A few hours later found Kagome and myself being 'escorted' through the woods. It had to be well into the night as the moon was the only light to help guide my feet from haphazardly tripping over roots and such. Kagome didn't seem to be faring any better, yet she was dressed in jeans, a t-shirt plus tennis shoes, which led me to care a lot less about her well-being at the moment than my own.
"What happened to your other clothes?" I asked curiously and somewhat enviously. I would be trapped by chains by a bunch of lunatics in nothing other than stripper clothing, while the chick who landed me here was fully clothed. It was extremely depressing.
"Fred gave me the rest of the night off right before all this happened," she said, referring to our manager at the gentleman's club. "I was just about to leave when all the lights flashed off, and the next thing I knew you were tripping over me."
"Yeah, about that" I whispered to her. "What the hell is going on, where the fuck am I and what did you do to make this happen?"
"I didn't do anything!" Kagome had the nerve to look indignant.
"Um, as I recall, you were shouting how sorry you were to me as a giant invisible force tore us apart in some creepy pitch black void, and the next thing I know, I'm being sold as a damn sex slave to the man who leapt INTO the air and floated away about an hour ago. Now I'm going to ask you again, WHAT DID YOU DO?"
I was still completely shocked from the recent events. Who wouldn't have been? Not the mention the man, thing, beast? Whatever, went flying through the air and disappeared, leaving us with the toad creature, and the damn thing was all too pleased to yank on my extended chains just to see me trip and fall as we walked aimlessly through the forest. If he kept that up I was going to end up spraining my ankle. Walking in these giant heels was hard.
Kagome looked stricken as we wandered deeper into the woods.
"Rin, I don't know what happened, okay? I just kept having these dreams about a man in some sort of red robe who was searching for me. He said there was a way to bring me to him if I wanted to go and I said yes. I thought it was only a dream, and I had no idea we would end up like this. I'm really sorry."
"What, you had no idea the man in the red robe's idea of a good time was selling us as sex slaves to Superman?" I just wanted to shut my eyes, wake up and have this horrid nightmare be over. Was that too much to ask?
Clearly it was.
"Why would you want to be in a place like this anyway? Is your life back home so unappealing?" I looked down at the forest floor, trying to hide the hut in my face. We'd practically been through everything together. We were soul sisters of a sort. At least I thought we were.
"It's not that I don't like living with you. I love you, Rin. It's just that I'm lonely. That's why I thought I'd dreamt up the perfect man. I'm not lonely when I'm with him. It's refreshing and he's perfect." Kagome looked away shyly. "I know it sounds stupid."
"No." I reached out awkwardly, the chains rattling together. "No, it sounds great, Kagome. Really. I understand what you're saying to me." Gold eyes flashed in my mind, causing my heart to race and a slow burn to start in my womb. I nearly jerked back in surprise, trying to rid myself of the image. I couldn't be thinking about my captor, especially romantically. I needed to get out of these chains and escape with Kagome.
"This… None of this makes sense at all. We need to get the hell out of here," I whispered to a startled Kagome.
"Hush you pathetic humans! The great and powerful Lord Sesshomaru has left me to deal with you fools, and I won't allow you to talk unless spoken to." The toad creature screeched out, yanking the long chains in attempt to startle us.
I tripped over a fallen branch, nearly plummeting to the ground. The toad shrieked in laughter as I stopped to peel off the stilettos. Angry, I threw the stilettos into a dense part of the forest, hoping they would have traveled further, but what with the shackles, I would settle for that.
Why were we even still here? The deliciously handsome demon man was gone, leaving us with a 3 ft tall toad. Couldn't we just overpower the damn thing and run back home?
Why hadn't I thought of this an hour ago?
I glanced up at Kagome before directing my eyes at the toad and back to her. Her own widened in alarm.
"Rin, are you saying—"
"SILENCE!" The chains clanked together furiously.
Angered by the toad's attitude, I slowly nodded my head before mouthing, 'one, two, three' and with that we both yanked roughly on the chains that bound us, sending the creature plummeting to the ground on his back, brown kimono flying all around him. His odd looking walking stick clanked onto the hard earth.
I leapt for the toad, wrapping the end of my chain around his neck and applying a tiny bit of pressure. He squeaked in surprise, arms flailing wildly as his face puffed up from the slight lack of oxygen.
"Kagome, quick! The keys are in his kimono pocket. Fish them out, will you?" The toad started squirming and yelling, causing dirt to fly up and lodge itself in his throat as he inhaled what little breath he could.
"Why you insolent—Aah," the creature began coughing fiercely, his small neck tightening even further along the chain.
"Don't move," I glared down at him. "Kagome, come on already. Don't just stand there, help us get out of this mess!"
"Right, sorry." She rushed over, ignoring the clanking sound of our chains as she searched for the keys. "I don't feel… Ah, there they are."
In moments we were both freed from the heavy chains. I wanted to weep with joy, but first we had to tie up the toad. I started dragging the unconscious toad off the main dirt road and towards the forest.
"There's a thick enough tree right there, Rin. We'll just tie him up and toss the key into the road so when someone finds him he can get free." Kagome picked up the toad's large staff that had fallen.
"You want someone to help him? He's been nothing but an ass to both of us!" I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Help this thing out? Was she serious? It was a monster!
"We can't just tie him up to a tree for the next fifty years and expect him to be fine, alright? Jeez. We're not barbarians."
"Speak for yourself," I muttered bitterly as we hauled him up against the tree and tied him there. Kagome gently set the key on the dirt before drawing a giant circle around it with the tip of his cane.
