Chapter 2:
Kagome ran. She ran hard, and she ran fast. Her abused feet slapped against the hard, earthen, floor of the forest as she dodged branches and fallen logs, sprinting away from the two…whatever they were…that she had left back there in the clearing. Clearly, those two weren't human, and unless there was some sort of weird convention in town (which Kagome highly doubted there was) she had just witnessed something she was definitely not supposed to.
Oh god, oh god, oh god. The mantra repeated itself in her mind, fueling her desire to put as much distance as possible between her and them. Kagome hissed in pain as branches slapped at her arm, raising red welts on the exposed flesh, but she refused to slow down. She ran in a zigzag pattern, knowing that if she was being followed, this would make it harder for her pursuers to catch her. Her breath soon became labored, which was normal considering she was already on the verge of hyperventilating, and her vision blurred at the edges. Rocks, roots and twigs bit at her bare feet, but Kagome refused to slow down. Slowing down meant that she might actually have to stop and face what she had seen back in that clearing.
Aliens maybe? Elves? If so, Hollywood had definitely got it wrong. No movie elf she had ever seen could do those two men justice. They were as good looking as they were deadly…and how Kagome knew that, she had no clue. But something inside her, some instinct long suppressed, was rising to the surface and telling her to get the hell out of dodge. No good could come from a face to face with those two. Images of blood and gore flashed through her mind, making her heart lurch in her chest. She was running blindly now, panic and fear fueling her young body, pushing her to her limits. In the distance she could hear the chilling sound of a wolf's howl echoing through the night. It reverberated through the forest, seemingly coming from all sides, so that no matter where she turned she ran into danger. A sharp crack from behind her sent a breathless gasp to escape past her lips. With a sense of horrified fascination, she glanced behind her. And that's when she ran into something solid. The breath left her lungs at the impact, her arms pinwheeling as she was sent flying backwards to land hard on the ground. For a moment, all sense had been knocked out of her. She sat, stunned, on the forest floor, her legs splayed at odd angles as she tried to regain both her breath and her wits. Sucking in a lungful of air, Kagome glanced up and immediately wished she hadn't.
Fur wrapped legs met her shocked gaze. She swallowed hard, not wanting to look up, but knowing that she had no choice. It had already been a minute…and now one of those white wrapped feet began to tap impatiently on the ground. Slowly she lifted her gaze from his legs up to the coarse brown wolf pelt he wore wrapped around his waist. Further still her gaze lifted, eyeing the metal plated armor he wore strapped to his chest. He wore, she noticed, fur bracers around his wrists, wrists that lead to strong, sun tanned hands that were propped on his lean waist. And those arms? The muscles were clearly defined. Her gaze made it just about as far as his adam's apple before it stopped. Faltered. She closed her eyes. She didn't want to look. He wasn't real. He couldn't be. That was IMPOSSIBLE. No one was that fast.
Kagome startled at an amused snort. Without meaning to, her eyes opened and she looked up. Coffee eyes clashed with an artic blue, their gazes locked for what felt like a lifetime. Slowly those blue eyes narrowed in suspicion as a sneer pulled at the corner of his lips, flashing a pearly white fang in her direction.
"Well look who we have here." He all but snarled at her, arms now crossed over that broad chest. Kagome swallowed hard, her mouth suddenly dry. Cautiously, as if he wouldn't notice if she went slowly enough, Kagome began to scuttle backwards. She did not like the interest and suspicion that colored those blue eyes. Nor did she like the way he was looking at her like she was…prey. Something to but hunted, taken down, defenseless.
"Tsk, Tsk." He waggled a finger, a wolfish smile pulling at the corners of his lips "Where do you think you're going, princess." Again, Kagome's ears did that weird thing, her understanding his words well after he had spoken them. What the hell was up with that? As if she needed one more weird thing to add to her increasingly strange experiences thus far.
Kagome continued to crab walk away from him, wincing at the sound of her dress tearing. Great, just what she needed. To expose more leg to the man who looked like he was about to devour her whole. Oh, god, why hadn't she just listened to her Grandpa? With a burst of energy, Kagome jumped to her feet and spun on her heel, away from the gleaming eyes of her pursuer. There was no way in hell she was just going to lay sprawled on the ground, defenseless, as he killed her. If she could get away, she was going to do it. She ran again; panic beating a new tempo in her heart. She glanced once over her shoulder to see if he was giving chase and…. He was gone!
"How could he just disappear?" Kagome whispered, her eyes searching frantically behind her, waiting for him to pop out of nowhere.
