Through Blood and Tears
Chapter 10: Fate of Two
The group safely made it into the classroom in one piece. Sango shut the door behind them, propping the vacant teacher's chair up against the handle in the process. She turned around to see her boyfriend staring at her. "Well you never know," she responded as his eyes danced with amusement. Miroku merely shrugged his shoulder and shifted his gaze to Kagome.
She picked up the phone and punched in the emergency number. After a few seconds of deafening silence, her eyes widened with disbelief. "What's wrong, Kagome?" Inuyasha asked, concern clouding his eyes. The young woman merely shook her head and let the phone drop from her hands as she slowly backed up to where the half-demon stood.
Kouga glanced at the desolate girl and strided over to the phone. He picked it up from where it dangled and pressed it to his ear. The wolf demon's expression copied Kagome's, but he didn't allow the phone to fall from his hands. Instead he gazed over at his classmates, confusion evident in their eyes.
"The phone ... it's dead," Kouga said quietly, placing the receiver in its cradle. Miroku sighed in frustration.
"What the hell do you mean the phones dead?" Inuyasha yelled as he held Kagome close. No one spoke as his words hung in the air.
"I was afraid of this." Miroku shifted the flashlight to his other hand as he brushed a hand through his dark locks. All eyes turned to him, glances questioning his spoken thoughts. "The power went out. That means there is no lights, no phones, no heat, nothing. Believe me when I say this, these lights ..." He gestured to the lights by waving the beam of light across the ceiling. " ... they don't shut off by themselves."
"You mean," Ayame began, taking a step forward. "Someone purposely cut off the electricity?" Miroku nodded his head in agreement. That's exactly what he meant.
"Who would do that?" Rin asked, moving closer to Sesshomaru.
"The killer, who else?" Kouga said, matter-of-factly. When everyone glared at him, he put up his hands defensively. "What? What did I say?"
"Kouga, you can be so inconsiderate!" Kagome lectured him, keeping her hands around Inuyasha's waist. The wolf demon grunted, holding back the anger boiling up inside of him. Although he hated the sight of the woman he loved wrapped up in the arms of his rival, now was not the time nor the place to start an argument.
"What do we do now?" Kikyo asked, crossing her arms. She was in the same state of mind as everyone else; shock, fear, survival.
"Let me think," her rival said, releasing Inuyasha. Kagome sat down on a nearby desk and rested her elbows on her knees. Her palms met her forehead as she leaned over, closing her eyes in thought. After a few minutes of careful and thorough thinking, she suddenly focused her eyes on the watch bound around Miroku's wrist.
"That's it you guys!" she screamed, a smile erupting on her lips. Everyone turned to face her, confusion emitting off their visages. "We are only supposed to be here until ten. Our parents are bound to come looking for us!" Surprise coated the students' faces as relieving smiles formed.
"She's right!" Rin piped up enthusiastically, her hyper attitude back on track. Her boyfriend only grunted, but a flicker of happiness glazed his eyes.
Everyone began chatting happily about Kagome's discovery, seeing as how they only had fifteen minutes left. A crackling sound emitted from the intercom as Kagome's smile dwindled from her visage. The conversations surrounding her ceased as one by one her friends tuned into the noise.
The room went deathly silent before a voice echoed through the classroom. "Heh, heh, heh. So you think you'll leave that easily?" All eyes turned their attention to the speaker just above the clock. "Let's just say your parents won't be expecting you home tonight ..." The person laughed once more before it faded away.
"What the hell?" Inuyasha yelled out, his fists clenched at his sides.
"Who was that?" Sango asked, fear erupting from her voice. It was evident that nobody knew who it was or what they wanted and a small murmur broke out between them.
Kagome sat there in stunned silence, staring at the intercom that no longer held a voice. The malicious tone of the person's voice sounded familiar, but she couldn't fully grasp who the culprit was. Inuyasha glanced over to see his beloved's eyes wide and distant. "Kagome?" he questioned, taking a few steps towards her. "Kagome ...?" His voice cracked with worry as she failed to respond.
