Good even-ing. Welcome to the special Halloween edition of our story. What have we for you on this All Hallow's eve? A story so riveting, so disturbling possible, you may never look at the creatures in the woods in the same light. For where even the birds and squirrels fall quiet, something unkown, something that had been hiding in the shadows, something sinister may lurk, just beyond the light...

-Johnny Walker

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All Saint's Day

Jesus, it was cold was all Kagome could think as she tried to rub some warmth into her arms. Her breath turned to mist as she blew on her hands. She carried a flashlight with her incase it got dark before she got back. She had been putting off bugging InuYasha to stop for a new coat for a while for whatever reason, her old one probably in a evidance locker after Miroku decieded to shoot up the resturant she happened to be in.

Well she would ask InuYasha as soon as she got she decieded. She continued walking back towards the small shack in the forest that was, for now, severving as a camp sight because A) There was a shard somewhere in this forest and B) InuYasha was too cheap for a motel. Bastard.

Finding the shard was hell. It was a large forest peserve, and the shard could be under any leaf, thier only hope was for her to get close enough the sense where it was more accuratley, but it seemed as is the shard were always on the move.

A bend in the trail worn into the ground gave brought her to a rock over looking a creek. She stepped to the edge and looked out over the creek. It was a fair sized thing with little rapids here and there. Kagome began to mull over her new life as she headed back to the trail running along side the stream.

Jesus, a month or two ago and she would of thought all this impossible. She cuaght a glimspe of a steel bridge ahead of her. Running around, trying to save the world from evil, getting into fire fights. The ground reared up about five feet to meet the base of the bridge. On the side of the bridge were about seven foot high metal sides, rusted and covered in grafetti.

Reaching the top she looked across the bridge. It was an old railroad track that ran along a gravel path through the woods. Kagome crossed the bridge to the other side. She didn't know what was on this side.

She walked mindlessly along the tracks thinking about her family and friends, what they were up to, and such and such.

She decieded to take a quick break. She sat down on a log to the side of the tracks and looked to the skies. Nothing but clouds. To her it looked like a single cloud covered the entire sky, only the vague differances in color, ranging from light gray to medium light gray. The sun was no where to be seen, but the peel of church beels rang out Five-Thirty. It wouldn't be light out for much longer.

Kagome spaced out. As usual when her mind wandered she snapped back to reality a little depressed, angry and fustrated. Try as she might, all this death and fighting and lack of basic luxeruies was getting to her. The cold wieght of the gun pressed agaist her back by the wiast of her skirt was a constent reminder. She got up and started to head back towards the bridge when she spotted a ranger station through the woods. It looked like there was a vistor center. She headed that way instead.

She whisked in the front door. It was fair sized museum. She looked around at the various animals and closed off sections of wildlife for what she thought was an hour. She stepped into a larger room where a ranger was telling a stroy to a group of people.

"It was about one month ago that we started finding the deer carcasses. They wern't done by wovles or bears, no, no known animal had did this. The bodies were completly stripped of meat and the bones appeared to be snapped in half in certain places, but we never found the other halves, almost like the bones themselves had been eaten. But mostly chilling of all was the way the animals were killed. There throats weren't ripped out like wolves, and they weren't mauled like a bear, no, the heads had been cut clean off. No animal has claws long enough or any man the streangth to do that to a deer.

"About two weeks ago, I was responding to a call about a camping party that had lost a member in the middle of the night. It spent an hour looking around the campsite they were at. All around the campsite were trees pushed over and logs cracked in half by some great wieght. I followed the trails of cracked logs untill I noticed a furrow where something had been dragged, kicking and thrashing, through the woods. It lead to cave in the middle of the forest. We shined our flashlights in, but it was empty. We searched for three more days but never found anything.

