Disclaimer: I don't own no body...I wouldn't mind owning Inuyasha though...or Kouga (I hate him but he's still quite the looker)...maybe Miroku (hey...I like guys like him ;) ) maybe Sesshomarou (you cold hearted bastard you)
A/N: Guess what? My struggling through writer's block chapter was the inspiration for this chapter. I wrote the chapter off of the top of my head and yet it seems to make the story flow along smoothly...I wonder if Shakespeare ever did something like that (not that I am comparing myself to him)
The next chapter will be somewhat along the lines of horror (hey...you try writing a chapter with ghosts in it and try not to make it horror, hmmph) If anyone gets night terrors then I guess u skip that one...I'll have a summary at the end to let ppl know what happened.
(Please forgive the humour, I can't help myself when I throw the Yu-Gi-Oh! Characters in. Sorry.)
Oh...and I don't own Fear Factor either. They never had contestants disappear so don't go arrest them. :D
Ahem...the story....
Chapter 13: Portal to Hell
He didn't come get me. He didn't. He doesn't need me anymore then, is that it? Is it over? Because of one kiss? ONE KISS?
Kagome slammed her drink down on the table harder than she intended to. The liquid in the plastic cup sloshed dangerously. Her hold on the plastic cup tightened as all her friends gave her concerned looks.
"Kagome are you feeling all right?" Ayumi asked quietly. Jonouchi was staring at Kagome, he wondered for the hundredth time why Hojo was so interested in a person who was so clearly a crackpot.
"Of course she's all right." Eri piped in, "She's attended a whole week of school for the first time in ages without missing even one day."
A week. A whole week. Inuyasha had not come for her. She had opened her windows every night, hoping he would come. He didn't.
Kagome grabbed her burger and swallowed a too huge bite. Stubborn, egotistical maniac, new moon weakling.
Pain...lots of pain...water...someone please give me some water...
"She's choking!" Hojo grabbed Kagome and started pounding her back while Honda, Eri and Jonouchi shoved their drinks into her face.
Kagome managed to swallow before anybody's drink was forcefully poured down her throat. Eww.
They could just give me my drink, but noooo...they have to shove their own drinks into my face. Why do I even bother?
She was not choking anymore.
"So what do you think happened?" Yuki asked. Kagome's head snapped up. Did they know about Kagome and Inuyasha? No, that's not possible.
"Wha...What? What happened?"
They all stared at her for what seemed a million years.
"Have you even been listening?" Jonouchi asked, "We have only been talking about the past hour."
"Eh Heh. Sorry..." She said sheepishly.
"We were wondering what caused those disappearances last week, remember?" Ayumi answered for her. Jonouchi grinned at her for some reason, they had started going out shortly after the encounter with Inuyasha. Ayumi had apparently fallen for the tough boy attitude.
"Yeah...Jonouchi thinks there is a group of gangsters kidnapping people for ransom..." Eri continued.
"...Which cannot be possible since no ransom calls or notes have been received. And remember that the mansion was heavily guarded and had cameras in every room, no one entered or left." Seto put his two cents in.
"Then how come the cameras didn't catch what happened to them?" Kagome asked perplexed. She didn't like the direction this conversation was going in.
"Well, they stopped functioning for 2 minutes. That's 2 minutes as in like a hundred and twenty seconds exactly, not as a figure of speech. All of them...all of them stopped functioning simultaneously and were back online together only there were no more contestants to shoot." Yuki spoke up quietly. She seemed deep in thought.
"Yuki thinks its demons. I don't think there is even such a thing. I think it's a ghost." Ayumi said in a hushed tone.
"I agree with Jonouchi with his theory, it's the most possible one." Honda nodded his consent.
"But its been proven wrong! How can a gang of bad guys get through a heavy guard and short circuit all the cameras together and then kidnap five fully- grown adults in a span of two minutes flat. Why would they even bother to put the cameras back online?" Seto growled at Jonouchi and Honda. The rest of the gang just stared at him explode. True, his arguments made sense but does he have to threaten the group into silence? He was now challenging each of them to counter him with his glare.
"We're going down there later today. Are you in Kagome, or not?" Seto addressed Kagome.
"I...uh..." She didn't like ghosts and even though she had endured much more in her adventures in Feudal Japan, she still didn't like ghosts, "Do I have to?"
No body said anything but Kagome knew that if she chickened out then...well lets just say that Inuyasha wasn't the only one with the pride.
