Chapter 2: "Into The Arklay Forest"
After last night's discovery, Kagome decided to wait until the next day to set out on her little 'rescue mission'. Thankfully, the rain had stopped a short while ago, but the dark gray clouds still remained.
Kagome took a quick shower and then changed into a pair of flared blue jeans, a light pink tank top and ankle-length brown hiking boots. She had also put her raven black hair up into a ponytail with a white hair tie. Around her waist, she had wrapped a red & black flannel long-sleeved shirt--in case it started to rain again. She also wore black leather fingerless gloves and around her left thigh, she had strapped on a black strap that contained a decent-sized survival knife on the side.
If that story about the 'grizzly bear' attacking people was indeed true, she wasn't taking any chances.
Lastly, Kagome had retrieved her old brown backpack to take along with her, which contained a small flashlight, extra batteries for the flashlight, a bottle of spring water and the map inside. She then grabbed the keys to her jeep that were lying on top of the coffee table and then put them into her left pants pocket.
After double checking to make sure that she had everything she needed, Kagome briskly walked over to her where her brother was still sleeping on the couch and then shook his shoulders to wake him up. "Souta, get up!" Kagome said with annoyance as her efforts in trying to wake her brother up were becoming unsuccessful.
"Five more minutes... I promise..." Souta lowly mumbled as drool started forming at the corner of his mouth and then dripped onto the pillow.
"Eww!" Kagome said out loud to herself as she made a grossed-out expression on her face. She then quickly composed herself and yelled a little louder. "Get up! NOW!"
Due to the loudness of his sister's voice, Souta instantly sat up with wide eyes as his tired mind tried to comprehend what was going on. "Huh? What? I'm up!" He quickly replied while rubbing the sleep from out of his eyes.
Kagome took a deep breath and then exhaled. "Look, I'm leaving to go find mom, so I--" She started to explain but was suddenly cut off in mid-sentence.
"What? You know where she is?" Souta questioned, feeling utterly surprised at what his sister was saying.
"Look, it's a long story," Kagome hesitantly replied. "But anyway, I found some map that shows the exact location of the Shikon Corporation."
Souta's eyes went wide in disbelief. "Really?" He asked in amazement.
"Yeah." Kagome stated with a determined look in her eyes. "I'm bustin' mom out."
Both siblings stood silent for a moment. Kagome then glanced up at the clock that was hanging on the living room wall. It was getting close to noon. She then looked at her brother with a serious look. "Listen Souta, I don't know when I'll be back or what's gonna happen, but I want you to promise me that you won't leave this apartment while I'm gone." Kagome sternly said.
"What? Why?" Souta complained. "Can't I invite any of my friends over or even go outside?"
"NO!" Kagome sternly shouted. "There's a lot of crazy shit happening and a lot of people are getting sick--including your friends." She then paused. "Something weird is going on in this city... and I don't trust anyone."
Souta frowned and looked down at the floor. "Fine..."
"PLEASE, SOUTA!" Kagome yelled as tears of frustration started streaming down her cheeks. "JUST STAY INSIDE THE APARTMENT!" She knew that she was acting a little overprotective, but the thought of losing her little brother--the only other person she had left in this world--scared her.
Souta finally looked up from staring at the floor and then noticed that his sister was crying. He then stood up, walked over to his sister and hugged her. She hugged him back as well. "I promise, ok?" Souta sincerely replied quietly.
"Thank you." Kagome whispered thankfully as she wiped the rest of the tears from her eyes. She then let go of her brother and made her way towards the front door. "I'll try to be back as soon as possible, ok?"
"Ok. Be careful, all right?" Souta said as he continued to stand there. "And please bring mom back."
Kagome smiled . "I will. I promise!" She reassured as she opened the door and then exited their tiny apartment.
As Kagome made her way down the hallway, she started wondering about the risk in rescueing her mother. Would she really be able to pull it off? What happened if she ever got caught? She was so caught up in her thoughts that she suddenly bumped into someone, causing the person to fall onto the thin-carpeted floor of the apartments' hallway. "Oh my gosh! Are you all right, Mrs. Baker?" Kagome asked worriedly as she carefully helped her elderly next door neighbor up from off of the floor. "I'm so sorry!" She felt so ashamed and embarrassed of herself at that moment.
"Oh, I'm fine dear!" Mrs. Baker happily replied as she dusted off the front of her long brown skirt. "I (cough) wasn't paying attention to where I was (cough) going."
"Are you sure you're all right?" Kagome concernly asked as she suddenly took in the old womans' appearance. Even though Mrs. Baker sounded like her normal, cheerful self, she looked entirely worn out and fatigued. The skin on her face and arms looked deathly pale and beads of sweat had also formed on the front of the womans' forehead as well.