"Then about five days ago I was walking through the forest at night, it was a dark, moonless night, I could see nothing outside of the range of my latern. The whole forest was unnaturally quiet. I was about a mile away from the car when I heard a large animal moving through the trees to my left. I pointed my lantern at the sound but it couldn't pierce the dark woods. As soon as I turned the latern back to the road, the animal began to move again. I stopped. I turned the light back on the forest but still couldn't see anything. I thought I heard something. I strained my ears, and heard the distinctive click of blades being rubbed together. I kept walking through the leaves, when the road became clear about 20 yards later I again listened. A barely audible clicking came from my left. It was following me.

"All through out the night I heard it, the click of blades, the rustle of leaves. Once I heard a tree snap in half mere yards away from me. I had no doubt that what ever was following me had killed those deer, and I began to understand what had happened to that camper..

"As I passed through a meadow it followed me, but always stayed just out side my latern light, so I could never get a glismpe..

"The next day a group of us went to find what I heard. We searched the woods and found more snapped trees and decapitated deer. One of us did find something itneresting though..

"It was a large rock, maybe 10 feet tall, standing upright in a small clearing. One side was covered in mud and was a different color, as if it had been sunk into the ground and something had lifted it up right.. also there were several large groves carved in the side, like the ones seen on whetting stones.."

Kagome slipped out the back door before any one noticed her. Or she saw the press badges.

Dammit! Where the fuck was that girl! Did she have any fucking idea what time it was? Almsot fucking 11! Shit, what if something had gone wrong? Shit, that was just what he needed! Kagome could be anywhere! InuYasha threw on his jacket, picked up a flashlight and walked out into the woods.

It was an intersting story Kagome thought steping out into the darkness, the ranger really sounded sincre. She clicked on her flash light and headed home.

She didn't like walking at night but she had no choice. She wasn't scared, what reason was there to be scared? It wouldn't be hard, she could just follow the trail worn into the ground to the bridge, and from there to home, almost surely a cursing out from InuYasha for being late. She giggled uneasly, that guy had some strange ways to show he was worried.

Kagome walked on and listened to the silence of the woods. She stopped dead in her tracks. Silence? That wasn't right was it? The ranger's words flew threw her head. "Unaturally quiet." She stared into the wood. It was just quiet becuase it was night, that was all...

She moved on. She tried to focus her thoughts on something besides that ridicules legend. She found something to focus on with the chewing out she would get when she got back. She smiled a little. For some reason when ever InuYasha jumped on her about being late, thinking back she thought once he had acctulay used the word "worried" in a moment of profanity filled, engraged passion always made her smile a little afterwards. As much as he yelled and cursed he ws still an alright guy.

With that thought Kagome smiled in earnest and continued walking. She wondered what her friends were doing for Halloween. Probably some trick-or-treating, even though they were a little old for that. Maybe some egging or TP'ing. Kagome wished, not for the first or last time, she could go and spend some time back home.

InuYasha grumbled as he trugeded through the bush. Dammit, where was she! He began to suspect something was wrong. He walked faster.

Kagome continued walking, thoughts of home obscuring her vision. Her flashlight swung out into a meadow to her right. the light glinted off something. She looked again, an antler emarged from the tall grass. It was a deer bedding ground! She had never seen one up close. She quietly walked towards it, trying to stay hidden in the grass.

She felt kinda nervous moving off the path, but she told her self she was being foolish. she kept the flashlight aimed at the ground. 15 feet away. The breeze was kind of refreashing down here... 10 feet. She wondered if it would bolt when she stood up.. 5 feet.

Kagome stood up and pointed the flash light at the antler. The light glistened off it's open eye. The flashlight held blot steady. Kagome felt ice flush through her viens. Her eyes widened. The pool of light began to shake as her hand trembled.

Oh Jesus! Oh Jesus! Oh Jesus! No! This wasn't real! It was a trick! IT WASN'T REAL!

"The heads had been cut clean off."

She was scared, too scared to scream, too scared to move. Those seven words ran through her head, drowing out everything else.

"The heads had been cut clean off."

It was.. it was a trick, some one did it, some guy with a sword or something! Reality sunk in. No one could sneak up on or catch a deer while wielding a sword. Her body went numb.

Get out, get back to the trail, get out, get out, get out! Her mind screamed at her.

