Author's Note:
Thank you all for waiting for Part 2 of the series. This story is a continuation of Blackmail & Protection.
A few notes about the previous story.
-The total time Inuyasha worked for Naraku was a little less than 2 months. There are some time skips. I kept the most relevant interactions in the story.
-There is 3 week time skip between Chapter 8 and Chapter 9. I know that wasn't very clear. Inuyasha waited a while after the incident to confess to Sesshomaru. There wasn't anything of note during those three weeks. I can write a post-story upon request for those who want to know.
***In this story I will make the time skips more clear to avoid confusion.***
Please enjoy.
Chapter 1: A New "Home"
He had been sleeping at home when a sound from the front door woke him. He knew it was an intruder when he didn't recognize the smell. He heard a group of 6 or 7 people running up the stairs. They were demons. He got up and went to the closet. He couldn't run, but he could at least get the jump on them. He threw on a shirt and shorts.
The door burst open with a "THUD!". Three of the men filed in.
"Where is he?" a deep voice asked. He went to the bathroom.
"They said he would be in here," another called looking under the bed.
Another walked toward the closet. Inuyasha jumped out as the man reached for the knob. Inuyasha jumped onto the man and sunk his teeth into his neck. A loud scream filled the room followed by gurgling noises as he ripped out the man's flesh. His companions turned around as the man fell to the ground. Inuyasha growled and his eyes turned red. How dare they invade their den!
"Oh shit-" another began as Inuyasha leaped at him. He slashed at his face with his claws. As he fell in agony, Inuyasha darted from the room. He had to get away.
There were two more downstairs. He hopped the railing and landed on one of them. The man hit the ground hard. Inuyasha took the opportunity to dart out the open door. He was shoeless. Koga lived about 10 minutes away...by car. If he could take care of the last 3 or 4 and somehow make it to Koga, he could hide out until Sesshomaru came back.
It started raining. He could hear the footsteps of the men behind him. Luckily it was dark. He darted around a corner into an alley. He crouched. The fastest of the men came around the corner and Inuyasha jumped up and slashed his face. The man fell to the ground. Poor bastard.
Inuyasha ran and smirked. 3 left. He wasn't looking and bumped into a wall. When he looked up, he realized it was a huge demon. He wasn't one of the ones in the house. The demon slapped Inuyasha into the nearest wall. His ears rung but Inuyasha hopped back. He tried to run back the way he came, but there was many more men than before. They had him trapped.
As they closed in on him. He jumped up to a fire escape. He climbed his way up as he heard angered shouting coming from below. He climbed to the roof. The rain was heavy. He couldn't smell or hear. His heart beat faster. He jumped from rooftop to rooftop. He only had to make it to Koga's house. If anything, Koga could help him fight. He had to make it.
He jumped. He felt a sharp pain in his shoulder. It was a claw. He cried out and slashed upward. He heard a cry before he felt himself falling. He bounced off a fire escape rail and landed on a dumpster. He groaned and rolled off. He stumbled down the alley. He could feel his wet clothes pinning themselves to his body. He made it to the street. There was no one around. No cars, no people, no help. Fuck.
Blood ran down his arm and chest. He stumbled and fell into the street. He fell onto his bleeding arm and cried out. He was soon surrounded.
"Little shit," one of the men kicked him in the chest.
He gasped as more kicks followed. Two of the men picked him up. He struggled a bit before someone punched him hard in the face.
Then the world went black.
When he woke up, he was bound in a body bag and alone. They tied his limbs and tail tight against him and only his head was free. His mouth was bound as well. He was in the back of an 18 wheeler truck. There were boxes around him and he found himself tucked into a corner. It was pitch black but he could still see.
He wasn't sure how long he had been out for. He placed his ear against the side. He couldn't hear many cars, so they might be pretty far out from the city or it might have been night.
He looked around. It smelled like spices.