"Looking for me?" a deep voice rumbled right in front of her. Kagome collided hard against his chest, and would have fallen (yet again) if not for the steely strong arm that caught her about her waist, holding her up. Hot breath fanned gently against her neck, making Kagome jump. With a cry she sent her foot sailing hard into his shin, which earned her a pained grunt, and spun in his arms- trying to escape. A dark chuckle rumbled in his chest as he easily caught her again about the waist, pulling her back into his hard unforgiving chest.
"Looks like the princess has claws." Dark humor laced his words as he held her struggling body against him, the heat of his body like a brand against her back. For a moment he allowed Kagome to thrash, uselessly, in his arms. She kicked her legs, her bare heels drumming against him. He didn't even flinch.
"I love it when they put up a fight." He chuckled before burying his nose in her hair. He exhaled hotly against the back of her neck, making Kagome gasp in fear.
"Gods you smell good enough to eat. Too bad I have to share." Before Kagome could even respond, he clamped a hand over her mouth, and with his other arm lifted her boldly off the ground. Kagome tried to scream, desperate for help, but her cries were muffled by the hand across her mouth.
In little more than a blink of an eye they were moving. Her stomach rolled at the speed in which they ran, the forest becoming a mere green brown blur in front of them. Vertigo threatened, and Kagome had to close her eyes against the rolling in her stomach. Oh gods, this couldn't be real. It had to be a dream. No one could run this fast. No wonder he had caught her so easily! She squirmed in his grasp, still screaming, as she tried to free herself but his grip on her only grew tighter and more painful.
"You better stop all that wiggling around, princess. Otherwise we're going to have to make a quick detour, and I'm gonna get to see what your knees look like next to that pretty little head." the man chuckled against her neck. Kagome screamed shrilly, her body freezing at the not so subtle threat.
"That's better. Too bad, princess. Too bad." Kagome swore she could feel him smile against her neck as he sighed the words.
Suddenly they skidded to a halt. Kagome's eyes flew open to see that they were back in the clearing where this had all started. The silver haired man, Sesshoumaru, stood waiting, still as a statue beneath the moonlight. He cut an impressive, imposing figure just standing there. As if he was judge, jury and executioner. Considering the rough treatment Kagome had just received at the hands of the dark haired man, that could very well be the case.
Cold, golden eyes trailed slowly up and down her form. An aristocratic eyebrow lifted in disdain as her captor released her, allowing her to fall unceremoniously to her knees on the ground. Not once did that cold, golden eyed gaze leave her vulnerable form. Shivering beneath the cold stare, Kagome tried to tug the hem of her dress down. It had split up the side at some point during her flight through the forest, and showed more leg and thigh than Kagome was comfortable with. She could only imagine what she looked like. Her hair, windblown, her cheeks flushed. She was covered in scratches and welts, not to mention bug bites, her calves were caked with mud and dirt and her feet…well, her feet were a bit of a bloody mess. Her head began to pound in time with her galloping heart. Oh god, were they going to kill her now? What the hell had she done to deserve this? All she wanted was to go home!
"You, girl, were spying on this Sesshoumaru. Why, I wonder, is that?"
"I-I…I wasn't…."Kagome stuttered. Never in her sixteen years had she ever been this scared. Her fear only intensified as impatience and a shadow of anger flashed in those golden eyes.
"I cannot believe that I have to share my catch with this arrogant piece of fluff. That fleabag probably doesn't even know what to do with a hot little piece like this one." The man, her captor, grumbled angrily from behind her. A hot little piece? Of all the arrogant, perverted, stupid…
"That is enough, you dirty pig! I dare you to touch me!" Kagome shouted, jumping to her feet to face the man with blue eyes. "See what happens! You'll be singing soprano for the rest of your damned life!" Her hands curled into little fists at her sides as surprise and then shock settled into the man's blue orbs.
Her captor took a stumbling step backwards, as if he had been slapped. If not for the very serious situation, the shocked look on his face would have been almost comical. A quick glance over her shoulder showed that he wasn't the only one who was shocked. Sesshoumaru's golden eyes widened marginally in surprise, eyebrows raising at her display of defiance. But as quickly as the shock had shown on his face, it vanished to be replaced by cool disdain.
"You, girl, can understand him?" Sesshoumaru questioned, his voice sharp as he took a menacing step toward her. Kagome spun around so that she could keep both men in her sights. The black haired man on her left and this Sesshoumaru character on her right. She backed up a step, knowing that running was futile but unable to help herself. When Kagome merely stared at his steadily advancing form, Sesshoumaru growled.