She backed on to the trail as quietly as she could. The silence of the night screamed at her. She began to walk towards the bridge, her wide eyes sweeping in every direction.

This... this wasn't real.. it couldn't be... it... it just couldn't be! Her mind found a million reasons why it couldn't be. Something told her that they were all wrong.

She forced her legs to work. Oh God, oh God.. she couldn't stop the ranger's story from running through her head.

"A camper had gone missing in the middle of the night."

"No sign but decapitated deer."

"Where something had been dragged."

There was nothing out there, things like this didn't happen in real life! And school girls don't get shot at and dragged into a hunt for a magic jewel her brain answeared.

It would be nothing, she'd be home in an hour or two, being yelled at by InuYasha and she'd look back and this and luagh. It'd be great, she'd tell InuYasha and he'd call her a fool and laugh. An hour or two, not even!

She passed the marker that told her she was about a mile from the bridge. She waded through ankle deep leaves. She froze when she had passed the last of the leaves. Was it her imagination, or had the rustles of leaves lasted a split second longer then she was walking? Within seconds of that thought her memories of what she just heard were distorted, turned into a deafing chorus of leaves, lasting an obvious amount of time longer than she walked, by her fear.

She listened for an enterniy, nothing moved. At least she thought nothing moved. The darkness closed in on her. she could she nothing through the woods, not even shadows... the darkness seemed to have a wieght, and it was growing on her..

Click.

No..

Click.

It wasn't possible...

Click.

NO!

Her mind went totally blank. She didn't notice her breath quicken uncontrolably. She thought she was scared before, now she was truely terrified. Hope, thought, everything faded from her before the uncontrolable horror that gripped her. Kagome stared into the wood, into the unknown, at her own death, and something stared back.

Kagome stared while the church bells rang out eleven times. She scanned the forest over and over again. Nothing, she couldn't see it! The wind seemd warmed compared to the ice in her viens..

Run... run.... RUN!

Kagome sprinted wildly down the path, twigs snapping under foot, shots in the quiet night, nothing to thunder of breaking logs in the wood.

She didn't know where she was running too, didn't care, as long it was away from that thing!

Her breathing came heavly now, she could feel her lungs fail to provide enough air to keep going like this, the adreline and fear kept her alive.

Her legs ached and then went numb. She could feel the bite of wind, then nothing, she was only aware or the leaves and twigs that snapped agaist her shins. how long was she running? The minutes dragged into life times.

And still that damned crashing followed her! At first the pain in her legs had helped her ignore it but still it was there! Still it followed her, waiting for her legs to fail and it's chance to strike.

She gasped for air. Was it her, or were things getting even darker? The light of her flash light seemed dimmer. In the forest, her unseen tormenter continued to hunt her.

She couldn't out run this thing. The trurth slowly began to pentrate the fog in her head. She couldn't out run the thing. It had caught those deer, it could catch her. Despiar gripped her heart. Her mouth had gone dry. Her arms grew numb. The thing in the woods kept coming. The church bells began to ring.

Her mind vaguhly recalled having turned recently, the ground felt different, the sound of rocks sliding reached her ears. The railroad! the bridge! If she could just make it to the bridge! It stayed in the woods! It wouldn't cross the bridge!

She kept running. So close, so close to safety!
She pushed her legs harder. She grunted a little with each breath. the crashing in the woods grew louder. She saw the steel frame work of he bridge in the distance! Just another fifty feet. Her legs began to falter. She reached deep and a streangth she didn't know she had pulled her onto the bridge.
She ran through the bridge and turned right and down the rocks till she was again on solid ground. She stopped and held her breath.

Silence. Silence! It had worked! It had worked! Oh thank God it had worked!

She took a deep breath. Her legs ached but it was ok, she could make it. She closed her eyes for a second.

Behind her wood creaked.

It was crossing the bridge.

Kagome's breath came out in spurts as she shruddered. Trurly shruddered. She pressed her arms agaist her chest and hiked her shoulders up.

