You've waited for it for so long and it has finally come: the sequel to Healing a Broken Spirit. Despite what I said, it shall be more then one chapter long. Be warned this is what I consider my darkest nightmare. Why is that? You'll see.

Oh and I have a special announcement to make after the final chapter is over, so be sure to read it. It's ESSENTIAL that you read this because it is a special offer I am offering to you. You'll see what it is at the end.

Randall Flagg2

(1)

It had been a year since Miroku had left for America. A year since the terrible nightmare that passed over Inuyasha and his late friends had gone away. A year since Inuyasha had been driven mad. All of that had passed, and now things were back to normal, sort of.

A new family had bought the Higurashi house.They weren't known heresince they were new here. Rumor was they weren't even from Japan. Supposedly they were from the western regions of the globe, but they were only rumors.

As for the Miyojin house, it had yet to be bought. Sango's father had fallen into a deep depression after learning his daughter had been killed. He was not married, so out of desperation he had turned to alcohol for comfort. One night he had fallen down the stairs while intoxicated and broken his neck. He had been discovered days later, dead. Ever since then, the house had remained deserted. Nobody seemed to want it.

Ever since that time period of terror, only one of the ones involved had remained in Japan. One was in America, the other three were dead, and the one who had been the cause of it all was hopefully burning in the depths of hell, at least in the opinion of the one remaining.

All this had happened a year ago.

(2)

Dear Inuyasha,

How are you? It's good to hear from you again. Life here in America isn't so bad. My aunt has been really nice to me and I've made some friends at school. All the girls are really pretty, but I don't think they'll ever come close to Sango. I still miss her. Oh and my little cousin Shippo came to visit me a few days ago. He's a real brat, but I love him anyway. My aunt really spoils him. I kind of envy my cousin.

I know you're still grieving over Kagome Inuyasha, but you must move on. I admit, I shouldn't be talking since I still miss Sango, but I don't dote on her. I will always have my memories of her. He is the one you should blame Inuyasha. If you want to be angry at somebody, then be angry at him.

Well, I have to get going now. I have a test to study for. E-mail me back again sometime Inuyasha. I really enjoy talking to you.

Sincerely,

Miroku

Masaki Inuyasha read this e-mail on his brother's computer slowly. He had been waiting quite awhile for Miroku to reply. Well actually it had only been two days, but to Inuyasha it had seemed like an eternity. One couldn't blame him. All of his friends were gone and he had nobody else to be with anymore. Sango was dead, Kagome was dead, and Miroku was in a different part of the globe now (he would have mentioned Koga, but he wasa rival, not a friend).Aside from his brother, whom he had always been on slightly tense terms with, he was alone.

Inuyasha looked quite different from the time period when Kagome was alive. He was now seventeen, and he was a few inches taller then before. His arm muscles, which had once been ever so slightly slack, were now well toned. They weren't bulging or even pumped up, just well toned. His stomach had always been flat, and still was, but back then it had been a tad on the soft side. Now it was rock hard and he was ever so slightly starting to develop abs. His hair was also longer.

There was another difference as well, this one not noticeable. Ever since Miroku had left, Inuyasha had been taking karate lessons from a downtown dojo. After Kagome's death and his release from the psychiatric hospital, Inuyasha had vowed to never be caught off guard again. The only reason he had been so sorely beaten by Kagome's father was that her father had known a martial art. If not for that, Inuyasha imagined he could have won and saved Kagome. Well never again. Inuyasha had been almost fanatically practicing karate for an entire year by now, and already he was considered one of the best students in his class. When he wasn't at the dojo, Inuyasha practiced at home.

