Word count: 1, 370

Escape

I was going to suffocate.

The atmosphere of the place felt like it was going to collapse and smother me with its poisonous fumes. Placing a hot, sweaty hand on the wood above me, I pushed as hard as I could, feeling it creak underneath-- or more correctly, above-- my fingertips.

But it wasn't enough. The dank, moldy smell of the place was driving me mad, and I turned my head tentatively, feeling a hot pounding in my skull as I did so. My black hair, slippery with sweat, stuck to the floorboards below me, and out of the corner of my eyes, I could see the strands plastered to my cheek, dark and blurry in the nearly nonexistent light.

I couldn't stay here forever; I knew that. But it wasn't like I wanted to. A hard knot of mounting restlessness had grown deep in my chest, and in a fit of frustration, I whipped my head upwards, feeling the pain blistering through my skin even as I crashed down again, the impact rattling my brains.

"Shit," I said, tears involuntarily springing to my eyes. I wiped my left hand on my jeans, still moving at a painfully slow pace, and rubbed my fingers gingerly over the bruise that was forming. The wild, violent anger hadn't left after my outburst; in fact, it was still here, and it seemed fiercer than ever. Resisting the urge to unhinge my jaw and scream, I edged onto my side, wincing as my hip slammed into another wooden beam. The tears never left my eyes, thanks to excellent practice and an iron will, but little good that did me. Bitterly grinding my teeth, I nudged my body slowly towards the slightly roomier side of the cupboard

"How the fuck did that bastard even find a place like this?" I muttered angrily, spitting out a cobweb as it landed in my mouth. Knowing him, he had probably searched all the houses for things like this before buying, or even worse, had this torture "closet" custom-made. It was too coincidental that the door for this could be locked from outside, and it was just large enough to fit a grown person, lying down. Feeling a wave of hatred at his sick, messed-up mind, I continued to crawl forwards, blinking as a flurry of dust fell my way. Propped onto my elbow, I craned my neck to see the tiny sliver of light falling through the cellar-like door, and jerked back in surprise to see the briefest shadow of someone nearby. There was a flash of white hair, and I knew it was my foster-sister. Overcome by shock, it was a moment too late when I finally slammed my calloused hands on the tiny door, screaming at the top of my voice to be let out.

But someone did come. That someone, however, was not my sister.

I stared stupidly up at the sudden overflow of light, trying to let my eyes adjust, when a hand roughly clutched my collar and wrenched me upwards. The simmering anger, finally given a chance to express itself, caused me to spit right into my guardian's face while punching him in the stomach at the same time. He seemed just as surprised as I was, but instead of gaping like an angry idiot, like I did, retaliated with a slap of his own. My head whipped to the side, and I heard my neck crack, pain shooting down my spine.

"Little rebellious bitch," he hissed in my ear, and I felt something wet, probably saliva, land just underneath my earlobe. He started muttering under his breath, and, judging by the angry connotation in his words, that it was about Kagura again. His disgustingly pale face was tight and dark with malice, and I found myself wondering, not for the first time, who Kagura was. He always seemed to be talking about that girl, or woman she very well might have been, and I didn't know why. A moment later, I realized I didn't care. I was too tired of him whining about that little bitch all the time. It was his favorite excuse to use whenever he lost his temper at me, and I had enough of it. Whatever she had done, she wasn't me, and he didn't have to be such an ass about it. Furiously I shrank from his disgusting smell, and too angry to think, I echoed his last words, shooting them into his face like daggers.

"So what if I'm 'just like Kagura'? Who the fuck is she, anyways?" Pushing his large, long hands off my collar, I stepped backwards, my body's adrenaline rising as I looked disdainfully at the floor. "That whore obviously made you very mad in one lifetime, and if I'm like her, then shit for you."

I was panting, though I hadn't realized it, and suddenly, I became conscious of the fact that he hadn't attacked me at the rude outburst, something he normally wouldn't have hesitated at, but instead, stood here, getting paler and paler before an unexpected and unhealthy flush rose to his cheeks. Out of the blue, he took several steps forward, curling one hand around my neck.

"You are Kagura, aren't you?"

Utterly confused, not to mention upset, I started to twist my way out when his grip tightened considerably, cutting off my air supply. Chocking, I was forced to turn back to the monster of a man, and his narrowed black eyes bore into me like a loaded gun.

"Tell me," he said, voice icy.

I was about to protest that I didn't know what he was talking about when his fingers flexed again, staring at me so intensely the words got lost in my throat. Averting my gaze, I tried half-heartedly to squirm away, feeling the heat build up between his fingers and my neck. His face neared threateningly, and suddenly, it all came back, piercing my brain into smaller and smaller pieces.

Memories, no, dreams, no! realities came rushing back in an instant-- about a dog-eared hanyou and a future miko and a monk and a kitsune and a taijiya and... oh! It hurt like hell. Brushing myself away from Naraku-- Naraku! Who was that?-- with a strength I hadn't known existed I shook my head frantically, trying to erase all the images pooling into my mind. A wind, fresher, wilder, fiercer than the one I knew existed in this world barraged me from all sides as I soared on a great feather. Tall, dark trees left cool shadows in the depth of the forest, my feet hardly making a sound as they traipsed over tangled roots. Stars-- the pure, absolute brilliance of an unpolluted night sky sang to me as I lay on a grassy hill, that horribly familiar feeling of being trapped burning my chest from within. White fur... a great lord... a white haired girl clutching a mirror... the white turned to crimson, and I saw blood, warm and poisonous, dripping around me in lakes and rivers and oceans as I died... DIED? Holy fuck, I had died?

Looking up at Naraku crazedly (what! Naraku again!) I saw, in slow motion, his mouth open and repeat his first question. "You are Kagura, are you not?" and it was all I could do to shake my head and appear composed even though I was being shattered to pieces on the inside. A stray breeze blew in from some, unknown place, chilling my skin, when I, the real me, heard the physical, dead, Kagura me say coldly and defiantly,

"No. I am the wind."

But my guardian's response was nothing like I'd expected. Smirking, he took a step backwards, speaking in that awful lilting voice of his, pale fingers reaching out to stroke my cheek. I winced, then heard, as if from very far away, him say,

"Don't worry. It took me a long time to remember too," before he turned and strode out of sight. It was all I could do to not rip out his hair and shove it into his mouth. Instead, I tensed...

And ran, pushing past the front door and sprinting as far as I could into the big, wide world.