OK SO COMPLETELY BLAME FANFICTION FOR MY NOT UPDATING QUICKLY! THEY WOULDN'T LET ME SUBMIT ANY DOCUMENTS FOR LIKE A WEEK!!!! ROAR! It pissed me off so much! I kept trying and trying and trying and trying and trying to do it, and I was afraid you'd all give up on me. I mean, i was preparing to send messages out to all of you that I couldn't write anymore because Fanfiction was being a fickle... Well, I'm just going to leave it right there before I really DO get kicked of FF! SORRY AGAIN GUYS!
Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha & crew or "duck and run" by 3 doors down. I also don't claim Patrick and Kat.
Duck & Run
It's the End of the Beginning
Kagome and Souta snuck into their house, knowing that he shouldn't be back yet. She still entered the house with caution and they both fidgeted around in the kitchen for ten minutes while she made them PB&J's and they ate them quickly. After they'd eaten and hidden any traces that they had done so they both went to their rooms and locked their doors.
Kagome paced her room wearily, getting more nervous the more time passed by and he hadn't returned home. She wanted to wait until he was asleep until she let herself settle down for the night. Maybe he wouldn't bother her tonight.
At around nine o'clock the front door slammed open and shut and there was the sound of stomping, drunk footsteps headed for the bottom of the stairs. She leaned against her door, her ear pressed up against the wood as she waited for him to make his way up the stairs. When he finally began to ascend the stairs she held her breath and prayed that he would walk past her door.
She knew she wouldn't be able to take very many more beatings, because she'd gotten so unused to them. This always happened at new houses, he was always the first week or so, settling business and such. For that week or so she would recover and start to grow healthy and strong again and then he would return and beat her again so she wouldn't forget it. Usually he would only hit her until she fell unconscious, but yesterday had been different.
Yesterday he had lusted and then raged. He had almost completely lost his control and had beaten her harder than usual. The last time he'd beaten her that hard, she had to miss school the day after. The last time she'd been beaten that hard it had been because she had made friends.
For the few seconds she'd been contemplating her doom, he'd made it to the top of the staircase and she could suddenly hear his drunken, labored breathing outside of the door. The door knob jiggled a bit when he tried to open it up and her breath hitched in her throat. She knew what would come next if she didn't open it up immediately, yet she still held back.
"Kagome babe, open up tha door, willya? Now please." His voice was deadly calm, if not heavily slurred from all the alcohol he had probably consumed that day. After a minute of waiting she heard him begin to get angry, "Open up tha FUCKIN door, you whore!"
After a few more seconds she ducked her head and slowly opened the door and backed away from him. He was a mess and he didn't look half as angry as he was horny. He shoved her against the door, which he had slammed shut and locked. He pinned her arms above her head and licked up her neck to her ear, "Ya miss me?"
"No… G-get away…" Her breathing was coming in dreadful heave-like sobs as he kept her arms pinned with one hand and used the other to trace down her body to her thighs, where he began to sneak his hand up her skirt.
Before he got much farther he paused and grinned, "Ya like that dontcha? That's why you wore that skirt. To appeal me more. Ta make it easier."
She whimpered and somehow got the strength to throw herself violently away from him to land hard on the floor and that was when he commenced to beating her out of anger. It was about an hour later that she felt him grab her hips and rub himself against her and that was when it happened.
One of the dreams came to her for some reason, strong and sure: A woman was staring straight at her, and glaring. Beside her was Inuyasha and he looked guilty of something. From inside of herself, she felt a growing anger, jealousy, as hot as coals. Hands raised themselves in front of her and they were glowing purple.
A fear of herself replaced her anger and hate and she directed her hands at an ugly demon that appeared instead of at that horrible woman. Kikyo, that was right. The woman's name was Kikyo.
All at once she was brought back to reality and her stepfather was passed out on top of her, with his pants halfway undone. She hurriedly shoved him off of herself before she scrambled to her bathroom and threw up everything she'd eaten. She held her stomach and it began to grow heated.
Her worry that he'd actually done something to her rushed her to look at her stomach, but not at her hands at first. It took her a while to notice that the bathroom was glowing with some light and she hadn't turned on any lights whatsoever. And then she saw them, she saw her hands. They were glowing brightly, the same as in her dream and it was then that she began to understand.
She must have knocked her stepfather out right before he did something horrible to her. She went into her room and kicked him over, then nervously bent down to feel his heartbeat. Luckily, yet unluckily, it was still beating, if not for a little weakly. She dragged him out of her room and into his own, and then retreated back to her little room and locked the door.
