Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from the Inuyasha universe. Everything else is mine. The song featured can be found on youtube by searching v=kVpPlWlHMrA or v=DHOMFRBgDho, and is in no way shape or form mine. Though, I do love how creepy it is!
Summary: Their life was perfect – a literal fairy tale. Then he got sick. Now, it's a race against time to save not only him, but herself. Long live the King. Spin off from Of Consequences and Redemption. Please note - It can be read without context from OCAR.
Tequila Blackbird's Song for Thought
This story: "I Come With Knives" by IAMX
"The monotony and the rising tide is under my skin, is crawling inside...Adrenaline to rewire my mind...I'm only human, I come with knives."
The Blood Moon
"Ring around the rosie…"
She ran faster, her thunderous heartbeat in her throat nearly choked her.
"A pocketful of posies…"
His deep voice was coming closer, egging her on. The all-consuming darkness in his blackened song nearly tore her apart.
"Ashes, ashes, we all fall down…"
His words were choking her – her lungs were screaming with sharp stabs, begging her to stop and breathe...but she couldn't. He wouldn't let her. She needed to keep going.
"Ring around the rosie…What do you suppose we can do to fight the darkness, in which we drown…" he called out, a cruel laugh parting his lips.
She nearly screamed when she heard it. This wasn't him…
"Ring around the rosie…This evil thing, it knows me…"
This wasn't her Inu.
"Lost ghosts surround me…"
She had to save him!
"I can't fall down!"
She ran past a hollowed out tree and scrambled inside it, gathering fallen leaves and building them up around the opening. Her whole body was pumping with adrenaline as she waited breathlessly for him to pass. She just needed him to get distracted so she could save him. She needed him to forget what he wanted…but most importantly…
She needed to survive.
"Kagomeee…" he sang. "Sweet little bird...come and sing for me, my pet!"
She clamped her hand down over her mouth and squeezed her eyes shut, trying her best to not cry.
"Come here, my precious bird…come and sing for me," he called again, his calm, strong footsteps coming closer.
Please…let him go somewhere else. Let him find some other source of entertainment for the night…
"Little bird?"
Please…
Then there was nothing. All Kagome could hear was her heart in her ears, and all she could feel was the trembling of her hand clamped down over her mouth. He was so close to her. Please…he couldn't find her. He just couldn't…
The leaves were abruptly moved away from the base of the tree, and his sharp claws were suddenly digging into her skin as he pulled her out of her hiding place.
"I found you, my precious little pet."
Fourteen Days Earlier
Kagome watched as another orange leaf fell from the tree above her. She sighed in contentment as Inu gently ran his fingers through her hair. He had pulled it from its bun when she rested her head in his lap what could have been hours ago. Time didn't seem to have meaning here. There was only this moment – this perfect moment where it was just them.
The leaf drifted down in a beautiful dance to land gracefully upon her face.
Inu's throaty laugh vibrated through her body as he picked it up and turned it over in his fingers.
"What is so funny?" she asked, a lazy smile spreading across her face as she tilted her head back to stare up at him.
"It would seem your beauty is so radiant that even the trees are filled with envy – they weep at the very sight of you, ashamed that they cannot compare."
"You tease," Kagome laughed. "You know that it was just the wind."
"Mmm…perhaps it was..." he admitted, "But you do not give yourself enough credit," he finished, bringing her hand up to his lips and pressing a soft kiss across her knuckles.
Kagome sat up and turned to face him, her long black hair falling around her shoulders as she cupped his cheek.
"You are too kind, my dear sir."
"And you are my Goddess," he whispered, tucking a few strands of her hair behind her ear. "You are my everything – my love, my life, my whole world. Without you, I am lost."
She couldn't help the grin or the blush that spread across her face as she leaned in to press a soft, tender kiss to his lips. It said everything that she herself could never seem to find the words to say…and that was all he ever seemed to need. He never needed her words to know how she felt, and that suited her just fine.
"You know, I wouldn't mind it if you acted on these wild impulses of yours more often," he murmured breathlessly.
"I am quite aware," she giggled, rising to stretch. "You know what I would love to do today? Bake a pie. Join me, will you?"
He grinned wolfishly as he rose up and playfully chased her back to the castle.
"Does your head still hurt?"
