The day that Miu Higurashi found out that she was pregnant with her first child was the day that the world fell into darkness. She was young, married to the man of her dreams. The man, who she had met in high school, was a biochemist by the name of Takisho Higurashi. He was currently working on a huge project at the local university. This was a secretive, government funded project that he could not even mention to his wife. For the past two years, he had spent most of his days in a lab that's location was kept secret, even to him.

Today was a good day. She had felt sick, nauseous the past week and her close friends had pushed her to get a pregnancy test. She almost collapsed once she read the result meanings on the back of the box and compared them to the small stick in her hand. She felt a rush of emotion. Her friend's voice over the phone telling her how wonderful it was made her snap back into reality and made the news all that much more real. Excitement started to creep into her body. She was going to be a mother.

At first, she wondered how to tell her husband. Should she tell him now, or tell him later and surprise him on a cute way when work wasn't on his mind. Then that got her thinking about his work and how recently, he seemed more distant and busy. She didn't try to make a big deal of it, because she knew this was the life she would have when she married him, but he was never this… grey. His eyes held no spark anymore and his whole demeanor was fading away.

She just prayed this current project would end soon and he could go back to regular lab work at the college where he would come home and be happy. So, she decided that she would wait and surprise him when he wasn't so busy.

Miu Higurashi was a normal woman with normal dreams. She saw only good in people, though she did get angry sometimes. Her family had died a long time ago, and the only family she had was her husband and his father. Her father-in-law ran a local shrine, to which he ran with pride. The first time she had met him, he rambled on about a story of an ancient jewel… and something about a girl and boy who died… she didn't remember word for word. She just knew that someone else saved the boy, somehow, and that part made her glad. She didn't believe the stories, but this was the only she knew that had a happy ending.

She would go visit the shrine today, and pray for the health of her child. The walk was not a long one and she would be back before her husband. She put on her coat and headed out the door. The three block walk went by fast, maybe she was still on the high of being a mother. The long stairs that lead to the top of the hill that held the shrine were very, very long. She was out of breath by the time she made it to the top. That made her think it had been to long since her last visit…

"Hello!" Her father-in-law's voice rang from inside he house, and his rather disappointed look to see it was not a customer spoke volumes of the business here in these times. Ever since the new government had been in control, things had changed drastically in the world. Religion was something that was an old thought; mostly older people were the people of faith. Young children had never been taught about the past: the wars, the government, laws, tragedies, elections, religion. The government kept a close eye on the school system now. Any teacher that violated a strict lesson policy was fired immediately and was forced to leave the area with a permanent black mark on their record. It did not make any sense to her.

"Sorry, just me." She laughed. She missed the old man at times. He always made her laugh even when he was serious.

"Yes, where is Takisho?"

"Working… as usual."

"Ahh… I see."

The old man looked away and then back at her.

"What brings you here?"

"I came to pray actually."

"Well, it's nice to see that some of you younger folk still have some faith in something."

"Yeah, I think now is the time that I need some help from above."

"You know where to go, I will leave you too it I guess."

"Thank you."

Later, on her way home, Miu started thinking about her and her child's future. She was worried with how things were happening in the world. It seemed things were always going on right under the civilians noses but nothing was ever explained. Secrets plagued society now, and everything was falling into a more chaotic way of life. Crime rates doubled in the past year alone. And those rates had almost grown ten times the rate of that when she was a child. Her own husband was caught up in it now as it seemed.

She did not expect the lights to be on in her house, and she grew afraid when she saw that the door was swing open. She noticed that her husband's car was in the driveway, so she thought he might have been in a hurry. She was not wrong, for when she went into the living room he was rushing around in a panic. His ice blue eyes were unfocused as he mumbles words that she did not understand under his breath.

"Takisho?" She was for the first time afraid of him. Something was wrong. Her knew it had to be something that he was working on. When she noticed all their cloths were piled half heartedly into suitcases by the door, her throat went dry. They had talked about this a long time ago.

If something bad happened, and there was nothing that could be done, they had to leave. Pack their bags and leave Japan in case of an emergency. The project must have gone horribly wrong.

"Honey?" She tried again.

"We knew we were working with something that could cause mass chaos, but we never dreamed it could do this…"

"What? What did you work with?"

He looked at her and it sent shivers down her spine. She never would forget his face when he said that she would not have to worry, she had It.

It was not to be explained for years after she first heard her then husband utter the word. She only knew that there was danger, but she had no idea what to do.

"Where do we go?"

"Away…." He looked ashen and she knew that even if they did run away as far as the Americas, whatever was going to happen would happen there, too.

"What is it?"

He stopped and looked at her and for the first time focused. He walked over and pulled her against him and smelled of her hair. It was the last time they got to hold each other. The next few hours were a blur. By the next morning, news castors all over the world prophesized the apocalypse.

The government had hired her husband and other scientist to manipulate virus cells that were once harmless. They spliced DNA and recombined it all to form new genomes. The results were a mutant virus that they then used to infect certain people. These people became… different. The first rounds caused death. Those made the government push more. The second rounds of experiments lasted a few days, but eventually the host would die. Then, out of a pure accident, the wrong things were added at the wrong time due to a typo, and the resulting virus' to bind to brain receptors and took over protein production in cells. Humans became stupider, while they grew larger and faster. Some even developed secondary characteristics of the animals that the viruses were taken from. Many died from the transformation. Others were able to survive on a level that equaled that of animals. A small few rose above the human race. These beings were created about six months ago, and they had started to break free.

