Walk into My Parlor

Disclaimer: Not mine.

Summary: (AU) 99.9 KINU, the hottest radio station, is hosting its annual Halloween Haunted House. Inuyasha has snagged tickets for the first walk through. However, at midnight of Halloween, more than just mechanical monsters awaken in the house and the group finds themselves at the mercy of the true spirits of Halloween.

Warning: Mature means mature.

& & & & & & & & & &

Chapter Ten Mother

Thursday Evening

"Kagome."

"Mmm. What?" Her groggy voice replied from deep under the blankets.

"Inuyasha is on the phone."

"Have him call my cell phone."

"He says it's turned off."

Kagome's hand snaked out, fumbled around with the objects on her nightstand until she found her cell phone.

"Tell him I turned it on."

A few moments later, her cell phone rang.

"Hey."

"Hi. How ya feeling?"

"Uh, better." She lied knowing he couldn't sense it over the phone.

"Listen. Long practice tonight so I won't' be able to make it over. And since there's no school tomorrow, coach is having us arrive at the stadium early because its turf and we normally play on grass, so he wants us to get a feel for it."

"That's fine. I'm just resting."

"Good. Anyway, Sango is taking care of the party."

"Oh, gods. I totally forgot." She groaned. That was the problem with being sick, or at least feeling sick.

"It's fine. Sango actually offered and with you being sick, it worked out."

"Inuyasha." She squeezed her eyes shut. "Good luck."

"Keh."

Kagome giggled, even though it was painful.

"Later."

"Bye Inuyasha."

She sighed as she turned her cell phone off and placed it back on her nightstand. She felt bad for not being able to be a good, supportive girlfriend. All she could do was sleep. And she didn't have the guts to tell him that the marking on her face would prevent her from attending the dance on Saturday.

Kagome cried.

Her body cried itself into a shallow, restless sleep. No dreams of when it would end presented themselves to her. Instead, she was plagued with the horrors yet to come.

Friday

"Kagome, honey, wake up."

"Mmm."

"Kagome, your grandfather, Souta and I are heading out to watching Inuyasha's game. Do you feel like you could make it?"

Kagome reached up and felt her cheek. It was hot and . . . movement? Was that movement she felt underneath the raw skin? No, it couldn't be. A tingling sensation cause by her touch.

"No."

"Okay. We'll probably be back late. There are all kinds of food in the fridge for you to eat. Just reheat and it'll be ready."

"Okay mom."

Her mother left her alone and minutes later she could hear the tires screech as her family away to a game she should be attending. Inuyasha needed her to be there to cheer him on. Instead, she was infected, dirty, and diseased.

And still very hungry.

In the darkness, she found her flannel top to cover herself up. Since it was only her in the house, she needn't worry about pants. Downstairs, she found the delicious food her mom always made. Yet, any movement of her mouth would only cause pain. She had to settle for a glass of water to be sipped with a straw.

Climbing the stairs up to her room, Kagome felt an odd pulse flashing through her body. She dropped the glass out of her grip as she fell onto her hands and knees, the sensation taking over her body.

She scrambled on her hands and feet up the remaining stairs and rushed into the bathroom. Flipping on the light, she decided that she would have to be brave if she wanted to stop the hurt.

However, she never expected this.

Painted across the right side of her face was a cardinal colored boil that sat a good millimeter or two above the rest of her skin. The edges of the boil reminded her of skin that was peeling from a bad sunburn, flaky. What frightened her most about it was what she had questioned earlier: movement. Underneath the stretched, sensitive skin, something was moving.

She starred at her own monstrous reflection, her breathing shaky, erratic, never knowing when she was going to get her next breath.

Hesitantly, she reached up, her hand trembling as it approached the thing on her face. She wanted to stop from toughing it. But the giant sore burned and itched, and it demanded to be relieved.

Staring down at her hand, she watched through dazed eyes as her fingers curled on their own. Looking at herself in the mirror, she studied the lesion, watching her skin ripple from whatever it was that was living on her face. Moving in closer toward the mirror, she noticed something, there, at the corner of her eye, just at the edge of the infected boil.