Kagome felt him nod his head against her shoulder as she continued to read aloud to him. His ears drooped to press against his head, and a low whine escaped his throat. For the last few days, Inu had seemed pained, and he was far more irritable at times. While he still had his prickly moments, Inu had become a sweet, docile wolf pup in recent months. This irritability was…in a word, unusual.
"Won't you take something for it? I hate to see you in pain like this…"
"I'm sure it will pass," he assured her. "I can't stay like this forever."
"You're just being stubborn," she chided gently. "Why would you opt to be in pain when I could make it better?"
"I don't want the medicine!" he snapped, a low growl rumbling from the back of his throat.
"Alright, I'm sorry," she replied, somewhat taken aback by his response.
"I didn't mean it, Kagome," he instantly comforted. "I just…I don't want the medicine. I'll be alright, I promise," he reiterated, lifting his head from her shoulder and taking her chin gently between his fingers. He turned her head and lovingly placed a kiss to her forehead.
"It's alright," Kagome reassured. "Just…promise me that if it gets worse, you'll take something for it."
"I will."
"Damnit Kagome, you're not doing it right!"
She jumped and looked back at Inu. He was helping her practice her archery once more, but she couldn't understand why. His irritability had grown to the point where she could hardly tolerate it. This never ending headache of his was making him a pain, and his tone had become harsh.
It reminded her vaguely of when she had first met him. He had been brash and menacing, and the last few days had been very reminiscent of that time long ago.
What was more concerning than his renewed attitude was the pinkness to his eyes. They were slowly becoming more and more pink with each passing hour. She wanted to dismiss it as allergies, but she couldn't ignore the sinking feeling that perhaps it was something more.
Still, she didn't want to become alarmed for no reason...not yet. She was sure that if she could just convince him to take some medicine, he would be back to normal in no time.
Perhaps she should slip some in with his dinner tonight…
"You can do better," he growled lowly.
"Perhaps we should take a break. We've been doing this for a few hours now. It might no—"
"—No. We keep going."
"Inu…"
"We keep going! Now do it again!"
Kagome pressed her lips together into a thin line, but wordlessly drew another arrow from her quiver and fired it at the target.
Kagome sighed as she stepped out of her warm bath, wrapping a towel around her body. She blotted her wet skin, drying off. It felt like she had spent hours in the tub. Perhaps she had…her fingers had become pruned and wrinkled from the water. She winced as she bent down to dry her legs – her back and arms were sore. She was tender all over from the hours Inu had forced her to shoot.
She was exhausted, both mentally and physically. Inu had been…harsh.
They had spent the day at the training grounds again, and his words had been more biting than they had been the day before.
She didn't want to admit it, but she was officially concerned – enough so that she was considering taking Leala, Inu's fairy mirror, from his library and using it to contact the hermit named Kaguya.
Loathe as she was to contact the woman who had ripped Inu's humanity from him and transformed him into the beast he was now, she wasn't sure what else she could do. She had slipped him some medication that night in his dinner, but it didn't seem to affect him.
She was at a loss for what to do next.
Kagome slipped into her thin nightgown and entered her room, lighting a candle beside her bed.
She jumped back, gasping when she saw Inu sitting patiently on her bed, waiting for her.
"You were in there for a long time," he groused, standing up and walking towards her.
"My limbs were sore," she sputtered, backing away from him as he moved closer to her until her back was flush with the wall. "I thought that the heat would do them some good."
"Indeed," he scowled, running a hand down the side of her body. "And what of the rest of you?" he purred, his voice dangerously low.
"I'm quite fine," she shakily reassured. "But I would like to sleep, Inu. I'm—I'm very tired."
He didn't seem to hear her as he dipped his head to press a few kisses to her neck.
"Inu, what are you doing…"
"Kissing what is mine."
What is his…
This was the first time he had ever referred to her in such a way. As…an object. A possession.
"Inu, please stop this," she pleaded, pressing against his shoulders. "I want to sleep."
He growled deeply and looked up at her, and she gasped in fright.
His eyes were glowing a deep pink, nearly red.
"Inu," Kagome breathed, taking his face between her hands. "Oh Inu…you aren't well."
"I'm fine," he snarled, pushing her hands away from him.
