Little Bird

Chapter 4 : Secret Garden

Disclaimer : Inuyasha is copyright to Rumiko Takahashi and all affiliated distributors.

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Nope! Nope, nope, nope! She was not going back in there. Even if it was cold outside.

She turned back to the handsome statue as she contemplated. Kagome took a tentative step towards it, nervous that it would somehow come alive with a flurry of growls. She reached out slim fingers and spread them over it's chiseled chest, feeling the warmth radiate off it again. So strange, she thought.

The growling did not return. So she made up her resolve and slid down it's length, cocooning herself between it's billowing pants and closed her eyes, wrapping her arms around herself and leaning her head on it's leg. She'd rather sleep out here she decided. Surprised at how warm she was becoming, the comforting temperature and the sounds of the night lulled her to sleep.

Bliss.

Pure and utter bliss.

'Wake up.'

Kagome scrunched her brows and turned to her side, ignoring the voice in favor of her peaceful sleep. It'd been days since she slept this good. No nightmares, no hauntings, just a calm steady serenity.

'Wake the hell up!' A voice growled out.

Jolting awake, Kagome drew back and with owlish eyes, stared at the silver statue shining in the growing daylight. Her forearm was raised defensively before her, just in case.

Just in case what? Kagome looked around as the haze of sleep left her, registering the fact that she had left her room last night and that she had fallen asleep in her grandfather's garden. Come to think of it. She had completely missed dinner, and her stomach was twisting painfully because of it.

Wait, what was that? A voice had woken her up. She glanced back at the long haired silver statue, it's grim face of a man looking past her.

That's it, she was completely losing her mind. Either that or maybe she had formed it up in her sleep. That had to be it. She'd chalk it up to it being a voice from her forgotten dream because there was no way in the world she was thinking that voice had somehow come from the statue. Like if it was alive… or something.

"Kagome!"

She quickly turned to the sound of her grandpa's voice, the dew from the grass wetting through her clothes. "Grandpa!"

He must have been worried. She didn't show up for dinner and she wasn't in her room. How would she explain this?

Her grandfather called out for her again. "I'm over here!" She waved her hand as she got up, wondering if he'd see her wherever he was. Kagome spared the statue one last glance, gray eyes gazing over it's handsomely angry features before making her way back to the shiro. 'Strange,' she thought, as she passed through an open white fence that was almost swallowed whole by overgrowth, 'I can see my room directly from here.'

She was halfway there when her grandfather finally found her. "Kagome!" He greeted weakly, hands clutching the front of his fluffy coat to stave off the morning chill. "I've been looking for you all night!"

"I'm sorry," she said honestly, pulling him in for a big hug, her torso bowing over his short stature as he returned the gesture. "I didn't mean to worry you."

"You missed dinner," he said as he pulled away, holding her face in his hands as his face wrinkled with worry. "Breakfast is ready. And you're still wearing the same clothes! What were you doing?" He pulled away to study her appearance, horror crossing his features, "did you sleep out here all night?"

"Hah," Kagome laughed nervously, bowing low and clapping her hands once in front of her, "I was perfectly fine," she lied. "Let me just freshen up and we can eat." She managed to peek at him through the curtain of her hair and noticed him give her a skeptical look, before he nodded and walked away.

"Be quick girl."

When he finally left, Kagome turned to stare at the open shoji screens of her room. It was eerily dark inside, the far wall with the sliding doors leading to the rest of the household were virtually unseen. She really didn't want to go in there. Those glowing red eyes, the gnashing yellow teeth… her heart quickened at the thought. A nervous sweat pricked her skin, and she squeezed her hands close and then opened them a couple times to steel herself. Despite the cool morning air, her face and neck flushed hotly.

She had to do this, her clothes were in there. With a deep breath, she rushed inside. Quickly, she turned on her desk lamp, located matches in the drawer and lit the lantern on her floor. With swift movements, she closed the shoji screens that led to the garden and changed. Then she hurried to the closest bathroom to freshen up and met her grandfather for breakfast. Luckily, the whole process was met without incident. With great relief, Kagome thanked whatever Gods were looking over her and dug into her meal.

"So," he grandfather started, startling her out of her thoughts. "You slept outside?"

Kagome blushed from embarrassment at being caught. How could she explain what had happened to her without sounding completely crazy? That the minute she stepped into his shoji, a voice had been following her, plaguing her without mercy. He'd probably send her to get therapy, and quite honestly, maybe she needed it.

She sighed, "I couldn't sleep." Well that wasn't exactly a lie, yeah, she could go with that.