I'm scared. Oh God I'm scared. Despair filled her heart. Her arms crossed agaist her chest. Her knuckles whitened as her fists clenched. Oh Jesus she was scared. Thecreaking of wood stopped and was replaced by rocks being displaced uner a great wieght. Oh Jesus..

It could see her. She had no where to hide, it could see her.

I am going to die. I have no where to hide, I can't run to where InuYasha is. I am going to die. Oh Jesus I'm gonna die! It was gonna kill me! Nowhere to hide, too far to run, I am going to be killed!

Kagome's muscles tightened. Tears welled up as she waited for the blades to come down upon her. She gave one last thought to her family, who would never know, to her friends, and to InuYasha, so close, yet still too far. He was the one who would find me, what was left of me, poor guy.. She closed her eyes. A tear rolled down her cheek, the footfalls drew closer.

Click. Kagome's eyes opened. Click. She was staring at the ground, her body illuminated by the light orange glow of the flashlight. Click.

Why? Why had it not kill me? Why did it torment me like this!? WHAT ARE YOU AND WHY DO YOU TORMENT ME STILL!

That damned clicking was the only answear.

"but always stayed just outside my latern light."

The light! It was afraid of the light! Horror stilled filled her, but that small bit of weakness on the creature's part caused her legs to move of thier own will. She was walking, walking towards InuYasha. She kept the flashlight pointed at the ground, just following the path.

As she headed into the woods she relized she could just turn her head and see her hunter. Terror and adrenaline surged through her as she turned her head.

She could tell she was looking at the stream by the sound of running water. Her eyes were growing accustomed to the dark. The dim shape of the bridge. Terror welled up in her. More of the bridge. The mix of terror and excitment was overwhelming. The bridge sloped off, then..

God! She shouldn't of looked! Her head snapped forward and she clenched her eyes shut, trying to drive that image out of her head.

But too late, the image was burned into her mind! A shadowy monstrosity, twice her size loomed behind her! And in the middle of the shadows, two blades shown in the night where they issuied that click that would huant her dreams!

And still her legs carried onward of their own wiil. The sound of rocks was replaced by the sound of leaves and twigs as the thing moved back into the cover of the wood.

It would stay away, as long as she stood in the light. It would stay away and in the woods. She would reach InuYasha, and he would kill it. He could do, he had always saved her in the past, he would do it again!

She had no control of her legs as they guided her to saftey. Her fear began to subside a little, a very marginal amount, but enough for clear thoughts to agian make there way into her head.

It's not far, twentey minutes at most, she could make it. She was heading along the river. The thing stayed inland of her.

She watched her footing in the orangish light. Orangish? Shit.. No.. the battery was dieing.

It would last! It would last the way back! It could last twenty minutes rights? It would have to! The orange meant it was only slightly low on power!

How would you know? Have you ever used a flashlight untill it ran out? A part of her brain killed her optimism.

Both her mind and body started to go numb. The wind and the effects of the night began to take thier toll. Her courage began to catch up with whatever was making her legs move.

How much longer? She looked for signs. A familair tree, a bend in the road, anything. Part of her mind followed the beast in the wood. The stirring of dead leaves kept steady pace with her. She tried to listen to the stream instead, but some how her thoughts kept drifting back to the chrashing to her left.

The path turned into the woods. Kagome's heart lept. She knew this palce! So close! So close! Half way maybe!

A bent tree she had seen before loomed in front of her. Close, so close! She followed path in her mind the path back home. She would keep going along this way, there would be a hill to her left. She shuddered to think what was to her left. Then.. then a meadow. Then there would be a large tree in the middle of the path. The tree had a large hollowed out area under one root that she had explored earlier. She could fit in there, if need be. That gave her a little confort.

She dared a quick look to her left. A large shape loomed up over the trees. Kagome panicked even as her mind told her it was the hill.

She could only watch the hill out of the corner of her eye to guage how far she was from saftey. God but it moved slowly! So close, so far!

she was even with the hill. That meant.. the sound of her tormentor dissappered. Oh God. She was in the meadow. She had no cover. She coldn't hear it move. It could be anywear. It could be right behind her, it could be waiting directly in front of her, waiting for her to walk in to the range of those blades! At least in the wood she would know if it made a move! Now she could be killed with out knowing her time had run out!
Maybe that was for the best, but it still frightened her.

