do it, Kagome," Yuka said, glancing up from her phone every few steps as they headed out of class later that evening.

"Easy, I just think of my brother, and my future nieces or nephews," the twenty-year-old answered as she walked with Yuka towards the other student's brand new Nissan. Yuka's parents weren't rich, by any means, but neither were they hurting for money and Yuka was able to devote her full attention to her studies as a result, wanting to become a doctor as well. In her case, a surgeon.

"You're amazing, you know that?" Yuka stated more than truly asked as she put her phone in her pocket and unlocked her car, the future surgeon more than willing to give Kagome a ride when the girl lived on her own way home.

The ride was pleasant. They spent most of the time discussing Ayumi's pending date with Hojo. Once upon a time the man had been interested in Kagome but the last thing she had time for at this stage in her life was a romantic relationship. It had taken Eri longer to comprehend that fact than Yuka, who'd understood where Kagome was coming from, having a little brother of her own. Yuka had accepted Kagome's disinterest in dating but Eri had tried to push Kagome and Hojo together a few times, not wanting to take Kagome's no for an answer, until they'd all three realized that Ayumi had secretly been crushing on the guy from day one. Hojo himself had seen fairly easily that Kagome wasn't interested, and thanks to Eri's shift in focus, she was now playing match maker for Ayumi and Hojo.

Getting dropped off at home, Kagome greeted her mother in the kitchen, who was just rinsing her and Souta's dishes from dinner. Kagome wasn't upset that she'd missed dinner; she'd had a late class today and Souta, who was still in junior high, needed to keep a set dinner and bedtime schedule. At least one of them needed to. Grabbing the plastic wrapped plate of food her mother had put in the fridge for her, Kagome removed the cling wrap, zapped it for a couple of minutes, grabbed a fork and sat at the table.

"Goodnight, sweetheart," Mrs. Higurashi murmured as she kissed her daughter on the forehead before disappearing down the hall towards her bedroom. She had to be to work in the morning even earlier than Kagome.

"Night," the younger Higurashi woman replied before wolfing down her dinner and putting her plate and fork in the dishwasher. Heading to her own room, she read the next chapter in the medical textbook she was currently reading and then went to bed.

The next day she worked 6am-12pm again but didn't have a 1pm-7pm class afterwards. She had no school that day so she took the bus back home after work. Having the house all to herself for the next few hours, as Souta was still at school and their mom wouldn't get home from work until an hour after he did, Kagome took advantage of her alone time to use the computer she shared with her brother.

They had unlimited data on their home Internet service so that was fortunately not an issue, since between the two of them they did plenty of browsing, although 'browsing' wasn't really an accurate term where she was concerned when she was hardly perusing the Internet for fun. World's top ten cutest kittens? How to lose weight with one weird trick? She had no time for such trivial things when there were articles of medical studies and research papers in need of reading. Hypotheses, laboratory experiments, clinical trials...hell, even studies on natural remedies and herbal supplements from various countries used by the locals for thousands of years. Anything and everything that might possibly be a piece to the giant puzzle that was fatal insomnia and other rare degenerative diseases of the brain, she would find and read them. She usually printed them out as well to add to a binder she was in the process of making, although she also bookmarked them on the computer. She just didn't want to risk losing anything should their five year old desktop decide to take a dump.

She spent the afternoon searching, trying multiple search browsers even, to find anything new, or anything old she might've missed on previous searches. She found and bookmarked a lot of sites to read more thoroughly later, and then she switched gears and started reading up more on the various ways she could cut her future debts. She was going to be in school for years to come, without really being able to hold any kind of a decent job in and around her studies once she started her residency at the local hospital, so any programs she could join, any scholarships she could qualify for, any other ways to make more money would help her get that much further in her education, and out of debt that much faster.

"Hey sis," Souta greeted as he came in the door, the thirteen-year-old letting himself in with his own key after having walked the couple of blocks to the house from where the school bus dropped him off."

"Hey," Kagome greeted in return. She'd kept an eye on the time and knew her brother was due home any moment. "Okay, your turn," she added without protest as he dumped his backpack on the couch and made his way over to the corner of the living room that housed their computer.

Without bothering to close her web browser, it wasn't like she'd been looking up naughty pictures or anything, Kagome stood up and away from the computer to let Souta take over while she headed into the kitchen to get started on dinner. She always tried to cook for their mother whenever she could, whenever she didn't have any late classes or had to work the late shift at the restaurant.

Finding some ground hamburger that needed to be cooked soon, and noting that they had plenty of bread and eggs on hand at the moment, Kagome opted to do a meatloaf. The cooler autumn evenings meant that the oven wouldn't make the house too hot. They tried to avoid using the oven during the summer months whenever possible since they also tried to avoid using the air conditioner if at all possible, and their oven put out an awful lot of heat. It was an older model, but it still worked, which was a good thing since they definitely could not afford any new appliances at the moment.

Having washed the barbecue sauce from her fingers, Kagome was just putting her finished product into the oven when Souta calling her name from the living room earned her attention.

"What is it?" she asked, coming up behind him to see some kind of fanciful looking flyer up on the computer screen.

"This ad popped up and I thought you might be into it," he said. "The Internet knows you're looking for ways to make money."

"Stupid cookies," Kagome grumbled to herself, not really appreciating the way Big Brother always seemed to stick his nose in her business.

Search for one stupid pair of shoes…

She still remembered the time she'd thought about buying a new pair of sneakers online, and how annoying it'd been afterwards when suddenly every ad banner on every site was featuring them or a similar pair. She never even bought the damn things, deciding not to waste the money, but yet the ads had persisted until finally getting replaced once again with medical related banners thanks to her typical browsing behavior. She actually didn't mind the banners that were medical related, and sometimes even clicked on them, but whenever she shifted gears to look up scholarships or ways to earn extra cash while in school then the ad banners changed as well. The phenomenons was nothing that clearing the browser history wouldn't fix, of course, but it was just the principle of the thing. The Internet did indeed know what you searched for.

Taking a moment to read what this particular flyer was apparently advertizing, Kagome mentally groaned.

Speaking of Big Brother…

"Looks cool, Souta, but I don't really think that's the kind of thing I can be doing right now," she said.

"But you could win a million dollars," he stressed in a way that had her picturing him doing the Doctor Evil thing with his pinky finger.

"Unlikely," she replied.

"But possible!"

Snorting, Kagome glanced back at the screen and decided to read the first part of the ad out loud just for the hell of it. "Are you interested in a once in a lifetime experience that's to die for?" she read with some dramatic flair that had Souta laughing. "If you think you have what it takes to survive what goes bump in the night then come for a stay at Onigumo House." She gave a sideways glance at her brother. "Hmm, never heard of it."

"It's a hundred year old haunted house up in the hills here, or at least, it's supposed to be haunted," he explained, having Googled it real quick. "But check this out," he said then, continuing to read the ad where his sister left off. "Do you believe in ghosts? Do you believe in fear? Will you survive the house or get bumped off?" he read.

"Assuming this isn't a total scam," Kagome replied, "it sounds like one of those Big Brother type reality show game shows, where so many people go to live in a house and then get eliminated one by one, but with a spooky theme for Halloween. I realize there's a large cash prize involved, but I just can't go flutter off for however long this would take when I've got classes."

"But look," he pointed. "It's only for one night!"

Glancing at the less spectacular fine print at the bottom of the advertisement, Kagome noted that the event in question was for Halloween night only. Since Halloween fell on a Monday that year, she could theoretically go do this, since her 10am class on Tuesday mornings meant she had the day off at On The Go Shinboku. Hopefully, she'd be able to make her class, but even if she couldn't, she supposed skipping one class wouldn't be the end of the world. Not like if she had to take several weeks off for a standard reality show production. But still…

"I don't know..." she hesitated. "I mean, I do love all things Halloween, and if I could actually miraculously win? That would be spectacular." Actually, it would be the complete and total end of her worries, or at least her financial ones. Even after taxes she'd have more than enough money to afford her entire education. "But this just sounds too good to be true." Which meant it probably was.

Looking back over the ad flyer, she read, "The last person to survive will be awarded one million dollars."

Hmm…

In her head, she now had visions of those intense 'face your fear' type game shows. Competitors for this event were probably going to be faced with beat the clock type challenges, or even simpler 'what's behind door number three' type puzzles where if you make the wrong move, give the wrong answer, you're out of the game.

Still, though, what did she really have to lose by trying?

My dignity, provided this thing is televised.

She had noticed that there didn't seem to be any mention of this being for any type of TV show, so she supposed it was possible it was just a game set up by some millionaire for their own jollies, but she wouldn't put it past him or her to display the end results on the Internet, if nothing else. As far as Kagome was concerned, that just meant that if she did decide to do this, she'd just have to make damn sure not to make an ass of herself.

Last thing I need is to be made fun of at school for screaming bloody murder when a feather tickled me in the dark, she thought, chuckling a little despite herself.

A large part of her was convinced that chickening out and not doing it was the best course of action, but still, she had to admit, it was tempting.

"I'll think about it," she answered at last.

"Well don't take too long to think about it," Souta said, pointing out the part of the fine print that said how they were looking to fill ten spots.

"Well then they've probably already got enough players," she said, strangely feeling both relieved and disappointed at the same time.

"Maybe, maybe not," he replied with a shrug. "Depends on when they first put this ad up. I've never seen it before today. And it's gotta be for locals only, since it's at a local mansion. They probably used the computer's location, and programmed the ad banner to only pop up for people that're in the area, so it's not like the entire Internet has seen it."

They would've probably booked all ten spots in only a few seconds if that had been the case.

"Like I said, I'll think about it."

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"No."

"But-"

"No, and that's final."

"You're being unreasonable!"

"I'm being unreasonable?" Inuyasha asked, incredulous. "You want to drag me to some kind of gods forsaken Halloween bullshit when you know I'm not into Halloween."

Kikyou snorted at that.

"Could've fooled me, what with the ridiculous way you insist upon presenting yourself."

She was referring to the way he kept his naturally raven hair bleached white and wore golden yellow contact lenses over his chocolate brown eyes.

It was his turn to snort at the predictable dig. She insulted his looks every chance she got; it wasn't anything he hadn't heard before.

Honestly, what upset Inuyasha the most was that his persona had already been well established long before he'd met Kikyou. It wasn't as if he'd been normal, aka boring, when they'd first met, and then he'd up and changed his appearance one day without warning and just expected her to deal with it. He'd been bleaching his hair for the last two years, and they'd only gotten together six months ago. She hadn't had a problem with it, or at least, she hadn't acted like she'd had a problem with it, until she'd seen his high school year book photo and had apparently fallen head over heels in love with the 'real' him. She'd asked him to change back, 'for her', and when he'd refused she'd decided to make him pay for it by turning into a royal pain in his ass.

But that didn't mean he'd take her abuse lying down.

Crossing his arms, he replied, "There's a big difference between fantasy and horror. You'd know that if you had any kind of imagination, or personality whatsoever."

"You can call it whatever you want," she said. "It's still playing dress up. You're a grown ass man."

"A grown ass man that pays your bills," he pointed out.

Kikyou only huffed at that, not having an immediate comeback. It wasn't like she could just tell him she didn't need or want his money and storm out the door. Well, she could, but she wouldn't.

I wish she would…

Why he hadn't just broken up with her yet was beyond him, but he was this damn close. No matter how good the make-up sex was, it just wasn't worth it anymore.

Perhaps sensing the direction his thoughts were headed, Kikyou changed tactics.

"Please, at least think about it," she requested softly, giving him her best puppy dog eyes.

He rolled his own eyes in response.

"If you want to go so badly, you can go by yourself, you know," he pointed out.

She batted her eyelashes and tried to look even sweeter. "But I would miss you too much, being away from you for a night."

He snorted.

"Okay fine," she conceded then, throwing her hands up into the air dramatically. "With the two of us, we'll double our chances of winning the prize money."

Now that sounded more like the Kikyou he knew.

"Just think of it," she continued. "A million dollars. We'd be increasing your wealth by half!"

He sighed, rubbing his hand down across his face.

"I don't need any more money, Kikyou."

"You owe me this," she argued sharply, earning his immediate attention.

"I owe you?" he asked, incredulous.

"You're the cheapest millionaire I know," she said. "You don't want to dote on me properly, then fine, help me win my own fortune and I'll get out of your freakishly white hair if that's what you want."

He sighed again at that, not even upset that she'd basically just tried to strike a deal for the condition of their breakup. He'd known for quite some time that she was only staying with him for his money, had probably only ever hooked up with him in the first place for his money, especially if she was truly so bothered by his exotic looks.

Maybe if his coloring and fortune were related in some way, if he were say...a world famous DJ or something, then she wouldn't have a leg to stand on as far as his looks were concerned. His appearance would then be a part of his brand and something that could not be argued against. But he wasn't a famous DJ, or a famous anything else for that matter, his two million dollar trust fund having come from daddy dearest.

Toga Taisho was a high end real estate broker. Very high end. Inuyasha's father had clients whose properties regularly sold for at least double his trust fund. Not wanting to force his two boys to follow in his own footsteps if real estate just wasn't for them, Toga had given both of his sons the means with which to start their own businesses, which Inuyasha fully intended on doing some day, just as soon as he decided what it was he wanted to do with his life. He was only twenty, after all. At that point, all he knew was that he did not want to go into the real estate business. How boring.

He was being smart with his money, though, giving himself an annual allowance of a hundred grand. At that rate, he could theoretically live comfortably for the next twenty years without working a single day, but then he'd be broke afterwards, of course. He wasn't stupid, and he would invest most of his fortune into a long lasting career, but that didn't mean he couldn't have a little fun.

Upon gaining access to his trust fund at age eighteen he'd moved out of the house into his own apartment, and wanting to get a little wild but not too wild he'd bleached his hair in lieu of something more permanently rambunctious like getting a tattoo. He might still get some ink one of these days, but only if the perfect image or design spoke to him. At the time, being a pampered eighteen-year-old with money burning a hole in his pocket, he'd still been mature enough thanks to his good upbringing to know he didn't want to just rush into something foolish he would later regret. Bleaching his hair was definitely not permanent and he could dye it back if he wanted to, but he'd simply found that he liked the look, and his parents hadn't even objected, so he'd decided to keep it. He'd also grown it out, so it was well past his shoulders now.

As for the contacts, he actually needed glasses, which he hated wearing, and had been wearing contacts instead for quite some time. A little while after bleaching his hair he'd decided to see what he'd look like with lighter eyes and had decided to go for something a smidgen on the exotic side. Too yellow to be natural but nothing over the top in his opinion, his contacts were actually quality made, and prescription, not the cheap crap from the swap meet that could give you an eye infection.

But he still had to remove them at night, so Kikyou got to see his natural eye color on a fairly regular basis, at least for fleeting moments since putting them in in the morning was among the first things he always did after waking up. It was also obvious to anyone who knew him intimately that his natural hair color was black, so it wasn't as if Kikyou could have been surprised by the yearbook photo. She'd only thought to manipulate him, to control him, thinking she had him pussy whipped enough that he'd do whatever she asked, especially if she twisted it to seem as if he owed it to her to make up for not spending as much money on her as she wanted. Living modestly, at least by millionaire standards, meant that his gold digging girlfriend couldn't run up her monthly credit card bills into the five figure range.

Oh poor baby, he thought sarcastically.

Inuyasha wasn't stupid. He knew she really would have walked away months ago had a better opportunity been waiting around the corner. Perhaps she really had loved him, once, or she'd at least genuinely fallen in love with his high school photo, but knowing now that he would never become that person for her, she only stayed because she needed him. Even with as 'cheap' as he supposedly was, she was a hell of a lot better off than she had been without him. What fool would be willing to adopt responsibility for her spending habits should she leave him? Then again, he was the fool who kept trying to buy affection where there was none, paying a woman who didn't even like him to be his girlfriend. For the last five months he could barely afford his own monthly rent and bills after paying off her credit cards, and since she'd moved in with him three months ago her clothes, shoes and purses had taken over 80% of his closet. Enough was enough.

The more he thought about it, the angrier he became, but he tried to calm back down, not wanting their argument to escalate into one of their full blown yelling matches. He was at the end of his rope, but that didn't mean he couldn't be civil about it.

"Fine," he relented then. If he helped her win this money he wouldn't have to feel guilty about sending her on her way. If she blew through the million in a year and wound up broke again waiting tables that wouldn't be his problem.

Sitting down at the computer, he read over the advertisement. It looked to him like some stupid rich kid's idea of a Halloween prank. Dangle a million dollars in the poor people's faces and watch them dance like an organ grinder's monkey. There was probably some disclaimer you'd have to sign that said you couldn't sue the guy for all the crap he'd end up putting you through, but if at the end of the day, or night as it were, somebody really did walk away the winner of a million dollar cash prize, then he supposed the whole thing was at least legal if not immoral.

Then again, perhaps he was just bitter about the notion because he honestly wasn't into the gory side of Halloween. He loved 'playing dress up' as Kikyou put it just fine, but he wasn't into blood and gore and monsters and ghosts and being scared. Still, how bad could it be?

Deciding to concede defeat because he just wasn't interested in fighting with her over it anymore, planning on breaking up with her after this stunt was over, win or lose, Inuyasha turned his head to meet Kikyou's eyes, letting his intentions show clearly in his own.

"All right, I do it."

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Enjoying dinner as a threesome for once, that night being Mrs. Higurashi's night off at her second job and Kagome's class having let out early enough to get home in time to join them, the younger Higurashi woman was just standing up to clear the dishes for her mother when Souta asked her if she'd made a decision yet regarding the contest at the haunted house.

"I don't know, Souta," she answered as she took the dishes to the sink. "While it'd probably be fun I don't think-"

"If you're about to say you don't think you have the time, or the right, to have a night of fun then you better just stop that line of thinking right now, young lady," Mrs. Higurashi interrupted as she joined her daughter at the counter, putting the dishes Kagome rinsed into the dishwasher.

"Mom?"

"If anyone deserves a night of fun, it's you," Mrs. Higurashi stressed. "Yes, I'm working two jobs, but you're juggling both a job and college and not just any college."

Sighing, she offered her daughter a warm smile.

"Don't think I don't understand or appreciate your hard work and sacrifices, but it's because you work so hard, are planning on sacrificing so much, for years to come, that you deserve this. Besides..." Laughing a little, Mrs. Higurashi gave her daughter a playful wink. "You just might win."

"If anyone can kick a haunted house's butt, it's you, sis," Souta chimed in, earning a chuckle from both his older sister and his mother. "Plus Kohaku just told me at school today that his sister and her husband signed up for it so you wouldn't even be alone."

"Sango?" Kagome asked, earning a nod in response.

While she'd never actually met Kohaku's sister, Kagome had heard a few stories from the boy the few times he'd been over visiting Souta, although more often than not Souta went to their house instead.

Sometimes, if neither Kagome nor their mother would be home for several hours, then Mrs. Higurashi preferred it if Souta went to Kohaku's house after school so that his parents could look after him. She knew Souta was old enough to be home alone but her motherly instincts still felt better about it if she knew he was being taken care of. Kagome agreed, plus she was just glad her brother had a best friend he actually socialized with outside of school. Kohaku had told her more than once that he suspected she and his sister Sango would hit it off, but she usually didn't even have the luxury of hanging out with any of her own work or school friends outside of work or school, so trying to make friends with somebody she neither knew from work nor school was, in Kagome's mind, not necessarily a waist of time but it would take time away from her studies she couldn't afford to spend.

It appeared as if maybe, if she decided to do this game show thing, that she'd finally get the chance to make friends with the woman, since direct acquaintance or not, Kagome definitely felt better about the whole concept after realizing there would be somebody there she could latch onto for moral support. Haunted houses were supposed to be scary, after all.

"Okay, okay..." she relented then, deciding to do it although she knew that didn't necessarily mean she'd actually get to. "I guess it wouldn't hurt to at least call and see if there's still any openings, although they're probably booked by now, anyway."

"It doesn't hurt to try," Mrs. Higurashi agreed.

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Fidgeting nervously in the back seat of the taxi cab, Kagome had a case of the butterflies that would put Disney's Tower of Terror to shame, and it had nothing to do with theatrics as she both adored that ride as well as all things Halloween. But still, she was going into the unknown, and she couldn't help feeling like she was free falling at least a little bit. She really had no idea what she was going to be facing once she got there, plus it was more than a little unnerving that after being congratulated on nabbing the very last spot she'd been given a rundown of the rules she'd need to abide by and rule number one was no cellphones allowed.

She supposed she could understand where they were coming from, what with the level of technology in newer smartphones. They undoubtedly wanted to make sure that whatever took place tonight would not get leaked onto the Internet prematurely. Or at all, if this really was all just some rich person's private little game. When Kagome had asked the woman on the phone point blank if it was for TV, some kind of face your fears game show or what have you, the woman, identified as Kagura, had said no. Kagome had felt both relieved and even more nervous at that revelation, because while the idea of appearing on television, and more importantly, looking the fool on television, had originally been the biggest fear holding her back, the fact that there wasn't going to be the presumed safety and professionalism of a stage crew doing an official TV show production had her wondering just what kind of a trap she was voluntarily walking into.

Still, Kagura had assured her that the advertizement had been genuine, and that the contest of surviving the haunted house was quite real, including the million dollar cash prize for whomever could last the longest. She hadn't taken her literally, of course, since Kagome didn't really believe the place was actually haunted, let alone dangerous, but she presumed the house had been rigged with all sorts of things to go bump in the night in an attempt to scare people away. Even if the place really was haunted, though, a creaking door, footsteps, or a sudden blast of cold air certainly wouldn't be enough to frighten her. She wouldn't actually have to do anything, Kagura had told her, like reach into containers blindfolded and identify the contents or play beat the clock trying to figure out how to get out of a locked room. Apparently all she had to do was spend the night along with nine other guests, and she had been instructed to bring anything that would make her feel more comfortable in that regard, such as a set of night clothes and any necessary toiletries.

Glancing down at her solitary night bag sitting on the seat beside her, Kagome bit her lower lip as she worried yet again if this was actually a good idea, and not some sort of a trap. How could she possibly only need to spend the night along with nine other people and, supposedly, their numbers would be whittled down throughout the night until they had a winner? Just when she was starting to contemplate chickening out, though, her driver pulled her from her thoughts by announcing their arrival at her destination.

"Here we are, miss," he said, as he pulled up in front of the large mansion and into the wide circular parking area that had a couple of other cars already parked in it.

Well, at least I won't necessarily be stranded here, if I can bum a ride back into town with somebody else.

Assuming she wasn't the first one kicked out and had to walk downhill by herself in the middle of the night because nobody had a phone and so she'd have no way of calling another taxi.

Perhaps it wasn't the wisest decision to just have a cab drop her off at the place without her phone on her, rules or no rules, but Sango and her husband Miroku were supposed to be two of the other nine guests and according to Souta, Kohaku had said that his sister was looking forward to meeting her. That definitely helped Kagome to not feel quite so alone and abandoned as she grabbed her bag, paid the driver, and headed up to the intimidating looking house to the sound of the taxi driving away.

Gazing up at the dilapidated two-story building, it definitely gave off the vibe of being haunted. While not large enough to technically be called a mansion, it appeared just shy of the classification in Kagome's mind, appearing much too grand to just be called a house in her opinion. While the sun had just set a short while ago it was still light enough to see Onigumo House's shabby brown shingles and pealing red and white paint, and had a million dollars not been on the line she would've definitely had no desire to spend the night there, even for the thrill of staying in a supposedly haunted house. While the place wasn't overly cliché, and didn't look like the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland or anything equally as awesome, it was an old building with overgrown landscaping and it was making the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. Maybe they had some sort of secret electronic devises blasting EMFs to help give everyone that heebie-jeebie feeling? Either that, or it really was haunted.

"Guess I'm going to find out," she muttered to herself as she made her way up to the rich wooden double doors.

Not sure if she should knock or not, she just tried the knob and found that the doors were unlocked, so hesitantly, she stepped inside.

"Hello?" she called out as she awkwardly closed the doors behind her. They creaked with old age, as did the floorboards as she made her way towards the center of the great room.

That was an understatement.

The whole house, while clearly rundown, still showed its extravagance in the architecture and décor. The hardwood floors were a rich, dark chestnut, although they were lackluster from years of neglect. Intricately carved dark wood panels made up the bottom four feet of the walls, capped off by decorative strips of molding, the upper walls stretching towards the two story ceiling covered in a rich green and gold hand painted wallpaper that was pealing in a few places and stained with moisture damage in others. The ceiling itself was a dirty off white, crisscrossed in heavy wooden beams from which hung two circular cast iron chandeliers that were electric but gave the appearance of holding candlesticks. It was their dim glow that gave the home that extra feeling of spooky as Kagome glanced around.

A hallway stretched on to the left, leading to who knew how many rooms. To the right, a curved staircase to the second floor, beside which a smaller hallway led to what was once the servants' quarters while beyond the stairs, towards the back right of the main room, lied the dining and kitchen area. Opposite that, to the back left of the main room, was a sitting area with gold, cream and rosewood Victorian style chairs, sofa and fainting couch, all of which were positioned for occupants to face the large antique red Persian rug while enjoying the oversized stone fireplace that encompassed the left wall.

The fireplace was lit, filling the room with warmth, and Kagome slowly made her way closer to the sitting area as she peered down each hallway and glanced upstairs.

"Hello?" she called again. "Is anyone here?"

Was she the first one to arrive? But then what about the cars out front? Surely someone had to be there, and what about the fireplace?

"Hello!" a young man replied suddenly, just when she was about to call out a third time.

