Author's Notes: Wheee, I've finally posted the first chapter of this story! I came up with this fanfic idea, and I'm sorry, it just refused to leave me alone ;P It's another Alternate Universe fic, but don't worry, it ISN'T another High-school fic. Actually, it's kinda the complete opposite, even though the main characters are STILL 16! (Why do I have a obsession with that age?)

FULL SUMMARY: In a not-so-distant future (think of it as, like…2010, or something), the world is overrun with Youkai. Blood-thirsting youkai, that will stop at nothing to fulfill their lust for killing & blood. Most humans don't even know that Youkai exist, but there are many humans who do. These people are called "Taijiya", and they're part of a secret organization called YS (Youkai Slayers). Their job: To Exterminate the youkai population from the world one by one in a quest to make planet Earth a safer place. This story takes place at YS-J (Youkai Slayers-Japan), and is about YS-J's most powerful Taijiya, and how her world crashes because she fell in love…with the Enemy.

RATING NOTE; this story is rated "R" (aka M) because of extreme violence, so it's mainly just a precaution…so, as long as you're fine with gore, you'll do okay if you're only 10 or something XD

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Inuyasha, you fool! -thwacks you with Kagura's fan- :)


The sound of bloody screaming rang throughout the house like a skipping record player. The screams of her family, mostly her mother, being mixed with various types of crashings, & banging was more then enough to fill her heart with immense fear, as she stood there frozen behind her bedroom door. She wanted to cry, scream, & run down those stairs to see what was happening, all at once, and she couldn't decide which to do first, if any of them at all. She didn't move, she didn't speak, she didn't even breath. She just stayed behind her closed bedroom door, hoping that it'd keep her safe from the unknown horrors downstairs.

Suddenly the sounds stopped with absolutely no warning. Dead silence. But what had happened? After what seemed like an endless eternity, the child reluctantly decided to herself to go see what had caused the horror scene that she knew must have existed downstairs. While walking towards her bedroom door, her entire body seemed to be shivering violently, yet she had no idea what could be causing this odd cold-feeling deep within her soul.

Finally, the time for the door to open had come & passed, and she meekly poked her head out her door, for a split second, feeling slightly relieved. She had expected to see the Boogeyman standing there, or something other that was frightening. The lights were off in the silent house, but the house was slightly lit by the moon's light that was cascading gently through the windows, giving everything in the house an eerie glow. Even though the staircase was a few more feet down the hall, she could see no fade of light coming from downstairs. If her family had been fighting downstairs, wouldn't a light be on? It would be sorta hard to fight in the dark…she thought reasonably.

The little girl stepped out of her hiding place behind the door, and slowly walked towards the left, towards her parent's & little brother's rooms. For some reason, the hallway looked much darker & scarier then it did in the day, or as a matter of fact, on other nights. It reminded her of when she was younger-er, and had a fear of thunder storms. Every time she would hear the lightning crash from outside, she would jump up, and run to her mother & father's room. And they would tell her "Remember, the Thunder isn't out to hurt you, even if it might scare you."

Only a few seconds had passed, and already her fear was starting to grow again, along with this shivering feeling. 'It isn't out to hurt you, It isn't out to hurt you…it can't hurt you, there's nothing to hurt you…' she chanted through her mind like a mantra, not even knowing what 'It' was supposed to be. Once finally arriving to her parents' room, she poked her head over the open door, "Mommy? Daddy?" she whispered into the room, when no one answered, she walked up to the bed.

No one was in the bed. Not good…at all…

The little girl, now slightly starting to freak out, quickly walked out of her parents' room, and headed to a room next to them, her Baby brother's room. She looked into the crib, but could see no sleeping toddler. "O…otouto-san…little brother…?" she whispered through the bars of the crib, and slightly tapped on the wooden bars. But no one was in it, the crib was empty.

Okay, why was this situation starting to scream Twilight Zone? 'Maybe they're just downstairs talking, or something…' she thought to herself, still trying to be mature & reasonable, as she headed back towards the hallway; now going to head downstairs. She peeked her head over the wall, looking down the steps to see if anyone was there, but it was too dark from the angle she was looking at. Slowly, she moved down the stairs, making sure to skip all the squeaky steps as to not make any noise.

Another violent shudder ran down her spine, as this overwhelming awful feeling ran through her, and she clutched tighter unto the stair rail while she hoped it would leave soon. It felt…like she was sensing something. Evil.