"Yes, yes. I just have a touch of that flu virus that's (cough) going around, you know." Mrs. Baker replied as she gave a small smile. "Nothing to worry about, I assure you!" The old woman then observed Kagome's apparel. "Oh! I see you're (cough) heading out somewhere?" She asked. "Going for a walk?"
"Um, sort of..." Kagome responded. She then noticed the old woman wince with a painful expression as she touched the lower part of her back. "Did you hurt your back when I bumped into you?" She asked with concern, once again feeling sorry for the old woman.
"No, no! It's been sore for the past (cough) few days." Mrs. Baker informed as she lightly touched the lower part of her back where the pain was coming from. "I'll be seeing the doctor about it (cough) tomorrow morning."
"Ok. Well... I have to get going now." Kagome replied as she slowly started walking away. "I hope you get better soon!"
"I'm sure I (cough) will! Goodbye!" Mrs. Baker called out to the young woman. "Have fun on your little walk!"
Kagome then made her way down the apartment's interior steps and then exited through the front double doors of apartment building. Luckily, she had parked her red colored jeep right out front of the apartment building, so she didn't have to go far. She then walked over to the driver's side of the vehicle and got in. As she put the key into the ignition and started up the engine, she suddenly took notice that there were hardly anyone out on the streets. 'Hmm, this is really weird...' She thought to herself as she watched an ambulance suddenly zoom down the next street with the sirens on 'Usually the streets are FILLED with people on the weekends--even on gloomy days like today...' Shaking her head slightly from those thoughts, she put the jeep into gear and pulled out of the parking space. She then drove off and made her way through the almost-deserted streets of downtown Raccoon City.
After driving for almost twenty minutes, Kagome finally reached a small suburb that was on the very outskirts of the city, which also bordered the Arklay Forest as well. The area was sort of like a 'small hic town'--as some of the citizens liked to call it--due to the fact that almost everyone in that area dressed and acted like a hillbilly.
As Kagome slowly drove down the street, she observed that absolutely no one was around, unlike in the city where there were at least a few people outside. It was like a ghost town... Some of the homes had their front windows and doors boarded up, while some of the other houses looked to be completely deserted--due from the lack of curtains in the windows and the furniture missing inside. She also noticed that one of the homes in particular had yellow & black "CAUTION" tape set up around that house's perimeter. 'That must be where one of the murders occurred...' Kagome thought to herself as she suddenly shuddered, which caused goosebumps to form on her forearms.
Finally, Kagome reached the end of the road, where she was suddenly met with a barricade that blocked her from driving any further. She stopped her jeep just a couple of feet away from the barricade and then got out of the vehicle. She then walked up to the barricade and read the large sign that was posted on the front. The sign stated: "Attention: All citizens are restricted from going into the mountains until further notice. -By order of the R.C.P.D."
Kagome turned around and walked back to the vehicle and got in. She put the jeep into gear and then proceeded to drive off of the road to go around the barricade, leaving the jeep's tire tracks in the mud as her only evidence. 'Heh. I never was the person to follow the rules anyway!' She thought while smirking as she drove up the mountain road that led into the Arklay Mountains.
About forty-five minutes of driving, Kagome finally made it all the way to the end of the mountain road, where it came to a dead end. Frustrated for still not finding the supposed secret road, she stopped the jeep and then retrieved the map from out of her backpack.
"Hmm, the map shows that the road leads off onto the right side somewhere..." She said out loud to herself. "But where?" Since the map didn't show or state exactly where the road was located, she would have to back-track the road and search again.
Deciding that it would probably be easier to search for the road on foot, Kagome turned off the vehicle's ignition, grabbed her backpack and then got out of the jeep. Since there was no one around, she just left the keys behind in the ignition. After she strapped on her backpack, she started making her way back down the mountain road, carefully scanning the right side of the forest to look for the secret road.
After about fifteen minutes later of walking and searching, frustration started building up within Kagome as her search was becoming unsuccessful. "Damn it! Where the hell is it?" She suddenly yelled out loud. "It shows it right here on the frickin' ma--" She then cut herself off as she suddenly noticed huge tire tracks imprinted in the mud that was off to the side of the road that led deep into the forest. "Oh... that must be it." She quietly stated to herself, feeling stupid for her childish outburst just a minute ago. Hesitating a moment to take a calming deep breath, she then started to follow the tire tracks into the forest.
