Edited 10/31/2010
Chapter IV: The Closed Door Opens
Inuyasha sat silently his arms crossed over his chest and his legs tucked under him in much the same way as a dog. The normal gentle golden eyes were closed off to the world and his breathing was abnormal; almost like he was being forced to take the next breath. With every hiss it sounded as if it would be his last and maybe the next one would be if only he allowed it.
He did not feel at all like himself today. Something was just—wrong. Balancing carefully in the current tree he was residing in, Inuyasha took a few deep collecting breaths. They did not seem to calm him down at all.
He leaned forward and placed his head in his hands. It was coming, something he couldn't stop. He felt it building inside of him, a deep and imposing sort of frustration. His head began to pound, as if his brain was pushing against his skull.
Inuyasha panted and put his head between his knees. He let out a very puppy like whine as he closed his eyes tight. He was losing control of himself, he could feel it in the back of his mind; something was pulling taunt within him. It was like a string was tied to a door within a hidden part of his brain. He had felt this door open before. It was the door that contained his demon blood and kept it in check.
Inuyasha gasped as the door opened just a little bit. A sneering hot sensation ran into his body. It felt like someone was ripping into his mind. He clutched his head harder as he attempted not to howl in pain. He couldn't stop it, he was fighting as hard as he could to keep the door sealed shut but no matter how hard he tried it was only pulled opened harder.
"Inuyasha?" His eyes snapped open and his fist tightened into neat balls as he looked down to the ground. Kagome was standing there her eyes filled with worry.
"Ka—go—," The pounding in his head intensified as his vision blurred. Suddenly he felt weightless, it took him a moment to realize he was falling out of the tree. Without enough time to stop himself he simply hit the ground full force.
Kagome cried out stunned by the hanyou's sudden fall and ran to his side. "Inuyasha!" She called as she helped him to sit up.
He felt the familiar pull; the string was becoming more forceful. "Kagome." He forced out as he looked at her, pain registering on his face.
"Inuyasha, what's wrong?"
The look of worry on her face caused him to relax for a second, it was the only second the string needed. A quick rushing pull on the strand made Inuyasha gasp as he felt his demon side enter his mind, it flooded him. He tried to push it back into the door, tried to force it back behind the wall that his sword was supposed to help keep in place but it was already too late.
He pounced on Kagome causing her to fall over backwards onto the ground successfully pinned beneath his heavy form. "Inu—Yasha! What are you doing?" She gulped as she was met with dark gold eyes. They were not the red of his usual demon transformation, no, they were just darker gold—almost black.
His breath tickled her cheek and his hooded orbs rocked the very core of her being.
"Kagome—" He breathed out as he moved closer to her only stopping when his lips were mere inches from touching her own rosy ones. She gasped as he leaned forward and touched their two auras together in a blinding twist of demonic and human. Kagome closed her eyes hastily almost forgetting the eerie blackness in his eyes.
Their lips crushed together even harder when he opened his mouth and made the silent suggestion for her to open her own. Maybe it was a natural confidence that made her open her mouth or maybe it was the passion that blinded her. Either way she opened up to him and allowed him to battle her with his tongue.
Somewhere though, in the back of Kagome's mind, a thought—a picture—was formed. Hard cold eyes of blood red flashed into her thoughts, red. She saw the look he had given her when she first walked in, his normal beautiful gold had been merged with a Safire, causing his eyes to appear blackened.
His lips moved from hers and scorched her throat as he rained open mouthed kisses down to her collar bone. His hands came up around her sides making her shiver whenever a stray claw would find bare skin to tease. She felt his legs move her knees apart before moving his body to rest against her core. She shivered with delight.
"Kagome?"
The voice entered her head much to her annoyance. Choosing to focus on Inuyasha she tuned out the sound and instead moaned as his lips moved farther down her body. His nose pushed down the sleeve of her shirt giving him full access to her collar bone and shoulder. She felt his fangs as he brought them into her flesh and for once he hurt her. The gasp that ripped through her throat haunted her and made him moan with triumph or maybe lust. He licked the small trace of blood away and began to nibble some more as a growl of satisfaction bubbled from deep within his chest.