"You aren't," Kagome insisted more firmly. "You're eyes! Look at your eyes," she urged, bringing him to the mirror in her room.
Kagome watched as shock and surprise spread across his face. He backed away from the mirror for a moment before whirling around and striding over towards her door.
"Get your sleep. Tomorrow, we're going hunting."
Crisp leaves crunched under her feet as she did her best to silently move about the forest. She and Inu had split up as they tried to track a deer.
He was frightening her more and more. He was becoming more aggressive – grabbing her wrist and tugging her this way and that when he felt she moved too slowly. Her arm was still marred with long scratches from his claws.
Kagome continued to follow the tracks a deer had left behind, watching as they suddenly changed stride. It was running…but why?
She followed them closely, winding her way through the trees and the brush until she came to a clearing.
Inu was hunched over the still body of a stag, his head pressed against its ribs.
She quickly ducked behind a tree, silently observing him as his head tilted and jerked against the brown fur. Kagome slipped out from the behind the tree and crept up to a closer one, trying to find a better vantage point to see what he was doing more clearly.
She had almost made it to the tree when a sharp crack resounded through the air. She had stepped on a dry twig.
Inu looked up from the stag, and she nearly screamed.
His face was covered with blood. His fingers dripped with it, and tissue hung from the corner of his mouth. That wasn't what worried her the most, however.
His eyes were solid red.
Never before in her months of living with Inu had she seen him like this. So…monstrous. It felt like the wind had been knocked from her chest. She slowly backed away from him, running back to the castle.
"Run, Kagome…"
Kaguya. She was whispering in her mind again, guiding her.
"Run. Get to his laboratory."
"What's happening to him?" she panted,
"First, you must run."
And so she did. She moved as fast as she could through the vacant halls and into the library. She found 'The Anatomy and Psychology of Death' and tilted the book down on the shelf. The secret door to Inu's lab slowly creaked open and she pushed on it, closing it behind her.
"Run," Kaguya urged. "You need to hurry!"
Kagome bounded down the stairs, lighting a torch when she got to the bottom. "What am I looking for?" she demanded.
"Go to the middle cabinet. Hurry!"
"What am I looking for?" Kagome yelled again, throwing the doors open.
"The middle shelf. Look for a box in the back."
Kagome hastily pushed all of the macabre jars he kept off to the side, reaching deeper until her outstretched fingertips brushed against the smooth lacquered sides of a wooden box. She grabbed it and brought it out of hiding, flipping the lid open to reveal a large gold medallion with a bird engraved into it.
"Put it on…" Kaguya urged. "It will protect you."
"What's happening to him?" Kagome whimpered, clasping the medallion around her neck. "What is wrong with his eyes?"
"The Blood Moon is on the rise. Its pull is rotting his heart and infecting his blood like a terminal disease. He will only get worse before he gets better. Listen to me closely, dear girl. If you want to save him and survive, this is what you must do…"
Kagome opened the door to the library and jumped back in surprise when she found Inu standing there with his arms lazily hanging from the frame. She watched in horror as blood dripped down his fingertips and onto the wood floor while the blood around his mouth had run down his neck and stained his white shirt.
"Inu,'' Kagome breathed, her voice trembling.
"You left so soon…" He purred thoughtfully. "You didn't get to eat dinner, so I brought it back for you."
She paled at his ominous words and the dangerous glint in his eyes.
"You...you did what?" she stuttered, and gasped when he reached out and grabbed her wrist, smearing blood on her and yanking her along beside him until they were outside. The stag carcass lay at the base of the castle's stone steps. A yelp parted her lips as he pushed her down, forcing her head into the stag's chewed side.
"Eat," he demanded cruely.
"Please," Kagome begged, a sob stuck in her throat. "I don't want to do this...Please don't make me, Inu..."
"I said eat!" he bellowed, shoving her head more firmly into the stag's side.
Hot tears poured down her face as she smeared her face in the blood and moved her jaws up and down, mimicking a chewing motion.
"Good," Inu purred, stroking her hair. "Very good."
His praise felt dark and sinister – not warm and comforting like it had in the past. She tried to do her best to keep her tears at bay, but when he dug his fingers into her hair and yanked her head back to kiss her, the dam finally broke. She tasted the blood on his lips as he forced his tongue into her mouth, and cried out in pain when he bit down on her lip.
