Chapter Five

Kagome awoke to darkness. It was cold, awfully cold, but she also felt a heat at the bottom of her feet. She groaned, pain lancing through her head, and rolled over, holding up a numb hand to touch her forehead.

"Finally, you're awake," said a voice. A familiar voice. She jolted into a sitting position.

"Ayame?" she gasped. And there, illuminated by flickering flames, was the redheaded wolf demon, Ayame. Her green eyes glittered uncertainly, but she gave Kagome a friendly enough smile.

"Hey," she murmured.

"Hey," she replied, surprised. What was she doing in a cave, with Ayame?

"I found you unconscious in the forest," Ayame explained, as if she had read her mind. "You were bleeding all over the place. I thought you were dead…but I did my best to patch you up. You're shirt was all torn up so…I gave you one of mine…if you don't mind."

Kagome looked down and saw that her normal school shirt had been replaced with a pretty green silk shirt with wolf hair hanging from the sleeves and hem. Her skirt had also been replaced with green silk pants.

"Um thanks…" she fidgeted, and felt bandages shift against her back. Obviously, the marks were back; pain shot up her back when she moved. But only this time, it was much worse. "So…what…why did you save me? I thought, you know, you didn't really like me…because of…you know…Koga…"

Ayame shrugged, and bitterness filled her eyes. "I didn't really hate you. I was just jealous, and it was worse because I knew you didn't love him. You loved the hanyou. But…" she leaned back against the cave wall, crossing her arms. "It doesn't matter anymore. He doesn't want you anymore, or me. He found a new mate, some other wolf girl from the northern mountains. Pretty too…" Ayame looked away, and Kagome saw tears form in her beautiful eyes.

"Oh…" Kagome said softly. "I'm so sorry…" she wondered if she should hug her, but decided against it.

"Don't be. They come and go you know. I was foolish to like him anyway. I'm over him anyway."

Kagome raised her eyebrows. Are you?

"But anyways, to a different subject." Ayame narrowed her eyes. "What is with your back? You had all those gouges."

Kagome winced. Shit. Of course she would have seen... "It's nothing," she said quickly, "just got in a skirmish with a demon."

Ayame gave a harsh laugh. "Don't give me that shit. I know what they are. I have my own." And before Kagome could say a word, she turned, and lifted up her shirt, revealing her back. Kagome almost gagged. Ayame's wounds were wide, and slowly oozing blood and strange yellow pus, and they formed a strange symbol…almost like wings.

"You…" Kagome couldn't find the words to say. She felt herself wanting to cry. At least she wasn't alone. "What's happening to me? To us? Why do I have these…marks?"

Ayame shrugged. "Simple. Because he chose you."

"Who?" Kagome cried desperately. She suddenly felt scared and alone.

Ayame's eyes glinted as she watched her, and then she leaned forward. "The Devil."

Kagome just stared, feeling the urge to hysterically giggle. "Excuse me?"

"Believe it or not, we've been chosen by the Devil to create a new army against the human and demon race." Ayame looked at the flickering flames of the tiny fire.

And Kagome believed her. "But how…why? Why me?"

Ayame snorted. "Who knows why he chooses anyone? He obviously chooses strong, loyal people, people that will obey him. Which makes me wonder why he chose me?"

Kagome leaned back and shook her head. "So what? We're already part of his army?"

Ayame shook her head. "Nope, not yet. We still have our marks."

Kagome was confused. "So…what? Do they just disappear, and then you're part of his army?"

Ayame laughed, a little too high-pitched. "No." Her eyes went darkly serious. "You have to die first."

There was silence.

"Die…?" Kagome whispered.

Ayame gave a small, unhappy smile. "It's how it's got to be. What he does, is he marks you, and then he hunts you down and kills you."

Kagome didn't know what to say. "That's sick!"

Ayame chuckled. "This whole world is. People die, people kill, and the world is practically destroying itself…"

Kagome stared at her. Had Ayame always been this bitter?

Ayame glanced at her and sighed. "I know, you're wondering about why I'm acting like this…but you kinda get tough when you're being hunted down by the worst, most evil killer in the universe."

Kagome swallowed. Hard. "He's already after you?"

"After us," she corrected. "You, me, and the group I travel with."

Kagome's eyes widened, but she didn't get to ask her question. Ayame cut her off.

"He could have gotten us already you know, could have killed us. But that's just him. He's like a cat. He likes to play with his food before he eats it."

Kagome shivered. "You travel with others? Others like you…us?"

Ayame nodded. "Met them when I…I was trying to…" she sighed. "I tried to commit suicide. They saved me."