Finally, at last, she hit the last step on the stairs, and she slowly walked towards the kitchen a few steps away, still trying to keep as quiet as possible. Suddenly she slipped on something slimy, & feel backwards with a slight THUD, 'oww…' she thought to herself with wincing closed eyes, still trying to stay quiet, while she looked up absently to see what it was. Suddenly she started shaking violently, as her eyes widened. She wanted to scream, yet her breath seemed to be caught in her throat.

Her family had been slaughtered right there on the Kitchen floor.

Her mother's body was draped over her little brother, & she was holding him tightly in her arms, as if to protect him from something. Her back had been ripped wide open, and giant claw marks were on her back & arms. Her mother hadn't been able to succeed in protecting her little brother, fore his head had been slashed off, and had rolled off onto the floor near a chair. Her father was a little ahead of them in the front, as if he had been trying to ward something off before it got to them, his body was in even worse condition. His front had been slashed open, and his left arm had been cut clean off, and couldn't been seen anywhere visible. His throat had also been slit wide open, his head hanging on a lose thread of skin.

Blood. It was everywhere, it seemed to have entirely covered every inch of the floor, as if a flood of massacre had happened. Her family's blood was now on her body, after she had slipped on it & fell. The little girl's body seemed to have froze with shock, as she did nothing but stare at her family's dead & opened-eyed bodies lining the floor, unable to turn her eyes away, no matter how much she wished she could.

She was violently snapped back to reality a bit, as that same awful feeling she had gotten on the stairs quickly returned to her, now even stronger then before, and she looked a little to her right where she was sensing something. For the first time, she noticed someone standing there in the shadows, it's back facing her, and it was covered in blood from head to toe. It seemed to be biting on her father's now detached arm…

The feeling of endless fear overcame her, as it hit her that this must have been the person that had killed her family. It was going to kill her no doubt, but there was nothing she could do, and she knew it. She had never wanted to be sick so much.

Suddenly the person dropped her father's arm, as it landed with a SPLAT sound unto the marble floor, and lifted it's head while sniffing the air. A deep growling sound emitted from it's chest, as it turned around to face the girl, the growling sound getting louder. His mouth slowly turned up into a malicious snarl, revealing sharp bloody fangs. His dark crimson red eyes stared at her with the hunger & lust for blood. He lifted his right arm, and revealed sharp claws that looked about 2 inches long.

The thing wasn't even human!

It flexed it's hand, as if trying to stretch it's blood-covered claws to get reading for killing. He looked down at her again, now looking straight into her eyes. His eyes seemed to see through her. Those unforgettable red eyes with that look of pure evil. They seemed to burn themselves into her soul, and they did.

Finally it lunged towards her, and the scream that the had been stuck in her throat finally came in a blood-curdling shriek of pure terror that rang throughout the house of silent death. She closed her eyes, and braced herself for her demise.

But nothing came…

There was a loud growling sound again, and a clanging or a crashing sound could be heard from behind her closed eyelids. Hesitantly, she opened her eyes, and she was shocked at what she saw.

A man was fighting the…thing!

He had dark black hair, and his eyes were deep blue, and muscle seemed to peek out of his arms, chest, & legs as far the eye could see. He was wearing a black shirt that had no sleeves, and jeans, she couldn't tell what color the jeans were in this dark, and it was all lying under a dark, long trench coat. His short hair wasn't really formal in anyway, and was actually kinda messy as it spiked around his head in random directions. He looked about to be in his early or mid 20's.

He held a long-thick-bladed Katana in his hands, as he thrust it through the thing's right hip with samurai-like grace, yet it didn't seem to faze the red-eyed-monster. The thing then growled & barred it's teeth with anger, as it lunged a clawed hand towards the man, but he quickly dodged by jumping backwards & landing on his feet. The monster continued to keep striking restlessly, but every time the man dodged his futile attacks easily, and the thing would get more & more tired as he started panting like a dog out of breath.

He looked around frantically, as it seemed to be that he had suddenly lost sight of the man with such speed, and suddenly a whimpering sound emitted from the thing, as the Man jumped behind him & thrust his katana into the back of the demon, & the girl could see it come out through the other side covered in it's blood. He pulled his katana out quickly, and jumped up, doing a spin-like kick on the thing. The monster was violently thrown against the wall on the other side of the room in the strong attack, leaving quite a large dent in the wood, so much that he almost broke through. Kagome would have been amazed at the fighting-show that was occurring in her home…if it weren't for the fact she was so completely scared out of her freakin' mind!

