Escaping Death
Note- Hey! Thanks so much for all of the positive reviews. I appreciate them.
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 apologize for the wait. I've been going out a lot during this summer and I ended up losing interest. I hope that you will be able to enjoy this chapter. I apologize if it is not all that good.
I hope you all enjoy. Please review and thanks for reading.
Escaping Death
Chapter Twenty-One
"So you told him to kill you?" Sango nearly shrieked, causing Kagome to shush her.
"Are you crazy?" Kagome demanded. "My mom is home--"
"The question is," Sango cut in hotly, "Are you crazy? Why did you do that?"
"Look, it doesn't matter." Kagome said, trying to dissuade the subject. "Just be quiet about it."
"No!" Sango was determined not to be deterred. "Since you told him that, he came after me!"
"I know, Sango. And believe me; I'm sorrier about that than anything else in the world. But you're here, with me and Inuyasha and my mother. You'll be safe." Kagome assured her.
"But what about my family?" Sango inquired angrily. "How do you know they'll be safe?"
Kagome shot a wary glance over at Inuyasha, who was glaring out the window. He hadn't said a word ever since he had gotten his wound on his left arm tended to. He simply dressed Kagome's injury and that was that. Ms. Higurashi had gotten home about an hour after that and now they all sat in Kagome's room, discussing the recent events that had transpired.
"That's right!" Sango said, not loud enough for Ms. Higurashi to overhear downstairs. "You don't know! That's because this guy is unpredictable!"
Kagome sighed. 'Here we go again with this unpredictable stuff.'
"Kagome, what were you thinking?" Sango continued ranting. "You were supposed to keep going like normal until we figured out a way to trap this guy! But you just had to go and try something that you knew wasn't going to work! Way to go. Now we've lost his trust and have to gain it all over again!"
"Well, excuse me, Miss Priss!" Kagome jumped to her feet in indignation. "I didn't see you coming up with any brilliant plans while I was forced to pick out people for this psycho and his buddy to murder! Do you know how horrible it is? No! You would've found out if I hadn't told him I'd come back to him, but I spared you the torture! Now, more than likely, my life is on the line."
"And whose fault is that?" Sango demanded, also clambering to her feet. "Yours! You were the one who figured he wouldn't kill you and stupidly told him to kill you. So don't even say that any of this is my fault. I tried to tell you he was after me, but no! You, just like Miroku, didn't believe me." She turned toward Inuyasha, whose ears were pinned back and eyes focused on something outside. "I'm starting to think that the only one with the brains and street smarts around here is Inuyasha."
"Why?" Kagome asked, noticing that Inuyasha glanced back out of the corner of his eye curiously to see their expressions. "He attacked Death earlier and paid for it. He was lucky Death didn't kill him right then. And then there was that time at his house when Sesshomaru was attacked. He tried to fight Death and paid for it with a knife in his back!" Inuyasha's eyes were hooded by his silver bangs and then he turned to glower out the window. "So do you still think he is as street savvy as you once thought he was?"
Sango had her fists clenched at her sides. She obviously had nothing to say to this. Instead, she said, "I'm going home," and grabbed her duffle bag of belongings and began marching toward the door.
"Why?" Kagome folded her arms across her chest. "So you can be murdered?"
'I am being too harsh,' she told herself. 'Why am I being so mean all of a sudden?'
Sango came to a halt as Kagome's words hit home.
'I'm being mean so they won't make stupid mistakes and get themselves killed. I have to be tough so they'll learn.' She said in her mind.
Sango whirled around, stomped over to Kagome's bed, tossed her bag onto the floor at the foot of the bed, and sat on the bed. "No."
Kagome sighed and collapsed next to her. "Look, guys," she began. But what was she going to say? How frustrated she was about this mess? How scared she had actually been over at Sango's even though she had put on a strong front? How sad she was about all of the deaths? "I guess I'm just--"
The phone cut her off. She jumped up to answer it. "Hello?"
"Kagome? Is Sango there?" It was Miroku.
"Oh, hey. And yes, she is." Kagome noticed that Sango perked up at this. "You know, Miroku, we're kind of having a little get-together. We really need you to come."
"How long will this last?" He inquired.
"Well, all night. We were hoping you could stay all night over here." She answered.
"Sure. I'll be there in a few minutes." There was a click.
"All right," she said once she was off the phone. "Miroku is on his way." Inuyasha and Sango looked at her blankly. Kagome turned back toward the phone and punched in some numbers. The phone began ringing.
"Hello?"
"Bankotsu!" Kagome said happily. He sounded back to his regular self. "It's me, Kagome."
"Hey, Kagome. How's everything going?" He asked.
"Great," she lied. "What about there?"
"Fine," he answered. "I finally got my mom off my back about my injuries." He laughed.
"Listen," Kagome unconsciously fingered the bandage over her neck. "Can you come over tonight?"
"Sure. Is this some kind of sleep-over thing?"
"Something like that." She replied.
"I'll be there in a little bit. See you then." Click.