Sacramento, California
After a few hours, they came to a stop. The doors opened and Inuyasha could hear shuffling as they moved the boxes. He winced as the bright light hit his eyes. So it was a new day. Noon, by the looks of it. Two men that he didn't recognized stood over him.
"Damn, he's only a kid. Is all that necessary," one of them said as they raised him up.
"Don't let his cute face fool you. He killed one of the recon guys and blinded another two of them," the other said. They hauled him out of the truck.
The sun was high in the sky. They hauled Inuyasha into a SUV. He sat in the middle seat squished between two demons. They both had human figures. He couldn't tell what breed they were but he knew they weren't human. They kept him in the body bag and his mouth was still covered. After they buckled him in, the car moved. At least he could see. There wasn't much around. It looked like the countryside.
"Now listen up, I'm going to take this off of you. If you bite me, you can forget about eating," the demon to his right said.
He removed the gag. Inuyasha stretched his mouth a little.
"Where are we going, you piece of shit?" Inuyasha glared. The demon laughed before punching Inuyasha in the face.
"This one is pretty funny," he pulled out something from a drawstring bag. It was a Subway sandwich. He took one of the halves and lifted it to Inuyasha's bloody mouth.
"Eat. If you waste this, don't expect anymore food from me," he put the sandwich close to Inuyasha's mouth.
He thought about it for a minute. He was hungry. He didn't know where he was going or if there would be an opportunity to escape. He opened his mouth and let his captor feed him.
Yakama Indian Reservation
It was night by the time they pulled over again. There were in Oregon by now. Where were they taking him? Who were these people? They took him out of the car and handed off to another group of men. He didn't see any of the same people.
He looked up. He had about a week until his transformation. He didn't know what would happen if his captors found out. They loaded him into another 18 wheeler. They placed him in the farthest corner. This time, they placed a small bowl next to him. There was some jerky in it.
"You're a dog, right? This should hold you over for the next few hours," a bulky demon said. He also placed a dish of water next to him.
Inuyasha glared. The man laughed before placing a barrage of boxes around him.
It was pitch black. He scooted against the corner and let his head rest against the side. After about an hour, he worked his way to the food bowl. It was degrading but hunger sunk in. The jerky was good at least. He drank a little of the water.
He realized he couldn't get up do he laid on the floor and fell asleep.
Neah Bay, Oregon
The smell of the ocean woke him up. Where the fuck were they taking him? The truck stopped and men came to retrieve him. They hauled him out of the truck. This time, a human placed a collar around his neck.
"Now listen here, kid. This is a special shock collar. It'll be easier if you walk from this point. If you step one hair out of line," he pressed a button on a device which sent a shock through Inuyasha's body. He cried out and his legs felt weak.
After a few seconds, the pain stopped.
"Understand?" This one was serious.
Inuyasha nodded and the other men unwrapped him. He stretched his arms and legs. It was good to be free, so to speak. He realized that he was still wearing shorts and the bloody shirt from earlier. He did notice his wound had been dressed. The one who put the collar on him escorted him into a building. Inuyasha looked around. There was a dock nearby. Once inside they led him to a small studio apartment on the second floor. The man held out a bag.
"Take a shower and wear that," he said before sitting at a small table near the kitchen nook.
Inuyasha took the bag. There were jeans, a turtleneck shirt, socks, underwear and shoes. He headed to the bathroom.
"Try not to get the collar wet. It'll suck more for you," he said laughing before turning on a small TV.
Inuyasha shut the door. There were already towels and soaps waiting for him. He looked in the mirror. He face had healed since the fight in San Diego. He was lucky he healed fast. He took of his clothes and bandages. His arm had already healed. He washed his face in the sink. Where were they taking him?
The shower had a detachable head so he was able to clean himself without getting water near the collar. Why were they changing the people who handled him? He cleaned the dirt from his tail. Did this have something to do with the council?
He washed his hair last. It was difficult but he was able to scrub all the dirt away. Sesshomaru usually washed his hair for him.