Another twenty-some minutes passed by and Kagome was still following the tire tracks. As she ventured further into the dense forest, she noticed that the gray clouds above were getting darker and there was also the scent of rain in the air as well. 'Damn, how far IS this place, anyway?' She thought with a frown on her face as she stopped for a moment to look at the map to see if it stated anywhere about how far the mansion was. After finding nothing, she was about to put the map back into her backpack when suddenly something odd occured to her. She didn't really notice it until now, but it was... awfully quiet in the forest. There was not a single bird chirping or even any animals such as squirrels and chipmunks scurrying about... Come to think of it, the only thing that Kagome had remembered hearing, was just the sounds of her boots squishing in the mud as she walked.
'Ok, this is REALLY weird.' Kagome stated mentally, feeling somewhat freaked-out. 'It's in the middle of the summer: nature is supposed to be very active during this time of the year... I think?'
To make matters worse, it now started to lightly drizzle with rain. 'Great. Just great.' Kagome sarcastically thought as a part of her ever regretted coming all the way out into the wilderness. She sighed and then proceeded on with following the tracks, while picking up her pace a bit.
A few more minutes into walking, Kagome suddenly got the chills. It felt like every hair on the back of her neck was standing on ends. Maybe she was just being paranoid, but she felt like someone or something was watching her from within the forest somewhere. There was also a strange, putrid-like scent that hung in the air, which seemed to be getting stronger and stronger.
Suddenly, Kagome heard the sounds of some bushes rustling behind her in the far distance somewhere. She immediately stopped walking and turned around to see what was causing the noise... and almost screamed in fright.
Two Doberman-like creatures had emerged from the bushes. Both of the creatures' bodies looked mangled; sections of their black fur were missing, which exposed some of the bones and... decayed-looking flesh underneath. The one creature was even missing an ear--in fact, the whole right side of its once fur-covered scalp now exposed just the white skull underneath. The other creature also seemed to have one of its blank white eyes missing as well.
The creatures both started to growl and were slowly stalking towards Kagome, who was too afraid to move at the moment. Beads of sweat started forming on her forehead as she tried to decide on what to do: Should she run away? Should she just remain still and hope that the creatures wouldn't attack her? As her frantic mind tried to comprehend on what to do, she unknowingly dropped the map and started slowly taking a few steps back...
(SNAP!)
...and accidentally stepped on a twig.
At the sound of the twig snapping, one of the creatures' snarled and then lunged at Kagome. She screamed and quickly jumped out of the way, then immediately turned around and started running. 'Oh my god! Oh my god!' Was the only thing that kept going through her head as she continued to run for dear life as the two creatures chased her.
Suddenly out of nowhere, a third creature jumped out of some bushes that were a couple of feet ahead of Kagome, causing her to quickly skid to a stop so she wouldn't run right into it. 'Shit!' Her mind screamed in panic. Before she even had the chance to think, the creature that was blocking her way, suddenly lunged right for her.
Using her instincts, Kagome quickly dodged away from the creature's attack. With very quick and skilled reflexes, she did a roundhouse kick right into the creatures' mid-section, which then sent it to the ground a couple feet away from her.
Just as she was about to take off running again, one of the other two creatures' had managed to catch up to Kagome and suddenly tackled her from behind, almost sending her to the ground from the strong impact. The creature then sank its sharp fangs right into her backpack--luckily--and started tugging with a great force. She tried to pull away, but the creature had too much of a tight hold on her backpack. Deciding that she valued her life more than anything, she quickly wriggled out of the backpack's straps. At the sudden force of pulling away, she fell onto her knees as the creature behind her vigorously shook the backpack in its mouth, thinking it still had a hold of its victim
Just as Kagome was starting to pick herself up off of the ground, the last creature suddenly surprised her by lunging right into her midsection, causing the wind to be knocked out of her. She managed to stay on her feet though as the creature luckily only managed to grab a hold of her flannel shirt that was tied around her waist. "GET THE HELL OFF OF ME!" She screamed as she punched the creature right in its head. The impact of her punch didn't even faze creature. Instead, it pulled more forcefully on the flannel shirt, which resulted in finally ripping the material away from her.
Taking advantage of the situation, Kagome quickly started sprinting away from the momentarily distracted hellish creatures. 'This can't be real! It just can't be!' She thought, feeling overwhelmed with fear and confusion. She didn't know if the creatures were chasing her yet or not, but she wasn't about to stop and find out!
The light drizzle of rain had now turned over into steady, heavy showers, which was starting to completely drench Kagome's clothing as she continued to run. The very bottoms of her jeans and boots were also caked heavily with mud as she ran through the puddles of muddy water here and there, not caring about what her appearance looked like at the moment.
