Chapter Twenty One: Stolen Time

Rin awoke to the mesmerizing 'thump thump' of the highway system. She could not remember getting into a car…

All too suddenly, it came to her and she sat up. Unfortunately, it was too fast and she fell right back down again.

Slowly, this time, she rose back up and looked around. It was very dark and she could not tell where she was, other than that she was in a car, going down a highway. She could only wait. Rin was distressed. She had just had the best night of her life and now she was being kidnapped. God only knew what would happen to her.

Back a few months ago, when she was living on the streets, she would not have been surprised to learn of her fate. It was not uncommon for street girls to disappear, never to return. No doubt, that is what most of her homeless friends had thought had happened to her before she came back.

Now it was even more horrible, now that she had been saved from the streets and had gotten a life. She even had love. She cried. She cried till all her tears were gone. She knew her makeup must be a disaster and the seat was wet. She must have cried for a long, long time, because when she was done, the car came to a halt.

"Awake now aren't we?" A man wearing a cloak and mask made from a white baboon said as he slid open the door to the backseat.. Rin just looked up to him. "You really ought to be more frightened." He said sinisterly as he brought his hand to Rin's chin. She cried out.

"I don't understand, shouldn't we just kill her?" A dark feminine voice asked. Rin recognized her as Kikyo. Wasn't Kikyo working for West Oni? Wasn't she just at the Banquet? How could this have happened?

"No, no, no, you see, what we are going to do will be much, much more painful. There are worse punishments than death," The man in the white fur, Naraku, said.

"What are you going to do to me?" Rin screamed as she tried to leap out of the backseat, but all she could do was squirm.

"Now, now, you can't be leaving yet, we just met." Naraku said as he grabbed her arm in his iron grasp.

Sesshoumaru

Sesshoumaru ran back into the building. He knew he looked a sight, running through the dancers, leaving spilt champagne in his wake. He took no notice of who he knocked down, important client or not, he had to get to his father.

"Son, what is the matter?" Inutaisho asked urgently.

"Rin has been taken." Sesshoumaru seethed.

"What!" Izayoi screamed. By this time, everyone at the banquet was watching.

"It is Naraku and Kikyo." Sesshoumaru said bitterly as he looked to Inuyasha.

"It is not, Kikyo would not betray me!" Inuyasha howled.

"Brother, she planned to break you!" Sesshoumaru yelled, baring his teeth. Inuyasha turned and ran, knocking Kagome down.

"Sesshoumaru, where is Rin?" Inutaisho asked, looking very much like Sesshoumaru himself.

"I don't…know, She may be…hurt…or worse." He admitted softly. At that admission many of the guests screamed and havoc erupted.

"That is what Naraku wants us to think." Inutaisho looked at his claws, which were quite more apparent than they usually were.

"What do we do?" Izayoi asked, panicked.

"There is…nothing…we can do, we must wait. We will be contacted. Running out there will do no good. I'm sure he wants something." Inutaisho said angrily as he dug his claws into his palms.

"No! I will find him and make him pay with his life!" Sesshoumaru growled deeply.

"No, son, That will do no good." Inutaisho said as he put his hand on Sesshoumaru's shoulder.

"Kagura!" Sesshoumaru bellowed with realization that he left the whore outside. He ran back outside to find her.

He ran back through the scattering crowd and outside into the snow. He found her, lying in a pool of blood. Her crimson blood contrasted against the stark white snow. A bullet wound marred her dress' bodice. But she was still alive.

"You always did look gorgeous in the falling snow." She whispered as he approached her.

"Where is Rin?" He said in a deathly tone as he shook her by the neck.

"It matters not, you should consider her dead." Kagura said in a whisper, blood trickling from her mouth.

"You will tell me!" Sesshoumaru screamed at her, his claws drawing blood from her throat.

Her only response was a gurgling laugh. With a blind hate Sesshoumaru dug his claws right through her neck. It didn't make him feel much better, but it did need to be done. He then noticed a bloody and burnt photograph lying on her chest. He noticed that it was Kagura on a beach holding an odd-looking man's head in her lap. Sesshoumaru disregarded it. He left her to finish dying in the snow. He was in a rage fit for no living thing.

"Master, there may still be hope." A small voice told him. He turned to see Myoga, looking at Kagura's body.

"Why? Naraku is a monster, and Rin is weak." Sesshoumaru spat angrily.

"Well, someone shot Kagura. That must mean there was something that she could have told you." Sesshoumaru turned around with renewed interest. "If they were just going to kill her, there would be no loose ends to tie up." Myoga said as he kicked some snow onto Kagura's body.