With a curved finger, she lightly touched that point near her eye and gasped as the dry skin flaked away like some kind of facial dandruff. And then her skin reacted to the touch. A flutter of fury. She then poked at the cushiony skin.

She groaned out in pain as the boil again reacted to her touch, causing a ripple of commotion underneath the skin of her cheek. The burning increased and she was filled with the needy urge to just scratch at the irritable thing, to put it at ease.

Placing all of her curved fingers just outside the edge of the infested lesion, she inhaled and held it. It had to be now. Her body couldn't bear the scalding tingle that threatened to incinerate her. All of her senses were fuzzy, tingling from not knowing if the pain would subside, or consume her.

She just couldn't . . . not now . . . this pain . . .

Releasing the air she held tightly in her lungs, Kagome scraped her nails down her face, scuffing away the dead skin that outlined the boil. Dry skin turned to moist skin as she continued.

She stopped.

A scream escaped her throat as she pulled her hand away from her face, flinging her body away from the mirror, only to slam herself into the knob of the door. What she was witness to couldn't be real, it just wasn't possible.

The skin of her cheek flapped open to reveal the beginnings of her nightmare. For a moment, she could only stare as tiny infant spiders clamored their way out of their nest. The tiny spines of their legs tugged at her skin as they found freedom in their birth.

Kagome's body slid down the door as dozens upon dozens of spiders crawled over her face. She clamped her mouth and eyes shut to keep the tiny nightmares from entering. All over her face, into her hair, up her nostrils, infiltrating her ears, scrambling down her neck, going anywhere they pleased to go.

Get 'em off. Get 'em off.

She silently cried out as she was molested by the miniature monsters. The first thing she had to do was to really just get them off of her. She wildly started to brush them off with her hands. But the spiders fought her worthless efforts by clinging onto her. For the first thing that the spiders needed to after being released was to eat.

Kagome felt the invasion of needle pricks as the spiders dug their tiny fangs into her available flesh. Wiping the spiders away from her eyes, she kept them open long enough to get her to the bathtub. Once there, she closed her eyes again, shutting out the attempts of the spiders to dine on her eyes.

Wildly reaching out with her hands, she searched for the knobs that controlled her freedom. But she fumbled to find them. Feeling the cool metal of the knobs, quickly she turned on the hot water and climbed into the tub. Switching the faucet over to the shower head, she offered herself to the hat water, feeling an instant reprieve as the spiders were no match for the force of the spray.

She shed herself of the flannel shirt, tossing it down, and stomping on it as soon as it reached the tub, extracting her own form of a death punishment. Turning her face away from the stream of hot water, she was able to open her eyes without worrying about the spiders. Picking up the bottle of shampoo, she worked on washing them out of her hair.

Remaining in the shower until the water ran cold, she watched as the tiny black dots washing away with the soap down the drain. After wrapping a towel around her clean body, she hurried to the mirror to get a glimpse at the damage they had done.

The first thing she noticed was the skin dangling from her raw cheek, their nest. Kagome tugged the flap of skin until it was freed from her. She tossed the fresh scab into the garbage. In the cabinet, she found some ointment to cover the wound with in order to jump start part of the healing process. As soon as her cheek was coated in the think medicine, she preceded to work on the rest of her body.

Lifting her left arm up, she was shocked by the sheer number of bites that covered her skin. There were far too many for the ointment to cover all of them. She wondered if just washing the skin had been enough. They were far too young to be poisonous. That was what she hoped for.

Bringing her arm closer for inspection, she examined the limb for any signs of swelling or infection. She swept her fingers over the tender skin, only finding marks of their fangs, pairs of tiny red dots. As she passed over a patch of skin, she found the need to itch. So she itched. And itched and itched . . .

A bump.

She was scratching at a bump underneath that very patch of skin. Poking at the bump, she bit her lower lip as she tried to figure out what it was or exactly where it came from. As she continued to prod at her arm, she never expected the tiny bump to move, on its own.

