Forbidden Love by BelovedStranger

Sinister Games

NOW EDITED!

NOT EDITED!

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Prompt: 'Marry in haste, repent at leisure

Another day passed while he lay unaware; another night arrived and Sesshomaru awakened.

The first thought that entered his mind was Kagome. The next, You’re the one. Had his heart been capable of beating, he was sure it would have skipped a beat or two. A soundless gasp, a widening of eyes, then realization crystalized at what those words he’d told her implied—forever. Without conscious thought, Sesshomaru had already made a decision on what he wanted—forever. But what did Kagome want..? Marriage? A family? Children? He could not give her those things, but he could give her eternity—as one of the damned.

A shudder wracked his body, of longing, of revulsion. No, he would never despise Kagome if she were vampire like he, but his stomach revolted at the imaginations that plagued him: her revulsion, her regret, coming to hate him. It all came down to her. How she’d react over time to becoming a monster, her emotions and thoughts. Would she change and become like Hanako or remain the same, gentle, young woman he’d come to love?

He…hadn’t really changed, at least not becoming the vile creature Hanako was, so perhaps his fears on that score were unfounded.

Also, there was something more to contemplate. Though they had known each other for most of her life, the majority of that time he’d been like a father figure, and only recently had their relationship gone down a darker path of seduction and romance. A human marriage in and of itself was a huge, lifelong commitment and not something to jump into lightly, but eternity? Becoming a creature of the night like him? That was an even larger step, with so many more pitfalls than two humans joining together in holy matrimony.

That which he longed for was too soon—for her. Time. He had much of it, but Kagome did not. As the sand fell in the hourglass, the ticking of a clock that was endless, her life dragged closer and closer to an end. Even if she lived to old age, he’d have her for less than a century. Not nearly enough time—for him. How long, he wondered as he exited his chamber underground, must he wait before offering his proposal? Or…should he never ask..?

More questions plagued him. If he ever did build the courage to bring up the subject, should he offer marriage first, then later, forever? Did he go down on bended knee as was custom as he asked for her hand? Just thinking about it made Sesshomaru go into a cold sweat. What if she said no? What if she said yes?

Shaking his head fiercely in an attempt to dispel all those infernal questions, he failed, and continued to think, to ponder—to wish. Love was a horrible emotion, full of pain and sorrow. If one listened to the poets and storywriters throughout history, they spoke of love in the most wondrous and beautiful of words and phrases. A happily ever after. However, what most failed to contemplate was what happened afterwards. What if happily ever after ended?

What was more, love was not all rainbows and sugar plums. It was dark, painful, capable of bringing even the strongest to his knees and begging for mercy. Was love worth the emotional agony? A better question: would he regret never tasting its sweet torture?

All at once, Sesshomaru was brought up short. Standing in the hallway, he froze. Senses reaching outwards, he realized something was missing; someone. Kagome! A strange lurching sensation in his diaphragm had him staggering forward a step, and then two, three; he was running. 

Seconds later, he found Victoria, Michael’s wife.

“Where is she?” he demanded. His tone was low, but far from neutral, filled with a menace he could not hope to contain.

For a few seconds, the human woman stared at him, hand over her heart, eyes wide, as if he had startled her, and perhaps he had. Though he felt remorse for scaring her, she spoke before he could voice an apology.

“Oh…Sesshomaru. You startled me. Ah, you are referring to Kagome, right?”

A nod was his only answer.

Vicky gifted him with a smile, but he detected strain around her eyes and mouth, and regret sank inside him. He must have scared her worse than he’d previously thought, and he felt like a bastard. Should he interject with an apology?

“She insisted that she personally go talk to her superior at the hospital and let them know she would be unable to work for the foreseeable future for personal reasons. Poor thing was fretful about the whole thing, not wishing to, and I quote, ‘come off as cold by calling’, so my husband offered to take her.”

Her words did nothing to assuage his fears, but displeasure was swift on its heels. Sesshomaru couldn’t believe Kagome had gone out where it was dangerous after he’d explained to her the dangers. Worse, she’d waited purposefully for him to be dead to the world and unable to stop her, he knew, and knowing only angered him further. Oh, when she got home, if he allowed her to return without going after her himself, he was going to punish her. She deserved an overdue spanking for her impudence. His palm itched just at the thought, and under his simmering displeasure, lust thickened his groin.

Fear for her safety predominant on his mind, he intended to go after her, but Vicky stopped him when he tried to say his farewell and thank you.

“Sesshomaru, please wait!” Stepping forward, she reached out as if to place her hand on his arm. He tracked the motion with his eyes, and it must have unnerved her, for she dropped her hand before making contact. “They’ve been gone for almost three hours…”

He frowned. “What?”

Three hours? It was only a half-hour drive to the hospital, and handing in her resignation wouldn’t take that long.

Vicky shifted from foot to foot, her agitation and worry obvious. “I called the hospital not an hour ago, but I was told Kagome had left half an hour beforehand… Then I thought about calling the police, but I thought it best if I waited for you instead.” Now she whispered, as if fearful of reprisal for her decision to wait for him to rise. “Should I have called the police first..?”

It was his turn to step forward and reach for her. She did not flinch—which he was grateful for—as he rested his hand upon her small shoulder and squeezed. “You did well to wait for me.”

Lifting her hand, she touched the back of his, let out a shaky sigh and tried to smile up at him, but failed. “Bring them back safe.”

