This idea just popped into my head, and I decided to put it to paper and see where it went. Please enjoy.

Inspiration: Photographs from the website Opacity, urban exploration, zombies, and the show Supernatural.

Thanks to PermanentlyFrozen for helping with this story!

(Note that this began as a one-shot but has since evolved in a multi-chaptered story.)

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.

Opacity

Awakening

When Kagome gasped awake, the first thing to come into focus was blood splattered across her sweater. It wasn't until she tried to check herself for injuries that she realized her wrists were tied together behind her. After several panicked moments, during which she had to force herself to breathe, she came to a conclusion about why her thoughts were so fuzzy: she had to have hit her head. Hard. Kagome knew that head wounds bled a lot, explaining the blood covering her chest and lap. What she could not remember, however, was why she was tied to a chair, her head cut open and bleeding heavily, and only just now waking up. Had she been asleep? Had she been knocked out?

Trying to remain calm, she cataloged her injuries. Her mouth was dry and her throat was sore, and she doubted she'd be able to speak if she tried. A slow pound started at her temples, sharpening the ache caused by her head injury. Keeping her movements slow, Kagome studied the room.

The walls were rotting and had strips of faded wallpaper peeling toward the floor. The tile underfoot was chipped and sometimes missing, revealing stained concrete underneath. She was tied to a cobwebbed chair, and she was alone. In the corner was a small pile of things that took her several moments to recognize. As soon as she did, she gasped, causing a wince as pain shot through her throat.

It was her camera and tripod, smashed into a dozen pieces.

Tears welled. Not only was that camera expensive—she'd spent a year working two jobs to save up enough money to buy it—but also, if whoever had kidnapped her (was it still kidnapping if she was an adult?) could break a beautiful piece of technology like that, then they would have no problem hurting a defenseless woman. (Of course a small part of her knew she was being ridiculous, but she was attached to that camera, damn it. Also... head injury.)

"Okay, okay," Kagome whispered—or tried to, anyway. She'd been right; her throat was too dry to produce actual sound. "Everything's okay," she continued anyway, mouthing the words silently to herself, wishing she could hear her own voice. Tamping down the panic rising in her chest, Kagome strained to remember what had gotten her into this mess. She decided to start with that morning—

Or, well, the last morning she remembered waking up. Hopefully it was "that morning" and not some other morning that had taken place days earlier.

11 hours earlier...

"I'm leaving now!" Kagome announced from the kitchen, snatching two pieces of toast from the toaster and wrapping them in a paper towel to take with her.

Her roommate, a pretty brunette named Sango, looked up from the couch. The two women shared a studio apartment downtown, which meant it was little more than a medium-sized room with everything crammed into it. Besides a tiny bathroom in one corner, there was a beat-up couch that they had found on the curb with someone's trash, a small television that Kagome had "inherited" (read: stole) from her mother's house, and two twin beds pushed against the far wall. It was cramped, but it was home.

Sango tucked a piece of hair behind her ear, carefully weighing her next words. She looked Kagome over with a tiny smile, trying not to laugh at her best friend. The girl was dressed in a warm sweater, old jeans, and a knit cap and carried a dufflebag almost as big as she was stuffed with photography equipment. "Be careful, okay?" Sango asked once she decided it wasn't worth starting an argument over Kagome's weird hobby (again).

"Yes, mom," Kagome agreed with a laugh. She hoisted the dufflebag higher after it slipped down to her elbow. Both girls were in their mid-twenties, but Sango was by far the more mature one.

"Seriously, Kagome," Sango continued, allowing her smile to slip a little. Okay, the argument couldn't wait. "You know I kind of hate when you do this — exploring abandoned buildings, taking pictures while standing on half-rotted floors that could cave in at any second? I don't want you to get hurt. Can't you take Kouga with you?"

Rolling her eyes, Kagome placed her hands on her hips; unfortunately, the enormous bag and a paper towel full of toast undercut her serious tone. "Things may be less awkward since we broke up last year, but that doesn't mean I want to hang out alone with him. I don't want to open that door again. Don't worry! I'll be fine, I promise. My phone's fully charged, and the building is less than half a mile from a housing development, so someone could totally hear me scream for help. It's not like I haven't done this a million times."

"Once again, I'd like to point out that it's illegal to trespass on private property, even if it's only to take pictures. Doesn't wandering around an old insane asylum freak you out? People probably died there."

"Freak me out?" Kagome repeated, her eyebrows jumping in surprise. "Of course not. It's going to be really cool. I'll get some great shots for my portfolio. Plus, I'll be there in the daytime. How is that creepy?"

