Chapter 8: The Truth is Finally Revealed
Inuyasha grunted at the sound of a doorbell ringing and opened his sleepy amber orbs to see that he was lying on the floor. Up on the bed was Kagome sleeping soundly with her face resting on his disinfected pillow. Inuyasha groaned again when he heard the doorbell and began to trudge to the door.
Inuyasha opened the front door sleepily to be greeted by a panicked looking Miroku. "Kagome is gone Inuyasha!" Miroku yelled urgently. "You know her scent! Come help me look for her!" Inuyasha blinked at Miroku a few times in confusion.
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"Kagome didn't show up for school today." Said Miroku.
"School? It's Sunday Miroku…" Inuyasha grumbled while rubbing his eyes.
"NO, it's Monday! Figures you would sleep through a whole school day—." Miroku trailed off and sniffed a little. Inuyasha blinked at Miroku as the black haired boy sniffed him. Miroku's eyes widened and he glared up at Inuyasha. "She's here isn't she Inuyasha! What have you been doing to my cousin!" Miroku stormed into the house leaving a slightly scared hanyou in his wake. Miroku was a little scary in protective cousin mode. How did he know Kagome was here by smelling me? Is he a demon in disguise? As Inuyasha followed after Miroku he sniffed him self and noticed a thin smell of disinfectant was on him…Oh…figures Miroku would catch me… Ah well isn't like I slept WITH her…I let her use the bed…
Inuyasha entered his room to see Miroku waking up a sleepy Kagome. "Kagome. Wake up!" Miroku yelled, having no other way of waking her up. Kagome slowly came around and sat up to look at the two boys. "Kagome…you missed school because you spent the night at Inuyasha's house…can you even comprehend how much trouble you are in?" asked Miroku after he calmed down a little. Kagome blinked at him a few times and grinned.
"I won't be in trouble if you don't tell…" Kagome said happily.
Miroku raised an eyebrow. "And why wouldn't I tell?" asked Miroku.
"Because…look how much progress me and Inuyasha made last night in my recovery!" Kagome removed her glove and Miroku watched wide eyes as she pressed the tips of her fingers to his cheek. Miroku's expression softened a little.
"You can touch another person now?" Miroku said with a hint of relief in his voice, maybe his fears wouldn't come true…
"Barely touch them, I tried laying my palm flat on Inuyasha's arm but I began to sweat again and I didn't want to start bleeding so we stopped with my rehabilitation until I either get all healed or stop sweating when I touch someone." Kagome explained. Miroku nodded and looked over at Inuyasha who was determinedly looking anywhere but at Miroku.
"Inuyasha…I'm sorry I misjudged you before…"
"Feh!" Inuyasha scoffed.
Miroku smiled slightly and looked at Kagome again. "Come on Kagome, we need to visit your mom, she has to work overtime again, and she also asked you to come Inuyasha…" Miroku looked around at the hanyou who after staring in surprise shrugged and went into the closet to get dressed. Kagome grabbed her book and put on her shoes. "Inuyasha!" Miroku called to the closet. "We are going home to change, you meet us there and we'll go in my car!" Inuyasha made a grunt of affirmation and the two cousins left.
Kagome looked up threw the windows of Miroku's car and sighed. It's going to rain pretty bad, I'll need to get a rain coat…
"You know…you missing school today wasn't good Kagome, didn't you have a project due today?" asked Miroku.
"Yeah, but the teacher can't count it against us if mom gives me a sick note…" Kagome said with a grin.
"And why would she do that?" asked Miroku sarcastically.
"Because a certain handsome cousin might tell her that I was sick!" Kagome said innocently.
Miroku chuckled. "What am I going to do with you?"
As Inuyasha, Kagome, and Miroku walked along the halls of building 5A something was bothering Kagome. I know I'm forgetting something…what is it…disinfectant spray…face mask…gloves…rag…what am I missing! Kagome sighed and gave up the annoying thought as they reached Dr. Higurashi's office. They entered to find her at her desk.
"Oh! You all came…good…let me get the key…" Kaoru grabbed a keychain off a hook and they all followed her to Toru's cell. Kagome and Kaoru talked happily in front of the group while Miroku and Inuyasha talked in the back.
Kaoru unlocked the door to the cell and allowed Kagome and Miroku in, she gave the key to Miroku and before Inuyasha entered she stepped in front of him. "Inuyasha right?" Inuyasha nodded in agreement and Kaoru smiled sadly. "I think you need to come with me…we'll come right back but you have to see this…"
Kaoru was able to persuade Inuyasha to follow her and Inuyasha soon found himself in what appeared to be a control room. There were many TV screens and control panels in the room and Inuyasha watched Kaoru sit at a rolling chair and insert a tape into the VSR of the control panel. Kaoru looked at Inuyasha and waved him over Inuyasha went and stood behind Kaoru and wondered what she was doing.
"Inuyasha…I know about you trying to help Kagome, but…you needed to see this sooner of later…" Kaoru pressed play and on the largest TV screen appeared a picture.
Inuyasha watched the movie curiously. It appeared to be a surveillance tape for somewhere in an asylum, Inuyasha noted the date of the recording to be about ten years ago.
A group of people stood around an examining table that had what appeared to be a sleeping six year old girl with black hair and a cute face.
'Kagome!' Inuyasha thought in wonder as he stared at the little girl that looked remarkably like Kagome.