In Kagome's mind she knew that something was not right with Inuyasha. Something about him was not the hanyou she knew, the hanyou that she loved. Inuyasha, no matter what, did not have the power to hurt her and Inuyasha was not a man who was this forward to begin with. Inuyasha was shy, Inuyasha was loving, Inuyasha was easily scared. This man was confident, this man was full of lust, this man was unafraid.
"Kagome you must listen!"
The voice sounded panicked to her muddled mind.
"You must stop him"
She felt her shirt being ripped away from her and the feel of a nose at the edges of her bra caused her to groan with pleasure. How could she think of stopping him right now when he was the cause of all her love and need? There was nothing in the world that could stop her from thinking about the passion of Inuyasha's lips on her.
She listened to the sounds he was making, it was like he could no longer talk but he still wanted to. Grunts, groans, yips, and little barks were all she heard as he nipped the top of her breast. But then she heard a growl, a full fledge growl of passion erupting from his chest. It went through her by means of his swollen lips.
"Stop! Kagome, please listen, you must stop him."
She tried to ignore the feeling the voice was giving her. She was being selfish, she knew it, she knew that the voice was right. She needed to stop Inuyasha, she needed to find out if he was okay, he had only moments before fallen out of a tree with his hands clutching his head. What if something was severely wrong? She needed to know.
The feel of him caressing her breast stopped her train of thought. She couldn't pin point the moment her breast became exposed if she tried. All she knew was that now she was vulnerable to his questing tongue and all she could feel was that tongue licking over her creamed nipples as he suckled.
"Inuyasha." She hissed as he bit down gently. "Inu—Ya—sha!" Nothing could stop the cries, the screams, from leaving her mouth at that moment. Then again she had been proven wrong before, many times before.
"Kagome! This is not Inuyasha! This is no hanyou, this is his demon!"
The image of Inuyasha with bloodied claws and rag filled red eyes was forced into her mind. She saw him licking the blood off of his fingers, her blood as her body lay before him with dead eyes.
"Stop!" She screamed as she pushed him away, her hands coming up to cover her chest, quickly she looked into his eyes and saw the red hinging with the gold. "Stop, please."
He panted violently looking hurt and slightly irritated, frustrated even. "Why?"
"You're a demon." She knew right then that she had just made the biggest mistake of her life. His ears flattened to his head, his teeth clenched shut and his hair bristled on the back of his neck.
"I'm a demon? I thought you embraced my demon blood?"
"You don't understand! I didn't mean it like that. I meant that you're transforming."
"Fuck Kagome, I would know if I'm transforming. Save your shit filled excuses."
It had been a long time since she had heard Inuyasha really cuss at her. She watched in stunned silence as the dog-demon stood and pulled himself away from her. His eyes were filled with hurt and red.
"Inuyasha, you have to understand."
"What is there to understand?" He shouted at her as his face continued to change. She could see the marks forming, she could see the red taking over his eyes.
"Look at you!"
"I am looking at me Kagome and all I see is the same filthy half breed you're disgusted by." He turned away from her. The demonic aura that was flowing from him was growing stronger and stronger. She felt fear race through her whole body at the feel of it.
She saw his nose sniff the air and he turned back to her with angry eyes.
"And now you're fucking afraid of me." He yelled as he came towards her, dragging her up from the ground. His claws went into her flesh, they were longer than normal and sharper as well.
"Inuyasha, it hurts." She said in a timid voice as the claws punctured her flesh. As if realizing what she was saying he dropped her without preamble.
"Damn it!" He cursed. "Damn it, damn it, damn it."
"Inuyasha please, listen."
"Shut up!" He snarled as he backed away from her. He looked at the blood on his claws, his eyes were almost completely red. "I don't care what the fuck you have to say. If a half breed isn't good enough for you then I'll just get out of your way!"
