Blood-Stained

A/N: *yawns* Sorry… currently, while I'm writing this, I'm pooped out. I need sleep… -_-zzz I've decided slow is good… weekly, good chapters are better than fast, crappy chapters, right? (I would insert smiley here, but I AM tired….) Please don't expect blood waterfalls everywhere. Without further delay, Chapter 4. *crawls into bed*

P.S. *looks alive briefly* For people who asked, Inuyasha, Sango, etc. will enter Chapter 5! (Well, it's mostly Inuyasha people are waiting for. ^_~) But it's not directly AFTER this chapter because this is only the first part of Chapter 4. I'm splitting this up because I don't want you guys to wait that long. Man, I'm still waiting for one of my favorite authors to update her story! (It isn't gonna happen in a long time, is it?) Yep… I should have the second part out around Monday or Tuesday, hopefully. And as to make up for the long wait for this chapter, I will probably post Chapter 5 around Saturday EVENING. Sounds good? OK! *falls asleep on desk*

Do the Kirby!!! "(^_^)" "(^_^)" *cough*LACKOFSLEEP*cough*

                                                                      Chapter 4 Pt. 1~ Certain Impressions

         Just like that, she left. One day, she inhabited a comfy-sized apartment a few hundred yards from her work office, and the following morning, it was deserted.

         Well, it wasn't bare from corner to corner; actually, it was filled with all her stuff and knickknacks, like umbrellas and assorted shoes. In the kitchen, there were still dinner plates from last night in the sink. The bed itself was rumpled, almost like she woke up minutes before, which probably was true.

         The only think missing was Kagome and her cat, Buyo, themselves. On closer inspection, her toothbrush, and cell phone weren't there, either.

         It was five in the morning, and her car was missing in its usual parking space.

         She was currently riding in it on the outskirts of Tokyo. Her little possessions were scattered in the backseat, and Buyo lazily swished his tail back and forth, back and forth. Up on the dashboard, her quarter's worth of a Pooh bobbing head furiously shook in rhythm to the constant potholes layered out on the street.

         Kagome had no idea where to go.

         I should've brought a road map.

         She cursed as politely as she could inside her head. Her eyes were trained to look on the road, but she had enough experience to be able to daydream and drive simultaneously.

         Oh poop… I don't even know where I'm going.

         The farthest Kagome had planned on going was to get out of the city's limits. After that, it was… somewhere.

         Rounding a curve, she continued pondering where she should go from that point. She decided the best course of action was to wander, wander, and wander some more. Truth be told, she didn't care where she was going to end up, as long as she wasn't there to hurt anyone, even herself.

                                                                           ~*~*~*~

         It had been more than two hours since the two were traveling; they were going forward, with a turn now and then. Kagome liked this activity; it was calm and peaceful. Nothing could harm her or her family (Well, family pet). She was safe in this little metal pod with no major worries.

         She drove onwards, just enjoying the immense change in the scenery.

         Wow… there's actually real stuff growing here!

         Kagome had always known the Japan was a big manufacturer in electronics and automobiles; the country was trying to revolutionize itself. Not that it wasn't bad (She had a more reliable working engine!), but it was very rare to see farmers anymore

         The only farmers I could think of are the ones who grow T.V.'s in their little factories.

         The once gray, lifeless skyscrapers that adorned her view of the beautiful day and nighttime sky were now replaced with tall, green cornstalks. The road was no longer filled with potholes and traffic; it was a smooth, neat street. The air here seemed to have a fresher quality than the musty one she used to inhale through her respiratory system. Occasionally, a small house would pop up from either side of her, signaling that she was somewhat nearing a town. The houses didn't look run-down like the ones in the alleys or from the old western movies; they were small and quaint.

         God, this sucks… running away.

         Kagome had never been the type to run away if something bad or humiliating happened. But this time, it was under special circumstances. This time, a guy was after her, weapons and all. She wasn't about to go and do something as stupid as put her life at risk just to stand up to the man. He killed people, and he was dead serious about it.

         Was she a coward, then?