Giving up, Sango heaved a sigh that was too exasperated to be one-hundred percent real and turned her eyes back to the newspaper in her lap. "Be careful," she repeated finally, her voice defeated. "And don't get caught. Neither of us has enough money to bail you out of jail."

Laughing Sango's warning off as a joke, Kagome patted her best friend on top of her head on her way out of the apartment. She skipped down the stairs, running over her plans in her head as she went. Kaede, their landlady, had lent Kagome her car for the day. It was an hour-long drive to get out of the city, another half-hour drive to reach the asylum, capped off by a five minute hike through the woods to get to the side door she knew had already been broken down by previous explorers (or vandals or squatters).

The drive went by quicker than she'd expected, and Kagome didn't even mind that the radio was stuck on the "golden oldies" station; she sang along to most of the songs at the top of her lungs, feeling excitement bubbling up the closer she got. It was only a minute after she drove past the housing development she'd mentioned to Sango that Kagome found a place to park the car on the side of the road. From where she sat, she could see part of the asylum's roof looming over the treetops. Built more than a century ago, it was a massive stone structure with decorative columns, molding, large windows, and vaulted ceilings. There was no doubt that it would smell musty or even disgusting, but Kagome had long since gotten used to that after visiting many similar sites.

Just after Kagome locked the car and started toward the treeline, two men materialized from the underbrush, headed her direction while arguing with intense looks on their faces.

Unnoticed for the moment, Kagome studied them. They were young, probably less than thirty years old and maybe even as young as Kagome at 25, and tall. One had dark hair and a lean body while the other was more solidly built — broad, almost. Her eyes slid appreciatively over his body, hardly deterred by his multiple layers of clothing: a pair of jeans, t-shirt, open flannel button-down, and finally a tan carpenter's jacket. He had unnaturally white hair that was pulled back from his face with a knit cap pulled tightly over it, despite the weather being on the warmer side for autumn.

Even though she tried not to attract attention to herself, there was only so much a woman could do to avoid being spotted when she was standing alone on the side of a mostly abandoned back road. The men noticed Kagome before they were close enough for her to overhear their argument.

"Hey! Hey, you there!" the one with white hair shouted — unnecessarily as, again, Kagome was the only person in sight. As he moved closer, Kagome couldn't help noticing the angry set of his mouth and moody eyes.

"Hi!" Kagome responded cheerfully, swinging her dufflebag behind her back. "What can I do for you?"

"You? What can you—?" the man echoed incredulously, but his friend cut him off.

"Hello," the dark-haired one called out in a much friendlier tone. His voice and stance were charming and personable, which would have put Kagome at ease if the situation wasn't already so very weird. "Could you—please—tell us what you're doing all the way out here?"

Having not bothered to make up a cover story—normally Kagome sneaked into the abandoned buildings since, as Sango had pointed out, it was technically breaking and entering—she fumbled with her answer, deciding after a few awkward seconds that she might as well tell the truth. "I came out here to take pictures of the old asylum. I'm building a portfolio to submit to an urban exploration blog."

The dark-haired man opened his mouth to respond, but the other one cut him off this time. "That's trespassing."

"Are you cops?" Kagome asked shrewdly, her eyes sweeping over them both. They were young, attractive, and well-built, but neither seemed like a police officer.

"No," the surly man snapped, "but we could report you to one." It was only then that Kagome noticed that there was something off about him—his collar was torn, and there was dirt and what looked like blood splattered across his sleeve. There was a shallow cut along his cheekbone.

"Are you okay?" Kagome asked, concern overtaking her expression and tone. Although photography was her real passion, one of Kagome's two jobs was being a nurse at the local hospital. "I have a first aid kit in the car."

Clearly surprised, the man took a step back and put a hand self-consciously to his injured cheek. "No… that's—that's okay, I'm fine."

"Get that cleaned up before it gets infected," Kagome told him in her 'nurse voice,' friendly but with stern, clipped words. "Anyway, I swear I'm just going to be in and out of there within a couple of hours."

Since the white-haired man still looked taken-aback after she'd fretted over him, even after he'd been rude, the dark-haired man stepped smoothly in—but not before casting an amused look in his friend's direction. "You see, we're building inspectors," he explained with a serious look on his face, "and we're concerned about you going in there because the asylum could collapse any day now. The foundation has shifted."

Kagome decided to believe him since they did sort of look like they could be building inspectors. Or maybe in construction? It seemed more plausible than the idea of them being with the police, anyway. Plus, how could she prove it? Ask for id? A business card? Did building inspectors have those? She waved his words away dismissively, smiling confidently at the two men. "I do this all the time. I swear I'll be careful, and I really will be in there for just a couple hours. You have my word that I won't sue if something happens," she joked.