"Okay sure..." She said weakly. Maybe she should have stayed at the Feudal Era.
----------------------------------------------------------X----------------- -------------------------------------
"What's in it for me?" Asked a hoarse grating voice.
"I will offer you half of the Shikon Jewel shards that I possess." Naraku's puppet made the promise. There was no way Naraku would show up in his true form.
"Why should I trust you?"
"Because if you don't, then I can find other's who will do the job for a lesser price." Naraku smirked. He had her just where he wanted. In three seconds flat she will agree to do the job.
Three...
Two...
One...
"Where do you want it?" Dead steel grey eyes looked up at the Baboon demon called Naraku.
"First things first, the wood can be found at the bone-eater's well." Naraku said, making a general gesture in the direction of the well, "The portal will be placed in my castle."
"This is dangerous magic, I have never done anything of such a magnitude. Time magic tends to..."
"If you fail, I'll have your head." He threatened in a low voice. He was tired of people making mistakes and betraying him. Now, he was going to give them a 'do or die' situation to make sure the outcome was desirable.
"Yes. Yes." The old woman bowed to show her understanding. Naraku tossed a couple of jewel shards to her.
"The rest after the job is done."
"Yes. Yes."
"Now go. I will expect the portal tonight."
"Yes."
"Meet me here when you're ready. Call my name, I'll come take you to my castle."
"Yes."
-------------------------------------------------------------X-------------- -----------------------------------
"What are you doing here?" Inuyasha nearly jumped out of his branch at the voice. Rei was standing at the foot of the tree he was sitting in.
"What does it look like I'm doing we..." Inuyasha stopped himself. He only called Kagome 'wench' and he had almost called Rei that.
"You miss her don't you?" Inuyasha looked down at her before his eyes widened.
"Get out of my head you..." He started to shake his head in an attempt to stop her from probing his thoughts any further.
"I'm not a bug you can shake off. Go get Kagome back. NOW!" Rei's green eyes had something yellow dancing in them. He could see her icy blue hair turn white. Uh oh...she's mad.
"Why should I?"
"Because you love her and you know you want to bring her back." Her eyes returned to normal and her hair turned back to the normal ice blue.
"The well runs both ways." At that, Rei pulled up her right hand and he saw wind swirling at her fingertips.
"All you have to do is jump into the well. It's so close. Just jump down." She urged him on.
"Are you fucking kidding me? I'm not getting her back. She's responsible for the fight...she should apologize." The wind playing around her fingers turned stronger and he could see the currents whip back and forth through the fingers, "uh...what are you doing?" He was starting to sweat. What was she doing?
"I think you just need a push in the right direction, don't you think?" The temperature dropped suddenly and the sweat drops on his forehead froze. She swung her hand in the direction of the well and a small blizzard, complete with snow and hail, appeared out of nowhere and threw Inuyasha off the branch. Before he could land on the ground and then proceed to avoid the next attack, the wind picked up again and hurled Inuyasha right into the well.
"Don't forget to tell her about ME!!!" She yelled into the well as Inuyasha disappeared.
----------------------------------------------------------X----------------- -----------------------------------
"Are you sure it's a good idea to bring a bow and arrows?" Yuki questioned Kagome. She had run home to 'get a few things' and she had later reappeared with a bow and a quiver of arrows.
"I don't see you saying anything to Jonouchi and Honda." Kagome snapped back. Jonouchi was carrying a baseball bat with barbed wire attached to its end and Honda had a hockey stick. They all grinned sheepishly and then tried to hide their weapons in vain.
"I give up," Yuki sighed.
"I think we'll get into trouble. I shouldn't be out after dark." Eri complained.
"Your parents don't know about it, you said you were staying over at Ayumi's remember." Jonouchi answered.
"So what did you tell Ayumi's parents?" Kagome questioned them. They were walking in the direction of the mansion. It was dark and the boys had thought that it would be good to give the girls a scare so that they would cling to them for reassurance. Kagome had laughed when she had seen them arrive ready for war.
"That she's staying at Eri's." Honda answered.
"And Eri is staying at your house Kagome. And Kagome is at Yuki's." Seto told Kagome, "Why exactly are we going there?"
"To solve the mystery, to bring the evil-doers to justice. To save the day once again!!!" Jonouchi and Honda guffawed. Hojo snaked his hand slowly into Kagome's and held onto it. One look at him though showed that he had probably practiced this move. He was blushing so hard it seemed his head would explode.