Kagome noticeably sagged in relief at the sight of the man with black shoulder length hair tied back at the nape of his neck emerging from the dining hall. He was wearing a dark purple v-neck t-shirt, black jeans and black sneakers, and definitely appeared to be another guest.

"My apologies," he said, confirming her suspicions. "I was just familiarizing myself with our fabulous if not somewhat antiquated accommodations. At least the kitchen is relatively modernized, and from what I've been told by our hosts, dinner will be served shortly."

Kagome offered him a genuine smile. Rival or not, she was comforted by his presence for the simple fact that she did not want to be left alone in this place. The proprietors had definitely done a good job of making the house both look and feel haunted, and while the part of her that loved all things Halloween was actually really digging it, she still couldn't help the small part of her that felt a little bit afraid.

"That's good to hear," she answered, in regard to his comment about dinner being ready soon. "Kagura had said that dinner was going to be provided so I haven't eaten, and I'm kind of hungry," she finished honestly.

Hey, scared or not, a girl had to eat.

Grinning pleasantly, the man looked Kagome up and down with an appreciative glint in his indigo eyes, taking in her black pleated knee length skirt and oversized dark blue sweater that hung off her left shoulder, black flats, and yellow overnight bag hanging off her right. Although he was a happily married man, he couldn't deny that she was a cutey.

"I dare say," he commented then, "whatever the results of this contest, my stay in this manor shall be more pleasant now that you have joined us."

Not used to being flirted with, Kagome blushed hotly at the man's words, which earned a hearty chuckle from her admirer.

"Forgive my husband," a female voice chimed in then, followed by a woman in her early twenties entering the living room from the long hallway. "He's a perpetual flirt, but he's harmless."

She made her way over to the man she'd just claimed as her own and grinned up at him as he wrapped his arm around her, smiling sheepishly.

"I'm afraid he'll never learn to keep his eyes to himself, but at least I've trained him to keep his hands to himself," the woman added, still gazing at her husband with love in her chocolate brown eyes. "Or if not to himself, then at least I'm the only one he gropes anymore," she added with a laugh.

He smirked at her, and winked at Kagome before again meeting his wife's gaze.

"My dear Sango," Miroku started smoothly, "one can appreciate the fine artwork of a museum while knowing that touching is not permitted."

Instead of feeling even more uncomfortable, Kagome's own smile grew at their words. She took in the woman for a moment, wearing a white and pink blouse, green pants and brown saddles, her long dark brown hair hanging loose, and realized Kohaku's description had been spot on. His sister was very beautiful.

"You're Sango and Miroku," she stated rather than asked, figuring the answer was obvious at that point.

Quick on the uptake, Sango's eyes lit up as she disentangled herself from her husband.

"And you must be Kagome!" she exclaimed as she pulled the younger woman into a quick hug. "It's so nice to finally meet you."

"Yes, Kohaku told us you would be joining us this evening. Welcome to Hill House," Miroku added, chuckling at his own joke.

Kagome snickered, then apologized for her busy schedule having prevented them from getting together until now.

"Oh not at all. Believe me, I understand," Sango said, having heard the whole story from her brother.

"I commend you on your dedication," Miroku added.

"Hopefully, if I win this thing tonight, then my schedule will be able to open up a little bit," Kagome said. "If not, well, I'll try to squeeze it in, because I can already tell we're going to be great friends."

And she meant it. Something about these two really rubbed her the right way.

Well that didn't sound right. She chuckled at her own random thoughts.

"Win or lose, I'm sure tonight's experience will be the beginning of a beautiful friendship," Sango said then.

"So who else is here?" Kagome asked.

"We're the only contestants so far," Sango explained, "although our host and hostess Byakuya and Kagura are here. They're in the kitchen."

"They greeted us but then asked if I could take care of greeting the other guests while they finish up dinner preparations," Miroku added. "I believe I was remiss in my duties upon your arrival, so for that I apologize."

"Were you bothering the chefs again?" Sango asked as Kagome waved off Miroku's apology.

"I'm hungry," he answered with a shrug, earning a chuckle from both women.

"Oh wow, you mean they're cooking everything from scratch?" Kagome asked, surprised. "I'd figured they would just get some place or another to cater this event." She thought about it for a moment, then added, "Then again, we are kinda in the middle of nowhere."

"You got that right," chimed in a new female voice from the doorway. Everyone turned to greet the newest arrival.

"Welcome," Miroku said, watching the newcomer, who seemed less than impressed with her surroundings as she approached where the others were standing in the middle of the great room.

She was wearing gray linen slacks and a loose fitting dark purple blouse that made Miroku regret his own choice of wardrobe. She was dragging a rolling suitcase behind her, Louis Vuitton by the look of it, and coming up to where the others were standing she looked around somewhat impatiently, as if expecting a hotel registration desk to materialize against one of the walls.

"I'm Miroku," he introduced politely. "This is my wife Sango, and our friend Kagome."

"Tsubaki," she answered impatiently. "Is there someone here to show me to my room or what?"

Miroku opened his mouth, but whether he was just gaping or was going to answer, he didn't have time to decide.

"You're actually free to choose your own rooms," a woman wearing a tight fitting black dress that was quite appropriate for Halloween said as she emerged from the dining room and approached the others. "Please excuse my rudeness. I'm Kagura."

"Nice to meet you in person," Kagome said, tilting her head at the odd, almost sad look that flashed in Kagura's eyes before it was replaced by a fake smile anyone in the customer service industry would recognize a mile away. Brushing it off, Kagome figured something was clearly bothering the woman, but she was professional and wasn't going to let whatever was wrong interfere with her job this evening.

Miroku, who had been too busy admiring Kagura's low cut dress again to notice her changing facial expressions, asked with a friendly tone, "How are things coming along?"

"Oh fine," Kagura said. As way of explanation to the new arrivals she added, "We had a little trouble getting the ovens lit, and a few other glitches, so we're a little behind schedule, but we're not going to let the ghosts put a dampener on dinner."

Kagome giggled, appreciating that their hostess was keeping character, but their latest arrival, Tsubaki, snorted in derision.

"Look, Elvira, I don't care about your little game of make believe. I just want to be shown to my room so that I can lock myself inside until you're handing me my check in the morning."

It was Sango's turn to snort at that, but before their hostess could say anything she volunteered to show Tsubaki to her room. The sooner the bitch locked herself in her room for the rest of the night, the better.

"Miroku and I have already chosen our room for the night," she began, "but if you want to follow me, I'll take you to a bedroom that I think would be perfect for you."

Giving Sango an impatient look, as if the woman was actually an employee who was slacking in her duties rather than a fellow guest going above and beyond, Tsubaki collapsed the telescopic handle on her rolling suitcase, picked it up by the regular handle, and with an expression that clearly indicated she thought Sango should be carrying her luggage for her, she followed after Miroku's wife as the woman led her upstairs, her black dress flats clicking loudly on the floorboards every step of the way.

"Unpleasant dreams," Kagome sing-songed after them, doing a dainty finger wave with her right hand raised even though Tsubaki didn't turn her way to see it.

Miroku saw, and had to bite his lip to keep from laughing.

As Kagura excused herself to get back to dinner Kagome met Miroku's eyes and shrugged.

"Some women are just bitches," she said unapologetically.

"I find I must agree with that statement, although I am quite fortunate that my lovely Sango is not among them, and I can tell that neither are you."

"I have my moments," Kagome chuckled.

Miroku only laughed. Sango had her moments, too, but there was a big difference between being angered by an upsetting situation and generally acting like everyone you met was below you.

With Miroku excusing himself for a moment, heading to the nearest restroom, which was located down the servants' hallway, Kagome sat her yellow bag down on one of the chairs in the living room before wandering into the dining hall. There she found a large rectangular dark wood dining table already set with five places on each side. The dishes were nicer than her mother's good china, which they never used, with colorful floral designs and gold plating that ensured they were hand wash only. The silverware was unquestionably real silver, and the water glasses were stemmed crystal.

After taking a moment to gape like an idiot, Kagome shook herself out of her stupor enough to make her way over towards the entrance to the kitchen, which was another huge room in and of itself. Peering inside, Kagome observed for a moment from the doorway as Kagura and who had to be Byakuya buzzed around preparing what looked to be quite the feast. Miroku had been right when he said the kitchen looked fairly modernized, with the types of appliances one would expect to see in a modern day kitchen except you could tell they weren't brand new. They were black instead of the more popular brushed stainless steel, but they were getting the job done. Kagura and Byakuya weren't talking much, except about the food, and not wanting to disturb them Kagome headed back into the living room just in time to play hostess herself as the double doors opened once more.

"Welcome to Hill House," she teased, taking a page from Miroku's book, as an incredibly handsome man with long white hair – it had to be bleached, but it was a good look for him – entered followed by a woman whom Kagome would swear could pass for her sister.

Inuyasha snorted at Kagome's joke. Even though he wasn't into horror movies, Kikyou was, so he unfortunately got the reference. This was the first time she'd ever actually forced him to be in a horror movie, though. First and last. After tonight, win or lose, that was it. He just couldn't deal with her anymore.

Kikyou, convinced that if she was on her best behavior she could win Inuyasha back over again just like she always did, chuckled lightly at Kagome's greeting.

"Hi there! I'm Kikyou and this is my boyfriend Inuyasha," she introduced, earning another snort from the white-haired man that Kagome couldn't miss although Kikyou outwardly ignored it. "Are you Kagura?" she asked instead.

"Actually, I'm Kagome. I'm another guest."

"Ah, you mean another contestant," Kikyou playfully corrected. "You'll forgive me if I don't want to get too friendly with the competition."

Her demeanor was pleasant enough, although Kagome could easily pick up on the fake quality to it. She recognized a bitch only playing nice when she saw one. Still, she supposed the woman had a valid point. Admittedly, she wasn't there to make friends, either, except maybe for Sango and Miroku. But even so, she was definitely going to try to win that prize money. That Kikyou was at least being outwardly civil, unlike Tsubaki, was really all that mattered, she supposed.

"No problem," she replied then, offering Kikyou a genuine smile. "May the best man or woman win."

Sticking her hand out to be shaken, Kikyou smirked as she shook it.

"Oh, I intend to."

Game on, Kagome thought.

Rolling his eyes at Kikyou's remark, Inuyasha observed the interaction between his soon-to-be ex-girlfriend and that Kagome chick with mild interest. He wasn't fooled by Kikyou's polite act in the slightest, but it looked like, neither was Kagome. Speaking of looks, that girl could pass for Kikyou's sister, but where Kikyou had cold brown eyes Kagome's eyes were stormy blue-gray and sparkled with a playful light. Kikyou's hair was also as straight as straight could be, and tied back loosely with a white ribbon as she was fond of doing, but Kagome's raven locks, while nearly as long as Kikyou's, were loose and had an untamed quality about them, just like his own unruly curtain of hair.

Inuyasha wasn't the only one taking a moment to observe the so-called competition.

As Kagome gave both newcomers a discreet once over, the pair seemed mismatched to her somehow. Kikyou was wearing long billowy red linen pants and a silky white long-sleeve blouse, her long jet black hair, with bangs, as straight as uncooked spaghetti and neatly held in place. Inuyasha's long white hair, by contrast, was fluffy and wild, and his attire was also much more casual. While he was dressed in designer labels, they were in the form of simple dark blue jeans and a snug fitting red t-shirt that showed off his muscular chest, the laid back look finished off by a pair of black and silver sneakers as opposed to his girlfriend's black and gold wedge heels. Even their overnight bag, which Inuyasha was carrying, screamed of Kikyou's influence to Kagome. While not a three thousand dollar suitcase like Tsubaki's, Inuyasha somehow just didn't strike her as a Michael Kors kind of guy.

"So where can I drop this thing?" he asked in that moment to break the growing silence, confirming her suspicions as he yanked the bag off his left shoulder and held it up by the strap with his right hand in a way that suggested he was half tempted to just drop it right there on the floor of the great room and let Kikyou carry it the rest of the way herself.

Kagome could also tell from the way it was now hanging that it weighed quite a bit, and she found herself comically wondering just what the hell Kikyou had packed in there. All she'd brought was her pajamas, a change of undergarments, her hairbrush, deodorant, toothbrush and toothpaste.

"I actually haven't looked around myself, yet," she admitted. She went over to the chair she'd sat her own bag on and picked it back up. "I guess I'd better go select my own room, too, before all the best ones get taken."

"Well there's six bedrooms upstairs and four downstairs, two on each side," Miroku chimed in as he reemerged from the servants' restroom in time to hear the last bit of Kagome and Inuyasha's conversation, gesturing with a wave of his hand towards each of the hallways on the first floor. "My wife Sango and I, as the first ones here, call dibs on the master suite, of course, but aside from that room, which is behind the double doors at the end of the hall upstairs, and whichever room Sango gave to Tsubaki, the rest of them are still up for grabs."

"Sounds good," Inuyasha said with a nod of understanding.

"I'm Miroku by the way."

"Inuyasha, and this is Kikyou," Inuyasha replied, hanging the bag back over his shoulder in order to shake Miroku's hand.

Kagome couldn't help but notice that he did not introduce Kikyou as his girlfriend, although whether the woman in question noticed and was only ignoring the slight, or it honestly went over her head, she couldn't be sure. What she could be sure of, though, was that these two were not the happy couple Kikyou was trying to pretend they were for appearances' sake.

"Oh there's gotta be way more rooms than that," the woman in question chimed in then, peering down the left hallway, which seemed to go on forever.

"There are several other rooms, yes," Sango said as she appeared at the top of the stairs, "but the others aren't set up as bedrooms."

Coming down the stairs, Sango took her turn meeting the newcomers, then telling them all that Tsubaki was in the first bedroom on the left Kagome excused herself for a moment, as did Inuyasha and Kikyou, to head upstairs and pick a bedroom while Sango and Miroku took over playing hosts again.

Heading up the stairs, Inuyasha and Kikyou behind her, Kagome noted how all the doors but one were open, which was convenient, so she could see what each room was. The first room on the right, right at the top of the stairs, was a bathroom, so that was good to know. Heading down the hallway, the first door on the left was closed and Kagome assumed that had to be Tsubaki's room. Across from Tsubaki, the second door on the right, was a bedroom, but Kagome kept going. The next two doors, left and right, were also bedrooms, as was the fourth and last door on the right, which was the room Kagome chose. She'd glanced in the other rooms as she'd passed, but not really caring about what her chosen room for the night looked like, and knowing that Sango and Miroku were in the master at the end of the hall, Kagome had chosen the last bedroom on the right for the simple fact that it was closest to Sango and Miroku. She wasn't afraid of whatever Halloween-themed pranks they'd rigged up in this place, or so she told herself, but the house was still giving her the creeps and she just felt better knowing they were right next door.

"Home sweet home," she mumbled more than a little sarcastically as she went inside and placed her bag on the four post canopy bed.

She could hear Inuyasha and Kikyou talking out in the hall as she took in the décor, which was more of the same. Dark greens, reds and golds, rich woods, and this time with the added touch of dilapidated white lace curtains over the large picture window. A single lamp was lit on the nightstand, casting the room in a dim but functional glow.

As she looked at the ornate bronze lamp, admiring the Tiffany-style stained glass shade although she was sure it was probably a new reproduction, it began to flicker in an eerie way and made her glance around her room in search of hidden cameras. Now fully convinced the lamp was a reproduction, and rigged electrically, she suspected that Kagura had been deliberately misleading when she'd quizzed her prior to coming here about whether or not this thing was going to be televised. While she'd asked Kagura if this competition was a reality show type game show, and Kagura had answered that no it was not, Kagome belatedly realized in that moment that she'd neglected to ask the followup question of whether or not it was a candid camera type show, instead. Surely they were watching her in order to know when to flicker the lamp. She would try doubly hard not to get overly spooked by anything and look the fool.

"It isn't fair, we should get to be in the master suite!"

Kagome's appraisal of her chosen room for the night came to an abrupt halt as she mentally tuned into the quiet – but not quiet enough – argument that was unfolding right outside her bedroom.

I left the door open guys, sheesh…

Inuyasha and Kikyou had taken more time to venture down the length of the upstairs hallway than Kagome, going into each available bedroom after she passed them up in order to appraise their quality before, never being quite satisfied, moving on to the next. Well, Kikyou had been unsatisfied with the rooms. Inuyasha didn't personally give a shit although he'd supported her desire to check out each next room because while they weren't married – thank the gods – he could still relate to the expression 'happy wife, happy life', and at least for tonight he wanted to try to avoid needlessly fighting with her.

A plan she was making exceedingly difficult.

Still, he would try to be civil. It wasn't exactly like they were alone.

"How is it not fair?" he asked, his tone of voice rather neutral, logical even. "They got here first. Finders, keepers."

"But I deserve to be in the best room!"

Listening in, Kagome raised an eyebrow at that. She could practically hear the pout in Kikyou's voice, could visualize her stomping her foot in frustration, and she could definitely hear Inuyasha's amused snort in reply.

"I'm sorry we didn't get here early enough," he stated, clearly trying to placate the girl, "but what's done is done so let's just pick a different room and be done with it."

"You could just pay them," Kikyou tried to reason. "I'm sure they'd sell us their room if you threw a few thousand dollars at them. They're desperate for money!"

"You're desperate for money," he shot back, quickly losing his temper. He rolled his eyes, keeping them skyward for a moment, silently asking for patience. "I could offer to pay them something for their room," Inuyasha elaborated then, "but I won't, 'cause I'm not that type of person, Kikyou, and you know that."

Still listening in, Kagome couldn't decide if she was disgusted by Kikyou's attitude or bummed out that she wasn't the one with the room Kikyou wanted to buy. She couldn't speak for Sango and Miroku, but she would gladly give up the nicest bedroom for one night in a haunted house if it put a few extra thousand dollars in her bank account. The point was moot, of course, since it sounded like Inuyasha had shut that idea down, regardless, and she actually really respected him for that response, but still, she could playfully lament the lost what-if. Shaking her head, she decided the matter wasn't worth further thought, deciding instead to test out the mattress as she had a seat on the edge of the bed. The lamp flickered again, but she ignored it.

Aware that Kagome had probably heard every word they'd said, Inuyasha couldn't decide if he should feel embarrassed or just pissed off at Kikyou's inability to act like a decent human being for one fucking night. Deciding to lower himself to her level if it would mean shutting her up, he grasped Kikyou's right hand in both his, and looking her in the eyes he whispered softly, "Come on, Kikyou, just let it go, for me?"

Kikyou opened her mouth to argue, that being her instinctive reaction to just about anything Inuyasha said those days, but then suddenly remembering her plan to stay on her best behavior just in case she somehow didn't win the million dollars, she quickly forced her opened mouth to morph up into a submissive smile.

"You're right, I'm being silly. I'm sorry," she said, before heading a few steps further down the hallway to peer into the last room on the left, which was directly opposite Kagome's bedroom.

It actually wasn't a bedroom but instead was set up as a nursery, for some reason, with an antique wooden crib in the center of the room and a mobile comprised of porcelain clown dolls hanging directly over it, with shelf upon shelf filled with other porcelain dolls lining the walls above the antique chests of drawers.

"Well this is unnecessarily creepy," Kikyou said, earning Kagome's attention enough that she got up and met them both out in the hallway.

"You're not afraid of dolls, are you?" she teased, earning a playful snort from Kikyou.

"Please," Kikyou waved off. "It's not like this place is actually haunted. They just rigged it up to do spooky things and chase all the scaredy-cats away."

"Can't wait," Inuyasha drawled.

Kagome glanced his way, and he met her eyes for a moment, and falling into twin pools of golden yellow which were obviously contacts but were a surprisingly sexy look for him, they did nothing to mask his eyes still being the window to his soul and in an instant she understood. He had been dragged to this event and didn't even want to be here. She felt a little sorry for him, but their relationship issues weren't really her concern.

"Well, I for one am looking forward to it," she stated more or less honestly, "plus I could really use the money."

Kikyou snorted again.

"Too bad, girl, 'cause I'm gonna be the winner."

"Well see," Kagome stated, not about to let the competition rattle her nerves.

"What would you do with the money if you did win?" Inuyasha asked, just curious. He knew what Kikyou would do with it. She'd enjoy the next few years blowing through it and then be broke again, looking for the next rich sucker she could mooch off of. Not his problem.

"I'd use it to pay my way through medical school," Kagome answered. "I'm going to become a specialist in neurological diseases so I can hopefully find a cure for fatal insomnia."

Surprised, Inuyasha studied Kagome for a moment, and he too could easily read her soul in her eyes and knew that somebody close to her had been stricken by the disease. She was a woman on a mission and he held tremendous respect for her and her cause.

Kikyou immediately became disinterested, which didn't surprise Inuyasha since typically anything that had to do with hard work instantly disinterested her, and instead of participating in the conversation any further she took their overnight bag from him and headed into the room next to Kagome's, declaring that that room would be good enough. She was probably hoping to earn Inuyasha's attention back by showing him how she could concede and do as he asked. For his part, Inuyasha acknowledged his girlfriend's statement, agreeing with her choice of rooms, but then shifting gears back to the young woman standing before him, he told Kagome that he was sure she would succeed in her goal.

"If anyone can do it, you can."

Blushing lightly, Kagome nervously brushed a lock of hair behind her ear.

"You don't even know me."

He only shrugged.

"Don't need to. I can see that the fire's been lit in you, and while I can also see how this prize money would make your life easier, killing your student debt, I have zero doubt that you'll continue towards your goal no matter what obstacles life throws in your way."

Nobody had ever spoken to her like that before, with such unbridled confidence, and it really touched her. Even her mother, who did nothing but encourage her, sometimes said things like how the most important thing was that she tried, as if unconsciously sensing that she might fail in her mission of finding a cure in time to save her brother's life. To Kagome, that was unthinkable, but even if, heaven forbid, she did fail to save Souta's life, she would still not give up in her pursuit. Her family wasn't the only one inflicted by this curse and she would fight for all others like her father and brother, she would fight for everyone who was depending on her. She would find a cure. Somehow, just knowing that Inuyasha believed in her helped Kagome to believe in herself. True, she didn't know him, but maybe that was what made it so special. Of course her family and friends and teachers would all say they believed in her, but here was a total stranger, a competitor even, who also believed in her, who'd taken one look at her and knew the strength of her dedication. Failure was not an option.

A loud throat clearing shattered the moment, as Kikyou threw Kagome a nasty glare for only a fraction of a second before throwing on her fake cheery act as she announced with a huge smile that it sounded like more guests had arrived downstairs. Flustered to have the woman throw her obvious shade for just talking with her boyfriend, but realizing she was right about the arrival of more guests, as Kagome heard what sounded like several different voices speaking downstairs, she pretended not to notice the look Kikyou had given her as she threw on her own fake smile and agreed it was time to rejoin the activities down below. Inuyasha was a little upset about the look Kikyou had given Kagome but found himself trying not to laugh at Kagome's response as he and Kikyou, followed by Kagome, all headed back downstairs to meet and mingle with the other guests.

They were a full house, now, all four other competitors having arrived at roughly the same time. Two of them had come together. Brothers, named Manten and Hiten. They looked nothing alike, Hiten being trim and fit with his long black hair in a braid down his back while Manten was bald and overweight. Something about them was off-putting to Kagome, although she made nice and smiled as they all did their introductions.

Another guest, Kagewaki, seemed nice to Kagome as he introduced himself. He was wearing a blue shirt and gray pants and had long wild black hair that matched her own. Hair that did not miss the notice of their latest addition, a woman named Yura, who was wearing a skanky black low cut, high slit mini dress, the kind of dress that was onlydeemed even remotely appropriate on Halloween night.

"Just let me run my fingers through it!" she asked of Kagewaki, earning a wary expression from the man before he not-so-subtly sought refuge behind Sango and Miroku.

Yura made to pursue, but then caught sight of Inuyasha.

"Oh now there's a gorgeous specimen!" she squealed in delight. "Can I run my fingers through your hair? Oh please oh please?!"

Inuyasha raised a dark eyebrow at her, unsure if he should be flattered or disturbed, but the fact that he could sense Kikyou fuming beside him made him smirk in amusement. She had no right to be jealous after spending the better part of half a year insulting his looks every chance that she got.

"Tell ya what," he said then, just to piss Kikyou off. "If you end up being tonight's winner, I'll sell you my hair."

It was a small risk, a one in ten gamble, but if Yura really did win he'd be a man of his word and cut his locks off for her, because after months of Kikyou trying to get him to dye it black and him refusing to change his looks for her, cutting his long hair short for a total stranger – and a stranger who would have won the money that she, Kikyou, was trying to win – was the kind of fuck you he really felt like giving his soon-to-be ex-girlfriend at that point.

Yura of course squealed in delight again at Inuyasha's suggestion.

"You're on!" she said. "I never lose. Everything I get my hands on, I win, literally."

She then went on to explain how she'd actually won her car in one of those contests where everyone stood around the car with their hand physically touching it, for as many hours as it took, and whomever was the last person with their hand having never lifted away from the car's surface was the winner.

"By that logic you'd have to get your hands on the money, first, in order to win it," Kikyou pointed out. "Either that, or you'd have to get your hands on my boyfriend's hair, which is so not happening."

Inuyasha felt like embarrassing Kikyou in front of everyone by turning to her and sneering something like what do you care? but he behaved himself. Instead, he placated Kikyou by reassuring her he had no intention of 'throwing' the contest.

"Don't worry, Kikyou, I gave you my word that I would try my hardest to win this thing and I meant it."

