Chapter 24: Lost...
But not alone.
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Water, as cold as artic ice.
Black like the deepest depth in the artic.
She could hear it, feel it, taste it.
It surrounded her entire being, so much so, she almost choked on it.
Drew large gulps of it, felt it sting her lungs, still she did not drown in it.
She was simply shrouded in its black inky void.
She was surrounded in this darkness, to the point where Kagome was no longer sure if her eyes were open, or not.
Time lost all meaning as she struggled inside this pool, the frost bite from the icy water jumbled her mind, the silent chant she kept on being the only thing her poor brain could focus on.
Kagome took his name and repeated it until it became a prayer.
'Inuyasha... Inuyasha... Inuyasha...'
When the water shifted around her, the bites from the crashing waves against her skin were enough to have her crying out. No sound left her, but she felt the rising bubbles escape her mouth in a rush, while the water continued to move her with it.
It was impossible not to end up in a fit of terrible coughs, Kagome battled to bring in a single clean breath of air. After minutes, if not hours inside the water, what twisted humor it was that she struggled to breathe when brought to the surface.
As if air was now the foreign substance inside her lungs, so that the burning built with every raspy breath she took.
Her head had dropped upon resurfacing, too heavy to do much else but bob around, and swing idly with her dry hacks. It felt as though her head was being weighed down by her hair, the black mass dripped black water onto the concrete ground, only then did Kagome realize she was suspended in mid-air.
She could barely hear the laughing, the deep maniacal chuckles, with her ears clogged with remains of the black water. Somewhere deep inside her, she recognized the sound, and jerked upon hearing it. A familiar dark presence oppressed the very space she occupied, covering her in a heavier weight than the loaded drops of ink.
Turning her head towards the chattering voices proved to be nearly impossible, the two distinct voices seemed to hum at such a speed, it almost sounded like the buzzing of insects. Still, Kagome managed to lift tired lids up to her captors.
It didn't come as a surprise to see those haunting purple eyes, they had played a role in her nightmares, and now here they were. Glaring at her from across the room, a dark and bleak gaze that matched their barely lit surroundings.
Distantly, her ears registered a frightened whimper; absently, her mind recognized the sound to be of her own making.
This was worse than her nightmares.
She hung, attached to what, she didn't have the strength to lift her head and see. Her torso tilted forward, as her hands were held back and far apart from each other. Horribly enough, Kagome could only feel her palms, but not her arms.
The same thing could be said about her legs, all sensation lost below her waist. They held her in a barely lit warehouse; where? She hadn't a clue.
But she could see a few chained-up crates littering around, a lone yellow machine, a lift. Making her assume this was just a convenient location to lie low, rather than their secret hideout.
That was good, Inuyasha would find her easily if they were just a few miles away, right?
If he was even coming for her...
The thought alone twisted her inside worse than the cold prickling of her hands.
"Miss Higurashi" his voice sounded horse, strained even, but her fear kept her gaze on the ground a few feet below, "It has been-" his voice stopped, searching for the right words she guessed, "challenging, to say the least. But alas, here we are."
His steps were closer now, and in an act spurred by her fear; Kagome closed her eyes, thinking foolishly that this would keep him away from her.
"It is very- impolite, to not look someone in the eyes when they speak to you." Another lifeless wail left her, as his grip over her cheeks demanded her attention. His grasp was tight, much too tight, not holding anything back as he examined her face. Still, Kagome held her eyes shut.
"I said- LOOK AT ME!"
The rough hand that squeezed her face drew a cry from her lips, eyes snapping open to be greeted by such violent purple whirlpools.
"Look at what you did to me."
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Kagome had no doubt in her mind, the man before her wanted her dead, the way he held her was enough to communicate that message.
She would for sure be sporting oval shaped bruises by the end of this, if there was going to be an end to this...
Naraku's hands felt like old leather, his clutch crushing, as he held her face in place. Keeping her head from turning, squeezing painfully when Kagome tried to shut her eyes, he would not allow her to look away.