Kagome placed the phone in its cradle. "Now everyone will be here and we can figure out what to do. Will that make you happy, Sango? We're finally trying to come up with a plan."
Sango rolled her eyes and fell on her back on the bed. Kagome looked toward Inuyasha for some kind of praise for gathering everyone for a meeting, but she only found disappointment since he turned his back on her.
'Great job,' she told herself. 'In the heat of the argument, you said some pretty harsh stuff and now they're not too happy with you. What now?'
They could have at least told her that she had done a good thing by inviting everyone to her house. Sango could have offered a thank you of some sort for rescuing her from Death. Inuyasha could have also thanked her for commanding Death to leave him alone. But did they? No. Instead, they all sat in silence until Ms. Higurashi called upstairs that they had some visitors. Kagome yelled down to them that they could come right up.
Once they were all assembled in Kagome's room, Kagome said, "Okay, I hope that you guys know why you're really here."
Miroku and Bankotsu nodded. Sango and Inuyasha, however, did their level best to ignore her.
'Why are they doing this to me?' she wondered. 'I'm trying to prove to them that I can get them out of this since I was the one who got them into it in the first place.'
"Any ideas of what we can do to stop these guys?" She asked.
Only silence answered her. She sighed and looked down at the carpet of her floor. How were they possibly going to defeat Death at his own game if they couldn't even stick together and form a plan?
"Um," she said, hoping that maybe someone would answer her this time round. When no one did, however, she simply said, "All right. No ideas. Well I guess one of us can go to the cops tomorrow while the rest of us stay here. And maybe then we can put an end to the killings." She rose to her feet and walked out her bedroom door.
'Why do they have to be so difficult?' She wondered. 'I mean, they're all acting like Inuyasha.' She sighed as she entered the kitchen. Her mother was in her bedroom, preparing to go to sleep. Kagome didn't bother to flip the lights on. 'But I guess Bankotsu and Miroku really don't have any ideas.'
She opened the fridge and pulled out a drink, cracked the can open, and began drinking hurriedly. She consumed nearly half of the substance and sat the can on the counter. That's when she saw it. That frightening face that sent chills down her spine.
Only…it wasn't the same face. It was his partner, looking through the kitchen window, despite the fact that all the lights were off. It was almost as if he could sense she was there, and it seemed as if his eyes were focused on her.
She stiffened, took in a lungful of air, and went to the front door.
'What am I doing?' She thought. 'Am I going crazy? I shouldn't let him in!'
She couldn't stop herself from opening the door, however, and stepping outside onto the porch. The cool night air greeted her and she took in a lungful of it, savoring its freshness while she could. Then she turned her attention towards Death's partner. "What do you want?"
"A little visit." He said. His voice, just as Death's had been, was disguised.
"Well, you're not welcome here." She spat. Next thing she knew, he raced forward, seized her wrists in an iron-like grip with his left hand, and pressed a knife to her throat with his right.
"Perhaps you should reconsider." He snarled. "Unlike my partner, I won't hesitate to kill you. I despise women…Especially women with no manners."
Kagome felt herself stumble backwards, but was caught by the railing of the porch. The knife felt as if it were biting down deeper and deeper into her flesh, but she knew that she was imagining it. If it had been, she would've screamed like she hadn't screamed before. In fact, she opened her mouth to do just that -- she had four other people inside who would be able to take this guy out -- but Death's partner slapped his left hand over her mouth before she could do so.
"No, no, no," he said disapprovingly. "I wouldn't do that if I were you."
Kagome was satisfied that her hands had been released, but wasn't thrilled about having a knife at her throat and a hand over her mouth.
"Who's next on your list?" He demanded, releasing her altogether. "You better choose this time, or you'll suffer the consequences. Death and I are growing bored and tired of your antics."
Kagome felt her breath coming out raggedly. What now? Who should she kill? She sighed and pressed her back against the screen door. "Hmm," she said, pretending to think. "I've got it."
Death's partner raised his eyebrows in interest. When she didn't say anything further, he furrowed his eyebrows in anger. "Well?"
"Me." She opened the screen door and, since he was standing directly in front of it, it collided with his head hard, causing him to drop the knife and stumble backwards. She hurriedly picked up the knife and raced into the house, locking the door frantically.
She heard a rustling outside and looked through the window to see Death appearing from around the side of the house to check on his partner, who was still regaining his composure. They both glared at the window -- most likely at her -- in outrage before turning and walking across her lawn and disappearing in the fog that had appeared during her altercation with Death's partner.
She sighed and glanced down at the large hunting knife in her hand. This is what they used to kill people. Sure, Death had one of his own, but they had to have used this one. And this knife had been pressed against her neck only minutes earlier. She gingerly fingered the gash on her neck -- still surprisingly bandaged -- and went over to the couch.
She stuck the knife on the coffee table beside the couch before curling up on it and going to sleep.
Note- There you go. How was it? Again, I apologize for the wait. I hope you enjoyed it.