Most everyone else had also taken Inuyasha's wager of cutting off his hair should Yura win as an empty gesture truly meant to indicate he did not believe she would win, because for most guys with long hair their hair was very, very important to them and would never be thrown away on a whim. Kagome was the only one who picked up on Inuyasha's double meaning. While she didn't know the details, it was clear to her that he'd said it on purpose to get under Kikyou's skin. Even so, Inuyasha somehow didn't strike Kagome as an asshole. The times he'd said or done something as a subtle dig on Kikyou all struck her as retaliation, as if he were simply done putting up with Kikyou's bullshit. Why he was still with Kikyou instead of just breaking up with her she didn't know, but again Kagome reminded herself that their relationship status was not her concern.

"You're gonna have to fight us for it," Hiten spoke up in that moment while gesturing between himself and his brother, in reference to Inuyasha's promise to Kikyou that he would try his hardest to win the money.

"Does anyone know what we're actually supposed to do?" Kagewaki asked next.

"For right now, you're all supposed to enjoy a lovely final meal before bed," Byakuya chimed in as he appeared from the dining room, his black and white formal tuxedo somehow making him look more spooky than servant-like, as if when he grinned vampire fangs would pop out.

Final meal? Kagome wondered. She would've just thought Byakuya was being playful, but the silent Kagura standing beside him again had that flash of sadness in her eyes before it was gone.

"Someone's missing," Byakuya noticed then, distracting Kagome away from her worrisome thoughts. She was sure it was nothing.

"Tsubaki said she was just going to lock herself in her room until we give her the check in the morning," Kagura informed her partner, her tone amused, her random flash of sadness gone.

Byakuya tsk'd before stating that that wouldn't do, that wouldn't do at all.

"Inform Tsubaki that all guests are required to attend," he instructed, sending Kagura up the stairs to retrieve the absent woman.

While Kagura did her companion's bidding the four newest arrivals took the opportunity to quickly peruse the remaining bedrooms and find themselves a place to put their luggage before dinner. Yura selected the first bedroom on the right on the second floor, next to the bathroom and across from Tsubaki, who was presently arguing with Kagura about not being hungry. Paying them no attention, Yura had selected the bedroom closest to the bathroom so that she'd have first dibs in the morning. Such perfection took time, after all. While she wasn't sure just what kind of contest this was, she was sure they weren't going to actually be physically kicked out of the house in the middle of the night, just metaphorically booted from the contest if and when they each became disqualified. She wasn't afraid in the slightest and was thoroughly looking forward to kicking everyone's butts.

Feeling much more nervous than his fellow contestants, and seriously wondering just what he'd been thinking when he'd decided to sign up for this gig because foreclosure on his parents' house or no, facing his phobias was going to be the death of him, Kagewaki hesitantly headed upstairs after Yura. At least the woman was no longer obsessed with his hair now that her sights were on Inuyasha, thank goodness. Deciding there was safety in numbers, having seen one too many horror movies where it was the person who wandered off on their own that always got bumped off first, Kagewaki wanted nothing to do with the dark and endless looking hallway on the lower level, only a few dimply lit wall sconces providing any light whatsoever. Instead, he took the last available bedroom upstairs, between Tsubaki and the 'nursery', across from Inuyasha and Kikyou.

Hiten and Manten didn't protest the arrangements, those two seeming to have their own agenda. They opted for the so-called servants' quarters to the right of the stairs on the first floor, declaring they had no qualms with the more modestly decorated rooms because they were strategically in the most central location, closest to the great room.

Kagome could see their point, because hypothetically should the shit hit the fan they'd definitely be able to escape the easiest as opposed to the rest of them who'd all have to run downstairs first, but she'd mentally sighed in relief when Kagewaki had claimed the last room upstairs because something about those two being downstairs instead made Kagome even more glad she was upstairs next to Sango and Miroku, as opposed to one of the two remaining bedrooms downstairs. Those rooms in the long hallway to the left would be remaining unoccupied, since their hosts had provided ten bedrooms in the event of ten individuals showing up for the contest but there turned out to be two couples who'd each be sharing a room. Now that it was dark out and the only light throughout the entire house, besides the roaring fire in the living room, was a few dimly lit lamps and sconces scattered about, most of which, while electric, featured faux candles with simulated flickering, Kagome had no intention of exploring that hallway and its many rooms of mystery could keep their secrets for all she cared.

With Tsubaki finally consenting to come downstairs for dinner it was time to stop worrying about the creepy feeling that she just couldn't shake, as Kagome met up with Sango and Miroku to make sure she got to sit next to them during dinner. Kagura escorted everyone into the dining haul and instructed them to have a seat while she and Byakuya began bringing out their food. Kagome discreetly got Miroku's attention and he understood the look in her eyes when she glanced in the direction of Hiten and Manten, who thankfully both immediately sat themselves beside one another on one side of the table. Nodding to Kagome in understanding, Miroku directed Sango to the other side of the table, and Kagome immediately took the middle seat while Sango sat beside her on her left, across from Manten, and Miroku sat at Sango's left, across from Hiten. It surprised Kagome, but only for the briefest of moments, when Inuyasha took the seat at her right, Kikyou at his right, and she tried to tamp down the heat she could feel rising up her cheeks when the white-haired man looked her way with a friendly nod before focusing on spreading his napkin across his lap, a move which unconscionably had Kagome's eyes following his hands until she realized she was staring at his lap and immediately averted her gaze to the beautiful pattern on their dishes. Inuyasha's quiet chuckle informed her she hadn't been quick enough and she felt the heat getting stronger until Tsubaki sat down with a huff directly across from her and gave her something else to distract herself with.

"Beautiful china," she said with a gesture to her empty soup bowl, which sat upon the larger service plate in lieu of a salad plate. It looked like everyone would be having soup before dinner.

Tsubaki snorted.

"Please. They're obviously reproductions."

"Well, it would make sense not to use valuable antiques for an event like this," Kagome reasoned. "All I said was that they're beautiful and that's still true no matter how brand new they are."

"I suppose someone like you would think so," Tsubaki answered dismissively.

Yura, who took a seat next to Tsubaki, wasn't afraid to put the woman in her place.

"Oh puh-leeze," she said with a roll of her eyes and flick of her wrist, taking a moment to wink at Inuyasha who sat directly across from her before picking up her glass, which had been filled with water, holding it as if it were booze as she turned back to Tsubaki. "You can't possibly be as well off as you want us all to think you are, otherwise what are you doing demeaning yourself by mingling with the commoners for a chance to win a measly million dollars, as if that's really that much money in a rich person's world?"

She finished her speech by taking a big gulp of her water and putting the glass back down as if she'd made her point and didn't honestly expect Tsubaki to answer. Inuyasha tried not to laugh at the display, truly he did, even attempting to mask it by taking a drink of his own water, but he just couldn't help snickering at least a little bit, which irked Kikyou of course because even though Yura didn't know it, her dig wasn't just aimed at Tsubaki. Inuyasha had tried and failed to explain to Kikyou on more than one occasion how even two million dollars wasn't really that much money in the grand scheme of things, especially since he was supposed to be using the money to launch his career. If he was wise, invested his money properly, he would become much more wealthy a few years down the road, but he'd just wanted to have a little fun first, and, to Inuyasha, 'having fun' did not include having a girlfriend who spent so much money on pointless crap every month that he was practically broke afterwards.

Fortunately, for Tsubaki, she was spared from having to dignify Yura's rant with any kind of a response because Kagewaki, who'd taken the last seat, beside Yura and across from Kikyou, chose to defend Kagome's original assessment of their dinnerware in that moment.

"Well I for one agree that this is beautiful china," he said, earning a smile and nod from Kagome.

He raised his water glass in acknowledgment before taking a small sip. He wished there was wine, to help take the edge off his nerves, but it looked as if alcohol was not going to be provided this evening as they only had their crystal water glasses with no additional wine glasses present. That was all right, he would try his best to relax without it.

Kagura and Byakuya reentered the dining hall in that moment, Kagura apparently having heard Kagewaki's remark as she said, "My boss will be pleased you think so," as she poured a ladle full of tomato bisque soup into his bowl from the large porcelain pot she was carrying.

As Kagura went around the table serving everyone soup, which Kagome mused was probably tomato bisque only for the vague resemblance to blood, Byakuya stood at the head of the table and proceeded to give a disclaimer of sorts for the night's activities. He stated how they were all about to participate in a supernatural experience in which it was possible, during the course of the night's events, that bodily harm could befall one or more of them. They were participating in the night's events at their own risk in a knowingly haunted establishment, the property having become that way from the sinister dealings of the original owner over a hundred years prior, and in the event that any of them should become hurt, or even join the ghosts, they or their family members would not be able to seek retribution.

The way he said it, so full of showmanship, had most of them either smiling or chuckling at his supposed 'warning', not actually taking him seriously. It was all role play, while at the same time a subtle legal disclaimer, because should some of them become frightened and accidentally trample one of their own while trying to run out of a room, well, that was a possible liability for the property owners, so everyone could understand the need for a legitimate 'at your own risk' type of agreement.

"If you wish to forfeit your chance for the million dollar prize you may do so now," he said. "We will permit you to leave. If you choose to stay then you shall remain here until dawn."

While Kagome found that last part odd, because surely they didn't need his permission to leave at some other point if they wanted to quit later on in the game, although she was also mildly relieved to realize she at least didn't have to worry about actually being kicked out of the house in the middle of the night and being stranded with no way to call a taxi, someone else had more important concerns on their mind in that moment so she didn't voice her opinion out loud.

"So there really is a million dollar prize, right?" Kikyou asked.

"Most definitely," Byakuya assured her. "Whomsoever survives the longest shall be awarded a cashier's check provided by the family of Doctor Naraku Onigumo, himself."

"Please, eat your soup," Kagura chimed in immediately afterwards, before Kagome could open her mouth to question just what Byakuya meant by whomsoever survived the longest.

Come on, girl, quit being paranoid. They're just talking about the game, she told herself as she tried to enjoy her soup.

It was just like the video before riding the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland warning you not to look into the eyes of the idol, but obviously everyone did and nothing bad happened, it was a ride!

Their hosts disappeared for a little while after that, and conversation was down to a minimum as everyone ate their soup in relative silence. It was quiet enough, in fact, that everyone noticed what sounded like footsteps coming from upstairs, as well as a door closing. Kagura came back out from the kitchen then and began collecting their soup bowls and spoons, along with the plates the bowls had been sitting on, and as she picked up Kikyou's dishes the woman asked her who else was in the house.

"Why, nobody. It's only the twelve of us," she answered, as Byakuya emerged from the kitchen with a large tray holding five dinner plates.

He served everyone on one side of the table before quickly excusing himself for only a moment to retrieve the other five plates, serving them too, while Kagura took a moment to also refill everyone's water glasses.

"No but seriously," Kikyou insisted. "There's somebody upstairs. We all heard it."

"Maybe that was the ghost," Inuyasha answered sarcastically, causing his girlfriend to roll her eyes.

"One of them, I'm sure," Kagura answered, earning everyone's attention. "There are quite a few lost souls trapped within these walls due to Dr. Onigumo's treachery."

"What was it that he did, exactly?" Yura asked.

"You mean, you haven't heard the legend?" Kagura asked in turn.

"I looked it up on the Internet before we came here," Miroku stated, glancing at Kagura for a moment. "If I may?"

"Please."

Clearing his throat, Miroku met Yura's eyes and explained, "From what I read, Naraku Onigumo was once a brilliant surgeon at the turn of the twentieth century, but then one day he almost died in a fire when his storage shed burned down and he became trapped within it. Miraculously, he survived, but he was horribly disfigured, his entire body covered with scars, and since he'd used to be such a handsome man, and rather vain about it, the story goes that he went mad at the sight of his own ugliness, and thanks to his surgical knowledge, he turned his wine cellar into a horror chamber where he began grafting the skin from other people onto himself in an attempt at replacing all of his scar tissue with healthy skin. Of course, he had to practice first. His house servants, the maid, the cook, were the first ones to die at his hand as he used them as guinea pigs to see how much skin could be grafted onto a person at once and have the recipient survive the procedure. He later found homeless people he conned into volunteering for 'medical research' once he had no more servants to use as his test subjects. He'd had a friend at the hospital who'd had a gambling problem and Dr. Onigumo had bargained with the man that he would pay off his gambling debts if he provided him with fresh cadavers to provide the donor skin. I mean fresh, like, okay this man just died, ship him off to Onigumo rather than the morgue."

Yura's eyes were wide as she took in Miroku's storytelling, and she glanced at Kagura for confirmation when he was done, who only nodded.

"That's horrible!" Kagome exclaimed, not having bothered to look up the legend surrounding the house, herself. Of course, she wasn't freaked out to be staying the night in a house where such things had taken place, necessarily. It was just the idea that such things had happened at all.

"He tried to Frankenstein himself?" Hiten asked, laughing. "That's so cool!"

"Except for all the innocent people he brutally tortured, first," Kagome pointed out bitterly.

"Not to mention the family members of all those test cadavers who probably didn't much appreciate their loved ones going missing," Inuyasha added, earning a nod of agreement from Kagome.

"He probably only used unidentified homeless people, but still," Sango chimed in, then. "Everyone's got a family somewhere, and even if the dead people truly didn't have anyone to claim them I'm sure their spirits don't much appreciate what happened to them."

It was Kagura who nodded to that.

"We believe the ghosts that haunt this house include those of the misused cadavers as well as the servants who were...sacrificed...in the name of research, before Dr. Onigumo attempted to begin grafting new skin upon himself. He, of course, only survived the first three procedures before an infection he wasn't able to fight eventually took his life as well. It was the doctor who'd been providing the cadavers that found him."

Kagura then joined Byakuya at the head of the table.

"Is there anything else anyone needs before we depart for the evening?" she asked the crowd.

"Wait, you're leaving?" Sango asked.

"Before serving dessert?" Manten added, which earned him an elbow to the gut from Hiten.

"Please, don't worry about the dishes. Once you have finished your meals you are free to either retire to bed or explore the house to your heart's content, but you may leave your dirty dishes on the table," Byakuya said, addressing everyone.

"What if we get hungry again during the night?" Manten asked, genuinely concerned. When he couldn't sleep at home he always raided the fridge.

"The pantry, refrigerator and freezer have all been stocked in the event that one or more of you would like a midnight snack," Byakuya assured him. "Please, feel free to help yourself."

"Oh boy..." Manten said quietly, rubbing his palms together in delight as if he were concocting a wicked scheme.

"Any other questions?" Kagura asked then.

"Yes. What are we supposed to do?" Kagewaki asked, despite Byakuya's instructions of supposedly doing whatever they wanted. "What's the contest?"

"Weren't you listening?" Yura teased. "Whoever can survive the longest." She giggled like a kid in an amusement park.

"And why are you leaving?" Miroku asked Kagura, bringing up his wife's original concern.

"You couldn't pay me enough to spend the night in this place," Kagura stated honestly, earning a stern look from Byakuya before he turned back to face their guests with his showmanship grin plastered firmly in place.

"The house is haunted, after all, and I'm afraid Kagura and I are simply not as brave as you lot."

That earned a snort from Tsubaki. "Well you can pay me to stay here, one million dollars to be precise, which I will be collecting in the morning," she stated matter-of-factly.

"What makes you so sure you're going to win?" Yura challenged, a playful light in her eyes.

"Because I do not plan on participating in whatever asinine games they want us to play. We are allowed to retire to our rooms and that is where I shall remain until sunrise."

"But you gotta realize the bedrooms are probably all rigged up to do spooky shit, too," Yura countered. "They're not gonna let you just not participate in spending the night in a haunted house. If you're in the house, you're participating."

"Whatever nonsense occurs within my room I will simply ignore. It's not as if it's real," Tsubaki insisted, earning a snort from Kagura that caught Kagome's attention, as did the glare Byakuya sent her way that had Kagura biting her tongue and throwing on a fake grin.

"If we're all staying here until dawn, and there's no actual games to play or puzzles to solve, how are you going to determine who's the winner?" Inuyasha asked then, suspicious.

Byakuya's grin only grew wider.

"That will make itself apparent as the night progresses."

Kagome and Inuyasha shared an uneasy look at that answer. Then turning to glance the other way, Kagome also met Sango and Miroku's eyes. "Safety in numbers, right?" she murmured, earning a nod of agreement from Sango. They might still technically be competitors, but she'd still much rather form an alliance with them now, like the people who paired up during the Hunger Games.

Oooohhh, bad analogy, Kagome, she mentally scolded herself.

Well, if they were supposed to turn against each other, literally or figuratively, she'd take no part in it. Byakuya had said that they could just shut themselves up in their rooms if they wanted to so that's what she planned on doing, too, like Tsubaki. Or maybe she'd crash in the master suite with Sango and Miroku if they didn't mind.

Come on, Kagome, quit acting like a scared little kid!

Squaring her shoulders, she nodded to herself in determination that no matter what they threw at her, she'd win this thing, for Souta's sake. Mind made up, Kagome decided to start eating her steak before it got cold. It was actually a lovely dinner, consisting of a nice ribeye, cooked medium rare by the looks of it, with garlic mashed potatoes and asparagus. Over the phone, when Kagura had told her that dinner would be served, she had been asked if steak was okay, so presumably they provided an alternative for vegetarians, but glancing around it looked like everyone had green lighted the steak and nobody else seemed too disturbed by what'd been said to eat so Kagome would try to follow their example.

"Have a lovely evening, folks," Kagura said then as she and Byakuya bowed formally before turning to make their departure.

Everyone in the dining hall paused for a moment, listening in uneasy silence as they heard the pair make their way through the living room, the front doors opening and closing as their hosts vacated the premises. The sound of two car doors closing and an engine starting soon followed, as Kagura and Byakuya drove away.

"Well that's certainly...weird," Yura spoke up after a moment, breaking the silence. She resumed eating, though not with as much enthusiasm as before.

"Oh they probably didn't really leave leave," Kikyou said with a wave of her fork, not bothered by this unexpected turn of events in the slightest. "They're probably going to be watching everything from somewhere nearby. You know there's probably a ton of hidden cameras all over this place."

"That's true," Sango said. "I have to keep reminding myself that this is just a game."

"Are we sure about that?" Kagewaki asked.

"If you're afraid, then you shouldn't have come," Hiten countered.

"Nothing scares me, brother," Manten commented as he popped another bite of steak into his mouth. "Except the idea of no dessert after dinner." He chuckled as he rubbed his round belly.

"Maybe they have ice cream in the freezer," Miroku said, just trying to make friendly conversation.

"You think so?" Manten's eyes lit up in delight at the thought.

"I'm starting to think that just going to bed after dinner isn't such a bad idea," Inuyasha chimed in. "Who wants to actually go exploring this crazy place?"

"I do!" Yura piped up, her previous excitement back with a vengeance. "Haunted houses are awesome!"

"Don't you ever watch horror movies?" Kagome asked, chuckling a little. "The one person who goes wandering off alone is always the first one to get bumped off."

"Yeah, but that's in the movies," Yura argued playfully. "This is real life. Nothing's going to happen."

"So you don't believe this house is actually haunted?" Sango asked.

"Maybe, maybe not, but if it is I'm not afraid," she answered with a shrug. "Do you believe it's haunted?"

"I'm not sure," Sango admitted, before turning her head to glance at Kagome. "You?"

"At first I wouldn't have thought so, but now, I think I'm leaning towards yes," Kagome answered. "I do believe in the paranormal, and something about this place is just all sorts of creepy, but on the other hand I know it could all be faked, just to mess with us." She shrugged as well. "I'm sure if this place is haunted that there won't be much more activity than just more footsteps and doors opening or closing."

"Are you sure about that?" Kagewaki asked her, his latest bite of food suspended halfway to his mouth. "I just can't shake the feeling that something bad's going to..."

Suddenly, his eyes went wide, and dropping his fork with a clatter, Kagewaki's hands both flew to his throat as if he were choking.

Thinking at first that he was faking it to mess with them, Yura laughed, but it only took a moment for everyone to realize he wasn't fooling around.

"Hey, are you okay?" Kikyou asked uneasily.

Unable to answer, Kagewaki's eyes were wide with panic as he tried and failed to gasp for breath.

"Oh my God he's really choking!" Kagome declared as she sprang up from her seat, not even thinking, her instincts taking over as she rushed around to his side of the table and came up behind him to do the Heimlich Maneuver.

It didn't occur to anyone that he couldn't possibly be choking on a piece of food because he had been talking, and not with his mouth full, his latest bite of food sitting uneaten on the end of his fork.

As Kagome tried to dislodge whatever might be stuck in his airway, Kagewaki scratched and clawed at his throat. With both their efforts unsuccessful it didn't take long for Kagewaki to lose consciousness, but Kagome wasn't about to give up on him yet.

"Oh no you don't!" she said as she caught him when he slumped in his chair. "Help me!" she barked at Tsubaki, who rushed into action from the pure shock of being yelled at as she and Yura both got up and helped Kagome to get Kagewaki out of his chair and spread out on his back on the floor of the dining room. His eyes were still eerily open, but that didn't detour Kagome one bit.

With everyone else standing up to observe the goings on with growing panic, Sango asked "Are you going to try a tracheotomy?"

"I don't know how!" Kagome declared mournfully as she began chest compressions after confirming he had no pulse.

Kikyou snorted in disgust.

"What kind of a medical student are you?" she asked, as if Kagome were completely useless even as she was the only one still trying to save the man's life.

"The student kind. I'm still in the classroom and haven't started my residency yet!" she yelled back.

Sticking her fingers into Kagewaki's mouth, as far down in his throat as she could reach, she tried to find any blockage, but there was none. Blowing into his mouth, then, Kagome was momentarily stunned when she saw how his chest expanded. There was no blockage.

Then why did he...?

Not having any time to waste pondering what went wrong, she immediately got back to doing chest compressions, quickly deciding that chest-compression-only CPR was the best course of action in this case because something told her he wasn't going to be snapping out of it on his own. Her only chance was to keep his blood flowing until the paramedics arrived.

"Did anyone sneak their cellphone in?!" she asked the others desperately. "We need to call 911!"

"I did," Tsubaki answered, her bitch routine on hold for the moment in the face of such a genuine emergency.

Thank God... Kagome thought, tremendously grateful for the woman's disregard of the rules.

Pulling her iPhone out of her pocket, Tsubaki stared at the screen in belated horror. "I have no reception!"

From her place continuing CCO-CPR Kagome asked, "Not even emergency calls?!"

Tsubaki shook her head helplessly.

"There must be no network signal whatsoever," Miroku stated grimly, holding the shaking Sango in his arms.

"No, no no no, come on!" Kagome spoke mainly to Kagewaki and herself, as she continued to pump his heart for him and circulate what remaining oxygen was in his blood. "Wake up!" She blew in his mouth again, even though she hated pausing in her chest compressions, but without a way to call for an ambulance her only chance was now suddenly if she miraculously managed to snap him out of it and he woke up. A highly unlikely scenario, she knew, considering she had no idea what'd caused him to suffocate in the first place, but giving up was simply not in her nature.

"Okay, that's it, fun and games time is officially over," Inuyasha declared, as he rushed out of the dining hall and towards the front door, Kikyou hot on his heels.

"Where are you going?" she asked frantically, as Inuyasha pulled his keys out of his pocket.

"To get the car," he explained as if it were obvious. They were parked off to the side with the other cars so he was going to pull up front and leave the engine running then get Miroku to help him carry Kagewaki out and put him in the backseat so that Kagome could continue chest compressions while he drove them down the mountain. "That guy's only chance is to get to a hospital, and now. Maybe I can drive down the mountain just enough until I've got a signal and then call for an ambulance to meet us halfway," he said, his own cellphone presently in his glove compartment.

If an ambulance could meet them on the road then maybe, maybe Kagewaki had a chance, if they could get his heart going again with the paddles, or breathe for him with that hand held bag thing that actually forced fresh air down the lungs instead of someone just exhaling their carbon dioxide into the victim.

He knew the odds were slim, but he couldn't just sit back and not try. Kagewaki would probably suffer from some kind of brain damage, but Inuyasha knew that if he were the one who'd suddenly stopped breathing he'd want the others to do whatever they possibly could to save his life. His plan came to a screeching halt, however, when he realized with horror that he couldn't open the front door. It was locked. More importantly, there wasn't a deadbolt to turn on the inside. It was one of those locks that needed a key to unlock it even on the inside, and there was no key.

"Just great, we're fucking locked in!" he roared, causing most everyone else to scurry out into the living room to see what he was talking about.

"What do you mean we're locked in?" Tsubaki asked.

"I mean the door is fucking locked and we can't get out," he snapped.

"Calm down," Hiten said smugly, smirking in amusement. "We're supposed to be here till dawn anyway, so what's the problem?"

Sango stared at him in horror. "Are you really that heartless?! Kagewaki is dying in there!" She pointed back to the dining hall where only Yura, Kagome and Kagewaki remained.

Hiten only shrugged. "Let's face it, that man's already dead, so there's really no reason to be panicking like this. What's done is done," he said with such aloofness even Tsubaki gaped at his coldness.

"I agree with my wife." Miroku stated with conviction. "Whatever game this was supposed to be, it should be canceled in light of this tragedy."

"I agree, too. We should just call the authorities and then go home," Inuyasha said.

Kikyou looked at him with surprised eyes, as if she was about to argue the point, but then she didn't. Was she really willing to give up her chance at her own million dollars? But a man had died! But, he was dead, so then what difference did it really make when they called the police? She bit her lower lip, unsure of what to do.

Inuyasha rolled his eyes at her indecisiveness, even under such dire circumstances. "If the people in charge really are watching us on hidden camera, then how come nobody's come in yet to help us?" he pointed out, causing Kikyou to glance up at him in surprise a second time. She hadn't thought of that.