Now that she was forced to look at him, Kagome found herself shocked at the sight the man created.
Her nightmares had been vivid, remembering every detail of the man before her; but this, this was not the same man. He had aged, by twenty years or so, looking more like her parents' age rather than the lively thirty-something-year-old, he had been that fateful night.
"I know- sickening isn't it." He let go to signal down at himself, his hair was now a salt and pepper mix, the dark bags under his eyes spoke for themselves. Even his beige suit and white coat looked far too big on him, as if he was smaller than the last man to wear the outfit, "to be reduced to this, a husk of my formal self, all because of you."
His eyes hardened with the last word, and against all odds, Kagome managed to answer back.
"M-me? What did-"
His hand was on her again, pinching her lips shut as he hissed up at her meek form, "Nani? Are you going to ask what you did; dear girl? As if it wasn't you that pulled the trigger, not once, but twice?!"
Kagome whimpered, trying in vain to twist her face out of his angry vise, and away from his unkind eyes.
"Quit. Your. Squirming." Naraku forced her gaze back to his, sneering up at her with barely contained disdain, "You did this to me! If it wasn't for the minute traces of my own blood within the weapon, the poison would've eaten me alive, much faster than what this decrepit body can handle."
He let her face fall as he paced away, but the sting from his fingers still ached as though he had never let go; she feared him, her senses completely awash with her distress.
This was no temporary fear, drudged up because of the danger she was in, to be waved away when back in a safe place. This fear ate at her insides, the real fight or flight response, as somehow her body wanted to do both. It was as if her very soul recoiled at this man's mere presence.
Naraku went on with his angry rant, circling around her in tight rings, reminding Kagome of what sharks did before devouring their meal.
"I spent decades perfecting a weapon that could be used against any type of demon, no matter how strong the foe; this was my greatest creation...
And yet-" he stopped abruptly, turning to look at her as if for the first time, "yet, he walks on. Alive and well, or so I've been told, not even a scathe on his form.
I have a feeling; you are responsible for that as well."
He stepped right up to her form, grabbing her chin once more, just so he could tilt her head this way, and that way. She knew to be still, and silent, but when his hand had reached up... She had expected his cruel touch.
Naraku didn't seem like the man would think too low of himself to strike a woman, what irony had it been, that when he gently traced a finger down her cheek. The repulsion she felt with his tenderness had broken past her shocked faze, pushed the paralyzing fear down to a place where it could not reach her.
Kagome craned her neck with all her force, escaping his soft caress, that was somehow worse than any cruel hold. Hissing out in a hysterical cry, "No! Don't touch me!"
This was not what Naraku had wanted from her, she saw it in the purple whirlpools of his eyes, darkening until the iris of his eyes were nothing but a black void. Suddenly his hand was on her face, her gasp was automatic, and the only thing that ended up saving her at that moment.
Naraku pushed her head back, relishing in the second when the girl's eyes became awash with realization, as he shoved her face back into the dark cold waters that awaited behind her.
He felt her struggle, saw her hands, still hanging out from the black pool, clench and unclench as she struggled to hold onto to something, anything.
He waited long after she had gone limp, patiently riding out his anger's edge, before pulling her back. When the girl simply hung there, no fits or cries, he lifted a hand to check her pulse.
"Such weakness-" he sneered, walking a few feet away before turning to instruct whomever or whatever else occupied the space, "the girl fainted, call me back when she comes to, no telling how long that'll be."
No response came; the only sound within the warehouse were his retreating steps, still she did not dare move until he had long gone. Several long stretches of minutes, all counted inside her head in segments of sixty seconds. Until she felt secure enough in her surroundings to open her eyes.
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Kagome had barely held herself together when inside the dark water, knowing now she hung, crucified within the same inky ribbons that had encased her. Now they held her, both solid and liquid, her wrist feeling as if they were cut off by concrete, while her face had easily submerged.