Oh...why me? Of all the people why me?
She missed her friends. She wondered how Miroku was doing, if he was feeling any better. Had the rest of the gang managed to find out what went wrong with him? How was Inuyasha doing? Who was that girl he went into the forest with? Why was he holding her hand?
Oh yeah...Kouga. Wonder what he's up to.
"Here we are!!!" Jonouchi announced.
"So how are we getting in without alerting the guards?" Seto asked them. He almost seemed glad they wouldn't be seeing this plan through.
"We jump the fence of course." Kagome said immediately.
"Kagome...uh...the wall is a good fifteen feet tall." Honda looked like he'll grab Kagome and throw her into the metal asylum any minute.
"Uh...yeah...so what do you say we do then?" Kagome tried to regain her lost dignity.
"Have no fear, Jonouchi and Honda are here!" They guffawed again, "There is a part of the fence that's broken and is hidden by the trees, we can squeeze in through there."
The hole was huge. And it didn't look like it had collapsed by itself. One look from the girls and Jonouchi and Honda had been whistling their mouths dry.
Kagome went in first. Actually, all the girls went in first. The guys followed saying that they were watching the girls' backs. Kagome knew better.
The first thing that Kagome felt as if she had returned to Feudal Japan and she was standing in Naraku's castle. The large courtyard was the first thing that struck Kagome of the similarity.
A little more investigation led Kagome to the conclusion that this was not a mansion it was castle. Most of it was destroyed, time had eaten away at it and some other parts were rebuilt. But the similarity in the two places was unnerving. She wasn't sure that risking her neck to save her pride was such a good idea anymore.
The Mansion of Dark Destiny...
--------------------------------------------------------X------------------- --------------------------------
Inuyasha cursed as he jumped out of the well, the pollution and other exhaust gases assaulting his sensitive nose. He wrinkled his nose planning to jump back in and return to his time to give Rei a good beating.
"Inuyasha!!!" Souta ran into the shrine and grabbed Inuyasha's legs and stayed there.
"Hey, kid let go of my leg." Inuyasha shook his leg to see if he could throw him off. It didn't work.
"Why didn't you come get Kagome sooner? She cried so much." She cried? "She was crying? Because of me?"
"Duh you." Souta snapped and then let go of his leg. Inuyasha didn't notice the sudden freedom. She cried because he didn't come to get her? Does she still have feelings for him? Maybe it was a huge mistake. Maybe she didn't kiss Kouga, maybe Kouga kissed her. But she was enjoying it!! She's not supposed to enjoy it if it was a forced kiss.
I need to talk to her.
"Hey kid, where is she?" He asked her little brother.
"I'm not telling. You'll only make her cry."
"I won't make her cry."
"I still won't tell you. You will fight with her." Inuyasha opened his mouth to protest but he realized that he could not promise the fight part. They probably will end up fighting. They always do. But this wasn't like always.
"Its ok. I'll find her myself." With that he started to sniff her out. Her scent was easy to find in this era, just look for what smells like nature and follow it. The rest of the smells all reminded him of Naraku's noxious vapours.
She's not alone.
He tugged at his baseball cap. Souta threatened him to wear it before he left otherwise he would paste himself onto his leg. It had worked.
Kagome's sent took him to a restaurant of sorts with a funny clown at entrance. He got there after the sun had set and he wondered what Kagome would have to do at night in this era, its not like she had to fight demons.
He followed her scent through the streets as fast as he could to avoid being noticed by too many people. He nearly jumped into the mansion. It stank of demons and Inuyasha was not too happy about the fact that there were seven humans and a miko without protection.
He kicked the door open and yelled out her name as loud as he could, "KAGOME!!!!"
--------------------------------------------------------------X------------- ---------------------------------------
"Are you ready?" Naraku's baboon skin-clad form appeared from a thick grove of trees.
"Yes. I have retrieved the enchanted wood from the bone-eater's well. It took longer than usual because a certain demon kept constant vigil over it. He left mysteriously earlier this evening and so I was able to obtain the wood."
"I did not ask for an explanation. Follow me if you wish to get through the barrier alive."
Naraku lead the old woman through the forest and they arrived at a clearing. It seemed invisible but then Naraku swept his hand out towards the area and the grassy plains were gone, only to be replaced by a castle surrounded by a glowing blue shield.