Sesshomaru…
Tears formed in his eyes. Where was Sesshomaru? Did all this have something to do with what Sesshomaru did to Naraku? Panic clutched at his heart. Was Sesshomaru dead? What would happen to him?
A loud knock brought him out of his thoughts.
"Hurry up in there."
Inuyasha finished washing himself and dressed quickly. The turtleneck was a bit uncomfortable but it hid the collar well enough. When he emerged from the bathroom, the man had a plate of food waiting for him. It was rice and shredded pork.
"Hurry and eat, we need to go soon,"
Inuyasha sat.
"What are you going to do to me?" he asked.
"We aren't going to do anything to you," the man ate with him.
"Then why am I here,"
"Who knows," the man wouldn't look up.
"I wanna go home. Let me go," Inuyasha glared.
"Look kid, I don't have anything against you. It's not personal I'm just doing my job,"
"What exactly is your job?"
The man looked up.
"My job isn't to tell you shit. Look, I'm dropping you off somewhere, okay? Endure it a little longer,"
"Dropping me off where?" Inuyasha's ears perked up.
The man sighed.
"I can't tell you that," he took a big mouthful.
"Who asked you to take me to wherever it is I'm going?"
"I can't tell you that either," he mumbled.
"Is this because of the council?"
"Who?"
"Is this because of Naraku?"
"I'll gag you. Is that what you want? Now hurry and eat," he yelled.
Inuyasha ate in silence. He got a lot of information. If the council isn't involved then there'd be no reason for Sesshomaru to be dead. If he remembered correctly, Naraku was working with some companies overseas.
Pacific Ocean
They made him get on a ship. He walked through the town looking like a regular person. How sly. He changed hands again. He was with an new group of people.
Inuyasha was in the bowels of a small cruise liner. They left him behind lots of cargo boxes. His collar had a hook on it so his captors could chain him to the wall. How convenient. At least he could move around. They still bound his hands and legs to be safe. They had heard what he was capable of it seemed. It was night time again. He knew because his hair turned raven colored. He was a human for the night. Luckily, no one would come down until the morning. They fed him once in the morning and again in the afternoon. They had been on the sea for a couple days now. After he ate the little bit of food left, he laid down on the pile of blankets his new captors laid out for him.
When he woke up, his hair was back to it's silver color. His tail and puppy ears had returned. Someone came down to feed him right on time. He was a scrawny thing. This one was a demon with light brown hair.
"Why do we have to do this anyway?" he mumbled spoon-feeding Inuyasha some oatmeal.
"You could at least say thanks, you little shit,"
"Thanks for taking me from my home and keeping me in chains I guess," Inuyasha glared.
"Shut up! You're my prisoner, you have to do what I tell you," he said as he pushed Inuyasha down. He climbed on top of him.
"Maybe I should make you more compliant by making you my bitch,"
"I'm so scared. Look you piece of trash, the only reason you're alive is because of this collar. I don't forget faces so know that once I'm free we'll see who becomes the real bitch," his eyes grew red.
The man backed off.
"You're lucky I'm such a nice guy," his voice wavered.
Inuyasha's ears perked up. He could talk something was up before they could hear the screaming from upstairs.
"What the hell was that?" The man stood up and ran to the stairs leading to the lower deck. Inuyasha could hear shouting, running, and gunshots. Fuck.
After a few moments, a group of men ran down the stairs. They all had guns and none of them were speaking English. They were going through the boxes and kicking over things.
When one of them discovered him, he called the others over. They pointed and talked among themselves. One of them bent down to grasp at his face.
"Don't touch me," he snapped. The man withdrew his hands. Another pointed at the collar and chain. They talked for a few more minutes and a few of the men went upstairs. After 10 minutes or so, Inuyasha was being led from the bowels of the ship under threat of shock. They found the trigger it seemed. They passed a lot of dead bodies on the way. Double Fuck. They passed the boy who threatened him. His throat was sliced. Seemed like Inuyasha didn't have to make him his bitch after all. Sad.