When he pulled away from her, he licked the hot tears pouring down her cheeks. It was almost comforting...only he wasn't doing this to comfort her. It was because he was taking satisfaction in her pain.
"Come," he growled lowly, grabbing her wrist and yanking her up. "I want to hear you sing for me."
"W-why?" she stuttered. "Wouldn't you rather go hunting again? You love to hunt!"
"I said I want to hear you sing!" he roared, pressing his face against her's and snarling. She whimpered and cried out in fright, her heart slowly fracturing with each transgression.
This wasn't her Inu. She needed to remember that. This wasn't who he really was. He was sick – he needed her help.
She tried her best to not cry or whimper as he drug her back into the castle and to the library. He pushed her against the piano they had spent so much time at together and ripped part of the neck of her shirt off. He used the chunk of fabric and his powers to create a cage around her, like a bird.
She sank down to her knees, bracing herself on the palms of her hands, tears now pouring freely from her eyes. He menacingly waved his hand towards the piano, and it slowly began to play an ominous tune.
"Now sing, little bird."
Kagome awoke with a start, her heart racing as she gasped for air. She felt cold and wet, and when she looked up, she saw Inu leaning on the bars of her cage and looking down at her. She couldn't see the sky, but the room was shrouded in enough darkness for her to know that it was night.
Her eyes slowly adjusted to the dim light, allowing her to take in his form as he raked his long, bloodied claws along the bars of her entrapment.
"You're up," he purred. "Entertain me. I'm bored."
"H-how do you want me to do that?" she croaked, slowly inching away from him until she was pressed against the back of the cage.
"Let me think," he mused, pushing away from the cage. He spread his digits out, running them along the bars as he walked around the perimeter. She quickly scrambled away from him again, and a low, throaty chuckle rippled from his throat. "What do I want…" he drawled as he got closer. "What do I want…"
"Inu, I—"
"—Silence!" he roared, grabbing the bars and pressing his face against them. "You asked me a question, now let me answer it."
Kagome brought her knees to her chest, pinching her eyes closed. This was a bad dream...all of this had to be a bad dream…
"I think I know exactly what I want," he purred, his eyes roaming over her body and her wet clothes. With a wave of his hand, he removed the bars from around her, rendering her defenseless as he crouched down crawling towards her. "I want you to sing for me…"
No. She wasn't about to allow that to happen. She kicked him sharply in his nose, and he cried out in pain as she broke it. She then sprang to her feet and ran out of the library. She needed to get out of there – she needed to do as Kaguya had instructed. She burst through the castle doors and glanced up at the sky.
The Blood Moon had risen.
She was running out of time.
"Kagome!" she heard Inu roar from deep within the castle.
She ran.
Please….he couldn't find her. He just couldn't. Let him keep walking. Let him go off in the wrong direction...let him do anything but find her. She was begging anything that would hear her silent prayer to just get her through this. If he would just keep walking, she could do what needed to be done, and she could save them both.
"Little bird?" he called out.
Please…
He couldn't do this. He just couldn't. This couldn't be their end...they were supposed to still have so much more time together!
A sharp, searing pain passed in front of her eyes as claws dug into her skin, pulling her out of her hiding spot. She reached her hands out, grasping at leaves and digging her nails into the wood bark around her, making her fingers splinter and bleed as she struggled to fight him. She kicked and wriggled within his grasp as he raised her up from the ground, but it was useless. She was firmly within his arms now, and there was no escaping.
"I found you, my precious little pet."
"Please," she cried, choking on a sob. "Please let me go!"
"Let you go?" he barked a cruel laugh, tilting his head back. "But why would I let my little bird go? I think she forgets who she belongs to," he rumbled. "Perhaps I need to clip her wings so she won't fly off again…"
"No!" she screamed as he thrust her up against a tree, licking the side of her neck. "Let me go Inu, please! You aren't well! Let me go!"
He pinned her left arm between their bodies, grasping the right in his hands. She felt light-headed and nauseous when he began to press hot kisses into the side of her neck, biting down into her skin hard enough to draw blood. He lapped at it as he pulled her arm back, and a scream pierced through the air.
He was trying to break her arm! But...he couldn't…
It was because of Kaguya! The medallion! It was protecting her!
