OH my!!!  It's been a while!!!  Sorry to keep you all waiting!!!  I hope you all forgive me!!!  I have been working on my book (I have 36 definite original stories in the works, possibly 38 – plus all my fanfics I want to do) but you guys are one of my top priorities!!  I was just sort of running short on inspiration for my two stories and I was thinking of more Fanfics but I REFUSED to start a new one until the two I am working on now are done. 

And a big thank you to Marisa Smith for the email 'smack on the head' to continue – I needed it!  You know – I started reading my last few chapters from just before I stopped and I was just bouncing around in my chair going "OH MY, what happens next!!!!!!  What happens next!!!!!!" and it's like – DUH – I'm the writer!!! ; )  Soooooooorryyyyyy!!!!

Anyway – enough of my weirdness and onto the story!!!

Chapter Sixteen

     Inu-Yasha awoke slowly . . . ever so slowly . . .

     It felt as if his entire body were constricted against the moist wall of the cave . . .

     The back of his kimono was drenched, sticking against his body in a sticky warmth he despised . ..

     Inu-Yasha pulled against the restraints, the iron metal bracelets that held him fast and yet they refused to budge . . .

     Damn it, he roared in his swirling mind, he was still human!

     When was the cursed night to end?

     "AWOKEN, HAVE YOU?" the Athema's voice mused lightly, though the cave was still dark.  "GOOOOOOOOOOD, I WAS GETTING HUNGRY . . ."

     "You bastard . . ." he snarled, baring his human teeth menacingly and yet he knew he gained no fear from his adversary. 

     "TEMPER, TEMPER . . . IS THAT ANY WAY FOR A GUEST TO TREAT HIS HOST?"
     The glimmering cloud appeared once again, illuminating the dank cul-de-sac where he was imprisoned . . . the limp shadow of Kagome slumped at his side on the hard ground . . . his heart fell from his chest . . .

     "AWWWWW, SEEING HER LIKE THAT MAKES YOU UPSET, DOESN'T IT?  ISN'T THAT CUTE?" the Athema's sarcasm was aggravating.  "MAKES YOU JUST WANT TO RUSH TO HER SIDE, DOESN'T IT?"

     The cold metal around Inu-Yasha's wrists pulled away, tearing his soft, human flesh like the claws of hells creatures, letting the battered human fall to the floor with a slick thump . . . but he did not allow himself time to recover his bearings before he struggled to Kagome's side . . .

     Struggling against unseen pressures . . .

     "ISN'T VERY LIVELY ANYMORE, IS SHE?"

     Inu-Yasha refused to respond, keeping his voice silent for fear of disrupting the closeness he finally had to her . . . reaching a shaking hand towards her . . .

     But she moved . . .

     Her body was lifted into the air . . . hovering . . .

     "ISN'T SHE BEAUTIFUL?" the Athema spun her around so Inu-Yasha could get a good view of her dilapidated form.  "JUST THE PERFECT EXAMPLE OF FEMALE BEAUTY."

     "Damn you . . ." Inu-Yasha felt the words rumble from deep within his throat.  "Daaaamn yooo . . ."

     "SHE'S FED ME WONDERFULLY SO FAR . . ." Kagome's body jarred in the air as the Athema glowed . . . suckling from her life force once more . . . "I ENJOY TAKING WHAT IS LEFT OF THIS PATHETIC CREATURE . . ."

     Inu-Yasha felt his heart skipping beats as Kagome fell crumpled to the ground before him, as gray as clouds threatening rain, she was still . . .

     Cold . . .

     She looked as if she were not even breathing . . . her lips tuned a pale, pale blue . . .

     "WHAT PATHETIC CREATURES YOU HUMANS ARE . . . WELL, YOU ANYWAY, INU-YASHA."

     The cloud above them hovered in a sparkling moment in a smug way, glowing as if it were pleased with itself, content on watching Inu-Yasha struggle.

     Enjoying it.

     As if it gave him the greatest pleasure of all.

     Inu-Yasha reached out with a trembling hand, his insides burned, holding him back physically as he tried . . .

     But he refused to let that stop him . . .

     With each inch he strained it seemed as if he were going to burst from the pain . . .

     The damn human pain . . .

     But all those impairing thoughts ceased for a moment . . .

     For a flicker of a moment as his fingertips touched Kagome's . . .

     Icy . . .

     Cold . . .

     Barely, just barely was there the sensation as her dead skin touched hers . . .

     He felt his heart sink . . .

     Delicate . . .

     So frail was she . . . lifeless before her . . .

     Eyes closed and darkened with shadow, her healthy flowing hair limp and cruel around her shoulders and body . . .

     Tears burned in his eyes . . . she was so beautiful . . .

     So beautiful . . .

     And yet . . .

     A brimming laugh broke the despair in a convulsion of Inu-Yasha's anger as the Athema gloated wordlessly.  The humans blood rushed through him . . . boiling . . .

     Raging in unspeakable anger . . .

     Blinding him to anything real but the death of Kagome . . .

     He clenched his fist, thrusting all the pain his body ever felt far from the recesses of his mind and forced himself to his feet. 

     For a gleeful moment, Inu-Yasha felt as if he were hanyou again . . .

     For an even better moment, he felt as if he would suddenly explode in a fury of demonic power . . .

     His fingernails drove wounds into his palms . . .

     "You . . . killed . . . Kagome . . ." he managed to mutter through his clenched teeth, shaking uncontrollably, knowing that if it were any normal beast who had wronged him so they would have fallen dead out of mere fright of the rage that mounted within him.

     He had no idea how long he had been imprisoned in the shadowy cave . . .

     Being that he was still human, it couldn't have been long . . .

     Nor did he care . . .

     He felt weak . . .

     His muscles shuddered despite himself . . . but he didn't care!

     "IS THE BIG, BAD HUMAN-DOG GOING TO FIGHT ME . . . THE ATHEMA?" he laughed.  "AND WIN?  I THINK YOU ARE FOOLING YOURSELF, HUMAN!"

     "Don't . . . call . . . me . . . a human!" he paused, heaving for breath to control his voice.  "You . . . killed . . . Kagome . . ."

     "Upset that your woman is now dead, Inu-Yasha," a frighteningly familiar voice slithered into the conversation like smoke, sending a chill up Inu-Yasha's spine.  "Pity, pity . . ."

     He turned towards the far mouth of the cave, highlighted by the Athema's glow, where Naraku stood at the mouth, shadowed and cloaked in his white baboon disguise, a bundle tight in his grip in the shadows.  "Naraku!"

     For a splitting moment, Inu-Yasha remembered how Ayame was still in the clearing.  How Ayame could sneak up behind Naraku, surprise him . . . knock him away so he could grab Kagome and escape into the night . . .

     "Oh, by the way, Inu-Yasha . . ." the vile demon laughed in a mused, breathy tone, tossing the bloody bundle of a broken Ayame to the stone floor of the cave.  "I think this belongs to you."

*** Well – thank you for reading!  I hope you enjoyed this chapter!  Please review!!  I enjoy reading all your reviews so, please, review!! 

PLEASE ; )  big puppy dog eyes PLEEEEEEEEEEEAAASE!