The chandelier chose that precise moment to flicker and dim before getting brighter again, as if the house had almost lost its electricity, and Kikyou instinctively huddled against Inuyasha for comfort. He obliged by wrapping his arms around her. This was serious. He'd break up with her later.

Back in the dining room, Kagome continued to perform CPR, the rational part of her mind knowing it was a lost cause without the paramedics on their way, yet she refused to give up.

"Has anyone looked around for a landline telephone?" she called out loud enough for the others to hear.

"There isn't one, we asked Kagura earlier," Sango said from the doorway, as she glanced sadly at the future doctor doing her absolute best to not lose her first patient.

Kneeling on the ground beside Kagome, Yura placed a caring hand on the twenty-year-old's back.

"It's...it's over...you tried your best."

"No, I can't give up..." Kagome murmured rather than stated with authority, tears streaming down her face.

"Look at him," Yura pointed out. "Not only are his lips blue, but his eyes have red splotches in them. I might not be in medical school, but I watch enough Law and Order to know petechial hemorrhaging when I see it and what it means."

Yura was right and Kagome knew it. Kagewaki was gone. She had failed.

Finally, she gave up in her efforts and rose shakily to her feet.

"Now what do we do?" she asked Yura before her gaze shifted to also lock eyes with Sango who was still standing in the doorway.

"I have no idea. It turns out, none of us can leave. We're locked in," the latter stated.

"We really are?" Yura asked only for clarification, having heard Inuyasha's original exclamation like everyone else.

"Well," Kagome began slowly, the future doctor kind of in shock and not fully registering the ramifications of their hosts having locked them in the supposedly haunted house for the night. "Kagewaki deserves better than to just stay here on the dining room floor. I know under normal circumstances we shouldn't move the body, but all things considered, I think we should go ahead and put him in one of the empty bedrooms."

Sango agreed, and headed back into the living room to ask her husband to help them.

"I'll help, too," Inuyasha said, the white-haired man still fuming over the realization that they were trapped. Was Kagewaki's death really even a coincidence?

Sure, maybe he was being paranoid, but what if their hosts meant to kill them all? After all, even though it'd looked like he was choking, from what he'd seen of Kagome trying to do CPR, there wasn't any blockage in his airway. What if a tiny dart of some kind of poison had actually hit him?

This is why I hate horror movies, he mentally grumbled as he and Miroku picked Kagewaki up, Inuyasha cradling the man's upper body while Miroku grabbed his legs.

Because Miroku and Sango had explored the entire house when they'd first arrived Miroku was already aware that the first bedroom down the main hallway was the third door on the right, so leading the way, he just went straight there, and Inuyasha hardly took the time to admire the extravagant artwork, including a complete suit of armor standing beside the first doorway, as he tried to concentrate on not being weirded out over the fact that he was carrying a dead man. Carrying a dying man would've been different, but they were no longer rushing him to his car in the hopes of saving his life. Still, he didn't complain, having volunteered for the job. Better him than that Hiten asshole.

Remaining silent, Kagome and Yura both followed after the men. Kagome wasn't sure why Yura was with her, unless the woman was just paying her respects, which she appreciated. She would not question her motives.

Making their way into the bedroom, Inuyasha and Miroku laid Kagewaki's body upon the bed as gently as possible before departing, Miroku heading straight back out into the great room to meet up with his wife while Inuyasha lingered in the hallway for a moment, the yellow-eyed millionaire taking the time now to glance into the other rooms out of simple curiosity.

Across the hall, third door on the left from the perspective of the great room, was a bathroom. Nothing remarkable there. Deciding not to venture farther down the hallway and explore those rooms, something about that darkened corridor honestly giving him the heebie-jeebies, he instead gradually made his way back towards the great room, noting that the second room on the right looked like it was originally supposed to be a bedroom but had been converted into a game room at some point, a fancy looking pool table taking up the center of the room and making him momentarily lament the fact that he didn't play pool. Across from the game room, second door on the left, was what looked to be a woman's sewing room, an antique, foot pedal operated sewing machine in the back corner with a couple of aging dress forms nearby and fancy dark wood wardrobes lining the walls that probably at one point either contained bolts of fabric or works in progress. Beside that room, first door on the left from the vantage point of the great room, was what he supposed passed for a drawing room in an early twentieth century home that was grand enough to have a drawing room without being classified a mansion, in which case, he knew, the drawing room would've most likely led to its own private sleeping quarters.

The useless knowledge I absorb thanks to my father.

He shook his head.

Still, this 'withdrawing' room, or sitting room, was private enough and filled with two chairs on one side and a love seat on the other, a coffee table between them, all furnishings appearing Victorian-esque in style although he was no expert when it came to reproductions.

Across from that room, the first room on the right, which was the room that had the suit of armor standing beside the doorway, was a study, or more accurately, a mini library with a desk in the middle. It was also the room that'd caught Kikyou's attention, as she had momentarily been following after them on their way to the bedroom but she'd ducked in here upon noticing all the old books. He stood there in the doorway for a moment just observing as she tried to read the titles in the low light of the lamp on the desk, trying to remember what it was about this woman that had once made him fall in love with her.

Back in the bedroom with Kagewaki, Kagome and Yura were still with the deceased, the latter brushing her fingers lovingly through Kagewaki's hair for a moment although much to Kagome's relief she didn't do anything disturbing like cut off a lock of it, while Kagome herself moved Kagewaki's arms to lay his hands together over his chest before then also closing his eyes, trying to make him look as peaceful as possible. She was prepared to take full responsibility for moving the body come tomorrow, when she would finally be able to call the authorities, but if they truly were stuck in that house overnight before they could call anybody then she knew leaving him in the dining hall would've not only been disrespectful, but downright creepy should any of them want to raid the kitchen later that night for a midnight snack. With as many witnesses as she had, Kagome wasn't worried that she, or any of them really, would be suspected of foul play.

She still couldn't figure out what'd happened. The petechial hemorrhaging, as Yura had pointed out, was indeed evidence that he had suffocated, rather violently. It was usually a sign of foul play, like being choked to death. So he hadn't died of something else like a heart attack or stroke. Yet, with no obstruction in his airway, and likewise no swelling such as from anaphylactic shock, it didn't look as if he could have possibly asphyxiated, either. On what? How? As Kagome continued to study him in the low lamp light, however, all of a sudden she noticed strange markings on his neck, besides the scratches he had given himself during his panic.

"Tsubaki, can I see your phone real quick?" she asked out into the hallway.

"What is it?" Yura asked quietly as Kagome very carefully moved Kagewaki's head to the side a little bit.

"I'm not sure," she admitted.

Rolling her eyes at the summons but deciding to comply, Tsubaki passed Inuyasha on her way down the hallway towards the bedroom Kagome and Yura were in. Upon entering, the woman was more than a little disturbed by the sight of Kagome touching Kagewaki's dead body, but she nonetheless handed Kagome her cellphone as requested.

"What are you doing?" she asked, genuinely curious. After all, her phone was pretty much useless at the moment. As a phone, anyway.

"I need better lighting," Kagome answered, as she fiddled around with Tsubaki's phone until she figured out how to turn on the camera's flash, using it like a flashlight to better illuminate the strange markings on Kagewaki's neck.

"Finger prints," Yura murmured. "But we saw him grab his own throat while he was choking."

"Yeah," Kagome agreed, "like this..." Handing Tsubaki back her phone, Kagome proceeded to demonstrate, placing both hands over her throat, right above the left, both palms against her larynx. "The fingerprints don't match up," she pointed out.

Indeed, the fingerprints now becoming increasingly visible on Kagewaki's neck were consistent with what one would expect to see had somebody choked him to death from behind.

"What the hell?" Yura voiced as she realized the same thing.

"You two can play coroner all you want but I'm getting the hell out of here before he starts to stink," Tsubaki stated in disgust, creeped out by the dead body and not really paying attention to Kagome's explanation, as she turned with a flourish and headed back out towards the others, breezing past Inuyasha in the process, who chuckled under his breath at her rudeness. She thought he was a nobody just like the rest of them, but that was fine with him. Let the bitch think whatever she wanted.

Hearing all the commotion earned Kikyou's attention as well, and she looked up in time to see Inuyasha still watching Tsubaki finish making her way back into the great room. Realizing they probably should all stick together, at least until they figured out what the game plan was, Kikyou exited the study then, she and Inuyasha joining back up with the others as well, while Kagome and Yura made their way down the hall at a slower pace, each of them contemplating what they'd seen.

"So...now what do we do?" Sango asked as soon as all nine of them were standing together in the great room.

"What do you mean?" Hiten asked. "We play the game."

"What game?" Inuyasha countered. "I didn't sign up for spending the night with a real corpse."

And who's to say he'll be the last one? he added in his mind.

"Well if you want to leave there's the door," Manten chimed in sarcastically. "Oh wait, that's right, we're locked in. So then what's the problem? I'm going back for seconds."

He turned to head back into the dining room but Hiten grabbing his arm stilled his departure.

"Awww..." he playfully bemoaned. "You're no fun."

"You can stuff your face in a moment, brother, but first, we have to clear the air," Hiten said.

"What do you mean?" Tsubaki asked.

"Well there seems to be some differing opinions as to what we should all do now, despite the obvious obstacle of the locked door preventing our departure anyway.

"We could always break a window and exit that way," Kagome pointed out.

"You gonna pay the Onigumo family back for that?" Tsubaki countered. "Those large picture windows are expensive."

"I can't believe they locked us in in the first place," Sango stated. "I mean, what if there's a house fire or something?"

"Well in that case I would most definitely break a window," Miroku agreed.

Hiten rolled his eyes.

"Okay fine, in the event of a true life or death emergency we could escape that way, but the only life or death emergency we've had was Kagewaki's, and it's over now, and he's dead, and there's no reason in my mind why that means the rest of us should give up on our chance at a million dollars."

"I certainly wasn't planning on going anywhere, except back up to my room for the rest of the night," Tsubaki chimed in.

The more she thought about it, the more Kikyou realized they were right. What good would leaving do? Especially since they'd have to either break the door or break a window in order to do it? She wanted to win a million dollars, not be fined by the property owners to repair their stupid house, and since she was pretty sure that Inuyasha was planning on breaking up with her once this little adventure was over, win or lose, all the more reason why she needed to win.

"I just don't see how it's not obviously game over after this. I mean, nobody was supposed to die," Kagome said then.

"But didn't Byakuya say the winner was whoever could survive the longest?" Yura pointed out uneasily.

Kagome's eyes widened. "You don't really think..."

"Oh get serious," Kikyou interrupted then. "Nobody killed Kagewaki, it was an accident. He choked to death."

"Oh what, air?" Kagome asked sarcastically. "There was no obstruction in his wind pipe, and now, Yura and I both saw these marks on his neck that look like finger prints."

"Of course," Kikyou waved off. "We all saw how he grabbed at his own throat."

"Yeah, but these marks look like-"

"Why don't we vote on it?" Hiten interrupted, hoping to shut the stupid girl up. "All in favor of pussing out and calling it quits?"

Kagome raised her hand without hesitation, as did Miroku, Sango, and much to her relief, Inuyasha. "Kikyou?" asked the latter.

Kikyou met Inuyasha's eyes with a brief apologetic look before her expression morphed into determination as she said, "All in favor of remaining?" She raised her hand, as did Hiten, Manten, Tsubaki and Yura, making the vote five to four.

"Yura?" Kagome questioned, surprised she hadn't voted to leave.

"Sorry," she answered with a shrug.

Kagome couldn't believe it. "Even knowing Kagewaki might've been choked to death by a ghost?"

Hiten snorted an amused laugh at that.

"Whatever you're smoking, do you have any more of it?" he asked, earning a dirty look from the future doctor.

"If you don't believe me, just go on in there and look at the marks on his neck for yourself," she countered.

Uninterested in calling her bluff, Hiten waved it off before giving Manten permission to raid the kitchen.

"Oh boy!" the younger brother exclaimed excitedly before disappearing through the dining hall.

"I'm not sure splitting up is a good idea," Kagome said then, to no avail, as Tsubaki dismissed herself to head back up to her room for the night.

"Perhaps just retiring for the evening is indeed the best course of action," Miroku stated then.

Sango nodded her agreement, and then noticing the frightened look in Kagome's eyes, fear she was trying yet failing to hide, the older women asked, "Would you like to stay with us in our room, Kagome?"

It's not like she and Miroku were going to do anything that night, despite her husband's dirty jokes to the contrary during the drive. Making love on a who-knew-how-old mattress undoubtedly full of dust mites, in a possibly haunted house that also quite possibly had hidden cameras, was not her idea of a good time.

"Yes, please," Kagome answered, heading with Sango and Miroku upstairs.

Hiten looked at Inuyasha, Kikyou and Yura.

"You lot gonna chicken out, too?"

"Not me," Yura answered. "I wanna go explore!" That said, she disappeared down the hallway.

"A woman after my own heart," Hiten chuckled as he made his own way down the hall at a much more leisurely pace. To Inuyasha, it looked as if he were actually following Yura rather than planning on exploring house but he shrugged it off, figuring it was none of his concern.

"Come on, Kikyou, let's go up to our room," Inuyasha stated then.

"You go ahead," she answered, waving him off.

"And where are you going?" he asked, as she made to head back down the main hallway as well

"Just back in the study," she answered, gesturing to the first room on the right. "There's all sortsof neat old books and I want to see if they actually have any first editions."

"What for?" Inuyasha asked suspiciously.

Sighing, she struck an exasperated pose with her hand on her hip.

"To see about buying them, of course. You know my aunt Kaede is a collector."

So you'd offer to buy books off the homeowner with my money, Inuyasha thought, although he decided not to argue the point.

He actually really liked Kaede, having met the woman a couple of times. He supposed it was a nice gesture, in a way, that she wanted to see if these people had anything that her aunt might like, that she might be able to buy, although he'd still question her priorities, under the circumstances. They were all weirded out about Kagewaki dying and then suddenly she was cool with it and wanted to go shopping? Still, the only time Kikyou wasn't truly selfish was when she was thinking of her aunt, the woman having actually raised Kikyou after her parents died in a car crash. Considering Kaede was such a sweet lady, Inuyasha wondered at times how Kikyou had become such a stuck up gold digger in the first place, but since thinking about her aunt always did mellow her out to some degree he would let it go.

"Don't get lost," was all he said, as he turned and made his own way upstairs. "Or killed," he added under his breath. Since she'd already made her way back into the study she didn't hear that last part.

Don't get lost, Kikyou mocked to herself. "Please, it's not like this place is a huge mansion with twists and turns everywhere." Exhaling a pleased sigh at the rows upon rows of books, she started to get to work, checking out what each and every one of them actually were.

Back upstairs, Inuyasha dug in their overnight bag for his pajamas and toothbrush, two of the few items of his own that he'd brought, the majority of their bag filled with Kikyou's various skin care products. Also finding their shared tube of toothpaste, he first headed down to the bathroom by the top of the stairs and did his nightly bathroom rituals, saying a polite goodnight to Kagome who was waiting for her turn for the bathroom as he exited and returned to his and Kikyou's bedroom to change. Yeah, there might be hidden cameras, but he honestly didn't give a shit as he kicked off his shoes before stripping out of his jeans and t-shirt, leaving his red boxer briefs on as he slipped into a nice loose pair of red drawstring pants and a matching oversized, baggy red long sleeve shirt. One thing he and Kikyou actually did have in common was their love for the color red.

Getting his container for his contact lenses, he removed his lenses to let them soak overnight and crawled into bed, deciding to leave the lamp on the nightstand on as a courtesy for Kikyou since it was dim enough to not disturb him.

ooo

Leaning casually in the doorway of the last room at the very end of the hall, a room that appeared to have been a regular bedroom at one point but now, it was set up with four hospital style beds, a table with a single lamp along with some archaic and rather scary looking medical equipment sitting on it on the other side of the room, Hiten watched, amused, as Yura appeared to be trying to do an EVP session but without the electronic voice recorder.

"Are there any spirits present?" she asked the empty, poorly lit room. "If there are any ghosts here with us this evening, please make a noise," she requested.

Smirking, Hiten reached up with his left hand and very gently knocked on the door two times.

Gasping in surprise, Yura whirled around at the sound only to slump in disappointment at the sight of Hiten standing there laughing at her. She wasn't embarrassed, though.

"What'd you do that for?" she asked, annoyed. "If there are ghosts here, then you might scare 'em away."

"If there are ghosts here," he countered, "then I dare them to scare me away."

As if on cue, one of the round scarificators on the table fell over onto its side before rolling off the table to land on the floor with a loud clank.

Yura and Hiten both jumped in surprise, but the latter was quick to blow it off.

"Nice try," he said to Yura, as if she'd actually staged it somehow.

Striding into the room a ways, he flashed her his best bedroom eyes and said, "How 'bout you and me see how many more vibrations we can cause in this room."

"Nice try," she repeated sarcastically. Just 'cause she was dressed like a slut, and would've gladly jumped either Kagewaki or Inuyasha's bones if the situation had permitted it, that didn't mean she'd throw herself at just anyone.

Fortunately, while Yura got the distinct impression that Hiten wasn't usually the kind to take no for an answer, it was probably the belief that there were hidden cameras, and the very real fact that they weren't alone in the house even if they weren't being filmed, that had him just shrugging her rejection off as if he couldn't honestly be bothered.

"Suit yourself," he answered before turning and leaving, as if she'd had her chance and she blew it.

Rolling her eyes at his retreating form, Yura got back to what she'd been doing.

ooo

Having initially grabbed her blanket and pillow, bringing them into Sango and Miroku's room and leaving them on the fainting couch where she'd be sleeping, Kagome had then gone back for her bedclothes, heading to the bathroom at the end of the hall to change and do her business rather than risk overstepping her bounds by using Sango and Miroku's en suite.

Waiting her turn for the hall bath since Inuyasha had beaten her to it, she'd been left to the privacy of her own thoughts while clutching her pajamas out in the upstairs hallway. True, she could've gone downstairs to one of the other bathrooms, but she felt safer being closer to Sango and Miroku, and Inuyasha.

Calm down, Kagome, he has a 'girlfriend', don't forget. Mental air quotes added because she didn't think their relationship was going too well, but she also knew that it was really none of her business. Besides, since when do you have time to even contemplate the possibility of romance?

On that note, the bathroom door opened, revealing Inuyasha still dressed in his day clothes, toothbrush and toothpaste in hand. He smiled at her, his friendliness clearly genuine.

"Goodnight," he offered, as he headed down the hall towards his own bedroom.

"Goodnight," she replied, before ducking into the bathroom to change.

She figured, what with privacy laws and all, that the bathrooms, at least, probably did not have hidden cameras.

Changing into her pajamas after emptying her bladder and brushing her teeth, Kagome was thankful that she'd brought one of her modest flannel sets. It was coldat night those days, and so accordingly, she'd brought her light and darker blue large square checkered pajamas. It wouldn't be inappropriate in the slightest to wear them in front of Sango and Miroku. True, she had no idea what either of them would be wearing to bed, not that it really mattered, she supposed, since she wasn't going to actually be in the bed with them, but she assumed they'd be decent enough or Sango wouldn't have offered. She assumed everyone had probably brought modest nightwear, except maybe Yura. The thought had her chuckling a little. She didn't begrudge the woman her choice of wardrobe. It was Halloween, after all, and if she had the body to go along with it then she wouldn't mind dressing a little slutty herself at times if she could excuse it as a costume. All in good fun, right?

Releasing a sigh that was meant to relax her but the act of clearing her head actually just brought thoughts of poor Kagewaki back to the surface yet again, Kagome headed back towards her room to put her day clothes, toothbrush and toothpaste away in her bag before retiring in Sango and Miroku's room for the night. The uneasy feeling she'd had ever since pulling up in the taxi had intensified tenfold since poor Kagewaki's death. Hopefully her feeling of foreboding would eventually go away and she could get some sleep, but how she wished she and the others would've just called it quits and gotten the hell out of there. Something just wasn't right.

She hated feeling overruled, the majority of them having voted to stay until morning, but she supposed she could understand that there wasn't really a genuine need for urgency, at least where Kagewaki was concerned. He was already dead, so then what difference did it make, right? Yes, they were supposed to call the police right away, but if push came to shove where law enforcement was concerned she had no problem throwing the contest people under the bus. Why the hell were they locked in? And why the hell were there no landline telephones? There was literally no way they could have saved Kagewaki's life, under the circumstances.

That was what she kept telling herself, at least, even though she still couldn't shut up the nasty little voice in the back of her mind that kept on trying to tell her that she'd failed, that it was her fault he was dead because if she'd done something differently, more correctly, she could have saved him. It was unfair, and probably untrue, she knew, but still. Even so, she was not going to lie to the police and risk her professional career, and by extension her brother's very life, if the others ended up wanting to come up with some kind of cockamamie story that he must've come back down to eat some leftovers after the rest of them had gone to bed, choking all by himself and they didn't find him until morning. First of all, that or a similar story could be proven untrue forensically so easily thatKagome would have no business wanting to get into the medical profession if she were honestly stupid enough to think they could possibly get away with such an obvious lie. Second of all, she just wouldn't be able to sleep at night, or look at herself in the mirror, if she weren't completely honest with authorities.

Looking at herself in the mirror in that moment, the mirror in question being an intricately framed oval that hung over the chest of drawers where she'd sat her yellow overnight bag, Kagome gasped and whirled around when she thought she saw a shadowy figure standing behind her, but there was nobody there.

Okay, that's it, this place is definitely haunted, she thought with a shudder as she grabbed her bag to bring with her as she headed for Sango and Miroku's room.

Speaking of Sango and Miroku, Kagome was glad that at least they had agreed with her, voting with her when it came to the decision of leaving. She supposed it was just democracy at its finest that they had been outnumbered, but she was actually kind of glad they'd taken a vote. It had been a rather civilized way of settling things, and at least it hadn't been eight against one. No, Sango and Miroku had sided with her, and so had that dreamboat Inuyasha. She wasn't surprised that his 'girlfriend' had sided with the others, but it actually meant a lot to her, for some reason, that he, at least, had been on her side. Still, the majority vote had been to remain and so remain she did. She didn't know how she was supposed to concentrate on the game, whatever the game was, but she would do her best. Assuming Yura was right and the bedrooms had all been rigged to do something spooky then she supposed it didn't really matter where she was, and contrariwise, assuming all the 'spooky' would actually be caused by real ghosts doing real shit, well, then all the more reason to crash with Sango and Miroku.

"I never thought I'd say this, but I'm going to be Halloweened out for a while after this," she murmured to herself before knocking gently on the master bedroom door before cracking it open. "Knock knock?" she said then.

"Kagome, come in," Sango greeted. She was dressed in black and pink flannel pajamas, Miroku in black and purple, proving Kagome's hypothesis right.

Oh, Miroku had teased his wife that afternoon when they'd been packing, wanting her to bring one of her lacy negligees, but Sango had very logically and with a bit of exasperation pointed out that if something spooky happened in the middle of the night and they had to go running out of their room, she wanted to be wearing something that actually covered her tits and ass.

They didn't go to bed right away, the three of them staying up a while to discuss their present situation. Yes, it was pretty much agreed that Onigumo House was legitimately haunted, but that didn't mean they didn't think the place wasn't also rigged up to do some artificially spooky stuff in the name of the contest, and they were all convinced there were hidden cameras throughout the place. Maybe it was going to air on TV or the Internet, or maybe it wasn't, but surely there had to be some way in which to determine who'd been disqualified versus who was advancing, so somebody had to be monitoring the situation, right?

"The only problem with that theory, of course, is what Inuyasha pointed out. How come nobody came in to assist us after Kagewaki had his accident?" Miroku pondered.

"Then maybe it really is going to be for a hidden camera show or even a documentary on fear or something, but so right now nobody's actually monitoring the cameras," Kagome suggested as one plausible explanation. "Of course, that brings us back to the drawing board as far as how they'll know who the 'winner' is, hmmm..."

"I'm more worried that it means we're all on our own should something else happen," Sango stated uneasily, earning her husband putting his arm around her reassuringly as they sat together cross legged upon the bed while speaking to Kagome who was sitting on the fainting couch across from them.

The future doctor hugged her pillow to herself at the thought.

"Well...that's why we're all just gonna stay in here for the night, right? So nothing else will happen, at least to us."

She was suddenly reminded of how Yura had pointed out that Byakuya had said the winner would be whomsoever survived the longest. Surely he hadn't meant that literally...right?

ooo

Downstairs in the study, Kikyou was having a marvelous time. Although most of the books were not first editions she'd actually found three, so far, that she was pretty sure were the real deal.

"Hey, I found a creepy room full of medical stuff that looks like a makeshift infirmary, probably where Naraku had his 'test subjects' recovering," Yura said suddenly as she popped her head in the doorway. "Wanna hold a séance with me? I've had a little bit of activity happen already."

"No thank you," Kikyou answered politely, although on the inside she was mentally rolling her eyes. "Perusing their book collection is all I want to do before retiring for the evening."

It truly was a substantial collection, wall to wall, floor to ceiling bookcases completely filled with vintage or antique novels, at least half of them leather bound. A thin rolling ladder was even attached to a track on the ceiling. The only problem was the single banker's lamp on the desk not providing very much light to see by. If only she'd thought to bring a flashlight.

"That's cool," Yura answered before wandering back down the hallway a little bit.

