Bound by Corruption by BelovedStranger
The Contract
AUTHOR’S NOTE:
If my readers will notice, I am making a theme with the prompts. I hope you enjoy chapter 2!
Prompt: If you meet the Buddha on the road, kill him.’
Word Count: 1,733
Glossary:
Ningen---Human
Hakama--loose trousers
Haori--loose garment resembling a coat
Nagajuban--Under Haori
Onna--Woman
Aijin--Lover
Even blinded by tears, Kagome could not mistake the presence before her for a mortal man. His flaming, amber gaze with its cat like pupils could never exist in the eyes of a ningen. She tried to blink away the moisture in her eyes so she could take in every detail of this being masquerading as a man. Impossibly long, straight, silver hair cascaded down and around his angular face, accentuating the intriguing markings that graced his angelic but unmistakably masculine visage.
Two mauve stripes slashed across high cheek bones, a cerulean blue crescent moon centered squarely on his proud forehead, and magenta colored the backs of his eyelids. The vibrant colors of his markings only made his alabaster skin more prominent--beautiful.
She then noted the stark coloring of his clothes. His hakama were black as he knelt on the altar above the steps before her, bending over her in an almost protective gesture. He wore a black nagajuban underneath a snowy white haori. His obi, a gold to match his eyes, was the only splash of color to offset his almost somber garments. Then she noticed the two swords strapped to his left hip--a warrior.
Her attention moved to the body hidden beneath his clothing. Impossibly wide shoulders, a broad chest obviously heavily muscled even hidden by his apparel, leading down to a trim waist, and what was probably very long, lean legs.
Her appraisal lasted no more than a few seconds, her mind soaking in his every detail.
“Inu no Kami,” she breathed in wonder and awe, momentarily forgetting her peril.
He chuckled, the sound low and intimate, meant just for her, but Kagome detected mockery in the soft sound of amusement.
When he spoke, his voice was deep, sensual as it caressed her eardrums. “No, onna, I am not.”
It was then that she noticed the pulsing but contained aura surrounding him. It was dark, sinister. Before she could demand who he was, she was brought back to the danger awaiting her on the other side of the shrine doors when another crash echoed around her, signaling the bandits efforts to reach her.
Fear overcame curiosity.
She whimpered, her shoulders hunched defensively.
“Do you wish to be saved?” that devilishly masculine voice asked her?
“Yes! Yes, please,” she cried, gazing up at him with wide eyes.
“My aid does not come for free,” he warned, taking the vase out of her hands, removing his warmth, and setting her burden aside.
With another thundering crack, the shrine doors splintered open.
“Now we’ve got you, girly,” snickered a male voice from behind her quacking back.
“Let’s get her, boys!” hooted another, while others cat called and hollered excitedly.
Looking over her shoulder, Kagome trembled at the intimidating sight of men pouring inside the shrine. Though their words implied eager anticipation, their steps where slow as they caught sight of the man before her, eyeing him warily, wondering if he posed a threat to them.
Grabbing blindly for him, unable to look away from the approaching men, she agreed desperately.
“Yes!”
Another chuckle was his answer, malicious in nature.
A long fingered hand cupped her right cheek, turning her petrified gaze back to meet his calm scrutiny.
“You must be certain, for there is no going back afterwards.”
His words held warning, but deep anticipation for her continual agreement. The approaching men sealed her fate at their relentless advance, and again she agreed.
He grinned at her almost kindly, fangs peeking out of his sculptured mouth, before his lips collided with hers, forcing her own wide open with a sweep of his wicked tongue. She opened with a gasp, allowing him unwitting access to the recess of her mouth. She tasted iron--his blood. Before she could recoil in alarm, pain lanced her tongue. He had nicked her with his fang and now sucked on her abused appendage.
The dire circumstances they were in were too great for her to tell if she enjoyed the exchange or not, but surprise and shock made her submit to the quick exchange. Then she heard his voice echo in her mind, chanting.
With blood I bind thee, merging two souls into one. I am yours and you are mine until the contract is fulfilled.
Then his lips were gone, releasing her.
A voice from behind intruded on them. “Looks like we’re interrupting, boys.”
More male laughter.
“Stand aside, pretty boy. This one’s ours. Unless you want to be fucked, too. You’re girly enough,” another taunted, threatened.
Seemingly indifferent to their malice, her savior wiped away her tears.
“Aijin, close your eyes if you do not wish to see their deaths,” her savior warned ominously.