The genes taken from animals with more functional brains that were sliced with virus DNA created the most dangerous mutant. They could think, react, and outsmart on a higher and faster level than people. Those with dog, cat, and horse genes were the leaders. They knew how to control the rest of the horde that eventually became known as the Demons. They had only one supreme leader. His name was Naraku, and he was the one who created tainted specimens.

Miu Higurashi didn't know what her husband had meant by It until the infected started spreading their DNA by any means. They bit, scratched, and bled to pass their DNA. Others grew infected and panic spurred so much violence, humans were attacking humans in fear that they were infected. For a year, no one knew what would stop it. Then, a man was bitten and did not change.

This was when It was discovered. It was a particular sequence, another mutation, in human DNA that did made some people resistant to the virus DNA. This gave humans hope. The only downfall was that the gene was recessive, and only a small number of people carried it. This caused a massive push in the human defense department to carry out a massive gene testing of every human that was not infected. Only 30% of those still human had the gene, and 50% had heterozygous recessive genes. This meant hope and a future. This could give the humans an upper hand.

Miu was relieved when she found that she was one of the 30% homozygous recessive, and she was elated when her daughter was shown to have the recessive trait, too. She only wished her husband had been one of the lucky few, while he carried the trait, he did not have any protection. He died shortly after the release. They actually came for him. The Demons knew what he was; they knew he helped create them. He died saving his wife's life. At least he died knowing that his daughter was immune.

For the next few years, humans became secondary. They only came out from hiding if it was absolutely the last resort, and if they heard of survivors. They always had radios on, set at different frequencies, just in case. After the first year, there were over two hundred survivors. The next three years, that number was cut down to one hundred and fifty. The numbers always dropped.

The humans began to loose hope, until a group of human survivors found them buried deep under the city. They had been trained in fighting long before the Demons were released, and had learned how to fight them by physical means. They were called the Exterminators. They were a small group made up mostly of men and a few women who had small children. They were tested, and the ones who were positive were marked as had the other immune people had been.

The people who were immune to the virus were tattooed with a three lines on their arm. People who carried the genes, but did not have the immunity were given two marks. The people with no immunity and no recessive genes were not tattooed; they were not ever expected to last long.

Humans had to reestablish their place in the world. They had to come up with new ways of survival and bide their time. The young began to train to be Demon Exterminators.

The Three Bars were considered the most prized fighters, for they could fight without the worry of becoming infected. Only a few brave Two Bar's accepted the possibility. Others began to start a breeding program. They did not force pairings, but kept close eyes on who created children. Those that had no bars were considered unworthy of breeding. Three Bar's were the most common pairing. They produced more children that had no fear of the virus and the Two Bar's sometimes produced a Three Bar.

Once Miu gave birth, she watched as the doctor cut her baby' cord and then as a man came and tattooed three black lines into the newborn's skin. The baby screamed and screamed. Her blue eyes opened and tears rained. She was special and perfect in her mother's eyes. Miu wondered to herself if this girl would make a difference.

Seventeen years later, a long figure ran across broken landscapes that once held magnificent structures. The figure was tall and slim, and carried a weapon on her back. It was a gun, a specialty that made this day worthwhile. It was a prototype and she was the first to get to use it. The tallest structure in the area was what was left of a large apartment complex, only five stories remained.

The girl stealthfully scoped out her area while silently setting up her gun. The wait would not be long, for in the distance, the tail-tale sign of dust meant something was coming this way. She found the dust storm in her sights and noted that there was only one Demon in the pack.

She waited for three hours to get into good range. The demon was what looked like some kind of cow Demon, due to its twin horns on its head. It staggered around for a minute as if looking for something. She thought that was strange. Usually, cow Demons were not very bright and did not like to do much. It was amazing to look at the creature moving below her, and the eerie feeling that she was looking at a person settled in. She had been trained to be desensitized around these things, but a small part of her knew it was not their fault…

The blue eyes behind the scope focused and adjusted to make the right shot. It seemed like forever that the bull Demon turned just the right way.

The girl took a deep breath and started to let it out and braced herself for the kick when at the last second all she saw was a flash of white.

"What?!"

The girl looked up from the scope and down at where her target once was. Now there was only a shredded carcass. This was not good. She had never seen another Demon attack its own kind. The bull didn't even look like it put up a fight. Its throat was slashed and its deep red blood slowly pooled under it. It would not be long until the Demon's with keener noses would smell the blood and know something, a human, was about. That was dangerous for her, since she was about a mile away from the Haven and she was alone with three more bullets.

She rummaged through the small yellow pack on her back and searched for her signaling locator. She needed the rest to know where she was, in case she was taken hostage. In the back of her mind she knew that was futile, it was too dangerous to save one person and risk losing twenty more. She hit the button anyways and prayed Sango noticed first. She would bring Miroku…

That is when the presence behind her sent shivers up her spine. She quickly turned and aimed the gun, but she was not fast enough. A force stronger than she ever though possible slammed her against a wall behind her. The gun fell and fired off the shot creating a deafening roar. That would only attract more Demons. A very strong hand with very pointed claws digging into her neck held her firm. She felt around with her foot, searching for her gun.

For the first time in a very long time, Kagome Higurashi, daughter of the late Takisho Higurashi and Demon Exterminator that they called Miko, felt truly afraid as she stared into the golden eyes of a Dog and the sadistic grin eating up his face.

New Story! I do not own the Characters, but I do own the plot…

If you like where it's going, tell me about it!