Ch. 3
me: yay, people like it! ::dances some more::
Kikyo: ::mumbles::
me: ::throws her box into the ocean::
It didn't look good. They'd been following her since last week; they knew exactly where she lived, and when she was home alone. She was afraid this would happen.
"We know you're in there!" A brisk female voice cracked like a whip above seventeen year-old Midori Fujishima's head. She winced and tiptoed slowly further into her cellar, scooping up her tiny cat as she went. It wasn't like her to hide from intruders, but these certain ones gave her the worst feeling.
"Miyu...go distract her or something..." Midori whispered to her cat, who obediently leaped from her arms and up the stairs, squeezing through the crack in the door. She waited for a while, hoping that her cat would distract Katsuya Kaori enough so she could escape through the back door.
"I know you're down there!" Katsuya screeched, fiddling with the cellar lock. Midori's dark eyes widened, and she flung herself behind her dad's cabinet, flattening herself against the cool stone.
"Shit..." She muttered, feeling around for anything that was like a weapon. Her delicate hands closed around a metal object. Bringing it up to her eyes, Midori saw that it was a gun, the only weapon her father kept in the house. He'd always said that he hoped never to use it.
"What the hell?!" Miyu must have found Katsuya, because the woman shrieked and fell against the cellar door, breaking it in. Katsuya fell down the small flight of stairs, and landed with a smash at the bottom, Miyu still weaving around her feet.
"Miyu-chan!" Midori whispered urgently, trying to see if her cat would follow her voice. Indeed, the cat's ears perked up, and it began trotting toward her.
"Damn cat!" Katsuya pulled her gun from her holster and aimed it toward Miyu, a horrible gleam in her strange eyes.
"No!" Midori couldn't help herself; she stumbled out of her hiding place and scooped up the cat, just as Katsuya was about to pull the trigger.
"Heh. I knew you'd come out for that flea-bag." Katsuya tossed her dark brown hair behind her shoulders and pointed the gun at Midori. "Come now or I'll blow your family to bits."
"Fine, whatever. I'll come." Midori said, trying to be nonchalant about it. She tenderly let Miyu down, and stepped over to Katsuya. "Just one question: where the hell are we going?"
"You've never heard of it." The gun-toting woman said coldly. "It's called Aralia. It's an institution."
"What?!" Midori jerked her arm away from Katsuya and scowled. "Why are you taking me to a mental institution?"
"Your parents asked me to."
"Like hell they did!"
"Hm. Believe it or not, they're worried about you. You know you have chronic depression?"
"I do not!" Midori argued, even though she knew it was true. Lately, she had just been feeling like she'd lost something important to her, a friend maybe. It was like there were these memories that she couldn't find.
"Whatever." Katsuya snatched Midori's arm back, and pulled her toward the white car, shoving her in the backseat. "They were probably going to talk to you about it today, but Nayamo-san decided he couldn't wait any longer to get you."
"Nayamo-san?"
"He owns Aralia. A bit of a mad scientist, I suppose."
"You're sending me to a place owned by a mad scientist?!" Midori shrieked.
"Not exactly. Aralia is a new institution. We use a different kind of therapy. See, most places have people that come in to talk to the patients, but not Aralia."
"Well, what kind of therapy do you use there, then?"
"Shock therapy. You don't behave, we shock it into you. A few rounds of that, and you'll be crazier than Nayamo himself." With that, Katsuya revved the car and sped off toward the mountains.
"Mom! Mom!" Kagome crashed into her house, her normally pale complexion red. Her younger brother, Sota, looked up from his homework and scowled at her.
"Mom and Grandpa are out by the well. You forgot to take off your shoes, Kagome."
"Shut up, Sota."Her younger brother's overly superior manner was so damn annoying. With one last glare at Sota, Kagome jerked the door open and dashed toward the old well where her mother and grandfather stood. Upon reaching the well, she caught the saddened looks in her relations' eyes. The looks made her blood run cold, and she gripped the straps on her backpack as she asked the one question that had been plaguing her throughout the whole school day.
"Um...Grandpa? Is the well fixed?"