But the security of a locked door wasn't enough for her beaten and battered body and psyche, so she shoved her dresser in front of her door also. Once she was done she threw herself onto her bed and cried herself to sleep, occasionally having to get up and retch again, wishing she could wash herself of his filth.
When her alarm went off she almost screamed because she thought it was him for a moment for some reason. She got herself up quickly and ran through the crawl space in her closet to Souta's room and made sure he was getting ready. They both quickly exited the house and ran half the way to the park where they both showered and got ready.
As they were walking to Souta's school Kagome turned to him, "Hey Souta, are you doing anything after school today?"
"Yah, I think I'm going to Shippos… Why?" He looked at his sister and cringed, knowing that under all her makeup there were even more bruises than yesterday. He must have gotten to her after he'd fallen asleep.
"Ok, good. I was just hoping that I'd be able to go to band practice and that you would be taken care of while I'm there. I like Shippo and Kaede." She gave her worried brother a small smile and ruffled his hair.
"You're in a band sis?" His eyes lit up in excitement when he thought about her being in a band. She'd been in one before and it had made her so happy, but then she had to quit when their stepfather had began to get suspicious.
"Yup! It's Inuyasha's band, and I'm singing for them. I think that's what they wanted me to do anyway. I'll ask Inuyasha if he minds driving you and I home. How does that sound?"
"Sounds good to me! I like Inuyasha. He's nice, but don't you think it's a bad idea to make friends again? After what happened to Eri?"
He watched as his sister ducked her head and brushed her hair back. She stared off into the distance, "I know I shouldn't, but I just like him too much. He treats me like a human being. I know its selfish of me, it's just that I like feeling protected."
Souta shrugged his shoulders and then gave her a hug, "I love you sis, bye!" Kagome was a little shocked when she realized they'd already arrived at his school. She waved to him and yelled out, "I LOVE YOU TOO SOUTA!"
With that she took off at a steady jog because she felt like getting to her school as soon as possible and sitting down to sleep longer. She'd barely slept at all last night, with all her frightened visits to the bathroom to throw up. Since she had to use the downstairs bathroom since her own was locked, the time it took her to get down there rested heavily on her nerves. Every creak made her want to just shoot herself and die.
And so the day passed by with her jumping and fidgeting crazily at any noise or touch. Whenever her friends would touch her in a friendly, general way, she would leap away from them. A few times they caught her close to tears when they even tried to touch her gently on the hand to comfort her.
She was paranoid, that was for sure. The teachers eyes bored into her and she knew they must all be getting suspicious at all the bruises she wore. She honestly did not mean to wear them around like trophies, but even her best concealer wouldn't disguise the ugly puffiness about her body and face and the black that was impossible to hide.
She would sit at her desks and tap at them, jittering and then flying out of her chair as soon as the bell would ring. During lunch she didn't show up, and instead went into the bathroom to cut and throw up a little. By now all she was doing was dry heaving, but the need to get the filth he placed on her out of her system. To her, every time he touched her, his filth would absorb into her skin and it needed to be purged.
To cut or to throw up, those were her two choices to get rid of it. By the time her last hour was over she was pale and gastly looking. Inuyasha approached her, and from experience throughout the day he had learned not to approach her from behind or to surprise her in any way. And he didn't even dare to touch her, as he'd learned in gym class when he tried to look at her arms to see if she had cut, and she had screeched and cried and hit.
He walked slowly up beside her and looked at her, keeping a few feet away from her as he asked rather loudly so she would know he was there, "Hey, Kags, you need a ride to practice?"
Her weary eyes acknowledged him and she gazed ahead and answered him in a meek voice, "Yes please, if that's alright with you."
His eyebrows rose at her very polite response and he looked at her again, "Yah, that's why I asked you. Are you sure you're feeling well enough to go? Maybe you need to go home and sleep it off, you look horrible."
At this response she looked at him and shook her head as hard as possible and looked at him with pleading eyes, "Please, please. I just want to go to practice with you. Please? I promise I'll be fine. Look! I'm feeling better already!" She forced a bright smile and bounced around painfully, trying to act all bubbly and get some color in her cheeks.
When she realized she was within a foot of him she leapt away and began to walk again. He shrugged his shoulders and watched her closely as they got into his car and they drove off to his house.
On the ride there she began to fidget again and then finally gasped out, "Inuyasha, can you please open up the windows? I'm suffocating in here!"
Inuyasha looked at her like she was crazy, "I can turn down the heat, but I doubt you want me to roll down the windows! It's only 25 degrees outside right now, Kagome! And you're not wearing a sweatshirt and you ARE wearing a skirt…" He paused and then looked down at her to see that she was wearing jeans instead, "Wow… Umm, I guess I'd gotten used to seeing you in a skirt."