The man quickly ran over to the spot where the thing had been forced unto the wall, and was now trying to get up from it's hunched form on the ground with slight difficulty. The man raised his sword high, and swung it down with intentions of finishing the thing off by be-heading it. Quickly, the demon jumped up, missing the blade by a few centimeters, as it sliced through it's shoulder almost taking off it's entire arm. Blood splattered down it's clothes, as it glared angrily at the man that had been fighting it. The man took another swing at it, but the monster jumped back just in time, and with a snarl & a growl, it had left through a window that the little girl just noticed was broken.

She could hear the man curse under his breath in anger as the thing disappeared into the night. He sheathed his sword in a hidden sheath that lay under his trench coat, and turned around. He looked down at the little girl with shock at first, as if he had just noticed her, & then pity started to settle into those blue orbs, as she looked up at him in pure shock & fright. The man started walking towards her, but she suddenly went into a feeble position, covering her face with her arms & shivering while making whimpering noises, he immediately stopped. "It's okay, I'm not here to hurt you…" he said slowly, as he kneeled down so he didn't seem so intimidating. His voice was strong & deep, but as he talked there was an obvious gentle nature that was revealed outside his tough exterior. She could tell just from those few words that he wasn't there to hurt her, not to mention the fact that he had just saved her life, but she was just so overwhelmed right now, she would have even thought a butterfly was out to get her.

Slowly, she opened her eyes & sat upright meekly, still shaking furiously with fear. As if her eyes were being lured by a magnet, she slowly turned her head towards her family's bodies once more, praying harder then ever before that there was just the smallest hope & chance that they were still alive, that this was all a horrible nightmare.

"M-mommy!" she suddenly squeaked out, and started scampering up towards her family's bloody bodies, the smallest ray of hope that there was a chance that they were still alive, that this wasn't real, refusing to burn out just yet. "No - stop!" the man blurted out, and quickly jumped slightly & grabbed her by the collar of her pink, blood stained, pajamas; making her stop in mid-air while she try to pull away desperately, losing the battle by hundreds of points. The man didn't know much about children, not really having any of his own & never having cared for any, but he was sure that this child getting a close-up of her family right now would not be a good thing. The man, seeing that the girl wasn't going to stop thrashing around, kneeled down & turned her around with difficultly, since she didn't seem to want to look at him, trying to turn her away from the sight she was trying to run too.

The sight broke his heart into pieces. Shivering violently & tears running down her face silently, immense fear welled up within her innocent doe-like eyes. No child should have to experience this; have their innocence suddenly ripped from them because of something that they could never control. Have the people they love, their hopes & dreams, suddenly destroyed because of someone with a heart made of malice.

"Shhh, it's alright." he whispered caringly, and hugged her close out of instinct, every nerve in her body still shaking from shock & fear & sadness. He was wrong. Everything was not alright, everything was so wrong, and she knew it better then anything she had ever known in her life.

Reality had hit her without mercy. Her family, was gone.

Suddenly she broke out into a fit of choked sobs, blubbering helplessly, tears streaming down her face, as she clutched unto his shirt like a lifeline. Why was this happening to her? What had she ever done to deserve this? It just wasn't fair.

"Wha..what was…that…?" she asked him through her sobs, his shirt now soaked with tears. He had to strain his ears to hear her, it seemed to be that her voice had suddenly gone hoarse. He sighed, "A Youkai, my dear…" he took a pause that seemed quite dramatic, as he let go of his strong hold on her a bit so she could look at him from the corner of her eye, "…a Youkai."

The little girl didn't know fully what a 'Youkai' was, but she didn't care. It was ruthless & heartless, & had slaughtered her family without a second thought. She didn't care what it was, she just knew that she despised it, and she always would. Suddenly a fire started burning within her heart, one of anger & determination, and from that moment she knew that she would never again be the carefree & ignorant little girl she once was.

"Who are you?" she ask in a whisper very suddenly, pulling away from him so she could look at him fully, tears still running down her face & her body still shaking through clenched hands, but she was no longer sobbing. He smiled a small smile of sadness at her, "My name is Artemis." he answered her, and slowly got up from his kneeled down position. With a sigh, he looked around the house, at the broken windows & the smashed-in wall, at the layer of crimson that flooded the Kitchen marble & beige carpet in splatters, at the heap of bodies that lay in an awkward pile, as if to say farewell to them all. He then looked back at the little girl which he had saved, his deep-blue eyes now filled with sorrow for her.