Her grandfather sighed and scratched his ear, looking worried."I'm not going to lie to you, Kagome-chan. I've tried since you left for school this morning, and the well still won't work. There are no traces of any sort of magic or demonic aura. It's like...it's like the well just ceased to exist. Quite frankly, I'm a bit worried." Her grandfather closed his eyes wearily and rubbed his head.
"Like it got blown up?"
"What?" Kagome's mother had a confused look on her face. "Blown up? Why would you think that?"
"'cause that's what happened in my dream! It's all coming true!! They're all dead!" Kagome turned on her heel and turned the doorknob with such a force that the windows shook.
"Kagome-chan!" She could hear their cries as she stormed up the stairs, ignoring her younger brother's pitiful protests.
"...you still forgot about your shoes, Kagome!" Sota called, unaware of what had happened by the well. Kagome ignored him and slammed the door to her room. Her grandfather must have told her mother not to bother her, because surprisingly, no one knocked.
"Maybe if I just go to sleep, when I wake up, it'll all be better...." She murmured, sliding her backpack off her bed. Papers and pens littered the floor, and she scowled at them. She reached for her pack, shoving the school supplies back in. Her hands closed around a sharp pointed object, and she pulled it out to take a closer look.
"My arrow..." Kagome bit her lip, staring at the old-looking weapon. She had put it in her backpack so she'd be sure to have an extra, just in case. Closing her eyes, she shoved the arrow back into her pack and stuck it all underneath her bed. Her eyes still closed, she flopped onto her bed and stuck her face into the pillow. It was far too comfortable, and within ten minutes she was fast asleep.
"Kagome-chan?" A strange voice was in Kagome's head, and she winced in her sleep, trying to make it go away.
"Kagome? Kagome, are you all right?" Another voice, this one deeper, also entered her mind. She opened her brown eyes, trying to get them to adjust to the darkness.
"Who's there?" She called, hopefully. Maybe it was InuYasha, coming to apologize for plugging up the well. That was surely it. Slowly, the door opened, and bright light shot into the room. Her mother and grandfather stood in the doorway, concerned looks decorating their faces.
"Kagome-chan, it's eleven o' clock." Her mother said softly. "You've been asleep for almost eight hours..."
"Is the well working?" Kagome knew she was being rude, but right now, she didn't care.
"Kagome..."
"I asked you a question, Grandpa." She said, her voice cold and sharp. Her grandfather shook his head sadly.
"I'm sorry."
"...so they're dead...I was right..." Kagome said quietly. She stood up slowly, trying to make her bangs lie flat. She felt apathetic; there was no pain, no loss.
"They may not be dead, sweetie..." Mrs. Higurashi said, attempting to look cheery.
"They are. Trust me, Mom."
"But..."
"So, you couldn't even unplug the well...and you call yourself an expert on this kind of stuff. That's really pathetic, did you know that?" Kagome said, her stormy eyes fixed on her grandfather. He looked taken aback by her choice of words, but there was no remorse in her voice.
"Kagome, don't say that!" Her mother reprimanded her with a sharp look.
"Why shouldn't I? It's true, and you know it. He can't even unplug a simple well. No wonder we don't have a lot of money. If you'd get up off your lazy ass and work instead of tinkering around with this crap, then we might be able to get Sota through school. I've heard you two talking at night."
"That was a private matter between your grandfather and myself." Mrs. Higurashi said, her voice no longer sweet. "Sota will get through school, and you really should stop eavesdropping."
"Hm. Well, Grandpa? Mom? Would you mind leaving me alone for a minute?" She set her eyes on her grandfather again. "That is, if you can manage even that."
Without another word, her relatives left the dark room, anger and sadness painted on their forlorn faces. Kagome sighed and flopped onto her bed. She did feel a little bad about being that rude to her grandfather, but it was all true.
"I'll never see them again..." She said, testing out the words. They sounded impossible, even to her. Why couldn't she feel anything?! Angrily, she hit her hand against the wall, expecting to feel the familiar sting. There was none. She couldn't feel, couldn't care. Her eyes drifted over everything in her room, trying to see if anything could help stop this unending feeling. And then her eyes fell on her backpack.
.....her arrow was inside.
me: sorry for not updating! school is busy!!
Kikyo: .......::drowns::
me: uh oh.... i think i just killed her....