After what seemed like awhile, Kagome finally stopped running so she could catch her breath--after realizing that the creatures weren't following her anymore. She was slightly haunched over, trying to regain her normal breathing back, as well as also clutching her aching sides. As she was trying to calm herself down, she glanced up and then suddenly noticed that off in the far distance amonst the forests' trees, there appeared to be a very large house. 'That must be the mansion!' She thought, feeling slightly relieved. 'It looks like its' about another mile or two away...'
After waiting for about another minute to calm down, Kagome then resumed with jogging north through the forest towards the mansion.
Unbeknownst to her, Kagome accidentally triggered off a security sensor that was well-disguised and situated at the base of a random tree...
The Onigumo Mansion...
A figure was casually lounging against a stone pillar that was situated on top of the three-story mansion's slate rooftop, not caring that he was currently becoming soaked from the rain that continued to pour down upon him. He had long ebony colored hair, which was tied back into a low ponytail at the base of his neck. He was also wearing the standard green uniform that he was told to wear, which consisted of matching baggy pants and T-shirt, black fingerless gloves and combat boots.
Both of the guys' hands were propped behind his head and his right leg was carelessly dangling off the side of the building. His eyes were closed and he had an annoyed expression portrayed on his hansom young face. 'I'm so sick of this place!' He thought bitterly to himself. 'It reeks of death! I can't stand it anymore, damn it!'
All of a sudden, there was a loud beeping noise emitting from his radio that was attached to the right side of his belt. Without opening his eyes, the guy retrieved his radio and then held in the button to respond. "What?" He annoyingly asked.
"Something has triggered the northern security alarm to go off. Go and check it out." An unknown males' voice ordered from the opposite end of the static-sounding radio.
"It's probably just one of those stupid mutts--why bother?" The guy smartly replied back.
"You will follow your orders, Inuyasha." The man ordered in a strict tone. "Besides, the hounds don't roam in that area."
The guy named "Inuyasha" slowly opened his golden-colored eyes and frowned. "Whatever. I'm going now." He replied in a dull tone. He then stood up and quickly scanned over the surrounding forest for the area in which he knew where the northern security sensor was located. Once he located the area, he then leapt off the side of the building and landed onto one of the lower roofs below. He then made a final jump and landed flawlessly onto the muddy ground in the front courtyard of the mansion.
I could use the exercise anyway.' Inuyasha mentally stated as he took off running through the forest.
Kagome kept having to squint her eyes to see through the heavy rainfall as she continued to jog through the forest. It seemed like the closer she was getting to the mansion, the harder the rain was pouring down upon her. 'Just a bit farther and I'll be out of this crazy mess!' She thought, trying to think positively.
All of a sudden, a raindrop somehow landed right in the middle of Kagome's left eye, causing her to quickly shut her eyes from the sudden reaction. Being momentarily blinded, she failed to notice the huge tree root a few paces ahead of her that was sticking out from the ground and accidentally tripped over it. She shrieked with surprise as she fell harshly--face first--into a huge water puddle, creating a large splash. She quickly recovered and pushed herself up from out of the cold, muddy water.
'Ugh, I feel like throwing up now...' Kagome thought miserably as she started coughing and spitting some of the muddy water out of her mouth. Not only did she feel nauseous now, but she was also shivering (even though it was in the middle of the summer) from being soaked head-to-toe from the rain and the stupid puddle.
Just as Kagome was about to start walking, the sounds of twigs and sticks snapping off in the nearby forest somewhere made her suddenly hault all movment. She quickly turned her head to the where the noises were coming from and waited, unknowingly holding her breath in anticipation. 'Please don't let it be one of those dog-creatures! I don't think I have the energy to sprint again!' She mentally prayed as she waited for whatever it was that was in the forest to show itself.
Suddenly, a figure came stumbling out from behind some of the pine trees. As Kagome focused her eyes a little more, she noticed that it appeared to be a man. "Hey!" She called out to get the mans' attention as she waved her left hand in the air. She somehow felt a little relieved knowing that she was no longer alone.
The man then started to slowly stagger towards Kagome in a drunken manner while dragging his right foot a bit. His clothes appeared to be ripped in several places and the man also kept moaning lowly, as if he were in pain.
Taking notice of the injured mans' condition, Kagome started walking over towards him. "Are you all right, sir? Were you attacked by something?" She concernly asked as she started observing the mans' injuries a little more. The first thing she noticed was that the injured man had several areas of dried blood and dirt all over his tattered clothing. The leg that he was dragging, was exposed and appeared to have some of the flesh missing, therefore revealing the leg bone. She then saw that the man had several deep lacerations across his chest and his face was very pale, almost ghost-white.