Rin

Rin was blindfolded. She didn't really know what to think. Or if she might even be dead, other than the fact she was breathing. But maybe you still "breathe" in the afterlife? She could hear someone pacing around; she presumed she was being watched, but what on earth for? Who could want anything to do with her?

"Are you just going to kill me?" Rin asked the person.

"What would be the fun in that?" The sinister voice replied.

Rin whimpered. She had no clue how she was going to get out of this mess. Sure, she could hope, but there was no guarantee of Sesshoumaru rescuing her. There was no guarantee he'd even want to… Sure he had said he loved her, but he didn't even really say he loved her, besides one such as Sesshoumaru would probably not want to waste time rescuing her. Oh! Curse this self-doubt!

Sesshoumaru

Sesshoumaru lay in his old bedroom. He couldn't sleep, but his father said they needed to at least give the police a chance. It was all he could do to keep from running straight out there and killing everyone he saw. He rolled over once again and sat up. He sighed and wiped the sweat off his brow. He might as well get some sleep; he needed to be at his top condition when the action needed to be made. He popped some Tylenol PM, perhaps more than necessary, and lay back down.

Rin

"So here she is, the little girl who made the Ice prince melt and almost ruined our plans." Naraku's rough voice broke the silence. Rin kicked out and tried to move, but her arms were tied behind her.

"Hey boss, looks like she's a fighter." An icy voice commented.

"Shut up, Kageromaru." A twin voice said.

"You are sort of pretty." Naraku said as she felt his fingers touch her face. "And what a nice chest." Rin screamed as she felt his hand caress her breast. "Now, now, that won't get you anywhere." He chastised.

"She is a looker." The same icy onlooker said.

"Indeed. And a virgin…" Naraku said as he put his face dangerously close to hers. "Perhaps we could change that though, Sesshoumaru wouldn't want damaged goods." Naraku hissed into her ear. She could feel his body heat so close to her. Rin could feel the blindfold becoming wet from her tears.

"Why would you do that?" Rin whispered.

"Why wouldn't I? You would pleasure me and Sesshoumaru would no longer want you. I don't see a single negative, for me of course." Naraku ran his finger across her lips. She tried to bite him.

"You want to play rough?" he asked angrily as he forced her legs apart and shoved his hand between them and tore her underwear apart with a single claw. "You don't want to mess with me. Trust me, the best thing you can do is submit." He laughed as he walked away leaving her to cry.

Rin didn't know what to do. She was going to be raped, and there was nothing she could do about it. Sesshoumaru would not want her, abused and ruined. She would be doomed to a fate worse than death.

"Kageromaru, Jageromaru, make sure she looks nice and…appealing for me next time I come and visit." Naraku's biting voice ripped through her thoughts.

"Why certainly, boss." Two icy voices replied before she could hear them approaching her.

Rin let out some high pitched whimpers as she felt them hover over her. She felt them caress her hair and touch her face. She had never been more afraid in her life.

"Do you think she would look best in her bra, or just topless?" One asked.

"Let's see," replied the other as she felt his claws slice through the top of her dress.

Rin screamed again and kicked out once with all her might. She felt one body slide to the floor. She knew she must have hit him where it counts.

"Shit!" the downed goon cried out.

This was beyond horror. She couldn't believe this. This was horrible. Then, without warning, she was bashed over the head with something quite hard.

"Take that, bitch."

Sesshoumaru

Sesshoumaru knew Rin was being hurt. Deep within his heart he could feel it. As morning dawned he knew where he would go, Naraku's. He would deal with the demon personally if that were what it would take. He would rip Naraku and his company apart piece by bloody piece.

Quietly, before the rest of the family was awake, he slid out of the manor and into his Porsche. He turned the key and sped off. Now wasn't the time for speed limits. He was across town and into the slums before he knew it. He could see by the amount of activity that something was up.

He pulled into the dark little warehouse that was Naraku's headquarters. He knew he was about to do something quite rash, but he couldn't care less. He pushed the heavy metal door open and entered into a lobby, where quite a few people, who were milling about, saw him and ran.

"Um, can I help you?" The secretary stuttered while leaping in front of him.

"You can help me by getting the fuck out of the way before I kill you." Sesshoumaru growled as he shoved her against the wall.

The secretary whimpered and obliged him. He ransacked every room in the building, beating up much more than a few lackeys. Sesshoumaru was sure he had entered the infrastructure when he saw the condition of the interior improve.

"Hey, you're not supposed to-" A burly looking man said.

"Where is Rin?" Sesshoumaru growled as he picked the man, who had to be more than three hundred pounds, right off the floor and pinned him against the wall.

