Chapter 4
Kaede turns and looks at Inuyasha. "There's a dream demon near the well."
"A dream demon?" Inuyasha and I say at the same time.
"Yes," Kaede answers, nodding.
"What the hell is that?" Inuyasha asks.
Kaede reads from her book, "'The dream demon has no actual shape. It is just a presence. It can be defeated only by the one it attacks.'"
My face pales. I can literally feel the blood leave it. "What does that mean, Kaede?"
"You must allow it to attack you again, Kagome. You have to defeat it with your subconscious."
I gump. "Okay."
We stand around the well in silence. I look down into the dark depths, but Inuyasha jerks me back. "It's in there," he says.
"Really?" Shippo bounds up to the well's opening, but upon reaching the wooden structure surrounding the hole, he high-tails it back to his hiding place behind Sango and her demon-cat Kirara.
"I can smell it," Inuyasha says, sniffing the air. "He's malicious."
Just then a wicked laugh rises from the well. "Yes, he is," I agree with Inuyasha.
"You're going to have to sleep out here tonight, Kagome, and away from the protectiveness of my hut," Kaede tells me.
I take out my make-shift pack and unroll the matt and place the pillow on it. "Ready."
"Inuyasha, you should stay with her," Kaede says. "Sango and Miroku and I are only human. He'd prey on us if we stayed here with her. And Shippo's too young. You're the only one able to block him."
Inuyasha nods. "I'll stay."
The rest of the group trudges back to the hut, leaving Inuyasha and I alone.
"Are you okay, Kagome?"
I look up at him. "No."
He takes a seat on the map and motions to me to sit in his lap. He wraps his arms around me and I lay my head against his chest. A gust of wind blows, signaling that it is getting dark. The air blows our hair together, intertwining the black strands of mine with his silver locks.
Our closeness works like a sleeping aid to me. I begin to drift off. Just before I slip into unconsciousness, he whispers, "It'll be okay, Kagome. I'll protect you."