"Oh no," she breathed out.

They, the spiders, they had survived, by escaping into the protection of her skin.

"Have to get 'em out." She told herself as she scratched harder at the moving bump. Ignoring the raw pain her nails caused, she pressed on. She scratched away at the skin until she dug deeper into the tender flesh, drawing only blood and self-inflicted torment.

But they were inside of her, truly getting underneath her skin.

"Damn." She muttered as the tiny spider escaped up her arm. This wasn't working.

She needed a quicker solution.

Running down the stairs, her feet brought her to the place where she could find that solution. Entering the room, she stopped and eyed her choices. Anything would work. Kagome randomly picked one out and stared at it. This would do.

Turning her attention back to her arm, Kagome found the spider-bump that had eluded her pursuit earlier. Placing the tip of the knife right next to the spider-bump, she braced herself as she pressed the tip into her skin and dragged the weapon down, splitting open her flesh.

Rich red blood trickled out from the wound, and tears poured from her swollen eyes. Setting the knife down on the counter, she spread the wound open, searching for the spider's remains. Her eyes caught something dark scuttling through the blood and back into the safety of uncut flesh.

She'd missed it.

Grabbing the knife, she snubbed at the pain as she frantically stabbed herself repeatedly, cashing after that spider. It was at this time that something triggered in her body. Her body flared up in another giant itch.

"Gah. . . "She cried out in anguish. Why was she so itchy?

Looking at her stained skin, she could see all of the surviving spider-bumps zigzagging about. With the knife gripped tightly in her hand, she started to hack at her skin, chasing them down with the serrated steel.

Her body grew numb and cold as a plenteous amount of her own blood was spilt in the battle against the spiders. She didn't know if she was winning, but as long as she could feel the prickle of spider legs pricking at the inner layers of her epidermis, she would not surrender.

"Ugh." She grunted as her body fell onto the ground as she steadily lost strength. It was getting harder to breath. Her heart strained to pump with lowering levels of blood circulating through her ravaged body.

The muscles of her hand betrayed her as she faintly heard the clattering of the knife crashing against the floor.

"No." She cried. She couldn't give up. Not when she could still see them, feel them everywhere.

Finding the determination to win, she received a sudden burst of energy in the war against the invaders. With the knife back in her hand, she went about slashing her exposed skin. Cuts criss-crossed her breasts, stomach and along the length of both her arms and legs from her endless attacks.

With each splash, she splattered blood across her body and the floor she sat on, splatter-painting the kitchen with the paint of her torment. She cried tears and screamed a she assaulted her raw and tired flesh. Sobs erupted from her burning lungs as the looming thought of loss pushing to the front of her mind.

Outside The Higurashi Shrine, Some Time Later

"I can't believe it. You were so awesome Inu-no-oniisan." Souta beamed at his football hero.

Mrs. Higurashi was just as proud at the boy she considered a second son, perhaps soon to be son-in-law. "Kagome will be so happy. Just imagine, champions."

Inuyasha blushed. He didn't want to admit that the game was a tough one to win. Word of his four touchdowns kept the other team's defenses tight on him. In a game that many thought could only be won with field goals, Miroku was able to connect with Inuyasha in the last few minutes of the fourth quarter for the winning touchdown pass.

Mrs. Higurashi suggested that Inuyasha ride home with them after the game since he was already planning on coming over to visit Kagome. Souta couldn't be more exited. He couldn't wait to tell all of his friends that he had been able to talk to Inuyasha about the championship game.

Inuyasha entered the shrine home first, unable to wait to see Kagome. He wanted to hug her kiss her and then tell her about their win. And if she was feeling up to it, he wasn't sure if there was anything that could stop him from wanting to show her how excited he was about the win.

His nose was instantly greeted with the scent of blood. Lots of it. And all of it belonged to Kagome.