He put his hand out to her warmly, offering her to take it, not commanding or suggesting, but offering for her to come with him.

There was nothing else to do here, and there was no where else to go. She didn't fear him, or think him suspicious…she didn't know him, and the most vital piece of information about him that she held was just his first name…but she just knew deep down in her heart that he was a good person. She could sense it. She wasn't afraid to go with him, and she honestly had no choice.

She could no longer return to the life she once had, and when you can't escape to the past, you must always run towards the future.

She reached her hand out to his, but suddenly everything around them got dark. The fog-like darkness surrounded them like smoke, making everything around them disappear as if it had all been an illusion, along with Artemis.

Suddenly a pang of panic attacked her heart, as her breathing got slightly rougher. What did this awful feeling mean? What was making her feel it?

"Artemis-sama!" the girl called out into the darkness in an echo, starting to walk in a random direction to find him. Her voice sounded different now, more mature then before. She couldn't even see her own nose, the darkness was so thick & inky black, it felt like it was endless. Now panicking, she ran, trying to let her senses lead her in the right direction other then her eyes, "Artemis-sama, where are- ?"

She stopped running abruptly, as the feeling became much more strong, what did this remind of her of? Why was her mind so fuzzy? What made her heart fill with hatred & fear like this? It was behind her. She turned around, and gasped as she came face to face with that one person she hated most.

The red-eyed Youkai.

He looked no different then the day she had first met him. Shrouded in the shadows of the night, his red-eyes gleaming at her with bloodlust, his long claws shining off invisible light, snarling at her with superiority; almost like a malicious smirk; showing his long canine-like fangs to her. And just like that first day, he was covered from head to toe in blood.

The girl stood there, not sure if she should feel fear or anger, but she didn't have enough time to decide; before she could say or do anything, the monster turned around & leaped into the shadows as fast as it had come. The girl didn't say anything, but just ran after him, not sure what she would do if he turned on her again as he had that day long ago, that day Artemis had saved her. But she didn't care. She wasn't going to let him get away from her, not again.

This time, she would see his blood run at her doing.

This time, she would kill him, and she would enjoy it so…so much.

Suddenly the 'Feeling' overwhelmed her, she just couldn't take it anymore, it was as if something was squeezing her heart. In a scream of agony, she dropped to her knees, her breathing rigid as she tried to get up again. Dropping one of her hands to the ground to help herself get up, she realized that there was something wet & slimy underneath her. Opening her winced eyes, she couldn't see the liquid, but this was all so familiar…

Bringing her hand closer to her face, she could only see a shadow of it, it was something dark & liquid & was covering the ivory skin of her hands. It looked black…was it oil?

No, it was…Red.

She choked out something like a gasp that echoed violently, jumping backwards in shock in the process, landing on her backside. Looking around, she realized with bug-shot eyes & a mouth that formed an unsaid scream…It was blood! It was everywhere!

'Please, God, not again!' she screamed bloodily in her mind, tears forming around the rims of her eyes, 'Please, no!'. Suddenly a spotlight formed around the wide space in front of her, and she saw what had shed all this blood..

With messy black-hair, wide-opened blue eyes, bloody claw-marks running through his skin, and a face of pure terror etched into his frozen features. It was Artemis. Dead.

She started shaking violently once more. She wanted to scream, but her voice seemed to have caught itself in her throat. 'No.' she chanted through her mind wildly, 'No…No…No…'. This couldn't be happening. It just couldn't.

A lone tear overflowed & ran down her cheek, "ARTEMIS!"


"ARTEMIS!" Kagome screamed as she jumped up in her bed, gasping violently, looking around her bedroom with wide, frantic eyes. 'A dream…' she thought, slightly relieved, 'No. A Nightmare.'
Author's Ending Notes: Hoped you enjoy it so fair! Pretty bloody & spooky, eh? HURRAY, I CAN WRITE HORROR! -throws streamers- xD Don't worry, it's really only this chapter that is like this, the rest is mostly Action & Tragic-romance, but yeah, come on…you need blood to have action :P The name "Artemis" has NO reference to Sailor Moon, it's just a name I thought suited the character, so don't go thinking "OMG, LIKE, WILL LUNA BE IN IT?"…'cause, like, nuh uh dude.

REVIEW, and I will throw you all homemade cookies! o.o And I make a pretty mean cookie ;P