The Howling
"KAGOME!"
Yuka grabbed ahold of Kagome and hauled her backwards before she too would plummet from the window opening.
"Let me go, Yuka!" Kagome screamed as she struggled against her friend's hold. "I've got to get to Ayumi!"
"Well, you're not going to do that from up here!" Yuka yelled back as she struggled to keep the hysterical girl under control. "Falling out that window isn't going to do anything for Ayumi, or for you!"
"LET ME GO!!!"
"KAGOME!!"
Yuka drew her hand back and slapped Kagome hard across the face. Kagome stumbled back from her in shock, lifting her hand to cover the throbbing red mark.
"I'm sorry I had to do that, Kagome. But you were being ridiculous!"
Kagome nodded numbly. "You're right. I can't help her from up here." She turned back to look out into the night through the window opening. "No, not from up here…" She spun quickly back to face Yuka, her eyes hardened from the pain of her losses. "The courtyard. That is where all of this began. That is where the shadow has been trying to lead us. That is where the anguished howls ring out from. That is where we will find the demon Lord. And that is where the dark one keeping us prisoner here will be."
Kagome began walking towards the room's exit filled with purpose, and Yuka followed her. They made their way back along the darkened corridor, the strong beams of their flashlights leading the way. For Kagome, there was no more time or reason for hesitation or indecision. She knew who's spirit it was that haunted these grounds, and she had strong reason to believe that she also knew of the evil sprit that had cursed them all to this dark existence.
"Kagome," Yuka asked quietly as they reached the top landing of the staircase. "What did you mean when you said that we would find the demon Lord? Isn't the dark spirit the demon that we are looking for?"
"No, Yuka," Kagome sighed as she began the treacherous decent down the rickety old staircase. "The demon Lord was the son of the great dog that was painted in that portrait in the hallway. He was immeasurably strong, cold and cunning, ruthless and cruel. But a long time ago, all that changed, and it was all because of one little girl. The girl's name was Rin. She was human, but somehow she managed to find her way into the heart of a great demon. The ice encasing his soul began to crack because of her radiant warmth, opening his heart after thousands of years to finally know love. The demon Lord, Sesshomaru, he was the one who you told the story about. He was the one who was betrayed by that young girl whose ghost we saw in that bedroom. He is the one who cries out his anguish in those chilling howls."
The stair beneath Yuka creaked loudly on the verge of collapse. She threw herself across the stair to latch onto the railing and pull her weight from the old wood. "He sure…picked a bad time…to start…trusting people," she panted as she released the rail and started forward again.
"I don't know," Kagome mused. "Isn't it better to die with love in your heart than to live an eternity without ever knowing its light?"
Yuka bit her lip to keep from answering that question. It was rhetorical, there wasn't supposed to be a real answer, but given everything that they had seen so far in this place, Yuka was sure she could have presented a pretty good argument to the contrary. However, she knew that this was not the time for a heavy philosophical discussion, so she kept her opinions to herself.
When they reached the bottom of the stairs, Kagome turned to Yuka. "I think we can reach the courtyard through the window in the study. We may not be able to leave through the door, but the barrier doesn't seem to be affecting the windows leading to the courtyard. And since we've already been to the study, we know what to expect."
Yuka nodded in approval to the plan, and the two girls began the passage through the dark corridors of the old house.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- AAWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO -
"He's close," Kagome whispered to Yuka as she peered out the window of the study into the darkened courtyard beyond.
"It sounds like a wolf," Yuka said in warning. "Are you sure that beast isn't the dark demon? Are you sure it isn't going to try and eat us once we step out there?"
"Yuka," Kagome sighed. "You can stay here if you want, but I can't guarantee that you'll be any safer in here than out there. I don't know if Sesshomaru's spirit will attack us or not, but I do know that his howls are full of pain and I'm not going to stand by and let those anguished cries go on without at least trying something. And besides, Ayumi is out there somewhere. We can't leave her."
"You left Eri with no problems." Yuka spit out angrily.
Kagome closed her eyes tightly against the painful accusation. "I…I couldn't help her," she choked out.
The pain of knowing it had been her failure that had led her friend to her death was almost too much from Kagome, but she fought against it. She needed to stay strong for what still lay ahead. She opened her eyes, blinked hard a couple of time to force away her building tears, then took a firm hold of the window ledge and used it to pull herself out of the study.
She dropped down the few feet to the ground, her landing stirring up old dirt and dried leaves. The courtyard was huge. The beam of her flashlight barely managed to penetrate halfway through the darkness, but from above, the light from the moon and stars spilled down into the vast space. Kagome decided that she would be better off with letting her eyes to adjust to the natural light, and she turned off her portable lantern and tucked it away in the fold of her miko's garb.