         For a few minutes, she drove along while weighing out the evidence to why she wasn't cowardly or not.

         On one hand, running away never usually solves anything. But on the other, no one believes me, so what could I have done?

         The battle may have only lasted for no more than six minutes, but the effect of it wore her out terribly. All of a sudden, it seemed as if keeping her eyes open or being wary in the first place was too much work. She slowly pulled over to the right and shut off the car.

         She rested her head against the driving wheel; Kagome was evidently tired. She had been driving for a while, and only had two hours of sleep. Slowly, her eyes drooped, and she fell asleep, muttering about the insignificance of having a guy chase after her.

         As her eyes closed, the colors of her eyesight swirled and mixed, creating grayness everywhere. Eventually, the outlines of the objects did the same. She dimly saw a few of the cornstalks rustle, but it could've been her imagination. Or a raccoon. Her mind became a bit too lethargic to fully react to the little movement.

         Don't care about it now… I need a little rest….

                                                                       ~*~*~*~

         It crackled….

         "Aaah!" Kagome bolted upright, shrieking. "Get it off me, get if off me, get it off me!!!"

         Where was she? What happened to the-

         She sighed in relief as the surroundings became familiar once more. She was inside her car, where she had been obviously sleeping on the horn. Fortunately, she didn't press all of her weight against it; otherwise, it would have started up an off-key tune of the Mexican Fiesta.

         It seemed like five minutes ago she had just laid her head down to rest. "Maybe I'm more tired than I thought," she mumbled out loud. She glanced over towards Buyo; he was sleeping.

         I should've known; all he does is sleep and eat. It would be a miracle if something actually inspired him to lift his paws.

         Groaning, she ran her car up again. After warming up, she slowly reentered the road. By now, the sun was high in the sky, so she guessed it to be two in the afternoon.

         My God, how long have I been asleep? It's so normal for me to not sleep in my bed, but in the middle of a deserted road.

         It had been five minutes, and she was already down her way towards dreamland. She kept her eyes peeled for anything sharp or breathing lying in her path.

         Something orange was flying on top of the cornstalks.

         Immediately, she panicked and pressed the gas pedal down. As she sped past the reddish orange thing, she saw that it was just a scarecrow in a flaming shirt.

         OK, breathe. It wasn't anything.

         Kagome knew she was being really paranoid, but she couldn't help it. It wasn't so much as the shirt that scared her, but it was more of the color. OK, so she had the right to blow the stupid situation out of proportion; she did just wake up, after all, and her senses were more or less ready to explode. But something else was bothering her.

         It was somewhere in her brain, something that made her freak out before the fiery color. The reddish orange shirt had clicked something in her mind, but she couldn't remember what had happened that had caused her to have some nervous attack against the color.

         Kagome shrugged it off, thinking that she was probably too sharp for her own good at that moment. So she decided to concentrate on other things, like the scenery again. It was still filled with one too many cornstalks.

         Someone needs to pick the corn or grow a different vegetable.

         "Seriously, haven't these people heard of carrots, pumpkins, peas, tomatoes, or…" she trailed off as another thought came into mind.

         Something was after me.

         The statement wasn't the brightest thing that came into her mind. She already knew some homicidal killer was after her, so why did it feel different when she thought about it this time?

         And it came to her.

         It was her dream, or preferably, nightmare.

         Who was it? I think it was a man. He was supposedly powerful, right? Probably.

         Involuntarily, she shivered. This was something she had to look out for; her dreams either meant two things: paranoia or premonition. Unfortunately, it was leaning towards the second choice.

         Kagome confirmed the fact the thing after her was a person; she didn't exactly know what gender the person was, but she would assume it to be male for now. The person's features, she didn't see. He was wearing all black, but he had green eyes. Yes, she was definite he had green eyes….

         He was able to produce fire in his hands, a feat Kagome had only seen in bad action movies. She didn't know why she was thinking of a probable pyromaniac, but it was true. The fireball simply… appeared in his little hands, swirling blue. The other weird ability she perceived from him was his capability to shapeshift. Kagome didn't know how she knew, but he was able to change into something else. To what she didn't know, but the man didn't appear to be one in his original body form.