The light was deep orange now. She knew she didn't have much time left. Five minutes at most. She couldn't make it back on that. Panic set it, but even as it did a plan came to her mind.

How long? How long untill she reached the relative saftey of the wood and the final saftey of InuYasha's location? Safety. That small brick shelter, ignored for years. It seemed another world, something that may or may not exist.

It would work. Her plan would work. It was crazy and stupid and would cut the few precious minutes of life she had left in half. She felt bile rise at that choice of words. But at least she had a chance!

She could see the tree line now, she was close. Where was it? behind? Infront? or still to her side? Either way, she would now soon. A wieght grew in her chest.

She re-entered the shelter of the woods. She took several steps in and listened. The charshing resume dto her right! Thank God! The humor of that statement was not lost on Kagome.

A little way more.. just a little way.. ice returned to her viens. Her breath quickened. She would need all the oxegyn should could get..

Where was it? Where was that damn tree?

The light flickered. Kagome's heart skipped a beat. She stood stock still, her face felt cold as ice..

Nothing, she could move on. Damn! She didn't have much longer! Where was it!?

There! A large tree loomed ahead of her. She got within five feet of it and stopped.

Move, your waisting time, move. her mind told her to move. Her legs told her she needed another second.

She was more terrifed now than anytime tonight it seemed. Matching the teror once-for-once was excietment. The excitment of taking you life in your own hands, of compeating agaist Death himself. It almost made her want to smile.

She was insane. She had to be. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

Three. Two. One. Her hand snapped the light to the tree as her legs carried her towards it. The hole under a root was there. Behind her the beast thundered after it's no longer illuminated pray.

Terror overwhelmed exicietment. Kagome wanted to scream, wanted to make one last cry of terror to the world. She couldn't even do that.

She tumbled into the hole in the earth. There was the sound of something being driven into wood above her. She landed on her face and scarmbled to her knees as a dark shape was jammed into the enterance inches above her. Terror carried her to the back of the cave. She pressed her back agaist the wall and let her limbs go limp as see stared in terror as a blade fished around frantically for her.

The blade withdrew. The creature backed off.

In the small cave where she hid the beast's call echoed off the walls, filling her ears, splitting her head in two. That cry! A shriek from the bowels of Hell! What kind of monster could make such a horrible noise!? A high pitched screech that resonated through the wood, echoing off every tree and filling the air! Kagome covered her ears but it was of no use! Her head throbbed, she tried to drive it from her head but it wouldn't leave! What little air was left in her lungs was expelled as she tilted her head back and screamed. All the fear, dread, fustration and terror of the night exploded out of her in one futile scream.

Her own cry of desperation over with Kagome barely noticed the silence of the night. She was spent. Emotioinally, phtsically and mentally spent. Her muscles ached, terror gripped her heart tighter than ever, the numb skin on her amrs and legs had been ripped and scraped in the fall. She was cold, she was cold, tired, hungry, brusied, and bleeding.

There was another part to this plan.. it was.. was... her mind was numb. She knew she had this all planned out.. there was a way dammit!

It wouldn't come to her. She was trapped. She was trapped in here. If she coudn't think of something she would die, that much made sense, she couldn't think of how but still that base instinct for survival told her she was in mortal peril.

Think! Think God damn it! It was something.. something about light.. light? That didn't make sense..

She couldn't think. Resign slipped over her. She couldn't think. Anything she did would just make it harder to think..

Oh God, Oh God, Oh God. The word's ran through her head endlessly. Kagome pulled her legs to her chest and lowered her forehead to her knees. The events of the night overwhelmed her. Kagome gave a dry sob as the bells rang out midnight. Oh God, Oh god.

HALLOWEEN

WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT! InuYasha rushed at full tilt through the woods in the general direction of the sound. His rached into his jacket and drew his forty-five. What ever it was it probably put Kagome in danger.