Kagome gasped. "You tried to kill yourself?" This was definitely not the Ayame she knew. "That's horrible!"

Ayame shrugged. "Yeah well…I was really upset about the Koga thing. And no one really liked me. But I'm over it now." She smiled softly. "I found someone else."

"Oh?" Kagome raised her eyebrows. "That's good. He marked too?"

"Yup. He's been running for three months with his brothers."

"Hmm…"

They fell silent, and Kagome was glad. Talk of suicide and killing people made her feel sick, and her head was already spinning from the information of being hunted down. Did Ayame expect her to join her group? What about Inuyasha and her other friends? Wait…

"Oh no!" Kagome stood up abruptly, ignoring the pain that shot up her. "The others! They'll be wondering where I am! How long have I been gone?"

Ayame thought for a moment, and then shrugged. "Two, maybe three days."

"Oh no! They must be searching everywhere for me. Inuyasha would know if I hadn't gone home…oh no…. oh no…"

Ayame was laughing. "Relax will you? They're not searching for you."

Kagome stopped her ranting. "What? They're not? Did you tell them about me?"

"No. I didn't talk to them. I just watched them." Ayame paused. "They have some girl with them. She looks a lot like you. When I saw them they were laughing…so I don't think they were looking for you."

Kagome had stopped listening after the fourth sentence. Girl that looks like me. Kikyo. He had brought Kikyo to their group.

"I should of known," she whispered, and sat down heavily, crying freely from the physical and emotional pain.

"Hey! Hey!" Ayame was startled. "Why are you crying?"

Kagome shook her head. "It's nothing. F…Forget it." She wiped away the tears. "I'm just in a situation similar to yours."

Ayame studied her for a second. "That hanyou tossed you away?"

Kagome sniffed. "Sorta…" She shook her head. "I was an idiot to like him anyway. He had always liked her best, and I knew that…but I kept hoping. I'm so stupid."

Ayame reached over to pat her shoulder. "Love is stupid, but only if you share it with the wrong person."

Kagome gave a small smile, and then froze. She heard voices. Had he come for them?

"Yay!" Ayame cried. "They're back!" She turned to Kagome. "You'll love them. They're super nice and funny."

Kagome smiled, but it wasn't exactly reassuring, and she bunched into a tiny ball, trying to show she was plenty harmless.

"Hey Aya!" came a deep voice. "We're back! How's our latest victim?"

Kagome flinched.

"Hey!" Ayame growled. "Don't say that. You're scaring her!"

"Sorry."

And then they all appeared. Most of them were men, with about three or four girls, and they all looked strangely happy, despite their circumstances. All of the men were tall, and very handsome, and looked as if they were wearing clothes from, surprisingly, her time. Most of the men had silver hair, except for three. One had jet-black hair with red streaks, the other had a deep cinnamon hair, and the last had tousled blonde hair. All very attractive. The girls were each different. One girl was the color of a cappuccino, with short, flaming red hair and red eyes. Even her outfit was red. Another had short, black hair that spiked at the ends. The last two girls were twins, Kagome guessed, they looked so much alike. Their hair was different colors, but they both held them in perfect French braids. One had glasses.

Kagome studied them each with wide eyes.

"Hey she's awake!" said one of the silver-haired men; the one Kagome thought was the most attractive. He grinned at her, and kneeled down beside her. "You all right?" his tone was soft and very kind.

"Better." Kagome replied, smiling back. She couldn't help it. There was just something about him…it made her happy.

"Good." He leaned back against the wall and sighed. "Man, we've been walking for hours. My feet are pounding."

"Well it's your fault for wasting your energy from running," said the redhead, laughing.

The silver-haired boy stuck his tongue out at her. Child-like. Kagome couldn't help but giggle. He smiled at her.

"Stop complaining Cadaj," growled the black-haired boy, who settled beside Ayame. Kagome watched as Ayame snuggled against him, smiling. So this was the guy she was talking about…he was cute. "And let's learn a little about our new friend." He nodded at Kagome, who blushed.

"What's to know? She's one of us, and she has to run, or her ass will get kicked," Cadaj replied, grinning.

"Should we let her join us?" asked the girl with braids and glasses.

"Well we can't just hand her over to him can we? What kind of people would we be?"

"But we don't know her!"

"So? We didn't know Ayame either, and look how close we all are now?"

That shut braids and glasses up.

"I say she comes. Besides, we can't just hand over someone like her to him."

"Why not? What's so special about her?" asked another silver-haired boy.

"Come on Raj. You didn't sense it? This girl's got enormous power. Handing her over would be like giving an atomic bomb to him."