         It's so confusing….

         In the dream segment, the male had put her on fire, like at a witch burning. But it wasn't the type where he lighted her with a match and gasoline. No… he had conjured up red, fire sparks, just plain fire sparks. They flew towards her, hitting her harshly across the face and body. The sparks danced across her nude arms, burning away her pale, tender skin and leaving the red flesh beneath it. Where the sparks touched, it ignited a brief flash of pain that shot through the whole length of her arms before numbing. Kagome couldn't escape or try to protect herself; other... things held her down. She'd bet anything they were helpers of the male.

         Kagome had looked down at where the flames touched her arms, and she saw them. They were bleeding, of course.  But it wasn't much, just a few drips here and there. The sparks had already devoured some of her skin, letting the sensitive layer of flesh become exposed to the world. When Kagome believed the wound couldn't become even more serious than it was, she was defied for the second time. Another set of sparks came towards her again, this time, a bit bigger and even hotter than before. Her cut lips were now bleeding a bit more heavily, and her right eye was blinded temporarily. The sparks effectively burned her, and some of her skin had actually come off in thin, transparent pieces due to the height of the temperature.

         This had marked the beginning.

         What… beginning?

         The male had taken out a little pocketknife and opened it. The short but sharp blade gleamed from an unexplainable light. Kagome had trouble identifying the cause of the glow; it was just there. In fact, she didn't really know where she was. It was all a blur, and the only thing she was focused on was the weapon he held in her hand.

         A dull ache pounded on her stomach for a bit, but that was enough to relate that to her dream.

         He slashed me… across the stomach.

         It was a short but deep gash. For a moment, she didn't feel anything, but then the recurring pain slowly spread throughout her abdomen. Blood filed out and gently swept past her skin. It stained her skirt, causing the color to become a darker red… like her mother's rope.

         His hands reached out to touch her chin, and she remembered it. It was hard and calloused, like someone who had been working endlessly in the sun for many summers. He lifted her chin carefully so that she would meet his face.

         Even in her subconscious, Kagome didn't like the man. She had shrugged his hands of and refused to meet his eyes. Of course, he had become impatient and jerked her face towards him again. He was speaking something, but she didn't pay attention. She was too busy double taking from her stomach pain.

         The man had lifted her chin and held it there, making her throat vulnerable. He brought the knife slowly up to her chin and….

         She didn't go any further.

         The whole time, Kagome had been gripping the wheel tighter and tighter as the events went along. When she reached the end, she couldn't take it anymore. She managed to wrench one of her pale, clammy hands away from the wheel and placed it across her abdomen. Moving her hand around, Kagome searched for any blood or scars.

         There weren't any cuts.

         She also did the same for her throat, feeling around for some hole. There weren't any, fortunately. She didn't want to end up like Souta.

         It really was just a dream!

         It's so hard to distinguish from fantasy to reality now.

         Kagome discovered that the rest of the dream was lost to her, and the little section was all she could remember. "Well, that was good. Premonitions are supposed to be visions and should be fully recalled."

         Somehow, she doubted that, but she forced herself to believe. Faith was what she needed to trust in. Yeah, faith sounded good.

         Either that or she was being particularly naïve today.

         She kept replaying the scene over and over again while driving along the road. After all, it wasn't like she was going to stop until….

         Her car halted unexpectedly in the middle of the path. Kagome would've been sent hurtling forward, but she was wearing a seatbelt, her lifesaver. She could only stare dumbly at the situation before it dawned on her what had happened.

         "What? No!" Kagome cried angrily. If only she had refueled this morning….

         She banged her head against the wheel as a way of cursing for her stupidity, but it was a little too hard.

         And the Mexican Fiesta started up.

         "Thank you," she whispered, looking up towards the sky, "thank you so much."

         In response, it started to drizzle lightly. It came upon earth like a little shower spray, but increased in speed and volume.

         "How lovely…."

                                                                   ~*~*~*~

         Kagome leaned against the chair, tired. The aftermath of the rain was mud everywhere, and she wasn't about to go and dirty her only set of clothes. "I need to make a checklist before I do something spontaneous ever again."