"You will answer this Sesshoumaru when he asks you a question, girl, or you will feel my wrath."
What was up with the constant threats? The one on the left wanted to rape her, and it looked like the one on the right wanted to tear her throat out. Never in her life had she had so much aggression aimed at her at once. And for what? Because they thought she was spying on them? Admittedly, she kind of had been spying, but who wouldn't? They clearly weren't human.
"Of course I can understand him." Kagome snipped back as those golden eyes flashed dangerously at her.
At this, the man (her would-be attacker) seemed to startle, his blue eyes darting suspicious looks between her and Sesshoumaru.
"Wait a second, you can understand…well, I'll be damned." The dark haired man whistled. They stared hard at her, the both of them. Sizing her up.
"How did I not see it before?" The dark man murmured, advancing toward her retreating form in time with Sesshoumaru. "You look exactly like that filthy miko bitch."
"Hey! Watch who you're calling a bitch, buddy!" Kagome snapped, bringing her fists up as she backed into a tree. What the hell was he talking about anyway? And why were they both staring at her like that?
"The resemblance is uncanny. But…it's been fifty years. Surely…surely, this is impossible." Sesshoumaru murmured thoughtful. More to himself than to anyone else.
"I don't know who or what the hell you guys are, and I don't care. Can we all just pretend this never happened please? I'll go on my way, you go on yours, and we don't ever have to speak of this again, okay?"
Outrage flitted across both mens' faces almost simultaneously.
"Who the hell are you that you don't know Kouga, Demon prince of the South and Fleabag over there, Lord of the West? What rock have you been hiding under?" Kouga growled.
"D-Demons. Great. Terrific." Kagome choked on a laugh. "This is just what I need. There are no such thing as Demons Kagome, this is all just a horrible, horrible dream. Soon you'll wake up, and we can laugh about this later." Kagome gave herself the mental pep talk, hoping and praying…
A growl erupted from the golden eyed man's throat and before Kagome could blink she was dangling in the air.
The silver haired Demon named Sesshoumaru held her up by her throat, his long claws piercing the skin around her neck, blood slowly seeping out of the small wounds. Kagome latched onto his hand that held her by the throat, futilely trying to pull him off of her. She was finding it hard to breathe and spots danced before her eyes. Her feet swung in the air in an attempt to kick her attacker, but none of the blows came close.
"Stupid girl, do I look like a human to you?" he growled daring her to defy him. Kagome shook her head dumbly, as she pried at the hand that held her neck.
"I am a DEMON, and the demon lord of the West! You will respect me!" He growled threateningly, his cold eyes boring into her brown ones. He gave her a shake before throwing her to the ground at his feet.
Kagome landed on the ground with a painful thud. 'This can't be happening, none of this is real' She told herself over and over again.
"Get up." The cold voice snarled. Kagome refused to move and closed her eyes tighter. Maybe if she ignored them they would just go away and leave her be. Moments passed and finally a clawed hand grabbed her arm viciously and dragged her to her feet. Kagome's eyes flew wide open and her heart beat rapidly in her chest.
"Let me go!" Kagome shouted, trying to wrench her arm from the Demon's strong grip. The demon let go of her willingly, as if he had touched something rather unpleasant and was more than happy to release her.
"It is a rather interesting situation we find ourselves in, now isn't it?" The silver haired demon asked coolly, his golden eyes looking at her with interest.
Kagome thought the situation was a lot of things, but interesting didn't even make the top ten. Terrifying, surreal, her worst-frickin'-nightmare… sure. But interesting? Now that was a stretch. Kagome swallowed hard, her fingertips flying to her abused throat. Both of them were staring at her. Hard. As if…as if she should know them, or at the very least know what the hell was going on. But she didn't. She had no idea what these two wanted, and was even less inclined to find out. But she played along, because frankly, she didn't feel like being strangled again.
"And w-what situation would that be?" She mentally cursed at herself for stuttering. She wanted to be brave, fearless even, but she was officially dealing with demons now. And one of them had a tendency to frickin' choke people.
"It seems, Kikyo, that you have-"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Wait a second there pal. My name is NOT Kikyo? See, I knew this was all just a big misunderstanding. I'm Kagome. Ka-Go-Me. Got it? Not this Kikyo lady."
Both men immediately scowled at her.
Kagome shrugged, her hands up in a plactating gesture. "Come on guys, can't we all just talk about this rationally? No need for violence. Oh, god, please don't-"
The demon named Sesshoumaru was suddenly in her face. A hard, unyielding, hand wormed it's way through the tangle of her hair to fist at the nape of her neck. With a cry, Kagome's head was jerked backwards, the vulnerable pale column of her neck bared to the Lord of the West's piercing amber gaze.