"I'll be fine, just please open the windows. I'm not hot, I can just barely breath in here!" Her knuckles were turning white where she was gripping the edge of her seat, looking at him anxiously. One of her hands went to her throat as she began to pant, struggling to breath.
He looked at her once more before quickly rolling down the windows and watching her leap to one and stick her head out the window, breathing deeply. His concern for her grew more when he saw her begin to shiver and continue to stick her head out the window.
When they finally reached his house he watched her get out of the car shivering and wobbling a bit. He walked over to her and put his arm out behind her back, making sure not to touch her but to have it there just in case she decided she was going to fall back. He looked at her and frowned, "Kagome, come inside my house and sit down. Geez, I shouldn't have brought you. You're sick and you should be home eating hot soup and sleeping it off."
She shook her head again as she followed him into his house and sit down, beginning to fidget again, "No, I'd rather be here. Can't let the band down, can I?" her voice was rushed and nervous and she looked around, jumping at any little noise that came to her ears. She gripped the edges of the cushions on the couch as she looked quickly to him and then out one of the windows, "Where is everyone else?"
He sighed and resigned himself to not knowing what was wrong with her. He sat down in one of the chairs next to the couch that she was sitting on and said lazily, "They're probably still driving. Usually they stop and pick up a pack of water bottles for practice and then head here. They should be here in another ten minutes, just calm down."
She nodded and for the next ten minutes she occupied herself by flipping through a guitar magazine. Everything in the magazine would have enthralled her usually, but she was so on edge that she couldn't focus on any of it.
Soon the cars were pulling up and they all filed downstairs to the set. She dragged herself down to the stool and sat herself down, propping the microphone and grabbing her guitar and strummed a few songs and began to hum to herself, soon getting lost in the current of her emotions.
They swept her into a song that she had last sung when she had first attempted to take her life. She remembered slowly slipping away, the song falling from her lips and her hands getting too numb to play anything more. She had fallen asleep but by some wicked trick of the fates she had lived.
And now she was alive and singing the one song that made her feel like her life was displayed for all to see.
Breathe in right away, nothing seems to fill this place. I need this every time, take your lies get off my case. Someday I will find a love, that flows through me like this. This will fall away, this will fall away. You're getting closer to pushing me off of life's little edge. Cause I'm a loser, and sooner or later you know I'll be dead. You're getting closer, you're holding the rope, I'm taking the fall. Cause I'm a loser, I'm a loser, yeah. This is getting old, I can't break these chains that I hold. My body's growing cold, there's nothin left of this mind, or my soul. Addiction needs a pacifier, the buzz of this poison is taking me higher. This will fall away, this will fall away. You're getting closer, to pushing me off of life's little edge. Cause I'm a loser and sooner or later you know I'll be dead. You're getting closer, you're holding the rope and I'm taking the fall. Cause I'm a loser. You're getting closer, to pushing me off of life's little edge. Cause I'm a loser and sooner or later you know I'll be dead. You're getting closer, you're holding the rope and I'm taking the fall Cause I'm a loser.
Nobody said anything about the song and they continued to play. By the end of practice Kagome's voice was shot and she chugged a few waters before wiping her forehead of sweat. She hardly noticed Inuyasha coming to sit beside her until he spoke, "Kagome, you fit perfectly into the band! Good job." He first attempted to make her smile but when he saw that his plan wasn't working he sighed and looked down at his hands, "Well, you want me to take you home now?"
She nodded shortly and then stood up, stretching a little and pretending as if she wasn't worried about returning home, "So, I was wondering… Could we possibly pick Souta up and bring him home too? I don't want him walking home alone at this time of night, since it's getting dark."
He nodded and grabbed his jacket, and then reached in and grabbed Kagome one of his older jackets too. He watched as she put it on slowly, as if she was sore or in pain. His mouth formed a frown as he shrugged into his jacket, "Ok guys, let yourselves out. Last one locks the door, as always. I'm taking Kagome home."
All of the band nodded and said their good byes and Kagome and Inuyasha left his house and began the slow, silent drive to Shippo's house. Once they got there and picked Souta up, there was a little more conversation, but not much. The only words that passed between them all were spoken to Souta or by Souta.
As they pulled up to their house Souta and Kagome got out and waved good bye to Inuyasha. They both waited for him to drive away before either of them approached the front door. As Kagome opened the front door she felt an overwhelming sense of dread.
The living room was covered in beer cans and radiated smoke and crap, and instantly she knew he was not going to be in a good mood. She quickly shoved Souta towards the stairs but she was too late and her stepfather had her by her wrist.