The sound of Yuka landing next to her, made Kagome look back. She smiled slightly at her friend, trying to convey her thanks that she would not be facing this alone, but Yuka was not looking at her. Her sight was fixed on the centre of the courtyard where a grand fountain raised up out of the ground. The marble surface had been eroded by time, and what should have been a magnificent carving at the peak of the structure, was nothing but crumbling remains. But it was not the fountain Yuka was looking at.
Just past the grand fountain, hardly visible from within the deeper shadows cast by the gnarled old trees on the opposite side of the courtyard; the starlight shimmered against a glittering surface of gold. Kagome recognized the reflection as Ayumi's tiara, and as she moved closer to investigate, she began to see the dark outline of her friend's flowing gown.
Kagome had nearly reached the old fountain, when she began to see Ayumi clearly. She was walking with slow, jerky steps, each one seeming forced and hesitant. Her eyes stayed focused straight ahead, not giving notice to anything around her but for her destination, but from those eyes, from a place where Ayumi was not being controlled, tears of fear and of torment were spilling down her face.
Kagome moved to skirt around the fountain in pursuit of her friend, but before she could, Yuka grabbed onto her arm to make her stop.
"Kagome," she whispered harshly. "She's being controlled by that ghost. She's going to lead you right into a trap!"
"No she isn't," Kagome snapped as she ripped her arm out of Yuka grasp. "The girl's ghost is making Ayumi walk in her footsteps. She's leading us to where the dark spirit rests."
"Kagome, think about it!" Yuka hissed. "Why would that ghost possess someone if it didn't mean to do any harm?!"
"Because she can't do it herself," Kagome replied hastily. "The shadows, remember? The ghost can't step out of the shadows."
Kagome turned away from Yuka. "I'm going," she said with conviction, then began her pursuit again.
Yuka made to go after her, but something within her gave her pause. There was something out there in those shadows, she knew, and something terrible was about to happen. Se couldn't let Kagome go in alone, but something within her cried out in warning…something…something wasn't right. Something wasn't right with the way they had been led to this place, something wasn't right about the way the Youkai had spoken to her, something wasn't right about the way she had felt when her body rushed with exhilaration as her blade cut into that demon's flesh…something…
But even as she battled through the confusion and the hesitations in her mind, her body began moving forward. She was being drawn towards the shadows.
- - - - - - - - - - - -
Kagome followed Ayumi across the back stretch of the courtyard, stopping when her friend took the final step of her trek. The deep shadows cast by the trees engulfed Ayumi, but even so, Kagome could see that something was happening to her friend.
A shadow shifted in the depths of the darkness, catching Kagome's eye and making her turn towards it. Hidden in the shadows, nearly a part of them, she began to see the shape of a young man. Though she could not see his face, she could see the dark, haunted eyes that caught what light was allowed in this dark place, and she knew. The boy had become a man, and the man a saddened specter. His life had been destroyed by the darkness since his first death, and now in his second he had been cursed to suffer eternally. Kohaku.
He approached Ayumi slowly, and as he did so, her body began to stiffen. Slowly and steadily, the shadows around Ayumi began to shift, and from where she had taken refuge inside the living body of Ayumi, Rin began to move back into the shadows she had been cursed to. But the apparition that was leaving Ayumi was not the same as the one who had brought her here. When she emerged, Rin was no longer the specter of a girl, but that of woman.
After the separation of spirit and flesh had been complete, Ayumi collapsed to the ground with a rushing of layered cloth. She did not move from the place where she had fallen. She had been rendered unconscious by the ghost; at least, that was what Kagome was hoping.
Kagome took in a shaky breath as she tried to decide on her next course of action. She wanted to go to her friend, to make sure that she was safe; but she knew that this meeting between the young lovers that was playing out for her was the one that had caused the darkness to descend upon this place, and she knew that somewhere that darkness lay waiting for something to happen…something…
"Kagome!" Yuka's voice from behind her, made Kagome jump in fright. "What are you waiting for?" Yuka urged once she had Kagome's attention. "Use your mystical arrows! Kill those ghosts!"
"But…but I…"
"No more stalling, Kagome!" Yuka snapped. "We've been running around in this death trap, loosing our friends one by one because of your leniency! Those ghosts are the ones keeping us here! Kill them!"
"But…"
"No buts, Kagome! I don't want to die in this place! KILL THEM!"
Kagome was confused and shaken. Part of Yuka said had rang true to her. She had been the one to lead them into the room where they lost Eri. She had been the one who refused to loose her arrow at Jaken which resulted in Ayumi being left open to the possession. And now she was standing watching the players from so long ago acting out their final moments and doing nothing to stop it.
But even as she hesitantly drew her bow from her shoulder, she knew that there still something missing…something…
- AAWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO -
Kagome gasped and stumbled back in fright when the massive dog materialized before her eyes. It leapt down from above as though it had been walking on the moonbeams, its brilliant white coat glimmering in the starlight even though its body was so transparent she could see straight thought it. It stood as high as she, and the terrifying crimson of its eyes were locked onto her with purpose and intent. It took a deliberate step forward, its lip lifting as it did so into a frightening snarl.
