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Chapter Five: Distrust

A twenty-eight year old grudge

If at first you don't succeed…try, try again

It's time now, she will die

A princess with an unforgettable death

Inuyasha held the piece of paper carefully, his gloves feeling heavy as he reread the lines, memorizing them and burning them in his memory. He let out a deep breath and closed his eyes. Great, he already had a nightmare last night and didn't need another.

"Could it be a trick? A copycat showing the emotions felt or the actual killer?" Sango asked, studying the black white paper with bold black ink on it scribbled letters of a haunting letter.

Inuyasha shook his head. "I don't think so. It's 'any person' writing and whoever the victim in the note is, is in the correct assumption. What I don't get though is…why?"

"It doesn't make sense. Whoever wrote this gave us some clues or something to work on though. Like, what happened twenty-eight years ago that created this grudge so fierce it was enough to kill? And the 'try, try again' part? Does that mean it's killed before?"

"I don't know. That's too many questions and not enough answers. This could just be a trick though."

Ayame, who was still in the room, listened to what they said, unknowing to what was on the letter. From the sounds of it though… "Can I see it chief?" she asked nervously.

Nodding, Inuyasha handed the paper over to her and Ayame snapped on a pair of latex gloves in a box at the side of the room just in case for fingerprints. When she saw it, her suspicions were confirmed.

"It's not the killer," Ayame said clearly, the nervousness in her voice gone. She was without a doubt positive of her answer.

"Why not?" Sango asked, eyeing Ayame in approval.

"Because," Ayame started, "if the killer was going to contact us, let's say as a taunt –which it is mostly likely to be- it would be written in first person. 'A' would be 'my' and there are a couple places where you could make one of the words possessive. So that would rule out that the killer is trying to taunt us and if they are taunting us, then why send a letter? It has to be from someone with inside information, someone who knows what's going on."

When both Sango and Inuyasha didn't speak, Ayame looked up at the curiously, awaiting their thoughts.

Sango slapped her forehead with the palm of her hand. "Why the hell didn't we think of that? Jesus Inuyasha, I think we need more coffee."

"Good idea," Inuyasha smirked and then looked to Ayame. "Where did you find this?"

"Under the mat in front of our door." When she saw the crazed looks of her bosses, she sighed. "I know. I thought it was suspicious too but I'm thinking that whoever sent this was afraid, probably wished to remain anonymous. Maybe they had a struggle between what was right and wrong? Thinking that they know what's happening, if they're caught giving us info, they could most likely be killed so half-consciously they put it under the mat, logically thinking that if we needed the clues desperately enough, we would find it."

Inuyasha scowled. "I don't like the sound of all these 'maybes' and 'ifs.' I want this letter run for prints and a copy made with the original put away. The envelope that it came in should be checked for prints too. I want to know the ink and type of paper used everything. If we can at least narrow down the playing field somewhat, are jobs will be made a hell of a lot easier."

Ayame nodded and left, following through with her orders and then a ring killed the silence of the room. Inuyasha looked down to see her cell phone flashing and vibrating and she grabbed it without hesitance and answered it. "Speak to me."

"Reporting in chief," Kouga's smooth voice came from the other side. "Kagome just left. I'm following her at a fair distance, not enough to draw attention. Hell, just to make my life easier she told me where she was going too."

"Kagome? You're on a first name basis?" Inuyasha asked, anger washing through him.

"Yeah. She's a great woman, very kind. Anyways, so far she's done nothing suspicious but…"

"What Kouga? Spill it."

"She went to the local library; you know the one near the pharmacy? Well, I didn't think there was anything wrong with it. She told me she'd only be about half an hour max and there's only one entrance. I could also find her scent anywhere so I had no reason to worry that she would run."

"Can you just tell me what was suspicious?" Inuyasha growled, getting fed up with the lower cop. "I don't need a life-story; I just want what's important."

"Fine, she took out five books. I just barely caught the titles of them. Three of them are murder mysteries by some famous authors but the other two were books filled with maps of the area."

"What area?" Inuyasha asked urgently. "Maps of Trite? Old ones or new?"

Inuyasha could distinctly hear the shakiness in his breath as he let it out and answered. "One old and one new. The new one is the area of Trite and some regions around it while the older one is just of Trite and I heard her say something. You know as well as I do that my hearing is above average, well, she said it had something to do with…Kikyo."

"Jesus Christ."

Do you remember the death of Kikyo Hidaka?

"Kikyo…?" Kagome asked, thinking instantly about her very first story, the first traumatic event. "You mean the character in that story I wrote?"

No.

Kagome growled in frustration as she drove her car away from the parking lot of the library towards her grandfather's old shrine. "Then I don't know what you're talking about. The only Kikyo Hidaka I know is the one from my story. My fictional story."

It's not fictional Kagome. Kikyo was real. She was once alive. She was like you.

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Kagome scoffed. "She was a medium who could talk to the dead. For the millionth time…I know! I created her!"

That's where you're wrong Kagome. She was alive. The voices you hear knew of her death, that night, you heard her scream; you knew what was happening on a subconscious level. You wrote the death of Kikyo Hidaka five years ago on the very same night, very same time.