The two men exchanged a quick look, communicating silently. Both looked away after a moment, seeming resigned. "You'll be out before nightfall?" the dark-haired man asked.

The woman glanced at her watch. It was almost noon. It was late fall, so the sun would be down around six in the evening. Six hours was more than enough time to get in, take some photographs, and get out. "Yes," she promised.

"Seriously," the white-haired one pushed, leaning just a smidge too far into her personal space. He'd forgotten his earlier surprise and was back to being gruff. Silently, Kagome wondered why being so rough around the edges made him extra attractive to her. "You need to leave before it's nighttime. Also, stay out of the basement and the inner rooms, anywhere that's dark and blocked off from the sun."

"Those are the most, uh, dilapidated," his friend explained, although his tone was funny, as though he was grappling with his words and choosing them on the spot. "More likely to collapse, I mean."

Something about the conversation was very peculiar to Kagome, but she couldn't put her finger on what, so she shrugged. "Deal," she agreed, holding out her hand to shake theirs.

The dark-haired man pumped her hand quickly and let go, smiling to himself like her attitude amused him, but the other's grip lingered, making Kagome feel unbalanced and tingly. She tried to tamp down the blush rising in her cheeks. Why hadn't physical contact with the first man make her as uncomfortable when they were both equally attractive? The white-haired man also seemed honestly worried about her. "Maybe we should go with you, just in case," he suggested, his fingers briefly tightening around her own.

Now both men looked worried, and Kagome was perplexed. Was it just her or was there underlying meaning to the conversation that she was missing?

"We don't have time; we need to get back to the city and do some research," the dark-haired man (Kagome was beginning to wish she knew their names) said in a low voice, as though Kagome wouldn't hear him even though she was standing right next to them, trying to politely pull her hand away. "As long as she's out before sundown, she'll be fine."

Feeling like she needed to reassure the men, Kagome pasted on her most brilliant smile and patted each on the arm. "I promise to be on my way well before nightfall."

"And…?"

"And to not go into the basement. Now, if you boys will excuse me, I better get moving if I want to be done by my new deadline."

She was halfway to the treeline before he—the white-haired one that made her stomach feel fluttery—called after her, "Be careful!"

Turning on her heel, Kagome waved at them, still smiling even though she was confused. At least, she thought, if she did get caught by a patrolman, she could explain that building inspectors gave her the green light to explore the abandoned asylum. It would've been nice to know why the two men were so on edge, though. Plus, as far she knew, nightfall did not make buildings more likely to collapse, so their argument was more than a little strange. Once she entered the forested area, all sound from the road were cut off, enveloping her in silence.

True to her word, Kagome mostly took exterior shots of the asylum and then worked her way around the outlying corridors, sticking to the outermost rooms except for when she had to venture deeper within to find a staircase. She ate lunch on a second floor balcony, enjoying the chilly air ruffling her long hair. It wasn't until almost four in the afternoon when she was beginning to wind down that Kagome noticed a storm on the horizon. Dark, rolling clouds approached quickly from the west. The wind picked up, and Kagome could feel the humidity rise sharply in the air. Soon, the sun faded as the overcast sky blocked it out. The chilliness in the air—it was almost winter after all—in addition to the lack of sunlight made Kagome shiver.

Until that moment she'd forgotten she was in an insane asylum. The autopsy room, morgue, laboratory, and other more questionable rooms were hidden deeper in the building, so Kagome had been focusing on the far less creepy patients' rooms and doctors' quarters.

Packing up her things, Kagome lovingly put her camera and tripod in the dufflebag. Hoisting it onto her shoulder, she walked toward the old staircase and began picking her way down, noticing how without the sun, the inner rooms had been plunged into an eerie darkness. As she approached the landing that led to the first floor, Kagome sensed movement on the flight of stairs below her, which led to the basement. Certain it wasn't her imagination when she heard a floorboard creak, the woman froze where she was, listening for any indication of what was in the building with her. This wouldn't be the first time she ran into a squatter, and wildlife was common in buildings open to the elements like this.

Feeling ridiculous, Kagome found her voice and called out, "Hello?"

With bated breath, she waited, but there was no response. It was probably a stray cat or a squirrel or something that had found its way inside through one of the many broken windows. Taking the last step down to the landing, Kagome peeked over the banister at the flight of stairs below her. It ended in darkness—the basement. A shadow, slightly darker than the space around it, seemed to shift just beyond the door frame. Stifling a gasp—and then a nervous giggle, remembering how she'd told Sango just that morning that an abandoned insane asylum did not scare her—Kagome tried again. "Hello? Anyone down there?"

