Disclaimer: Not mine…
AN: Wow, its been so long, I don't even know where I left off.
7
Chaos and Clues
The Next Morning:
(Kagome)
I awoke to a voice in my ears. "Kagome! Get up NOW!" It was Sango.
"What's wrong?"
"There's a kidnapper here. Inuyasha's gone!"
I couldn't believe it. Inuyasha was gone? I thought he had the best security system in the United States. As I realized what had happened, a cold fear grasped my heart.
(Sango)
Kagome had to get out of the mansion before it was too late. How in the world had he gotten into the building? This was the second time in 5 years, andwe currently had the best security system available in the United States. This was a dangerous situation for everybody, the mansion had to be evacuated in case of any bombs.
"Kagome! Get up NOW!" Kagome blinked blearily up at my face.
As I told her what had happened, the sleepiness left and panic took over. Her eyes widened and she was immediately alert.
"What do we do?" she asked, worried.
"We have to evacuate, Kagome. Come on!" I pulled her out of bed.
"But… what about Inuyasha?"
What was wrong with her? Since when did she care about Inuyasha so much?
"He's not here anymore, Kagome! Come on! We have to leave immediately!"
"But what if he's still here when the bomb goes off?" Kagome sure had some sense. What if he was here? What if he was tied to the bomb and knocked unconscious? I sighed. We needed to search for Inuyasha.
(Miroku)
I couldn't believe this. Since when had Inuyasha earned so many enemies? I looked through the security tapes again. The kidnapper had apparently known where the cameras were and had deftly shot all of them. We had no idea where the kidnapper had been. The only thing we had to run on were the heat and motion sensors, which showed that the man had run past the hall, then turned into Inuyasha's room. He had left through the balcony. But what was the most strange was the message he had left on the last remaining camera. In crude scrawl, he had written:
"Go to the trademark second O"
but what was most frightening was the object you could just see in the corner of the camera. It was a countdown clock that was attached to a bomb. It read 22.20.
(Ayumi)
I couldn't believe this. Inuyasha had got himself kidnapped. The press was having a field day with it. As I sat on the bed, I silently turned off the TV as the phone rang.
"Ayumi. What would you like for breakfast?" I shuddered.
"Pancakes with maple syrup, please."
"And what would Inu-baby like?"
"Ask him yourself," I said coldly and hung up. Unconsciously, I turned to Inuyasha, trussed up on his bed. I winced as I saw the bloody cuts lining his body. The entire bedsheet was soaked with his blood.
"Are you all right?" I whispered.
He barely opened his eyes. "I'll be fine…in a few years."
I sighed. He was still the same old Inuyasha.
(Sango)
I sighed. Suddenly the phone rang. I was in Inuyasha's room, following the trail of the kidnapper. Startled, I picked up the receiver. "Hello?" I asked, flustered.
"Hello. You have 22 hours and 20 minutes to give me what I want… starting now." Then, all I heard was a dial tone, pounding in my ears.
Then, my cell phone rang. Hoping against all hopes it wasn't the same person, I picked it up. "Hello?"
"Sango, you ought to see this. There's a clue on the last surviving camera."
"What does it say?"
"'Go to the trademark second O.' Do you have any idea what that means?"
"No."
"Holy crap! The clock just started!"
"What clock?"
"A clock connected to a bomb. It's also barely shown on the camera."
I gasped. This was too ironic to be real. "What was the beginning number, Miroku?"
"22.20."
The receiver dropped from my hands.
(Kagome)
I, of course, had to wait outside of the mansion. Even when I had the brilliant idea that Inuyasha was still in the mansion. I sighed. Suddenly, Sango came running out of the mansion.
"What's wrong, Sango?"
"Nothing, nothing. Call your mom. You ought to go home."
"NO! I am not going home while all the rest of you are chasing a kidnapper! What's going on?"
"Go home, ok?" She ushered over a chaffeur for me, and half shoved me into the car. "Go the the Higurashi residence!"
But she didn't close the door immediately because Miroku ran over to her. "What the hell was that supposed to mean? 'Go to the trademark second O'?"
When Sango closed the door, I grinned. I had my clue.
(Sango)
Something about Kagome's strange smile bothered me. Why would she be smiling when I had just ordered her to go home? I sighed, that wasn't important. Inuyasha had vanished and we needed to figure out that clue. As we walked to the nearest van, Miroku puzzled over the clue.
"O. There must be thousands of words with O's."
"Yes, well, we know there's 2 or more O's in this word. And something about trademark…"
We puzzled over it for quite a bit and no ideas came to us. I sighed again. This would be a long day.
(Kagome)
As I thought about the clue, my thoughts drifted to Inuyasha. Where was he? Well, I needed to figure out the clue to get to him. Trademark second O… I thought. What's a trademark? I asked the chaffeur to stop off at a restaurant. I was so hungry. I ordered a burger to go, and as I waited, I looked over at the postcards that were sitting on a rack. My stomach grumbled loudly and chaffeur looked at me strangely. What was his problem?
(Sango)
"I GOT IT!" Miroku yelled triumphantly.
"What?" I asked.
"Trademark. Like a brand name, or a company name! What's a brand name with 2 O's?"
"Umm… what are you trying to tell me?"
"Google!"
"Well… I guess it could work. But what about Microsoft?"
"I don't know. But isnt Microsoft based in Oregon or Washington or something? He couldn't have gotten there. Google is in Mountain View, CA. It's more likely."
"All right. Get the chopper. We're off to Mountain View."
(Kagome)
I looked over the postcards over and over. Something was bothering me. Something was right in front of my eyes, and I couldn't see it. Suddenly, I realized. So that was where I had to go...
AN: Was that obvious? Please R&R. I know this chapter was short, but I didn't have much time.