"Impossible," Kagome argued though a lump in her throat caused her to swallow hard. "I didn't. I don't hear the voices of the dead. As far as the world and my readers go I don't hear voices at all."

Of course you do Kagome. I'm dead. And more will be like me if you don't believe in me and follow through with what you have to do.

Miroku was not in a good mood. One would say that that was impossible since Miroku never, ever was in a bad mood. But today was the exception. Today was the day that he and Kagome, after thirty years of friendship, had a fight.

"God dammit!" Miroku screamed, holding his head in his hands. "Why can't she just accept the fact that she's psychic?"

A knock at the door interrupted Miroku from his venting rant, so with a heavy sigh; he stood up and made his way out of the kitchen to the door. To his surprise, Inuyasha and Sango stood outside the door, Inuyasha tapping his foot impatiently.

"Can we come in?" he asked his voice not without strain. "There is an important matter I need to discuss with Kagome."

"But Kagome-"

"Isn't here," Inuyasha cut off. "I know. I'm going to wait until she comes back. Is that okay with you?"

Miroku nodded though he looked unhappy. "Kagome isn't going to like that fact that you're here. She's still pissed at you from what happened earlier this morning."

"Well that's too God damned bad," Inuyasha retorted. "I need to talk to her."

Sango sighed as she walked in, following the chief as she gave Miroku a sad look. "He threatened to give a couple people some heavy tickets when he was driving here. In case you haven't yet noticed, no one drives particularly fast in this town."

"Noted," Miroku said and went in the kitchen. "Do you guys want coffee? I know it's late but…"

"That would be great, thank you," Sango said when Inuyasha nodded and they took their places back in the family room.

When they were all settled, Miroku winced. "Kagome and I…had a bit of a disagreement so I don't know when she'll get back."

Inuyasha glanced at his watch. "I have all day and according to Kouga, they'll be back any minute now."

Miroku raised a brow. "You mean officer Matsuno?"

"Yeah, from what he told me, Kagome was driving back from the library and-" Inuyasha was cut off before he could finish his sentence, his cell phone ringing. "What?" he asked, non to politely for the fact that he was interrupted.

"Chief, get over here, now!"

There was no mistaking Kouga's silky and strong voice on the other end as well as there was no mistaking the urgency and fear in it. "Kouga, what's happening? What's going on? Where are you?"

"We're at the old warehouse on the northern outskirts of the town. You know the old warehouse that was going to be part of demolition in the next month or so?"

"What the hell? Why are you there? Why wasn't I informed about this Kouga?"

"I couldn't call. Her steering was-. Never mind that! Get an ambulance and get over here chief! She's down and screaming, nothing seems to be wrong with her but I can't get close enough to tell."

"Shit. Don't touch her, I'm coming." Inuyasha hung up the phone and ran out of the room, Sango right behind with a worried Miroku following. Inuyasha didn't even wait for his head of investigation to even come out of the house. He just jumped in the car and drove, zooming out of the driveway and speeding down the highway. He radioed the ambulance but decided not to call for back-up, something was telling him it was the 'voices' in her head that was the cause of all this. Maybe she really was insane.

Maybe she really was the killer.

He pushed that thought to the back of his mind as he sped along, his lights alarming everyone to get out of his way for fear of getting hit. From the library, the warehouse was probably only five minutes, but from the house it was a good fifteen, maybe twenty. From the sounds of things and Kouga's voice, he wasn't sure how long things would remain under control. If they still were.

"Shit. This is not what I expected for this job," Inuyasha cursed as he neared his destination. Inuyasha was too proud to admit that he was afraid but of all the recent happenings, something beyond his control was occurring and somehow he was helpless to stop it.

And if that dream was of any truth last night, Kagome would be the only one to regain the control and restore the humanity.

Because he was more than positive that this was just the beginning…

Don't yell.

Kagome screamed; the reckless shrieks and sobs escaping her body. It was so painful. So painful.

Trust me.

No. Never again. It hurt, it hurt so much and she was the cause. There was just so much death…

Accept the noise.

She felt a rough hand trying to grab her at her sides but she twisted and pounced out, her eyes closed, tears streaming down her face and tickling the sensitive and burning skin underneath.

Accept it. The pain won't leave until you do.

Shut up. Go to Hell.

I'm already there.

Kouga Matsuno, for the first time in his life, wanted to run. And not run away to never be seen again but run away with his tail between his legs and wail to let the whole world know it. When he signed up for this job, he just wanted something that would be cheap, easy. Much like the chief but for different reasons: he didn't care about beating the bad guys since he was one himself and because the town was so small, nothing happened and there was more time to roll around in the sheets.

If you caught his drift…

But ever since Yuri's body was found yesterday, he knew nothing would ever be as simple as eat, sleep and sex again. His skin crawled at the thought of it.

But Yuri…oh God Yuri… Why her? She deserved better than being brutally murdered and left in a field. She deserved so much better, no matter she said. Sure, his chief was kind enough to make sure he didn't go near the body but talk around the office was easy to hear, especially if you were a demon, which he was.