Slowly she felt his hot breath fan against her neck, heard him inhale…was he sniffing her? Seriously? Like a…like a dog? Just as suddenly as she had been captured, she was released.
"You are not Kikyo." He sneered. Instead of being relieved at the fact she wasn't this Kikyo character, he seemed more irritated.
"Oh gee, really?" Kagome grumped, rubbing her abused neck and eyeing Sesshoumaru with distrust. "What was your first clue? Was it when I said 'I am not Kikyo?'. Cuz' that was it for me."
The demon named Kouga gave a dry laugh. "You must be suicidal. Or just stupid."
Kagome whipped her head to the left to glare at Kouga. "Who are you calling stupid, you big jerk!"
Kouga growled low, baring his fangs at her. "Watch your mouth, human, or I'll watch it for you."
"Oh yeah!" Kagome countered, fists up and raised. "Just what exactly do you think you're gonna do? Kill me! Go ahead! I'm not afraid of you!"
Kouga chuckled darkly, his blue eyes flashing with heat. "You keep running that mouth, princess, and you'll end up bent over my knee. You're too valuable to kill, but that doesn't mean Im going to let you run your mouth at me like that."
Great. A demon prince had just threatened to spank her. Kagome supposed she should feel relieved that he didn't want to kill her. Instead, a unease settled heavy in her belly.
"V-valuable? Me? I don't understand…what is it that you want from me."
"Oh," Kouga took a menacing step toward her. "Lots of things, princess." He captured her chin between his fingers, ignoring her small fists raining down useless against his chest. "And I fully intend on having them all." Suddenly Sesshoumaru was there, his hand on Kouga's shoulder, pulling him back and away from her.
"Human female, you will repeat, verbatim, the words I am about to say. Is that clear? If you fail to do so, I will allow the wolf to take you, like a bitch in heat. Is that understood? Nod if you understand me. Good, very good."
"It seems as if this is a reincarnation of the miko. She does not have to be the original. The girl will suit or purposes perfectly in the binding rite."
Dully, her voice trembling, Kagome repeated the words the Demon Lord spoke. Kouga's eyes narrowed, and a calculating gleam entered them.
"Yes, yes I see." He murmured. "The ancient rite of the bonded servant. Clever."
"B-bonded servant?" Kagome echoed, an eyebrow raised in question. She SO did not like the tone of this conversation, or where it was heading.
"Yes." Sesshoumaru answered cooly. "You see, fifty years ago the West and the South were temporarily united. It was a time of war across the country, humans fighting and losing against our combined demon army. We were winning the war, of course, until we came across a village not too far from here. In it, was the last holy miko of power, and her name was Kikyo." Here, Sesshoumaru sneered, his golden eyes which were normally cold flashing with white hot rage. "This miko, this filthy, disgusting human, dared to oppose us. When we attacked the village, she was waiting. She cursed us, cursed us all. Using her miko powers, she made sure that neither the wolf, nor I, would ever be able to understand each other in spoken or written language. She laid a powerful spell upon us, and to this day, it has remained unbroken."
"Oh, umm, that's unfortunate." Kagome tried to offer her condolences.
And then the Demon Lord, Sesshoumaru, smirked. Kagome got the feeling that she wasn't going to like, very much, what he was about to say.
"It would have been unfortunate, if not for you. You see, the only one who can undo the curse is a miko of power. Kikyo was killed in battle, not long after she laid the curse. But you, you are her spitting image. And, it seems, her reincarnation."
Kagome REALLY didn't like where this conversation was heading.
"Now, only a miko would be able to understand both Kouga and I. We could ask you to lift this curse." Kagome's eyes widened in fear and confusion. "But it is increasingly obvious that you do not possess that particular skill set. As a matter of fact, one would think you were ignorant of your miko power."
Miko? Her? A holy priestess. The notion was laughable, and yet the deadly serious and intent look in both the demon's eyes had her swallowing hard. They really believed that she…
Great.
"So, we will bind you to us. As our servant. Through you, and your blood, the curse will be broken."
"W-what if I don't want to?" Kagome whispered, refusing to meet his eyes. She flinched when they both took a bold step toward her.
"What makes you think that your opinion matters, human? If you do not do as well tell you, exactly as I command, I will kill you. Slowly. Painfully. Understood?" Sesshoumaru said the words matter-of-factly.
