Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha and I don't make any profit from this story.


"No one can confidently say that he will still be living tomorrow."

-Euripides

o~O~o

Jennifer Ito turned the flashlight she was holding off and placed her book on her night-table. She had gotten used to this. Their electricity went out almost every month because her mom couldn't afford to pay the bill on time. She knew her mom tried her best, and being a single mom certainly didn't make it any easier.

'Of course the electricity has to go out on my birthday..' she thought disappointedly.

She was eighteen years old as of today. Her mom had gone out to buy her favorite type of cake: ice cream cake.

Jennifer, unlike a lot of teenagers her age, would spend her birthdays with her mom, eating cake, playing games, or just going out to the movies. She didn't mind really, she loved her mom. But she did wish she had friends who would want to hang out or throw a party for her birthday.

That wasn't going to happen any time soon though. She had no friends.

Of course she couldn't blame them for not wanting to be friends with her. After all, she couldn't speak, laugh, tell jokes or secrets. She had been born mute because her vocal chords hadn't developed properly.

It was frustrating, to want to sing, to laugh, or to want to explain what your feeling, but no words come out. She also had to be homeschooled because the one year she tried going to a public school was horrible. The other students constantly made fun of her, taking advantage of the fact she couldn't speak, and therefore wouldn't be able to yell for a teacher. She had gotten depressed because of how she was treated there. It wasn't her fault she was born this way, so why did they have to be so mean?

Jennifer stretched her arms over her head and yawned. Standing up from her comfy bed, she walked over to her dresser and rummaged through one of the drawers. Grabbing the article of clothing she was looking for, she put on the sweater her mother had bought her last Christmas. For a summer night, it was pretty cold out. The sky had been dark all day, like it was going to rain, though it hadn't yet.

Deciding to grab something to drink, she walked into the kitchen, not needing the flashlight at the moment. She could still see everything because it wasn't completely dark. A sudden gust of wind stirred the milky white curtains.

'The window is open?' she didn't remember opening it at all today. But maybe her mom had opened it to let some fresh air in the house. Going over to the window, where the curtains billowed against her face, she pulled it closed and looked outside. It had started raining, but it seemed like it would only be a drizzle. The glass held the steam from her breath, and she wiped it clean with the sleeve of her sweater. How long was her mom going to take? It was just ice cream cake. Maybe there was traffic?

The front door suddenly blew open, and Jennifer ran to close it. It took a minute for her to close it because of how hard the wind was blowing against it. Finally the door closed with a 'click' and she leaned against it, breathing hard. She hugged herself, becoming slightly nervous. The house had become darker. She caught a sudden movement from the corner of her eye and turned, looking around uncertainly.

Hadn't she just seen someone walking in the hallway? She must have been seeing things.

'Calm down' she thought to herself 'You're not a little girl anymore. You're eighteen'

But still...

She quickly went back into the kitchen and grabbed a knife. 'Just in case' she thought.

Holding the knife tightly, she walked slowly toward the hallway. Standing quietly for a moment, she listened.

Nothing.

Rolling her eyes and then closing them she leaned against the wall for a moment. 'I'm such a baby'

She felt the blow against her head, swift and furious, then stood in complete shock. 'Oh God...' Blood ran down her face as she staggered forward toward the living room, where, in a blind panic, she dove behind the sofa. She crouched there for what seemed like hours, shaking in terror while outside the wind made a frightening whistling sound.

'Mom!' she tried to scream, but of course, nothing came out.

Something then struck the back of her head, making the knife she was holding fly out of her hand. A fist was now dragging her by the roots of her hair as she kicked and clawed at the hand. She tried screaming but no sound came. She continued thrashing and finally broke loose, but another blow impacted her forehead and her eyes filled with blood. She whirled around and flailed at shadows, staggering backwards, and to her horror, tripping over a shoe that was left on the floor.

She looked around frantically, blinking the blood out of her eyes. Looking up, she saw the outline of a looming figure standing over her, and she could make out the small glint of the knife in his hand that she had dropped.

Fear like she never felt before, consumed her. Taking a deep breath, she prayed she would be able to make a sound, just this once so someone could hear her, save her.

Her first and final scream died in her throat as the sharp knife sliced through her neck.