"Inuyasha don't!" She called. "Just listen to me, please."
He growled at her and leapt a good hundred feet away. The string that had tugged on his mind before became tight once again. It was pulling harder, stronger, it wanted to completely release the demon, to destroy Inuyasha's ability to reason.
"Fuck off Kagome." He yelled right before the string finally succeeded. The door completely opened and the demon in him snarled in triumph as it darted into the woods.
"Inuyasha!" She screamed as she reached for him knowing full well she could never make it.
"Kagome, you must find him and help him."
The voice ordered her. Kagome began to cry as she frantically looked for Inuyasha. "Why did I say that? Why did I have to stop him and make him feel like this?" She punched the ground with a delicate fist and winced in pain.
"If you would not have stopped him Kagome, you would have died."
Her eyes opened wide as she registered what was just said. The sound of villagers coming closer to her brought Kagome out of her stupor. She looked up in time to see Kaede with her arrow and bow in hand, followed by Miroku and Sango.
"Kagome-chan?" Sango called out as she ran towards her friend. Never in her life had she expected to see Kagome sitting in the middle of the forest with her shirt torn off and bloody wounds in her arms. "Kagome what happened!"
Sango quickly pulled the apron from her Kimono and used it to wrap around the stunned Miko's slender shoulders.
Kagome was not able to speak as she looked in the direction the transformed Inuyasha had run to. She pointed her eyes filling to the brim with tears. Finally she managed to say one word before fainting. "Inuyasha."
-break-
Inuyasha was running faster than he ever had in his life, the wind was stinging at his eyes and pulling the flesh of his cheeks back as he scowled and howled into the ever mocking sky.
The demon inside of him was in complete control as he ran through the forest. Any trace of the Hanyou Inuyasha was on permanent lock down as he ducked and dodged tree after tree. He came to the edge of a field, the edge of another village that was about five miles away from where he had started.
The blood lust inside of him was taking full control. He wanted to kill, he wanted to maim and destroy everything and everyone in his path. With a sickening smile he cracked his knuckles and turned his eyes to a man standing in the field, working the soil and blackened earth with his shovel unmercifully.
The demon pounced on the man before he could even use his shovel on the soil one last time. His claws sank into the man's chest before ripping it open. With a scream the man fell to the ground, blood oozing from his now open chest cavity. He looked at his attacker and screamed in fear as the man smiled evilly.
Other villagers screamed as they watched the red streak take down the poor defenseless farmer. In an instance more people began to fall and more blood began to pour until one would have thought it was raining red, thick, blood. The demon didn't care who he took down as long as his claws reached his victim.
"Run," Cried a dying man to his only son, the boy obeyed and ran as fast as his short legs could take him. The boy made it all of ten feet before his dead father's eyes beheld his death.
Countless people fell, their knees buckling as they tumbled and their faces contorting in unexplainable horror. Their bodies were ripped to shreds by the demon's sharp claws. Never would the one survivor of this massacre forget the look on the demons face or the way his silver hair tinted with the blood of his friends, his sisters, his mother, and his father. Never would the boy forget those blood red uncaring eyes.
-break-
Kaede hurriedly ordered Miroku to move Kagome into the futon that Shippo had prepared. The wounds that had been inflicted on her shoulder stood out a deep red, telling the old woman something that she had never wanted to hear.
"Get me some cold water Sango, Shippo take the little ones to Mizaki next door."
"Alight," Shippo said with fear present in his eyes. He really did not want to go but Kaede was right. The babies did not need to be near any of this.
"Miroku," The old woman said as she began to apply pressure to Kagome's wound.
"Yes, Kaede-sama?"
"Pray for Kagome—Pray for Inuyasha."
The monk nodded solemnly and tightened his hands into the traditional position of prayer.
-break-
A few villages away a young woman was running innocently through a field. Her young face contorted into a childlike gleam of innocence and peace. Even though the girl was fourteen years old did not mean she was not the same naïve child.