"Call 911. Get an ambulance here." He shouted at anyone who was listening as he dashed toward the source of the smell. It took everything he had to not collapse from the power of the pungent odor. In the kitchen, he found Kagome's blood smeared body hunched over on the floor. He knelt down next to her and lifted her up to a sitting position, unsure of what kind of damage she'd suffered from.

Her breath was shallow, but she was still breathing. Looking over her body, he saw only blood, lots of it, though there were lines that were darker in color. He recognized them as cuts.

"Oh . . . gods. Kagome . . . Kagome . . . "He frantically yelled, gently shaking her awake. Her dull eyes flickered open and she struggled to look at him. "Who . . . who did this to you?" He demanded.

Kagome looked down at her body. Her stained hands touched her tinted skin as if this was all new to her. Realization hit her hard. She must have fallen asleep. Glancing around, she searched for the knife, but couldn't find it. The spiders, they were still there.

"Get . . . get it out." Her raspy voice ordered the hanyou. He was strong. He had power. And he promised her that he'd always protect her. This was a good time for him to make true that promise.

"Huh?" He questioned, not quite understanding the meaning of her statement. Was . . . was the person who did this to her still in the house?

Kagome needed a weapon. Then she got an idea. Grabbing at Inuyasha's hands, she grinned at the claws. Those would work.

"Whoa . . . Kagome." He cried, pulling his hand away as she used his own claws to cut into her skin. "What the fuck?"

"Please." She begged, gripping onto his arms. Seizing his hands again, she tried to claw the spiders out of her. "Get them out of me."

Inuyasha snapped his hands away from her. "What?" He cried out, still not quite getting her. What was in her? Hand someone raped her? He just couldn't . . .

"The spiders." She raggedly breathed. "The . . . spiders."

She tried for a third time for his claws, but he kept them from her.

"What spiders?"

Kagome gasped. Her watery eyes shot open and were clear for the first time in hours. How . . . how could he ask her that? They were there. She saw them birth from their nest on her face, she felt them try to devour her alive. And he had the gull to ask her what spiders.

She climbed up into the lap of her hanyou. "The ones . . . the ones inside of me. It hurts so much. Please . . . get them out."

Kagome began to cry at the look of disbelief on Inuyasha's concerned face. Fine, she cried out in her mind. Either way, with his help or not, she had to stop them. Letting go of the hanyou, she started to scratch at her skin with her own nails. They weren't as sharp as his, but she would take a spoon if it'd work. Anything to give her release.

Inuyasha grabbed her arms and held them down so she couldn't hurt herself. "Kagome." He spoke as he found salty tears in his own eyes. "Stop this."

"NO!" She wildly screamed at him. Using any strength she had, she thrashed about, trying to free herself from his grasp. He was helping the spiders win as he held her down. She couldn't let them win.

He didn't know she could be so strong. He tightly wrapped his arms around her weak body, holding her still to keep from hurting herself any further.

"Inuyasha . . . Kagome!" Mrs. Higurashi cried out at the sight she found in the kitchen. Her daughter was covered in blood, being held in Inuyasha's arms as she screamed and mauled about. Kagome was dressed only in blood soaked underwear.

"Get me a blanket." He instructed the worried mother. Mrs. Higurashi quickly left to get the item Inuyasha asked for.

Kagome was still ranting when her mother returned. He wound her up in the blanket using it to contain the mad girl, cover her wounds and her nakedness. Picking her up, he carried her outside just as the ambulance pulled up.

Inuyasha reluctantly handed the medics Kagome. But when they told him he couldn't accompany her to the hospital, he threw a characteristic rant until Mrs. Higurashi placed a hand on his shoulder to bring him into a warm embrace.

The ambulance drove off as Mrs. Higurashi escorted a distraught hanyou to her vehicle. They followed the ambulance to the hospital and waited for word on Kagome.

The Hospital, Three Days Later

Mrs. Higurashi stood as the group she had called for arrived. The doctors finally had word on Kagome's condition and she felt that they needed to hear it from the doctors themselves.