Not really into old books all that much, Yura did have an appreciation for fine art, and so while Kikyou continued to go through making a mental list of the various books she thought the owners might be willing to part with, Yura admired the antique oil paintings that lined the hall on either side between rooms. A nearby one was of a ship at sea, while the one nearest the suit of armor was of a beautiful woman. Each one had an eerie, hauntingly beautiful quality about them that made them feel right at home in Onigumo House, even though Yura would bet they had been bought by an interior designer for the sake of the tourists. She didn't really see the mad scientist doctor having such fine works of art, but she didn't really mind if they were additions because they were still beautiful paintings.

"Man, the only thing that'd make these paintings even better is if they changed every time the lights flickered," she joked, the sconces flickering again in that moment as if on cue, although Yura paid the supposed coincidence no mind as she continued to admire the painting of the woman.

"What are you yammering on about?" Kikyou asked disinterestedly from her place inside the study.

"The eerie looking paintings," she answered. "Haven't you ever gone on The Haunted Mansion at Disneyland?" came Yura's reply.

This time, Kikyou actually did roll her eyes.

"Not since I was a child," she replied, not taking the bait to come out into the hallway since this was now the second time Yura had tried to get her to step away from the books. Did she think they were friends or something?

Not dressed like that we aren't, Kikyou mentally snickered to herself. Even back when she was a waitress she would've never been caught associating with anyone wearing Yura's godawful 'slutty prostitute' costume or whatever the hell it was supposed to be.

"No wonder you're into stupid old books," came Yura's reply then. "You've got no inner child."

"For your information, these books are for my aunt," Kikyou defended.

"Whatever."

Yura's tone suggested she didn't believe her, not that she cared, still refusing to take the bait and exit the study.

Deciding that there were far too many novels she wanted in order to be able to remember them all, Kikyou began removing the ones she was most interested in in that moment, stacking them on the desk. She would have just written a physical list of the best books, but she'd already checked all the drawers in the desk and there were no pens or paper anywhere to be had. In fact, the drawers were all completely empty, as if the room had been staged to look like an archaic study for this event and it wasn't really a study Dr. Onigumo had ever used while he was alive. Who knew what the house had really looked like back then? The entire place had probably been transformed for tourists, staged, turned into what one would expect to see in a hundred-year-old haunted house. Which, if true, would probably work to her favor as that meant the family would almost certainly be less emotionally attached to any of the books she wanted to make an offer on.

Of course, it was also equally as plausible that the mundane odds and ends that made a home look lived in had been removed while leaving the rest of the original ambiance intact. She supposed she'd never know for certain unless she stumbled upon some photographs of what the property had been like back then, but she highly doubted it. Either way, it wasn't really any concern of hers, as she continued to go through the books on the shelves and pull out any exceptionally good ones for consideration.

Yura, having given up on trying to get a rise out of Kikyou, was fully immersed in that first painting. The woman hanging right next to the suit of armor that stood beside the door to the study. She was a so pretty, a pale blond thing in a medieval dress looking like the beautiful lady the knight was sworn to protect. Yura found herself especially drawn into the woman's hazel eyes, almost as if she could feel the soul of the woman who'd posed for the portrait reaching out to her from beyond the grave.

Shaking her head at such silliness, she laughed, again remembering as the sconces flickered once more how the paintings in the Haunted Mansion would change from life to death in time with the fake lightning flashes. The wall sconces, which in her mind had obviously been rigged to dim and flicker in a deliberate attempt to amp up the spooky, continued to cast the portrait in an eerie and irregular glow, and her mind became completely lost in the feel of the moment.

"We have nine hundred and ninety-nine happy haunts here," she said menacingly, earning an amused snort from Kikyou from within the study that made Yura crack a grin as she continued. "But there's room for one thousand."

She spread her arms wide, as if presenting the space. A faint noise coming from the suit of armor earned her attention, but her reaction time was slow as the painting continued to hold her captive. She turned her head just in time to watch in belated comprehension as the giant battle-ax slipped from the knight's grasp and cleanly severed her right hand at the wrist.

Releasing a blood curdling scream, Yura held up her bleeding stump of a wrist and stared at it in shock before fainting. Rushing into action at the sound of the all too real scream, Kikyou ran out into the hall just in time to catch her, getting completely covered in blood in the process. Seeing what'd happened, she screamed as well.

Everyone came running at the sound.

From his place chilling in the other bedroom down the hall, having been lying in bed staring up at the ceiling and wondering if he should try to bang Tsubaki or Kagome, Hiten was the first to arrive at the sound of Yura and Kikyou's screams, followed swiftly by Manten from the kitchen.

Upstairs, Kagome, Sango and Miroku were still deep in conversation when Yura's scream initially chilled them to their bones. Already bolting to their feet, they were just rushing out of the bedroom when Kikyou's scream gave them an extra burst of adrenaline.

Inuyasha, too, had sat up with a start at Yura's scream. He would've immediately gotten up to investigate as well, except being so horribly nearsighted he initially paused in order to put his contact lenses back in. Upon hearing Kikyou's scream, however, he forwent his contacts and bolted from the room. Just because she was an annoying bitch who clearly no longer loved him, assuming she honestly ever had, he, at least, had truly loved her once and he definitely didn't want to see her hurt. She didn't fear easily, and he knew no fake haunted house bullshit would've caused her to scream like that, so it was with his heart in his throat that he rushed down the second floor hallway and down the stairs right behind Kagome, Sango and Miroku.

Even Tsubaki, who had snorted to herself at the first scream, became a little more concerned at the second, and it was the sound of everyone running past her room and down the stairs that had her deciding she'd better see what was going on, too, just in case.

As they arrived on the scene, everyone stared in horror at what they saw happening before them. Everything had been kind of fuzzy for Inuyasha at first, but as he got closer even he could see what had happened, and he was horrified.

Kagome was the first to recover from her shock. True to her calling, even though her ultimate goal was to become a neural specialist and not a general surgeon, she rushed forward in that moment and dropped to her knees before the sitting Kikyou who was still holding the unconscious Yura. Kikyou had both of her hands clasped tightly around Yura's stump, doing her best to stop the blood flow, but she couldn't hold on tight enough. There was so much blood. Far too much blood, truth be told, which had now stained the legs of Kagome's pajama bottoms, not that she cared.

"Are you wearing a belt?" she asked Kikyou, not remembering and unable to tell with the way Kikyou's blouse billowed over her waistband.

"No," the older woman answered, her concise response and the look in her eyes both telling Kagome that Kikyou was getting pushed to the limit of her tolerance. She looked like she was about to pass out, herself.

"Is anyone wearing a belt?!" Kagome called over her shoulder, then. "I need something I can turn into a tourniquet!"

"Don't look at me," Manten said with a helpless shrug. "Belts and I don't exactly get along."

"Here," Tsubaki said then, the woman having thrown the matching robe to her nightgown on when she'd left her room. She handed Kagome the belt from her purple and magenta robe, not worried in that moment about it falling open since she was wearing a gown underneath that came down past her knees.

Kagome gratefully accepted the robe belt and tied it as tightly as she possibly could around Yura's right arm, between elbow and wrist, but she feared it was already too late. Checking for a pulse, she couldn't find one, so then she gestured for everyone to be quiet a moment as she bent down and listened for a heartbeat, ear to chest. Yura's body was silent, and also much too cold. As she'd feared, it was too late.

"There's...there's nothing I can do," she said remorsefully, meeting Kikyou's eyes with sympathy as the older woman paled at the realization that she'd just had a woman die in her arms.

Gently laying Yura on the floor, Kagome slowly got to her feet, offering her hand to Kikyou to help her up as well. Shakily, Kikyou accepted, letting Kagome pull her to her feet. As if on autopilot, Kikyou approached Inuyasha, then, her mouth opening and closing a few times although she had no idea what to say. Normally she'd have wanted to comment on his beautiful brown eyes, reminding him yet again that with simple lasik surgery, which he could easily afford, he could keep his gorgeous eyes without the hassle of glasses, but even she could tell it would be an inappropriate comment at a time like this, so she let it go.

Kagome was not so quiet.

"Okay, this time we need to call 911. This wasn't a simple mishap like somebody accidentally choking to death," she stated with as much authority as she could muster, deciding to not rehash the fact that Kagewaki actually had hand prints on his throat that suggested he'd been strangled.

"I agree," Inuyasha stated, the man currently holding the still stunned Kikyou in his arms, having figured she could use whatever comfort he could offer her. He didn't care that she'd gotten his own clothes all bloody. It wasn't like he couldn't easily replace them. She was in shock and he wasn't going to be cold to her at a time like this.

"Come on, this was obviously a tragic accident," Hiten said then, with a gesture to the fallen ax still lying on the floor next to Yura's severed hand.

"Even so, this needs to spell game over," Miroku insisted.

"And how do we know it was really an accident?" Inuyasha asked Hiten, Kikyou looking up at him with wide, unblinking eyes at the possibility. "Byakuya did say whoever survives the longest," he reminded her quietly as he met her eyes, not wanting to scare her further but needing to voice his opinion. Looking back up at everyone else he added, "What if the person who put this night together is some kind of psycho and they're planning on killing all of us?"

"Either that, or there are murderous ghosts here," Sango chimed in nervously, rubbing her right hand up and down over her left arm from shoulder to elbow as she glanced around the room uneasily.

Hiten only shrugged, briefly meeting his brother's eyes as if silently asking Manten his opinion. Manten smirked and rubbed his belly before departing without a word, heading back towards the dining room.

"Whatever's going on here, we're not leaving," Hiten declared then.

"You're really willing to risk your life for a million dollars?" Kagome asked in disbelief.

He smirked at her rather wickedly.

"No, but I'm willing to risk yours."

Fuming, Kagome approached and made to punch Hiten right in the face, but Sango and Miroku both rushed forward to hold her back.

"Kagome! Kagome, he isn't worth it," Sango stressed.

"Think about your career," Miroku added, which got her to calm down. The last thing she needed was an assault charge on her record, even if the smug bastard deserved it.

For his part, Hiten had never even looked nervous for a second, as if he'd been fully prepared to knock Kagome out should she have tried it. It made Inuyasha's own blood boil in response.

"And where exactly were you when the ax 'accidentally' severed Yura's hand?" he asked him then.

Hiten actually took a step back at that, a brief, very brief, flash of worry appearing in his eyes because if the others actually ganged up on him that would definitely put him at a disadvantage.

"He didn't do it," Kikyou murmured then, her voice sounding almost robotic.

"Kikyou?" Inuyasha murmured tenderly.

"I heard the ax fall to the ground," she explained. "I heard her scream, and when I ran to her there was nobody else there. Then Hiten showed up from down the hall."

Hiten smirked triumphantly at that, his expression taunting everyone. "See? I didn't do it. You lot are paranoid."

"Two out of ten people dead within a half hour of each other, on Halloween night, in a haunted house we're locked inside of, in a process of elimination game that was never thoroughly explained to us...I think we have the right to be paranoid," Kagome stated, earning a nod of agreement from Sango and Miroku.

"We also now have the right to break the fuck out of here, and the homeowners shouldn't be able to sue us for a stupid broken window," Inuyasha declared as he gently let go of Kikyou before walking with purpose into the sitting area by the fireplace.

Objects farther away were out of focus, true, but he could see well enough to pick up one of the smaller chairs. It was heavy, but he was strong, and he lugged it back into the great room past the others who were all gathered near the mouth to the hallway. Walking right up to the large picture window beside the double doors, he adjusted the chair so that he was holding it feet out, the back of the chair to the side so he wouldn't stupidly jab it into his gut, and charged.

"Aahhh!" he yelled as he rammed the glass as hard as he could with the feet of the chair, completely expecting the window to shatter.

Instead, he bounced back, losing his balance and falling to the floor with the now somewhat bloody chair landing beside him.

"No, oh no no no..." Kagome murmured as she rushed over to the window and without even thinking of the potential consequences, punched the glass with her right fist as hard as she could.

But there were no consequences, save for bruised knuckles and the oddly satisfying exertion of energy after having been denied the chance to punch Hiten in the face. The window didn't break, because it wasn't glass. Tapping it with the nails of her left hand and listening confirmed it. "The window's acrylic!" she declared.

"What?!" Miroku exclaimed in shock. It was his turn to go over to the other windows, tapping each of them one by one. Every single one was made out of thick Plexiglas.

"What about prying the pins out of the door hinges?" Sango asked then.

"Nice idea in theory," Miroku said, as he examined the front doors, "but it looks like, even if we managed to find a screwdriver or something, these bad boys have been upgraded, too. There's no prying the pins out of these hinges."

"What about a back door?" Kagome suggested. "Surely there's got to be one, like in the kitchen, yeah?"

Miroku quickly rushed through the dining room and into the kitchen because indeed, there was a backdoor.

"It's no use," he answered as he reappeared less than a minute later. "It's also solid wood, its window is also Plexiglas, and the hinges are solid."

"So we really are trapped here?" Tsubaki asked, sounding a little uneasy herself now.

"Looks that way," Inuyasha answered, trying to stay calm when all he really wanted to do was take the knight's battle-ax and chop through the door à la The Shining. But he wasn't stupid. Like Miroku said, those doors were heavy duty solid wood, and Inuyasha knew he wouldn't be able to break through them like that.

"Well...we better move Yura's body to the other bedroom," Kagome stated then, gesturing down the main hallway. "Assuming any of us are still alive come morning, we can explain what happened to the police," she added dryly.

Morbidly, everyone agreed, before Tsubaki excused herself to go back up to her bedroom for the night and Hiten, perhaps a little shaken himself though refusing to admit it, also headed to the servant's bedroom he'd chosen for himself.

"Are you all right?" Inuyasha asked Kikyou then. "I agree with Kagome that we should get Yura's body put into the last bedroom."

Better downstairs and down the hallway no one was using rather than upstairs next to the rest of all of them, he thought. Now here was hoping nobody else died because sooner or later they'd run out of places to put the bodies and he did not want to sleep in a room next door to a corpse.

"Yeah, I'm...I'm fine," Kikyou stated then, earning a nod from Inuyasha before he moved to stand over Yura's body. She wasn't fine, but what did he care?

Considering she was already covered in blood, Kagome volunteered to help Inuyasha carry Yura in that moment, not seeing any point in letting Miroku get all bloody as well.

"She's not as heavy as Kagewaki," he pointed out, as he scooped the poor woman up into his arms. "Especially with all her blood on the floor," he added under his breath, walking carefully in his bare feet so as not to slip. Avoiding stepping in the blood was impossible, and he feared this night was going to haunt him for years to come, but he'd break down later. Right now, he had to be a man and keep his shit together.

Kagome, too, was trying her best not to lose it, as she picked up Yura's severed hand, figuring they'd better not just leave it lying in the hallway. She also moved the ax so that it was against the wall and less of a tripping, or cutting, hazard.

"Lead the way," Inuyasha said to Kagome then, since he couldn't really see much of anything, especially in the low, flickering light of the hallway.

"Fifth door on the right," Sango called after them, before she and Miroku moved to go have a seat on the love seat by the fireplace. They were far too shaken up to try going back to bed.

Kikyou watched her boyfriend and that woman disappear down the hall with narrowed eyes, ignoring it as Sango and Miroku moved to have a seat over by the fireplace. How dare Inuyasha leave her at a time like this?! She was in shock here, people! Okay, so she wasn't really in shock anymore, but still. At that medical student's bidding he just scooped Yura's corpse up and trotted after her like an obedient puppy!

Calm down, Kikyou, she tried to reason with herself, knowing damn well she'd pushed Inuyasha past his breaking point by dragging him to this event. She had easily been able to tell that he was planning on breaking up with her, win or lose, so why begrudge him playing nice to that would-be doctor?

It was just the principle of the thing, she supposed. Also, the fact that Yura had just bled out in her arms had put her into a bit of a mood. The fact that it might not have been an accident was just icing on the cake. Why had she wanted to come to this stupid thing again? Oh right, to win her very own million dollars. Was it worth it? What if the people running this place really were killing everyone off? What if she was next?

I think Tsubaki has the right idea. I'm just going to go shut myself up in our bedroom for the rest of the night.

Looking down over herself, she realized she'd better get cleaned up, first.

ooo

As Kagome led Inuyasha to the fifth door on the right she had no idea about the death glare Kikyou had shot their way, not that she would've cared had she known. She wasn't trying to take Inuyasha away from her, after all. In that moment, all she wanted was to get Yura put to bed.

You make it sound like she's just passed out, Kagome thought, tears stinging her eyes at the knowledge that, yet again, she'd been powerless to save someone's life.

Inuyasha could read her thoughts loud and clear from the look in her eyes, standing close enough to her to see her face clearly even in the expected low lighting of the last bedroom, and as he laid Yura out on the four-post bed he glanced back up at Kagome and murmured tenderly, "You know her death isn't your fault, right?"

"Logically," she conceded with a meek nod, as she reached forward and gently placed Yura's severed hand where it belonged, placing it on the bed at the end of her wrist. "But I still feel like I should've been able to do something," she added.

"Once someone's lost too much blood they won't live without an immediate transfusion," he argued gently. "Even I know that much and I know jack shit when it comes to medical stuff."

Wordlessly, Kagome nodded again.

"Don't let these deaths discourage you," Inuyasha added then, trying to cheer her up however much would be appropriate under the circumstances. "I'm sure you'll make a fabulous doctor one day."

That got the reaction he was hoping for, as her sad eyes hardened a little bit, not in coldness, but in resolve. Determination.

"I must. My brother's life depends on it."

Inuyasha remembered then, how while they were picking out bedrooms upstairs she'd said that she was going to become a specialist. He'd figured at the time that the disease she was determined to cure had touched someone in her life, but he hadn't known if the person was still alive and she was playing beat the clock, or if they'd already died and she had merely made it her life's goal to save everyone else with the same disease.

"Both, actually," she explained after he told her his thoughts on the subject. "Our father died from fatal insomnia, but Souta also has the gene and will probably develop the condition at some point, unless, of course, they...or I...discover a treatment."

"If anyone can do it, you can," he told her, smiling a little when she blushed.

"You don't even know me," she pointed out.

"That may be true," he conceded, "but I don't need my contacts to see the hardened resolve in your eyes. Your convictions should be commended."

She smiled a little, then blinked in realization regarding his comment about contacts, since his golden yellow eyes were now a warm, chocolate brown.

"Oh yeah, I noticed you took out your lenses for bed, but they're prescription? I'd just figured they were cool for the sake of cool. Didn't realize they were also functional."

He snorted a chuckle.

"My girlfriend," he stressed - he might as well have used air quotes - "doesn't like them."

"What?" she asked, genuinely surprised. "Why? They really go with your whole look."

He shrugged, his body language conveying that he neither knew nor cared. "She doesn't like the bleached hair, either. Made the last five months of my life a living hell after I refused for the fifth time to dye it back to black."

"So she liked you better before, huh?" Kagome asked, trying to sound sympathetic to both their situations when what she really wanted to do was call Kikyou a bad name. "Well I think your current look looks great."

"Thanks." He meant it. "And to answer your question, I looked like this when we first got together, and she had at least acted like she was fine with it. I should've realized she was just looking for a way to quit her waitressing gig. We met at an 18+ nightclub, so she had probably been cruising the scene, and it'd been my outfit, not my hair style, that had drawn her to me because it told her I had money. Things were great for the first month, but then she saw my high school graduation photo, and fell in love with the old me."

"Well that's just all sorts of not fair," Kagome stated. "You're allowed to look however you want to look and if she loves you she should accept you for who and what you are."

"I agree," he said. "Which is why I'm pretty sure at this point, she never truly loved me. She might've fallen for me had I done what she asked, but with as much as she insults my looks these days I've come to the conclusion the only reason she originally hooked up with me was for my money. At first she'd always apologize after blowing up at me, and not to be crude but the makeup sex was awesome, but just like a guy who beats up his wife then apologizes, she kept getting worse and worse, and now all we ever do anymore is fight."

Kagome nodded her understanding to everything, not asking him how much money he had, nor did she care. That was his business. She did have one question, though. Even if she was being a bit nosy, given their current topic of conversation she figured she could get away with it.

"How come you don't just break up with her, then?"

"After this bullshit is over, I intend to, and she knows it."

He then explained, briefly, he and Kikyou's latest fight, and how she'd agreed that if he helped her win this money she'd get out of his 'freakish' hair, although he was pretty sure she knew he was planning on breaking up with her win or lose. Why he hadn't tossed her out on her ass before now was probably just that, he would've literally been tossing her out on her ass since she had no job, no money, and no place to live without him, and he had loved her, once, and so he just couldn't bring himself to be that cold to her.

"If neither of us win this money, even assuming there is a prize at this point and it wasn't all a lie to lure us to our deaths, I plan on giving her a severance package, if you will. She's costing me thousands a month, anyway, so I don't mind giving her what she would've spent over another six month period if it'll help her get her own apartment and have enough to live off of until she gets another job. If she blows through it and winds up homeless that would then no longer be my problem, because I didn't abandoned her, she'd have screwed herself over and I can wash my hands of it."

That he was willing to do so much for a woman who was sounding more and more like a gold digging bitch really meant a lot to Kagome. It just showed her what kind of a person he was deep down inside, just the same as he claimed to be able to tell what kind of a person she was.

"I suppose we better go rejoin the others," she said then. "Being this far down this hallway is a little too creepy for me. I don't even care about checking out the other rooms."

"Agreed," he stated.

Turning to exit the room, Kagome caught sight of something in the mirror above the dresser and gasped, taking a step backward, into Inuyasha, who instinctively put his arms around her in a protective gesture.

"What is it?!" he asked, worried, not having seen anything but of course, he couldn't see anything at the moment unless it was practically right in front of his face.

"I saw...I saw a little girl, in the mirror," Kagome explained, pointing at the offending reflective surface. "She couldn't have been older than ten, with platinum blond hair almost as white as yours, and her eyes...her eyes were solid black. She had no expression. She was just...looking at me."

"That fucking bastard," Inuyasha growled. "They didn't say some of the bodies Naraku got to experiment with had been children."

"Let's pray she was one of the donor cadavers, and not one of the recipients," Kagome said. "They only said that the servants had been the first to go, the maid and cook and whoever, but if they had been the first to go..."

"Yeah..." he agreed. "Then that means that fucking lunatic continued to do experiments on live victims after killing everyone in his employ."

"Let's get the hell out of here," Kagome said then.

"I couldn't agree more."

Coming back out into the great room, then, Inuyasha and Kagome both noticed how Sango and Miroku were sitting in the living room area over by the fireplace and headed over in that direction themselves.

"Can't sleep?" Kagome asked, trying to make light conversaion, seeing no point in freaking them out by telling them about the little girl she'd just seen.

"Could you?" Sango questioned in return.

"I know I can't," Inuyasha said. "I also think we all need to stick together."

Miroku and Sango both nodded their agreement.

"I take it Kikyou went back upstairs?" he asked them then.

"I asked her to join us," Sango answered, "but she said she just wanted to get cleaned up and then go to bed."

Nodding in understanding, Inuyasha told the others he'd be right back, before cringing at his poor choice of words and asking them to keep their ears open for any manly screams of terror. He was only half kidding. That said, he headed upstairs to find his still current girlfriend and invite her back downstairs with the rest of them. Safety in numbers and all that.

"So do you think a ghost killed Yura?" Sango asked Kagome after Inuyasha departed, her tone of voice revealing her worry, not skepticism.

"After what I saw on Kagewaki's neck I think it's more likely than just chalking it up to a random coincidence."

"He really has marks on his neck like somebody choked him?" Miroku asked.

Kagome nodded.

"Just great. We're trapped in a house full of murderous ghosts," Sango bemoaned. "What else is gonna go wrong?"

ooo

"Kikyou?" Inuyasha addressed as he stood just outside the doorway to the upstairs bathroom. "Miroku, Sango and Kagome are staying downstairs in the living room and I think it's a good idea," he said. "I think we should join them."

Of course you want to be wherever Kagome is, she thought bitterly as she tried to scrub the blood off her hands and arms in the sink. She was still wearing her ruined blouse and slacks, but she hadn't wanted to grab her night clothes out of their bag with her hands still covered in blood. She'd change her clothes next.

"You can do whatever you want," she answered him, "but I'm not going anywhere except to bed, after I get myself cleaned up first, of course."

"I really think you should join us downstairs," he argued, indirectly stating that if she went to bed it would be alone.

She couldn't blame him, really.

"I think about it," she conceded then, her tone as placating as she could make it, which still sounded bitchy, even to her own ears. She would've winced had her pride allowed it.

Nodding relentingly, not wanting to fight with her about it, Inuyasha headed back downstairs, approaching the others just in time to witness a very large ember pop out of the fireplace and roll much farther than it should've been able to, landing on the Oriental rug, which immediately caught on fire.

"Shit!" he cursed as he ran towards them the same time they all bolted to their feet. Their bare feet, so nobody dared to try stomping out the small but rapidly growing fire.

Miroku did try to roll the carpet up on itself but quickly realized it was stuck to the floor, so then it was time to come up with Plan B.

"Just had to ask what else could go wrong!" he exclaimed as he and Sango ran through the dining room and into the kitchen, not that he actually blamed his wife one bit for what'd happened.

"You look like you've seen a ghost," Manten joked in poor taste as they both rushed in on him, catching the fat man in the middle of raiding the fridge.

"The rug's on fire!" Miroku declared as he grabbed the water pitcher Kagura had used during dinner, grateful she'd left it lying out, and filled it from the sink as quickly as possible before handing it off to Sango and looking for another vessel.

