Chapter 24 Naraku Has Her
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Author's Note: I am soooooooooooooo Sorry for taking so long to update. There is no excuse for it. Well, other than a sever case of writers block, working on my other fics, (some of them) hanging with my friends, and preparing for my friend who is going to Japan, like Wednesday. (Tomorrow!) She'll be gone for two weeks. I'm really going to miss her! And most recently I got a new Kitten! Kiki! She is so adorable and Kawaii! I love her! But here I am finally updating for those of you who care.
Special thanks to: Kirara Kitten for being the only one to review my last chapter. (Aside from Berri, whom I love to death, but her opinion is kinda biased… I'm sorry! I love you! Please don't hurt me!) But you, Kirara Kitten are the reason I am updating. As soon as I received your review I got right to work on this chapter.
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When Kagome awoke hours later she had no idea where she was or what the hell had happened. Other than a small headache and ache in her back she seemed to be fine. Slowly she sat up to survey her surroundings. Nothing was familiar about the place she had been taking too.
She was in a not well lit room, if you could call it that. It was more like a cell. The walls were made of some kind of rock and there were no windows. Where the door should be, there were bars, much like that of a prison cell. She was sitting on a mattress protruding from the wall with one lone blanket.
How homey.
From careful assessment she knew she was not getting out of here anytime soon. Might as well sit back and enjoy the ride until she found out why she was here and who had taken her. Lucky for her she didn't have to wait too long.
Foot steps sounded down the hall, getting closer and closer until they came to a halt outside her bared door.
"Well, well, my little Kagome. It seems you have finally awakened." A familiar voice rasped. Whoever this man was did not want to be seen. But why he chose to hide behind a suit of a baboon was beyond her.
"Who are you?" She demanded. "And why have you kidnapped me? I'll have you know once my friends realize I'm missing they will hunt you down and—"
"I am already aware of what your friends will do. But you see-- I have hidden my tracks well. They will never find you. So don't you get your hopes up. You won't be rescued." The amusement in his voice angered Kagome.
She glared at him. "Who the hell are you?" Kagome demanded again.
"A friend." He laughed evilly. "Someone you have not seen in… too long. Not since you left me." He added darkly.
"What do you mean? We couldn't possibly have met before…" She trailed off now suddenly uncertain.
"We haven't?" The man said mockingly, confused. "Gee, and here I was under the impression you were Kagome Higurashi, the girl who suddenly hightailed it out of America and returned to her home town in Japan. Are you sure that's not you?"
"O-Onigumo?"
"Nice to finally meet you again." He said as he removed the costume covering his head. His long dark hair fell down his back and his deep red eyes bored into hers. "Although, I don't go by that name any more. Reminds me of my human days. Now I am known as Naraku." He grinned.
"You're not human any more!" Kagome gasped. But even as she said it, she knew it was true. His aura had an even stronger evil feeling about it. If at all possible it was even more suffocating than before. "What kind of deal did you strike!"
"Deal? Nothing really. I just gave my body to demons. Nothing big. Small price to pay, if you ask me, for a life of immortality. And with the Shikon No Tama now in my possession," He pulled a pink ball from his pocket. Kagome gasped and realized the priceless jewel was no longer around her neck. He had stolen if from her while she was unconscious!
"I can use it to rid myself of my human origins." Naraku continued. "Then I will have you for all eternity. You will never run from me again."
Kagome glared daggers at her captor. "I will escape and you will return the Shikon no Tama to me!" She spat.
"Kukuku! How can you escape when your friends have no idea of your whereabouts and you are trapped in this cell, while I'm out here?"
"You sick bastard! When I get out of here--!"
Naraku cut her off. "Tsk tsk! Such foul language coming from a woman! I shall leave and when I return I expect you to be behaved!" With that her turned on his heal, leaving Kagome alone to sulk in her confinement.
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"She didn't come home last night?" Inuyasha's voice almost screamed through the phone. He was practically doing everything in his power to keep himself calm.
"No. I don't know where she is or what happened to her! I knew we shouldn't have let her go off on her own!" Sango's worried voice replied.
"Damn straight!" Inuyasha couldn't help saying. "If someone had had enough sense to go with her she'd be home with you right now!" He knew this wasn't her fault, but right now it felt good to blame someone. It took some of the blame and guilt he was feeling at the moment, away.
"Inuyasha! Please don't put all of this on me! I'm just as worried as you are! Now what are we going to do to find her? Should we call the police?" Sango asked.
"No. This probably has something to do with the Shikon no Tama and maybe that Naraku character Kikyou mentioned before. The police won't be able to do anything to help us and they'll just get in the way. We're all on our own with this."