He place a hand on her shoulder, startling her out of her stupor. She slowly turned her head in his direction. "Yeah?" she responded, the distant look dissipating.
"Are you okay?" The dark haired girl continued to stare at him as he asked the question, knowing she should answer, but her voice refused to work. Instead, she found her head in her hands and she wept, not caring everyone saw her weakened state. Inuyasha was immediatly at her side and kneeling before her. "Its okay, Kagome, everything's going to be okay," the half-demon consoled her, playing with a few strands of her hair.
Suddenly, the young woman felt anger erupt deep within her heart. She jerked her hands from her head; her eyes gleaming with rage and frustration. She jumped off the desk, throwing Inuyasha off balance. He fell backwards, propping his body up with his elbows. She towered over him as he stared at her in shock.
As he struggled to stand, she met him with a hardened glare. "Alright? How can you say everything's going to be alright?! We are locked inside our school, the one place we thought we were safe. We have no way to communicate with anyone outside these walls, there is a cold-blooded killer on the loose, and we have friends missing who could very well be dead! How can you say everything is going to be alright?!"
Eveyone stood stunned by their friend's sudden outburst. Tears streamed down her flushed face, her eyes steady on the half-demon. The room thickened with silence for a moment before Kagome dropped her gaze and stomped towards the door. She shoved past her friends and threw the chair aside before stalking into the hallway. The door slammed shut behind her, leaving her classmates in total surprise.
"Shouldn't someone go after her?" Sango asked, eyeing Inuyasha and Kouga. Kagome had left a few minutes ago and the remaining students were starting to worry.
"I would be able to sense if she was in danger," Inuyasha said, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. "Just let her cool off for a bit."
"To hell we will!" the wolf demon screamed, stalking over to the half-demon. "Do you think I'm going to put Kagome's life in your hands? I'm not going to take that chance. There is a fucking killer on the loose in this school and you'll go so far as to allow Kagome to wander around alone?! You idiot!" Kouga clenched his fists in anger and bolted towards the door, following Kagome's scent.
After he left, all eyes turned towards Inuyasha. "You know, Kagome was right," Sango said rather quietly. Everyone could detect the soft anger in her eyes. Her half-demon friend stared at her before dropping his gaze. "Come on, everyone. We have to stick together," she stated, taking a few steps towards the door. She opened it only to be stopped by Miroku's voice.
"Wait," he said, his arms crossed. His gaze fixated on the ground, his face twisted into a thinking pose.
"What is it, Miroku?" Ayame asked, clearly distressed about Kouga going after Kagome.
"There is only one place that the intercom leads to, the office. Meaning ...." He didn't have a chance to finish as his girlfriend took over.
"Meaning that the killer must be there." A small smile of admiration played on Sango's lips. Miroku had allowed everyone else to fret over Kagome as he thought things over.
"So?" Sesshomaru said in his usual icy tone. "What are you suggesting? That we go after this monster?" Everyone turned there attention from the dog demon to Miroku, their eyes asking the same question.
When he only gave silence as a response, Kagura spoke up. "Are you insane?" A malicious smirk landed upon Naraku's lips as he crossed his arms, amused by the whole situation.
Inuyasha took a few steps towards his dark haired friend. "I may have demon blood, but you have no idea what this bastard can do. You didn't see Ms. Kimiko's mangled corpse." His words stung.
Miroku eyed him sternly. "Then what do you suppose we do, Yash? According to this 'monster', no one is coming for us. Unless of course, someone just happened to come by the school on a Saturday night. We are locked in, no phones, nothing. Some of our friends have gone missing and could very well be dead. Do you really expect us to last in here until Monday?"
The half-demon glared at him for a moment before crossing his arms and grunting in defeat.
That stupid Inuyasha. He can be such a jerk! Kagome wiped away another frustrated tear as she continued down the dark hallway. Her footsteps echoed off the walls as the small bits of moonlight guided her path. The young woman's anger had cooled off and she plunged into a depressed state. She paused a moment, trying to soothe the turmoil swirling in her heart. I guess I should head back now. I shouldn't be out here in the first place.