Not waiting to see what he came up with, Sango darted back out towards the living room, slamming through the kitchen's free swinging door without slowing down, running as fast as she could around the dining table without slipping as she rushed over to the rapidly growing carpet fire and poured the water on it. She got most of it, but not all, and cursed softly under her breath. Fortunately, Miroku reappeared shortly after her carrying a large cooking pot filled with water that he quickly dumped out as well, taking care of the last bit of fire that Sango hadn't had enough water to get before it could spread to other dry parts of the rug.

Manten came out not long after him carrying yet another cooking pot of water, the large man not quite so cold and heartless as his more handsome sibling. Besides, if the house burned down that would be very, very bad, for all of them.

"Good, good," Miroku said, seeing Manten. "I don't care how cold the house gets. It's not like we're in Alaska. Toss that on the fire," he instructed, pointing at the fireplace.

Manten agreed with Miroku's logic and dumped his load of water directly onto the burning logs, dousing the entire flame.

"At least we won't have to worry about that possibility again," Kagome commented in relief.

ooo

Feeling a little more shaken up about having Yura die in her arms like that than she'd been willing to display in front of Inuyasha, although that didn't mean she wanted to go downstairs and bask in the others' company, Kikyou had changed into her pajamas before heading back into the bathroom to do her normal nightly rituals before bed. Unfortunately, changing into her pajamas, which also consisted of a white top, this time a thin bathrobe, tucked into loose fitting red elastic waist pants, did nothing to help her feel any less dirty, still remembering the look of herself covered in Yura's blood. Her white blouse and even her red linen pants were horribly ruined, and rolled up into a ball on the floor of their bedroom, and while ordinarily white and red was her favorite combination and almost always what she wore, in that moment Kikyou wished she had decided to bring something different for her sleeping attire because looking at herself in the mirror as she tried to just brush her teeth had her still seeing herself covered in blood.

It took her a minute to realize she really was still seeing herself covered in blood. It wasn't her imagination.

Gasping and looking down at herself in shock, her robe was clean. Confused, and wondering if she was losing it, she glanced back up at her reflection again and once again saw the same image as before, the same splatter of blood that had been on her button-up blouse. Then suddenly, a dark shadowy figure appeared in the mirror standing behind her. She whirled around, but instead of there being nobody there, as one might expect, which would have been creepy in its own right, she actually saw Kagewaki standing there, wearing black clothing instead of his original outfit of blue and gray.

Frozen in place, Kikyou watched as his knowing grin stretched into a full blown evil smile.

"Hello, Kikyou."

He lunged for her, and she turned and bolted from the bathroom, but not quickly enough to avoid him 'touching' her with his ghostly hand on her right shoulder blade, as if he'd very nearly grabbed her but just missed. Searing pain ran through her back, as if she'd been sliced with claws, but that didn't slow her down as she ran down the upstairs hallway into her and Inuyasha's designated bedroom. Why she'd gone that way instead of downstairs, knowing that was where the others were, she couldn't be sure. Slamming the door shut behind her, she was afraid to look at herself in the mirror hanging above the dresser but she slowly, hesitantly approached it, and was surprised to find that not only was her reflection no longer covered in Yura's blood, but there appeared to be no blood on her shoulder, either, even though the phantom wound was still throbbing. Turning her head to look over her shoulder directly confirmed it, there was no blood.

"You can't escape me, Kikyou," 'Kagewaki' said smugly as he suddenly appeared in the corner of the room.

"Kagewaki?" she asked. "What do you want with me? Why are you doing this?" She knew she was talking to a ghost at that point, so she wouldn't consider herself crazy. On the contrary, he seemed the mad one between the two of them.

He tsk'd at her, as if she should've realized who he was.

"Shame on you for not recognizing your host for the evening," he teased. "Although I must admit, your Kagewaki fellow had a rather handsome face. That's why I've chosen it for myself. Suits me well, don't you think?"

Her eyes narrowed, easily putting two and two together after learning the horrible backstory to this place.

"Naraku," she hissed. "Just what have you done with Kagewaki's spirit?"

She'd worry about why she was suddenly feeling protective of the poor sod another time.

Naraku merely shrugged.

"Oh, he's around here somewhere, mixed in with my many other victims. They all want their chance at revenge, you know, but since they cannot exact their revenge against me, the living will have to do."

"If the others want to kill us simply as payback for them having died, then what do you want?" she asked next, while mentally trying to calculate if she could make it to the door before he could attack her again.

Leaning forward a little, Naraku's eyes sparkled merrily.

"Why don't you try to make a run for it and find out."

Kikyou's mind was working a mile a minute. She'd never used to believe in ghosts, not really, but now that she was having a conversation with one, and an evil one at that, everything else suddenly started to make sense. Kagewaki had been choked to death by a ghost, just like Kagome had claimed, and that ax falling on Yura had been no coincidence. But the fact that Naraku had taken Kagewaki's face was especially troubling. That, and Naraku's casual remark about all of the ghosts, Kagewaki included, wanting their revenge against the living. Byakuya had commented about them possibly joining the ghosts during his so-called disclaimer during dinner, not that any of them had believed him at the time, but Kikyou had seen one too many horror movies to not get the gist of what was going on here.

"There's no point in me trying to run. Even if I made it out of this room you or someone else would surely kill me before sunrise."

Naraku nodded, as if they were merely discussing dinner plans.

"That's the plan," he answered, as more black figures began to appear in the other corners of the room.

Out of the corner of her eyes she could almost make out their faces, but every time she turned her head to get a better look at them they were gone. Still, she got the feeling she was being surrounded. Probably now that they already had a couple of kills under their belts the ghosts were getting stronger. Either that, or they were gaining in strength the closer they got to midnight.

Sitting down slowly on the edge of the bed, trying not to make any sudden movements, Kikyou carefully pulled her overnight bag closer, reaching inside with her right hand as nonchalantly as possible. Naraku only smirked at her at the not-so-subtle move, feeling confident that there was nothing in her bag that could possibly help her escape him.

"There's nowhere to run," she said as if in agreement, just to keep talking, letting Naraku relish in her fear. She was afraid, after all. "The door's locked, the windows can't be broken..."

"Tsk tsk," Yura's disembodied voice chimed in suddenly, although she didn't manifest in the room. Kikyou only flinched in surprise but didn't otherwise make any movements. "Don't be afraid," Yura continued. "There's room for one thousand and one."

Kikyou snorted dryly at that.

Ah yes, the Haunted Mansion, how appropriate.

"I'm sorry I ignored you when you were just trying to be friendly, Yura," she said, to no reply.

She did remember the attraction, although she'd been telling the truth when she'd said she hadn't been on it since she was a kid. During her childhood, though, it had been her favorite ride.

"This room has no windows, and no doors..." she muttered to herself. "Find a way out, indeed."

Picking something up out of her overnight bag, something she'd been looking for as discreetly as possible, she looked Naraku in the eye and gave him her best bitch face.

"Of course, there's always my way," she said, revealing her cuticle nippers before forcefully jabbing them into the underside of her left wrist and slicing downward as hard and fast as she could, blood spraying out like a fountain.

"No!" Naraku shouted before dissipating, all of the other black shadow figures fleeing the room as well.

Laughing somewhat deliriously as her blood poured freely, staining her nightclothes and the bedding, Kikyou looked at her wrist a moment in fascination, as if unable to believe she'd actually done it. Thanks to her adrenaline rush it hadn't even hurt that much, and judging by Naraku's reaction it had been the right thing to do.

"Inuyasha, I'm...sorry...I didn't...get to say...goodbye..." Kikyou whispered as she stretched herself out in the bed before letting her left arm drape over the side, her blood pooling on the floor below. The clippers were still in her right hand; she wanted Inuyasha to know that she'd won, the ghosts hadn't killed her.

ooo

Unable to sleep, Tsubaki lied wide awake in bed, her lamp still on, staring blankly up at the ceiling. She'd heard the muffled yelling from down below, and the rapid footsteps of somebody running down the hall past her room and a slamming door, but at that point she had no intention of leaving the sanctuary of her own room to see what was going on with the others. Her top priority was her own survival.

Suddenly seeing a shadow zip past out of the corner of her eye, she sat up swiftly but didn't see anything. Still not truly believing the place was haunted, the play of light and shadow instantly pissed her off.

"These fucking idiots think it's okay to continue running their gags after two people have died?" she cursed under her breath, no longer as content as she had previously been to keep playing the game after what she still thought was Kagewaki's accidental choking.

One tragedy, she could excuse on their behalf, thinking of the caretakers for this event. Especially a man who'd apparently choked to death on a bite of food, and in front of everyone else at the table, too, so there had clearly been no foul play involved. She could see the point of view of the others who'd thought they should've canceled the game and called 911, and she would've agreed had that been an option, but after learning they couldn't make any outgoing phone calls and they couldn't leave the house, she had been willing to not worry about it and get back to the game. Or her version of it, at least, which was called 'let all the other idiots scare themselves with the fake hocus pocus while she slept through it and won the prize money in the morning.' But now that Yura had been killed as well? And yes, she had been killed, whether by accident or design she couldn't be certain, but she had most certainly not stupidly cut her own hand off by leaning against the ax too hard or something. That could've been rigged so easily, too, if the suit of armor were actually animatronic in any way and the knight had deliberately swung at her, either at the behest of someone pushing a button or an automated motion sensor. If it were just meant to scare, though, then there was no way the ax should've been that sharp, or sharp at all really. The worst it should've done, had it accidentally hit Yura when meaning only to frighten her, was maybe give her a light bruise. And in fact, the more Tsubaki thought about it, she didn't think an ax just falling should've been able to cut clean through bone like that, no matter how sharp it was. There had to have been some force behind it.

That realization, coupled with another zipping shadow, had her jumping out of bed.

"Oh, don't be afraid," came a male voice from...somewhere. "Oh second thought, do."

Turning in every direction, Tsubaki gasped when suddenly, standing in a corner she knew had been empty before, was none other than Kagewaki. She didn't notice that he was now wearing black instead of his original outfit. Who cared what a ghost was wearing? There was a freakin' ghost in her room! With her brain screaming at her that she should've listened to the others, she made to dash for the closed bedroom door, but a sudden onslaught of flying shadows that seemed to peel themselves off the walls and floor before taking flight around the room had her jumping back in order to avoid running into them.

"Why...why are you doing this?!" she shouted at 'Kagewaki' then.

Naraku smirked. "Isn't it obvious?" he said. "They're hungry." And they had just been denied another meal.

As the streaking black shadows slowly turned into gray smoke-like snake things while continuing to fly in circles around the room, Tsubaki slowly but surely inched her way closer to the door, while trying not to let any of the creepy things touch her. Fortunately, Naraku was standing in the back corner of the room, not even trying to block her exit. She should've realized by his look of smug confidence that he wasn't worried about her making a break for it.

Trying the doorknob, it didn't turn, as if the door was locked even though there was no lock. Eyes wide, her fear skyrocketed as she whirled around and tried to turn the knob with both hands before then yanking on the door in an attempt to force it open even though the knob still wouldn't budge. Then the snake-like phantoms started to morph again and take even clearer shape, becoming eerily glowing demonic-looking serpents. Frozen in fear at the sight, Tsubaki's shallow breaths began coming out in faint puffs of steam as the temperature in the room dropped by more than thirty degrees.

"What...what are these things?" she asked.

"Marvelous, aren't they?" Naraku replied, not answering her question. "They feed off human fear, while my companions crave death. It's a match made in Hell," he chuckled darkly.

With that, one of the serpents flew straight for Tsubaki, and before she had time to react the ghostly creature went into her right eye. She screamed, her long black hair turning white, as suddenly an entire roomful of people stood around her, watching in twisted satisfaction.

ooo

Downstairs, Sango, Miroku, Inuyasha and Kagome were still sitting in the living room by the extinguished fireplace when they heard Tsubaki's scream.

"Oh God," Kagome gasped, bolting to her feet. "What now?!"

Quickly, they all ran upstairs, followed swiftly by Hiten and Manten as well.

"Help! Help me! Let me out! Let me out!" they all heard Tsubaki scream from within her bedroom, her doorknob jiggling, her loud pounding on the door almost muffling her cries.

Sango immediately tried the knob on the outside but it wouldn't turn either. She gave the others a helpless look.

"Stand back!" Inuyasha shouted, his volume for Tsubaki's benefit, as he slammed his shoulder into the door as hard as he could. "Ow, fuck," he cursed when the door didn't break. "Looks so much easier on TV."

"Move," Manten said then.

Getting out of the way, Inuyasha was grateful to the large man who put his extra weight to good use, breaking down the door.

"Tsubaki!" Kagome cried, gasping in surprise as an elderly, wrinkled woman with white hair, wearing Tsubaki's nightgown, fell out into the hallway.

Miroku somehow managed to catch her in time and then helped to ease her down onto the floor.

"My God, what happened to you?" he asked the woman who had to be Tsubaki even though her transformation seemed impossible.

"E...evil..." she wheezed, clutching the neckline of Miroku's pajama top. She then exhaled once more and became very still.

"So now they're literally scaring us to death," Sango stated with a forced laugh. "That's just perfect."

Kagome shook her head.

"Fear wouldn't cause this..." she stated slowly, as if questioning everything she knew about medical science based on the evidence before her. She knelt to get a closer look. "It's like...it's like something evil, like she said, must have sucked the very life force out of her."

"Who knows what a collective group of pissed off ghosts can do?" Miroku stated as he scooped Tsubaki up and brought her back into her room, laying her out gently on her bed. "Supposedly they can and do suck energy out of things, like batteries. Assuming everything we've ever thought was just stories is true, then I don't see why a large enough mass of spirits each draining a person of some of their energy couldn't accomplish this," he added as he came back out and joined the others in the hall.

"But that just doesn't make sense," Hiten argued.

"And everything else we've witnessed thus far does?" Kagome countered.

"The proof is in the pudding," Sango muttered. She really wished she had a bottle of holy water, or a proton pack, or something to help defend herself against whatever, or whomever, it was they were up against

It was a good enough theory as far as Inuyasha was concerned, although looking around in that moment, he suddenly had something much more important to worry about than whether or not the ghosts could actually suck the life right out of them, a sinking feeling developing in his chest as he realized someone appeared to be missing.

"Where's Kikyou?" he asked everyone worriedly, glancing around a moment in case she was just standing in the far back and he hadn't noticed her because he still wasn't wearing his contacts.

Glancing around, herself, Kagome realized with a sinking feeling of dread, "She's not here, but she's also not still in the bathroom, it's empty."

Without another word, Inuyasha made a mad dash for the bedroom he and Kikyou were to have shared, Kagome hot on his heels with the desperate hope that if something bad had happened to Kikyou she would be able to do something to help.

As Inuyasha barged into the room, the sinking feeling in his chest became a lead weight in his stomach that poisoned his dinner and had him struggling not to throw up at the sight before him. Kikyou was lying perfectly still on her side of the bed, her complexion far too pale, some blood on her robe and the cream colored bedding with the majority of it being in a huge puddle on the floor below her no longer dripping wrist. There wasn't quite as much blood as what was still in the hallway from what'd happened to Yura, but it was close enough.

"Kikyou..." Inuyasha said slowly, ignoring Kagome's quiet gasp behind him.

Approaching her slowly, his mind was having trouble processing what he was seeing. If he'd thought there was even the slightest chance of saving her life he would've immediately rushed into action, and he knew that Kagome definitely would've, too, so her own stillness confirmed for him what the massive amount of blood and her chalky complexion had already told him. After having dealt with Yura, it was obvious. Kikyou was already gone.

As Sango and Miroku came up behind Kagome in the doorway, whispering quietly to get her attention, she turned and gave them a look that let them know Kikyou was already dead. Nodding their sad understanding, they gave Kagome and Inuyasha some privacy. Kagome thought briefly that she should leave, too, that Inuyasha was the one who truly needed his privacy and she was also intruding at the moment, but she couldn't bring herself to move and so she stayed. If he wanted her gone surely he'd ask her to leave.

In truth, Inuyasha wasn't bothered by Kagome's presence in the slightest, and in fact he felt a little comforted by the fact that she was silently standing by him, showing him with her presence that she was there for him if he needed her. Crawling into the bed and carefully pulling Kikyou into his arms, his pajamas already covered in Yura's blood and so not caring that he now had Kikyou's blood on himself as well, Inuyasha discovered the cuticle cutters still in her right hand and felt a morbid sense of relief to at least know that her death had been on her own terms. If there was one thing he knew about Kikyou it was that she was strong willed, and he knew there was no way in Hell she could've been manipulated or tricked into taking her own life. The only plausible explanation, then, was that she'd had no choice, but not in the way that depressed and suicidal people felt that they had no choice.

"I should've been here," he stated morosely. Whatever had happened in this room, she shouldn't have had to face it alone.

"If she could have escaped, she would have," Kagome pointed out gently, not trying to rub his face in the fact that she'd been trapped. "If you had been with her then you might both be dead," she added, which was the point she was actually trying to make. They had no way of knowing if Inuyasha could have done anything to save her.

He thought about it for a moment, knowing it was a legitimate possibility, since he admittedly had no idea what Kikyou had been up against although he'd seen first hand the power of whatever evil had come after Tsubaki. Would he have been willing to die with Kikyou? Die for her, so she could have escaped? He had loved her, once. While he didn't want to die, she certainly hadn't deserved to have her own life cut short. Bitch or not, no one deserved to face the choice she'd clearly had to make. That she had decided to rob the ghosts of their kill, however, had a feeling of pride for her stubbornness swelling up inside of him. Taunt her with the threat of death, had they? She'd sure shown them.

He could only pray that her suicide hadn't still delighted the evil spirits, if all they'd needed was her death in any form. He supposed he'd never know for sure, and that thought was what troubled him the most. If he knew she was in peace, and not now also trapped in this Godforsaken nightmare, then he knew he'd be able to move on.

Well, he was going to move on, regardless, because he did not feel like grabbing a blade and joining her. If he had his way, he would be surviving this nightmare to escape the house alive.

"I still should have been here," he stated finally. It would've been the honorable thing to do, for one thing, fighting the evil alongside her, but he also believed that had he been with her, while it was possible they might've both died, it was also equally as possible that he would have been able to save the both of them and she would've still been alive.

Ultimately at the end of the day, though, he had asked Kikyou to come downstairs with them and while she'd said she'd think about it, she had obviously decided against it. Had she chosen to join the rest of them then she would almost definitely still be alive, as well. Her death was not his fault and he would still do everything within his power to survive the rest of the night.

Disentangling himself from her body, then, he laid her back down before gently brushing the hair from her face.

"I'm sorry, Kikyou," he murmured tenderly before pecking her cold lips chastely. He was apologizing for not saving her life, for every fight in which he'd said something cruel, and just generally for not being the man she had wanted him to be. "I'm so sorry."

"How I longed to hear you say that when I was alive," Kikyou's voice said suddenly, causing Inuyasha to jump away from her body and head for Kagome the same moment Kagome ran towards him. He instinctively put his arms around her.

"Is that girl more important to you?" Kikyou asked, her form appearing slowly.

She was transparent for a moment before she became solid, looking like an exact duplicate of the woman lying on the bed, except the ghost of Kikyou actually looked more alive. Her complexion was healthy, and she was blemish free, not a drop of blood marring her person.

"Kikyou..." Inuyasha murmured in awe, ignoring her question, although he did release Kagome as he took a hesitant step closer to the apparition. "Are you...your soul I mean...are you...okay?" He reached out, as if to touch her, but seeing the blood on his own hand he lowered it, not wanting to taint her. "You aren't trapped here with the others, are you? You're free, right?" he asked hesitantly, afraid of the answer but needing to know.

Rather than answering him directly, though, she narrowed her eyes at him. "You no longer care about me," she said in her usual bitchy way. "Why should you care where I end up now?"

"Kikyou, you know I still care about you," he insisted. "You were the first woman I ever loved."

And it was true. While he'd gone on a few casual dates during the latter years of high school, he'd never fallen head over heels in love with anyone before. Even he and his prom date had amiably gone their separate ways after graduation.

"And yet now that I'm dead, you're going to go on living," she sneered, untouched by his words about loving her. Then her eyes shifted to Kagome. "With my copy," she added, causing Kagome to unconsciously take a step back.

"Are you afraid of me, Kagome?" Kikyou asked with her lips quirking up into a half smirk, clear amusement in her eyes at the idea.

"Should I be?" Kagome asked in turn, squaring her shoulders as she got a little bit braver, her courage driven by sympathy for this poor woman. Bitch or not, gold digger or not, she hadn't deserved to die like this. "Did your escape attempt not work?" she asked her then. "Have you joined with Naraku's other victims, after all?"

Kikyou's eyes grew even colder at the mention of his name.

"Naraku is a vile beast who needs to be dragged into Hell," she said, before her expression became eerily blank. "You better be careful if you don't want to end up like the others," she added before suddenly disappearing.

"Kikyou wait!" Kagome called out, but it was too late. She was gone.

For now, at least. But had Kikyou disappeared because she'd used up all her energy, or had Kagome accidentally pissed her off when she mentioned Naraku? And they still didn't know whether or not Kikyou was now one the bad ghosts, for lack of a better term.

"Well this is fucked," Kagome declared suddenly, earning a snorted laugh from Inuyasha.

"Thanks, I needed that," he declared, shooting her a bittersweet smile. "I think I also need to put my contacts back in. If I'm going to have to spend the rest of the night fending off pissed off ghosts I at least want to be able to see them clearly."

It was Kagome's turn to snort a laugh, appreciating that Inuyasha shared her sense of humor, and also the fundamental idea that morbidly dire situations could be lightened up with a little well placed joke or three. Although, truth be told, he actually had a very good point. He should make sure his vision was at top capacity because frankly, they had no idea what was going to continue to happen throughout the night.

While he went to get cleaned up in the upstairs bathroom Kagome filled Sango and Miroku in on what'd happened with Kikyou, since they hadn't known the part about the cuticle clippers at first. They both agreed that it was tragic, but they held out hope, since Kikyou hadn't given them a direct answer, that perhaps, even if she were upset over the fact that she'd died, maybe she wasn't going to turn around and come after the rest of them. Noting that Hiten and Manten were gone, Kagome asked and Miroku informed her that after he'd told them about Kikyou being dead as well they'd both gone back downstairs, Hiten saying he was going back to bed while Manten said he was going back into the kitchen.

"We're getting picked off one by one and all that man can think about is food," Kagome murmured sadly. Eating disorders were no laughing matter.

"If I thought I was going to die, I'd want a last meal, too," Inuyasha said as he reemerged from the bathroom. "I don't know about the rest of you, but I plan on living."

"I agree," Kagome said, Sango and Miroku voicing their agreement as well.

With that, everyone also agreed that it would be best to go back downstairs into the living room area again, which they figured shouldn't be nearly as dangerous now that the fire was out in the fireplace. There was nothing that could possibly fall on them from the couch so if they all just sat huddled together and waited it out they should be all right.

"Unless we can think of a way to break outta here," Inuyasha said as they headed in that direction. "I'm all for busting my way out of this place if we can come up with a plan."

"Well...I doubt using that ax to chop through the door would work," Kagome said.

"Already thought of it, and yeah, those doors are super solid," Inuyasha agreed.

"What about just breaking the lock somehow?" Miroku chimed in. "If we had something we could use as a battering ram..."

"That lock looks pretty solid, too, but it would definitely be worth a try," Inuyasha said. "Only problem is not getting killed while we wander the house looking for tools."

"Good point," Sango agreed. "They've gotta just be waiting for one of us to go wandering off alone so they can make their move."

"Do you think Hiten is safe in his bedroom, then?" Miroku asked.

"Probably not," Inuyasha said with a shrug. It was the other man's choice, after all.

"What about Manten?" Kagome voiced worriedly.

"Let the man do what he wants," Inuyasha said. "Hopefully it really won't be his last meal."

ooo

Personally having no desire to just go to bed and think about the people who'd died so far, while his brother Hiten went back into his room for the night after what'd happened to Tsubaki and Kikyou, Manten had only one destination in mind. He wasn't even really hungry anymore, but now, the food was the best distraction he could come up with. He wasn't totally pigging out, he was just doing it buffet style, sampling a little bit of this and that. Their caretakers had left so much food it was unbelievable! Cookies and breads and cereals in the pantry, all sorts of fruits and cheeses in the refrigerator. True snack foods, with nothing needing to be cooked. Not that he couldn't have cooked himself a meal if he'd found promising raw ingredients. He definitely knew his way around a kitchen, and this one was marvelous, a professional chef's kitchen, if a bit outdated. Still, considering the age of the house itself, it had been a spectacular upgrade, a few decades ago. It definitely beat an early 1900s kitchen and he was most certainly not complaining.

For a brief moment, when their hosts had announced their departure for the evening, he had been worried that the only food in the house would've been what they'd bought in order to prepare dinner, but then Byakuya had assured him that they'd stocked up in case one or more of their 'guests' wanted a midnight snack, and he couldn't be happier. Well, he could be. If nobody had died that would've definitely made him happier than he felt in that moment, knowing that the place really was haunted, after all, and not the stupid kind of haunting like the hotels that operate as tourist destinations. But if he was going to end up getting attacked by ghosts at some point then he wanted to spend what time he had left eating. It was his absolute favorite thing to do, after all.

He felt sorry for his brother. Hiten's favorite thing to do was fuck pretty girls, but the choices were somewhat limited now. They were down to only six of them, and only two were women. While they were both attractive, they also weren't alone, those four sticking together like glue now. Manten supposed he couldn't blame them for being afraid, but he personally still preferred the company of pastries over other human beings.

Suddenly remembering what Miroku had said about the possibility of there being ice cream in the freezer, Manten shoved the last of the scone he was eating into his mouth and made his way over to the separate freezer unit that sat beside the large double-door fridge.

