Haunted

By $hAdOwCaT

Chapter 2: The Last Sign

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Droplets of rain crashed upon the earth. She was on the swing again, watching the clouds consume the sky once more. An overwhelming sense of déjà vu fell over her. Gusts of wind pushed her forward in the swing, but she paid it no mind. All she could see was darkness coming to take her away.

"Hurry," she found herself whispering. "Please, I can't wait much longer."

As though consenting to her wishes, the dark clouds rolled faster. Any minute now, she would finally be rid of this place, this wretched life. She would finally be free. No longer would she have to worry about demons, about school, homework. No longer would she have worry about him. And it was that thought that brought her both joy and sadness.

The swing continued to rock back and forth. Her hair blew around her. But she couldn't help but wonder; would he miss her? Like he missed Kikyo?

"Stop it. I'm sick of thinking of you thinking about Kikyo. I'm sick of demons. I'm sick of the fighting. I'm sick of being second best in your eyes. Nothing I do is ever good enough for you."

The wind howled in her ear. She bowed her head as tears fell down her cheeks.

"And most of all, I'm sick of you, Inuyasha."

She swallowed hard and glared up at the sky. The rain stung her eyes, but she didn't care. All she could see was his face, his chiseled, handsome face glaring back at her. He really didn't care about her. There really was no room in his heart for her. She had known that all along, but somehow the thought still hurt. Why was she still hurting for someone who didn't love her?

"You don't have to endure this."

She jerked up and looked around for the owner of the voice. "What?"

"You don't have to put up with this, little one. You don't have to continue to love someone who will never have the same feelings for you."

"I don't?"

"No. All you have to do is come with me and I will take you away from the chaos. I will free you from your misery."

It sounded too good to be true. She looked around once more but saw nothing but the park. The ominous clouds moved ever closer. "Do you want to be free?"

Did she? But that would mean leaving Inuyasha...what was she thinking? He didn't care about her and yet she continued to obsess over him.

"I...don't know...."

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The next day went with little incident, Kagome went to school, got her homework and tried to keep up with the class as much as possible. So she didn't understand a single thing being said or written upon the board, at least she was trying to keep up. All the while people kept asking her about her mysterious illnesses, Kagome kept thinking that everyone in her school was to put bluntly frickin' blind. She looked perfectly fine! Granted she had bags under her eyes from lack of sleep, but she tried to hide it as much as she could with concealer. But damn, the people in her school were idiots. Who knew? Maybe that could work for her benefit.

She was currently on her way home when Hojo rode up to her on this bicycle.

"Higurashi!" he called, waving his hand in the air.

Kagome whirled around just in time to see the wind whip through his dirty blonde hair. Oh Hojo.... He was so sweet, a bit dense, but sweet and caring nonetheless.

"Hey, Hojo. What's up?"

Hojo flashed a charming smile that could make any girl swoon, well any girl except for her. He got off his bike and stood beside it with his hands on the bars.

"I noticed that you were by yourself so I thought I could walk you home if that's okay."

"Uh sure...that'd be great, Hojo," Kagome replied as they started walking. "I thought you didn't live around here, what brings you here?"

"My mom wants me to get some supplies from a couple herbal stores around here after school."

"Cool."

They continued to walk in an awkward silence. Kagome remembered one of her friends once said that silence is awkward only when you let it. It was good advice but unfortunately she didn't know how to make the conversation un- awkward. She noticed Hojo kept glancing in her direction. Maybe it was awkward for him too.

"So...." Kagome put her hands behind her head and laughed nervously. "This is exciting."

Hojo laughed and nodded. "I'll say. So what do you want to talk about, Kagome?"

She shrugged.

Out of the corner of her eye, Kagome saw a flash of red and silver over the houses across the street. Whoa rewind- she did a double take and stopped dead in her tracks. This couldn't be happening, she reasoned with herself, there was no way this could be happening.... That jerk!! She thought she told him that she'd come back in a week! Just a week! Couldn't he leave her alone for just one stupid week? Apparently not.

