Escaping Death
Note- Hey! It seems like you guys are enjoying it so far. That's great.
Disclaimer- I do not own Inuyasha.
Summary- Kagome is an average girl. But after a strange online conversation, a psychotic killer wants HER to choose his victims. She can't escape, not without sacrificing everyone she loves. So what can she do?
I hope you all enjoy. Please review and thanks for reading. Here it goes.
Escaping Death
Chapter Fourteen
"Will he be all right, doctor?" Kagome asked the tall doctor in front of her urgently. She, along with Sango, Miroku, and Inuyasha, had been in the waiting room for nearly two full hours, patiently waiting to hear about Bankotsu's condition.
The doctor looked troubled, causing Kagome to feel faint.
"Oh, no," she said, slapping a hand to her chest. "He won't, will he?"
"He'll be just fine," the doctor assured her, placing a hand on her shoulder to calm her. She dropped her hand to her side. "I am just curious as to how he was injured. This looks nothing like an accident. It was intentional. Either the person doing it wasn't very smart or they weren't intending to kill him."
"I'm not really sure how it happened," she said, looking back at her friends who were sitting in the uncomfortable chairs near the back of the waiting room. "He was coming to my house, I know that much. And I guess he was attacked."
The doctor nodded. "Well, then." He looked over something on his clipboard. "You may go in and see him. But I suggest that your friends go in one at a time, just to make sure it's not too much for him. He suffered four stab wounds to his back."
Kagome knew that too well. She had stared at the gaping holes for what seemed like forever before the EMS had arrived.
She followed him to Bankotsu's room where he instantly left the two alone, closing the door behind him. "Bankotsu?" She asked softly. His room was large and the bed was on the far side of the room. Her voice echoed when she spoke.
"Yeah?" He said weakly.
She raced up to his bed. "Are you all right?" She felt tears brim at her eyes.
He nodded. "I'm fine. They've got me all drugged up so I can't feel the pain. I bet you could drop a safe on my head and I wouldn't even notice." He laughed a bit. When he noticed her glossy eyes, he reached up and touched her face. "I'm all right. I promise. So don't cry, okay?"
She nodded and took his hand in hers. "Bankotsu," she took a deep breath. "What happened?"
"He sent me an IM," he began, suddenly looking serious. "He said he was coming after you, Kagome. I had to come and warn you. I had to get you somewhere safe. I had to do something. I mean, I wasn't going to sit around while my cousin got dissected or whatever. So I came after you. But he got me first."
Kagome didn't even try to prevent the tears from flowing down her cheeks. "Why didn't he kill you, though?" She asked, not even sure if he knew or not.
"He knows, Kagome," Bankotsu answered. "He knows that I know. He knows me. I don't know who he is, though. After he stabbed me, he told me he wasn't going to kill me. He told me it was just a warning to you, so you won't tell anyone else." He tightened his grip on her hand when he realized that she was about to pull away.
"This is all my fault," she sobbed.
"No," his voice was hard -- she'd never heard him talk in that kind of voice before. "It's not. He lured me into a trap, Kagome. I should've seen it coming, but I hadn't. He wouldn't kill you -- you're the one he's playing with. I should've realized that before I left. But I hadn't, so it's my fault."
When she shook her head to persist her strong disagreement, he sat up. "Don't!" She said quickly, placing a hand on his shoulder. She couldn't push him down, though. She didn't want to hurt him more. And even if she was sure it wouldn't hurt him, she wasn't strong enough to. "Don't move yet."
"It's my body," he growled. "I should know when I should and shouldn't move. I'll be fine sitting up." He adjusted the pillows behind him so he could prop himself up. Then he gazed at her with dark blue eyes. "Kagome, it's not your fault. Believe me. If I had taken time to think before I acted, I wouldn't be in this hospital right now."
"All right," she hurriedly wiped her tears away.