But the biggest difference about Inuyasha was his eyes. Those beautiful golden eyes, which had once been warm and friendly, if a tad angry, were now cold and emotionless, almost merciless looking. At the same time, there was also a deep sadness inside of them. Inuyasha's eyes seemed to be saying "Help me" and "Back off" at the same time. Both he and his brother knew why, but they never discussed it, since whenever someone brought it up, Inuyasha would react in a severe manner. Sesshomaru knew this, because one time he had mentioned the subject to Inuyasha, and the younger sibling had lashed out at Sesshomaru, attacking him as if he were fighting his worst enemy. Inuyasha had not stopped until Sesshomaru had slapped his brother across the face and screamed at him to get a hold of himself. Inuyasha had stopped dead in his tracks and just stared at his younger brother. Then he simply turned around and walked off, muttering "I could've saved her." The younger brother had gone upstairs without saying a word, and locked the door to his room. When he was sure Sesshomaru couldn't hear him, Inuyasha had buried his face into his pillow and collapsed in a fit of tears. That night he had cried himself to sleep.

Yes, Inuyasha had changed quite a bit from back then. His attitude had remained mostly the same, although he was a tad colder then before and when he wasn't angry, he was depressed. When he wasn't working on homework or at school, he would either practice karate or sleep. Sesshomaru was starting to worry about Inuyasha. He had been sleeping so much.

"Inuyasha?" Sesshomaru called from downstairs. "Are you still awake?"

Inuyasha jerked around, startled by his brother's voice. He had been so off in "his own little world" as Sesshomaru would put it, that he hadn't kept track of the time. He looked out the window and saw it was dark. Time to hit the sack.

"Inuyasha?"

"Yeah, coming!" Inuyasha called back. He turned off the computer and went upstairs. He took a shower, brushed his teeth, dressed into his pajamas, and flopped onto his bed without even bothering to get under the sheets. Almost instantly, he fell asleep.

(3)

He had that same dream again. He was in Sango's house, fighting Isamu with all his strength. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't even land a single punch on him. All the while Kagome was just slumped over in the corner of the room, her expression blank and dazed. She probably wasn't even aware of what was going on right in front of her.

Inuyasha couldn't take anymore. He was too badly beaten and in too much pain. He tried to rise and protect Kagome from the demon that was her father, but he couldn't get up. All he could do was watch helplessly as Isamu lifted her head up, and cut his scalpel brutally across her throat. Inuyasha felt a terrible scream of anguish and horror rip out of himself. He saw all thoseterrible memories and images appear in front of him: Kagome unbuttoning her blouse to show the bruises on her body, Koga's body being carried out on a stretcher, his fight with Naraku, Sango losing her life to Kagome's father, but above all else, he saw Isamu's crazed, wild eyes in front of him, eyes that were looking through him instead of at him.

Inuyasha couldn't move. All he could do was scream and scream.

(4)

Inuyasha snapped awake, sitting upright in bed. He panted heavily, his pajamas soaked with sweat. It had happened again. For weeks he had been having that nightmare. Every single night it was the same thing. He hadn't had a peaceful sleep in so long. He didn't know what he was going to do if he couldn't sleep peacefully soon.

Well, there was one way. It was a crazy idea, but he felt it was the only thing that would work.

"Tomorrow, that's when I'll do it." Inuyasha whispered. He lied back down and fell asleep again and this time he did not dream at all.

(5)

"Where are you going Inuyasha?" Sesshomaru asked as his younger brother started out the front door.

"Out." Inuyasha replied, sarcastically.

"I said where are you going?" Sesshomaru growled, his voice growing impatient.

"Fine, I'm going out to... buy a DVD with my allowance." He was lying.

"Have fun." Sesshomaru grunted. Without another word, Inuyasha headed out the door.

"Please let this work." Inuyasha muttered. "Please let this bring me peace." In one of the pockets of his jeans, a red rose was tucked. It may not have seemed like much, but it would help him heal.

He kept walking down the street until he came to the Miyojin house. There it was, at last. The house where he had seen his childhood friend savagely murdered and where he had been driven to insanity by a madman who went by the name of Isamu Higurashi. This had been the house he had seen in his nightmares so many times. The house where for the first time in his life, had experienced what it was like to kill a human.

