Haunted
By $hAdOwCaT
Chapter 6: Way Away
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It was dark as far as the eye could see. The air was heavy with the cold. Her trained eyes scanned the shadowy bedroom and came across a lump near the center of the room. Directly across from that was Kagome's big yellow backpack as well as her bow and quiver.
The girl from the future was curled underneath a blanket, her head covered. Sango mildly wondered how she could breathe with that heavy cover over her face.
There was something about this room that gave her a bad feeling and over the years as a demon exterminator, she had learned to trust her instincts. Some demons had the power to create the most ominous of vibes in their surrounding area. Spine-tingling auras were a dead giveaway for the demon in the area.
Why would such a chilling aura be in this room? Wondered the demon exterminator as she carefully crept closer to the sleeping girl. She lifted the top portion of the blanket from the girl's face.
"Kagome?" Sango nudged her.
To her surprise, Kagome's skin was hot. Beads of cool sweat rolled down the girl's forehead.
Inside the room was silent with the exception of Kagome's labored breathing and her own breath. She knew she had to do something before it was too late, but the question was what? She had tried to shake the girl, call her name, the whole shabangabang and still no success. There had to be something she could do, but tried as she might all of her ideas failed.
Could it be a demon trying to possess Kagome?
No, that couldn't be it. Sango didn't sense any demonic presences. Still, with Naraku in the very beginning she couldn't sense his demonic aura. Then again that was a demon puppet. Surely there was no puppet here.
The surrounding air seemed thick with the unnatural cold. It smelt dank; as though there was water or used to be lots of water in the room, which there couldn't be. She couldn't be certain, but Sango was pretty sure that there wasn't a flood in the area or in this inn very recently.
"Kagome? Come on, wake up! It's me, Sango."
There was still no response from the sleeping girl. It was like she was in a coma or something.
Sango bit her lower lip and stole a glance behind her, more specifically the doorway. The door had shut and little rays of sunlight peeked through the cracks at the bottom. It looked like a beautiful, peaceful day outdoors. The perfect day to set off in search for another shard of the Shikon no Tama.
"Ka-"
A chill whipped down her spine.
There was a hitch in Kagome's breathing. Her eyelids fluttered open, revealing hollow and chillingly empty sapphire eyes. She gasped for breath.
"-go-"
In between her struggle for air, she mumbled incoherently. Her words were rapid and beyond recognition. It sounded like a chant of some kind.
"-me?"
Silence. Nothing but silence in the cold air. Sango could barely make out the echo of her own voice drifting through the walls. Just as she thought it was safe to exhale, something grabbed her hand.
She heard a scream, but it took her several seconds to realize that she was the one who screamed. The hand belonged to Kagome. The girl's head rolled on her shoulder as she stretched out her right hand. A whisper escaped the girl's pale lips.
"Sango...is that you...?"
"Yes, it's me," Sango breathed.
"Sango..." Her hand was gripped tighter. Shimmering locks of ebony hair fell over the girl from the future's shoulder as she whispered, "Run."
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"What on earth is taking Sango so freaking long? It can't take this long to get someone up."
"Patience, Inuyasha. I'm sure the girls will be down shortly."
The half-demon known as Inuyasha made a throaty and rather dog-like growl. He narrowed his amber eyes at the Buddhist Monk, Miroku.
"If we take too long, that pesky Koga will find us," he hissed through clenched teeth.
Having been way too used to this, Miroku merely raised a hand as if he were trying to halt Inuyasha's fury. "I am well aware of that, but still there are some matters that are out of our control. There's nothing we can do at the moment. Just be patient."
"It's only a matter of time until Koga comes knocking..." Inuyasha muttered to himself, folding his hands in his sleeves. "And when he does...I'll pommel him..."
"Give it a break, Inuyasha," Shippo said dully.
The kistune stared up at the half demon in annoyance, arms folded over his little chest. "We all know that Koga is a strong fighter so it won't be easy for you to take him down."
Just as Miroku was about to break up the impending fight, which would end up only with a crying child and an pissed off hanyou both things he'd rather not have, when a loud crash sound erupted from overhead. The entire inn shook as though it had been struck by something with great force. All was silent.
Shippo was the first to recover.
"W-what was that?" he asked fearfully, clutching Inuyasha's leg in fright.
Inuyasha's fist curled around the hilt of Tetsuaiga. "There's only one way to find out." With that he took off for the stairs with Miroku. Shippo, meanwhile, had been sent flying due to the fact a certain silver haired hanyou kicked him. He clutched his little head and gasped as he saw the fabric of Miroku's robe flutter up the stairs and out of sight.
"Ah hey! Wait for me!"