"Oh, yeah," he said surprisingly. "He told me he was hunting someone else down, since you didn't pick out anyone. He told me to tell you that if it was someone close to your heart or someone else's heart, that you should feel guilty; that it would be your fault."
Kagome pulled herself away from the bed and went to the window. The sun was beginning to set, leaving behind a fiery red and orange sky line that faded to purple the closer it got to the east. "I'm not worried about that right now," she said, not able to admire the beautiful and stunning sunset. Before all of the murders, she would have easily been able to enjoy all the colors. "I'll worry about it later, after we leave here."
It grew ominously quiet in that room, the only sounds audible were from the heart rate machine and the nurses buzzing out in the hallway. Kagome was trying to focus on the sunset, but found it immensely difficult and soon gave up and turned around to face Bankotsu.
He smiled at her. "What's this I hear about you and Inuyasha?"
"Huh?" Kagome felt her face heat up.
"You guys have a thing going, don't you?" He asked, grinning.
"No, not really." She said. Then she suddenly blurted, "But we kissed, and it's was only one kiss, but Sango thinks he really likes me and that it was about time that he kissed me and--"
"Kagome." Bankotsu said easily, stopping her from rambling nervously. "Do you like him?"
"Well…" her face turned even redder. "Yeah."
"All right, then." He smirked. "He'll ask you out eventually."
"But how do you know about it?" She inquired.
"He told me." He said simply, causing Kagome's mouth to drop open in shock. "I'm fine with it," he continued, "as long as he doesn't hurt my favorite cousin. Then I'll have to kick his ass."
Kagome had to laugh at that. But she really wanted to know if Inuyasha had said anything else about her. Just as she was about to ask, Bankotsu's parents burst in and raced over to him. "Bankotsu!" His mother cried, obviously glad that he was still alive. "Are you all right, dear?"
He nodded. "Fine, mom. Thanks to Kagome." He nodded in her direction.
His mother ran over to Kagome and embraced her tightly. "Oh, Kagome, we love you so much. Thank you!"
"What happened?" His father asked. "Was it…him?"
Bankotsu looked solemn. He nodded.
"It's a wonder you weren't killed right then!" His father said. His wife shushed him. "Just be glad he's alive!" She scolded.
Kagome took this time to leave. She wanted to leave them alone to talk with their son. Besides, there was a city wide curfew…thanks to her. She gave Bankotsu a gentle hug and departed. When she got back into the waiting room and her friends gave her a worried look, she said, "He's just fine. I think they'll release him either tomorrow or the day after."
Sango sighed in obvious relief. "Thank God."
"I think we should get going," Miroku said. "Remember? The curfew?"
After that was said, they went outside, hopped in Miroku's car, and left. He stopped by Sango's house first and dropped her off. He left after he made sure she got inside safely, waiting a few extra moments just in case she ran screaming from her home. He did the same with Kagome before finally dropping Inuyasha off.
"You gonna be okay alone, man?" Inuyasha asked him through the passenger window.
"I'll be fine. If I need help, your house is two houses away." Miroku pointed out with a grin.
"Okay. See ya round." Inuyasha waited until Miroku backed out of his driveway with a honk of his horn and a wave goodbye. Then he proceeded into his house.
"Yo, Sesshomaru!" He yelled. He looked at the clock. Seven fifty-six. Not late for the curfew. Ha! Take that you stinking cops. "I'm home, if you even care."
He heard a noise so faint, he was surprised he had caught it, even with his dog-like hearing. It sounded like someone calling his name. Well, more like trying to say his name.
"Inuyasha…"
He followed the call into the living room, where he saw spots of dark liquid. Bending over and placing his hand against the spot in the carpet, he realized it was still wet -- and warm. He sniffed the air. His stomach churned. Sesshomaru's blood. He followed the trail right into the kitchen that was adjoined to the living room. He nearly slipped on the liquid. "Sesshomaru?" He said tentatively.