"Yes," said a very low voice from behind her, right next to her ear. A breath stirred her hair, and Kagome spun around. She barely managed to catch a glimpse of him, or it, when the figure reached up and shoved her.

Kagome threw her arms out desperately as she fell backwards, trying to grab onto something before she fell down the stairs. The pads of her fingers slid against the wall, dry paint crumbling under her hands, and then she went down, cracking her forehead against one of the steps as she went.

Which brought her to the present: bloody and tied to a chair.

With a moan, of pain and regret, Kagome wondered if she had been the one who had broken her own camera equipment by falling on it. Trying to be reasonable, she also decided that if her throat was as dry as it seemed, then she must have been unconscious for several hours. That would also explain her stiff shoulders, sore from the way she was tied up, and why her forehead had clotted enough to slow the bleeding.

Now to figure out who had put her in that position.

Kagome knew she had seen his face, but she struggled to remember it. He was tall and gaunt, pale enough that his skin stood out against the darkness. Sunken cheeks, dull eyes, and long, dark, tangled hair that hung well past his shoulders completed a ghoulish appearance. He looked half starved, but the strength with which he shoved her had been impressive. For a moment, Kagome imagined that his teeth had been sharp—not just the canines, but all of them, filed into jagged points like a shark.

Had those men she'd run into earlier known about the man? Was that why they had been so reluctant to let her go in the asylum alone? ...No. They had only warned her to get out before nightfall; they'd said nothing about some creepy man hiding in the building. As far as Kagome knew, there was no reason why the man would only come out at night, so warning her to get out before the sun went down seemed unrelated. Unless he was a vampire.

A vampire!

For just a moment, Kagome entertained that idea before tossing it away with a scoff. Of course it wasn't a vampire. He was probably just some desperate homeless man.

Creaking, the door opposite her opened.

No one came in, unnerving Kagome even more than she already was.

Her eyes scoured the room again, looking for the source of light that allowed her to see as much as she did. Set high up on the walls were candles with flames flickering in a draft. After another few minutes, she could hear footsteps as someone walked across the room above her. They stopped directly overhead, waited almost a full minute, and then continued on. A shiver stole down Kagome's spine. Not knowing who it was, she was afraid to try to get their attention.

Suddenly there was a shout, the whole ceiling shook, and dust settled over Kagome's shoulders. Everything went quiet.

Spooked, she struggled against the rope that bound her. The skin around her wrists was rubbed raw, and the smallest movement sent sharp jabs of pain up her arms. Stifling a cry of panic, she tugged harder, wishing the chair she was sitting on was rotten enough to break just by jostling it enough. "Please, please," she whispered hoarsely, begging herself not to cry.

There was another thud, and then she heard footsteps on the stairs, slow and steady. There was a pause before they continued, sounding closer, right outside the now-open door. Kagome stopped struggling and held her breath, staring with wide eyes at the dark entrance. Finally, the person came through—

It was the white-haired man from earlier. He was covered in dirt and dust and more blood, and he was carrying a huge gun, aimed ahead of him, which made her heart stutter to a stop. He did not look happy.

"Oh, good, you're still alive," he muttered, lowering the gun. The man jogged to her side and knelt down, making quick work of the rope. "You promised to be gone by sundown," he accused, looking up at her with a stormy expression. Up close, he was even more impressive—strong jaw, smooth skin, and a classic nose.

Kagome opened her mouth to retort but all that came out was a hoarse squeak and a broken sound that didn't really make sense. Nodding in understanding, the man withdrew a flask from an inside coat pocket. With a dubious look, she took it from him, trying very hard not to look at her injured wrists.

"It's water," the man clarified, sucking in a breath when he saw her wrists. He held her free hand, turning it over to examine her injuries. Kagome's heart slowed to another stop, and she cursed her plummeting stomach. Now was not the time. "Well, holy water, but you shouldn't taste anything different… Unless you're not human." Kagome took a sip, then another, and then gulped down half the flask before the man snatched it back. "I might need that!"

"It was still afternoon," Kagome informed him with a glare, internally rejoicing when her voice came out clear and her throat no longer hurt as much. "It wasn't nighttime! Well, except the storm sort of made it dark early, and I could barely see on the staircase."

"You're an idiot," the man told her, but not harshly. His voice was more exasperated than angry. "We told you to stay out of dark places."

"Yeah, but you didn't say why!"

He opened his mouth to retort, but they were interrupted by another crash overhead. Lowering his voice, the man continued, "Just be happy you weren't eaten, and we got back here when we did. Let's get you out of here, okay?"

