Standard disclaimer applies.

Thank you so much for everyone who has enjoyed this story so far, and thank you so much for nominating The Revenant in the 2011 4th Quarter Dokuga Awards for Best Darkfic/Horror!

The Revenant

Chapter Eleven

By: Luna

Kagome woke up to the feeling as if someone was watching her. Her eyes fluttered open, automatically tracking the shadows that darkened her bedroom, watching for any flicker of movement. Her heartbeat started a slow, heavy thrum, and she held her breath in hopes that it wouldn't come out in harsh pants. Sitting up slowly, she looked around, and ended up looking towards the shoji door of her room. A faint light was illuminated outside of it. It was still, as if it was merely waiting for Kagome to notice before it slowly moved away, and her room was covered in darkness again.

Releasing her breath slowly, she looked down at her wrist watch, her brow furrowing.

3:33am

The seconds portion of the watch was frozen; the whole face of the watch was frozen, as if time had stopped. She pulled back the covers and stood from her futon, and slowly walked towards the shoji door that led out towards her veranda, and slowly slid open the door. Everything was frozen, as if she was watching a movie and somebody pressed 'pause.' The leaves that had been blowing in the wind were literally frozen in midair; curiously, Kagome reached out and plucked one, studying it for a moment before letting go, and letting it hang in midair once more.

A dream, she thought, still unable to muster up any type of alarm. It would be useless to scream here.

The wind wasn't blowing, and even the trees were still. Looking up, Kagome stared up at the bright, full face of the moon. A moon ring cleared the path around it, the circular ring a milky white. Turning away, she stared back at the shoji door that lead towards the hallway, and started her way towards it, picking up her nemaki* to pull it on over her white sleeping yukata. Sliding open the door, she took one step out, looking back towards the end of the hallway that led to the stairs before looking back in the direction of the den.

A fait light seemed to be emanating just around the corner. Kagome debated only for a moment before deciding to follow it. She stepped around the corner, and came face to face with… herself. Kikyo. There were subtle differences, she thought, staring at the smiling woman before her. Her hair was straight and longer, her bangs cut straight across her brow. She wore a violet kimono with silver butterflies, her hands folded demurely in front of her. Her eyes were serene, as well as her smile. Tipping her head to the side, she lifted one hand out in front of her before pointing in the direction of the front door.

As she passed through the den, and then into the living room, they passed a sleeping Sesshoumaru who was stretched out on her couch, his beautiful face in repose. In the moonlight, he looked transparent; he looked like he wasn't even there. He didn't look like he was breathing; even he seemed frozen in this odd dream world. Looking towards Kikyo, she met the other woman's patient smile, and left Sesshoumaru there to follow her.

Kikyo led her outside, past the tea house and the old bath house, and down the lane towards a dirt road. She forgot her shoes; it was only when she stepped on a sharp rock that she realized it. Oddly enough, the pain didn't register. She knew she stepped on it and it should hurt, but she didn't feel anything. Walking along, she followed Kikyo down a narrow path that lead to a small glen filled with wildflowers.

She pointed towards the meadow. "Our heart is here. He can't touch us here."

There was the sudden image of Inuyasha and Kikyo embracing amongst the flowers, their ghostly images fading. After a moment, Kagome looked back at Kikyo. She was still looking at the spot where her past self had embraced her lover. Kikyo pointed there, and, after a moment, Kagome crept forward. She tripped over a flat rock and landed face first into the flowers, and turned towards the offending rock that tripped her and kicked at it angrily when she noticed the narrow cut on the top of her foot. The rock moved, then fell inside the hole it had covered.

Freezing, Kagome stared at the flat rock, then at Kikyo who only smiled back. Creeping forward, she looked inside, her eyes widening at the site of the leather bound journal that was tucked away inside. Lifting it reverently, Kagome held it to her chest and stood to face Kikyo. After a moment, her ever present smiling face was looking back at Kagome, and soon she led the way back to the main house. Instead of going inside, they went around towards the garden.

Kikyo paused before the bridge that led towards the island, her eyes trained on the wisteria tree. "He is buried there. They found his body amongst the ashes, and they buried him there, under the boughs of his beloved wisteria. Here, he can live forever… if he wishes."

"What do you mean?" Kagome asked, the question the first words she spoke since she woke up.

Kikyo turned to her. "You can stop him. You can send him to the next world… if you wish."

Kagome stared back her, not comprehending at all. Kikyo didn't seem to notice; instead she pointed towards the trees that surrounded the property, past the markers that separated the garden from the forest that surrounded the property. "His heart is buried there. Be careful where you tread."

Kikyo faded away without further ado, and Kagome was standing alone in the standstill world of her dreams. She looked around, hesitating for a moment before crossing the bridge to the island. She touched the wisteria gently, almost expectantly. When nothing happened, she frowned and looked around, wondering what her predecessor had meant.

Since nothing had happened, she walked back and looked towards the forest, wondering at the pitch of trepidation in her belly. She walked towards the forest, pushing leaves that were still frozen in midair out of her way, pushing apart branches and stepping over smaller foliage. She didn't know what she was looking for; she just knew she hadn't found it yet.

Her foot got caught on a tree branch, and she fell with a startled cry of pain. She fell right through a spider web, and landed hard on the forest floor. Pain didn't register again; she cried because she thought she should, but after a few moments she felt stupid for crying over something she didn't even feel. She laid there for a moment with her eyes closed, wondering what the hell she was doing.

Kagome…

Something was crawling up her arm, the touch so light as to be insidious, and her eyes snapped open with panic eating inside her, and it only doubled when she saw the gigantic black spider that was crawling towards her face, it's massive jaws coming closer and closer, the arachnid the only creature moving in this stuck in motion world. She screamed, long and loud, swiping at the spider, clawing at her skin to get rid of the feel of the spiders legs on her skin.

She scuttled back the way she came, and fell over the branch she had fallen over in the first place, and once more landed hard on the floor and stayed there, breathing hard. She looked at the branch, at its white, decaying limb sticking out of wet dirt and mulch. No, she thought, numb. It wasn't a tree branch. White and decaying, a tibia bone was arching out of the ground.

She followed the limb up to the knee, and through the ferns and fallen debris, a pelvic bone and rib cage. She crawled closer, and pushed aside a fern with shaky hands. She heard the bump-bump-bump of a heartbeat, and assumed it was her own since she was so frightened, but it was beating too calmly for her panicked state. The skull of the skeleton was clean and white under the full moon, and her breath stuck in her throat at the eyeballs still resting in their sockets, at the teeth that seemed too sharp and elongated for a human.

Her breath shuddered out in panicked bursts as they eyes turned in their sockets towards her, and the jaw opened in a gaping, skeletal grin. "I knew you'd come to me."

Naraku. Recoiling, Kagome screamed and screamed…

And woke up seconds later in her sweat-soaked futon. A dream, she thought, placing shaky hands over her eyes. A dream, a dream. It was only a dream. She stretched her legs out, flinching slightly as her feet chafed against her blanket. She sat up abruptly and flung her blanket off of her, and stared in horror at what she saw.

Her feet were dirty.

When she stood up and reached for her robe, she found the leather bound notebook that had she found in her dreams.

*Nemaki: The cotton Kimono robe or also called a lined cotton yukata has a thin gauze lining making it a perfect for use as a house robe, bath robe and as sleeping wear.