This didn't seem planned. When they got to the deck, Inuyasha saw another ship next to theirs. It was smaller. They transferred to the other boat and led Inuyasha to the bowels again. There were many others chained to the walls of the ship. There were demon and human alike in this crowd. They put him in the middle of the crowd and left.
He looked around. There were desolate faces all around. Everyone was in rags. Some were crying. These were slaves. Triple fuck.
Hong Kong, China
They were at sea for a month. He had his transformation again, but no one around him cared. His captors only fed them enough to stay alive. They kept the slaves in tight quarters at all times. There was feces everywhere. Some didn't make it.
When they were finally docked, it was night time. He was starting to forget what fresh air smelled like. They escorted the slaves into a warehouse. There, they scrubbed them clean and dressed in elegant rags. They fed them a bit more than they were on the boat. The ones who were sick didn't return.
Their captors brought them out to a truck. They were speaking Chinese. Inuyasha knew a little so he could make out some of the conversation.
"These look better than last batch," one human said.
"We get a lot this time. Where the drop?"
"There boat to Sri Lanka. We paid at port,"
They shut the slaves inside the truck before he could hear anymore.
Colombo, Sri Lanka
They kept them in a warehouse for a few days. Inuyasha had learned a lot about the other captives.
"So where are we going?" Inuyasha asked one night.
"Egypt is the last stop, I heard," one of the humans said.
"Why there? Why did they take us?"
"We're commodities. This is the slavers route and Egypt is the last stop. They are selling most of us along the way but in Egypt there is a big auction," she said.
"How do you know?"
"I heard them talking about it when we were first captured. Some of us were taken from Vietnam, Guam, and Australia. Some are from the sea like yourself," she said, "I'm from Australia myself."
His ship was raided by the slavers for supplies since the slave ship was running low. He had been a bonus prize.
"Your tail is beautiful,"
"Thanks. There are a lot of demon kind here," he said. He noticed most of them were half-breeds from a variety of races. Some even had transformations. He was the only half dog demon among them but no one treated him poorly-other than the captors.
"Halflings like yourself go for a pretty hefty price on the market, I've heard,"
"Do you know anyone named Naraku?"
The girl shook her head. When Inuyasha looked around, the ones who had been listening shook their heads as well.
Cairo, Egypt
Inuyasha woke up in a cell. He lost track of time but he knew it hadn't been a month since he arrived. He had transformed again while they were in Somalia.
It had been so long since he saw his brother.
Sesshomaru...
He clutched at his chest. They had given him less elegant rags to wear since the auction wasn't for another 2 weeks. His hair was matted with dirt again. He was with a new group of slaves.
They were all different breeds but this group only had half demons. He stayed to himself, huddled against a wall. The air was stale and drugged. Whenever his captors came down, they wore masks. It was to keep him and the other prisoners weak against the humans. Too weak to escape and too disoriented to disobey.
They fed him once a day but the food was also filled with drugs. It was about a week before the hunger set in. He ate the slop they provided but threw it up when they weren't looking. He had seen some of the others do it too.
The stones were smooth. He nestled closer to the wall. That didn't make him any warmer but at least he could hear a little better. He could hear the hum of machinery, which meant the coldness they all felt was intentional. They were keeping them cold and miserable on purpose. He could hear the poisoned air blowing in. He could hear some noises in the distance but he couldn't make it out. If only his hearing was like his brother's. He clutched at his chest again. His tail tucked.
A door opened.
Five men walked inside. Inuyasha was still facing the wall but he recognized their scent. Two of them were the ones who fed them everyday. He didn't recognize the other three. They approached the cage.
"That one there. The dog demon half-breed," one of them said. Inuyasha's ears perked up but he didn't turn around.
"You sure? I've heard that little bastard's a bit fiesty," one of the feeders said while pulling out his keys.
"Did I stutter? That's the one I want. Just get in there and use this," the first man handed them something.