         So she decided to camp in her semi-dead car that night. Looking around, Kagome saw cornstalks, and only cornstalks.

         God, I wish I were in a suburb now.

         She looked around her car, fingering the Styrofoam on the edge of her chair while deep in blank thoughts. Was she becoming claustrophobic? Did she still like sushi? Was she ever going to make it out of the countryside without going crazy? Was she-

         Another piece of the dream came to her suddenly, and she reminded herself to keep occupied whenever she wanted to remember something.

         The man was crying.

         It wasn't a big weep festival or anything like that; his green eyes spilled tears continuously down his face, even though his mouth wasn't turned downwards. It occurred to her before he had stuck the knife through her throat that he was saying something.

         Maybe this might be important. But… what did he say?

         Kagome strived to remember his words. "What was it?"

         She tried to make up an image of the man's moving lips, and succeeded. However, his voice was silent, like the game Charade. It took some time, but she was finally able to lip read what he was mouthing.

         "I'm sorry… please, I'm sorry."

         Her eyes widened, and she stopped her useless pulling the stuffing out of the chair. "He said sorry?"

         That couldn't be right; Kagome shook her head and tried to concentrate again. Sometimes, her mind teased her and made her see things when, in fact, something else happened.

         She closed her eyes and focused on his lips and tried to see if he had said something else; they didn't. He still said the suspected words.

         Why would he say 'sorry'?

         But it was true. She had heard it inside her mind and dream; his lips moved in sync to those confusing words.

         The man was killing her, crying, and apologizing at the same time.

         And Kagome was the victim of all three.

         Was she going to have fun sleeping for the rest of the night.

                                                                       ~*~*~*~

         The next morning, she stumbled out of her car wearily and blinked a few couple of times. It was much brighter here than in Tokyo, too. She needed a break from the cramped seat in her car.

         "Downside to rural life: too sunny and cheerful," she grumbled while observing a few couple of twittering birds.

         Kagome left Buyo in the car; he was too heavy for her to carry, and it would be more of a workout for her than it already was. She headed for the nearest town, which was a mile away.

         Yep, a tired, cranky person was fun to talk to in the morning. She trudged through mud and puddles, hoping for a gas station in sight, too.

         Nine minutes later, Kagome reached her destination with hunger claiming her stomach, fatigue over her legs, and cramps dominating her sides. "Now I know why I haven't exercised in three years."

         The town was a decent one, filled with the normal stores you would need in your everyday life, like a post office, gas station, and McDonald's.

         She didn't take notice of what type of people lived here or how the houses looked; she was too busy looking for the mechanic.

         Spotting a gas station, she hobbled over to the entrance. "H-hello?" she called out. "Anyone here? I need some assistance."

         "Ring the bell!" a voice answered from nowhere.

         Kagome was startled by the statement, but quickly regained her wired senses.

         Probably one of those speakers on the ceiling.

         Shrugging, she walked over to the counter and spotted the gold bell, lying there harmlessly. Kagome pressed it, thinking the mechanic would pop out from behind the door. What happened next she wouldn't forget.

         The bell surrounded itself with a puff of smoke for a brief second before clearing. In its place was a little boy, smiling proudly with fangs. "Welcome to-Ow! Hey!"

         Kagome had immediately backed up towards the can section when the smoke appeared and covered the top of the counter. Curling her hands around a particular one, she waited until the smoke disappeared. A little boy, maybe four, was standing in a prideful stance. His hair was tied up with a ribbon, and his tail swooshed back and forth. His TAIL was MOVING.

         Oh my God!

         Wasting no time, she hurled the can in his direction. A few more followed quickly. "Who are you? No… what are you? Is this some kind of fad I don't know about? How'd you do that?"

         "I'd answer you if you stopped throwing fruits at me!" the boy squeaked while narrowly escaping canned raspberries. He didn't like raspberries very much.

         The boy's answer did the trick, but before he could relax, another one hit his head. "That really hurts!" he piped up, rubbing his head while tears started to form in his eyes.

