Demon Run

Was It a Dream?

Froggeh12

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Kagome woke very suddenly, her heart thumping rapidly in her chest. Her heart was beating… and she was able to wake up… she wasn't dead!

"It was a dream…" she breathed, closing her eyes again. Then she noticed something was a little off. She was lying on something very hard, very cold, and very damp. She forced herself to open her eyes again - and immediately began to hyperventilate.

She was chained to the ground in a sort of tiny prison cell. The walls were made of thickly caked, slowly dripping mud. Her five friends weren't moving, but she was relieved to see that they were breathing. They, too, had been chained, though none too carefully. Ayame's right foot was twisted and very obviously broken. Ayumi's left arm chain was on the wall and her right arm chain was on the ground three feet to the right of her left arm, causing her to sleep in a very awkward position. Yuka and Eri both had to sleep upside down, their chains were so jumbled. And Sango… Kagome's eyes widened in horror. Sango wasn't there.

Kagome started to scream, shrieking "HELP, HELP, HELP!" over and over again. It didn't occur to the panic-stricken girl that the only people around would be the ones that had chained them in the first place.

"I see…" A disembodied male voice seemed to smirk at Kagome as its quiet voice filled the entire cell with a dark, chilling air. "One of you has woken up very early. How strange…"

Kagome tried to lift her head up enough to see who was talking. All she could see was the fur of a white pelt. This guy was weird, whoever he was.

The man flicked his wrist at the steel bars. Kagome watched with a mixture of fright and amazement as the steel came undone and coiled around and back into its place at the top of the cell entryway. Kagome could feel her breathing slowly become less shallow as the man approached her. For a reason she could not explain, she was more curious than frightened. He slowly bent down to undo her chains, and for the first time Kagome realized that it was a bamboo pelt. The bamboo's face was blue-green in color and underneath was the face of a thirty-something male. He curiously brushed a hand across her face. "You haven't been dead very long… you are still connected to Earth…"

Kagome's eyes widened. 'I… I can't be… dead?'

"Where am I?" she snapped, feeling herself beginning to panic again. A bitter substance slowly rose up in the back of her throat. She cringed and forced it back down. She had already shown weakness by screaming like a caged animal. She couldn't afford to vomit too.

"In Hell," the man replied breezily. He turned around and flicked his wrist at the entryway, perhaps a bit more roughly than last time. As though sensing the increased amount of force, the metal shot back down roughly to block the path of anyone attempting to go in the cell… or come out.

The man turned around to face Kagome, who started back at him disbelievingly. He chuckled lightly, as though they were enjoying small talk over tea. "What did you expect, Miss Higurashi? Did you think that when you get to Hell you see a nice banner welcoming you? I'm afraid that we must treat all new guests so rudely, so that they don't panic and attempt to do something rash. It's unfortunate when they try to run away. These bars are highly malleable with the right amount of power." He flicked his fingers for emphasis and grinned in a way that made Kagome feel ready to vomit all over again. One of the metal bars had become extremely sharp and pointed.

"How do you know my name, anyway?" she snarled fiercely.

"Oh, how terribly rude of me," the man said smoothly. "I am Naraku. I am, shall I say, the leader of Hell… and you, Kagome, are in this record book." In his hands appeared a massive book with wooden covers, growing larger and larger by the second. The book simply read: 2002.

She shuddered and forced herself not to cry out. She found it in herself to ask another question. "But… what you said about those who try to escape… how do you die once you're already dead?"

"Simple," Naraku replied. "You move to a lower layer of hell." The book disappeared. He knelt down beside her and gingerly undid her chains, as gently as he would handle a flower. It terrified her, having this obviously unstable man leaning over her, but it didn't seem as though he intended to harm her. He seemed interested in her more than anything else… but then again, he didn't seem very predictable.

As soon as she was free, Kagome stood up and demanded in a voice that she prayed sounded stronger than she felt, "Let my friends go, too!" She suddenly remembered something very, very important… "And where is Sango?! What have you done with Sango?!"

"Sango tried to escape." The answer was blunt and harsh.