"Inu…Inuyasha…in here." Sesshomaru sounded weak. Very weak.
Inuyasha raced toward the voice to find Sesshomaru by the fridge, bloody from head to toe. That wasn't it, either. There was a person standing over him. He was wearing all black -- that was stained with crimson -- and a hockey mask with a ball cap pulled down securely on his head. He had a large hunting knife in his hand. He had gloves on. "You bastard," he growled. "So you're the one who's been screwing with Kagome's head! You better stop or I'll fucking kill you!"
"I'm the one with the knife." The figure said. He was a man -- that Inuyasha could tell by his height and body build -- but he was obviously using something to change his voice.
Inuyasha opened a drawer beside of him and pulled out a large butcher knife -- not as big as the hunting knife, by any means, but it was still something -- and faced the killer…
…To find him gone.
Where the hell had he gone? He looked around near Sesshomaru and the table, just in case he was hiding, but shrieked in pain as the killer appeared behind him and stabbed him in the back with the knife. He pulled it free from his body, said, "That's just a warning, Inuyasha. Next time, I really will kill you," and disappeared. Inuyasha heard the front door close. He dropped his knife and went to the phone and called the first person that came to mind: Kagome.
"Hello?" She asked after two rings.
"Kagome?" His voice was coming out ragged due to the pain.
"Inuyasha? Are you okay?" She could obviously tell he was in agony. "Did…something happen?"
"You're damn right something happened," he said angrily. "That bastard was in my house, killing my brother! And then he turned on me!"
"Hang on," she said automatically. "I'm on my way."
"No," he found himself blurting. "Don't go out by yourself."
"He won't kill me," Kagome said gently. "I'm the one he's playing this game with. I'll be there in a minute." There was a click and the dial tone greeted him.
He turned to his brother, who was struggling to breathe. He was soaked in his own blood. His hair had turned from silver to red and his eyes were losing the glow they once had. "Sesshomaru…I'm sorry." He suddenly found out that he loved his brother more than he let on. "Just hang on, okay? We're getting some help."
He called nine-one-one and told them about his situation and that he needed medical help as soon as possible, then he gave them his address. He hung up and got to his knees beside his brother.
"Sesshomaru," he examined him and felt his heart sink. "I just want you to know that…" Why was it so difficult to tell him this? "That I don't hate you. I want you to make it through this, all right? Just hang on for a little longer. They're on their way."
Sesshomaru coughed. Blood spilled from his mouth. "I don't hate you, either."
"Shit, Sesshomaru!" Inuyasha felt a tingle in his nose, which usually meant one thing: he was crying. "You made me cry, damn it!" He looked around and found a towel by the dish drainer and placed it over the many stab wounds in his brother's back. Sesshomaru winced. "Hang on." He found himself saying -- begging. "Don't die. Please." You're the only family I have left, he wanted to add. Only, he didn't. He couldn't. He didn't want to talk about not having any family, especially not right then.
Kagome arrived not long after that. She turned on all the lights in the house, just in case there was someone lurking in the shadows, before coming to the kitchen. She didn't stay in there long. She couldn't stay in there long due to all the blood and Inuyasha's crying. Of course, he had tried to wipe the tears away and say he wasn't, but they still kept coming.
When the EMS and police arrived, they put DO NOT ENTER tape around the entire property. They took pictures of everything and did fingerprint testing. Inuyasha knew they wouldn't find anything, but didn't bother to tell them. Kagome offered to let him stay with her whenever he needed to and he said he would. He was going to ride with the ambulance first, to make sure his brother would be all right, and to get his injury checked out.
But as they loaded Sesshomaru into the back of the ambulance, Inuyasha studied his brother. He just knew he wasn't going to make it.
Note- (Gasp) Oh my! Poor Sesshomaru! Will he make it or will Inuyasha's gut feeling be right and he won't? Who else will this psycho attack? Just stay tuned and find out! Thanks for reading. Please review. Thanks.