Inside the water, air is the enemy, feeling like the obtrusive being inside her lungs. But as her insides filled with the dark liquid, her body screamed for air, and so was the trap of the river she hung from. Forever in a state of drowning, Kagome had acted on the first thought that had crawled into her oxygen deprived brain, and by giving up the fight, she had gained a foot forward.
Now she knew, any part of her that was inside the gel-like water would grow numb, almost frostbitten.
Everything outside of it, she could move. Just a shift of her chest, a wiggle of her fingertips. It was painful, but she could do it.
Even then it had been a subtle tilt of the head, her blue eyes creaked open, attempting to see within the crevasses of the warehouse.
She kept her movements to a minimum, using her dark hair as cover, while trying to come up with a way out of this one.
'Come on, Higurashi. THINK'
She wouldn't be able to escape on her own, even now, Kagome wasn't entirely sure if there was someone else in the room with her. Guarding her from somewhere within the large building, waiting to call him back if she showed any sign of rousing.
But waiting for Inuyasha had stopped being an option when those eyes had turned black; spelling out her bloody death in vivid detail, now she had to do things for herself.
Kagome forced herself to dig deeper, concentrate harder, think outside the limitations she was faced with.
So, her eyes weren't much help, her focus shifted to the rest of her senses. After a long minute, the sound of pitter-patter reached her water-logged ears, she almost mistook the sound for rain.
Had it not been for the echoing sound, like overlapping humming, she would have ridden the sound off. Now, attempting to locate it, it became clear, along with a new cold wash of fear.
Kagome repressed a shudder, the sound was all around her, coming from both high and low. Moving around the room, surrounding her.
Shifting carefully, she peeked up past her long dark locks, catching only a flutter of movement. She cursed herself, wherever they were, they were much too high for her to see with her head bent the way it was.
However, if her head were to lull one way, her view would be unencumbered. She would be able to know who, or what, she was dealing with.
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Moving had been a painfully slow process, only a single inch for every three minutes, or so she could imagine. Her anxiety at being caught kept her from making more progress. How long had it truly been, she hadn't the foggiest.
Until, finally, she had tilted her head upward enough to peek in between her raven vail.
The scream of frustration had been entirely internal, the large beam littered roof greeted her, nothing but the flickering hanging lights there.
'No, that can't be right!' Her ears had picked up the sound, continued to follow it as it swarmed around her, betraying what her eyes were telling her.
Kagome grit her teeth to keep the cry of outrage at bay. It was the same as before; she was missing the grand picture, only seeing the surface, but knowing there was much more just beyond.
She kept her gaze skyward, squinting her eyes at what she assumed was their location. The minutes trickled slowly by, losing perspective of time; yet her determination never wavered.
Then, as if her mind had been playing tricks, she saw the first sign of movement. Nothing big, just a blur that could quite easily be explained as her tired eyes, or her mind swaying with her need to find something.
In the past such a thing would've been quickly ignored by her, years of carefully trained ignorance keeping her blind to all the abnormalities that had previously presented themselves to her.
Now, she willed the truth to surface, begged her eyes to see as they always had. Back before she had sabotaged her own gift and squandered her ability to see past what others saw.
The image changed gradually before her.
First, coming as a blur, then a shadow. Until, finally, the naked truth hung above. They were everywhere, ranging in size and forms, a swarm of what could only be described as Giant hornets, flew in intertwining circles above her.
Some were the size of small dogs, with big red eyes that watched behind large mandibles, their pointy red stingers reintroducing fear back into her.
But it was the larger ones that gave her pause, looking more like young children, playing dress up.
Wide-watchful eyes sat behind what looked like a helmet, but was just a part of them, as were their wings. Four larger, see-through, wings to compensate for their size. No stinger on them, to be replaced by their four limbs; two hands with four claw-like pinchers, and two legs with shoe-shaped blades.
