Spiraling into the Realm of Hatred
Chapter Five
"What do you mean 'from herself'?" Inu-Yasha asked, hurt dwelled in his voice as he pushed the dead woman away from him, holding onto her shoulders so that he could look into her dark eyes. "What happened to Kagome?"
A cold hand reached for his sleeve, Kikyou cringed as he pulled away from her. Not willing to fall for such trickery . . . "She's lost."
"Lost? Lost where?"
The woman turned away from him, her
long black hair fluttering limply behind her.
"Lost in these woods. Lost in
her own realm of hatred."
Inu-Yasha nearly fell over in shock. "Hatred? Hatred of what?"
"Well," she turned, her eyes locking upon his. "Hatred of you."
There was a slight flicker of amusement those eyes that stared so balefully at him, but the hanyou blinked hard, pretending he didn't see the irony in those black pools. "H . . . Hatred . . ." the word was forced from his mouth like venom. "B . . . but . . ."
"She feels hatred for you, Inu-Yasha." Kikyou reached a hand towards him again, gentle . . . gray . . .
He bristled. "And I'm sure you had nothing to do with this?"
Kikyou smiled sweetly, "You are nothing but a monster, Inu-Yasha . . ." she grabbed onto his sleeves, hot energy burned from her tight grip and into the hanyou's flesh. "And now I am not the only one who sees you for what you are! Remember . . . she is me . . ."
Inu-Yasha howled, pushing her from him and sending her sprawling to the ground. "Have you not realized that it was Naraku that was after you? Onigumo? Remember? Not me . . "
"LIAR!!" the dead Miko screamed, leaping to her feet in a fit of anger and rushing towards him, but was only pushed down again like empty weight. Pushed down by her own despair. "You are a traitor, Inu-Yasha! Do you truly love her more than you love me?"
He paused, the sudden question taking him by surprise, though the dangerous words had echoed within his thought prior . . . though he never allowed himself to ponder . . .
Never wanted to think about it . . .
Never wanted to make a choice . . .
Inu-Yasha clenched his jaw and began to walk away, the rain continued to beat down upon him but it was as if he had just realized the big drops that slapped against his skin . . .
Lighting shattered across the black clouds that rippled against the sky . . .
"Inu-Yasha." Kikyou demanded boldly. "Answer my question. Do you love that girl more than you love me?"
He stopped with a silence unbefitting to him . . . an orange eye glinted behind him to the sad creature that lay at his feet. At first, he felt sorry for her . . . but it was her doing . . . he knew it. He could feel it . . . "If you do not tell me where Kagome is . . . then I will go find her myself. Without your help."
Kikyou frowned and stood up, turning away from him. "Then so be it."
There was nothing to do but let her go . . .
There was nothing to say to Kikyou anymore . . .
But Kagome's scent was still no where, the rain washed it away from wherever it may have been . . . thunder erupted across the forest, lighting the hanyou's way for a mere moment . . .
A flicker of a second . . .
And thus Kikyou was already gone, but he didn't care where she had gone to. Somewhere deep within his heart he worried for her, felt a twinge of sorrow for her, but not at that moment . . . not when Kagome was all alone and defenseless . . . with the forced soul of a dead woman to taunt her thoughts . . .
Her sanity . . .
Inu-Yasha had to hurry . . .
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Kagome lay in the mud, shocked and dazed as the chill of the night crept into her bones. Lulling her frantic thoughts . . . numbing her body to the pain . . .
The mud felt good against her bare skin, thick raindrops fell against her body, letting her sink into the mud a little further . . .
It wasn't as if she had anyone to impress . . .
It wasn't as if anyone was going to find her own there . . .
Like they were looking for her . . .
There was something out in the underbrush of the forest, though . . . watching her . . .
She could feel its eyes . . . hear it's excited breathing as it sized her up . . .
Watched her . . .
Lusted for her flesh . . .
But, she didn't care . . .
It wasn't Inu-Yasha, that she already could tell. This beast lurked . . . hid from her view. Well, at least it tried to. But she could still see hard red scales shifting under the fronds it hid beyond . . .
She could smell the hint of death from its breath . . .
Decay . . .
It hunted her . . .
Perhaps it was for the better, she thought. The emotional pain that she felt within her heart . . . within herself . . . perhaps death was the only way to free herself from it. After all, it was how Kikyou allowed it to happen . . . instead of living with the pain . . . she let it end her . . .
Perhaps that's how this would happen. Maybe she'd be reincarnated as something other than a young, foolish, love struck girl . . . maybe she'd be brought back into something so beautiful Inu-Yasha would want it . . .
Something who's beauty paled Kikyou's . . .
Something Inu-Yasha could notice . . . love . . . respect . . . not the clone of a dead woman . . .
The demon beyond her recognition continued to sniff about in the mud . . .
A spark of worry bordered Kagome's thoughts, but she could not place the source. Warmth barely began to return to her limp body . . . she lifted her head up to get a better look, her hair slick with the wet of the weather slipped in front of her face, but she still couldn't get a good view.
There was a long, breathy hiss . . .
Kagome looked harder . . . but only the corpse of a dead warrior rotted away against the other side of a big tree . . .
His bow and arrow still in hand . . .
Where she lay had to have been the domain of this strange creature and she merely wandered into it . . . now it would kill her . . .
Perhaps it was fate . . . she resigned . . .
The demon would kill her . . .
And take the jewel . . .
Kagome gasped in shock . . . she still had the shard around her neck!
That's what the demon wanted . . .
That's what he was after . . . to take it from her . . .
Kagome pushed herself onto her hands and knees. As much as she longed for death, she couldn't let any other creature get the jewel . . .
Never . . .
Her legs trembled as she stood, her lonely eyes focused on the demon . . .
Her jaw clenched as she reached for the bow and arrow from the dead body . . .
The demon lurched out of its hiding place, a millipede twice as long as she with its pincer jaws snapping open and closed for her throat . . .
Kagome fell back before she could feel the rotting wood of the weapons touch the tip of her fingers, she struggled to get them . . . but the creature was already on top of her . . .
The breath was knocked from her as she stared up into its flaring eyes . . .
Thick ropes of drool slopped just next to her head . . .
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