Nodding her head mutely, she did as he suggested when he stood and walked around and away from her kneeling form. She stifled the need to have him stay by her side, afraid to be alone. Doubt made her almost call him back, fearing he had lied and planned on abandoning her to a fate worse than death.
Panicked and terrifying screams rent the air, causing her to jump in surprise, her eyes popping open unconsciously. Keeping her back turned, she heard liquid splatter the floor, a tearing, ripping sound, gurgling, and the ever present screams of pain and terror.
Her eyes followed the shadows that played on the floor and wall before her, seeing nightmarish images for all its obscurity. Forms flew through the air, others torn apart, while an endless spray of dark shadows escaped the figures before they were discarded on the ground.
Something splashed across the steps inches from her left, and Kagome saw the crimson splatter stain the tile with dawning comprehension, dread settling inside her breast like a rock. Clamping her eyes shut once more, a tremor of trepidation slithered down her spine. The sounds of the slaughter taking place behind her frightened her unbearably, so she tried to muffle the noise by covering her ears with her small hands, but her efforts were in vain. The violent death taking place close at hand was heard all to clearly.
Suddenly, all was grimly silent. Before she could build the courage to lower her hands and once again open her eyes, fearful to what she might see, warm, sticky hands clasped her own, lowering them to her lap.
Blinking her eyes open, her savior again knelt before her, bending over her kneeling form. The gesture was no longer comforting as blood splattered across his white haori, staining his alabaster skin. One elegant cheek dripped with blood not his own, for there was no wound to see, his neck similarly marked. Even his silvery hair bore testimony to the nightmare she knew lay behind her. Stricken, brown orbs lowered to their clasped hands. More blood coated his clawed hands and now hers, making his look deadly and sinister in comparison.
Shock held her immobile for long seconds, but then she gasped in horror and jerked away from him. Shooting to her feet, her eyes on his bloody form, she backpedaled, then slipped on something slick on the floor and fell painfully on her rump. Beside her, a torso, its inwards spilling out, lay in a meaty heap of human remains. She felt coagulating blood soak into her kimono where she sat.
Gagging, she turned, moving to her hands and knees in an attempt to get away from the blood and gore, but all around her, her eyes took in the carnage. Body parts and entrails littered the floor in impossible amounts. The smell of iron, urine, and bowels infiltrated her nostrils, choking her on its foul stench--the scent of death.
Looking into the eyes of a bodiless head a mere foot away from her, held her petrified gaze. A scream built inside her throat, bounced around inside her tortured mind, until a keening wail escaped to fill the loud silence.
Blackness overtook her vision as shock had her falling to the crimson floor in a dead faint.
When she awoke, Kagome felt herself being held in a strong embrace. Slowly opening her eyes, her mind blissfully blank, she looked up into the amber gaze of her savior. His face, neck, and hair no longer bore signs of blood, but she noticed that his haori was still bloodstained as were her own.
Gasping like a fish out of water, she pushed against his chest and out of his hold. Crawling backwards, away from him, she gaped at him wordlessly. It was then that she realized that they were no longer inside the temple, but in a wooded area by a thin stream.
He tilted his head, watching her in eerie silence.
“W-who are you? What are you?!” demanded Kagome, her voice shrill.
He was silent a moment longer, his eyes contemplating her.
“An Inugami.”
She froze, even her breath, as she stared at him in dawning understanding.
An Inugami was a rare and powerful, dark youkai summoned by dark magic or by the call of bloodshed and destruction. They were devious creatures who made contracts with ningen for the promise of violence, but for a price. Somehow she had summoned him in her desperation, unwittingly entering into a contract with him, and handing him the destruction one of his kind craved.
Understanding her dire circumstance, she asked, “What is it I owe you?”
“Your innocence.”
Sucking in her breath, she wailed, “You want my...maidenhead? I’m a miko! Carnal relations are forbidden.”
His grin was pure evil, and she cringed away again.
“I do not only want your virgin body which you will, in time, freely, willingly offer me, but also to corrupt your pure light.”
Reflexively, she cried, “No!” Horror of what he demanded of her in return made her ill.
“You and I have a contract, aijin. If you do not wish to honor it, then I can rightfully devour you, body and soul.”
Quivering at his answer, one of her obaasan’s many proverbs filtered through her mind. ‘If you meet the Buddha on the road, kill him.’ Essentially meaning, do not blindly accept anything without knowing what awaited ahead, and she had certainly accepted this creature’s aid blindly and without caution. Now she had to pay the price for her impulsive decision or die what she was certain to be a painfully unpleasant death.