"Who are you?" Kagome asked, getting to her feet unsteadily. She almost fell over because her legs were asleep, but she caught herself on the back of the chair.

"Oh, right. Inuyasha," the man identified himself with a distracted grin. "The other guy's Miroku, my partner."

"Partner?" Kagome repeated, sounding disappointed even to her own ears. "I see. You two make a… a lovely couple."

Inuyasha sputtered, managing to look both surprised and offended. "No! No. Business partner. Well, hunting partner, I guess. Not my… not that."

"Hunting? What do you hunt?"

"Monsters, demons, evil spirits… Stuff like the thing that got you. We weren't expecting trouble from it during the day—all previous victims were taken during the evening or at night—which is why we let you come here alone. We had to do some research on the history of the building, and it's—shit, it's all a pain in the ass. I just want to kill the things, but Miroku's always insisting we learn more about them first. Whatever 'it' is, Naraku would've eaten you if we'd waited any longer."

Kagome pushed away from the chair and wobbled on her feet but managed to stay upright. She cast a look at her broken photography equipment in the corner and resisted the sadness threatening to overtake what was left of her good sense. The camera looked pathetic with its cracked lens and broken shoulder strap. "Naraku?" she asked instead to distract herself.

The man—Inuyasha—stepped forward and put a hand to the small of her back to guide her out of the room. With his other hand, he hefted the gun up and kept it aimed ahead of them. They walked slowly and quietly through the doorway toward the basement stairs. "He was the head physician at the asylum about ninety years ago. Now he's some creepy spirit thing that eats trespassers. Only comes out at night. Or, whenever it's dark, I guess."

"He eats people? Like a zombie?" Kagome whispered.

"Sort of. Think more hungry, evil spirit and less reanimated corpse. Miroku thinks he's afraid of light. I don't really care. I do the shooting."

"You're not really the brains of this little operation, are you?" Kagome teased. When he looked down at her, she couldn't hide the silly grin on her face. "Just the brawn, then."

They were halfway up the stairs when something shimmered in front of them, like an old television that you had to adjust to see the image clearly. Inuyasha stopped short, wrapping his arm around Kagome's waist and yanking her to his side as if his arm alone could shield her from damage. After several seconds, the figure fully appeared and then seemed to… solidify or something, no longer transparent, like Naraku was still a living man. When he reached a hand in Kagome's direction, she got the feeling that he'd actually make contact and not pass right through her like she imagined a spirit should. Unable to move, her feet glued to the rotten step below her, she cowered into the crook of the hunter's arm.

With a deafening bang, the shotgun went off, and Naraku splattered. There was no blood, but he seemed to explode in front of them in a very gross, indescribable kind of way with bits of matter flying everywhere.

"Come on, he'll reform in a few minutes. We have to get you out the front door; he shouldn't be able to leave the building."

"How is he able to do that? I mean, touch people and reform and stuff?" Kagome asked in a trembling voice, looking over her shoulder at the spot where the spirit had been, stumbling along with only Inuyasha to guide her.

"Because he's so old and demented," a new voice explained, spooking Kagome enough that she jumped. She snapped her head back to the front so fast that she worried she gave herself whiplash. At the top of the stairs, leaning casually against the banister, was Miroku. He had a charming, unruffled smile on his face. Although logic told Kagome that he must have been the one making the thumps of noise overhead while battling the spirit, he looked much less dirty and blood-spattered than Inuyasha did. "The older the spirit, the stronger it is. However, the longer a spirit hangs around, the more insane it becomes. Naraku's a nasty piece of work by now."

"Hi," she said when all other words failed her. Her brain was struggling to keep up with everything, slowed by her head injury and the sheer shock of what was happening around her. "So, you two really aren't building inspectors, huh? Like, at all?"

The two men shared an amused look. Inuyasha, however, shrugged at his partner. "Give the girl a break; it looks like she hit her head pretty hard. I'm giving her the benefit of the doubt and assuming she's not as dumb as she sounds."

Offended, Kagome ripped her arm out of his grip and placed both hands on her hips. "For your information, I graduated at the top of my class and was even accepted into med school!"

"In her defense, Inuyasha," Miroku pointed out practically, "she's only just learned that things like demons and monsters exist. I'm pretty sure that would unsettle anyone. Well, except for maybe a half-demon who had to adjust to living in a world where he didn't quite fit in anywhere at all."

Inuyasha sent him a very dirty look. Kagome looked back and forth between the two men, once again knowing that there was more to their conversation than what she understood from the words themselves.

Stubbornly, Inuyasha reached out and grabbed Kagome's arm despite her protests. He pushed her up the last couple of stairs and spun her in the direction of the front door. "Go through there and get off the porch as fast as you can. He can't get you once you reach the woods, so you'll be fine making it back to your car. Go and don't look back."