Not too far from her sat her guardian, a young demon of no more than twenty in human appearance but over five hundred in actuality. His silver hair fell gracefully to the ground and his golden eyes watched her intently as she played. Another demon, one far shorter and less becoming, sat beside him on his right hand side; the greenness of his skin and the highness of his nose making him horrendous to all eyes.
As if by the power of the gods themselves the elegant demon stood and looked away from the child in the field of beautiful flowers.
"Sesshoumaru-sama?" The small toad like creature said, "Do you feel that power as well?"
Sesshoumaru did not respond to the toad, he merely stared blankly in the direction of the demonic power.
"Sesshoumaru-sama?" Sounded the voice of the young woman. Her eyes had turned towards him and her young hands had come up to reach out to him. "I feel something strange."
The only response she got from the demon lord was, "Inuyasha."
-break-
"Kouga! What is that Kouga?" A wolf stood on the tip of a cliff looking out into the blueness of the sky. On the air was a purple darkness and the smell that came along with it was of a demon ten times more powerful than Naraku.
"I don't know." The wolf prince whispered. "Whatever it is though, I don't like it."
The true wolfs whined at his heels and hid behind his swishing tail. Never had they felt a power so unsettling and ominous.
"This isn't good." Kouga voiced again.
"Why is that Kouga-sama?"
"This power is familiar to me. I've sensed it once before, I just can't remember where." He put a finger under his chin in thought for a moment before his eyes opened wide with shook.
"Kouga what's wrong."
The wolf chief did not say a word as his eyes widened further in alarm, "Inuyasha!"
-break-
Sango ran back into the hut with the bucket of water sloshing violently with her hastiness. "I got the water Kaede!"
"Good, sit it over there beside her head." The old woman pointed, with a quick nod Sango obeyed and sat the water next to the feverish Miko's head.
"How did this happen, Kaede? Surely Inuyasha wouldn't have done this?"
"Do you sense it Sango?" Kaede replied her voice unsteady as she worked on cleaning the wounds.
Miroku looked up from his prayer and frowned. "Do you mean that demonic energy that is coming from the west, I feel it too, Kaede-sama."
Sango thought for a minute allowing her body to stretch all its senses. The hands that had been calmly resting in her lap clenched on her kimonos hem. "Is that Inuyasha?"
"Yes." Kaede said as she began to mix herbs together more violently. "His power is unbelievable. Never in all my years have I sensed something like this. I wonder what could have triggered such a violent power surge?"
"Could it be something Kagome did?"
Kaede looked away from her work for the briefest of moments "More than likely it is something he did to Kagome."
The room grew silent as the thoughts and pictures formed in their heads. Could it be possible, they all wondered, could it be that Inuyasha had tried to do the unthinkable to Kagome?
"Do you think he tried to?" Mumbled Miroku.
"No!" Sango said her eyes filled with disbelief. "Inuyasha could never hurt any of us. Especially Kagome."
"But," Miroku said with sad eyes. "If he was not our hanyou Inuyasha but a transformed Inuyasha then perhaps, he couldn't help it."
"It is possible Miroku," Said Kaede in a low voice, "If that is the case, however, then what triggered the transformation?"
"Inu—Yasha?" Kagome said in a feverish voice as she opened her eyes.
"Kagome!" They all gathered around the girl as she tried to stand, "Please Kagome lay down, you're hurt." Kaede encouraged but the girl fought back.
"No, I need to get to Inuyasha!"
"What happened?" Kaede asked as she gently pushed the irrational girl down.
"I stopped him," Kagome laid back her hands coming up to cover her face. "He thinks I rejected him but I didn't really! He thinks I don't want him anymore because he's a Youki. He was transforming, and I didn't know how else to stop it." Her eyes snapped open and she sat up fast coming to her feet in a second. "Where is he? I have to stop him!"
Before she could get any further a howl erupted from the west, a sound so horrible and mournful that Kagome thought she might die of sadness or fright.
-break-
"Sesshoumaru-sama, where are we going?" The toad screamed as he ran after the dog lord, one hand holding the staff and the other clutched tight around the leather straps that kept Ahun with him.