That was it. She couldn't take anymore. "NO!" She broke into loud, choking sobs. This had to be a dream… she could will this away… 'Wake up! Please, please, wake up!'

"I'm afraid it's true. You'll be able to visit your friend, certainly, but at the moment she is in a cell very much like this one in layer 2." He moved over to undo Ayumi's chains.

"What does it take to move out of these cells?" Kagome asked through her tears.

"A day."

"A day of what? What sort of purpose does a day in this awful place serve?"

"As I said, Miss Higurashi, many newcomers will try to do something reckless. This is your opportunity to come to terms with your death, why you died, and why you deserve to be here."

"Where else would I be?"

"It's a Heaven, of sorts. It isn't perfect, but it is much better than Earth… much friendlier than here, you see. Their newcomers accept their deaths much more quickly."

Kagome burst into tears once again. "You mean I deserve to be here? Was I that awful in life? I always tried to obey the law… I tried to respect my Mom and Grandpa, and the teachers…"

"No, technically, you do not deserve to be here. Your sins are numerous, but none are severe enough to end up here. This is why you are in layer 1 of Hell. You simply angered the curse that Inuyasha the half-demon put on the road, so it retaliated." He was undoing Eri's chains now. Yuka was the only one who still had all of her chains on. "You were lucky enough to arrive with friends. Not all are as fortunate."

"Are… are there similar curses out there?" Kagome asked slowly.

"Yes."

So, Demon Run wasn't the only myth that killed without the consent of a demon or Death. That meant that there were many other innocents, like her, here in Hell…

Kagome leaned against the mud wall and slumped down, watching with exhaustion as Naraku unfastened Yuka's chains. When all of her friends were free, she looked up at Naraku. "Please… isn't there some way I can move on to Heaven…?"

Naraku turned to her sharply. His eyes grew even colder. "No." He flicked his wrist angrily at the bars, which shot up, and immediately shot down after he left.

Kagome struggled to stay awake. She was exhausted and wanted to go back to sleeping, but somehow… somehow she just wasn't tired at all. She was wide awake and wanting to know more, wanting to get out of this awful prison. Wanting to kiss Mama goodbye… wanting to tell Grandpa she appreciated his stories… wanting to tell Souta that one day he'll do great things… wanting to live. But she couldn't. And she couldn't stay awake much longer…

She was soon fast asleep on the mud floor, crying her way to dreams of her family.

---

Kagome awoke several hours later to horrified screams and sobbing. Her eyelids flickered open. She slowly eased herself up against the wall. It only took her a moment to remember where she was and who those crying girls were…

"I want my mom!"

"Let me go home!"

Ayame was off to the side, cradling her twisted foot. Ayumi, Eri, and Yuka were hugging each other for comfort and crying.

"Hey…" Kagome murmured, sitting up.

The girls turned to face her. "Oh, Kagome… you're up…" Ayumi sighed, tears spilling from her eyes and down her cheeks. "Do you know where we are?"

"Are we in prison?" Ayame asked with a whimper.

Kagome stood up and shook her head. "You guys…you'll never believe me…"

"Are we in Hell, Kagome?" Eri cried out. "Is that it? Tell us what you know! Tell us what we're doing in this horrible room!"

Kagome nodded mournfully. "It… it actually worked. We're in Hell. We're dead. We can't leave."

These words brought on a new wave of tears. Kagome walked over to Ayame, who was alone, and hugged her. Ayame buried her face into Kagome's side, like a child being comforted by her mother. Suddenly Kagome felt stronger than them all. She didn't feel like crying anymore. There was something inside her that told her she had a mission to accomplish. She recognized this feeling as the same one that had kept her awake just a few hours ago.

"Someone should be coming soon," Kagome said quietly. She didn't know how she knew; she just did. She wouldn't be the one to explain things to them.

And someone did indeed come…

"Ladies, please stand up," the voice said coldly. Five female faces looked up to see a female with a male voice… no, wait… a pretty male with a male voice standing on the other side of the bars.

