A/N - Well this is the chapter I'm told eveyone has been waiting for. Sorry this took so long to write butI really haven't had the energy (stupid Year 12) or the time (again stupid Year 12). Please keep reviewing... my inbox is still feeling unloved, althoughI didn't really give people anything to write about in the last chapter. Well this one gives you plenty so make sure you click the little button down the bottom, even just to let me know that you read it and enjoyed it or didn't enjoy it as the case may be.

ta, Charlie

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha... although my sister wishes it were so. Oh, and I don't own Beauty and the Beast either but I thought that was rather obvious.

---------

I woke up at about two in the morning because I heard a sound. Dazed and disoriented because I didn't remember where I was I looked around in search of the source of the noise. In the darkness I couldn't see a thing until a movement near the door caught my eye.

"Who's there?" I asked in a trembling voice. No reply came forth, instead whatever it was opened the door and left. For a second I could see its silhouette, although I couldn't figure out whether it was a human or something else, before the door closed behind it and I was left in darkness again. Now that I was awake I knew I wouldn't be able to get back to sleep so I got up and went to the window. I fumbled about in the darkness for a moment before I found the latch and opened the window. I pushed the shutters back as quietly as possible and sat there looking at the full moon.

"Where are you Papa?" I whispered into the night. I looked back into the room, able to see now that moonlight streamed in through the open window. The room was beautiful, although very obviously not used often. A fireplace was built into one wall with an armchair placed in front of it. The bed was pushed up against the opposite wall; now that I wasn't so tired I could see that it was a huge four-poster creation with a canopy and drapes. To one side of me as I sat at the window, was a little writing desk and on the other side stood an ornately carved wardrobe.

Suddenly, out of the silence came an almighty roar. Jumping up, I slammed the window shut, afraid that perhaps something might come through the window. I ran over to the door, thinking that maybe someone would be able to tell me what had made the noise but when I tried to turn the handle I found that it would not move. I was locked in!

I struggled with the handle for a few minutes, pulling, pushing, kicking and swearing at it, before giving up and slumping against the door. Slowly the sounds of an argument reached my ears through the door, indistinct yelling followed by short periods of quiet, which I assumed meant that whoever was being yelled at didn't find it necessary to yell back. I pressed my ear hard against the door to try and hear what was being said.

"What on earth possessed you to let her in?" a gruff voice yelled angrily. A muffled reply was all I could hear then the first voice came back, "Are you dim? Of course she'd tell. You seem to forget that we're in the middle of the forest surrounded by little villages. AND NO ONE KNOWS WE'RE HERE! Or at least they don't yet. And they're never going to," I became aware that I was holding my breath and let it go slowly as I strained to hear the next sentence, "I've locked her door. She's not going anywhere." I wasn't so dumb as to not realise that they were talking about me from the first sentence, however I wasn't particularly prepared for that last statement. I'd heard enough, there was obviously something going on here that was not normal, I mean the door was answered by someone who could appear and disappear at will, and then there was whatever was in my room before, probably whoever was yelling now that they'd locked my door. I definitely needed to leave… NOW.

I stood up and walked to the chair where I'd thrown my clothes. Changing back into them I folded the nightdress and put it back on the bed then walked back to the window. Opening it I looked down to the ground then looked sharply back up. There weren't many things that I was scared of, but heights was one of them, and I hadn't realised before how far up the room was. Well, there was nothing for it, I had to go and there was no other way out of the room that I was aware of. I pushed the window as far open as it would go and stood on the windowsill. The surface of the wall felt rough on my fingers as I steadied myself. I took a deep breath and tried to sit down with my legs hanging over the edge but I couldn't. It felt as though there was an invisible barrier stopping my legs from going further than the window ledge. I stood back up and tentatively reached out to see if there was a similar barrier in front of me but there didn't seem to be anything hindering my progress outwards. I took another deep breath; I didn't want to jump so far but I didn't have much of a choice.

"I wouldn't bother," someone growled behind me. Startled, I jumped around and saw the strangest looking person I have ever met. He was human, or looked it for the most part, but something about him was strange. He had long white hair, although he didn't look old, which hung loose down his back and moved in the slight breeze from the window. He was standing in the doorway, leaning against the frame with his arms crossed. His nails looked as though they could do with a cut but that wasn't the strangest thing about him, I realised with a start. The strange thing about him was that he had pointy ears on the top of his head. His yellow eyes glittered as he took a step towards me.

"You wouldn't get very far," he said menacingly, "If the fall didn't kill you, it would definitely break some bones and then you would be back where you started. In here." He took another step forward and I unconsciously took a step backwards, out the open window. In a second he had crossed the room and grabbed my shirt, pulling me back inside.

"Th…thankyou," I gasped, momentarily forgetting that this was the person who wanted to keep me prisoner here. The lapse in memory was soon rectified however and no sooner had I regained my breath, then I stood up and backed away from him.

"What do you want with me?" I asked, not taking my eyes off him.

"I don't want anything with you," he growled, his eyes flashing darkly, "But you cannot leave this place."

"I wouldn't tell," I said, knowing it was useless trying to reason, he wouldn't believe me, "The villagers all think I'm crazy anyway so they wouldn't believe me." He snorted in laughter.

"Do you think others haven't tried that before? It's not a matter of whether they will believe you or not. It's no use arguing, you won't win. Goodnight." He turned his back on me and left the room, making sure he locked the door behind him. I waited a moment before moving back to the window. Broken bones or not I had to leave, but when I got there I found that the barrier I had felt before had moved up so that I couldn't even put my hand outside the window. Screaming in frustration I threw myself onto the bed and lay there fuming. If I'd known this was what would happen I would have stayed in the forest. How was I going to find Papa now? And what was that guy's problem anyway? So what if I told the villagers about this place? It's not like this was the Middle Ages anymore. Sighing I rolled over and tried to sleep, although I knew I wouldn't be able to.

-------

A/N - for those of you who haven't read my profile page i'm doing an extension english course at school and i would really appreciate it if anyone who has an 'authority' in creative writing (i.e. teaching or uni lecturing) could contact me. i need to find someone to work with on my project in a mentoring role and i'm not exactly sure where to start looking so i thought this would be as good a place as any.

ta, charlie