He jumped over a log. He had heard crashing, and then that damned howl, what the fuck could DO that? His flashlight cast wild arches in the general direction he was heading. He didn't need it to see where he was going, his eyes were sharper than Kagome's. Damn. From now on he wasn't letting that damn girl wander around alone after dark like this.

Kagome looked up. Had she fallen asleep? Must of only been for a couple of minutes then. Her mind cleared. She smiled. what an idoit she had been. She only had to wait for morning! Hell she could probably even sleep! She stay there till morning to be safe, though the thing would probably leave before then. Leave and find something else to kill! Like a bear or a deer or... or InuYasha..

Kagome felt like she ahd been plunged into ice water. If she could explain, tell him what was going on, he could win, but if it just came upon him in the woods.. or worse yet if he was sleeping..

Oh God, she was less than a quater mile away from him. All it had to do was wander the right way. It probably didn't even have to be luck! What if it could smell him or something! Oh shit, once it figured out it couldn't get to her before sun up..

She had to stop it somehow! Helplessness filled her even before her mind told her there was nothing she could do. The best she could hope for was that it would kill her then go on it's way.

Even worse than the helplessness and terror was the guilt. Becuase she had saved her self, InuYasha was going to die. She tried to tell her self that theres was nothing she could do, that even if she tried, it still might kill them both, but she couldn't buy it, she refused too.

The right thing to do was to face it, to die on her feet in at least an attempt to help him. She couldn't even do that. All she could do was hide in this fucking hole! Hide and wait for the scream that announces his death! Like a rat! Hide like a fucking rat and let some one else die for her! Let InuYasha die becuase she was too much of a fucking coward to die!

Something snapped. The night had worn her down to her true self, a scared kid who couldn't fight her own battles. Who would rather some one else die then make a stand. With out the disilluosions, with out any emotions or pride to hide behind, something snapped.

She was going to die eventully right? What did it matter to her when? Better to die now with some dignity than to lead a rechead existance with InuYasha's blood on her hands. She stood up.

She reached behind her and drew her firearm. She doubted it would even scratch the thing. From somewhere in her a brain an eirely fitting line from Dylan Thomas came stepped up the exress her thoughts. "Do not go quietly into that good night, Rage, rage agist the dying of the light." She smiled and began to scan the night.

Trees... trees.. where was it? She felt relived of all her burdens. Trees.. Trees.. she still felt bad that InuYasha would have to be the one to find her, cut in two.. she listened for the familar clicking.. Poor guy would be devastated, finding just her head and her broken bones.. click. there it was! But form where.. well at least the broken gun in her hand will let him know she didn't go quietly into that good night.. Behind her! It was behind the tree! It couldn't see her! What luck!

She pulled her self out of her rat hole. she pressed her self agaist the trunk of the tree and peeked over the edge. A familar shadowy gaint waited, clicking it's blades in antcipation.

Well you don't have to wait long buddy. She brought the Five-seveN level with her eye. Huh. the dots on the sights glowed. How 'bout that. She should of really learned how this thing worked. Well she knew where the trigger was and that's what mattered. Her finger tignened on the trigger.

InuYasha head whipped to the direction of the report even as his legs changed thier direction. Shit! Kagome was defidentaly in trouble now! Just hold on a little longer!

She supposed it was fitting that she let it chase her in the direction of the shelter. After all she had done get there, she should at least try and get there again. She threw her right hand over her left shoulder and fired in the general direction of the thunder behind her.

More shooting! Shit! Kagome wasn't a good shot, if she's firing that fast she must be in a fight! She wouldn't last! Thankfully the blasts seemed to be coming in his direction, he may stll make it!

Why hadn't it cuaght her yet? It obviously could. Maybe she had hit it in the knee or something. Now that she thought about it, the crashing was kinda off beat. She kept firing. The demon behind he let out it's shriek. It no longer phased her. If anything it spurred her on. If this thing was gonna kill her, he was gonna have to fucking work for it!

FUCK! WHAT THE HELL SOUNDS LIKE THAT?! What ever it was, it was threating Kagome. Inuyasha's thumb pulled back the hammer of his Colt.

