At What Price

SUMMARY: "Did you run to me Kagome?" Naraku chuckled out loud before speaking. "Come to me Kagome." He held out his arm in a gesture for her to take it. In slow motion she took the first step.

Author's Note: Hello all. Here is the latest chp. Enjoy as usual. Sorry for any errors. It's late and I'm being lazy on top of being sick. I don't want to proof it right now. Until then...

CHAPTER 61: A LOST BATTLE
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Kagome took the first step in the water letting its coolness lap onto her feet. The movement of her feet caused small ripples in the lake to spread out far across the water until it dissipated.

Naraku could see her stepping into the lake’s front. Her head turned, revealing to him that no one was around her or that no one had fallowed her. He smirked as he said out loud. “Let the test begin.” He talked to her thoughts as if they were her own. ‘Deeper in the water,’ he urged, ‘the calmer your souls shall seem.’

Kagome took two more steps farther into the pristine water that mirrored the vacant lost look on her features. The rocky pebbled bottom gave way to a gradual descending slope. Her gray velour pants absorbed the water she was slowly sinking into. For now the water level of the lake was now at the top of her knees and slowly rising.

Naraku continued his evil thoughts. ‘The bottom of the lake is tranquil and deep. It is as if you could loose yourself at the bottom. The pain…’ So far Kagome listened to him.
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Sesshoumaru raced down the highway on the motorcycles. He was ever so thankful that that annoying Jaken bugged him to have On Star installed in all of the vehicles he owned. Sesshoumaru could track any car with the GPS chip they put in. His eyes narrowed suspiciously has he noticed the car wasn’t moving.

“Mr. Sesshoumaru Masurau?

“Yes?”

“The car is located at Lake Cabassus.”

‘Lake Cabassus? That’s strange.’ Sesshoumaru thoughts were interrupted as the service representative cleared they’ll throat in an attempt to gain his attention.

“Excuse me, Mr. Masurau, do you need me to send a police car out there?” She asked in a concerned voice.

“No.”

“Alright then Mr. Masurau. Thank you for using On Star. Good bye.”

Once Sesshoumaru knew the exact location he burned rubber onto the asphalt and the evidence was the sound of a revving engine could be heard from miles around followed by the sound of squealing tires on the ground.

Kagome stopped when the water was to her slender waist. She let her hands skim to surface of the water as if she was petting, it in a gentle caress. She welcomed the cold frigid water numbing her body, praying that is to dull the pain inside. Thoughts swam to her conscious, the being influencing her to delve deep into the heart of the lake. Kagome was contemplating this thought when the ring on her finger gained her attention. She eyed it sadly. ‘It’s beautiful, and when sun hits it and makes it look like the ring is alive.’ Kagome laid back in the water. Her black locks pooled beneath her head as she opened her arms out. Kagome let herself float to the middle of the lake. She closed her eyes and dreamed. Dreamed of things Kagome wished they would be…

The ring glowed with a burning light on her hand in an attempt to ward off Naraku's mind control. Kagome didn't know that, however; her thoughts were swept away like a water fall into a dreamless state. There was an unknown battle within her that was being waged.
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Naraku could feel the connection with Kagome slipping from his fingers. 'What is this?' He was aware of the surge in power in Kagome's body. It was fighting him. 'Do not think I will give up that easy Kagome.' Naraku channeled more of his energy into the doll trying to regain control of Kagome’s thoughts. His dark crimson eyes could see what she did, and Naraku laughed. 'Come to me Kagome.'

Lifeless stone eyes open to the sky once again. The battle for her conscious is lost. ‘Come to me, my Kagome. I’m waiting.’

Naraku noticed the sign Kagome passed as she trudged through the forest. 'Lake Cabassus.' He beamed at his good fortune. 'I believe that Sesshoumaru as left you yet again unprotected. The time for him to learn as lesson is at hand; if he can't protect what is his, then it shall be taken.'

Naraku left his office undetected from the detectives that where spying on him.
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Inuyasha was leaving the office when Kikyou came out at him from nowhere. "Yashie baby!" She threw herself at him.

Inuyasha was taken aback. "Kikyou? I thought you had a meeting! What are y..."

She tightened her hold on him and brought her lips to his. "Yashie, I was thinking.," Kikyou paused. 'How should I approach this? Should I be blunt, or should I whine? Should I bone him then ask him? It’s always worked before.'

"Yes, babe?" Inuyasha asked in a semi-impatient tone.

"Let's go for some lunch." Kikyou linked an arm with Inuyasha and started dragging him to his car, “and then after that dessert at my place.” She said seductively. Kikyou’s lips brushed up against Inuyasha as she said it. “How about take out?”
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Naraku pulled up along side the uninhabited roadside and waited for his prize to come immerge from the forest. He opened the car door and stepped out onto the road and walked near a clearing where he ordered Kagome to go to. Naraku's thoughts plunged deeper into vulgar, sadistic motives every passing moment he waited. 'I will have fun with her. I will break her wild spirit into pieces. Then when I'm done…'

The snapping and of a branch caught his attention. There, from the dense foliage, emerged a soggy Kagome, with her gray velour outfit clingy to her body. The outfit was torn in a few places and had dirty smudges the knees and at the cuffs of her pants where they dragged on the ground. Kags’ tank top had a rip under her right breast giving a glimpse of the full mound and rosy nipple. She stood there in the midst of him, looking at him with dull eyes. Her jet black hair was plastered against her now chilled skin. A breeze picked up in the clearing on the side of the abandon highway.

"Did you run to me Kagome?" Naraku chuckled out loud, before speaking again. Knowing full well Kagome couldn’t answer him, willingly anyway. "Come to me Kagome." He held out his arm in a gesture for her to take it, and in slow motion she took that first step. One foot was bare, cut, and bleeding as it took small step forward which would be followed by the other foot that wore a dainty black flip flop.

Kagome, like a marionette puppet with invisible strings attached to her so she would obey him. Her clammy hand reached out for his, placing her fingers to his cold ones. Naraku enclosed his hand around hers. "Come, my Kagome, we have much to do." He led the woman back to his car when he felt his skin blistering in pain. It was searing with an indescribable burning sensation. A hiss escaped his lips as Naraku's red eyes narrowed with infuriation. He looked to see what the cause of his pain was. An incredibly arrogant thought, Naraku knew that Kagome could not be using her priestess powers because he had tainted her. Tainted her so that there was no way he would be affected by her powers; only to have her compliant to his will.

Naraku made her weak with just that one touch of evil aura on that night. He filled her with doubt and sorrow. Kagome's powers were strong. She inherited her priestess powers from her family heritage. But because she wasn't trained to control them she couldn’t be considered dangerous to someone like him. What Naraku didn’t know was that Kagome's powers were tied to her emotions and then there was something else. The ring.