The asylum around them seemed very quiet. Kagome took a hesitant step forward but then paused. "And after that?" she asked doubtfully.

"You drive away," Miroku explained. "Drive away and forget all this ever happened."

"You seriously think I can forget that there are—are—demons out there? Things that really go bump in the night? I don't think that's possible."

"Eh," Inuyasha said, scratching the back of his head with the muzzle of his shotgun. His knit cap shifted but stayed on. "People do it all the time. I think they're grateful to forget. The ones we save, I mean. They just go back to their little lives and leave the monsters to people like us."

"It was very nice meeting you," his friend said with another gentle smile. "I hope we never have to meet again." She knew that Miroku meant that he hoped she never had another run-in with the supernatural, which meant they never would have a reason to meet again.

"Nice meeting you, too," she responded softly, taking one last look at the two men. It did make her feel better knowing there were people out there who took care of the monsters she had just learned really existed, but she felt uneasy leaving them to fight the spirit alone—not that an injured photographer could help all that much. "Good luck. And… and thank you, I guess." She resolutely turned her back and ran out the front.

The moment both of her feet touched the ground outside, the door slammed shut behind her. Whirling around, Kagome listened with her heart in her throat as there was a shout—it sounded like Miroku—and a thud against the wall that made any still-intact windows rattle. There was more yelling, the shotgun went off twice with a brief pause in-between that must have meant Inuyasha was reloading, and then a weird, inhuman shriek. Unable to walk away, Kagome waited on the grass next to the closest cluster of trees, watching as everything fell into stillness and silence once more. The idea of leaving them without ever finding out if Inuyasha and Miroku were alive flooded her with guilt.

A minute later the front door creaked open, but no one came out.

Kagome put a hand to her mouth, counting the seconds. After she got to fourteen, there was movement, and Kagome saw Naraku flicker in the doorway as if straining against an invisible barrier that wouldn't allow him to step onto the porch.

"Come here," the man, spirit, thing called in a sinister voice.

"No," Kagome whispered, taking a step backward.

"Come here, or I'll eat them."

"That's disgusting," she retorted bravely, angrily, but her voice cracked halfway through. "Why are you doing this?"

"It's so lonely here," Naraku said in a low, almost seductive voice. "I just want some company."

"Bullshit," Kagome countered, crossing her arms over her chest to keep from shivering. "Seriously? What's up with all this?"

There was a loud bang, and Naraku dissipated. Miroku appeared in the doorway, looking far more ruffled than he had earlier with a trail of blood streaming from his lower lip down his chin. "I think," he said, looking wobbly on his feet, "I think that there's a lot of pissed off dead people waiting for Naraku on the other side. Imagine all the people he tortured in the name of medicine and research while he ran the asylum. He's too afraid to leave this world and move on. Eating people must give him the strength to hang on."

With a shudder, Kagome recalled some of the disturbing ways people with mental problems were treated in the early twentieth century. Horrible, awful things that went beyond lobotomies and electric shock therapy; things like removing teeth or organs to get rid of the so-called diseased parts of the body that caused insanity or even more benign mental illnesses. "So, what do we do?"

"We do nothing," snapped Inuyasha, appearing next to Miroku. He rubbed his head with a wince. It took several moments for Kagome to figure out what was wrong with him—his hat was gone and sitting on top of his hair were two little triangles. From that distance, Kagome wasn't sure what they were. "You're supposed to be leaving, remember? We, as in Miroku and I, are going to find his body and destroy it."

"You'll find it faster with three people looking," Kagome pointed out stubbornly.

"Why would you willingly help us when we're giving you an out?" Inuyasha demanded, his confusion making him sound more defensive and angry than Kagome believed he actually was.

"It's the right thing to do?" she suggested, but her words sounded unsure even to her own ears. Kagome couldn't explain it, really; she wasn't suddenly feeling braver, but she did feel a sense of obligation to these two men. Maintaining eye contact with the hunters, she stepped back onto the porch. "Now let's do this."

Once again, the two men shared an amused but resigned look, betraying the years they must have worked together, communicating through looks and gestures alone. "Fine," Inuyasha said. "Stick with Miroku; you two explore the big, central rooms together, and I'll look through all the smaller rooms and hallways."

Closer now, Kagome studied Inuyasha's head and realized the two white triangles were ears—fluffy, white, dog-like ears. Miroku's 'half-demon' comment earlier didn't seem so confusing now.

"What?" Inuyasha snapped. He hadn't realized his hat was gone.