Her legs were giving out. Her little ploy was coming to an end. All the aches and pain she racked up over the last two hours came flooding back. God her legs hurt! Pain ripped through her side with every step. Her lungs struggled to keep up. And still she fired blindly at her killer. She knew it was gaining on her. Kagome wondered if stoping or changing directions would buy her more time.

KAGOME! HOLD ON! I'M ALMOST THERE!

She couldn't even think and breath at the same time. It was time, she knew.

InuYasha burst into the clearing where the shelter they were using lay. The his flashlight swung in wild arcs.

For a brief second a dark shape in front of her was illuminated. The shack was only 50 yards away! Kagome began to think between labored breaths. Just.. just gotta make it.. make it home... then.. then I can.. I can..

The field was lit by the flash of a gun. Kagome! He pointed the flash light at her.

Kagome saw the light and turned toward it. A thought leaped to her mind, and see managed to divert enough air from her muscles to yell.

"INUYASHA!" It was her! He could see her in the flashlight now, and behind her...

"BEHIND.. ME" Kagome managed to get out over the roar of her pistol. Somehow she managed to run faster.

JESUS CHRIST! WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT THING! InuYasha thought he was sprinting before, now he ran faster than he ever had before. He had to make it!

Kagome didn't know what she was doing. She just ran towards InuYasha. Hope had returned, and with it terror. And it was terror that fueled her.

Almost there! Please God let him be on time! he was afriad to shoot, he wasn't sure he would miss Kagome.

So.. close.. the light was very close to her now.. She couldn't see anything, just a light.. Jesus she was tired, so.. tired.. exuaghstion overwhelemed even her fear.

Kagome tripped. She began to fall forwards into the light.

InuYasha reached forwards with his left hand as he dropped to his knees. he grabbed Kagome and pulled her into him as he fell on to his back.

in front him a shadow reared to strike. He brought his right hand up.

Tetsiagia ripped the thing a-fucking-part. He had never had a chance to test it's full power. He wasn't dissapointed. The shadowy form lie still.

InuYasha kept his gun trained on the form for five seconds more. Nothing moved. He let his shoulders collaspe agaist the ground. He took several deep breaths.

"Are you alright Kagome?" He asked, still holding her with his left arm. "Yeah.. just a little tired, that's all." She managed, head resting on his shoulder. She supposed she should be embarassed, but right now she didn't fucking care.

they caught thier breaths for maybe half a minute more before Kagone rolled off and InuYasha sat up and replaced the magazine in his pistol.

Something struck Kagome. "InuYasha?" "Yeah?" "This thing had the jewel shard in it." "Your shitting me." "No, I'm serious it has a shard embedded in it." "So that's what a shard does to things..." they stared in wonder at the still form for a second.

InuYasha stood up. "While how are we gonna get it out?" Kagome asked. "Don't fucking ask." He muttered pulling back the slide. "Where is it?" Kagome pointed, still sitting down. InuYasha took off his jacket and tossed it to Kagome. He rolled up his sleves and produced a switch balde form his pocket. "You're not going to-" "I said don't fucking ask." InuYasha aprocahed the fallen monster, stopped, thought it over, and proceded to pump several more rounds into it before getting to work.

Kagome didn't know how the fuck she felt. The empty gun was still in her hand. She was tired and cold and hungry and sore and more than a bit unerved. But some how she felt maturer now. Like she had grown up a little. Whatever. She threw InuYasha's jacket on. One problem solved.

She got up and walked to a nearby tree. She sat back down and rested her back and head agaist it. She dropped her gun into one of the jacket's pockets. There was something else in there. Kagome fished around and pulled out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. What the fuck she mused, stealing one and some how getting her thumb to working the lighter. She took a drag and closed her eyes.

InuYasha picked the sleeping girl up. She had been through hell, least he could do was not wake her. He carried her to the selter and placed her in her sleeping bag before passing out him self.

---------------------------END------------------------

Jesus that story took a fuckin' life of it's own.

Anyway, Happy Halloween everybody.

-John