Kagome's lip trembled. This conversation wasn't exactly what she wanted to hear.

"Hey," said Cadaj, looking at her. "Don't be scared. We won't let anything hurt you."

"That wouldn't be the first time someone's said that to me," Kagome growled back. She stood up, and stalked out of the cave, ignoring the stares of the other prey.

She was in an unfamiliar forest, definitely not the one where she had met Inuyasha. The trees were larger, the trunks much thicker, and the leaves were in abundance. Ivy was everywhere.

She didn't know where to go, but she knew she had to get away from there. Away from anywhere. Go back to her time, be safe, be happy, have a normal, normal life.

So, she walked. Just picked a random direction, and walked. IT was dark, but her emotions were in too much turmoil to think about it. Kikyo was with Inuyasha, with her friends. The friends that said they would always be on her side, not Kikyo's. But they had been laughing with her. Laughing.

'I bet they were happy that I was gone, so I didn't slow them down anymore,' she thought bitterly. Tears sprang up in her eyes, but she shook them away. What was the point of tears? They would only keep coming, choking her in the warm salty tide, reminding her of the past betrayals.

But what could she do? She was in an unfamiliar forest, and had no idea how to get back to her forest, the one that held the well that led to her time. She was surprised that a demon or some vicious animal hadn't attacked her yet.

Finally, she reached a large clearing, growing soft ferns and other plants that Kagome didn't recognize. She sighed, giving up, and sat down. Maybe she could just wait to die, become one of HIS army and then die again. Permanently.

"I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings."

Kagome jumped. Cadaj hovered beside her, looking down at her, slightly anxious. Kagome flinched away. She hadn't heard him following.

"You didn't hurt my feelings," she mumbled, looking away.

"Okay…then I struck a nerve." He sat down beside her. "Do you want to talk?"

"I don't even know you!" she replied, slightly hysterical.

Cadaj shrugged. "True, but I'm hoping we'll be traveling together, so why not get to know each other?"

Kagome shook her head. "I'm not going with you. This is just too much. I just want to go home."

"To the hanyou and friends or your time?"

"To my ti-" Kagome stopped and looked at him. "How did you…?"

He smiled slightly. "Because I come from your time. I used to live in Kyoto, and found a pond that, if you jumped in, you would be transported here."

Kagome stared at him, awed. She had never expected there could be other people like her. "Huh…no wonder you dress so nicely."

He laughed. He had a nice laugh. Very masculine. "Well I try to accessorize better than the average school kid." He reached over and plucked at her school uniform. She batted his hand away playfully, finding herself laughing with him.

He smiled. "Glad you're feeling happier."

Kagome stopped laughing and blushed.

"Besides, it's probably not a very good idea to go back to the present. It will be easier for him to find you. To get you."

"Who, exactly is he?"

Cadaj's eyes grew dull. "The devil. Lucifer, you can call him."

"I don't believe it…" Kagome shook her head.

"Well believe it. He's been wanting revenge against the human race for years, but had been sealed away by the son of Buddha himself. But some idiot released him, and now he's here to wreak havoc."

"What exactly does he want revenge against?"

"Who knows. Something that happened thousands of years before probably."

"How can we stop him?"

"We can't." Cadaj's eyes flashed painfully. "No one is as powerful as him."

"We can't just let people die!"

"Well what can we do? All we can do is run and hope he'll spare us long enough to let us escape."

"Is there any place to hide?" Kagome whispered.

"No. He'll find you, no matter where you go, no matter what time you escape to."

"How can we survive then?"

Cadaj shrugged. "Run until the end."

"That doesn't sound like much of a plan."

"There's nothing else we can do."

There was silence.

"I don't want to die," Kagome finally whispered. "But I don't want to feel pain anymore."

Cadaj nodded slowly. "I could sense it. You've been scarred. Badly. Worse than Ayame was. Worse than any of us."

"I was just stupid, to love someone who would never feel the same." She had no idea why she was pouring herself out to him. Somehow she felt…calm around him.

"Love is stupid," he murmured, "unless you share it with the right person."

"Yeah…" Kagome agreed. "Ayame said the same thing."

"It's a wise saying isn't it?"

"Yes…"

Suddenly, Cadaj tensed. Kagome tensed almost instinctively beside him, sensing eyes on her, hungry, cold eyes. Lucifer?

"Stay behind me," Cadaj hissed between gritted teeth, shifting protectively in front of her. "The enemy is upon us."

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A/N sorry about long update everyone! Been busy with summer break1 anyways enjoy the chapter and review. Next one will be better! Promise

The Devil's Shadow