Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha or any other characters from the series. I just wish I did!

WARNING: This story will contain chapters with violence, mature subject matter and dark themes. If you are underage or if any of this kind of content may offend you then please leave now.

Also I am aware that my spelling is bad, but no one I know, knows I write stories so I have no one to proof read my work.

Reviews are very much appreciated.

Chapter SEVEN BLOOD

He sat quietly at the back of the class taking notes from the chalk board. He couldn't help but quickly glance at the empty desk next to him. Kagome was absent again. This was a whole week now of her being a no show. Over the past two months she'd been missing more and more days of school, but never a whole week. Except one week exactly two months ago.

He'd heard rumours that she'd been attacked again. Haled out of her own house and into the trees. No one could be as unlucky as she was. But there definitely was something about her that always seemed to attract it's own brand of trouble, where ever she went!

Then she reappeared at school as if nothing had happened. Her arm in a sling. She'd said it was nothing, an accident at the shrine. Fell out of a tree apparently! She told everyone she was fine but he knew better. He was probably the only person who really knew what she was hiding. There was something in her eyes and even when she was staring at him out of disgust, he could see it. He could see it in her body language and the way she acted. She distanced herself from people even more then usual, even her friends. She avoided eye contact, kept her head down. Sometimes she would drift off into another world, her eyes glazing over before suddenly shaking her head and coming back to reality. She looked scared and nervous. He wondered what the voices were telling her. He wondered why she wasn't fighting back anymore. For the past two months he'd watched as she faded away.

His eyes darted back to the empty desk again. He wondered where she was right now. He wondered why he cared. She was just like everyone else after all. She hated him and wanted nothing to do with him. She could careless if he was dead. So why did he care? Why had he ever interfered in the first place?

Outside the window the late afternoon sun was making it's way towards the horizon. He felt a twinge of guilt in his gut as he told himself there was nothing he could do.

Kagome sat on her bed. She stared at the window as the orange light from the afternoon sun filled her room. A gentle breeze whispered across her window sill. A forewarning messenger of the storm that was coming.

A voice whispered,

"Kagome ... Kagome ... you will do as I say!"

"... no ..."

"Yes Kagome. You will. Or you know what will happen!"

"You'll hurt me no matter what. I wont let you hurt them."

"Hurt? ... who said anything about hurt? I want you to kill them!"

"I wont."

"You can kill them yourself and they wont suffer ... or I will make you kill them ... and I will make you watch them die ... slowly."

"NO!" Kagome yelled.

Night fell. It was pitch black, the wind now howled outside, rain had began to pelted the roof drowning out the sounds of Kagome's footsteps. The demon was making good on his promise. If she refused to do as he said, he would make her do it! Kagome's arm reached up and quietly push the bedroom door open. She strained against the force that moved her. She tried to scream but she couldn't open her mouth. As she hovered over her younger brother's bed, watching him sleep, wondering if he was dreaming, praying he would not wake up, tears rolled down her face.

"I told you Kagome ... this will not be quick!"

Kagome's arm rose high into the air again. The light from Souta's fish tank gleamed against the steal blade of the carving knife in her hand.

"First you're going to cut his throat, but only just enough so he can't scream." the voice sounded amused.

"Then I'll show you just how to cut him open. He won't die. He'll watch as his sister dissects him. I'll make sure he doesn't die. He'll feel every slice, every jab! But he won't die ... not until I let him! You know I can. You've seen me do it before! Remember?"

Kagome did remember ... she remembered her father. The office had been covered in blood, but he never screamed, he never gave in, never told the demon what he wanted. All he said was,

'I'm sorry Kagome. Be strong, follow your heart.' Those had been her father's dying words

The tears flowed down Kagome's face as she remembered. She refused to let the same thing happen to anyone else, at her hand or anyone else's. She felt her arm move against her will, fast and hard. She heard the evil laughter echoing in her ears. If he wanted blood then he'd get it!

Sota awoke. A pain pierced his arm. He looked over to see a large blade was stuck in his mattress. It had just nicked his shoulder. He jumped up and looked around frantically. His bedroom was empty, but the door stood open. Slowly he made his way towards the door. Slowly he stepped into the dark hallway and looked around. Everything was quiet and still. Down the hall Kagome's door was wide open. Souta heard footsteps coming up the stairs and froze. He breathed a sigh of relief as Miroku and his grandfather appeared running up the stairs. Miroku reached him first,

"Souta? Are you ok? Why is there blood on you shirt?"

Souta lifted a shaky hand and pointed to the knife in his bed.

"What the Hell!" Miroku said when he saw it.

"Souta go with your grandfather and get out of the house. Get in the car ... !"

"What about Kagome?"

"I'll get her and meet you there!"

Miroku moved down the hall towards Kagome's bedroom. He had no idea what he would find when he stepped into the room. He had to be ready for anything.

He moved quickly, jumping around the corner and looking about wildly. But it was empty. The window was open and rain was pouring down the windowsill onto the floor, while the wind wiped the curtains about. Where was Kagome? Miroku moved towards the window and looked out. Lightening lit up the sky followed almost immediately by a crash of thunder. As the light illuminated the ground Miroku caught site of a set of footprint in the mud leading away from the base of the tree that grew just outside Kagome's window. Another flash of lightening, Miroku eyes followed the footprints, they lead to the edge of the forest and disappeared inside.