"To the village my brother resides in."
"Why?"
"Something is wrong with him and I intend to find out, now shut up."
"Yes Sesshoumaru-sama!" With that they took to the sky, Rin resting on the mighty dragons back along with Jaken. While Sesshoumaru, himself, just soared.
-break-
"Kouga, where are we going?"
The wolf leader ran as fast as he could towards Kagome's scent. He wasn't sure where he was heading, all he knew was that he must find her. If that power really was the Dog-Hanyou's Kagome was in danger. Kouga knew that in Inuyasha's present state he would do anything to claim Kagome.
-break-
A slow movement caught Kaede's eye as she walked outside the hut. A young woman was walking towards her, on one side of her head a pony tail was placed. She was recognizable to the older woman but Kaede still knew that this young lady was far away from being the young innocent they had once known.
"Rin-chan?"
"You remember me Kaede-baa-chan?"
"Of course! Did I not protect you while the others were fighting Naraku?" Rin smiled and walked closer to Kaede. "Is anyone with you Rin?"
"Yes, Sesshoumaru-sama is here as well." She shuffled her feet nervously, "He wanted me to ask where Inuyasha-sama was before he reveled himself. Where is Inuyasha-sama?"
"He is not here." A tall man appeared from behind the girl. The lord brought his one good arm down to rest on the small teenagers shoulder.
"Kaede-sama, I am Sesshoumaru and I wish to speck with you."
"Please come inside but be quite there are babes and young women napping within." Kaede motioned towards the hut but Sesshoumaru did not follow.
"My brothers mate, where is she?"
"Your brother does not have a mate."
Sesshoumaru grunted and rolled his eyes. "The Miko, where is she?"
"She lies within." Kaede said once again directing the demon lord towards the hut. Sesshoumaru sniffed the air and the scent of the woman's blood hit is nose.
"She had been injured?"
"Yes, your brother brought his claws down on her."
Sesshoumaru for the first time in his life looked shocked. He sniffed the air again. "Kaede-sama, what has happened to my brother?"
"He has transformed for unknown reasons. All Kagome has told us is that she rejected him in his transformed state, which sent him into a blood rage."
Sesshoumaru nodded but he still knew something was missing from the puzzle.
-break-
Kouga ran with all his might towards Kagome's scent. Even without the Shikon shards in his legs he was fast, faster than his wolves at least. He stopped suddenly and scented the air right before a she-wolf appeared at his side, her long red hair bouncing in twin pig-tails.
"Ayame?"
"Kouga what's happening? That power, who it is? It feels so familiar."
"That is Inuyasha." Kouga said as they continued to run side by side towards Kagome's scent.
"Inuyasha?"
"Yes, he must have transformed into something. I don't know what it is but it has to be even more powerful than Naraku."
"Kagome might be in danger." Ayame said as she tried to keep up with the he-wolf. Kouga noticed her struggle and lessoned his speed slightly. "This power reeks of lust."
Kouga nodded in agreement
"We need to get to her, if he tries to mate her in his current state he'll kill her. Kagome's strong but she can't take a demon on a blood rage like a demon bitch can."
Kouga looked at the she-wolf in surprise. She was no longer jealous of Kagome, in fact, she seemed to care for her deeply. "Thank you Ayame."
"For what?" She said with a faint blush rising on her cheeks.
"For caring even when I know you don't wanna."
She nodded and smiled as she speed up, showing a great amount of speed. Kouga was impressed by the movements and drilled his legs to keep up with her. Maybe, he thought as he ran next to her shoulder, Ayame would make a good mate.
-break-
"We must hurry." Sesshoumaru said in a stoic voice as he looked towards the ancient Miko.
She nodded her head and yelled for both Sango and Miroku to come to her. The two came out of the hut worry filling their eyes. They looked at the demon lord with wonder as he took in their appearance.
"Kaede-baa-chan?" Sango said as she came towards her.