He scrambled after them on all fours. Moments later, Shippo took a sharp turn into the room in the hall. Inuyasha and Miroku stood just inside the doorway, speechless. What were they looking at? Shippo made his way between their legs and stopped in his tracks.
Everything was still. There was Kagome lying on the floor, her hand extended. Her face expressionless as her eyes continued to gaze straight at something out of sight.
"Kagome!"
Inuyasha raced to her side. He studied her for several moments before grabbing her shoulders. He gently brushed her bangs from her eyes.
"Kagome, are you okay?"
The girl nodded but said nothing.
"She seems to be alright," he muttered to himself. "But, if she's here then where's..."
"Sango!"
He looked over his shoulder and saw Miroku and Shippo rush up to the wooden panel wall beside the door. Shippo was whimpering and mumbling something to the monk. What the hell...
"What's wrong?" Inuyasha raised his voice.
Miroku got down on one knee and as he did so, Inuyasha suddenly understand what all the commotion was about. His eyes widened in shock.
There was Sango firmly embedded within the wall. In the dim light it was easy to walk right past her and not even see her. Her head was bowed, her chin touching her chest. She was out cold. Thin trails of blood oozed from the corners of her closed eyes.
How could he have missed the scent of her blood? Usually, he could detect even smallest drop of blood from miles away. Inuyasha sniffed the air. Even now he could not pick up on the scent. The only thing he could smell was...well nothing. That was just it, nothing. Absolutely nothing.
"S-Sango? Are you d-ead?" Shippo asked meekly.
Had this been any other situation Inuyasha would have snorted.
Miroku placed his fingers on the slayer's neck and felt a faint but steady pulse. "Don't worry, she's just unconscious. Sango's not dead, Shippo."
"Y-you sure?"
"Positive."
He gently pulled Sango's arm in a feeble attempt to dislodge her with no success. It was going to take both his and Inuyasha's combined strength to dislodge her. There was no telling if she had any broken bones or any internal injuries. If they didn't pull her out just right, they could do more harm than good.
Miroku glanced back at Inuyasha, who still cradled the girl from the future in his arms. It seemed to him that the half-demon was smothering her, but she didn't seem to notice or care. Her eyes looked chillingly empty. Kagome's body was limp, she appeared almost doll like. Her face relying no emotion.
"Inuyasha," he called. "I'm in need of your assistance. I cannot dislodge Sango on my own."
Inuyasha grunted in response. He tried to stand when Kagome tightened her grip on his sleeves.
"I'm going to set you down. I have to help the others," he told her softly.
Kagome shook her head slowly.
"I have to help Miroku free Sango," he repeated.
Inuyasha gently detached her fingers from his sleeves. He laid her back on the floor and rose. He walked over to the others.
"I'm here."
"Alright, it's going to take the two of us to pull her out. She's lodged in there very nicely," Miroku said, rising. "We're have to be very careful," he added.
"Feh. Fine, let's just get this done with. The sooner we get out of here the better."
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"Is Sango going to be okay, Miroku?"
Miroku looked down at the little fox child, who clutched his sleeve. "For the hundredth time, yes, Shippo. Sango is going to be just fine."
The kistune was unconvinced but nodded nevertheless. "I hope your right. But what do you think happened to her?"
That's what has been troubling me as well, it doesn't make any sense. Lady Kagome was in the same room; she was staring straight at Sango when we arrived and yet she said nothing. Something about the situation doesn't feel right, pondered the houshi. Usually if one of her friends were danger, Lady Kagome would protect them fiercely. But this time she remained impassive.
"I honestly don't know," he replied with a sigh.
They returned their gazes to the unconscious demon slayer. Her face was void of any emotion. She looked neither peaceful nor in pain. The naturally milky skin was paler than usual.
It had been several hours since the slayer had moved, twitched even. And that time that she had stirred was when they carefully laid her down on the mat where she currently lay, even then all she had done was furrow her brow. No mumbles or mutters had escaped her delicate lips. No nothing.
The kistune yawned widely, nearly falling over in the act. He rubbed the liquid that had seeped from the corners of his eyes away.
Miroku caught this and gently placed his hand on the child's shoulder.
"Why don't you go outside and take a nap?" he suggested. It was obvious that Shippo was bored and quite sleepy.
"But Mirok-"Shippo started to protest when another yawn escaped his lips. He blushed. "I see your point."
With that he scampered off.
Sighing softly, Miroku turned back to the demon exterminator just as she was about to rouse. He found himself marveling at how someone could wake from deep sleep as quickly as if she were just pretending to be asleep.
Her head was throbbing as she came to. She opened her eyes to find nothing blurs. Her heart skipped a beat in fear. Where was she? Sango would have shot straight up if a hand hadn't prevented her from doing so.
"Easy, Sango. Your are with friends," said a familiar voice.