A growl of frustration from Inu vibrated through her body, and he shoved her down in anger. She hastily turned over and kicked him in his genitals, causing him to cry out loudly in pain. She didn't look back as she crawled away from his hunched form and leapt to her feet. There was a lake near here. If she could reach it, she could loose him...and save him. She ran as fast as she could, her limbs burning and aching once more, but she couldn't stop. He would be upon her at any moment, and if she stopped, it would be the end of both of them.
The trees began to thin out as she got closer and closer to the lake until she finally broke through the tree line. There was the lake. It reached out to her like the hand of God, and she felt like she had been saved. She held her breath and dove in, swimming to the other side. When she reemerged from the water, she took cover behind a bush several meters past the tree line and took a few minute to catch her breath, coughing from the exertion.
"Kagome!" Inu roared from the other side of the lake, "Kagome, I will find you! You can't hide from me!"
"Run." Kaguya was suddenly back, advising her once more. "He'll find you if you stay there. You need to keep going!"
She silently groaned and told her aching limbs to stop bothering her as she pushed away from the tree, slipping deeper into the forest and allowing Kaguya to guide her into the woods.
"Stop," Kaguya finally instructed. "Get down onto your knees and feel around. You're looking for a stone...It's large and flat and probably hidden beneath the dirt and brush."
Kagome did as she was asked, running her fingers around in the dirt until they bumped up against something large and hard. She hastily brushed the dirt and twigs off of it. She stared down at the stone after having finally unearthed it.
There, in the center of the rock, was the same imprint as the one on her medallion surrounded by a deep circular cut. It was like it was a door and the medallion was a key. She quickly yanked the necklace off, placing it perfectly into the rock and turning it until she heard a click. The rock popped up just enough for her to worm her fingers under. She was eventually able to pry it off entirely so that she could reach inside to grab what it contained.
It was a chalice made of bone and rubies.
She knew what she had to do now.
She just didn't want to.
A twig snapped, startling her. She glanced up from the cup, her blood instantly freezing.
He had found her.
"Kagome…"
She backed away from him as he emerged from the tree line, his crazed red eyes glowing in the darkness.
"I found you, Kagome...This is a fun game you wanted to play," he laughed. "I've never hunted a human before."
"Inu...You're sick...Why don't you sit down and let me fix you?"
"Fix me?" he huffed. "Why would you want to fix me?"
"Because this isn't you!" she screamed. "You aren't the man I fell in love with!"
His eyes darkened dangerously and he crouched down to her level, walking towards her on all fours.
"You're right," he snarled. "I'm not the man you fell in love with," he agreed, licking his lips.
Kagome's heart was beating so furiously from within her chest that she swore it was about to pop out of her body...if Inu didn't rip it out first. She began reaching around in the darkness, looking for something sharp she could use…
"Then who are you?" she demanded, hoping to distract him.
"I'm someone better. Stronger."
"Inu wasn't weak!" she defended. "He was good! And kind!"
"He was a pathetic mutt!" he spat, his back hunching up towards the sky.
"Liar!" she screamed, finally finding something with a sharp edge. "You know as well as I the noble man he is, and I want him back!"
He grinned wolfishly, throwing his head back and laughing maniacally. "And how do you intend to do that?"
"By doing this," she sneared, digging the rock into the flesh of her wrist and drawing blood. It poured down her arm and filled the chalice she held out to it. "Ab extra spiritus celat lumine lunae,"* she chanted forcefully, staring into his eyes.
"What do you think you're doing?" he harshly demanded.
"Conjuro te! Revelamini faciantque reuerterunt," she continued, ignoring the warning in his voice.
"Stop it!"
"Invocabo eclipsis!"
"No!" he screamed, lunging towards her...but he was too late. The blood within the chalice shot out, straight up into the sky.
"Ab extra spiritus celat lumine lunae," she began chanting again.
"You witch!"
"Conjuro te!" The wind was howling, swirling around them in a whirlwind.
"Stop it!" he screamed, but she wouldn't.
"Revelamini faciantque reuerterunt!" She was squinting. She could hardly see.
"Damn you, you tart!"
"Invocabo eclipsis!" The air was being sucked out around them – she could hardly breathe. Still, she did not stop. She couldn't. "Ab extra spiritus celat lumine lunae!"