A psychiatrist stood among the family of the girl. A young Kaoru, an old man, a woman with a long black braid and a kind face and a strange moon shaped tattoo on her cheek, in this woman's arms was a tiny infant no older than one year, and finally a young boy a little older than the young Kagome stood peeking at Kagome on the table. The boy was obviously Miroku with the same hairstyle even.
"Flooding is the only way to cure your child…" the psychiatrist said gravely.
"Flooding?" the woman with the tattoo asked hesitantly.
"Yes, it is where you submerge a person with an irrational fear in the thing they are afraid of until they realize there isn't anything to be scared of." There was a moments silence in the group and suddenly the young Kaoru spoke.
"We'll do it…right?" Kaoru looked to the other adults and they all nodded, as they began to sign paper releasing blame from the asylum Miroku leaned up on his tip toes and patted Kagome's hand.
"You'll be okay, Kagome-chan!" Miroku said happily to the sleeping girl.
(The recording time has shifted to about an hour later) Now the room being recorded is different. The young Kagome's eyes snap open and she screams in terror, she awoke in a bed of millions of maggots, worms, and cock roaches, all crawling over her. She was covered in blood as well, but it wasn't her's. Kagome sat up in the tub of disgusting oozing and crawling creatures. She could feel them in her clothes, in her hair, everywhere…
Kagome gave another ear piercing scream as she smell decay and found that all round her pool of maggots, worms, and such there were dead decaying animals. Kagome screamed and as she stumbled out of the pool of sloshing maggots and worms she fell onto a pile of dead rabbits and squirrels.
"MOMMY! MOMMY!" Kagome screamed out desperately. The walls were covered in mud and slimes and mosquitoes landed on her skin. Kagome slapped the bugs while she screamed in terror. "MOMMY! MAKE IT GO AWAY MOMMY!" Kagome's young high-pitched scream echoed in the room.
Inuyasha stared at the tape in horror. This was real...this really happened to his Kagome. Inuyasha felt a prickling behind his eyes at the pure terror and pain on the girl's face as she tried to find a way out of the enclosed space. Inuyasha wielded on Kaoru with pure rage in his eyes.
"HOW COULD YOU DO THAT TO HER!" Inuyasha screamed. Kaoru wasn't even watching the tape though she was hunched over with her hands over her ears and Inuyasha watched in morbid fascination as the 40 year old woman rocked back in forth and mumbling to herself. Inuyasha noticed tears falling from Kaoru's face and even though he wanted to hate her for doing that to Kagome he knew she regretted it. Suddenly the camera recording flipped to a different room.
The group that had huddled around the young Kagome on the examination table were now in a room similar to the one Inuyasha was in, a control room. They watched from another room as Kagome screamed and cried in the room filled with decay, disease, and death. Kaoru was crying hysterically on the old man's shoulder while he had his withered eyes screwed shut. The woman with the tattoo was trying to shush a crying baby by the name of Souta in her arms, as she did this tears streaked down her face. Miroku can be seen hiding behind this woman's leg staring in horror up at the screen where his baby cousin screamed for her mother. Kagome tripped over dead animals as she tried desperately to escape while also clawing away the maggots and worms all over her. She felt a cockroach crawl up her neck and screamed, tears running down her cheeks.
The tape stopped. Inuyasha briefly wondered if it was over but it suddenly showed another seen, the next day from what the time marks on the tape said. There was a figure huddled in a spot not covered in animals, with her legs pulled up to her chest.
A hidden door opened and the family came out hesitantly, along with the psychiatrist. They went to the girl, avoiding the horrific sites in the room. Kaoru reached out and gently touched Kagome's head. Kagome screamed in horror and crawled away from Kaoru.
"No mommy! Don't touch me! They want me mommy!" Kagome yelled out.
"W-who wants you?" asked Kaoru.
"The lo techs…they want my soul! They want to kill me! They talk in my head! Make them stop mommy!" Kagome yelled. The psychiatrist halted Kaoru from going to her daughter.
"I am afraid the flooding has caused a mental break…she is showing distinct signs of schizophrenia…all we can do is give her medication…" the psychiatrist said sadly.
The tape finally ended. Inuyasha stared at the black screen with unfocused eyes. "Kagome…" Inuyasha whispered.
"We put her on the medication, it suppressed her schizophrenic symptoms but…when she got older I wanted to stop giving it to her and I wanted to find a way to cure her but…" Kaoru's face saddened. "My sister and her family, the Kazaana's took me to court saying I was a danger to Kagome…and in the end…I lost legal custody to the Kazaana's. I pleaded for them not to take her and so…they let her live with me but I am not to touch her medication by law…"
"Then…how is she getting it?" asked Inuyasha.
"Miroku and Sango slip them into her food—." There was a crash and the two looked around to see that someone with long black hair had tried to slam the door shut but it bounced open to reveal the back of the person who did it.
"Kagome!" Inuyasha called out. He ran to the door to see her near the end of the hallway. She turned ran into a room and just as Inuyasha ran into Toru's cell Kagome slapped Miroku in the face with great force.
"HOW COULD YOU!" Kagome screamed. "HOW COULD YOU PUT PILLS INTO MY FOOD AND NOT TELL ME!"
A/N: Finished! Phew! Dang that was a long chapter! I totally left it on a cliffy cause im evil! BUWAHAHAHAHAHA! Please Review and tell me if I should update evil grin dang it's 9:14pm im tired yawn Ja ne!