"I heard that this guy left a black shard in her hands…"

"…Sort of morbid, don't you think?"

"…And the way she was cut up?"

"…Sliced to bits…"

"…Barely recognize her face unless you knew it well enough…"

And Kouga knew it well enough.

Now, he has a woman who was lying down on the dirt and gravel lane towards an old to-be destroyed building, screaming at the top of her lungs as if the Devil was going to take her soul.

Dammit chief, where was he?

The summer's air was humid and he licked his lips, rethinking of an approach to reach the girl. Every time he got near her, she would reach out and claw, lash out at him with her eyes squeezed shut and scream some bloody more.

Chief had told him not to touch her but she was bleeding now, the rocks scraping against her legs and arms, cuts bearing on her face and blood tangling with the raven strands.

Once more he closed in on her, still completely unsure of what to do. Every method he had learned, every lesson and life skill of the books had just been thrown out the window. So much for rules and regulations since so many were broken already.

"Kouga!" he heard a yell and sharply turned away from Kagome to see Inuyasha speeding up the driveway, his speed sharp as he halted just before the woman who now panicked at his feet.

For a moment, he looked about as unsure as he once was and Kouga was thankful that it hadn't been something he should have known. But then, as if a whole new side to Inuyasha came out, he was on his knees by the girl and lifting her gently, ignoring the lashes to his arms and chest and brought her on his lap, gazing down at her and shushing her, talking to her.

"Kagome, it's okay. It's Inuyasha. Remember?"

She only screamed some more but now you could barely hear the form of words, painful and agonizing words.

"I'm the ignorant bastard that you punched in the nose today. Calm down Kagome, tell me what's wrong."

"Dab-void-says-bar-bow-hoed!" she shrieked and Inuyasha shook his head, not understanding.

"Come on princess, calm down. Everything is alright, I'm here. Nothing is going to hurt you but you have to tell me what's wrong so I can help."

Her panic quieted down and Kouga vaguely felt the presence of Sango and another man who he presumed was Kagome's friend Miroku behind him. Like him, they just stood away, watching the scene before them.

"The voices…" she breathed out, practically breathless with a voice so strained it was as if she was being choked, the life sucking out of her. She sobbed again but stopped, breathing in deeply and rubbing the tears off her face by brushing them on his navy blue t-shirt. "The voices are so loud…"

"What are they saying Kagome?"

Somehow, a part of him was taking this all in clearly, perfectly, as if it were as normal and heart-breaking as a nightmare. It was as if hearing voices was sane.

"Death…" she whispered, hushed but not quiet enough so that the others didn't hear and then her body went stiff in his arms and her eyes flew open. She struggled wildly out of Inuyasha's grasp and he didn't argue, thinking she was just angry or embarrassed. Something normal, but he should have known.

Kagome took off at full speed, her body fluidity very little as if she hadn't moved in a very long time and was unused to her body. Inuyasha followed behind, the rest following as he yelled her name, ordering her to come back. She wasn't listening and before any of them knew it they were at the door of the warehouse, Kagome's hand on the metal rusted doorknob.

"Prepare," she said quietly, her voice again hollow and distant. "So much…screams of terror…pleasure…submission towards the…you bitch…the pain of all the black…studs and metal, studs and…taking it all…power…crawl, I said crawl you worthless…you're never going to find me."

"Inuyasha!" Miroku screamed. "She's going too deep. They are using her for a voice, get her out of there!"

He had no clue what to do but a sense of urgency was upon him and without thinking he grabbed her face, forcing her to look at him and have her eyes connect with his. The shock at first was so intense that he stumbled backwards, her face still in his hands. Their eye contact was never broken and as if a switch was flipped, he could feel something cold, disastrous. He was barely aware that Kagome's hands snaked upon his own and took them away from her face, intertwining with his.

He could hear them, all of them.

The voices of the dead.

Inuyasha screamed and shut his eyes, the connection broken but their hands still linked. That place, it was so cold and Inuyasha knew he had to get her out of there. She would be lost if not.

His wild silver hair blew in the rare breeze as he grabbed her shoulders and shook her, shouting her name in the process. Soon enough, Kagome's body went fairly limp in his arms but he was aware that she was still not fully herself. The voices still had some power over her but she wasn't in danger. Not just yet.

Once again, she got out of his hold and touched the doorknob, turning it and opening it a crack.

"You didn't listen," she said, her voice raspy and not her own. "I told you she lied. Just like the doctors, she lied. She lied to everyone. No one knew. Not even her lovers."

Kouga paled and Kagome continued on, opening the door fully and switching on the lights, giving everyone a full view of what was needed to be seen. "Welcome to the world of Yuri, a dominatrix. Whips, chains and all… This is where the fun was."

And then, Kagome collapsed fully, a dead weight in Inuyasha's arms.

Next Chapter: Connections- "Ah ha!" she cheered when she felt her hand run along something the felt like a book and was relieved. "I just hope he's not one of those sappy soap opera type guys in disguise."

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