"You are to create the portal in the farthest room of the lowest dungeon. Is that clear?"
The old woman nodded vigorously, her thinning white hair shaking with each nod. Her eyes were what set her apart from humans. They were an unnatural shade of purple. It was almost as if she had amethysts for eyes, just that these amethysts had been dulled with age and experience.
She wrapped her black cloth tightly around herself as she reached the required dungeon. The place was cold and she could not stop shivering. She made her way to the last room and put the bag she was carrying down.
With a small groan, she pulled out an axe she had stolen from the village and attacked the door of the room. She created a small hole in the door where she then proceeded to put the stolen pieces of the enchanted wood. It was hard work and the wood kept falling out. Eventually she pushed one shard of the jewel into the wood and it melted into place, fusing with the door's original wood.
She pulled out a book that was dusty and falling apart. It was a family heirloom, only the most powerful witches in her family could receive it and she had been the most powerful of all. But now her powers were fading and she needed the power of the jewel.
Her voice rose as she recited the ancient spells, her body glowing with a purple aura as it started to darken and then spread. The aura turned into dark hideous snakes as they attacked the door fusing with it and making it hum.
Suddenly, her surroundings went dark and she fainted on the hard cold stone floor in front of the door, the spell left unfinished.
"I see you failed me." She opened her eyes only to see a baboon clad man towering over her.
"I'm sorry, I cannot finish the spell. I was too old and weak to finish the spell, and once interrupted it cannot be completed."
Naraku gave a low growl, his baboon skin bellowed in the wind that originated form nowhere as a large thick tentacle shot from under the hide and snaked around the old witch's neck.
"But your purpose...can...will...be served," The old witch choked out trying to breath when the tentacle was crushing her neck. It had the desired effect. The tentacle loosened around her neck allowing her to speak.
"The portal will take you five hundred years into the future, but it will not bring you back." She coughed out.
"Interesting." Naraku drawled, then suddenly he tightened his hold back on her neck effectively snapping it with a sickening crack; "I will not be needing your services anymore."
He bent down and retrieved his shards of the jewel. She had placed one in the door. He'll just have to take it out once he had finished the miko off in her own world where there was no one to protect her.
He went to the door and opened it. He watched the purple snakes circle around a black vortex hissing and flicking their tongues at him. Lightening shot out from inside the hole calling him in.
Without a second thought, he jumped into the vortex and the door snapped shut.
-----------------------------------------------------------X---------------- -------------------------------------
Kouga was starting to get irritated. Who knew Inuyasha's bitch would be so hard to track? Every time he picked up a scent, she managed to disappear. He even found her once while she was resting, somewhat, but he was kept from contacting her because of a barrier. It was evident that she didn't want to see him, but it was best if they joined forces to bring down the common enemy.
Kikyo had miko abilities and Inuyasha had a soft spot for her. If she was to do something that would cause a great deal of damage, material or emotional, he would overlook it. However, if Kouga was to do that same thing then he would have to face a very angry bloodthirsty demon.
He had already managed to keep in neck in the right place after Inuyasha had seen him kiss Kagome. It was amazing how much Inuyasha had changed, if he had found them like that before he had died then Kouga would be trying to dig his way out of an early grave right now; not searching for his ex- lover plotting his death.
Things change, people change but motives never change. They both wanted Kagome before he died and they still do. They both wanted each other dead before he died and they still do. But now one is an undead and the other is a full-blooded demon who had placed his first claim on the girl he loves already. Clearly he was one step ahead of the half-breed.
He just had to make sure that Kagome...his Kagome doesn't stray and go into the wrong arms. He had to make sure that the dogface never touches his Kagome. And to do that...he has to make her his. He will have to place his mark on the flawless skin of his love. He will have to sink his teeth into the virgin flesh of the one he wishes to claim. Once bonded, Inuyasha will never be able to claim her and hence the threat will be diminished. Once bonded, she will be his...forever.
But first, he has to find Kikyo who will help him take care of Kagome's feelings for Inuyasha. He has to find her and talk to her. He has to get her to join him. If not...then he'll just have to find a substitute.
A/N: Thank you so much for the lovely reviews, you made me feel so good about the last chapter. Thank you Thank you. Now I shall leave you to read some one else's fic. Until next time...I bade thee farewell Adieu! Adieu! Adieu! You gotta love Hamlet!!!!! :D