"So what should we do then?" Sango wanted to know. She was getting more worried by the minute. The longer they delayed, the less likely they'd be to find Kagome. "If it's Naraku…" She trailed off. No one new anything about this person/demon.
"Maybe that old hag can help us. What was her name? Kaede? The one that lives in the old shrine?"
"Yes, Kaede! We'll meet you there." And the line went dead.
Inuyasha hung up his phone and turned to his friends. The wolf demon and monk looked at him expectantly. "Let's go."
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Kikyou paced back and forth in her room. Since telling Inuyasha about Naraku she hadn't been able to do anything but worry constantly. She hadn't been able to enjoy a perfect day of endless shopping; she hadn't been able to enjoy getting her nails and hair done; she hadn't even been able to enjoy a whole day of tanning! What was this world coming to?
Naraku had to know by now. He had to know of her betrayal. So why hadn't he come for her yet? I mean, not that she wanted him to, but it still unnerved her that Naraku hadn't at least tried to make some form of contact with her.
Tired of pacing she nervously plopped down on her bed of silky pink sheets—her favorite color—and proceeded to bite her nails. She ripped off her fake nails, barely registering the pain and ruining the manicure she spent so much money to have done. Oh well. Not like she can't afford to get it done again. Daddy always gives his little angle whatever she wants. (Angle my ass…)
'If only I hadn't made that deal with Naraku! If I hadn't agreed I wouldn't be in this mess! I'd be out enjoying life and making Kagome's life miserable! But no!' Kikyou thought as she bit off another acrylic nail. It fell to the floor with the already growing pile building at her feet. If Naraku hadn't been so convincing and she hadn't been so jealous, she could be out having fun right now, instead of waiting for the evil half demon to come kill her.
Maybe the reason he hadn't come for her was because he still needed her. Maybe—
"You're quite right my spoiled miko!" Naraku's voice tickled in her head. "Despite your incompetence and almost ruining my whole scheme, I'm not going to dispose of you yet. I have some use for you still. Here is your chance at redemption: I want you to find Inuyasha and lead him to the exact place I tell you. And this time you will not ruin it! Do you understand me! I will kill you if you don't prove to be useful!" His voice thundered. "DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?" Kikyou nodded. "Good. Now, I want you to…."
Kikyou whimpered and nodded as she listened to what Naraku wanted of her. This time she would follow through. This time she would do as he said. She valued her life far too much to even consider disobeying him a second time.
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The six friends left Kaede's in no better spirits than when they first arrived. The old miko hadn't been able to help them at all. In fact, now they were feeling worse! Now it seemed as if all hope was lost. And all six of them were to blame. Not one of them said a word as they returned to the girl's apartment.
In silence they sat in the living room, thinking, and drowning in their guilt and loss.
Finally, Inuyasha couldn't stand it any longer. He jumped to his feet and punched the wall, leaving a giant whole in his anger.
"If I had protected her more, if I had been there for her, none of this would have happened! Kagome would still be here if it weren't for me!" He said breathing heavily. "We don't even know if she's still alive right now! Or what happened to her! Or who has her!" His golden eyes momentarily flashed red.
"Inuyasha! Please come down!" Miroku said, ever the peacemaker. "Getting angry isn't going to help us find her. Whoever took her must want something. If we think a bit, I'm sure we'll come up with something."
"Shut up Monk! You don't know what you're talking about! I'm tired of you always trying to be the peacemaker! It doesn't help, only pisses me off!"
"Inuyasha!" Sango rose to her feet. "Why are you always such a jackass? You're not the only one hurting! Why do you always have to take everything out on us! Miroku is only trying to help and here you are--!"
"Guys! Stop it! We're falling apart! Kagome wouldn't want this! Can't we just forget about all our anger and guilt for a few minutes and try to figure out what happened!" Ayame stepped in, her red hair flying at odd ends as she looked from Inuyasha to Sango.
"You're right, Ayame." Sango whispered. Sighing, both she and Inuyasha slumped back in their seats and the silence returned.
Suddenly heads turned as the silence was broken by a knock at the door. Inuyasha was the first to reach the door, practically throwing it off its hinges as he opened it, only to find Kikyou standing there.
"What do you want?" He spat.
"I know where Kagome is." She said her chocolate eyes never leaving Inuyasha's. "Naraku has her. He wants you to meet him. Someplace secluded and he wants you to come alone."
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Phew! It's done! I'm sorry it's kinda short. Maybe the next one will be longer. If I get more than one or two reviews, that is. I know this chapter is kinda boring but the next one will be better.
And if you guys could help me, I'm kinda stuck and don't know how things should go next. I have some ideas though. Please Read and Review!
Clouds of the Sky