AUTHOR'S NOTES: Remember when I said I was saving this one for a rainy day? Today it was VERY rainy. I hate computers. Hate them, hate them, hate them.

Anyway, enjoy...

THE RING

Shippo's eyes were wide. "And then what happened, Inuyasha?"

Inuyasha was shaking with fright, a very unusual occurrence for him. "It was that magic box of Kagome's! Her brother Souta stuck this black thing he called a 'tape' in and we watched it." Inuyasha gripped the hilt of Tetsusaiga reflexively, his hands trembling. He hated being afraid, but this was different from Naraku. This was the fear of what could not been seen or touched–or stopped.

Around the campfire, the night seemed to close in, the darkness smothering. Sango and Miroku leaned in closely; at first they had assumed this was some sort of prank by Inuyasha, but the fear in his voice was unmistakeable. "From what you've told us, this isn't the first time you've watched one of those 'tapes,' Inuyasha," the monk said. "The last one was something about an army of darkness or something."

"Yeah, but this was different, Miroku!" Inuyasha snapped. "On the 'movie' thing on the magic box, it said that anyone who watched the tape would die in seven days!" Inuyasha looked around the forest, which seemed to reach for him like it never had before. "And it's been seven days!"

Sango laughed, a little too loudly to be genuine. "Oh, please, Inuyasha. You're a hanyou warrior! You shouldn't be afraid of old superstitions. Who is going to kill you?"

"A dead girl...one who drowned in a well. She climbs out from the spirit world and kills you!"

Miroku shook his head and lay down. "Inuyasha, you needn't be worried. How many dangers have we faced together from far worse than some ghost? I will exorcise it if necessary."

Sango turned over and pulled a blanket over her. "Houshi-sama's right, Inuyasha. You're getting as bad as Myoga."

Inuyasha opened his mouth to say something, but then closed it. Maybe they were right. He was a hanyou, after all, and he had slain hundreds of demons. He had Tetsusaiga, and as much as he sometimes hated to admit it, he was among friends. Besides, Kagome was supposed to come back in the morning.

A forlorn Shippo tugged on his hakama. "Inuyasha...I believe you." He looked around nervously. "I'm scared too."

Embarassed at his momentary lapse but not going to admit it, Inuyasha stood up. "Feh," he said, setting his jaw. "I'm not scared or nuthin'. I was just giving a warning–you know, just in case."

Shippo put tiny paws on his hips. "Inuyasha, you're as scared as I am!"

"Ha!" Inuyasha turned and walked over to the Bone Eater's Well. "I'll show you. The only well for miles is right here, and I'll sleep right next to it!" He sat down and leaned against it, setting Tetsusaiga across his legs and folding his arms in his typical defiant pose. Shippo just shook his head and curled up next to the already sleeping Kirara. After awhile, the only sounds coming from the clearing was soft snoring from the four companions and the crackle of the dying fire.

Hours later, Inuyasha's ears twitched as they detected something. The tape that Inuyasha had watched had kept him awake for days on end, and he had fallen into an exhausted sleep soon after he had sat next to the well. Only blearily did he open his eyes to yellow slits.

Outlined by the full moon was the shape of a young girl, with stringy hair. Her face was lost in shadow, but he knew what lay behind that darkness: two milky eyes filled with death. Her gray fingers reached for his throat. Reacting instinctively, that is without thinking, Inuyasha's right hand shot out from his sleeves and hit the ghoul squarely in the face. He was slightly surprised when he felt real flesh and bone behind the darkness, and the girl fell backwards into the well.

Inuyasha jumped to his feet, unsheathing Tetsusaiga with a hiss of steel. "You're not taking me, you undead bitch!" he shouted. "I'm Inuyasha, son of Inutaisho, dammit! I'm gonna jump down there and finish you off, you hear me? I'm going to end your reign of terror right now!" His shouts had already woken the others, who hastily ran towards the well, weapons out as they tried to shake off the cobwebs of sleep. Inuyasha stepped up on the side of the well, preparing to carry out his threat.

"Inuyasha?" The voice came from the bottom of the well, very faint...and very familiar.

The hanyou abruptly halted. Synapses fired in his brain, put two and two together, and got five. He closed his eyes as Miroku, Sango, and Shippo stepped back, having recognized the voice too. Inuyasha took a deep breath, and let it out. "Er...yeah, Kagome?"

"SIT SIT SIT SIT SIT SIT SIT SIT!"