Ooh, when I get my hands on him he's gonna wish he never jumped into the Bone Eater's Well! I'll make that dog-boy pay!

Hojo walked right past Kagome without even realizing that she had stopped. He paused and looked behind him to find the girl with her hands curled into fists by her side. Her expression changed from shocked to angry in close to two seconds flat.

"Higurashi?"

No response.

"Is something wrong, Higurashi?" he tried again.

Kagome's head snapped up. "What? No, of course not. I just need to SIT down."

Hojo blinked and titled his head to one side. "Oh, my mistake....you looked upset about something so I-"Kagome cut him off.

She grinned and laughed nervously. "Nothing's wrong, Hojo! You were just imagining things!" she looked at her wrist where a watch would be. "Well would you just look at the time? My, I'd better get a move on if I'm going to be on time for my uh.... appointment!"

"I could give you a lift on my bike, if you'd like."

"No! No! That won't be necessary!"

Kagome ran up to him, placed a quick peck on his cheek, and started running home.

"Thanks for everything, Hojo! See ya!" she called over her shoulder before the poor boy had a chance to reply.

"Uh, bye," Hojo stared at her retreating figure dumbly and waved. "Your welcome, I guess."

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"I can't believe him! I said a week! Just a week! Was that too much to ask for? Shesh!"

Kagome made it to the shrine in record time, who knew that muttering to yourself as you ran would make people clear the sidewalks for you? She'd have to do that more often. She raced up the many stone stairs, but after the twentieth one, started to lose her breath.

"Memo to self," she said to herself between pants. "Lay off the ice cream and the WacDonald's."

After about a couple minutes she plopped down on her bed. Why did she run home in such a hurry? Oh yeah, she remembered now. What if it was just her imagination? My God, if that were true that meant she had run home for absolutely nothing. Kagome was not a big fan of running, unless her life was in danger or if there was a sale at the mall. People who ran for fun were just plum crazy in her book.

That flash of red and silver soaring over the houses... there was no other logical explanation. It had to be him.

Kagome lay on her bed for a couple more minutes, gathering her bearings. She was still trying to convince her limbs to work when the phone rang from downstairs. Why couldn't she have a cordless phone in her room or something?

Three rings later and the caller still hadn't hung up. Kagome sighed and with much effort pulled herself off the bed. She walked down stairs and picked up the phone.

"Hello, Higurashi residence."

There was heavy breathing on the other end.

"Er...hello?" Kagome asked again.

".....Kagome, such a pleasure to hear your voice again. It's been five hundred years since I last heard it," drawled a male voice.

Five hundred years? But that meant that she met this person in the feudal era! How?

"Who is this and how do you know my name?" she demanded.

"Oh wait that's right....we haven't been formally introduced yet. But we will, I can assure you that."

"What's that supposed to mean? Look, I don't know what your talking about so-"

He cut her off. "You have something that I want. And I have the answers that will help you get something that you desire. Maybe we could work out some sort of agreement, ne?" the voice chuckled.

"Hello. Wrong number! There is no Kagome here, sorry," Kagome lied swiftly.

The male voice laughed even more. The sound sent chills up and down her spine.

"Okay okay, believe what you wish."

Dial tone met her ears. Kagome didn't move an inch and stared dumbly at the wall as if it could tell her what the hell just happened. But today it turned out the wall wasn't in a very talkative mood.

In the back of her mind, Kagome could hear the front door open and slam shut. It was like she was paralyzed. Her whole mind was just a blank.

"Yo Kagome! What the hell were you doing with Hobo?! I thought I told you to stay away from the creep!" snapped a certain silver haired, amber-eyed hanyou.

Inside the house was quiet but his sensitive demon hearing could pick up on a low droning sound coming from the hall. Inuyasha made a throaty growl; what was the girl up to now? First she was all over stupid Hobo and now she was just standing in front of a little table, staring the wall. What the hell was the matter with that stupid girl?

Inuyasha took a step forward but stopped as he noticed Kagome's hand was shaking. Something was very wrong. He ran up to her. She didn't even acknowledge his presence.