In this weather the trail wouldn't last long. He needed to hurry! As fast as he could he ran down to the kitchen. He grabbed his rain coat and headed out into the rain. He told Souta and his grandfather that Kagome was missing. He told them to drive to his apartment and wait there until they heard from him. Souta wasn't having anything to do with this plan. He wanted to help find his sister, but Miroku told him to go.

As the lightening and thunder waged war around him, Miroku armed himself with a baseball bat and a flashlight and marched into the woods.

Kagome ran through the woods. Her bare feet slid sideways in the wet leaf litter and slipped on the smooth tree roots that crisscross over the forest floor. Her sides hurt, her feet hurt, her head really hurt, and she was soaked to the bone but she didn't stop. She wasn't going to give him the chance to take her back. She couldn't believe how close she had come to killing Souta. She refused to give him another chance to succeed.

Kagome tried to remember how she had gotten free from the demon, but all she remembered was suddenly being blown back onto the floor. Terrified she'd looked up only to see the knife embedded in the mattress. Feeling dizzy she'd gotten to her feet and ran to her room. She knew what she had to do. There was only one way to keep her family safe. Now she was running through the dark forest in the middle of a thunderstorm.

"Where do you think you are going bitch?" screamed the voice.

Kagome ignored it. The voice was furious. She could hear his angry gasps for breath in her ear. He sounded hurt, as if somehow he'd been injured when Kagome broke free from his control. She wasn't going to give him the chance to regain his control.

Miroku had been walking for over an hour. In the dark the trail was hard to follow and he kept wandering off it. He cursed every time he wasted time trying to find it again. At this rate Kagome would be long gone before he even figured out what was going on! Miroku shined the light up looking through the trees to see if he could recognise where he was. As the weak light moved between the trees he caught sight of something moving. Quickly he ducked down turning the light off. At first he considered calling out to see if it was Kagome, but he couldn't risk it being the attacker and losing the element of surprise. Instead he waited, hidden behind a fallen log. The rain had let up a bit but the wind still howled making it hard to hear. A flash of lightening lit the trees. Miroku caught site of the bedimmed figure again. It was definitely not Kagome. They were taller and moving fast through the trees. Moving fast towards the house. Miroku gripped the bat tightly as he readied to ambush the stranger. He took a deep breath and rolled out ready to hit the first thing he saw,

"Where's Kagome!" he yelled into the darkness.

Nothing. Not the slightest movement or sound besides the wind. He'd lost him.

"Did you say Kagome?" came a voice from behind him. Miroku spun around swinging the bat through the darkness. He could just make out a figure in the darkness. Apparently he'd misjudged the strangers speed and come out behind him.

"Why are you looking for Kagome?" The stranger asked taking a step forwards. Miroku swung the bat. The guy put up his hand just in time to catch the bat and rip it out of Miroku's hand.

"Answer me who are!" yelled Miroku feeling a little less confident without the weapon in his hand. This stranger seemed to be having less difficulty with the darkness then he was.

"What did you do with Kagome?"

The stranger took a moment to consider the young man. He didn't seem like much of a threat. He was looking for Kagome, he was worried about her that much was for sure. He put up his hands to say he wasn't there to cause trouble but of course they could barely see each other.

"Look I don't know Kagome ... and I don't know where she is ... I was ... just taking a walk."

"In the middle of a thunderstorm?" asked Miroku sarcastically.

"I like thunder!" he answered simply.

"Sure! Well if your just out for a walk then you wont mind if I see your face .." Miroku whipped out the flashlight and shown it in the direction of the voice. But there was no one there. He turned shining the light through the trees but there was no one to be seen.

Had he imagined the guy? Miroku took a deep breath and relaxed. The whole situation was starting to get to him. He had to find Kagome.

Kagome stumbled as she suddenly emerged from the trees. Her lungs hurt from trying to catch her breath, her knees and arms were all scratched from running through the trees. The wind wiped her hair around her face as she looked up to see where she was. Getting up she walked forwards, the ground beneath her feet changed from the softer spongy forest floor to hard cold rock. The wind brought the smell of salt, and seaweed, the sound of waves hitting rock. Taking a few more steps Kagome found herself staring a hundred feet down into cold steel grey waters. The huge waves from the storm crashed against the jagged rocks. A certain death for anyone who fell.

Carefully Kagome kicked a small pebble off the ledge and watched it fall. It seemed to take forever to finally disappear into the turbulent waves. It tumbled and turned in the air, bouncing off the rock wall and finally disappearing without a trace.

That's what she would do, she'd disappear without a trace. The demon would never be able to hurt her, or anyone else ever again!

"You don't have the nerve!" the voice laughed in her ear.

"Little Kagome ... scared ... weak. You're wasting my time. Go Home!"

"No ..." she answered out loud. If he wanted blood, he'd get it. But it would be hers and not anyone else's!

Kagome took a step forwards. It felt like she'd walked off the edge of the earth. The wind wiped by her, her stomach lurched, tears rolled down her cheeks ... but at least her family was safe.

THE END!

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JUST KIDDING!

Let me know if you want to read more or if I should just stop here! LoL

Luv U!

R&R