He nodded. Releasing her, he stepped back, and left his home, venturing out into the night. He intended to travel towards the hospital, forgoing human means of transportation and took to the sky. However, he did not make it to his destination, for a wreck only a few miles from his home caught his attention. Upon recognizing one of his own vehicles, apprehension had him earth bound in a knee shattering landing—if he’d been mortal, that was. Easily taking the brutal landing in stride, he ran to the driver’s side of the expensive vehicle, only to see a badly injured and bleeding Michael.

Silently and with inhuman strength, he wrenched open the driver’s door. Though it was obvious another vehicle had plowed into the door, badly mangling it, sealing it shut more firmly than any lock, Sesshomaru easily tore the door off the car and threw it away from him. Ignoring the loud impact it made on the ground, he bent forward and called his butler’s name.

“Sesshomaru,” his friend murmured.

Lids opening slowly, blood on his face from a wound on his forehead, Michael’s eyes lit with thankfulness at the sight of him. Without being told, Sesshomaru knew that Kagome was nowhere near the wreck, her scent absent, and luckily, he smelled not even a drop of her blood, only Michael’s.

“What has happened?”

Michael blinked, tried to shift, only to freeze mid-motion and grimace in pain. “She was taken.”

Sesshomaru wanted to demand answers but looking at the human male, he knew Michael was in desperate need of medical attention. He leaned in to remove the other male from the mangled vehicle but was brought up short. As if the car was hit a second time, the front bumper was horribly dented, caved in on itself. Inside the driver’s seat, Michael’s legs were pinned. Were they broken? How badly was he injured?

“I’m sorry. I could not stop—”

“You have nothing to apologize for,” Sesshomaru interrupted firmly.

Michael reached for him. Sesshomaru held on to that bloodied palm, the dried, crimson stain coming off in pieces and onto his own. So fragile, that hand, easily broken. Sesshomaru was careful not to cause the man more pain and held that hand.

“Don’t worry about me,” Michael insisted, tightening his grip on Sesshomaru. “Call me an ambulance if you must. I would have had I been able to reach my cell but…” Shaking his head, only to suck in a breath as if the action pained him, he continued, speaking with unveiled desperation. “You must save her.”

“I will not leave you here—”

“They left a message.”

Foreboding slithered down Sesshomaru’s spine.

“One of the men, I think there were three of them, said, ‘Hanako sends her regards’.”

A snarl curled his lips. Hanako! He should have known she was behind this, probably using human minions to do her bidding while the sun was still in the sky. Human minions were mindless puppets, drained of their blood, their mind’s taken control over by the one who’d bled them. They were more dead than alive, their humanity forever gone. There was no saving a human once he became nothing more than a mindless zombie, controlled by the vampire who’d created him until it was disposed of or if the vampire in question was killed.

Did Hanako plan on making Kagome one of her minions, too, Sesshomaru wondered in fear and anger. Sesshomaru had thought he’d have more time to prepare for an attack from the bitch, but apparently he’d been a fool to believe Hanako would wait for Kagome’s human life to end as she’d claimed. He had doubted she would, but to attack this soon? He should have known. This was all his fault. He should have warned Kagome of the human minions a vampire could send out during the day under orders from their master.

But stupidly, he’d kept that information to himself. Worse, he hadn’t even thought about it, never having created such a fiend himself, and being distraught over Hanako’s return and the danger Kagome had been in at his creator’s presence, he just hadn’t remembered. Excuses. This was still all his fault, and now Hanako had his Kagome. Who knew what his dark maker had in store for his precious girl. Sesshomaru didn’t want to think about it. None of his thoughts would be good, one by one more terrifying than the last.

In a pain filled voice, Michael told him the address the culprit, who had put him in this sorry state and abducted Kagome, wanted him to go to. Hanako was most likely preparing a trap of some kind, Sesshomaru figured. Regardless, he’d meet whatever she had planned for him head-on and save Kagome—and kill Hanako to make sure Kagome was forever safe from that witch’s evilness.

He had to go after Kagome. He had to save her. And if it was too late..?

It is never too late.

Resolve firm upon his mind and heart, Sesshomaru retrieved his cellphone from his pants pocket—he’d started carrying the damn thing regularly ever since Kagome had moved in with him so she’d always have a way to get ahold of him if need be—and dialed 911. After the brief call, he then dialed Victoria, kept things brief—probably sounding clipped and cold, but it couldn’t be helped, as time was of the essence—and pocketed the small device.

Bending down, he clasped Michael’s shoulder and noticed his friend seemed to be going in and out of consciousness. A possible concussion?

“Michael.” No response. Giving the man a gentle shake to gain his attention without accidently causing him more harm, Sesshomaru repeated his name. “Michael.”

Hazel eyes fluttered in his direction. Another blink, and they focused on his face.

Without waiting for him to speak, Sesshomaru continued. “An ambulance is on its way, as is your wife.” He paused, hesitating on his next words.

As if reading his thoughts, understanding his moral dilemma and need to act fast, Michael attempted a smile. “Don’t worry about this old man.” A small chuckle, barely there, more attempt at humor than actual sound. Michael’s eyes hardened. “Just get her back. There’s no time to waste.”

Sesshomaru almost snorted at the ‘old man’ comment, seeing as he was by far older than his friend, but he didn’t say a word. Just squeezed that shoulder again and nodded firmly once.  

“Don’t die on me…my friend.”

Surprise lit the other man’s face at being called ‘my friend’ for the very first time, but if he intended to comment or return the sentiment, Sesshomaru was already releasing him, and then he was gone, heading towards the location given to him.