My Soul to Steal by Ai Roku

Lights Out

Disclaimer: I own no rights to Inuyasha!

Well here's chapter 2! Thank you to everyone who read and reviewed chapter 1!

Prompt: Lanterns from Kneazles' Halloween 2013 Challenge

`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,``,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`

Feeling quite stiff after spending three long hours hunched over a table Kagome stretches her arms above her head wincing as she hears her back crack. Glancing at the clock on the wall she notes that it is now a quarter after midnight, deciding that it’s time to take a break from her work she scoots her chair back carefully, trying not to jostle any of the priceless artifacts on the table in front of her.

Rare as such days were, she always enjoyed the days that she was assigned to catalogue the museum’s newest acquisitions. And honestly she really didn’t mind burning the midnight oil doing the ‘grunt work’ for Dr. Yusuke Takabayashi; the museum’s head researcher and authenticator.

She was always ecstatic to be given the opportunity to touch the relics of her beloved Sengoku Jidai, to actually interact with the pieces of her past as opposed to simply pointing them out and explaining their origins while leading a tour. Cataloguing helped her to keep not just the ephemeral memories of her time in the warring states era alive but also the tactile sensations of her experiences as well.

To be perfectly honest Kagome preferred being left to her own devices this way. At this hour the usually bustling museum was completely empty with the exception of the old night watchmen Gin, and left to her solitude she allowed her memories free reign.

Looking down at the table contemplatively she gently brushes her finger against a simple clay tea cup, reminiscing about a lazy afternoon spent sipping tea in Kaede’s hut.

She remembered the sound of the elder miko’s mortar and pestle as it ground some unrecalled combination of herbs into a paste; the medicinal scent of the concoction permeating the small space…

Then the boisterous argument that began when a mischievous Shippo had stolen Inuyasha’s last cookie, which eventually lead to the enraged hanyou chasing the small kitsune around the confines of the hut until Inuyasha’s foot had landed on Kagome’s still untouched plate of cookies pulverizing them. This of course had earned him a quiet and deceptively calm ‘sit’ command while she had mourned the destruction of her poor cookies. His grunts and grumbled curses drew a dry chuckle from Kaede, and then the dam broke. Unable to contain their own mirth any longer Sango’s soft laughter, and Miroku’s deep guffaw joined the childish giggling of Shippo; even Kirara had been emitting breathy little chuffs at Inuyasha’s expense.

There Kagome sat, still calmly sipping her tea when the fuming Hanyou, finally able to move, whipped his head off the floor glared at her and yelled in a voice filled with furious embarrassment and a small amount of wounded betrayal, “Kago-“ .  

“Kagome,”

Startled Kagome whips around searching for the owner of the whisper soft voice that had just called her name. Seeing no one behind her she shrugs and returns her attention to the table once again.

With horror she notices that in her haste to turn around she has knocked the tea cup onto its side. Fearing the worst the blue eyed girl gingerly lifts the cup and begins a thorough inspection searching for any possible damage her blunder may have caused it.

‘Nice job Kagome, destroy a priceless object why don’t you,’ she berates herself, but sighs in relief when her examination proves the cup still remains in one piece.

After such a scare she gathers her focus, refusing to fall back into her memories again, and resumes her work.

Finished with the items on the table Kagome moves over to the far left corner of the room where the last crate sits waiting to be unpacked.

Crouching down, she grabs the crowbar leaning up against the wall and gently pries open the lid revealing a small brass temple lantern. Reaching to carefully extract it from the packing material; she suddenly sees a startling flash of red and silver dart by her peripheral vision.

Turning her head sharply to follow the splash of color she sees only the room as it has been all night. ‘God you’re pathetic Kagome, one little memory and now you’re not only hearing things but seeing things as well!’  Disgusted with her own over active imagination, she decides to give up for the night and go home.

Straightening from her crouched position, Kagome walks over to Dr. Takabayashi’s desk to retrieve her bag from the locked drawer. Reaching her hand inside the front pocket of her jeans in order to extract the key she feels a phantom breeze whip through the room rustling the loose papers sitting atop the desk and blowing her hair in all directions.

“What the” before she can finish her exclamation, a sensation of unbearable cold wraps around her body seeming to tighten across her chest, siphoning the very breath from her lungs.

Panicked she tries to run to the open door in front of her, but only inches away from her ultimate goal the door shockingly slams shut, and she hears the faint turning of the lock.

Above her head the lights begin shattering one by one, the popping sound reverberating off the walls as sparks and shattered glass rain down on her head.

The deafening noise suddenly ceases leaving only darkness in its wake.

`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`,`

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it!