"Oh boy oh boy!" he exclaimed like a delighted child as he spotted a box of bonbons. Their hosts had been most generous, indeed.

A snort of disgust coming from behind him earned Manten's full attention as he began eating the bonbons like popcorn.

"I'd already thought you were gross, what with you having no hair and all, but this seals the deal," came an eerily familiar voice.

Turning around, Manten actually dropped the box of bonbons in his shock.

"Y-yura? But you're d-dead."

Yura rolled her eyes. "Astute observation," she drawled as she floated a few feet above the ground, her right hand missing although the stump at her wrist was smooth skin rather than a bloody wound. "What part of haunted house didn't you get?" she teased him. "Or did you still think it was only Naraku and his original victims that were the only danger?"

Streaks of flying shadows began moving all around the room, movement always catching in the corner of his eyes and then when he'd look, it was gone. He could feel their presence, though, somehow. Dozens, if not hundreds, of angry souls.

"Did you know tonight isn't the first time the Onigumo family's tricked people into spending the night here on Halloween so that the ghosts could kill them?" Yura stated almost conversationally. "They claim they don't have a choice. Either give the vengeful spirits what they want, namely more victims, or else they'll become the victims." She snorted, as if contemplating breaking that arrangement and going after the rest of the Onigumo family, anyway. "It's a stupid plan, since they're just creating more of us," she added as an afterthought.

"Wh-what do you want with me?" Manten asked her then as he tried to inch his way towards the door.

"What all of us want," she answered with a twisted smirk. "Revenge."

That said, she raised her left hand into the air, and with moves reminiscent of conducting an orchestra, the kitchen knives all began to slide from their block on the countertop and do her bidding.

"B-but I didn't kill you!" Manten exclaimed frantically as he dodged the steak knife that flew at his head. "Why take revenge out on me?!"

Yura sighed in exasperation and began 'juggling' three more of the knives, although she was only moving her arms in a juggling motion and the knives were actually floating around and around in a circle in front of her without her actually touching any of them.

"Duh," she exclaimed as though it were obvious. "The dead always want revenge against the living. Why should you get to live when I didn't?" Smirking, she added, "I didn't say it was fair."

Flicking her wrist, one of the three circling knives broke formation and sailed right for Manten's heart, but once again he managed to dodge, although he didn't escape unscathed as the dive he took to the side had him slamming against the tile floor hard enough to jar his shoulder. Struggling through the pain to get up on his hands and knees, he scurried as quickly as a man his size could move over towards the door, but then much to his horror he couldn't push it open, as if a large piece of furniture had been placed against it on the other side.

"Help!" he cried out then, getting back to his feet and frantically trying to break down the door that was supposed to swing open outwardly but still wouldn't budge. "Somebody help me!"

"Somebody help me," Yura mocked, as even more dancing and swirling shadows began to fill the room.

Manten turned and looked her way with large, horror-filled eyes.

Out in the sitting area, Inuyasha, Kagome, Sango and Miroku all heard Manten's cries. So did Hiten, who emerged quickly from the servants' wing. As Hiten made a mad dash through the dining hall towards the kitchen everyone else was hot on his heels.

"Manten!" Hiten screamed from his place inside the dining room, as he saw through the small window in the kitchen door what was going on inside the kitchen, his brother's panicked eyes right on the other side of the window as he clearly tried and failed to open the door that was most definitely not blocked on the dining room side.

Grabbing the handle, Hiten yanked hard and was surprised when the door freely swung open. Apparently Yura's influence had been limited to inside the kitchen.

"Brother..." Manten murmured in relief as he collapsed into his brother's arms.

His weight threw off Hiten's balance and they both came crashing down to the floor in the doorway. Getting up as quickly as he could and rolling Manten onto his back, Hiten stared in unbridled horror at the large butcher knife buried deep in his brother's chest.

Kagome immediate dropped to her knees at the sight to see if there was possibly any way she could assist although it didn't look good. She and the others all glanced up in surprise as Yura laughed.

Seeing her floating there, Inuyasha was reminded of what'd happened to Kikyou and his blood boiled over.

"You bitch!" he roared as he charged.

Running towards the still smirking apparition, he unthinkingly swung his fist and wound up accidentally plunging his hand deeply within the center of her chest.

Glancing down at his arm, Yura tsk'd.

"How rude," she said, "plunging your arm into a woman's breasts like that."

His eyes widened as he quickly retracted his arm, thankfully unhurt. It had just felt like putting his arm into a freezer, the limb surrounded by a feeling of cold. Suddenly, Yura's eyes went wide in shock as well, and then before his eyes her body dispersed. Before he could wonder if it'd had something to do with him 'touching' her, though, Inuyasha blinked in surprise to realize that Kagome was standing behind where Yura had been, a large cast iron frying pan in her hand. He raised an eyebrow at her in silent question.

Setting the pan down on the nearest countertop with a loud clank, she shrugged a little, quirking a half smile.

"I was afraid she was going to hurt you so I had to try something," she said. "It was just a hunch, based on old folk tales about iron," she explained.

Inuyasha nodded in understanding. It actually made sense scientifically, he supposed, since ghosts were clearly real and most likely used electromagnetic fields to manifest themselves just like all the paranormal experts had always claimed. The iron skillet, then, being a good conductor of electricity, had probably just sucked all of the energy out of Yura, rendering her powerless. The bad news was that it was undoubtedly temporary. He didn't really figure it was possible to kill a ghost. The good news, however, was that they at least had some form of self-defense.

"How's Manten?" Inuyasha asked her then, glancing towards the doorway to see Hiten still kneeling over his brother's body, Sango and Miroku standing back in the dining room, looking relieved that Kagome had managed to save him from Yura.

"There...there's nothing I can do," she admitted unhappily. "He's coughed up blood, and his chest is gurgling, so while pulling the knife out would surely mean he'll bleed to death, he's dying anyway with no way to get him to a hospital. If the knife had missed anything vital he might've had a chance, but..."

She let her words trail off, and Inuyasha understood, looking Sango and Miroku's way before jerking his head in a way meant to usher them inside the kitchen, so that Manten and Hiten could have some privacy for their last moments.

Seeing Inuyasha's summons for what it was, they tried not to listen in as they gingerly inched their way past the two brothers in order to join their friends in the kitchen.

"It'll be all right, brother..." Hiten told his sibling, having heard what that bitch Kagome had said but refusing to believe it.

Manten could live if only she'd help him! But no, at the threat of that pretty boy Inuyasha being next she had abandoned her patient to go save her boyfriend instead. What kind of a man-whore was Inuyasha, anyway? His girlfriend had just died and already he was hooking up with another slut? Hiten's mind wasn't very logical as he clutched Manten's hand and watched as the life drained out of his eyes.

"That was amazing," Miroku told Kagome as he and Sango approached the others.

"Yeah, quick thinking," Sango complemented.

"It's nice to know we have a form of self-defense, now," Kagome agreed.

"You!" Hiten roared suddenly, giving Kagome a death glare as he yanked the knife out of his diseased brother's chest.

At least against the ghosts, anyway, her rapidly panicking mind provided.

"Hiten...?"

He charged, and screaming, Kagome ran around the massive center island as he came after her, knife held blade down in his raised right hand and poised for plunging downward Psycho-style. "You didn't save him!"

"There was nothing I could do!" she shouted as she continued to evade him while Inuyasha, Sango and Miroku all tried to help but had to be careful as he'd slash the knife in their directions as well when they got too close.

"Hiten you need to calm down!" Sango said, to no avail. He was incapable of listening to reason.

As he continued to chase Kagome and dodge the punches Inuyasha and Miroku aimed his way, Sango quickly assessed the situation and took note of the few other knives on the floor, which she immediately picked up. As Hiten lunged she made her move, throwing one of the knives, except instead of trying to kill him she aimed for his leg.

Her aim was true, the knife jabbing Hiten's right calf although it didn't stay in due to gravity, the tip having only gone in maybe an inch. It was enough of a distraction, though, for him to drop his own knife and reach down to cup his bleeding leg in pain, and that was when Inuyasha made his move, punching Hiten hard across the jaw.

Miroku watched as Hiten crumpled to the floor, mentally winching, but also feeling oh so proud of his wife. She didn't teach self-defense for nothing. As Hiten shook his disorientation free and looked up, Miroku could see that the madness in his eyes had not vacated, and without really putting much thought into it the ordinarily peaceful man rushed forward and kicked Hiten in the head. Hiten went back down, bleeding from his nose, and as Kagome watched from her place beside Inuyasha the doctor in her wanted to come to Hiten's aid but the sane and frightened woman in her wanted Miroku to kick him again since he still hadn't lost consciousness. He only lied there, unmoving but glaring at them all with pure hatred in his eyes.

Suddenly, the voice of a small child caught the others' attentions, although they wouldn't be foolish enough to completely forget about Hiten and turn their backs on him.

"Hello?" the little voice said. "Kagura, Byakuya? Is that you? Can I come out now? I'm scared!"

"That sounds like a child but...where is it coming from?" Kagome asked as she looked around.

"Kagura specifically said that we were alone in the house," Miroku pointed out logically. "While she and Byakuya were horribly deceptive, and undoubtedly evil in their own right, they never actually lied to us."

"Oh good," Sango said, trying to make a light joke to ease some of the tension. "Then that means if the five of us survive this thing we can split a million dollars five ways."

"Fuck you," Hiten hissed from his spot still lying on the floor.

"Okay, then the four of us will split it four ways," Inuyasha said, not about to let that bastard push him around. While he'd never taken a life, and wouldn't start with Hiten, he wouldn't be sad if one of the ghost decided to finish him off, either.

"Hello?" came the child's voice again. "Is someone there? Please let me out! I'm scared!"

"It's probably a trick," Sango said.

"But it could be a real child," Kagome argued.

She wasn't stupid, and knew it was probably a trick, but even Sango had said probably which meant it was possible there was an actual child in trouble and there was simply no way she could live with herself if she ignored the possibility and didn't try to help.

"It sounds like it's coming from in here," she said as she opened a small wooden door off to the side. "Stairs..." she murmured in mild surprise as she saw the stairs that went down into the...wine cellar?

"Oh look, you found the torture chamber," Inuyasha said with a nod of his chin as he came up beside her, casting her an amused side glance. "Ladies first," he teased.

"Oh gee thanks."

With Sango and Miroku coming over to where they were, all four people kept an awareness of Hiten in their minds as they peered down the blackened staircase.

"Hello?" Kagome called out into the darkness. "Is somebody there?"

"Hello?!" replied the voice. "Help me, please! I'm trapped!"

"Oh bloody hell..." Inuyasha grumbled with a roll of his eyes before turning and grabbing the frying pan Kagome had used against Yura. "Well I'm sure as shit not going down there unarmed," he declared, earning nods of agreement from the other three as they each went and got their own skillet.

"I really appreciate this you guys," Kagome said to Sango and Miroku as they made it apparent they were coming with her as well.

"Safety in numbers, right?" Sango said, smiling.

"What do we do about him?" Miroku asked, gesturing to Hiten.

All they'd need would be for the bastard to trap them down there somehow. He'd probably find some way to set the house on fire, too, even sacrificing himself just to know he'd taken them out with him. Suddenly, though, before they could really begin to worry about it too much, Manten appeared, standing beside where Hiten was lying.

"Brother...?" Hiten asked, disbelief but also relief in his eyes. "Is that really you?"

"It's me, brother," Manten replied. He looked up at the others, but then whether in an act of mercy towards them, or simply having different priorities, the large ghost focused his attention back on his brother.

"Don't...don't ever leave me again," Hiten begged, either ignoring, or unaware of, the many dark shadows that were encroaching upon them.

"Never," Manten replied.

Reaching forward, Manten appeared to place his hand just slightly inside of Hiten's head, the majority of his hand still visible on the outside but his palm and fingertips seeming to seep in ever so slightly. For the briefest of moments, Hiten looked as if he'd never felt happier in his entire life, but then his smile shifted into an opened mouth of shock, his eyes widening, and then he screamed and pressed his hands to the sides of his head before suddenly falling dead, as if Manten's touch had ruptured an aneurysm or something. Manten disappeared after that, as did the shadows, and feeling unsure about how they should feel about what they'd just witnessed, the four remaining 'contestants' headed downstairs into what used to be the wine cellar.

"Hello?" Kagome called.

"Help me!" came the immediate reply.

Grateful for the light switch she found on the wall just inside the doorway, the future doctor swallowed the lump in her throat and headed down the stairs, iron skillet held protectively in front of herself like a shield. She was both relieved and worried now that Hiten had been killed by Manten. On the one hand, he had gone crazy and had been trying to kill them, or at least her, but now that he was surely going to come back as one of the ghosts, wasn't that the biggest issue they were presently facing? That all of the ghosts, including those of their fallen comrades, wanted to kill them? The one thing they had going for them, at least, was that if a Hiten ghost tried anything they should be able to disperse him with their frying pans.

"While I agree we should normally all stick together, I think in this particular instance it would actually be wise if I remain here," Miroku stated then, earning the others' attentions as they turned and saw the way he was standing on the second step of the staircase, the opened door behind him and his body physically preventing the door from being closed.

Sango nodded. "Heaven forbid we stupidly get ourselves trapped down here," she agreed. "Good thinking."

"I don't plan on going far, either," Kagome stated.

"You better not," Inuyasha stated seriously.

"Hello?" came the child's voice again.

"Can you tell us your name?" Kagome asked then.

"Hakudoshi," he replied. "Who are you? Are you coming to help me? I'm scared!"

As Kagome, Inuyasha and Sango descended the stairs, arriving in a dank and dreary cellar that had two metal tables in the middle of the room, one of them possessing several restraints, they each tried to ignore the really creeped out feeling that being in such a room and knowing it was real was giving them as they instead looked around for a possible child.

"There's nobody here," Sango stated, the cellar fortunately being relatively small and not possessing any twists or turns. "Nobody living, at least."

"So you'll only help living people?" a boy appearing around the age of ten with shoulder length platinum blond hair said as he suddenly appeared out of nowhere. His lips quirked up into a positively wicked smile. "How unfortunately selfish of you."

At the top of the stairs, shadow figures began swarming in the kitchen again, making Miroku a little nervous although he held his skillet at the ready as he quietly began saying a small prayer he hoped would help ward off evil spirits.

"I'm so, so sorry that your life was cut short," Kagome said to Hakudoshi then. "Were you one of the dead that Naraku used for his experiments?"

"Naraku," the child spat. "He chose me and my sister, made us what we are." He grinned again, the look so evil it was a wonder he didn't have fangs. "But mine was the flesh that destroyed him," he stated with pride.

Kagome gasped.

Naraku had chosen to use the flesh of children for his own skin grafts?! Kagome had figured that he had only used whatever fresh bodies his associate at the hospital had been able to smuggle his way, be they children or otherwise. It wasn't like he could've gone shopping for bodies, since the skin would've needed to be viable, so she knew they were talking calling the time of death, and having the body wheeled away, and then it wound up at Naraku's house instead of the morgue a very few short minutes later.

Something she hadn't previously thought of occurred to her in that moment, though. Onigumo House was in the middle of nowhere. So unless there used to be a small hospital pretty close by, he wouldn't have been able to get any bodies in time for them to have done him any good, considering what he'd wanted them for. That meant his servants, and whomever else he'd managed to lure into his chamber of horrors after all his servants were gone, hadn't stood a chance. But surely he would've realized this, being a brilliant surgeon in his own right, and would've known that when it came to himself, he had to use fresh skin grafts or else the procedure was fatal. Since the end result was him working on himself, Kagome wondered, now, just how many of Naraku's 'donor bodies' had gone missing while they were still alive. She shuddered at the thought.

Even so, surely the man had usually used the homeless, for fear of local authorities opening a missing person's case. So that he had chosen these children - she'd bet Hakudoshi's sister was the little girl she'd seen in that mirror - then that meant that he'd been escalating, getting braver, getting crueler, and perhaps more delusional. Did he think using the skin of children would give him back his youth? Had he gone from trying to make himself scar-free to even trying to make himself wrinkle-free?

But these were points to worry on later, she knew, while Hakudoshi stood before them, looking absolutely wicked.

"Well, then," she spoke back up, "it sounds like you already got your revenge, if it was after grafting your skin onto himself that Naraku got that infection that killed him."

"Yes," Sango chimed in. "Your enemy is Naraku. There is no reason for you, or the other spirits, to seek revenge against innocent living persons who never did you any harm."

Hakudoshi only continued to grin, and then suddenly, dozens of other people began appearing around them. Ghosts, but...they looked like dead bodies. Like zombies rather than ghosts. They were grotesque, some with large patches of missing flesh on their face or arms, others with swatches of flesh adhered to them with large black stitches that reminded Kagome of Leatherface.

"Would you like to see what I really look like?" Hakudoshi asked them then, in the same innocent, childlike voice one's ten-year-old son might use to ask if you'd like to see a drawing he made.

Our three friends huddled together, back to back to make sure no one could sneak up on them, while Sango called out to her husband.

"Miroku, are you all right?"

Hearing her easily, even able to see some of the ghosts from his position at the top of the stairs although he couldn't see his companions, Miroku turned back to look at the young blond girl standing before him, her expression blank, and replied, "I'll let you know in a minute."

She held up a small hand mirror, then, but not waiting to see what that was all about he took his frying pan and plunged it through her body, causing her to dissipate like smoke. "That's enough of that," he murmured.

Down in the cellar, the others had also started to dispatch any ghost who got too close, as they eased their way back towards the stairs. Kagome was both appeased and distraught at the same time with the knowledge that they were not really harming them with the iron skillets. Ghosts were energy, but consciousness lived on, clearly. She'd watched enough paranormal research shows in her youth to understand how stronger ghosts could do more and weaker ghosts were powerless. She'd bet all the ghosts they 'vanquished' were still right there with them, but merely without the energy to manifest or move objects. On the one hand, that was fine, because she didn't want to hurt them, and they were only acting in self-defense, but the part of her that truly felt sympathy for all these lost souls wished there was a way she knew how to end their suffering and release them to the afterlife.

"I think it would be best if we departed," Miroku called down to the others, more of the zombie-like ghosts in the kitchen and approaching his position.

Then suddenly, knives and other objects were being thrown his way, but fortunately the large skillet in his hand also acted like a shield against the physical projectiles. It was getting a bit heavy, and he was switching hands or holding it up with both whenever he could, but he'd played racquetball in high school and for that he was grateful as he put his hand-eye coordination to good use.

Hearing the others running up the stairs behind him, he felt relieved but didn't dare turn his attention away from the onslaught.

"Quickly!" Miroku stated as the others rushed past him, Sango, Inuyasha and Kagome all gaping in shock at the kitchen full of zombie-ghosts.

"Perhaps they hadbeen trapped in the cellar, and us opening the door has now released them to the rest of the house," Sango hypothesized, in no way blaming Kagome because she understood how the younger woman had just had to make sure there wasn't an actual, living child in trouble down there.

"That's not what I'm worried about," Miroku pointed out, the zombie-ghosts appearing rather harmless in comparison as he gestured to their latest adversaries.

"You!" Inuyasha declared as he saw the ghosts of Hiten and Manten flying suspended a few feet above the ground.

"Shocked to see me?" Hiten teased darkly, as he floated higher and stuck his left hand up and into the lighting fixture mounted to the ceiling. "You will be!"

With that said, Hiten pointed his right index finger at them and a bolt of electricity came out.

"Shit!" "Fuck!" Kagome and Inuyasha cursed respectively as they and the others all dived out of the way, all four of them dropping their frying pans for fear of them attracting the electricity.

Getting back up, Inuyasha quickly picked up his frying pan and threw it like a discus at Hiten, but the ghost of the mad man merely moved out of the way, the skillet crashing loudly into some small appliances where it landed on the back countertop.

Hiten laughed maniacally, while Manten rushed around and came after the four of them, and with them all remembering the very real danger that was Manten's ghostly touch they scrambled to flee the kitchen, Miroku taking a moment to feel grateful that the door wasn't stuck again like it had been for poor Manten when he'd died. In fact, it was Manten's body propping it open, but none of them paid the poor man more than a passing thought as they carefully jumped over him on their way out into the dining hall.

"Where are you going?" taunted Hakudoshi as they ran past the dining table, the boy lying stretched out on its surface, phantom straps over his body appearing to hold him in place. "Don't you want to play with us?"

Our four survivors didn't stop to contemplate the scene as they darted through the dining hall as quickly as they could, emerging in the living room. Sango headed straight for the doused fireplace and picked up the iron poker. As more ghosts appeared in the living room all around them, some dressed in much more modern clothing than others, some appearing to have had patches of skin either removed or applied while others were clearly their predecessors, 'guests' of previous Halloweens whose deaths had somehow never stirred up a giant scandal for the property, Sango released a loud battle cry and charged. She ran in a large circle around the room, running the poker through each and every ghost, not caring who they were. Miroku smirked.

"Now there's the warrior woman I married," he stated proudly.

As strange snake-like things also began appearing, Sango paused in surprise for only a moment before running the poker through those as well, relieved when they dissipated too.

"What are these things?" Kagome asked as more and more kept circling, Sango doing her best to keep their numbers at bay.

"Marvelous, aren't they?" a familiar female voice chimed in then.

They all turned and stared in surprise as Tsubaki stood before them with one of the snake things coiled around her as if it were her pet. She was dressed in her outfit from earlier, not the sleeping gown she'd died in, and while her hair was still white, the rest of her was youthful once again, the only blemish on her face being a bizarre crisscross-shaped scar pattern over her right eye.

"Human paranormal experts would call them demonics. They're spirits from the underworld who were never human. They're not truly snakes, but it is an appearance that suits them well since most humans subconsciously associate serpents with evil."

That explanation was not provided by Tsubaki, but by another female apparition that had suddenly appeared. She was still dressed in her white bathrobe tucked into her billowy red cotton pajama pants, but her hair was now tied back as it had been earlier in the day rather than the loose strands she'd worn during her death.

"Kikyou?" Kagome questioned in surprise.

"You!" Tsubaki challenged suddenly, sending her serpent towards Kikyou, who completely ignored it as the eerily glowing thing flew around her in circles. With a wave of her hand, the serpent flew off. She had no need to fear it since they only posed a threat to the living.

"Hello Tsubaki," she greeted somewhat casually.

"You..." Tsubaki seethed. "Naraku came after me when he couldn't kill you," she declared. "How dare you take the coward's way out?!"

Kikyou looked unimpressed.

"A true coward screams and begs for mercy instead of facing what must be done."

Ooooh, burn, Kagome thought, hoping this interaction meant that Kikyou was actually on their side, or at least wasn't one of the evil ghosts trying to kill them. She didn't have long to think about it, though, since Tsubaki and Kikyou weren't the only ghosts in the room.

"You little bitch," Yura said as she reappeared, slashing her left hand at Kagome.

"Ow!" Kagome declared more in surprise than pain as a thin line of blood appeared on her right cheek.

"I don't think so!" Sango said as she jabbed the poker into Yura's stomach before she could do anything worse than scratch.

"Are you okay?" Inuyasha asked Kagome then, as he tenderly cupped her left cheek with his right hand, using the pad of his left thumb to gently wipe the small amount of blood away.

"So it's true, then," Kikyou said, earning their attention once again. "That girl has replaced me in your heart."

"Kikyou, I did love you, once, but you turned against me and made my heart cold to you long before I met Kagome," Inuyasha answered, unafraid to admit it.

Surprisingly, Kikyou's somewhat cold countenance softened at his words, a bittersweet smile curving up her lips.

"I truly was a horrible person to you, wasn't I?"

Sango and Miroku both thought they understood as they observed this interaction. The ghost of Kikyou, she wasn't evil. All the bitchy things she'd said to Kagome and Inuyasha before had simply been her normal personality showing through. A bitch in life meant a bitch in death. But she was not one of Naraku's minions, hellbent on revenge against the living, and that was most definitely a good thing. One less enemy to worry about in a house full of who knew how many tormented souls.

"Kagome," Kikyou addressed then, gaining the future doctor's full attention. "Make him happier than I could."

Before Kagome could answer Tsubaki reminded them all of her presence.

"None of them deserve to be happy!" she declared loudly as another demonic serpent appeared at her side.

With a snap of her fingers, the serpent went sailing straight for Kagome, too quickly for Sango who was on the other end of the living room 'busting' ghosts to react. With no time and nowhere to go to escape, Kagome did the only thing she could think of, holding out both hands in front of herself and making a cross with her two index fingers. Fortunately, it worked, and the repelled serpent went sailing right back at Tsubaki before plunging into her right eye. She screamed just like before and then vanished.

"We've gotta get out of this house," Kagome said then, hand over her heart, which felt like it was beating a mile a minute.

There was no way any of them would survive until sunrise. They also didn't even know if the ghostly activity would end at sunrise, and they would definitely still be trapped in the house until Kagura and Byakuya decided to come back, assuming they even came back at all. They definitely couldn't rely on their captors for their rescue. They were on their own and needed to figure out a way out of that place.

"Don't think you can escape me so easily, bitch!" Hiten declared suddenly, as he pulled the same trick as back in the kitchen, sticking one hand into a lighting fixture, this time the chandelier over the entryway, before channeling the power and sending bolts of electricity towards Kagome.

Narrowing her eyes, Kikyou's apparition disappeared, not that anyone paid her more than a passing notice as Hiten continued firing makeshift lightning bolts at each of them.

Sango was quick to put down the poker, setting it on the couch so she'd know where it was before running back into the kitchen, where she also knew their skillets were waiting on the floor should she need to defend herself against any other spirits.