"What are you waiting for?!" Yuka screamed. "Kill it!"
But Kagome couldn't, she wouldn't.
"Sesshomaru," She called out hesitantly. "Do you remember me?"
The spectral dog stopped its approach in response to the miko's voice. Even after so long of being cursed to this existence, he still found familiarity in the sounding of his name. He watched as the girl took a tentative step towards him, and somehow he knew that she would be the one to cast off the darkness forever, somehow he knew that she had been the one who had stopped it before.
But if it was not she that harbored the dark spirit…
Kagome stopped her approach instantly when a threatening growl was released by the spectral dog. For a moment she believed that he was truly going to attack her, but she quickly realized that it was no longer her that the dog's fiery eyes were trained on. She turned back to face Yuka just in time. It was only her reflexes, gained after so many battles; that saved Kagome's life. She lifted the bow in her hand just seconds before Yuka's dagger could plunge into her back, and deflected the blow.
"YUKA!!!" she screamed. "What are you doing?!"
But Yuka's mind and body had been taken over. She was no longer friend, and she was no longer capable of reason. She released a wild cry of fury and lunged forward again in attack.
- AAWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO -
He was on her before she even moved an inch, his fierce fangs and sharp claws taking hold of what had claimed her soul. His spectral form passed through Yuka without ever really touching her, but when he emerged, Sesshomaru's spirit had trapped within his grasp the dark figure that had brought all of this madness down upon his house.
Yuka collapsed the second the dark spirit had been ripped from her body, and Kagome reached forward to catch her before she could fall.
"Yuka!" Kagome called her name urgently as she shook her friend's shoulders to try and bring her around, but Yuka had been left unconscious.
Kagome sobbed brokenly as she lowered her friend to the ground, but she resolutely scrubbed away her threatening tears and climbed back to her feet. Once standing again, Kagome looked to the creatures locked in their eternal battle. It was a terrible fray. The two creatures were tearing at each other with unveil hatred and unstoppable fury. It was a war of light against dark, and when the two crashed together, the ground shook with outrage.
Kagome lifted her bow and trained an arrow to point into the madness, but with the creatures locked so closely together in their heated battle, she was left with no clear shot. Somehow, she needed to find a way to end this all, but she knew that if her arrow were to hit Sesshomaru's spirit first, that there would be nothing to stop the dark one from advancing on her.
She didn't know what to do. She was alone, she was terrified, and it seemed that nothing she could do would stop the madness.
But she was drawn away from her inner turmoil when a soft melody was carried over the thick night air to her ears. Kagome turned towards the sound, and she saw the apparition of Rin's elder self drifting back across the courtyard. The light didn't seem to be affecting her any more. Though she was still obviously a ghost, something was keeping her from fading back into the shadows; something was allowing her the power to move on her own.
And then she saw it, the sharp glint of a blade reflected the light back at her, and Kagome realized what had happened.
The encounter between Rin and Kohaku had been the same encounter that had led them here. He had given Rin the cursed blade, and it was that which was affording her the power to complete her mission.
Kagome starred after the girl for a moment, her mind racing with possibilities; but eventually she came upon the realization that it was the accumulation of these events which had led to the horrible betrayal and the terrible curse. If somehow she could stop the events from playing out as they had, perhaps things could be different.
She made her decision and left the battle behind her, dashing across the courtyard toward the study's window she had come from. She reached the house only moments after the apparition had disappeared behind the walls, and she pushed all of her strength into leaping up to the windowsill. For a few moments, Kagome struggled with pulling herself through the window, but her determination won out in the end and she managed to pull herself through, tumbling to the study's floor in a heap.
But she collected herself quickly and pulled away from the floor. When she looked up into the room, she could make out the impressions of two separate shadows. One was moving towards the doorway where the other stood, but the shadow in the doorway was not completely dark, for in its grasp it held the evil blade.
"SESSHOMARU!!!!"
Kagome shot forward and wrapped her arms around the shadow of the demon Lord, but as she did so, she could feel the darkness moving through her body. The evil blade could not be stopped in its course.
"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!"
Kagome's pain-filled scream echoed shrilly through the halls of the great mansion, but with it a radiant light exploded into the night and chased away even the darkest shadows.
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HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!!!!!
I know, I said that I was going to try to get the last chapter up tonight, and I'm still going to try but I might not succeed. This story dragged out a little longer than I had thought it would, but there is only one chapter left. And for those of you who are itching to see a living Sesshomaru, I'll get to that next chapter.
So, please leave a treat for your authoress on your way out and review.
Shadows could not exist if it were not for the light.
Disclaimer: Unfortunately my imagination only goes so far as to create plotlines not characters. I don't own any of them.