"Kagome! What happened?!"

Kagome shakily put the phone back on the charger and swallowed hard. Was she just threatened by an anonymous stalker? What happened? The phone conversation came back to her.

The next thing she knew, Kagome was staring into a pair of intense liquid gold pools with no recollection of how she got there.

"Inuyasha?" she blinked.

"Kagome! Are you hurt? What the hell happened?" Inuyasha cried.

She couldn't help but smile, Inuyasha could be a jerk but at times he could be almost sweet. This was one of those times. She shook her head and told him what happened, about the man claiming that he knew her from the feudal era.

When she finished, Inuyasha had his hands in his puffy red kimono sleeves with a fierce scowl on his lips.

"This guy, he said that he hadn't heard your voice in over five hundred years?" he asked after a pause.

His attention was focused on the floor and when he looked up to Kagome, he found that she was smiling. Actually she had her hand over her mouth, stifling the sound of her laughter?

"What is so funny?" Inuyasha demanded. "You think being threatened is funny?"

Kagome shook her head but still didn't remove her hand. "No..."

"Then what the hell is so funny?!"

"You."

That wasn't quite the response he had in mind. Inuyasha jerked back and felt the heat rise in his cheeks, but was helpless to stop it. She thinks I'm funny? But I didn't do anything....did I?

"I'm sorry, Inuyasha! I'm sorry!" Kagome said urgently.

She grabbed his hand to prove her point. "I don't think it's funny, I'm sorry. It's just that....." she paused to search for the right word because she couldn't very well say, 'You looked so cute with that frown on your face!' Yep, there was no way she could say that.

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"So you say that this anonymous caller claimed that you had something of his?"

"Yeah, but I didn't recognize the voice. He said he hadn't heard my voice in 500 years, do you think he's a demon?" Kagome asked.

Miroku rubbed his chin in thought. The situation was bizarre, the caller made it seem as though he and Lady Kagome were on friendly terms. What could she have that the caller desired?

"It would appear that way," he said.

A little ball of orange fur jumped on the monk's shoulder. Shippo folded his arms across his chest, his head bowed thoughtfully. "Do you think the caller was talking about the jewel?"

Kagome frowned. "I'm not sure. I've got but a few shards, Naraku has most of the jewel. It would make more sense for whoever this person is to go after Naraku."

"Maybe not. Naraku is a foe only fought against with full power. If this person was a demon, he or she would need the power of the scared jewel shards to even stand a chance against Naraku," the kitsune said.

"Yes, so in that case the wiser choice would be to nab your jewel shards," Miroku nodded in agreement.

Well, that makes me feel a heck of a lot better, Kagome thought. Not.

"I think the object of your discussion is to comfort Kagome not scare her, Master Miroku."

Kagome glanced over her shoulder to see Lady Kaede walk up. Kaede wore a grim expression and had a basket of fruit in her age worn hands.

The Buddhist monk scratched the back of his head and laughed nervously. "I suppose your right about that, Lady Kaede." His expression turned somber. "I do however feel it is best to tell her truth. She is not a child, Kagome deserves to know."

The priestess nodded in agreement. "Yes, but is this the best time? She is so young..."

Kagome could feel the anger raising and fought her best to stay quiet. What the heck was the matter with them? She was standing right next to them!

"And she just so happens to be here right now!" she hissed.

Miroku looked mildly surprised, as if he hadn't noticed her sooner. Kaede remained impassive.

"Right you are! I totally forgot you were here," he flashed her a disarming smile that had she been any other girl, Kagome would have swooned and forgot her anger. But she wasn't any other girl and thus she was still angry.

"Nice try, Miroku. But it isn't going to work on me."

Miroku lowered his head and sighed. "Can't blame a guy for trying."

-------------------------------------Author's Note: Hey! This is the end of Chapter 2! Thanks to RoxyFoxy and Misura for reviewing! I hope this chapter didn't disappoint! Now...everyone, review!

--$hAdOwCaT