         "That's for scaring me to death," Kagome clarified her reason for throwing that last can. "Now, can you answer my questions?"

         The boy just 'hmmph'ed and said with definite lack of enthusiasm, "Welcome to the gas station. I'm Shippo, the secretary. What can I do for you?"

         Kagome blinked a few times at 'Shippo' before starting to laugh.

         "What's so funny?" he asked, eyes blazing with confusion.

         "Yeah, right. You can't be a secretary…. You're just a little boy who dresses up like a… something animal with an electronic tail!" she finished while laughing.

         Shippo just pouted. This person was one of those nonbelievers.

         Another person, a male, came out from the door behind him. He heard some sort of racket and was hoping that Shippo hadn't stapled himself onto the dartboard like last time. He saw Shippo glaring at a young human woman, who was banging on the counter with her curled fists.

         "Excuse me, miss, but what can we do for you?" the man asked politely while trying not to direct all of her attention on him.

         Kagome, who was still laughing at the boy's outrageous claim, looked up to see who was speaking to her. She paled immediately as she saw the male was an older, much older version of Shippo. "Oh God!" she shrieked and reverted back to throwing cans. These people were freaks, wearing costumes!

         "Ow-duck!" was all the man could say before a heap of beans piled on top of him. The poor boy didn't have a chance as he soon found himself in that same position, too.

         "What's going on?"

         Kagome, panting, turned around to find a woman with pointed ears and dark-blue eyes staring at her. Oh yeah, and she had horns on her head.

         Tell me I'm dreaming… tell me this is just some very realistic-looking costume, and the woman doesn't have horns on her head like a rhinoceros.

         "You… you…" she couldn't form the sentence as she suddenly felt dizzy. All Kagome did was stare and point shakily at the woman's head.

         This town is nuts.

         "I what?" the horn woman demanded, putting a hand on her hips.

         Her answer was a Kagome on the floor.

         "Freak," she muttered while preparing to call the hospital.

                                                                 ~*~*~*~

         "Hey… hey… hey!"

         Kagome felt someone shake her violently. Her facial features pulled into a frown; didn't the man know that this kind of abuse could result in a massive headache for up to two days? She kept her eyes closed; maybe if she did this, then he would leave her alone.

         That only made the person shake harder. Annoyed, she opened her eyes, prepared to launch a merciless chiding… and stared into the most beautiful, yellow eyes she had ever seen in her life. "Are you OK?" the person asked roughly. "You were in one hell of a fall a few hours ago."

         There was no response, just more staring.

         "I know you didn't become mute just because you fainted."

         Kagome was still transfixed on his eyes, and it was unnerving on him. Shortly, he snapped. "Don't stare; it's rude."

         Flustered, she transferred her gaze elsewhere. "Sorry," she mumbled, "you just have weird eye color."

         "Thanks for the compliment," the doctor snapped yet again. He didn't like blunt people, and she just happened to be one of those types.

         It took a few strained seconds, but the doctor finally cooled down before speaking again. "I'm Dr. Hiro, the only doctor in this whole town. I'm going to watch over you."

         "… Cool," Kagome mumbled quietly. She dared to look at him again, this time, at the rest of his physical features, and nearly fell out of her bed.

         His hair was short, almost shaved, and his ears were normal. He would've passed for a human, except there was just one, teensy, little detail. His arms sported several hundred needles protruding into his skin. The other half was stuck in the open. The worst part? It looked real. It probably was, since he wasn't dying on her floor from blood loss.

         This time, the Dr. Hiro pretty much caught her staring fearfully at his arms, and he grew annoyed. "What? Haven't you seen a porcupine youkai once or twice in your life?"

         Y-youkai?

         Kagome voiced her thoughts out loud. "Y-youkai? There aren't any demons! They don't exist in the first place!"

         "Yes, they do!"

         "No, they don't!"

         "Yes, they do!"

         "No, they don't!"

         "Then what do you call these on my arms, huh? Explain that, Ms. Smarty-Pants!"

         "You overdid it with the acupuncture!"

