The Thin man put his hands on the other two agents' shoulders. He closed his eyes, and I felt something around them shift. Then he opened the door and the three of them walked past me into the backyard. I couldn't even call out. I looked at mom. She had been coming towards me with her hands out, reaching for me, but when our eyes met she flinched. She glanced up past me, out the open door. I saw her face harden. And then she turned around and went into the kitchen.

So much for expecting her help. I was too mad to cry anymore. Too mad to fucking care. The door was still cracked open about a foot. Through the gap I watched the three agents approach the tree. It was late in the day and their shadows were long and gray and fuzzy. If I craned my neck I could see Inu, almost lost in the deep shade up in the trees higher branches. He didn't seem to notice that he wasn't alone. I still couldn't speak. I could move a little more though. By grabbing me cramped hands onto the doorstep, I could sort of drag myself forward.

"Xenon," the thin man said. "To me." Then he struck the ground with a staff I hadn't noticed him carrying before. Inu stiffened as though he'd been shot, and toppled out of the tree. I heard my own breath hiss out in sympathy as he hit the ground. No grace now, he crashed down in a backbreaking heap. Apparently it made more of an impression on me than him. Inu was on his feet again in seconds, spinning to face the three, crouched.

"What the fuck?!" he snarled, spitting dirt and baring teeth. "Who the hell are you people?!"

The agents had spread out, surrounding him. The woman held the mirror, casting it's reflection onto Inu. Inu froze, but I could see him trembling, like he was trying to move but couldn't. Like an ant in honey. The dark-haired man was cutting a circle into the ground around Inu with the dagger. In the center my former classmate glared and started jerking left and right, throwing himself back and forth in short, hard movements, a little more each time. Centimeter by centimeter he forced his arms away from his body.

"Fucking bastards!" He growled, breathless. "What do you think you're-"

"Xenon," The thin man intoned. "Submit." He hit the ground with the staff again. Inu fell, thrashing and struggling. The ground under him cracked under the force of his movements, and leaves were starting to fall as the tree shook, but he still couldn't seem to stand.

No! I thought. Stop it, let him go! He didn't do anything! It's not fair, he didn't even do anything! Agonizingly slow, I started to crawl into the yard. The tension in my body was fading more and more, now that the agent's attention was elsewhere. But it was still so hard to move…

Inu made it up to his knees, still shaking with strain. There were dirt marks on his face, and his beanie was all crooked, mostly covering one eye. His hair slipped out from under it in long pale streamers.

"You've gotta be fucking kidding," He snarled. Then he lunged forward, hands reaching for the tall man, fingers curled like talons. The dark-haired man had finished the circle. When Inu made to cross it he was stopped short. The impact made a tremendous crackling sound, like a hundred radios all turned on at once. The dark-haired man drove the dagger into the ground and knelt over it, rocking slightly back and forth. Chanting, probably. The crackling covered it. It covered everything. I could see Inu's mouth working, but I couldn't hear him cry out. And then he was slammed back to the center of the circle.

Leaves fell like snow, drifting lazily down. I kept crawling. God, I would never make it in time. In time? That was a laugh. In time for what? What was I going to do, bite their ankles? The woman had set down the mirror in front of her, and was holding up the cord.

She said "Xenon" and then something in what I think was Latin. Then she tied a knot in the cord. I don't speak Latin, but I remember a colleague of mom's doing something similar once. 'By the pull of the tide and the names of the powers I bind you,' He had said. Next came 'by the weight of the earth' and then 'by the fire of the sun.' It was an old spell, a strong spell. He had really messed up the creature he used it on, and he hadn't even had a name to work with. Inu moaned and again struggled to rise. This time he stayed low on his knees, just managing to lift his head.

"No!" he panted. "Fuck! Let me go, damn you! Kuso, not again!"

The woman spoke again, invoking his name, tying the second knot. Inu was forced down until his cheek touched the dirt. He struggled every inch of the way, eyes rolling wildly. I could hear his harsh breaths in counterpoint to the dark-haired man's barely audible chanting. I'm so sorry, I thought. God. Just hang on. I'll get you out, I'll figure out something, I'll- Inu met my eyes. Surprise, outrage, and despair slid across his face like passing headlights in the night. And then his eyes widened suddenly, and suddenly narrowed. The woman had started to speak for the third time. The last knot would render him totally helpless, and then they would banish him back to where he came from. They hadn't even tried talking to him.

As she spoke Inu braced and pushed himself slowly up to his hands and knees. Before she could finish, he shook his whole body once, like you would shake water off your hands. It was the doggiest thing I'd ever seen him do. The cord snapped in two. The woman and the thin man with the staff stumbled backwards, like people pulling with all their strength and suddenly getting slack.

"How the bloody hell-!" the thin man said shrilly.

At the same time the woman snatched up the mirror again and yelled in a loud and commanding voice, "Xenon-!"

Inu had come up into a crouch again. He caught her eyes and hissed back, "That's not my name!"