"Thank you for coming. All of you." She spoke with a smile that no one expected to see. Mrs. Higurashi was glad to see each of their faces.

"You have word on Kagome then?" Sango hopefully asked. They had all been in the ark when Sango received Souta's call the night Kagome was admitted into the hospital.

"The doctor will be here to give us an update." Mrs. Higurashi approached Inuyasha and sat down next to him, keeping her arm around him. He was taking this awfully hard. He would need her to be as strong as she could.

Miroku, Sesshoumaru and Rin were there as well. Sesshoumaru remained standing some distance away, feeling that he was more of an intrusion than a gust. Rin had her arms wrapped around his waist, her tear stained face buried in his chest as he had a protective arm around her.

Sango silently cried in Miroku's chaste embrace. She had found him at her house the moment she informed him of the news. They had been inseparable since then. All had been waiting to hear something.

A tall man with dark hair and tiny eyes, dressed in a white lab coat walked up to the group. "Mrs. Higurashi, I'm Kagome's doctor."

She smiled and nodded at the man. "How is she?"

The doctor sighed, noticed the group waiting to hear him speak. "Are you sure about the audience?"

"We are Kagome's family. We all have a right to know."

"Okay." The doctor sat in a chair across from everyone, clearing his throat before beginning. "Well, she's finally stabilized. She required several blood transfusions to replace the amount she lost."

"Can we see her?" Mrs. Higurashi asked hopefully. No one had been allowed to see Kagome since the ambulance had brought her in. But the sigh the doctor let out didn't sound hopeful at all.

"No."

"Why the hell not?" Inuyasha softly demanded.

The doctor threw up his hands in a surrendering fashion. "Please, let me explain before any more questions are asked. After talking to you and to Kagome, as well as Kagome's continuing condition here in the hospital, we were forced to sedate her." He took another deep sigh. "She's currently residing in the psychiatric ward where she is isolated for observations."

Everyone gasped. They psychiatric ward. That was the place where they sent crazy people.

"Kagome's been experiencing very deep hallucinations. We've been able to piece something together from all of the statements. Kagome believed that she was some kind of incubation for a nest of spiders. Her actions prior to Friday night were a condensed, uh, psychological reaction to the idea that she was pregnant, with insects. Self-induced symptoms that included vomiting, increased hunger, increased sexual drive and then the need for rest. Then, as the illusionary spiders were born, she believed that they instinctually accepted her as their mother. With some insects, when the infant is born, the mother will sacrifice themselves as food. Kagome also believed that that the spiders burrowed themselves into her body, thus her need to cut them out. All her wounds were self-inflicted. The insect burrowing hallucinations are normally found in those who use cocaine, but we've found no evidence of cocaine use. As of this time then, we can't find any cause for this change in her mental state."

"Please doctor, I must see my daughter." She accidentally let a tear escape, but gave the doctor a soft smile as she timidly begged.

"I am recommending against that. Kagome continues to believe that these spiders are still inside of her, and because we want to keep her safe, from herself, she's completely restrained. We would sedate her, but our drugs have no effect on her. Her hallucinations are that strong. I worry about what it would do to you to see her like this."

Mrs. Higurashi sucked back her tears. She was the mother. She needed to remain the strong one, for her daughter, her family, for Inuyasha and all of Kagome's friends; she would not shed another tear.

"Is that all then doctor?"

He solemnly nodded. "I'm afraid so. We'll monitor her, but if there are no changes, then there are few options. I'll send you reports on her condition. After a few weeks, and with more data, we'll be able to make a better recommendation, however, I fear that permanent placement is her only hope."

Mrs. Higurashi thanked the doctor. He left the group to grieve together. Mrs. Higurashi stood up and found only tear filled eyes glancing back at her.

"You're all welcomed for dinner any time." She tried to sound hopeful, but didn't know if she was pulling it off very well. Her daughter was suffering and all she could think to do was to cook her friends a nice meal, wanting them to find comfort in each other.