"I have no idea!" The big man cried out in a rather girly way.

"Fine, then where is Naraku?!" Sesshoumaru yelled as he drew blood from the man.

"He left! He's not here! He didn't tell us where!" The big man cried.

"I shall find him, or by god I will kill each and every one of you!" Sesshoumaru snarled.

Inuyasha

"Sesshoumaru was gone already this morning," Inuyasha said sulkily from behind his desk.

"I hope Rin and him are both okay." Kagome said sadly as she sat on Inuyasha's desk.

"You blame me too, don't you?!" Inuyasha yelled overly defensively.

"Inuyasha, no one blames you. Naraku and Kikyo betrayed us all." Kagome said in a soothing voice.

"I was given this one responsibility and I failed!" Inuyasha howled.

Rin

Rin had just come conscious when she heard Naraku and his minions talking.

"He has destroyed most of the warehouses, sir." An empty-sounding female's voice said.

"Thank you, Kanna. Let him tear up the place if he must, when he finds me it will be too late." Naraku snickered. Rin wished she could see.

"You think he might find us?" The girl's voice asked.

"Oh, I know he will find us. One does not mess with the prince of demons and expect not to be found. That is why we must do things the way we are doing them. That way even when he finds us, it will do him no good." Naraku explained coldly.

"I see." The girl said simply before she padded away. Rin was becoming rather adept at hearing by now.

"Kageromaru, pack her up, it won't be long till he picks up her scent, I hope to be gone by then." Naraku's voice called out.

"Of course." Kageromaru's voice replied.

Rin felt him approaching, but decided it was best if she continued to pretend to be unconscious. She and her chair were hefted off the ground. Rin could smell Kageromaru's stale odor. She was carried outside somewhere and back into a car. She knew that things were probably about to come to a head.

Suddenly, she was once again bashed over the head, and things went black.

When she woke up she was still in the car. Her head was pounding and she felt nauseous from being tied to a chair, sideways, in the backseat of a car for so long. She had no idea how long she had been out. All too soon they pulled to a stop. Rin could hear that it was raining, rather hard too. She was pulled out of the car violently and put into the rain.

The pounding of the rain made it hard for her to make sense of anything. She screamed as the blindfold was suddenly removed. She was in an alleyway. It was a dark, dreary day. They were at some gravelly alleyway that Rin had no clue of. Suddenly Naraku appeared before her.

"We best make sure you are going to be quiet." He said as he put another piece of tape over her mouth. Rin tried to scream but nothing but a moan came out.

"Boss, what are we doing here?" A chilly voice asked through the rain.

"This is where little Rin is going to stay." Naraku said evilly.

"But, won't she just run off and call the Takashi's first chance she gets?" Kageromaru asked.

"That's the best part, she can't. Project Shikon has given me the power to make sure little Rin can do no such thing." Naraku said sinisterly as he ran his finger across Rin's cheekbone. "Little Rin, you are going to stay here. You can go back and live like you used to, because sometimes living is much more painful than death." He gave way to a fit of maniacal laughing.

Rin was confused. She wasn't going to die or be raped? But left to live without Sesshoumaru? How could Naraku keep her from contacting him? Perhaps he was wrong and all she needed to do was call?

"Come on guys, let's go." Naraku said to his minions.

They were just going to leave her there? Tied to a chair? In the rain? Rin screamed as loud as she could but it only procured snickers from them. Pretty soon she was all alone. After sitting helplessly for a while she realized she would have to do something.

After struggling for what seemed like hours, she freed one leg. She began sliding it and trying to move herself, but to no avail. She used it to free the other leg and finally gained some scooting ability. Though it was tiring and not very effective, she began scooting down the most promising looking end of the alley.

What seemed like a millennia later, she reached a corner. This would be tricky. She could not maneuver around it, so she did the only thing she could do, she pushed of the ground with all her might.

With a tumble and a crash Rin fell onto the gravel and rolled. When she opened her eyes, she realized she was on a sidewalk and could see grass. After slightly further investigation she saw a number of ratty-looking people looking at her. A ratty old woman rushed towards her and looked into her eyes. Rin couldn't tell whether or not the woman would help her. Rin was about to give up when she felt the tape pulled from her mouth. The old woman had a tiny smile on her face.

"Thank you." Rin whispered.

She realized what a sight she looked, with a ripped and torn ball gown on. Another old man helped free her from the ropes.

"You're welcome dearie. It seemed you could use a bit of help." The old woman said as she helped Rin to her feet.

"Where am I?" Rin asked softly.

"Why you're in the Public Park of course." The woman replied.

Next Chapter: Time Keeps Slipping

Thank you

Kitkat