"Release the Staff of Two Heads at once! Lord Sesshomaru will see you killed for this direct disobedience!" Clearly the little demon creature had woken up.
"He'll have to catch us first," I winked at the toad. I looked to Kagome as she set the staff down. "Let's find home and make sure we stay there forever, got it?" She nodded and we set off on our unlikely journey.
~*~
"I think we're lost." Kagome's voice echoed back to me.
We'd been wandering for hours and had yet to come across any city streets, shops or houses. Hell, I couldn't even see a cell phone tower. It was just past dawn and I feared we'd be stuck traveling throughout the forest for the rest of our lives. Or at least until something like a giant bear found us and ate us for breakfast.
The thought of breakfast had my stomach rumbling.
"We're not lost, Kagome. Just wait, any second now and we're going to stumble upon a McDonald's or a Starbucks. Those things are practically everywhere, so we'll find one unless we've traveled back in time to a place where fast food doesn't exist. Ha."
I just wanted to rest. Eat. Sleep. Dream about seductive golden eyes staring straight into my soul. Was that too much to hope for? I didn't think so, especially after the last 24 hours I had.
"How's your battery doing?"
Kagome's flashlight app on her phone was shining brightly into the darkness.
"It looks like the battery has about-" The light shut off abruptly. "I think it died." Kagome's voice became melancholy.
I sped up along, grabbing Kagome's arm reassuringly. "That's okay, it's been helpful for the last few hours. I'm just glad you had it on you."
"Do you hear that," Kagome asked.
I strained my ears. Everything was quiet.
"No, I don't hear anything, why?"
"That's my point. Shouldn't there be birds chirping or something? There were a few minutes ago and now there's nothing but silence."
"I don't know, Kagome. My nickname might be Snow White, but I'm not ACTUALLY Snow White. Or Mary Friggin' Poppins. I don't care why the birds stopped singing, alright? It's probably because we're making a heck of a lot of noise by trumping through all these bushes. All I DO know is that I'm tired and hungry, so I could care less about some birds and their lack of vocal chords. Besides, what birds chirp at night? It's probably bats or something."
"I think someone is following us. I don't know why, but I can feel it. Almost like eyes are staring into my soul. The presence definitely feels demonic." Kagome stop moving and shut her eyes. It was almost as if her entire body hummed with energy. A small white light started to shine from her chest. The more still she became, the more the light began to cover her entire body.
"Kagome… I'm starting to get a little freaked out right now. Why are you talking about demonic auras, and why the hell are you glowing?" I took a cautious step back.
Goosebumps broke out along my exposed flesh, so practically everywhere, as the hair on Kagome's head slowly began to lift into the air, almost as if it were defying the laws of gravity.
I took another quick step back. Kagome's eyes shot open and she screamed, "The demon that bought us! Run!"
A pair of golden eyes flashed through my mind as I hurried along after Kagome, who was rushing ahead of me through the woods. My feet were bare, swollen and aching. No doubt they were cut from walking through the forest for hours without my heels on, but I rushed after Kagome, trying in vain to catch up to her. Kagome raced ahead, her dark clothing nearly masking her completely in the darkness.
I felt more than heard movement behind me a second before strong arms grabbed me around the waist, and threw me lightly on the ground. I landed on my back and saw a streak of white before my captor was lying on top of me. The beautiful one with golden eyes.
Lord Sesshomaru.
"You will stay as I collect your friend." He breathed down at me, his body practically molded to mine through his kimono. Silver hair fell around me, seeming to make a curtain between our faces and the rest of the world. "Do you understand, human?"
"Yes." The word came out on a sigh.
A strong pool of desire made its way from my head all the way to my toes. Why was I so captivated by this man?
The demon inhaled deeply, head coming towards the nape of my neck. His nose brushed along the column of my neck, causing a shiver to work its way up from my spine. For an instant I thought he was going to lick my neck.
He stood up abruptly before silently approaching the direction Kagome was in. I shook my head, determined to regain my senses. I couldn't let him get to her, could I? We didn't both need to suffer the same fate at the hands of this brutal demon. God, he ATE people. How was I going to stop him?
I leapt up and charged after him, launching myself off the ground and onto his large, and surprisingly muscular, back. Hands latching along his neck, I probably looked like I wanted a piggy ride, but he stopped suddenly and began to grab my arms. I covered his eyes with my hands, ignoring his growl of frustration.
"Run! Run and don't come back! Get away from here!" I shouted out, hoping Kagome heard me. Lord Sesshomaru turned quickly, causing my legs to flail wildly as my hands clung to his head.
Angry, although gentle, hands wrapped themselves around me and yanked me off of his back. I flew forward, breasts popping out from my sequined top as I slammed face-first onto the ground roughly, breath leaving my lungs in a rush. I scrambled up awkwardly, shrieking as Lord Sesshomaru grabbed my arm and flipped me onto my back. Breasts bared, I stared up at him, horrified of what would happen next. I used my bruised heels to push myself further back, shrinking away as the demon approached me, silver hair swaying gently in the breeze.
Blood red eyes stared down at me, his jaw elongating as his markings stretched dangerously.
This was it. I was going to be eaten. Lord Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed towards my exposed breasts. Oh God. Was he going to rape me before he ate me? I shivered uncontrollably, hands reaching up to put my bra back together, effectively covering myself.
We stared at each other for long minutes before his face returned to normal and his eyes shifted back into that gorgeous gold. He walked until his kimono brushed my knees.
"You ARE MINE." The words hissed out on a breath before his hand reached down to caress my forehead. Then the forest went dark as did the entire world around me.
