Well, here I am again! Updating, like always! (smiles happily) Anyway, big plot twist in this chappie! No, seriously. There is. Please enjoy!

This chapter is dedicated to my first reveiwer, Lost-in-Dark, and my new beta reader, Suaru! You guys rock!

18 - Truth Revealed -- Betrayal

All he could see was darkness. It engulfed his mind, allowing him to go numb to the pain that he knew consumed his body. His mind was blank, devoid of thoughts or emotions, allowing his beaten body to rest. Suddenly, a scene flashed inside his eyelids.

- flash back

It was Kagome. She was on top of him and they were laying in a field. At first it seemed good, but then he felt a sharp pain travel through his body, causeing him to flinch at the unexpected feeling. Then he smelled it. Blood. The blood of friends. His golden eyes darted around him, seeing Miroku and Sango lying about seven or so feet away. A couple feet beyond them lay an ivory horse, it's neck snapped.

He looked to his chest where Kagome rested. At first glance he thought she was asleep, but after closer inspection, he saw that she was unconcious. He attempted to move his hands to try and wake her, but found that he couldn't move at all.

The now farmiliar feeling of darkness came over his mind again, the hanyou trying to push it away. He had to save his friends. Save Kagome. But his body prevented him from accomplishing this task. His mind was slipping back into the shadow, his vision starting to blur.

Then he saw it. A large purple demon with black horns and blood red eyes leaned down, his face only mere inches away from he and Kagome. Inuyasha growled lowly at his next action. The strange demon's jaw opened, and it lightly piched Kagome up within them, causing her shirt to tear and small spots of blood to appear.

His mind was screaming at him, telling him to get up and save Kagome. His lover. His future mate. But his body wouldn't respond, only causing him more pain as his limbs refused to cooperate. The extra energy he used to try and move exhausted him, causing him mind to fall back into unconciousness. Even as this was happening, all that he could hear was his own mental tattered screams, echoing through his mind. 'Kagome...'

- end flash back

"Kagome!" he whispered frantically as his eyes shot opened. All around him was darkness, his eyes straining as he triend to identify where he was. His next sense to kick in was his nose. The many scents around him hit him at once, his mind clouded as he tired to decipher them all. 'Let's see... Miroku... he's alive... Sango... she's alive and near by, just not here... Kanna... she's somewhere close by... that large purple demon was here recently... Naraku is somewhere very close as well.' At that thought he growled, but continued to sort out all these scents. 'Kagome... where is she? Her scent is near, but it seems so far... But I think she's still alive. According to the scent I'm picking up, she's alive... but she's lost a lot of blood.' His demon side was urging to come out, but he held it back. For now. 'And some scents that are buried... maybe years old... Sesshomaru and Kagura!?! I know where we are!' His eyes shot open again, only to find that an overhead light had been turned on. Standing on front of him was the one and only Naraku, smirking with a mischevious glint in his evil black eyes.

"Ah, so I see you're awake dear nephew?"

"Don't call me that you bastard!" Inuaysha again attempted to move, only to find that he was still unable to. "What the hell?" he murrmered as he looked down, finding that the ony thing holding him back was a long rope, coiled around him expertly. It was tied so he could not use his claws to escape, and brute strength wasn't working against it, either. Naraku laughed, thoughrouly enjoying his struggle against the rope.

"Having fun there, Inuyasha?"

"Feh!"

"You can try to get loose, but it is futile. A professional demon slayer tied that."

'Demon slayers are hard to come by in this day and age... Where in the hell did he find one?' Inuyasha thought as he pulled harder at the ropes. 'But these are expertly tied... I'm not getting out by force.'

"You are just as stubborn as your little lover," he sneered, knowing the reaction he wound get. Inuyasha started hopping, red filling his eyes. Naraku started laughing hysterically as he watched the proud hanyou reduced to jumping up and down on his butt.

"Where is Kagome?!?!" Inuyasha roared, waking Miroku in the corner.

"Inuyasha?" he murmered grogily, sitting up. Inuyasha looked over in the corner.

'Damn, he's tied up, too. We're stuck.'

"Well, I shall take my leave of you, half-breed. I have more... pressing prisoners to care for." With that he left leaving one very confused man and another man that was literally hopping mad.

Kagome's eyes fluttered open. Her head felt like she was underwater and her ears popped multiple times, leaving a throbing feeling near her temples. When she tried to move she gasped. She found that someone had chained her to a wall, her wrists and ankles in chains. "What the hell..." she said, her voice scratchy.

