Chapter Five: Cravings at Midnight!

Kagome opened her eyes to a bright sunlight shining in her room. Kagome blinked, trying to clear her head, and struggling to remember what happened last night. She rubbed her sore neck feeling better than she did last night, but she was still so weak that she was having trouble getting her body to move. With a great effort she was finally able to sit up and her blanket fell off her. She looked down in mild surprise.

'Where did that come from?' she thought. She forced her mind to think but she was feeling so drained that she couldn't concentrate. She just didn't remember pulling the blanket up… or letting her hair down for that matter. Kagome put her hand to the back of her head to feel her long hair… where was her hair band?

She looked around the room, but couldn't see it anywhere. Maybe it fell out when she got home last night? And maybe her mom came in to wake her but decided to let her sleep in and covered her with the blanket? Kagome gave a small chuckle when she saw that she was still dressed in her costume.

With a groan, she was able to get out of bed… feeling dizzy and light-headed she almost ended up falling down on her floor and had to hold on to the bed for support until she was able to stand on her own. She staggered to her closet and changed out of her costume into a large t-shirt and a pair of pajama bottoms. She threw her costume into a chair before she went to her door, only to realize that the door had been shut. 'How did…' she thought confused. She shook her head, putting it out of her mind; she did not want to deal with this for now. Feeling fragile and sapped of her energy, she went downstairs, having to hold onto the railing with both hands to keep herself from meeting the floor.

She limped her way into the living room where Sota was eating his bounty of candy and watching cartoons. He looked up to see Kagome and said, "Hey Kagome! About time you got up!"

Kagome looked at him confused as she went over to the couch and collapsed on it. "What do you mean?"

Sota raised his eyebrows, "It's almost 5:00 in the afternoon. I never knew that you could party that hard."

Kagome sat up in shock, "5:00 IN THE AFTERNOON!" she screamed.

Sota jumped at her scream and candy corn spilled from his lap. "Jeez!" he yelled indignantly. "Do you have to yell?" He then noticed just how pale his sister looked. "Kagome?" he asked worriedly, "What happened? You look terrible!"

Kagome took several deep breaths as she fell back on the couch, "I FEEL terrible. You remember that blood drive that we had at my school last year?"

Sota nodded, not understanding where she was going with this.

"Well, I feel the way I did back then… only it feels like I lost a lot more blood then when I donate blood," she curled up on the couch and turned over on her side muttering, "Oh… I don't feel good. I really don't."

She then felt a small object on her shoulder. She reached up to feel a wrapper; pulling it in front of her eyes, she saw a Reese's. "You should eat more," Sota's voice said sounding slightly anxious. "I know how much you love Reese's and I got a ton!"

Kagome gave him a weak smile as she began to unwrap it. She said a quick thank you and popped it into her mouth. A little while later, she realized that she felt slightly better. Thinking that more food would help, she forced her tired body into the kitchen where her mother was busy making lunch. She looked up as Kagome came in and said, "Hello there sleepyhead. Glad to see that you're finally up."

She smiled, but it quickly turned into a frown as she really looked at Kagome. "Kagome?" she asked worriedly as she put down her knife and went over to her. "Are you ok? You really don't look so good."

Kagome shook her head. "Sota said the same thing," she answered. "I don't know why I feel this way. Maybe because the only thing I eaten since lunch yesterday was a Reese's?"

Her mother nodded as she went to work on making something for Kagome.

"Mom, really it's ok," Kagome began, but swayed slightly. Her mother led her back into the living room where Sota was and told her to sit down. "Kagome? What did you do last night?"

Kagome shook her head. "I spent most of the night talking with some friends. I didn't drink anything, and even if I did, there wasn't anything alcoholic, I swear. Right around midnight, I went looking for the girls and…" she stopped. She didn't want to mention Hojo or Bankotsu… or the man who saved her… the man with golden eyes and silver hair…

"And what?" asked Sota interestedly.

"Kagome?" her mother said putting her hand on Kagome's forehead to feel her temperature. "Are you feeling alright? Your face is all red."

"Is it?" Kagome said surprised.

"And what?" Sota repeated.

"Huh? Oh, and… ah…" Kagome said blinking hard. "That's the strange part. I can't really remember. I remember being outside, and seeing this guy taking a midnight run… and then the next thing I know, I'm sitting in the car with my friends."