"Nothing," Kagome answered in a small voice. She moved closer to Miroku, who observed them knowingly but said nothing. "Let's go."

The group parted as Miroku and Kagome ascended the stairs, and Inuyasha wandered out of view toward the rooms Kagome had explored earlier that day. At first the pair was silent, Miroku recognizing that she was lost in thought. It took several minutes to reach the second floor as the only light they had was a small flashlight the hunter was carrying and every third step was partially destroyed by time and the elements. Dust and debris, such as insulation that had fallen from the ceiling, cluttered the stairs and disguised holes and weak points.

"Did you notice anything while taking your photographs?" Miroku asked, leading the way.

"Not really," Kagome said, carefully stepping wherever he did. "There wasn't a whole lot in the outer rooms, and somehow I doubt there would be a body out in the open that no one noticed all these years. Maybe we should find a locked room that no one's been in since this place was abandoned."

"The only locked room I've found so far was the attic. I was trying to break in when I heard you and Inuyasha on the stairs with Naraku. We couldn't find anything else when we were here this morning, or when we first got here this evening."

"How'd you guys figure out I was still here?" Kagome asked, following him up the third flight of stairs toward the attic door.

"Your car was out on the road. When we got inside, Naraku attacked us as soon as we tried to go into the basement. We also saw some blood, so we figured something bad had happened."

"You two could be Sherlock and Watson," Kagome joked with a strained grin. "I was on my way out when he pushed me down the stairs."

"Ouch; that's happened to me a few times," Miroku commiserated merrily. They arrived at the attic door, which was a huge slab of wood that seemed much less rotted than the rest of the house. It had a large iron padlock on the outside. He took a pouch out of his back pocket and unrolled it, revealing a set of small, delicate tools. Instead of going for the padlock like she expected, he started prying the hinges loose.

"So, uh," Kagome began meekly, leaning against the wall and facing the stairs, pretending to keep watch for a re-materialized Naraku. "What's up with Inuyasha?"

"You mean his attitude? Don't worry, he's a lot nicer when you—Wait, that's a lie. He's not nicer when you get to know him, but you do realize that being rude is just how he is. Despite my vast knowledge, I never seem to understand him. It's rather difficult having him as a best friend," Miroku explained, pulling the loosened screw out and beginning to work on the next one.

"No, I meant the… the ears."

"Ah," he said, and his hands stilled momentarily. Only a beat later and without looking at Kagome, Miroku continued working. "He's a half-demon."

"But he's still, like, alive? I mean, not like Naraku?"

"Right."

"Evil?"

Miroku chuckled. "Only when he wants to be. He's also half human, meaning he has emotions and everything. Being part demon just makes him a better hunter when it comes to killing the bad guys. Don't worry; he's definitely on our side." There was a soft click, and Miroku made quick work of pulling off the middle hinge. With deft movements, he began on the third and final one; afterward, he yanked the door open with a little effort, creating a small gap.

"I don't think you'll be able to fit through there," Kagome pointed out after studying the narrow opening.

"The padlock's completely rusted shut, and I couldn't break it earlier. This is our best bet for getting into the attic."

"How about I go in, and you tell me what to look for?" Kagome suggested, already wiggling through the gap. She ignored it when her wool coat caught on a nail and snagged—the thing was already stained with blood and dirt anyway.

Her last glimpse of Miroku was of him looking very solemn. "Fine, but be careful. Describe what you see once you get inside, okay? Hopefully it'll be obvious, like a coffin or something sitting out in the open."

"What do I do when I find the body?"

Miroku put his face up against the opening since the thick door muffled their voices. "You'll have to burn it. I've got a little bit of gasoline in a flask and some matches."

"The work you guys do is very gross," she muttered. "Okay, I think I found something. There's this huge chest. It's not long enough for a body, but it's really pretty and expensive looking. Maybe his body's all folded up inside?"

"Can you open it?"

"Nope, it's locked. Can I set it on fire anyway?"

Miroku paused, deciding that Kagome might be as destructive as Inuyasha. "I guess so. Maybe we'll get lucky, and you really did find it. Look around some more first, just in case. I'm not sure I have enough supplies on me to burn more than a couple things."

He watched through the narrow gap, noticing Kagome crossing back and forth several times. There were several muffled thumps, and then a blood-curdling scream when she was out of view. "Kagome? Kagome!"

"Sorry!" she called back, her voice trembling and sounding terrified. "I definitely found the body. There was a loose board, and when I pulled it free—Oh, god, the body fell right out of the hole. This is so gross."

"I'd like to say you get used to it, but you really don't," Miroku told her with a chuckle. When Kagome came back to the door, he passed her the flask of gasoline and a book of matches. "Burn it quickly. We're lucky Naraku hasn't paid us a visit yet."