She turned her head in the direction of the voice. She blinked furiously to get her vision back in focus. As the world suddenly became clear, Sango saw Miroku seated beside her.
"Miroku," she said breathlessly. "Where are we?"
"In a little hut on the outskirts of a small village," came the easy reply. "You are safe now, Sango."
Sango was silent for several moments, trying to gather her bearings. The pain in her head was bordering unbearable. It felt as though every breath she took another jolt of pain would shoot from her spine.
"How did we come to acquire this hut?" she asked finally, her voice cracking from nonuse.
Miroku smiled brightly. "Funny you ask."
"I'm sorry I did."
Her hand massaged her eyes in a vain attempt to soothe the raging headache. What on earth happened?
"All joking aside, do you remember what attacked you? Or an even better question, what is the last thing you remember?"
Attacked? Someone attacked her? Her numb mind tried to sort through her memory. But all she could come up with was Inuyasha arguing with Koga.
"I-I don't know. Is Koga still here?"
Miroku shook his head. "He left last night after several members of his pack came. Something must have happened, but what I haven't the slightest idea."
Ignoring the protests of the monk, Sango sat up. And immediately regretted doing so. Surges of pain shot through her body like electricity. Her lips were barely able to bite back a hiss. She held her arms to her chest and hunched over them, flinching.
"I told you not to move, didn't I?" Miroku sighed.
"Oh be quiet."
"Listen to me, it would be wise not to move for a while. You've got a fractured rib for starters and there's no telling how bad the damage is on your back. You need to rest."
Great, just great. Sango just shut her eyes and inhaled deeply. This was exactly what she needed another set back in her quest of finding Kohoku, she thought sourly. She could feel hands help ease her back down on the mat.
"You don't have to do this, you know," Sango said softly.
"Do what?"
"Help me. You don't have to."
Just as Miroku opened his mouth to reply, someone stormed into the hut. The beaded cloth that served as a door was hanging by a thread. It was Inuyasha. He was panting heavily.
"Is something wrong, Inuyasha?" Miroku asked curiously, reaching for his staff.
"Where is she?"
Miroku and Sango exchanged blank glances. She tried to sit up, but in vain. The pain was still much too strong. Her woman's intuition told her that something was terribly wrong. But what? What could go wrong now?
"Where is who? Who are you talking about, Inuyasha?" Miroku questioned in a soothing tone.
Inuyasha narrowed his golden eyes. He snarled, exposing his fangs. "Just shut the hell up and tell me where she is! I don't have time for this crap!"
The monk rose to his feet, his usually lighthearted expression stone cold. He raised his hand and silenced Inuyasha's insistent growling.
"Inuyasha," he began firmly. "Your going to need to calm down and calmly explain to us what is wrong. We can't help you if you don't tell us what's going on. Can you do that?"
Inhaling deeply, Inuyasha nodded and did his best to contain his anger.
"Now, who is missing?"
"Kagome."
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Author's Note: Finally, it is done. Chapter 6. Phew wipes sweat from forehead for a while there I didn't think it was possible. I'm so incredibly sorry it took me so long to update, school started and can you believe that I started this in August? Jeez, that's like forever and half ago (lol, not really). I had this great idea in my head, but when I put it to paper it sounded stupid, but now I am satisfied. And I hope that you are too. Do you remember what I said in the last chapter about kicking that writer's block's ass? Well, it's a funny story really, blushes that writer's block has a mean right hook...But anyways, chapter seven is more than halfway done (for a while there I thought I was going to finish 7 before this one) Well R and R! Thank you so much!
And here's the list of review responses I promised:
Marina: Thank you very much for the review! I hope this chapter doesn't disappoint!
Misura: haha, I know what you mean about Inuyasha and Koga bickering like Seto and Joey. Your right, they are more like Joey. Don't worry, Koga's coming back in the next chapter! Thanks for the review!
My-Darkness: Are you still alive? I hope I haven't killed you with all the suspense! I took so long getting this chapter up, sorry!! Hang in there! Oh and thank you!
Inuyashafan: That's very sweet about the review thing. You don't have to apologize, I'm pleased and very grateful to get a review from you! Thank you! I hope you liked this chapter.
Kitkatfox: Soon you'll understand why Saiko is very familiar, but shhh places index finger on lips it's a surprise, k? I don't know exactly when there will be some I/K moments, but don't worry there will be some just for you, okay? Thank you very much!
Jokerhaha: Thank you! I haven't stopped writing, it's more like I've worked on other chapters and rewrote a lot. Lol. I promise I won't stop this story until it comes to the finale. Don't be sad!
Well, I'm pretty sure this is all of them for chapter five. If I left someone out, I apologize! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and stay tuned for the next one!
--$hAdOwCaT