Suddenly she noticed the large figure looming over in the corner. It was a demon; the same demon that attacked them in the field. He had a large head, adorned with black horns, and purple skin. Just the sight of him made Kagome want to throw up, and the feeling doubled when she saw the drool dripping off an exposed fang as he merrily napped in the corner.

She tugged harder at the chains, finding them very sturdy. She had only one thought -- Go find Inuyasha. How she wanted to be wrapped in his arms, have him kiss her neck and tell her everything was okay. Her sigh echoed off the walls, making her cringe at the noise.

"Oh, don't be so depressed, my pet," a silky voice said from a nearby door way. He entered, exposing his apperance.

"Naraku!" she exclaimed, vemon evident in her voice.

"Now, now. You nave a choice," he stated, walking up to her strangling body chained to the wall. "We can do this the easy way or the hard way," he said as he ran his fingers along her chin, "and I much perfer the hard way."

"Kagome," Inuyasha said, destress in his voice.

"What is it, Inuyasha?" Miroku asked, his voice low and depressed.

"Kagome's afraid. I can smell it." A low growl erupted from his chest, his eyes flashing red.

"Calm down Inuyasha. Transforming now will only bring disaster." It had only been three minutes since Naraku left, and Inuyasha and Miroku sat in silence. They hadn't even looked around, too depressed by the absence of their loved ones.

Suddenly a small movement caught the corner of Inuyasha's eye and he turned, spying another person in the corner of the cell. "Hey! Are you alive over there?"

"Nice, Inuyasha," Miroku sighed, astounded by his friend's forwardness.

"What? I just asked." He was silent for a moment, taking in the stranger's scent for the first time. 'Strange, why didn't I pick it up earlier? It's so very faint... But...' He inhailed deeper, finally figuring out who it was.

"Kanna!"

Kagome bit Naraku's finger when it came close enough to her mouth. "Go to hell!" she yelled, spitting in his face.

"So the hard way it is..." he said as he transformed his hand into a large claw, rearing it above her.

"You're..."

"A shape shifter? Yes. It's come in very handy in my line of work." He brought his clawed hand down, aiming for Kagome's stomach.

She shut her eyes, preparing for the pain. But it never came. Instead when she opened her eyes, she found that she was enfulfed in a light purple light, swirling around her body like fog. Naraku was on the ground, his clawed hand gone. Compleately gone.

"Damn you, you bitch," he snarled, reforming his hand with a flick of the wrist.

Kagome was dumb founded; how did that happen? Then the thought suddenly popped into her head. 'The Shikon no Tama!' She practically laughed as she remembered the large lilac stone hanging from her neck, still glowing brightly.

"So, the Shikon no Tama will protect you, eh?" he said, aggrivation in his voice. "Well, I have a way to deal with that." A smirk reappeared on his face as he got up, walking to her. She flinched as his fingers stroked her cheek, his black eyes looking into her brown ones. "I have the perfect way to deal with that."

Inuaysha and Miroku sat in the corner near Kanna. She wasn't tied up, but she couldn't get the roped loose either. "What happened to you? I thought you were going to come get us." Inuaysha looked at the woman worriedly, her face more pale than normal.

"I was on my way over to Kaede's home, and I was attacked..."

- flash back

Kanna was driving into the sunrise, making her way to the house in the middle of nowhere to pick up the kids. They were going to escape this nightmare. She would make sure of it. 'I'll get them to America if it's the last thing I do...'

Suddenly her car swerved to the side, crashing into the grassy field next to her. Fortunately she got out of it unscathed, walking a few feet away from the car. Under closer inspection, she found that her left tire had been blown out with a bullet.

She felt a hard blow to the back of her head, and fell forward, being caught by a man. His presence sent chills through her, knowing who it was. "Naraku..." she said softly, darkness clouding her mind.

"I think I'll take over from here."

- end flash back

"What bothers me is how he knew I was coming to get you. The only ones that knew of my plan were Kaede, myself, and the four of you." Her voice was small, mixed with fear and confusion.

"I don't know..." Inuyasha replied, his eyes showing the intense thinking that was going on behind them.

"The question has been bothering me. How has Naraku known our every move? I can understand a couple times, but he's beat us at every turn! How is it possible?" Miroku said, a look of intense concentration on his face.