Kagome turned around slightly, but stopped in her tracks as her ears picked up a ghastly sound. A muffled moan floated over to her. It was faint, but it definitely came from behind her. Fear paralyzed every part of her body and her mind screamed for her legs to move, run back to the safety of her friends. But her body wouldn't allow it. Instead, she turned around hesitantly and tried to glimpse the source of the sound through the darkness.
There on the ground lay two lumps of something. Kagome took a few steps closer and realized the agonized moan came from the one on the right. She saw whatever it was squirm a bit as if gasping for air. When she got close enough, her senses were overwhelmed with a sweet, sickening scent that churned nauseous feelings in the pit of her stomach. She wanted to turn around and hurl, but the voices in her head held her in place.
She knelt down and reached out a hand towards the slightly moving lump. Her fingers grazed a slimy substance and her immediate thoughts were to pull away. Before she could, however, the object in front of her moved and grabbed her wrist. Holding back a scream, Kagome realized she was kneeling beside two bodies. Her heart skipped a beat at the thought.
"Help me," the clamy flesh asked, pain evident in his voice. She knew the voice belonged to one of her missing classmates, but couldn't figure out who. Only seconds passed as she paired the voice with a face.
"Hakkaku?" she asked, hopefully. The grip on her hand tightened as the person tried to turn his head.
"Kagome?" he spat out, his eyes landing on the silhouette of the woman before him. She gave him a small smile, barely visible by the moonlight. "Help me," he repeated. His grip on her wrist slackened as his hand dropped down to his stomach.
Kagome immediately began to glance over the damage that had been done. She could have sworn her heart stopped as her eyes landed on the object across Hakkaku's chest. A single white rose. Her blood ran cold as her pulse pounded in her ears.
She snapped away from her deadly thoughts as Hakkaku moaned in pain once more. "Its okay, Hakkaku. You're going to be okay," Kagome soothed as she glanced over to the body at his side. She mentally questioned herself who it was when the mohawk boy beside her answered.
"Is Ginta okay?" he asked, trying to turn his head to find his friend. Kagome tore her gaze away from Ginta's lifeless corpse and struggled to calm Hakkaku down.
"Don't move your head. It will only cause more pain." Tears pricked her eyes as Hakkaku unwillingly obeyed and kept his body still from all movement. I have to get some help. he won't last much longer. Think, Kagome, think! Her eyes roamed around the hallway, trying to find something she could use as a stretcher. Finding nothing, she began to yell for help, not caring the killer could be listening. Her only thought right now was to save her friend's life.
"Help!" she screamed behind her, hoping her friends could hear her through the maze of hallways she had traveled. "Somebody help!" It wasn't long before Kagome heard a set of footsteps running in her direction.
Kouga appeared moments later at the distressed woman's side, breathing heavy. Shock emitted off his face at the sight before him. Although it was dark and blood covered his senses, he could still make out the scents of his friends. He almost collapsed when he realized Ginta's scent was mixed with death.
"Kouga!" Kagome yelled, ripping the wolf demon from his thoughts. "Run back and get some help! Hakkaku is badly hurt. We need a stretcher of some kind. Hurry!" It took a moment for him to comprehend what she was saying, but he nodded his head and took off in the direction from which he came.
After her friend disappeared from view, Kagome took off her jacket and laid it over Hakkaku's chest. The wound was greatest there and she had to stop the bleeding. "Hakkaku, I'm going to put a little pressure on your chest, okay?" she warned, putting slight pressure on the wound, increasing it slowly. She spoke soothing words to the dying wolf, trying to keep him calm. Hurry, Kouga. He's not going to be able to last much longer ...
A/N: Wow, I just realized that the remaining chapters are just full of cliff hangers. Good for me, bad for you. lol. Well, sorry this chapter took so long, but I uploaded a new story for you to hold you over. I didn't think this kind of story would really get you into the Christmas Spirit. lol. Please let me know what you think on this chapter with a little review. Thanks!