"Fuck!" Inuyasha screamed. Jumping out of his chair, he picked up the one the doctor had sat in and tossed it down the hallway.

"Fuck!" He cried out as he stormed over to the wall and drove his fist through the weak plaster. "Fuck! Fuck! Goddamn it! WHY?" His body crumbled into a lost heap. "Why?" His tear filled voice called out to anything that was listening.

Mrs. Higurashi wrapped him in her arms bringing him only the comfort a mother could. "Shh." She hushed him as she gently rocked their bodies.

Inuyasha wrapped his arms around her, clinging onto her clothing as sorrowful sobs racked his empty body. "Why?" He asked. "She . . . she's Kagome. My Kagome. My mate. I . . . I love her damnit. I would've married her, given her everything."

"I know. I know. And she knows. Kagome has loved you for so long. And she always will."

"Then why her? Is it . . . it's because I'm hanyou. Fuck."

"No. Dear. It's not because you're hanyou. Never think that. Kagome would never want you to think that. We . . . we just don't have the ability to understand the complexities of life as completely as we wish we could. We may never know or understand why our Kagome. All we can do is hope and pray for her recovery and to love her as much as we're capable of. She'll need our love now more than ever."

Somehow, some part of his brain found her words promising, but they weren't enough to give him the hope he needed. He still believed it was because he was hanyou; that a mistake such as himself couldn't have someone like Kagome in his life. He was undeserving of her love and of her acceptance. This was how the Gods punished them.

"Let's go the shrine Inuyasha." Mrs. Higurashi knew that he couldn't remain here.

He nodded and the woman helped the distraught hanyou on to his feet. Quietly, the six of them left the hospital unsure if they would ever be able to see Kagome again.

Inuyasha glanced back at the hospital, watching it pass by as Mrs. Higurashi drove off, with the others following. He promised himself that he'd see her again one day. Yes, he loved her and he'd make his own chance to tell it to her. One day.

The Psychiatric Ward

Kagome fought hard against her restraints, pulling and tugging at the bounds around her angles and wrists. But no matter how hard she tried, they wouldn't budge. It didn't help that she had a strap around her chest as well. She had to get free. There was a fight that she was involved in and she couldn't win tied up like this.

Her wounds had healed with no problems, but her skin was covered with thin white lines marking the beginning of scars. They had dressed her in a white t-shirt and white cotton pants, standard issue clothing for those assigned to this ward. The long hair of hers was weaved in a braid that one of the nurses had done for her.

She didn't know how she ended up in this room, bound to a bed that was set only a foot above the cushioned floor. There were no windows and the lights were off. A small window in the door allowed some glow from the lights of the hallway so she could study her surroundings.

She froze when the door to her padded room opened.

"Hello Kagome." Her doctor greeted her with a grin.

Kagome resumed the fight against her confinement with more desperation.

"Inuyasha!" She screamed out, hoping his hanyou hearing would pick up her voice. "Please help me!"

The doctor chuckled at her futile attempts for assistance. He closed the door behind him, leaving just the two of them alone in the room. Her vibrant eyes stared at the doctor, with his wavy black hair, feminine features and red eyes that were narrowed at her.

"No one can help you now Kagome." His venomous voice spoke at her. He took a few steps toward her bed. "Now, let's see how well my children are growing. We've got to keep you healthy long enough so they'll have lots of food to eat." He hand several syringes in his hand. Most likely containing the nutrients his 'children' needed to survive in her body.

Kagome's screams were absorbed into the padding of the floors and walls. She was left alone at the mercy of a man that drove her mad and no one could help her, not even herself.

& & & & & &

A Scribe's Babble:

The hallucination of 'things' crawling under ones skin is a typical hallucination for actual cocaine users. I do not know this from personal experience.

A woman is able to simulate the signs of pregnancy without being pregnant. It is an actual medical condition. It's called psuedocyesis or pseudopregnancy

Thanks for reading and I look forward to the reviews those of you want to leave.

I wish everyone a safe, happy and delicious Halloween. A stay warm too. That's important.

roshully