"From the deepest despair to new found hope"

By Hentai Jane



CHAPTER 1



It was a man. Tall and lean with red glowing eyes. That was all she could see through the thick smoke from under her bed. His feet carelessly stepped across the floor, pausing in front of her before turning away and heading back into the hallway. She could hear her grandfather and mom calling for her, begging her to come to them.



She couldn't move. Fear had seized her and her body refused to move no matter how much she willed it to. Flames surrounded her door, blocking off any hope of running out of her bedroom. As the flames approached her, reality set in. She knew this was her last chance to get out. She crawled to her bedroom window, looking down from the second floor and jumped. Her body hit the ground with a loud thud, knocking the wind out of her, but she managed to stumbled across the grounds and find a hiding place.



"Where is it!? Damn you!" a deep, masculine voice screamed, echoing in the night. She couldn't tell where the man was and didn't care to see him again. The little girl ran to the forest, curling into a tight ball at the base of a tree, and prayed not to be noticed. Had he stared the fire? If so, then why? They were a simple family that had no wealth or lavish lifestyle. He asked 'where is it', what was he looking for?





Huge clouds of smoke billowed from the burning shrine. Dancing flames licked the walls and surrounding structures as the heavy scent of burning wood and chemical odors permeated the air. Screams could be heard form inside the home, but the intense heat from the raging inferno halted all efforts of a rescue.



Fire trucks, with sirens blaring and lights flashing, pulled up on the front lawn. Firemen rushed out, pulling hoses behind them. They could hear the high pitched wail of child inside the burning building. Water sprayed, extinguishing some of the flames, but they seemed to spring forth with a vengeance.



Hours passed until they were able to contain the fire, but when it was finally over, all that was left were ashes, lost dreams and the death of a loving family.



Policemen and fire investigators came to inspect the area, along with personnel from the city morgue.



One tall police officer walked up to a man dressed in white and asked if they had found the forth body yet. They were looking for a little girl, Kagome Higurashi. There was no sign of her, no bones, clothing, nothing. It was as if she had disappeared.



A tiny form watched from hedges on the outermost edge of the grounds. She huddled behind them with her legs drawn up to her chin, quietly crying, while she watched two men carry a long black bag away on a stretcher. Even at the tender age of seven, she knew what was inside those bags.



After the first two bags were taken away, a third much smaller black bag was soon removed.



The little black haired girl crawled to the tree line and escaped into the peaceful sounds of the forest.



A loud clap of thunder resonated through the gray sky. Her small face looked up as a drop of rain landed on her cheek. She hated thunder. It was times like this her grandfather would hug her and Souta close and tell them legends of their family shrine.



She blindly ran, not caring where she was or what happened to her. All she knew was that her family was gone. She was alone with no one to care for her.



She ran until her lungs burned and sides ached. Her legs carried her far from home into an unknown area of woods. Resting on the cold ground wasn't her idea of comfort, but she had no other place to lay down.



Something grabbed the back of her nightgown, lifting her up until she was at eye level with a stranger. "What are you doing out here girl?" His voice sent chills up her spine.



"I...I ran...." she stuttered.



"You ran away? From what?"



"Fire..." was her only answer. Tears slipped down her cheeks as her eyes focused on the ground.



"A fire?" he asked curoiusly. "And what is your name child?"



"Kagome. Kagome Higurashi sir." her voice was timid as she slowly looked back to his eyes.



He sneered at her as his body started shaking with laughter. "Higurashi you say?" he continued laughing as he tucked her under his arm. "Life is finally starting to look up for me. You may just come in handy!"



Kagome tried to kick him and squirm out of his tight grip.



"Stop struggling you little bitch!" he sat her down and slapped her face once to stop her movements.



"Let me go!" she screamed, trying to slap his hands away when he reached for her.



"I might as well tell you now, little one, that your life from this point on is over. You belong to Naraku now and you will do everything I tell you or suffer the consequences."



A loud crack was heard as he backhanded the child hard enough to knock her unconscious.



AN: I know ch 1 is short, but the next chapter will be longer. Please leave me a review!