The stench of alcohol reached her nose as he breathed into her face, "Where ya goin Kaggie? Not up fer some fuuun? Whereya been? Ya have a boyfriend, eh, lil slut? Toldya yer not s'pposed to 'ave one o' those, didn't I? Don't worry, I'll deal wit 'im lata. Fer now, I'll deal witchu"
And that's when the blows rained down upon her, harder and fiercer than ever before. Her screams were weak and useless since her voice had been run down during practice. She saw Souta's face and she knew that tonight would be the night she would die, and if she didn't do anything, it would be Souta's last night on earth as well. She screamed out to him, looking him straight in the eyes, "RUN!"
To her relief he turned and ran out the front door and she could hear his footsteps trailing away from the house through the blows. A few times the lights seemed to flicker, only for her to figure out that it was her body trying to give up and pass out. Or shut down.
And as Kagome was being beaten Souta ran as hard and as fast as he could, and for some reason he knew exactly where to go. He ran all the way into town and was searching through a phone book in a phone booth until he found the name he wanted: Inuyasha Taisho.
His fingers shook as he began to dial the number and he ignored the sound of a car pulling up beside him and stopping. The phone rang endlessly and he began to cry a little because nobody was picking up. When finally someone did pick up he didn't give them a chance to speak and just cried out, "Inuyasha! It's Kagome, she's in trouble! Please, you have to help her! PLEASE!" he was bawling and then he felt a hand grab his forcefully and slam the phone down.
He turned around and saw the most sinister looking man he's ever seen. Souta wobbled and backed up, only to run into the glass of the phone booth. He cried out and started to struggle against the man.
"Oh, dear little Souta, is it? Why are you trying to ruin your stepfather's fun?" Naraku leaned down and smiled against the boys ear as he whispered, "Oh, how rude of me. The names Naraku. A good friend of your stepfathers. We're going to have fun, aren't we?"
While he started to drag Souta towards his car back at Inuyasha's house Patrick hung up the phone, white as a sheet. All of them rushed to his side and asked him lots of questions before he finally choked out, "I need to call Inuyasha."
He quickly dialed the numbers of Inuyasha's cell phone and sat down, afraid he might fall down. As they all waited anxiously around him he fidgeted, praying that Inuyasha would actually pick up his cell phone for once. After a few rings he heard his answer, "Hey, what do ya need? I'm almost back."
Patrick sagged with relief and quickly spat out, "Inuyasha! It's Kagome, she needs you. Some boy just called and he sounded freaked out. I think Kagome may be in serious danger!"
The urgency in his friends voice had already alerted him to the danger she must be in so he had ended up hanging up on him right after his friend had spoken those two words 'It's Kagome'. He immediately did a sharp U-turn and started speeding off towards Kagome's house again. He knew she must be at her house, because he'd sensed the evil there before.
At the edge of town headed towards Kagome's house he spotted Naraku's car and growled. He almost ran into it when he realized that Naraku was outside of the car and dragging Souta into it. Inuyasha screeched to a halt and leapt out the car, instantly at Naraku's throat. Both of the half demons were ripping at each other while Souta quickly made his way to Inuyasha's car and honked the horn.
The urgency of his situation made him forget about beating the crap out of Naraku for a minute and he shoved the other man to the ground and kicked him a few times before he sprinted to his car and he sped off again towards her house.
Souta was in the back crying that Kagome was going to die and all Inuyasha could do was growl and curse. As he sped off the sudden urge to say something he usually would never say came to him, "Hold on Kagome, I'm coming…"
Back at Kagome's house she was being beaten senseless and somehow managed to stay conscious through it all. The hits were becoming more and more lusty and soon he was tying her hands behind her back. She screamed at loud as she could as she watched him go grab a knife from the cabinet.
This is what happened to all his female victims and she couldn't help but feel a growing need to just kill herself right there before it happened. As he stalked over her heart began to race even faster and she struggled as much as she could, backing away against the wall.
Her weakened body didn't make it very far before he was on top of her, kissing her harshly as he cut her shirt from her body, he used the shirt to blindfold her. He held the knife to her throat for a minute, silencing her as he cut a little into her milky skin, "Don't struggle as much, and I'll make it feel good." He purred into her ear before he heard her start screaming against.
He glared and let out a vehement curse and shrugged, violently taking down his pants and rubbing himself against her naked skin before he cursed again, "Where's that damn skirt of yours when I need it?"
She was sobbing harshly as she felt her jeans slip down to her ankles and she tried to kick him as he spread her legs. She gripped her thighs as hard as she could together as he tried to pull down her panties.