"It isn't," Kanna said, startling them. "He's getting information from someone. He has to be."

The woman walked down the hallway, stopping at a door. 'He told me he was in here, and forbid me to go in,' the woman thought, her hand reaching for the door knob. 'But I'm tired of going on his threats!'

She finally gathered her courage and opened the door. What she saw would be burned into her memory forever. It was a freezer with a glass front, like the ones the supermarkets stored ice in. But this one didn't contain bag of ice for sale. Instead, it contained the body of a young boy, aroung the age of ten. The young woman ran to the glass, touching it tenderly as salty tears ran down her face.

The boy's face was racked with pain, and a large hole went right through his chest. "No... he lied..." she muttered to herself as she sunk to the floor, gripping the sword that was tied to her waist with a large ribbon. "Was this his sick idea of a joke?" she choke out, talking to herself. "Was he planning for me to give him what he wanted, then show me this and kill me? Why did I ever believe him? I did so much for him... and he went and did this..."

She then stood, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. "I'll avenge my brother... You're going to hell, Naraku." With that, the woman walked confidently out of the room, knowing the decision she made was a long over due one.

Kanna, Inuyasha and Miroku sat in silence. The thought that ran though their head were the same, but none of it added up. Someone was giving Naraku information, but who? Everytime someone diffeerent had helped them, meaning that it had to be one of the four trying to escape. But that was impossible.

Naraku entered the room, a grin on his face. "Naraku..." Inuyasha growled.

"Ah, glad to see you missed me." Naraku walked forward, showing them the shadow of a figure behind him. From the delicate curves of the body, they could tell it was a woman, and a fit one at that. "I'd like for you to meet the one who will end your lives. Maybe you'll recognise her."

At those words, the woman stepped out of the shadow.

Miroku and Inuyasha's eyes widened at the apperance of the farmiliar woman.

"No... It's impossible..." Miroku said pleadingly, not wanting to believe what was right in front of his face. But it was true. There she stood, her bright eyes gazing sadly at them, as if trying to appologise.

But no one was prepared for what happened next.

To my Friends and Reveiwer --

Lost-in-Dark - Hehe... Yes, I somehow have a new found love for cliffies! So much fun! And I love hearing everyone so mad and threatening! And thank you so much! It's so nice to know that I have devouted readers like you!

JadeElemental - Taking the sledge hammer was smart on my part. Saved me some trouble (dusts off hands). In the case of the strange pairings, I give you permission to borrow my sledge hammer. But only for those purposes! Hehe! Yay! Go us fluff lovers! (does happy fluff dance) Not any fluff at all in this chappie... I am so sorry!!!! (runs for my life) And put that new sledge hammer down right now!!! (cowers in fear in the corner) But I still send my most sincere love and hugs! Thanks for your consistantly long reveiws! They brighten up my day!

Suaru - ... I'm not that evil... I just enjoy making people wonder whats gonna happen... Don't yell at me!!! (starts crying and runs in corner again) I'm becoming quite accustom to this corner... Anyway, love and hugs, friend!

Causing Trouble - Ah, like I would let them die like that! No worries! Thankies!

Hanyou Vixen - Ahhh!!! I'm being attacked by the 'kill Ash for evil cliffies' club lately... but I'll have to get used to it... many more in the future!!!! Hehehe!!! I'm incredibly evil!! (wrings hands and laughs crazily) ... I'm okay now! (smiles) Thanks friend for not killing me just yet! Love and hugs!

dragonspirit888 - Yeah, I felt bad about the horse... (sigh) But oh well! Thanks!

One&OnlyKagome - Oh the poor horse! But sadly it had to happen... (wipes away tears) Anyway, go fluff lovers! Yay! Thanks so much!

inuyasharules56 - Yep! Thanks!

Lady Persephone - Hehe... I seem to have a love for my own cliffies, but no one elses... if that makes sense! Oh, so many twists coming up! I'm crazy! (laughs) We do seem to have things in common! Email me sometime and we'll talk, okay! Thanks so much! Love and Hugs!

Ohh, I'm having an evil streak lately! Haha! Anyway, hope you all like it! Angsy, I know, but what can I say? If I haven't told you all before, I'll tell you now -- There will be more cliff hangers in the future, so be prepared! And please do me a favor and REVEIW!!! It make me so happy and really motivates me when you do! Thanks! Adios, my bien amigos and amigas!

Ash