XXI.

"Kagome, we're here."

She opened her eyes and looked out the window. It was dark, and somewhat creepy. She stretched. On the ride over, she fell asleep; a dark, dreamless sleep. She opened the door and stood up, surprised at how her legs hurt her. Inuyasha walked to her side and grabbed her arm, gently pulling her toward an old brick house. It was big, with four stories and probably a basement. Kagome remembered about how this man had killed the only man she had ever loved. What was his name...Inu...Inuyasha? "Inuyasha...?"

He stopped and turned toward her. "Yeah?"

"You said no one is going to hurt me. Is that still true?" She was near tears again.

He put his fingers under her chin and lifted it so she could see his face. With the height difference, she was nearly looking at the sky. "I told you no one will hurt you, and that I promise. I will personally see to the death of anyone who lays a hand on you." He was joking, but she didn't quite feel comfortable around him as he said it. He sighed. "Come on."

They went inside the house, immediately surrounded by people.

"Who are all of you?" Kagome cried out, already crying. She saw one of them had fangs. "Oh my God! Vampires!" She closed her eyes and tears poured out. One of the vampires grabbed her arm, telling her that she was safe, no one was going to hurt her.

Another walked toward Inuyasha. "What did you do to her to make her hysterical like that?" He snapped.

Inuyasha lowered his head. "I...I had to kill her boyfriend."

The man rolled his eyes. "Damn...I thought we told you not to unless you had to!"

"I did have to! The fucker was about to kill me! Then how the hell would you get her? In the basement of whoever is trying to kill her?" He yelled and walked down a set of stairs. "I'm going to talk to Kikyo."

"There's no point. She's upstairs, talking to Kagome."

XXII.

Kagome sat on the bed, drying her eyes with her hands. The woman...the vampire...with her was trying to make her feel better. She said that no one would hurt her, that being her she would be safe from any harm the "bad guys" were going to do to her. She didn't understand what was being said, but she nodded.

"Ayame, please leave." A female voice came from the door.

The woman near Kagome stood up and left.

The woman walked closer to Kagome, who never looked up. "Kagome..."

"Why do all of you want me?"

"Look up, Kagome."

Slowly, she turned her head so she was facing the woman who was probably in charge of it all. She saw her face and gasped. The woman looked just like her.

"Kagome, my name is Kikyo."

"You're a vampire, aren't you?"

"Yes...we all are."

"Inuyasha?"

"No, not him." She sat on the bed next to her.

Kagome bowed her head again. "Why do you look like me? Can you please tell me what's going on?"

And she did.

XXIII.

Sango got out of her car and saw a motel. I'll do this tomorrow. She got out and went inside, got a room, and fell asleep in the double bed and dreamed about Miroku.

XXIV.

Kikyo's Explanation

"Kagome, twelve years ago, I saw you as a child. I was in the city, doing my business, when I saw you. You didn't know it then, but you are important to us. I dropped my necklace to let you know that, because we know-I know-you'd never lose it, or get rid of it. You see, we are different, yet we are the same. You come from a different world than I, and you have never seen me before, yet we are connected, and you know me very well. Years ago, you and I were sisters. Yes, you were a vampire, just like I, just like those downstairs. You dwelled in this very house, along with me, with everyone. Who is here and once was here. But thirteen years ago, they started to kill us off. You may have heard of them; they are the ones seeking our deaths, and my power. You see, one hundred years past, I was pronounced leader of us, and so I gained more power. Those trying to kill us only seek my power, and the death of everyone else. That is when you died. A man came in here, and murdered you, in this very bed. We fought him off, and he got away. Now, you may have heard stories about us. We can revive those who are dead. The bad part about it is, we can't revive vampires. If we try, they are simply born as a human infant from some pregnant mortal, but they'll feel empty, as if something from their life is missing. We still wanted you to be one of us. The only way to do that, however, was to wait for you to become sixteen, and turn you. Why didn't we do this when you were sixteen, you wonder? We knew something was coming. It's coming soon. Very soon. If we turned you then, you wouldn't have the energy to fight them off. As a freshly turned Vampire, you can kill off even the toughest of humans. But if we waited until the time was right... We knew it would be coming around this time. Like demons, our senses are heightened beyond any human's. But unlike demons, we can predict the future much better than they can. Inuyasha, he is a half-demon. We revived him. He was the first of his kind that we've revived, and we were uncertain if it would work, but it did. He used to be a criminal. Fate brought him to the strip club last night, the one where you work, and you saw him die. You see, his soul knew this would happen, that it would be him who would bring you here. So he saw you, and you saw him, and he died, only to be given a new life by me. And so, we did what we had to. I couldn't stand to let you remain dead. I revived you, and you were born. But we needed to remind you who you were, although you couldn't remember. That's why I saw you that day. I had to let you know that inside, you are still one of us, and you always will. But tonight, we start to turn you. You will be one of us, and you will kill any who oppose. In seven days, the war begins, and you are our sword, our rifle, our tank, our atomic bomb. You are the weapon that will save the life of every vampire on the planet. You will be our savior."

XXV.

The man never did like to listen to Naraku. I'll do this my way... He thought about the girl. Just take her, and get the hell outta here...

XXVI.

Inuyasha stood in the door. "Kikyo...could I talk to Kagome alone?"

She nodded and left.

Kagome saw him and backed away just a little, but calmed down. He sat next to her, and both were silent for a minute. "Why did you kill Koga?"

He shook his head. "I didn't want to."

"I think we've already established the fact that you didn't want to. Just please, tell me why, so I can at least sleep tonight." She looked into his amber eyes.

He took a deep breath. "I had to. I...I had to bring you here, and I wasn't going to let anyone get in the way of it."

She nodded. "But you knew they can revive people. Why didn't you bring him with us?"

"Oh, yeah. Bring a corpse in the car and drive on the highway where any cop could look in the car and see him. Then what? I go to jail, you go home, and you never find out what you're missing in life."

She was silent again. "But I loved him."

He looked at her, shook his head, and sighed. "I'm really sorry. Please understand, I'm don't want to hurt anyone."

"Not anymore..."

He knew it. She knows he was a criminal. "All that time before I died, I only killed three people. I had reason. You see, I have an older brother... really important. He has something against some guy named Naraku, or whatever. I never really liked my bother...well, half-brother, to be exact. And I know he never really liked me. So, he'd send me out to kill someone, and if I don't, he'd kill me. He's a really sick fuck. He has this office, and it has a little basement thing..." He shook his head. "You wouldn't believe the shit he does to people down there."

"So it's either kill or be killed, right?"

"Exactly. That's how it was with you."

She shot him an uncertain look. "But you said you don't have to kill me..." She was about to back away.

"Yeah, I know I don't, but what I meant was if I didn't do it, I'd be killed."

"Again?" She calmed down.

"Yeah, again."

"I'm still really sorry."

She didn't say anything. She saw something in him that made her believe him. She sensed that he was a good guy, that he wouldn't hurt her. But she knew this was still only the beginning.