Right as he tore her legs apart and positioned himself over her the front door slammed open and what happened next happened in a flash. She barely realized what happened, she didn't even know who it was that tore that vile male body away from hers.
The sound of a fight only reached her senses and then she heard a terrible scream and a body hit the floor heavily. She began to cry again, knowing that her stepfather must have killed whoever it was and was coming back for her. She curled in on herself and prayed that she would prove enough of a fight to cause him to just kill her.
When bloody hands gripped her she screamed and struggled, trying her best to get away from them. After a few seconds of extreme struggling she heard a voice she never thought she'd hear again, come in a heaving breath, "Kagome, calm down. It's alright, shh, it's me, Inuyasha… It's going to be ok."
The instant his sweet voice hit her ears she let herself go limp in his grip and cried in painful sobs as he took the blindfold off and started to undo the ropes binding her hands. All the fight in her left her as she started to shake uncontrollably, and he pulled her pants up for her before slipping his jacket around her naked shoulders.
He rocked her back and forth in his arms as he kissed the top of her head, "Gods, I'm so sorry Kagome… I'm so sorry… Damnit, I couldn't protect you!" A few of his tears and blood dripped down and hit her swollen face and she smiled lightly.
"It's alright… I love you Inuyasha. Thank you." With that she passed on, a bright light starting to glow upon her. As she took her last breaths memories passed through her and she remembered. She remembered it all, the feudal era, Inuyasha, Miroku, Shippo, Sango, Kaede, Kikyo…. All of them passed through her mind and she felt herself return to that place but none of them were there anymore. She'd left them all stuck in that horrible place. She had to try and get back there and tell them.
Inuyasha watched her close her eyes and for a moment he thought she was only becoming unconscious. But after a few moments he began to worry and pressed his ear against her mouth and realized she wasn't breathing. His panic sky rocketed and his breathing became labored and he screamed her name, "KAGOME! KAGOME! Wake up, you idiot! I'm here now! You can't die!" he turned and looked all around him, unsure of what to do as he cried and finally he decided he had to get her to a hospital.
He picked her up and carried her to his car and as he did he bit his wrist hard and opened her mouth, letting some of his own blood drip down her throat. It seemed like a good idea even as Souta began to scream and cry and he started to drive like a madman towards the hospital.
After a few minutes of driving he looked towards her and saw some of the color regain to her cheeks. After another few minutes she cried out and spluttered, spitting up a little blood as she did. Her eyes flew open and she gripped her heart, panting.
At that moment nothing seemed to matter anymore, only that she was still alive. He was crying openly as he drove faster towards the hospital and cursed out surprisingly caring words at her, "Damn you Kagome! Don't fucking scare me like that again! DAMN you! You're making me fucking cry!"
By the time they reached the emergency room both of them were so weak from their wounds that they simply passed out. Neither of them knew of what happened after that.
Yay! Bet you're all happy about this chapter. Even if one of the main problems is gone, the plot still thickens! I HAVE MORE! Don't plan on this story ending soon, unless you all want it to.
How about another 10 comments?
Topazchick08: Thank you!
BlackParade: Yup, fluffity fluff.
Turtlehugs: Sorry that you had to wait a week or so.
Fantin4Sun: She didn't have to tell him hah.
Shippo700: Thank you!
Marufan: Thank you!
Pay Backs a Bitch: Nope, not that I recall. And the happy chapters are coming.
NasakeSuneku: Thank you! I hope this chapter wasn't too overdramatic.
Demented Angie: I know! I love Patrick… hehe.
Neko-Angel66: Yes, I have been.
WallMagnet19: Thank you haha.
To this world I'm unimportant Just because I have nothing to give. So you call this your free country, Tell me why it cost so much to live, Tell me why. This world can turn me down But I won't turn away, oh no I won't turn around. All my work and endless measures. Never seem to get me very far, Walk a mile just to move an inch Now even though I'm trying so damn hard I'm trying so hard. This world can turn me down but I Won't turn away, And I won't duck and run, cause I'm not built that way. When everything is gone there is Nothing there to fear. This world cannot bring me down, No cause I'm already here, oh no! I am already here, Down on my knees, I am already here, on no, I am Already here. I must have told you a thousand times, I am not running away. I won't duck and run I won't duck and run I won't duck and run No pass away. This world can turn me down but I Won't turn away And I won't duck and run, cause I'm not built that way. When everything is gone There is nothing there to fear. This world cannot bring me down No cause I'm already here. This world can turn me down. But I won't turn away, And I won't duck away Cause I'm not built that way. When everything is gone there Is nothing there to fear. This world cannot bring me down, No cause I'm already here.