Feeling suddenly cautious and freaked-out, Kagome immediately stopped approaching the man. "Um, are you... ok?" She worridly called out and then waited for the man to respond, but he said nothing. Instead, the man looked up with unfocused, glassy white eyes and continued to slowly limp towards her.
"Uh..." Kagome trailed off, feeling somewhat paranoid. She then suddenly caught a whiff of the air. 'Oh man, where's that awful smell coming from?' She thought with annoyance as she pinched her nose shut and made a disgusted face. 'It's smells like the same as earlier, when I ran into those creatures!'
The man, who was about five feet away from Kagome now, stretched his arms out towards her as he kept advancing. Drool started dribbling out from the corners of his mouth as he continued to moan.
For every step that the man took, Kagome would take a step backwards. Her fear was starting to increase and she had a bad feeling building up inside her gut. "Look, um sir, why don't you just sit down and rest for a moment..." She trailed off, still trying to keep a safe distance away from the injured man as he persued her.
Suddenly, Kagome's back met up against the side of a tree. That's when the man quickly advanced forward and quickly grabbed both sides of her shoulders. She shrieked in surprise and reacted by quickly pushing her hands against the mans' chest as he tried to... bite the side of her neck? "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?" She yelled as she tried to wrestle the crazed man away from her. With one final push, she finally managed to send the man backwards, making him land right on his backside onto the muddy ground. She then frantically un-strapped her survival knife that was strapped to her left thigh and held it out defensively in front of her. "Stay away from me! I'm warning you!" She threatened to the man as he started to pick himself up from off of the ground, ignoring her warning completely.
The man ignored Kagome's warning and advanced again. When he got close enough, he tried to grab for her shoulders again, but she quickly swung the knife sideways, slicing at his chest--but the assault didn't even faze the man one bit. He just lunged at Kagome again, but she reacted quickly by kicking him in the gut, which caused the man to stumble backwards--but he just came forward again!
'What's WITH this guy? He's insane!' Kagome frantically thought as she kicked the man in his gut, causing him to fall again. 'Every time I attack him, he just keeps coming back! It seems like he doesn't even feel the pain...'
Before the man even got the chance to get up, Kagome quickly rushed over and held him down by kneeling forcefully on his chest to prevent him from getting back up. She then raised her right hand high into the air, holding the survival knife. 'He's obviously crazed in the head! I can't... I can't let him suffer like this! God, please forgive me for what I'm about to do...' She mentally prayed as she used her unoccupied hand to hold the mans' head to the ground.
With a sudden yell of mixed emotions, Kagome then forcefully slammed the survival knife down right into the middle of the mans' forehead, thus creating a sick crunching sound. She then immediately scrambled a few feet away from the man's lifeless body, while breathing heavily and shaking with shock and fear.
'Oh my God! I can't believe I just... I... Oh my God!' Kagome thought, feeling scared and disgusted with herself. Tears then started streaming down her cheeks as she kept her eyes on the lifeless body. She then slowly picked herself up from off of the ground with shaky knees. "I just killed someone..." She then whispered to herself as she started wiping the tears from her cheeks.
"He was already dead to begin with." A voice suddenly called out from somewhere in the trees nearby.
Startled, Kagome quickly turned around in the direction where the voice had come from. "WHO'S THERE?" She demanded out loud in a paranoid tone.
A figure then suddenly jumped off from a high tree branch and landed flawlessly a few feet away from Kagome, causing her to take a step back in surprise. Once she composed herself, she then observed the person's appearance: It was obviously a guy who looked to be about her age, maybe a year or two older. He had long white hair that was tied into a low ponytail at the base of his neck and golden yellow eyes. He was wearing a dark green T-shirt that was tucked inside of his matching baggy cargo pants, a black belt around his waist that had a radio attached to the side, black calf-high combat boots and black fingerless gloves. She also noticed that the symbol for the "Shikon Corporation" was printed on the left side of his T-shirt. (It's like the corporation symbol from the game.)
The guy studied Kagome for a minute and then smirked. "I'm surprised you even made it this far." He stated in a mocking tone.
"What do you mean?" Kagome questioned, feeling confused. She then glared at the guy. "Who are you?"
"You're coming with me." The guy stated in a serious tone, completely ignoring Kagome's questions. "Cooperate or else I'll have to do so forcefully."
Taken aback in shock, Kagome put both of her hands on her hips and continued to glare at the guy. "Excuse me?" She stated in a smart and angry tone. "Just who the hell do you think you are bossing me around? I'm not going anywhere with you, ASSHOLE!"
The guy smirked again while he started cracking his knuckles. "Have it your way then, wench!" He stated as he quickly lunged straight for Kagome.