Happy Halloween, y'all! I thought I'd update this story because it's the darkest one in my collection! So enjoy! ;D

CH 2

Enjoy life.

Dominate the humans.

Respect the alpha.

Those are pretty much all the rules in a demon's life, and because Sesshomaru is an alpha among alphas, he gets a lot of respect. So much respect, in fact, that he could choke on it. And he is also disobeying one of the rules, because he is not enjoying life. He is bored. So bored, in fact, that he is seriously contemplating suicide.

If you think about it, you might realize that this is quite logical. After all, he has so much prestige and respect that it has become monotonous, and of course, anything less than that is unthinkable. It is really quite simple. Sesshomaru, the Killing Perfection, the Taiyoukai who led the Youkai Revolution, which led to the society today, is done with life.

Nowadays, he avoids the luxurious section of the city and frequents instead the slums. In his dark, twisted mind, he enjoys seeing the humans being kicked around. In the neighborhood where he lives, the humans are rather like rats, living in the shadows. Here, they are everywhere, scurrying in the alleys.

He briefly contemplates joining in the fun himself, but he cannot bring himself to care enough. He simply watches, gaining a perverse satisfaction from the filthy blood that runs into the gutters, the various body parts that are strewn on the edges of the streets.

But even this pastime gets old after a time, and once again he is wondering how to kill himself. It seems impossible. His body is too perfect, it heals too quickly. Having someone else kill him is not an option; even if Sesshomaru stood there and allowed them to strike him as hard as they wanted, he doubted they could even come close to wounding him, and even if they did, his beast would kick in and fight back. This is a dilemma.

He is leaning against the wall one cloudy day, brooding over the problem, when he hears a commotion with his sensitive ears. At first, he wants to ignore it, but something seems off about this one. Instead of hearing laughing demons and screaming humans, he hears frustrated demons. He looks up, his amber eyes glowing through the veil of his silver bangs, and sees something decidedly intriguing.

A trio of demons surround a human girl. She is down in the street, curled up into a ball. Her raven hair is spread out into a halo around her head, and her blood runs down the pavement and into the snow.

They are beating her.

This is not anything new, but what is strange is that the girl is not making a sound. Even when the leader of the trio draws back his foot and kicks her stomach with such viciousness that she flies back fifteen feet into a brick wall, she is silent. She is silent as her back slams into that hard, unyielding surface, and she is silent still as she drops to the cement like a deadweight. She lands on her stomach, and she slowly raises herself to her hands and knees, dark hair shielding her face. The demons are furious. They are snarling as they bombard her with their blows. And the chilly air is filled only with their own frustrated howling.

A crowd is gathering, obstructing Sesshomaru's view. He pushes off from the wall and makes his way through the throng. He wonders why they do not simply finish her off, but then he realizes that they want to hear her scream first. They want to make her cry out her pain for all to hear, to moan and beg and plead for mercy. They will not stop until she caves; either her will or her body. Sesshomaru finds that he cannot predict which will come first. He, like the crowd, watches in silence as the girl is given what surely must be the beating of her life.

Two of the demons hold her up by the hair, and their leader strikes her across the face repeatedly. His claws are sharp, and her cheeks are soon tattered, blood spraying the air.

Sesshomaru sees that her eyes are closed. Add that to the fact that she is still silent, and she could be in a trance. But this cannot be, although she is limp as a doll, because when they let go of her hair and she crumples to the ground, she slowly pushes herself up. She will not stay down.

In disgust, the demons give her one last parting kick to the abdomen and walk away, disgusted. They are bored. They do not kill her because she still has not screamed. It is some twisted form of respect. They wander off in search of some other sport, leaving her broken and bloodied and silent in the snow.

Again, she rises shakily to her feet and stands there, ringed by crimson and spectators. Slowly, now that the show is over, the assorted humans and demons disperse. All but Sesshomaru. He simply returns to his wall, where he can watch her from the shadows. She remains in the street for some time. Just when he is getting tired of scrutinizing her, she raises her head and opens her eyes.

And he is mesmerized by the sheer blue of her irises. Especially in the bleached snow, against the dreary gray sky and colorless buildings, they are beautiful, framed with long, dark lashes. They are true blue, neither light nor dark. They are simply blue.

Sesshomaru realizes that he is not mesmerized simply by the color of her eyes; also by what is in them. There is no fear, no pain, not even the dull flag-of-surrender look that all humans he has seen before have. There is no weakness. Her eyes glow instead with anger. Anger and sadness and resentment and hatred and bitterness, all rolled up into one fierce glare.

Her eyes are blue fire.

He doesn't know how long he leans against the wall. Long after the girl has turned and walked away. He pays no attention to the passage of time, because he is thinking about her eyes, her beautiful eyes, and the searing flames that burn from within. It is not until after the streetlights come on, not until after the crescent moon has risen high into the sky, the moon that matches the one on his forehead, that Sesshomaru realizes something.

For the first time in decades, he is not thinking about suicide.

For the first time in decades, Sesshomaru is interested in life again. Or, more specifically, the girl with the fiery blue eyes.

He walks home, his shadow stretching out tall and lean behind him, a dark doppelganger that mirrors his every movement, as he considers this sudden new turn of events.

Yes, Sesshomaru is not bored anymore. For the better of the object of his interest or worse, it is not certain. But what is certain is that once he has his sights locked on prey, he will never let go until it, or rather she, is utterly and completely beaten. And now, that girl is his prey.

And he is the predator.

How are you guys enjoying this so far? Oh yeah, and this is how Sesshy and Kags meet. Well, not really meet, but the first time Sessh sees Kags. He's not thinking of suicide anymore, so yay! I think it would be awful if he did... :( Anyhoo, please review on your thoughts. I have to know if this is gloomy enough! :D

Oh, and for those of you who enjoy the horror genre, my friend No Uta has an excellent fic named Korekuta! I'd say it's even gloomier that mine! She's an awesome writer, I urge you to check her out! After, of course, reviewing... ;3