The howling, moaning sound of thousands of invisible voices screamed around her, seemingly rising from the ground.
"You'll never win, girl! I won't let you!"
"Conjuro te! Revelamini faciantque reuerterunt!"
Apparitions of the dead floated up towards the sky, painting the world around them in a haze.
"Invocabo eclipsis!"
Then everything went dark.
Her vision was filled with a blinding redness, and her head was pounding. Her whole body felt sore – she could hardly move.
What had happened? Why was she in so much pain?
Suddenly, the events of the night before flooded her mind, and her eyes snapped open to wildly look around. She was back in the castle, lying in an infirmary bed. She slowly sat up, searing pain registering in her mind from her wrist. She unearthed it from the blankets she was wrapped in, and was surprised to find it bandaged.
"Kagome?"
Her head snapped towards the door.
"Inu…"
He nervously stood in the entry holding a tray of food. She watched his ears flick back and forth – an anxious antic.
"I brought you some soup," he whispered tentatively, his eyes filled with sorrow and regret.
"Thank you," she breathed, and he took that as permission to slowly approach her. He placed it on the table next to her bed, and she couldn't help but smile. It was French Onion – the same soup she had made for him when he had been injured all those months ago.
"How do you feel?" he asked demurely.
"Sore."
He winced. She knew he wanted to say something – she could see it. But it was clear that he was struggling for words.
"What happened?" she finally prompted, eating some of the soup. "The last thing I can remember is that wind storm…"
"You brought about a lunar eclipse. It was enough to put an end to the Blood Moon. Kagome...I…" he paused, his lower lip trembling slightly. "I'm so sorry, Kagome. I never meant to...You know I would never willingly…"
"Shhhh…" she hushed, taking his face between her hands and examining his eyes. They were clear. Vivid. Alert. These were the golden eyes she had come to know and love – not a trace of pink or red in them. Just white, black, and gold with flecks of amber. "I'm fine, and so are you. That's all that matters."
He nodded his head and climbed into bed with her, at her prodding.
She sighed in contentment. For the first time in weeks, she finally felt safe.
Kagome slowly removed the bandage from her wrist. She didn't quite want to see how bad she had hurt herself, yet she still needed to know. Inu had left for the kitchen not long before, and then bandage needed to be changed regardless.
He was in so much pain from what he had done to her, and she didn't want to hurt him more – it was better if she did it herself. Finally reaching the end of the bandage, she pulled it away from her arm, instantly palling.
Her wrist had healed...but now there was a scar marring her flesh. Her heart began to race and her breathing was ragged.
This wasn't real. This couldn't be happening...
She had been branded with a jagged black skull.
"My dear girl," Kaguya cackled darkly. "Don't you remember? Dark magic always comes with a price…"
Story Notes:
*Spirits from the beyond, hide the light from this moon. I summon thee. Reveal yourselves and do my bidding. I call upon the lunar eclipse.
The language she is speaking is Latin – I did this quickly and for fun, so I didn't ask for it to be translated by a teacher again. I just used Google Translate this time.
A/N:
Thank you ALL for reading this! And a special thanks to my Beta TequilaBlackbird for editing this even though she LOATHES Halloween! It's an off shoot from a "big" story here, Of Consequences and Redemption. If you've never heard of OCAR, you should sooooooo totally go to my profile and find it and read it.
I got the idea in my head, and it wouldn't leave me alone, so I detoured to work on it. I'm pretty happy with it on the whole...I hope you guys like it!
Unfortunately, since I detoured and have been job hunting lately, I'm noooooot quite done with Chapter 20. But I'll get it done as soon as I can! I know...I've been bad with updates lately...but I'm almost done with the story, I promise! Life has just been different lately, so...yeah!
Anywhoo, hope this was weird and creepy and that you liked it as much as I did :).
Anyone who isn't familiar with my work...I respond to EVERYONE who reviews me. Everyone. I feel that if you took the time to leave me a review and say something, then I should take the time to do the same and give you my thanks :). I'll post an AN chapter in a few weeks with author responses for those of you who do not have an account / are guests!
Happy Halloween, everyone! Stay safe and have fun! :)
Tata for now!
–Strawberry Grasshopper