Gramps seemed to understand, his face softening as he reached out for her resting hand, giving it a little supportive squeeze. "This old man has lived a long life my dear. You can speak your troubles here."

Suddenly emotional, Kagome fought to blink back the sudden rush of tears. This was the worst week of her life, and the unwavering support moved her. She swallowed the sudden lump in her throat, her family's faces passing through her mind as she turned her hand to hold his in return. "Thanks Grandpa." They exchanged sad, small smiles until Kagome could bare it no longer and took a long sip out of her orange juice.

She needed to change the subject before totally breaking down in front of him. She could only expose that sorrow in solitude, refusing to burden him - or anyone for that matter - more than she already was. "So," she started as she swallowed her emotions bitterly, "those statues in the garden."

"Ah yes," he seemed to brighten immediately, "those statues are full of history!"

Kagome laughed at his enthusiasm, thinking about the long haired sculpture who's sharp face she remembered in detail. She took a bite of her fish after dipping it in some sauce. "I've never seen that tall one before. Is it new?"

"Tall one?" Grandpa looked confused as he spoke behind a napkin. "Ah! You mean the dragon on the pillar near the east side!"

His granddaughter frowned. "No… the one near the koi pond after the fence. It's got long hair," she brushed her fingers through her own, grabbing the edges with her finger tips for emphasis. Then lifted said fingers and flicked her index nail, "claws," Finally, she reached over her head and motioned with both hands, "and pointy ears."

Grandpa choked on his food in the middle of her description. Kagome felt the blood rush out of her face as she watched him clear his throat and look at her, clearly bewildered. "Kagome… dear-"

She laughed, not knowing what else to do, "I must have dreamed it up!" She scratched the back of her head and smiled demurely. "So," she scooped the last of her fish and rice, "tell me about that dragon one!"

He seemed to not notice the change in conversation, brightening again to finally have someone to talk to about the historic sculptures in the center garden. Kagome listened with a bright smile as she pondered why grandpa had no idea about the seemingly angry, handsome statue in the back, and about why she was being terrorized while he seemed to continue living blissfully in his shiro.

That second night passed without incident. The movers had arrived and she left her boxes in the hallway, refusing to enter her bedroom. Kagome avoided her room until it was inevitable and finally subjected herself to sleep. She kept the shoji doors to the garden open, watching the slivers of moonlight shine on the otherworldly statue in the distance, bringing her a strange sort of comfort until she finally succumbed to her exhaustion.

It was the middle of her third night that something woke her from her nightmares - something of normal occurrence since her family had passed.

She had taken a new habit of sleeping with the screens open. The sight of the silver adonis brought her some much needed comfort, especially since it was the only night since her family's passing that she slept without the plague of nightmares.

Sounds she could scarcely describe woke her. She sat up in her futon as she looked out into the night shaded garden. As if in a trance, she stood and walked onto the damp grass. Kagome followed the gruesome sounds; screeching, ripping, roaring, and cawing. Her body seemed to walk of its own accord, walking over garden bridges, streams, and ponds. Somehow she had opened more screens, walking through the shiro and to the edge of the property. She stared into the woods unblinking as she witnessed creatures she could never begin to describe course through the air in a horde, then descending to the ground somewhere in the dark where she could not see.

Before she could fully awaken, one noticed her and diverged from the group. It turned in a loud sickening crack, then headed straight for her. This seemed to waken Kagome from her daze as she stumbled back, a forearm raised in feeble defense. The creature had more eyes than Kagome could count, it's sharp toothed jaw agape as it lunged for her.

A scream left her as she fell to the ground, just narrowly escaping what she assumed could have been the end of her life. The hoard disappeared, and a guttural screech roared behind her. She turned on her back as a grotesquely huge serpent lunged at her, claws like a hawk protruded from its slithering body and snatched her arm, digging in deep and pulling it away from her chest as it opened its jaw, fangs leaking with a smoking liquid, burning through her clothes as she raised her free hand and yelled. She didn't know what happened. One moment her life had flashed before her eyes, utter terror, and then the brightest light blinded her. All sound and movement screeched to a maddening halt. And the world was no more.

(A/N)

Reuploaded because the original post was reformatted wrong! Thanks random guest for the heads up! Please let me know if it happens again! I've fully outlined Little Bird (which I haven't finished for any of my other stories, so expect frequent updates!) So far, I'm keeping up with my one chapter a month! I'm going to flesh out the outline for CAM because it NEEDS it. Especially since I now see the benefits of doing it to this one. It won't be as easy because it has more themes, but I hope you will enjoy both of them! Please review!