"A guy?" Sota asked shrewdly.

Kagome put her hand over her eyes and said, "It's nothing Sota. I didn't even know his name until Ayumi told me."

"You don't remember anything?" her mother asked surprise.

Kagome shook her head. "The girls drove me home, you guys were already asleep and I went upstairs." That was then she remembered a few things, "Mom? Did you come in my room this morning?"

Her mom shook her head. "No dear. Why do you ask?"

Kagome looked at Sota and asked, "Did you Sota?"

Sota shook his head, "Why?"

"Huh? Oh nothing," said Kagome. She couldn't admit, even to herself, why she didn't tell her mom or Sota that she had a feeling that someone was in her room last night. She mentally slapped herself. 'Come on Kagome,' she thought fiercely. 'There wasn't anyone else in your room. You were probably imagining it… or dreamt you did that's all. Note to self: ignore those little voices.'

Her mother looked at her troubled, "Kagome? What's wrong?"

Kagome smiled reassuring at her mother and said, "Nothing mom. Hey… have you've seen my white hair band around? I know I had it last night… but when I woke up, it was gone."

Her mom and Sota both shook their heads again, Kagome sighed in slight disappointment. Her mom kissed Kagome on the head before she got up and went back into the kitchen to finish making some food for Kagome.

*4 hours later*

The rest of the evening went by quickly and before Kagome knew it, it was Sota's bedtime. She watched as he turned off the TV and got up; he said goodnight to everyone and went upstairs. "Already?" Kagome said in surprise.

"That's because you slept in for most of the day," her mother said. "How are you feeling now?"

Kagome sat up, "A lot better since I had some food. But still really tired."

Her mom nodded, "Maybe you should go up too?"

Kagome was about to refuse, but she felt her eyelids beginning to droop. She nodded, said goodnight, and followed Sota up the stairs. She was able to make it up the stairs without any problems, and she thought for sure, she would feel better in the morning.

She walked into her room and looked around, trying to figure things out. When she crawled in last night, she was sure that she left the door open… she didn't bother taking out her hair band… she was too weak to pull up the covers… and that breeze…

Wait a breeze? She looked over at her window and saw that it was open.

"How did…" she began. Did she leave the window open? She sure didn't remember opening it… 'You must've,' she thought. 'What else could've happened?'

Great. Now she was having conversations with herself. She must be losing her mind.

She walked over to the window and quickly shut it. 'You're just stressed out from what happened at the party,' she told herself. 'That's all. When you wake up tomorrow, you'll be feeling much better, and everything's going to be fine.'

She fell onto her bed, and pulled the covers up to her chin. 'That's all,' she thought. 'There wasn't anyone else in here. You're just kidding yourself. You'll be fine in the morning.'

She shut her eyes, and let her exhaustion carry her off to dreamland.

*Midnight*

A dark figure appeared at Kagome's window. He quickly opened the window from the outside, and slipped into her room. Without the slightest noise, he softly walked over to Kagome, who was sleeping like a baby, color back into her cheeks… and a small smile on her face from pleasant dreams.

Inuyasha let out a sigh of relief when he saw that she was alright. He had been worried that he took too much blood from her, and she was going to have to be hospitalized. He saw that she had almost completely recovered…

He grinned, revealing his fangs. He then bent over her, her beautiful scent filled his senses, making him let out a moan of thirst. He ran his tongue over his fangs, focusing on her pulse point on her neck once again. He opened his mouth and instantly went to her throat, his fangs brushing her pulse point. He felt her stir in her sleep at his touch and as he ran his tongue over her skin, coating the area in saliva; he then sank his fangs into Kagome' throat, closing his eyes in bliss, enjoying her taste and craving for more.

But he learned his lesson from the last time. He only took a little bit… knowing that if he took anymore, he would make her sick again. Unwilling, he pulled his fangs from her flesh, and licked the two puncture holes until they faded away. He licked his lips as he stood up and gently stroked Kagome's cheek. Did she just smile a little wider at his touch?

He frowned as he let his hand drop and tried to figure out what were the emotions he was feeling. He shook his head as walked over to the open window.

He would be back tomorrow… and the night after that… and the night after that… there was no way that he could stop these cravings.

But he had something special planned for Kagome soon…

He leapt out the open window and ran off into the shadows of the midnight air.