This man was clearly a demon. He had long, silver-white hair but a young, handsome face. He had two purple stripes on each side of his face and a crescent moon on his forehead. They all seemed to be entirely natural, not made with a tattoo or any other sort of ink. He was wearing strange clothing: traditional Japanese clothing with armor and a white fluffy thing wrapped around him. The girls stood up and stared at him unabashedly.

"I am Sesshomaru. As I believe you have already been informed by Miss Higurashi, you are in Hell – however, you are in the first layer of Hell, which means that you will live life as you did on Earth but work hard each day for it.

"According to the record book, all six of you, including your friend Miss Tanaka, are in Hell not because of your sins, but because of the curse of Demon Run. No, this is not an elaborate prank, and no, you will not be allowed to go back to Earth. You have all been dead for twelve hours now. Are there any questions?" The demon's voice was monotone and uncaring. He ignored the fresh tears brought to the girls' eyes.

Eri raised her hand.

"Yes, Miss Ito?"

"Where is Sango, sir?" Eri asked meekly.

"Your friend tried to escape and was 'killed', in a sense. She was dragged down to the layer of Hell below this one – layer 2. Layer 2 isn't terrible, your friend will not be miserable for eternity, but she does have to work very, very hard… and yes, you'll be able to visit her. As you'll see, each person gets assigned a job in Hell. These jobs become more brutal, more time consuming, and more complicated and numerous for each layer. The residents of layer 9 never sleep because they fear the nightmares, never eat because they're too miserable. Let that be a warning to you."

The girls nodded in understanding. Eri, Yuka, Ayumi, and Ayame watched with wide eyes as the bars coiled up slowly. Kagome understood now: This was a test. If one of them tried to escape… she would be killed and sent to layer 2. Well, then why had Naraku done it while she had been chained? 'Because he's a show-off.'

Thankfully the girls had taken Sesshomaru's warning seriously and didn't try to escape. He motioned to them for follow him, and only then did the five girls, who were huddled close, move. They walked down a long, narrow hallway, made out of the same oozing mud as their cell. Kagome began to wonder if all buildings in Hell looked so miserable. It looked as though everything was simply a large tunnel dug underground.

Sesshomaru led the way to a large room. He walked over to a desk, with a sign above it announcing "Work Placement and Reassignment".

"Newcomers," Sesshomaru said briefly to the demon behind the counter. The demon nodded and counted five heads. He turned away for a second and ducked down. A moment later he reappeared with five plastic cards and a hole puncher. He slid them over to Sesshomaru, who nodded in gratitude.

"These are your options, adjusted to what your skills were in life."

To Kagome's great amazement, each option did fit her skills in life. "Painting… psychology… Wait, demon control?"

"Because you seem to have a deep understanding of the human mind – psychology – demon control is an option to soothe demons and reckless humans. You will develop your skills. All skills such as painting, knitting, and carving, are for items to be bought, just like on Earth. You will carve tables, paint designs, and so on. As I have told you, the first layer of Hell is much like life on Earth. You don't have such nice options when you are in the second layer. You will work from 7 am to 5 pm each day. You then have from 5 pm to 7 pm to shop for whatever items you need, then you are to retire to the place you live."

The girls nodded briefly. One by one, each girl took the hole puncher and put it through the box next to the option they wanted most. Kagome was the last to pick. Painting… something she had loved her entire life… or demon control, something that could help others. She felt new tears rise up and begin to pool in her eyes. She blinked them away. She couldn't cry now. She put the hole puncher through the box next to "Demon control" and sadly pushed the card on to the desk. Immediately she received a badge with her name and occupation, which she put on her shirt.

Kagome Higurashi
Demon Control
Layer 1

Still… she held on to the feeling that maybe this wasn't all there was going to be for her. Maybe there was still a chance… maybe that feeling, that sense of something needing to be done, was genuine. Maybe there was still hope.

A/N: I know, I know, don't worry… it doesn't stay this way, Kagome doesn't stay in layer 1 and just complain about how miserable she is the whole time. There IS a plot to this, after all... involving an adventure. Just sit tight. XD