Faint Light

Chapter Eight

Shifting her gaze to the broken and prone legs of Hyun-Su she tugged deeper on her raging emotions, at least she had been able to keep her promise to come back to him...that had to count for something right?

Kagome could only grunt as the monster's large fist began beating on her barrier, her head pounding with each vicious blow to the iridescent dome around her. Her knees bent under the pressure, her eyesight blurring as her body began to shut down, not having the energy to keep it and her barrier up.

Just a bit, a little while longer...buy the kids more time...

She repeated the thoughts in her head like a manta, like it was the only thing that mattered. She vaguely wondered if she should pray? Would the gods even hear her pleas? Would they care? Or would they ignore her and continue to punish her for her past mistakes?

Maybe, just maybe, in her next life she wouldn't be dealt such a shitty hand from the get go...all her good deeds as Kagome had to have washed the slate clean for all the misdeeds Kikyo had committed...right?

Her thoughts were a jumbled mess, she was borderline losing it. Her mind fraying as her powers began to pull on her very life energy. She wouldn't last much longer and the only thought she could comfort herself with was that her sacrifice had bought the children time to get away.

"Excuse me, can you please keep it down, you're scaring my sweet baby." The nonchalant female voice pulled Kagome from the maddening and spiraling thoughts jumbling around in her head, the normalcy of the tone making her wonder if in her final moments she had finally gone off the deep end?

Forcing her eyes open she could only go slack jawed at the woman who stood in the doorway of the nearby apartment, a baby stroller parked in front of her as she ignored both herself and the monster attacking her barrier. Instead the woman's focus was on the inside of the stroller, cooing and crooning to a child she could not see from her crouched angle.

Opening her mouth to tell the woman to run she could only watch as the monster let off her barrier and turned to the woman lashing out with its large fist. Finally her legs gave out from under her, her body sagging to the ground as her barrier fizzled out. Dry heaving sobs escaping her as the larger monster beat the woman and her stroller into a pulp.

The coppery scent of blood filled her nose as the pool that surrounded the woman's broken and battered body grew with each hit. Her body jerked as it gave its death throes.

Eventually the lumbering monster grew bored as her body stopped moving and its beady black eyes zeroed in on her trembling form once more.

Fear seized her, for she knew she was out of chances, the very air was charged with killing intent and it made her already shaking body curl in on itself. She could only hope that it would be quick, a blow or two before she was snuffed out. Yet knowing her luck the larger monster would decide to tear her limb from limb and devour her slowly.

Each lumbering thud of its footsteps as it drew closer made her flinch, her body tense yet relaxed at the same time. It was like she was suspended in between being scared and relieved that it would all be over soon...

Suddenly the large monster gave a loud pained cry, making her eyes snap open and her head jerk up, not at all realizing she had lowered it and closed her eyes. Thin oddly bent arms were wrapped around its large shoulders as dark blood infused hair peeked from over them. The woman whose body had stopped twitching mere seconds before was now wrapped around it's upper chest like a spider monkey.

The sickening sound of tearing flesh echoed in the hallway, the monster flailing about yet unable to reach back far enough due to its bulging muscles to dislodge her from its back. Kagome couldn't help the mad laugh that tumbled from her lips, her body and mind at it's limit.

So lost in her momentary lapse of sanity she didn't notice the stirring of Hyun-Su's broken and battered body from its resting place in hole in the wall. No, she was too busy laughing and sobbing as her mind tried to keep up with the fast pace of events.

Solid obsidian eyes snapped open, the loud sobbing laughter of Kagome urging tired sore limbs to move. He needed to move, he had to get to her, to make sure she was alive. His body ached and throbbed yet it slowly ebbed away leaving behind a feeling of power he had never felt before.

He latched onto, glad to finally be free of his prison, finally he was in charge and he knew that it was up to him to do what his weaker half could not.

In the blink of an eye he was crouched before Kagome, her red blotchy face cupped in his hands in such a tender way that it shocked him considering the rage that boiled in him at seeing her so...broken. Her body jerked, her crazed blue orbs widening as they slowly focused on him. He watched with bated breath as the glaze in her eyes seemed to melt away, her sense of self and sanity coming back.

"H-Hyun-Su!" Her voice was a whispered breathy thing and it made him smirk as he wiped at the puffy tender flesh under her eyes. He was hard pressed to release her yet he forced himself to do so and stood, his back facing her as he turned towards the other two monsters in the hallway.

"Run." His voice was a low growl as squared his shoulders ready to test his limits.

Something was wrong, something felt off about the way Hyun-Su handled himself, his shoulders pulled back, his head held high as his body tensed, he was like a cobra, poised and ready to lash out.

Yet at the same time she was more than willing to ignore it and just realish in the fact that Hyun-Su was okay. He was alive and it made everything else fall to the wayside.

Had she not still been reeling from her momentary lapse of sanity as well as her current lack of spiritual powers she would have seen the signs, would have realized that there was no way he could have survived that hit...at least not as a normal human.

Instead she was more than willing to block out the negatives and ignore the red flags as she watched him join the fray. His lithe body avoiding the large random strikes of the monster as it lashed out trying to not only dislodge the woman from its back but also land a hit on the new much more dangerous threat.

Kagome jolted as a hand landed on her shoulder tugging at her to get not only her attention but urge her to move.

Ji-Soo was hard pressed to not let go of the raven haired woman's shoulder as she turned to face her, her startling blue eyes glazed over with such a multitude of emotions that it made shiver. She cursed under her breath, wishing that she had urged Jae-heon into action earlier because this young woman looked like she was knocking on death's door and it was more than ready to throw it open and invite her inside for tea.

Shaking the thoughts from her head she tightened her grip, resolve settling in her eyes. "We need to go now." Her voice was grim as she had to practically pull the other woman to her feet, her body swaying as she threw her arm over her shoulder to carry the brunt of her weight. She cast a glance at a grim-faced Jae-heon as he unsheathed his sword to stand between them and the free for all unfolding in the hallway they were trapped in. "You better not die." Her voice was a low threat as she began to lead the barely stable woman towards the stairwell, ready to get to the apartment number that had been screamed out various times in the last few minutes alone.

Hopefully what was waiting for them there was better than what they had found in the last apartment they had come from, the image of the swaying body making her shiver as she urged the borderline fainting woman to move faster.