Inuyasha walked up to the door. "Please let it be open. I don't know what I'll do if it's not." Much to his surprise, the door was open. He went inside, taking in the surroundings. The house hadn't changed a bit: same kitchen, same living room, same everything. It would have to change eventually when someone finally bought it though.

Inuyasha looked up the stairs nearby. They would lead upstairs to the room where it had all happened. Inuyasha felt sick to his stomach. He could still here himself scream wildly in that room. He could still see Kagome lying in the corner with that drugged expression on her face. Most of all however, he could see Isamu's wild, heartless eyes staring at him, burning with insane joy and maniacal bloodlust.

Inuyasha walked slowly up the steps, his eyes beginning to fill with tears. Kami, what was wrong him? Boys weren't supposed to cry, especially not ones on the verge of manhood. The more he tried to hold them in, the more they oozed out of his eyes. By the time he got to the top, they were flowing freely down his face.

At last, he reached the room where the terrible event had occurred. Trying his best to control his tears, Inuyasha stepped into the middle of the room. He knelt down, took the rose out of his pocketand laid the rose on the ground. He clasped his hands together in prayer and said a silent prayer for his departed companion (and secretly, he had admitted Kagome was more then a friend to him).

"I can't bring myself to lay flowers on your grave Kagome, so I'll just lay them here. I hope you can forgive me for failing to protect you." Inuyasha thought. He started downstairs. His face was stained with tears.

When Inuyasha got to the door, he couldn't hold it in any longer. He grabbed at the doorknob, but he sank to his knees. His lips quivered and his face began to contort. At last, the sobs that wanted to come out came. Inuyasha flopped onto his stomach and buried his face into his arms and began to cry horribly. Loud, agonized sobs shook his body. He couldn't control his crying. Nothing mattered. He wanted Kagome.

"Why, why?" Inuyasha sobbed. "It's not fair Kagome! You were mine! You were more then just a friend! I…" His words trailed off. Then, softly, he whispered "I loved you."

Inuyasha began to pound the ground with his fists, like a child throwing a tantrum. Over and over he sobbed "I love you, I love you, I love you!" Inuyasha sat back, threw back his head and howled at the ceiling "Why did you have to be taken from me?"

Inuyasha sat there sobbing his heart out for quite some time.

(6)

At long last, the tears came to a halt. Inuyasha's sobs went down to whimpers and he was able to calm down. He stood up and wiped his eyes with his sleeve. He had done what he had come to do, now to get out of here. Inuyasha gripped the doorknob and twisted it.

It did not budge.

Inuyasha twisted the knob harder, but it did not give way at all. Growing impatient, Inuyasha began to frantically yank on the doorknob and pound on the door with his free hand which was curled into a fist. No matter what, he couldn't open the door.

"What the fuck is this?" Inuyasha said aloud. He jumped back and hit the door with a spin kick, but the door did not even rattle.

Inuyasha turned around to see if he could find another way out. Maybe the windows could be opened. That was the only way out, since Inuyasha remembered the Miyojin's did not have a back door to their house.

Inuyasha felt sick to his stomach at what he saw. There was blood dripping down the windows. In fact it was not just dripping down the windows. It had soaked the window panes, blocking out the sights beyond it. It was as if a great wall of read had been constructed right outside the house.

"What is this? This can't be real!" Inuyasha exclaimed.

"Come, come now, what is all this noise?" said a voice. Inuyasha froze at the sound of that voice. It couldn't be him. He was dead! People can't come back from the dead!

Inuyasha wheeled around to face the speaker. A scream escaped his lips as he came face to face with Isamu Higurashi. The doctor's shirt was splattered in blood, a large wound on his chest where Inuyasha had stabbed him.

"Hello Masaki." Isamu crooned. "Long time no see."

To be continued…

There is an explanation for this, and you'll see what it is in the later chapters. I just hope you're enjoying it so far.

Randall Flagg2