         "That's a stupid excuse, and you know it. Besides, demons do too exist."

         "How come I've never seen one before?"

         Dr. Hiro did not like this newcomer. "How come? You're stupider than you let on, you know that?"

         "Hey!"

         "First of all, not every city has youkai. You are probably from one of those cities. Second of all, we youkai live in towns and rural areas, not cities or suburbs. You probably never went as far past as the city's limits, because if you did, you would've seen more of this type of town!"

         By that time, he was breathing fire… literally. Kagome glanced at the little flare, and she shrunk back from the sudden increase in temperature of the room.

         Porcupines don't breathe out fire… porcupines don't breathe out fire.

         "Alright, alright! You win, there are youkai…. I get your point, so could we stop the nostril flaming?" she called out timidly. She even waved a little of her white blanket in the air to show that she surrendered.

         Dr. Hiro calmed down considerably, but he left the room with charcoal smoke trailing out of his nose, muttering, "Stupid people…."

         Note to self: Don't make porcupines mad.

                                                                            ~*~*~*~

         Kagome stayed in the hospital for two nights, and it totaled to 90,000 yens. "That's bogus… 90,000 yens… cheap hospital," she muttered.

         Since she couldn't give the money from her pocket directly, she decided to use the bank.

         There were some advantages to living in a small place. For one thing, the bank was next to the hospital and not on the other side of the planet.

         Stepping inside the small, cool building warily, Kagome searched for an ATM machine. She was having trouble accepting the fact that demons existed, and she didn't need to meet one face to face at this troubled time in her life.

         How come I've never seen any youkai in Tokyo? I mean, sure, they prefer to live in rural areas and towns, but there's bound to be at least one who wanted the wild life.

         Frowning, she absently pushed in her account number on the screen and waited for that instant cash to come out.

         It didn't come.

         Instead, the screen flickered for several seconds, going on and off, on and off.

         Kagome was in deep thoughts, just wondering about youkai and others. After a while, she grew tired of waiting. She snapped out of her daze and diverted her attention to the frozen ATM. "Junk… c'mon, work!"

         She looked around to see if any stingy person or youkai was around before giving the metal a 'little' kick.

         I…hate…ATM's….

         The screen suddenly stopped its blinking, and the money fell out. But the message was a bit different than the other times she had used the machine.

         HE'LL GET YOU. :)

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A/N: OK, right now, it Sunday morning, 12:08 A.M. If this sounds bad to you, I'm sorry. But please give me Sunday to reread it and see if it needs working on. I decided that maybe a little rest from blood would be nice, right? I mean, really…. And if the dream didn't make you feel scared, it's all right. It wasn't meant to. It was a dream. But if you want, I'll add more detail, OK? ^_^ I'm really sorry for having to cut this chapter in half. I wanted to do it as one long one, but I wasn't sure if ff.net would cut it off or not. So the next half of Chapter 4 will be up by Monday, I hope. I will hopefully finish the rest of the chapter by tomorrow. And if my cousin lets me, I will steal her laptop and type up the chapter…. MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA*cough*HAHAHAHAHA*hack* OK, someone needs to go to sleep now…. I really need to sleep.

Next Chapter: Pt. 2 Certain Impressions

4/14/03~ Man, you just gotta love them rewrites! ^_^ I love rewriting my stories; weird enough, it's fun. Right now, it's 8:25 A.M., and I'm in a car, typing on my brother's laptop. Like I said before, I'm going on to visit my cousins up in the North; it's a 600 mile trip in the CAR for a WHOLE day with my parents and LITTLE siblings. @_@ Oh, how life is cruel to me….

Anyways, before the damn battery runs out, I'd better make this quick. It stinks in this car, and I think I'm going to faint from a headache. Owww…. I hope you liked the rewritten chapter; I know I had FUN writing it. Hehe…. Ooh… the car door is open… what a draft it is…. "(._.)" I have to go now. I'll try to post the rest of Chapter 4 by Wednesday or Friday. I guess Chapter 5 (When Inuyasha comes in. ^_^) will have to wait next week. Sorry!