"Go with Sesshoumaru." The old woman ordered. "Help Inuyasha calm his demon blood."
"No," The great lord himself said, "It is too dangerous for you to go; if he is truly lost to his demon blood he will not come back. He will only kill you without a second thought. I will go and if he is gone I will kill him honorably."
"Sesshoumaru," Kagome whispered from the doorway of the hut. They all turned surprised to see the young woman standing, "why would you do such a thing? I thought you hated Inuyasha."
For a moment a look of deep regret passed over Sesshoumaru's face but it was quickly covered up. "I refuse to let a member of my family, who has my father's blood, die this pitiful death. Even a half-breed deserves to die with honor."
"This," She whispered as she let go of the door and walked towards Sesshoumaru on shaky legs, "This is my fault, please let me go with you. Let me try to bring him back."
"Kagome you can't go!" Sango cried and moved towards the girl but the words that came from Kagome's mouth stopped her.
"I'm the one who did this to him. If he is out of his mind I have to at least try to bring him back to us. I love him Sango, I have to do this."
Sango stood still her eyes focused on the miko's hands; they were clutched into tight balls, balls tight enough to draw blood.
"Kag—Kagome?"
"I have to try."
"Kagome, I have a question for you." Sesshoumaru interjected as he took a step closer to Kagome. When he was right in front of her, he took his one good arm and moved aside her hair, "Is my brother the one who gave you that bite mark on your neck?"
She nodded slowly her eyes coming to look at the mark affectionately—an action that surprised even her.
"He did." She moved her eyes to fixate on the demon before her. "He wasn't trying to hurt me was he?"
"He wasn't, to bite someone when you are an Inu-Youki is a sign of affection." It almost appeared that it was hard for Sesshoumaru to say this. "The mark will go away within a month but to any dog demon it will always be there."
"What do you mean always be there?"
"Subconsciously, the person who gives the mark will always know that you trusted him enough to let him bite you. To Inuyasha that mark will always symbolize trust and devotion even if it fades."
Kagome's eyes brimmed with tears. "I have to go, don't I Sesshoumaru?"
The demon nodded.
"We'll come with you Kagome-sama." Miroku said as he came to stand next to Kagome. Sango came to her other side.
"Kirara!" the demon exterminator called out to the little cat demon at her heels. The demon transformed into her bigger self and roared. A familiar presence stopped them from climbing on Kirara, however.
"Kagome!"
"Kouga! What are you doing here?" Kagome exclaimed as she saw both Kouga and Ayame run towards them. "You too, Ayame?"
"We are here to help with Inuyasha in any way we can." Ayame offered as she stopped just in front of the Miko.
"Not that I care about dog shit but I wanted to make sure you were safe."
"Kouga-kun—"
Sesshoumaru looked at the display with disgust before turning to Rin, "Rin you will stay here, understand?"
"Yes, Sesshoumaru-sama!"
"Let's go, to Inuyasha!" Kagome cried out in a harsh voice. Her body was poised and her mind was clear.
With the wolf demons following on foot and Sesshoumaru gracefully following not too far behind they flew towards the power of Inuyasha. As they got closer the power got greater and the scent of blood became almost strong enough for the humans to smell. They began to see villages that had been ripped apart, not a soul was left; not even a chicken.
Kagome was crying by the time the passed the third massacre. Big tears were glistening on her cheeks and big hiccups were forming in her throat. "Poor Inuyasha," she whispered. "When he comes to himself, he'll be torn up inside. He'll never be able to look at himself again!"
Miroku and Sango could only nod in agreement as the carnage around them was permanently imprinted into their brains.
-break-
The man stood in the shadows, watching both scenes with interest. He could see the demon Inuyasha tearing the villagers apart, and he could see his friends coming to his aid.
But, in reality, the only person he was looking at was Kagome. Carefully, he placed string after invisible string around her heart and mind, knowing she was completely unaware. He smiled and brushed his hair behind his ear, it was red, red like the blood on Inuyasha's claws.
End of Chapter
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