"Sango!" Miroku called after her as she ran, he and the others quick to pursue because they did not want to become separated.

"There's gotta be rubber gloves around here somewhere!" she declared as she opened the cabinet underneath the sink, but it was empty.

"Since no one actually lives here, they probably removed any such random household items long ago," Miroku explained. Pity, too, because that had been a good idea.

"Hey, you don't suppose there's a butane torch around here somewhere, do you?" Kagome asked the others as she began looking around as well.

Walking around the center island, she gasped in surprise as she came to a sudden halt when she saw Hakudoshi standing right in front of her.

"Don't you want to play with me?" he asked her, sounding like one of the children from Village of the Damned or something.

"No," she answered concisely before waving her frying pan through him, Kagome also having grabbed one of the pans that'd been lying on the floor.

"What do you want a torch for?" Inuyasha asked her, confused. "Do you think we can fight the ghosts with fire?" That sounded dangerous to him.

"No, but I think we might be able to melt our way out of here if we torched one of the acrylic windows," she explained.

That sounded even more dangerous to him.

"If we don't blow ourselves up in the process, but I'll help you look," he said.

"You can run but you can't hide!" Hiten declared before materializing, except this time Miroku was ready for him, knowing he'd be manifesting near the light.

"That should buy us at least a few minutes," he declared after Hiten disappeared.

"No! Brother!" Manten screamed, but Sango took care of the overweight ghost that had looked ready to body tackle her husband.

"I would say don't turn you're back, but it's impossible when the enemy is literally all around us," Sango said.

She and Miroku stood back to back, then, facing off against another large gathering of zombie-like ghosts that were trying, and failing, to approach them. Thank goodness for Kagome discovering the frying pan trick or they would've all died by now for sure.

Digging through every drawer, looking in every cabinet, there wasn't a cooking torch anywhere that she or Inuyasha could find.

"Damn," Kagome cursed. "Oh well, it was probably a stupid idea anyway, or too dangerous, like you said."

"A stupid or dangerous idea is better than no idea," Inuyasha conceded. "I agree that we've gotta think of some way to get out of this fucking death trap."

"And preferably not the method Kikyou used," Kagome added.

Suddenly, a pipe from underneath the sink broke, water gushing everywhere.

"What the-!"

Kagome gaped in horror as Hiten appeared in the doorway leading back out to the dining room, his body sparking with the power he was presently drawing from the dining room chandelier.

"Oh no, no no, this is bad," Sango said, instantly realizing Hiten's plan, as did everyone else, all four of them quickly climbing up on top of the center island, setting their skillets beside them without touching them.

They were sitting ducks, but then just as suddenly as the pipe had burst, the power also went out, plunging them all into total darkness.

"No!" they heard Hiten yell in anger before all grew quiet.

"As much as it sucks to be in the dark I'm glad we weren't electrocuted," Kagome said as she and the others got back down off the island, skillets in hand, their feet getting wet though they had more important things to worry about, like being able to see.

Her eyes had adjusted a little but there was practically no light to be had, only moonlight coming in through the window in the backdoor off to the side. It was the sound of something sliding on one of the countertops that reminded them all was not safe now that just the threat of Hiten's electrical trick had been eliminated.

"Run!" Kagome declared just as objects started flying through the air again.

Miroku was the last one out of the kitchen, a hatchet embedding itself in the frame of the doorway right next to his head as he exited.

"I'm glad whoever that was had bad aim," he murmured as they made their way back out into the living area again, Sango retrieving her log poker which she held in her right hand while she kept her skillet in her left, like a combination weapon and shield.

At least with all of the large picture windows in the front of the house they had more light to see by if they stayed in the great room. Kagome momentarily contemplated retrieving the battle ax from the hallway but wasn't sure if it'd be as effective against the ghosts since it was surely a modern reproduction made out of stainless steel, so she decided against it since it was also obviously very sharp and therefore dangerous to be swinging around in a panic in a poorly lit room.

"Now what do we do?" Kagome said, just to break the eerie silence. Sango had done a good job before of ridding them of the random zombie-ghosts so at the moment they at least appeared to be alone.

That didn't last long.

"Come with me if you want to live," Kikyou said as she rematerialized.

Inuyasha gave her a bland look. He just couldn't help it. "Really?" he drawled.

Although Kikyou turned her back on them then, the others got the distinct impression she was probably hiding a smirk, but as she started heading down the black and spooky hallway they each reluctantly fell into step behind her.

"So what's the plan?" Inuyasha asked, but Kikyou remained silent.

She better not be leading us to our deaths... Sango worried, although she still had her poker and they all still had their frying pans.

If only one of them had a flashlight.

If Kagome had thought about it earlier, she would've retrieved Tsubaki's iPhone after the woman's death. It would've sure came in handy in that moment, but she was not about to go break away from the others to run upstairs all alone, probably never to be seen or heard from again.

As they headed further down the hallway, past the bedroom possessing Yura's body, the creepy feeling Kagome had felt before when down this far came back with a vengeance.

"Is it just me, or is this hallway way creepier than it was earlier?" Sango asked her husband quietly, since she and Miroku had explored the house when it'd still been daylight out.

"Most definitely," he agreed. "I'm anxious to find out what Kikyou is planning."

A part of him wanted to say plotting but he would suspend his judgment, and use of his iron skillet, until if and when she actively betrayed them.

Leading them all into the last door on the left, Kikyou raised her arms and two more of those eerily glowing demonics appeared, although they made no hostile move towards the humans, wrapping themselves around Kikyou the same way Tsubaki had worn one earlier. In fact, their glow helped to illuminate the room they were standing in, which was the makeshift infirmary that Yura had wanted Kikyou to join her in attempting a séance in before she'd died.

"Oh man, I'm not sure I want to be in here," Kagome said when she spotted all the surgical tools sitting on the back table. She could just envision all those archaic saws and blades going flying once the other ghosts regained their strength.

"If you've got something to tell us, Kikyou, say it," Inuyasha insisted then, turning to face his ex-girlfriend's spirit, his back to the curtains that covered yet another Plexiglas window. "You've never been one for subtly so don't start being all vague and cryptic now just 'cause you're a ghost. That cliché doesn't suit you."

Smirking wickedly, Kikyou raised her arms as if she were aiming an invisible bow and arrow, one of the smaller scalpels lifting up out of its kit to levitate about where the arrowhead would be, and then she fired. The entire move took only a few brief seconds and nobody had time to react, save for Inuyasha raising his hands in front of himself in self-defense, the skillet he thankfully still held protecting his face, and then the next thing Inuyasha knew, the voluminous sleeve of his nightshirt was pinned to the curtain behind him, the scalpel having gone through his shirt and into the curtain.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome cried as this happened, sighing in relief when she realized he was unharmed.

"Just what in all the hells..." Inuyasha grumbled bitterly as he sat his skillet down before reaching over and pulling the small blade free, scraping the window on the other side of the curtain for a moment as he wrapped his fingers around the handle. "Of course!" he declared then, turning back to thank Kikyou but she was gone, as were the serpents and the light they had provided but that was nothing flinging the curtain open didn't fix, letting the moonlight poor in.

"Inuyasha?" Kagome questioned then.

"You had a good idea before, Kagome," he told her, "when you thought about melting our way through the Plexiglas. We can't melt our way through, but we can cut our way through."

Understanding dawned in her eyes, and the future doctor quickly looked over the circa 1900 surgical tool kits that were sitting out on the table as if display pieces in a museum. She wasn't sure if they were actually Naraku's or if they'd been acquired for staging the house for 'tourists', but she supposed it didn't really matter since any used tools of this era would have seen their share of horrors compared to modern times, regardless. In that moment, however, she didn't even care of the items themselves were haunted, as she found a hand drill with what looked like a bone boring bit and decided to give it a try.

Setting her frying pan down on the table, she took the drill and placed it against the window, holding it there as hard as she could as she started turning it.

"Here, let me," Inuyasha offered, handing her his frying pan as he took over the drilling, and Kagome didn't mind because he was physically stronger than her.

It was a slow going process, but Kagome, Sango and Miroku all stood guard as he worked, ready to defend their new home base with their iron skillets if necessary. It didn't take long before the various ghosts that Sango had dispatched earlier started winking back into existence, but the three of them were able to fend them off and allow Inuyasha time to work uninterrupted. It was exhausting, constantly swinging heavy cast iron frying pans around, but adrenaline kept them going when failure was not an option. One or more of the ghosts even tried levitating the other medical tools as Kagome had feared, the ghosts probably figuring they were safe so long as they didn't show themselves, but our warriors were quick to react and waving their frying pans around the levitating tools thankfully nullified the spiritual energy that had been manipulating them. Kagome then quickly picked out the two best bone saws, one much larger than the other, and held them in her previously empty hand so they couldn't go flying while Miroku tossed everything else out into the hallway, including the table lamp since it did them no good with the power off anyway, before closing the door. The sound of everything suddenly and continually crashing against the closed door, as if caught up in some kind of a tornado, was a little disconcerting but they didn't let it distract them.

"How's it coming?" Kagome asked loudly over the noise.

"It's coming," Inuyasha answered.

With his arms growing tired after a while Inuyasha switched places with Miroku, who could see what the white-haired man was up to without even needing to be told. Inuyasha had already drilled two small holes all the way through the Plexiglas, which was over an inch thick, and the holes were practically one right on top of the other. Drilling between them would chip away the dividing barrier and make one larger, linear opening, which was what Miroku worked on in that moment. It was a little harder, the drill wanting to slip, but he'd get it in the sweet spot again and crank the handle as fast as he could before it'd slip again. Finally, they had a vertical line long enough for the smaller of the two bone saws to slip inside, and he sawed only long enough until they had a vertical slit big enough for the larger saw. Inuyasha took back over then and continued to saw down toward the window frame.

Kagome would've helped him, would've taken the drill to start on the next spot while he sawed, but it literally took three of them to protect the fourth, to keep all of the ghosts and demonic serpents at bay while one person worked on the window at any given moment. It was loud as hell, with all of the various medical instruments continually crashing against the other side of the door, and now the four hospital beds and the table were all shaking, but instead of feeling any rise of hopelessness as things got progressively more frightening they chose to channel their fear into the struggle of getting the hell out of there.

"I don't think they're too happy with us right now!" Sango called out over the ruckus as she plunged the tip of her poker right between Yura's eyes.

"I know they're not!" Miroku replied, getting his wife's attention as one of the smaller saws they'd discarded suddenly slid underneath the door and floated up into the air.

Before either of them could react Kagome whacked it with the back of her frying pan, which successfully broke the ghost's control as it went flying to crash against the wall. Miroku then quickly scooped it up before yanking the bedding off of one of the bouncing hospital beds, shoving the saw back under the door before then also stuffing the sheets under the door as one might do in a last ditch effort to keep out smoke during a house fire.

Thank God we put out the fireplace! Sango thought at the reminder.

Although she wouldn't mind burning the place to the ground once they were safely outside of it.

"Fuck, this is hard," Inuyasha grumbled, but exhaling loudly, he summoned another burst of energy and kept right on sawing, his arms killing him, but at least thankfully not literally.

"Here, let me take over for a while," Kagome said then. "I work fast food and go to medical school so I definitely have a high tolerance for pain," she joked.

Chuckling, Inuyasha traded places with her, watching her back as he stood protectively behind. It was hard to lift his skillet anymore, but yet every time some wispy specter got too close to Kagome he managed to lift it just fine. He knew his arms would really be hurting tomorrow, but so long as he lived to see tomorrow then he didn't care if he developed Tennis Elbow or even dislocated something.

"It's hopeless," Kagewaki's voice spoke up all of a sudden, giving our four friends pause for only a moment before Kagome redoubled her efforts.

"Shut up, Kagewaki," Sango snapped. "Nothing is hopeless."

"That's not Kagewaki," came Kikyou's voice, then. "Naraku has stolen his likeness. Kagewaki's awareness is suppressed, as are many of his other victims."

That explained the zombie-like ghosts, everyone realized, if they really were practically brainless zombies, in a way, their drive for revenge the only part of them left.

"Oh so now you can explain things again," Inuyasha grumbled, earning a quiet snicker from Kagome although she tried to admonish him.

"Be nice," she said, grinning a little as she glanced over her shoulder at him before quickly getting back to work.

Snorting, Inuyasha didn't comment although he supposed Kagome was right. Kikyou had helped them, after all.

"Thank you for helping us, Kikyou, truly," he stated then, and he really meant it.

"All earthbound spirits seek revenge," Kikyou said as she slowly materialized in the corner, as if knowing she needed to give them ample warning it was her so that they wouldn't accidentally attack. "But I will seek my revenge against Naraku," she added as she became fully visible.

"How are you going to do that?" Sango asked, genuinely curious.

Kikyou only looked at her, unblinkingly, as though the answer were obvious.

"By helping us to escape, it would seem," Miroku chimed in then.

Inuyasha snorted again.

Figures she's not just saving us out of the goodness of her heart. What goodness?

But honestly, just so long as she was trying to help them escape, as opposed to trying to kill him, that was truly all that mattered.

"I hope you are able to find your peace," Inuyasha told her then, and he meant that as well.

She looked his way, her expression blank at first, but then she smiled a little. A soft, genuine smile, unlike any of her sarcastic sneers.

"Live, Inuyasha," she told him then. "You deserve to live and be happy." She shifted her eyes to look at Kagome, who paused again in her sawing for just a moment. "All of you do," Kikyou acknowledged. "Knowing that I have prevented Naraku from caging your souls will bring me the peace I need."

"You will all die slowly and writhing in agony," Naraku said then, but they ignored him. Even he would be susceptible to the iron if he materialized so he remained a disembodied voice in order to taunt them.

"It's over, Naraku, you can't scare us anymore," Kagome said, getting back to her task.

Suddenly, though, she stopped sawing again, her free hand going to her throat, but instantly realizing what was happening Inuyasha waved his frying pan all around her and she immediately started taking in big gulping breaths, turning to look his way with gratitude.

"Thanks for saving me," she said. He nodded, the look in his eyes promising her he always would.

"Watch yourselves guys," Inuyasha told the others then, since it was still noisy and they'd missed seeing what'd happened to Kagome as they continued fighting off other spirits. "Let's not forget that they can touch without being visible. That was how Kagewaki died. But they still have to take some kind of form in order to touch, even an invisible one, so the iron still works, just like when they were moving the tools," he explained.

"Got it," Sango acknowledged.

"It's only a matter of time before you tire and one of you makes a mistake," Naraku said then, since he had not personally been the one who'd just attempted choking Kagome.

"It's only a matter of time before we break outta here," Kagome countered, pulling the saw from the Plexiglas and grabbing the drill. It was time to go sideways.

Inuyasha let Kagome get the drill started, which she touched just to the right of his original point, which was about halfway up the large window and only about an inch to the right of the left side of the framework. They were going to have to carve themselves an opening large enough to escape through, but they were already one third of the way finished. Like Kagome had said, it was only a matter of time. Aside from all the noise of various objects crashing into the other side of the door, and the vibrating furniture, there really didn't appear to be much the ghosts could do to them, all thanks to Kagome's quick thinking regarding the frying pans, of course, or they would've been dead long ago. Inuyasha also thought that maybe the reason no invisible ghost had tried to harm any of them directly until finally that one ghost tried to choke Kagome was because while holding the frying pans, their entire bodies worked as good conductors, since the human body was also a pretty good conductor of electricity. If one of them stuck their finger in a socket while holding a cast iron pan in the other hand, that would probably not be a very wise thing to do.

At least in a house with working electricity.

If the power hadn't gone out right when it did they would've all been turned into crispy critters.

"Did you kill the power?" he asked Kikyou then.

She didn't answer, and perhaps she was actually conserving energy the times she grew silent, but her relatively peaceful smile morphed into a wicked smirk at his question and he knew he had his answer.

"Thank you."

Kikyou nodded before disappearing.

That was fine with him because honestly, he didn't want the distraction while Kagome was still drilling away. If his own hypothesis about the iron was right then the only person in danger of a physical touch from an invisible ghost was Kagome, or whichever one of them was working on the window at any given time.

Turning the drill as fast as she could, as if her life depended on it because it did, Kagome refused to acknowledge her burning muscles and cried out in triumph when suddenly, she punched through.

"Good job," Inuyasha acknowledged. "Now it's my turn again."

"No, now it's my turn," Sango stated, coming up to the window. "We all share the responsibility, but more importantly I haven't tired out those particular muscles yet."

"I was gonna argue that you did more than your fare share since you took care of most of the ghosts before, but you're right about the muscles," Inuyasha acknowledged, rubbing his sore right arm with his left hand.

Coming up with a neat idea to ground herself after Inuyasha warned her about the vulnerability of not touching iron, Sango gave her poker to Kagome but placed her frying pan on the ground and stood with one foot within it.

"Good thinking," Kagome praised, as she told Inuyasha Sango was probably fine and just in case, she'd stay to protect her, instructing him to join Miroku in making sure the rest of the room stayed specter-free.

While he was reluctant to leave her side Inuyasha knew that Kagome was right, so he let her take care of guarding the back third of the room, containing Sango, while he moved himself into the central area, by the middle two of the four hospital beds, and Miroku maintained his position closest to the door.

Sango was right in that the particular muscles used for drilling were different and therefore the action actually felt like a relief to her poor arms that had just about had enough of waving a heavy frying pan around. She was able to punch her own hole through next to Kagome's hole in a reasonable length of time, and then she immediately got to work making the much more difficult middle hole, to knock out that dividing barrier between the first two. A few slips of the drill and some mild cursing later and she finally got it, creating their next short line, this one horizontal, that the smaller of their two saws fit into. She then got to work sawing in a horizontal line towards the right, switching to the larger blade as soon as it would fit.

The entire experience tried their endurance, especially since Naraku wouldn't shut up about how horribly they were all going to die, but at that point it really looked like there was nothing the ghosts could do to them, without electricity at least, and whatever Kikyou had done to the breaker box must have been permanent otherwise surely Hiten and Manten would've found a way to turn the power back on by then. The closer they got to freedom, the more desperate they could tell Naraku was getting, but they didn't let themselves start to feel confident. Optimistic, sure, but not confident, because they knew that that would surely be their downfall. They weren't safe until they were out of the freakin' house.

And I bet neither Inuyasha nor Miroku have their keys on them, which means I get to walk down the mountain in the middle of the night, after all, and barefoot to boot, Kagome thought, not that that thought truly bothered her. Escaping was completely different than being kicked out of a contest, and at least she wouldn't be walking down the mountain alone.

She also had no idea why the current owners of Onigumo House had never gotten in trouble until now, unless there had never been any survivors until now, although one would think the police could've still made the connection to past disappearances all having stayed in that house together, but whatever the reason, even if something supernatural was at work to make the family members that knew of Onigumo House forget its existence and have no idea what'd become of their missing loved ones, she was not going to forget and she was most definitely going to go to the police. Tomorrow. Why bring cops in tonight and risk their lives? She knew better than to state that particular threat out loud, though, and give Naraku any ideas. Perhaps in his single-minded desire for their deaths he'd forgotten about what real world consequences would arise from their escape, aside from him merely losing out on their souls. There was no sense in giving him yet another reason to want to prevent their departure.

"You will all die slowly and in horrible agony," Naraku continued to ramble on. "You will be crushed by my might, suffocated by my will until you beg for mercy, and that is when the true torture will begin."

Someone's getting desperate, Inuyasha thought.

Doing her best to ignore their captor's ranting, Sango worked the saw for as long as she could, switching arms as needed before switching to using both arms at the same time. She worked until her muscles burned, then changed places with her husband. Kagome also gave her back the poker since using it for the time Sango had worked the window had given her own arms enough of a rest to hold a frying pan again.

"Come on, Miroku, we got this," Inuyasha said encouragingly.

"Yes, become hopeful. That way it will be all the sweeter when you fail and succumb to my power."

"Shut up Naraku, you bastard," Inuyasha snapped then, the specter's taunts not succeeding in filling him with dread although they were succeeding in pissing him off. "I'll never forgive you for what you did to Kikyou."

It had been Naraku who'd forced Kikyou to kill herself, after all, so as far as Inuyasha was concerned, Naraku had killed her, although he was tremendously grateful that Kikyou had actually outsmarted the former surgeon and robbed him of her soul. But she had not deserved to die. None of them had.

"None of my victims forgive me," Naraku stated matter-of-factly, clearly unconcerned about Inuyasha's declaration. "They still do my bidding nonetheless."

To know that Narkau's victims were still his victims, even in death...it was no wonder they wanted to take their frustrations out on whomever they could. Which in turn created even more victims and so on and so forth. But the cycle would end with them, here, tonight.

"We're almost there!" Miroku declared loudly over all the noise as he completed the horizontal cut, stopping at a point that would give them enough room to escape through. There was no time to waste with going all of the way to the right side of the window frame once they could make an opening wide enough for their purpose.

"I'll take back over," Inuyasha volunteered as he began drilling the next hole. Pretending the Plexiglas was Naraku's head and that he was causing him pain made him feel much better.

Naraku continued to taunt them as he worked, and they continued to ignore him aside from the occasional rebuttal to let him know he still wasn't getting their spirits down. Kagome even told him that the more he went on about how escape was impossible, the more determined they became to escape. That shut him up at least a little bit, but it also appeared to make the other ghosts even more desperate, as loud crashing sounds began coming from the wall to the adjacent room, as if they were trying to break in.

Perhaps if they'd started an hour ago then it might've actually been a stressful race against the clock, but they had such a good head start over them now that even as sounds of sawing began echoing through the wall our four companions weren't too worried. Once again, it only succeeded in giving them another rush of adrenaline, because they knew that if they gave in to their fatigue and slowed down even a little then the ghosts just might actually get through before they got out and they did not want to deal with dodging flying blades while still trying to make their escape.

Bound and determined for all their efforts to not be for naught, Miroku really put his back into it, muscle power being their best advantage over the ghosts who were only moving their blades with the power of the mind. Miroku didn't care how much collective energy All Hallow's Eve was granting them. Unless you were freakin' Yoda then human muscle was the stronger force. They couldn't be too strong, after all, or else the beds and table would be doing more than just bouncing around a little.

Not that he was complaining. Miroku was definitely glad that the ghosts couldn't throw the table at him while he worked.

Finally coming all the way down on the right side, the sounds of cutting through the wall to the side of them steadily getting louder, Miroku was just about to start drilling again when Inuyasha said he had a better idea.

Dragging the closest bed over to the window, Inuyasha got up on top of it, waiting a moment to see if he'd get bucked off but it had completely stopped moving as he got on, again supporting the theory that the ghosts weren't invincibly strong. Leaning against the window, then, his position up on the bed giving him much better leverage, he pushed and pushed, testing its strength. The section they'd cut was still connected along the bottom but it was bending easily under his weight.

"Be careful," Kagome warned worriedly. The last thing she wanted was for him to somehow accidentally hurt himself and become the house's last victim.

"I don't want to hurt myself," he assured her, locking eyes with her tenderly, "but by the sound of things we don't have another twenty minutes to spare."

Agreeing with his assessment of the situation, Miroku got up onto the bed beside him, pushing as well. It definitely looked like the two of them together would have enough force to break it.

"On the count of three?" Miroku asked, earning a nod of agreement.

"One, two, three!"

Both men shoved down as hard as they could, really putting their full body weight into it, and they succeeded. The Plexiglas bent until it gave way with a loud snap and both men found themselves dumped outside, getting a little scratched and bruised as they landed in the foliage but none the worse for wear all things considered. Sango and Kagome didn't hesitate to follow, and as both girls carefully climbed out, their men offering them helping hands, a truly demonic roar that shook the entire house sent them reeling. All four survivors fell back into the bushes, a double-whammy for the men, but nobody cared as they got to their feet as quickly as possible and ran like the Hounds of Hell were on their heels. At one point during the sawing it had already occurred to both Inuyasha and Miroku that they did not have their car keys, but Inuyasha still wanted his phone so he headed over to where his car was parked and picked up the first rock he could find and smashed his window, careful not to cut himself on any of the broken glass because that was all he needed. Getting his cell out of his glove compartment he quickly caught back up with the others, who'd slowed down for his sake, and as they continued to run down the road nobody cared that their bare feet were scraped up and bleeding. They had made it. They were alive.

Something shiny caught their attention after a moment, and they paused and turned only to stare with wide eyes as white balls of light floated up to them, circling around them a few times before drifting upwards to Heaven.

"Kikyou..." Inuyasha murmured, feeling a genuinely happy emotion regarding his girlfriend for the first time in he didn't even know how long. She truly was free and not a prisoner of the house. For that, he was grateful.

"Let's get the hell out of here," he said then. "As soon as I have bars I can summon us an Uber."

"Sounds good to me," Kagome agreed.

"And this might be a little awkward..." Inuyasha spoke back up after a moment, earning Kagome's full attention while Sango and Miroku smirked knowing. "But do you think you and me could maybe, exchange phone numbers?" he asked her.

Kagome only grinned.

"Sounds good to me."

~ Fin ~

Closing note:

Just wanted to let everyone know that I have since published an "original" version of this story as a novel on Amazon! I've made a few minor changes though it's basically still the same story. If anyone is interested in checking it out, I renamed it Blutinstein Manor, and you can find it by book title, or by author name, which is Rhiannon Archer.

Also, while it's only $2.99, I will gladly give any of my loyal fans who are interested a free copy in exchange for a review on Amazon! Email me at SplendentGoddess (a) aol . com (with a proper 'at' sign and spaces removed, obviously).