They were getting closer and closer. He still hadn't moved.
"Come here, you little shit."
Inuyasha turned fast and scratched at the man. Drops of blood dripped down his arm. As Inuyasha tried to leap to the side, the man grabbed him by his rags. He threw him to the ground before pressing the button that activated his collar. Inuyasha writhed. After a few seconds the pain stopped and the man attached a chain to his collar..
"That hurt you little bitch!" he pressed Inuyasha's head into the ground.
"Don't fuck up his face!" one of the men said.
The man who tased him picked up his limp body by his chain. They got him on his feet and escorted him out of the cage. Instead of going up the steps, they headed through a door. He started to get the feeling back in his legs as he was lead down the hallway. Soon, he was walking on his own. They reached a large bathing room. Inside were two girls with collars around their necks.
"Clean and dress him," the man who tased him commanded. The two girls bowed and led Inuyasha to an underground bath.
"No trouble, understand?" the man glared while tapping the remote device.
Inuyasha let the two girls scrub him clean. They got the dirt out of his tail. They combed and brushed his hair until it was fine like silk. When they cleaned his ears, his tail wagged against his will causing small giggles from the women. They washed his more intimate areas too despite his protests. Even though he rarely bathed alone, it was awkward having women wash him. They dried his body with the softest of towels. They rubbed oil onto his skin until every part of him felt smooth and soft. They massaged his ears again for kicks. When they finished they helped him get dressed. They gave him gold and red silk pants and a thin golden shirt to wear. They braided a part of his hair and put red and gold beads throughout his hair. They sprayed him with a floral perfume. When he was ready, they led him back into the hallway. Two of his captors were waiting. They led him by his chain again further down the hallway. It was long and broke off into many different corridors. He had to remember this place. He would get his revenge one day.
Soon, they reached a set of stairs. They led to a beautiful bedroom. There was a big bed with fluffy pillows. The room had been decorated with with red poppies. They led him to the bed and secured his chain to the wall behind him. They took care to tie his hands and feet together. They left through another door and for a few moments, he was alone.
When the door opened, an elegant man walked in with the same men who brought him here. He was wearing a tan cotton robe. It had a variety of colorful beads and silk.
"Does this one suit your taste sir," one of them asked.
"Oh yes. This is exactly what I was looking for," he smiled as he sat next to Inuyasha. He smelled of heavy perfumes but Inuyasha could still tell he was a demon. He cupped Inuyasha's face in his hands. When he ran his thumb against Inuyasha's cheek and the pup bit him hard.
"You little-" the other man began but the demon put up his free hand to stop him. Even though he bled, he didn't yell out. Instead, he smiled.
"It's quite alright. This one is perfect," he pulled his hand free and licked at his wound. It healed within seconds.
The man got up and headed to the door.
"Have him brought to my car," he commanded.
Inuyasha soon found himself looking out of the window of a limousine. They were sitting across from each other.
"Drink. You'll become dehydrated," the man offered Inuyasha a bottle of water. He had to admit that he was thirsty, so he took it without hesitation.
"Where are you taking me?"
"Don't worry, you're safe,"
"Okay...but where are we and where are we going?"
"We're in Cairo right now. I can't tell you where we're going but I promise it is safe,"
"You said I was perfect. Perfect for what?"
The man laughed.
"Oh that. Don't worry about that. They were so hesitant to sell you to me. That was an act so they'd let you go," he said with a gesture of his hand.
"So...I'm your slave?"
"Only if you want to be," he winked. Inuyasha bristled causing the man to laugh again.
"Who are you?"
"I'm hurt that you don't remember me Inuyasha," he looked at him.
Panic waved over the pup. He didn't tell this man his name.
"Well it can't be helped," the man began "I have a new face and it has been a couple hundred years after all."
Inuyasha was silent.
"I'm Muso, one of Naraku's previous reincarnations," he smiled.
Inuyasha could feel the tightness in his chest.
Fuck.