'Demons' her mind confirmed, not that she expected otherwise, considering who it was that took her. These things were no act of nature, even the way they flew in intricate patterns, like entities of the same mind.
Lowering her head slowly, as to not draw notice, Kagome took a moment to think things through. Taking a slow-measured breath, knowing now what she was up against, she moved on to the next hurdle- getting out.
Her wrist tested their restraints, subtly, moving one hand at a time. Never becoming discouraged, even when it felt as though she were incased in iron.
Hyper focused on the task at hand, she almost missed the sound of steps as they made their way to her, almost.
With a performance that would have awed her junior high drama teacher, Kagome let her head fall forward sluggishly, evening her breathing, and looking like the unconscious prey she was meant to be.
The room filled with his steps, the faint sound gaining volume as he reached her, she tried to remain inanimate, even as her heart betrayed her with its noisy parade. The idea that this Naraku could hear just as well as Inuyasha, did not help her any. Yet, it seemed as if she had played her part perfectly.
Even as his dark presence fell over her, Kagome kept her head bowed, and her eyes softly shut.
It made his strike that much more shocking, his hand traveling through the air created a soft-distinct woosh, the only warning the girl received before the blow landed.
Her eyes snapped open as her head followed the strike, cheek burning with the after sting of his flat palm.
"Wake up! The night's almost done, and we are nearly out of time."
The wide-eyed, confused look on her face, didn't have to be fabricated. She assumed now that Naraku had her, his payback would be of the long and grueling affair, it didn't bode well for her that he had a timeline in mind.
"My strength is wavering, even now- so we will have to cut to the matter, quick."
Kagome cried in distress when the water moved around her, feeling the sting like a thousand sharpened needles, pricking against the parts of her still encased within the black liquid. The swooshing of the water on her numb limbs was painful enough, what was worse was that Naraku was bringing her closer to the ground, and to him.
"I've left your hands free- or free enough I should say" as he said this, the water dripped away from her wrist, leaving her with enough room to move her hands. "Should be enough for you to work," his words came hurriedly, distracted as he began to remove his clothes.
First his white trench coat, then his jacket. When his fingers began working on the buttons of his white button-up, Kagome felt her panic tipping into hysteria.
Her terrified whimpers filled the warehouse, and soon, so did her half-whispered pleas.
"Please... Please, don't do this."
His smirk was cold, sinister, burying whatever bravery she had in a six-foot hole.
"I wonder what you're so afraid of, do you think... Is it your purity you're attempting to protect?"
Naraku finished the last button, and with a show of flourish, threw his shirt off his body. "Relax, pretty girl. It's not your body that I need."
"I've left your hands free-" as he said this, the water dripped away from her hands, revealing her unscathed palms. "Should be enough for you to work," his words came hurriedly, distracted as he began to remove his clothes.
First his white trench coat, then his jacket. When his fingers began working on the buttons of his white button-up, Kagome felt her panic tipping into hysteria.
Her terrified whimpers filled the warehouse, and soon, so did her half-whispered pleas.
"Please... Please, don't do this."
His smirk was cold, sinister, burying whatever bravery she had in a six-foot hole.
"I wonder what you're so afraid of, do you think... Is it your purity you're attempting to protect?"
Naraku finished the last button, and with a show of flourish, threw his shirt off his body. "Relax, pretty girl. It's not your body that I need."
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Author's note: YOU GUYS! I'm so, so, SO happy to be nominated for a possible award, it's given me All the feels. If you could please take a moment to vote for Alternate Inu-Verse it would mean the world to me, voting starts October 5th and goes on until October 20th.
Voting takes place on Tumbler under the page Feudalconnection.
I have never won anything for my writing, and this would just take the cake, it's also given me such a boost to keep writing, I hope everyone is enjoying the story so far, and I can't wait to see the results. Just being nominated has elated my wee writer's heart, thank you again for tunning back in.