Kagome flinched. She didn't want to die, was terrified of it actually. But at the same time, she had no desire to be bound to two demons, whatever that meant. From the sounds of it, it didn't exactly seem like it was going to be fun.
So she slowly raised her head, threw her shoulders back, and met that cold stare with a chilling and bold one of her own.
"Then you better kill me, because I am no one's slave, and I never will be." The words came out calm and cold, though on the inside she trembled.
Sesshoumaru stood there shocked for a moment. No human had ever defied him, who did this strange girl think she was? He had to admit, this human brat was definitely different from other humans of his time. She dressed differently for one and she had courage, courage wasn't common in most humans, especially not in females.
"Again, human, what makes you think that I can not simply just take what it is that I want from you? Your compliance is really not needed." And suddenly he was pressing against her, trapping the right side of her body against the tree. When she raised a hand to defend herself, he caught it deftly in a bone jarring grip and raised it slowly above her head, pressing it against the rough bark of the tree.
"No! Stop! Let me go!" Kagome raised her other hand, ready to attack, but it too was caught in a joltingly familiar grip. Laughing blue eyes clashed with brown as Kouga mirrored Sesshoumaru, trapping the left side of her body against the rough bark of the tree.
"H-Hey you guys cant we just talk about this first." She choked out half heartedly.
A fresh wash of hot tears filled her eyes as she realized that she was completely at their mercy.
"Don't worry; it'll all be over soon." Kouga whispered softly in her ear, his lips moving down to brush intimately against the side of her neck, tasting the skin there. Kagome shivered as she looked up at him with wide, teary eyes. Kagome gasped when Sesshoumaru nodded at Kouga, both pairs of lips now brushing against the vulnerable column of her neck.
She gasped as two sets of fangs pierced her neck simultaneously. There was the hot lash of two tongues, and the heady, almost erotic, pull of two pairs of lips and fangs working at her neck. They were drinking her blood. Kagome's vision swam, her knees grew weak and wobbly. She was trapped, with no way to defend herself. In a matter of seconds her vision grew spotty, her head became light. In another minute her knees finally gave out, and she slumped, held up by the two demons drinking her blood. It felt as if they were taking her life force, a piece of her soul, along with the blood. She no longer tried to struggle, it was pointless, there was no way she was going to win.
After a couple of minutes both demons pulled away from her. Kagome collapsed to the ground with a thud where she lay, motionless and barely breathing. She had no energy left to defend herself, let alone sit up.
Blood stained both of the demons' lips. Kouga's tongue darted out, licking the blood from his lips and savoring the taste. Sesshoumaru, on the other hand, wiped the blood off of his mouth with the back of his hand, looking down at it in disgust.
Kagome whimpered when Kouga took a knee beside her. She could feel his hot gaze on her vulnerable body, and she wanted to cry in frustration. Her mind began to feel foggy, sick, and her heart stuttered in her chest with fear when he reached down a hand to gently brush back the silky hair that had fallen into her eyes and across her face. Tenderly, he brushed the tears from her cheeks, before his finger tips trailed down to her neck.
"Don't cry." He whispered softly, soothingly.
Kagome winced in pain as he touched the spot where his fangs had penetrated her skin. She could feel her blood seeping from the open wound. She closed her eyes fearing what would come next. She felt his breath on her neck and winced. 'He's going to kill me now.' Was all Kagome could think as she waited to feel his fangs once again on her skin. Instead she felt a warm rough tongue lap up the blood that spilt down her neck. She wanted to push him away to tell him NO, but she couldn't, it was as if she was paralyzed.
"You taste so good." He whispered huskily in her ear before scooping her up in his large muscular arms. Kagome's head lolled to the side. She had no power over her own body and it scared her.
Kouga walked over to Sesshoumaru, the semi-conscious Kagome cradled in his arms.
"You belong to us now." Sesshoumaru spoke the words coldly, his voice like a whip
It took all of her energy, but Kagome turned her head away from Sesshoumaru and the haughty, victorious gleam that had entered his eyes. Unfortunately that meant her head came to rest against the broad, well-muscled chest of Kouga.
"Shall we?" Sesshoumaru gestured.
Kouga nodded and started off walking ahead of Sesshoumaru. Sesshoumaru followed him silently.
A silent tear rolled down Kagome's cheek as she was carried away into the night. She closed her eyes unwillingly and fell into a dreamless sleep. Kouga looked down at the sleeping girl in his arms.
"Don't cry." he whispered into the night.
.
.
.
.REVIEWS MAKE MY WORLD GO ROUND. Review please, spanks! This chapter has been re-written. ;)