"Oh, really?"

Ah. That was definitely not Kagome who said that, Miroku thought with a grimace. Not Inuyasha either.

The hunter jerked away from the door and found himself face-to-face with the spirit. Everything about Naraku looked agitated. The edges of his form were flickering with rage, and his expression was murderous. The air around him actually pulsed with energy.

"Well, crap. Hurry, Kagome!" Miroku hollered as he pulled a small gun from a holster hidden under his jacket. He shot but missed as the spirit lunged. After a brief struggle, Naraku shoved him off balance, and Miroku fell down the stairs. When he landed with a thud at the bottom, he wasn't moving.

With a flicker, Naraku disappeared before re-forming in the room with Kagome.

During the fight outside the attic, Kagome had rushed back to the decayed body, which was really just some scraps of clothing and bones now, and was struggling to light a match. Her hands shook so badly that she'd already ripped three matches in half by accident.

"No!" Naraku roared, grabbing Kagome by the back of her coat and hurling her to the floor. She skidded several feet, and her throbbing head left her dizzy and her vision blurred.

"Not much of a hunter, are you?" the spirit sneered. "Neither are the other two. Both knocked out so quickly, so easily. I'll feast tonight."

"What is it with you and eating people?" Kagome asked in a quivering voice, her hands scrambling next to her, looking for something to hit Naraku with. If he was solid enough to touch her, then he was solid enough to feel her hit him with a blunt object. "You didn't do that when you were alive, did you?"

"Why do you think there were so many deaths in this asylum? I was pursuing very important research that would prove eating a human heart could give you special powers. This is proof that I was right. Nearly a century later, and I'm still here."

Finally finding something with her hand, Kagome hurled it at Naraku without looking at what it was. The old, discarded book flew uselessly past the spirit's head, and Kagome was forced to admit to herself that she had terrible aim when lying injured on the floor. "How'd you die?" she asked, hoping to distract him. A look of triumph crossed her face, briefly, when she felt her fingers close around the matches she'd dropped during the attack.

"The patients and staff mutinied," Naraku told her with an expression of fury twisting his features, making him look even less human. "Locked me in this attic to starve to death. In the end, however, they were proven the fools. I am the only one who was able to hold onto this world."

"Not for long," Kagome threatened, pushing off from the ground and lunging toward the body. She quickly struck a match and dropped it onto the corpse before the flame could blow out. The scraps of fabric and bones flared up in a startling flare of light, a fire that burned almost green, fueled by more than gasoline. With a howl, Naraku reached for her, but he started to deteriorate before both her eyes, fizzling into nonexistence from the edges inward. Kagome closed her eyes, feeling her stomach churn.

Then, as though it had all been a bad dream, she found herself alone in the attic. Neither Naraku nor his body was there, leaving nothing behind but the faint smell of smoke.

"Kagome?" she heard someone, Inuyasha maybe, call from the other side of the attic door. "What's going on? Are you okay?"

"Yeah!" she yelled back shakily, examining herself for more injuries. Underneath the adrenaline, underneath the fear and panic, she felt a strange sort of exhilaration, a feeling of aliveness she had never felt before. "I think I got him."

When she slipped back through the gap, she found both Miroku and Inuyasha on the stairs looking a little worse for wear. She wondered, vaguely, how many scars and bruises their clothes hid. Hunting monsters seemed like a tough line of work. Kagome also thought that she better understood why they did it, too.

"You okay?" Inuyasha repeated, looking genuinely concerned. He must have found his hat because it was firmly back on his head and once again hiding his ears.

"I think so," Kagome told him with a small smile. "Will you boys walk me to my car?"

"Definitely," Miroku agreed with a sheepish smile. A large bump was already forming on his forehead, visible to Kagome's scrutinizing eye.

"Would you two like to come over for dinner?" Kagome asked as she led the way down the steps, feeling like she'd earned the right to be at the front of the pack. She had, after all, been the one to destroy the spirit. And she was only a photographer. "I have some more questions for you."

Inuyasha groaned, although she suspected he wasn't as put-out about it as he acted. "Haven't you asked enough?"

"Oh, I don't know," Kagome said lightly, imagining Sango's face when she returned home with these two in tow and a story to tell. Of all the people Kagome had ever met, Sango seemed the most like a badass demon hunter to her. There might be some way the girls could help out with this whole venture. "I think this might be the start of a beautiful friendship." When Kagome looked over her shoulder to smile at the two hunters, she caught Inuyasha's eye. A fluttery feeling made its way into her stomach again, and she could feel a blush warming her cheeks. "Or something like that."