Ways to Die by Taint

Other End of the Rabbit Hole

The evening's setting sun shone weakly upon dark crevices as the worn, wooden doors of the old well-house slid open.

Stepping in fully with a pocket flashlight, Kagome nonchalantly adjusted the straps of her issued schoolbag before turning to her little brother, who was still glancing around the dirty well-house nervously. The fifteen year-old girl rolled her eyes in exasperation as she caught sight of Souta's trembling hands, still tightly wrapped around the door.

"Buyou?" Kagome called, flashing her trusty light source in front of her and choosing to tease her brother another time.

She strained to catch any hint of their missing house-pet. "Are you in here?"

Relieved when soft mewing reached her ears, Kagome stepped closer to the source. She was sure her dumb, fat kitty was hiding somewhere behind the well; the sounds of Buyou's dull nails against rotting wood was certainly impossible to miss.

Just as she inched closer with steady footfalls, she was jumped rather unceremoniously. Letting out a surprised yelp, Kagome blinked twice before recognizing the darkened ball of hair in her arms as Buyou. However, before she could scold the disobedient, heavy cat snuggling comfortably into the warmth of her arms, something wrapped itself around her waist, and pulled. Hard.

She could do nothing as another pair of what seemed to be arms took hold of her shoulders. At the back of her mind, she registered that Buyou had jumped out of her arms, and Souta was peering with frightened eyes from the top of the well, calling her name.

Wait... top of the well?

Panic kicked in as she felt herself plunge head-first into darkness.

... that was, until a bright blue explosion of bursting magic surrounded her.

"What the hell is happening?" Kagome heard herself wonder out loud, glancing in amazement at the sparkling background around her.

The movement of cold palms wrapping around her face brought her back to the situation at hand, and she found herself staring into the dead eyes of a monster. Despite its human-like face, its body was that of an insect's. Dangerous fangs graced its gums as its long tongue trailed a long, wet line of slimy saliva upon her face.

Goosebumps shot up across her skin almost instantly.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" She was stammering and only half listening as the monster rambled about something that sounded suspiciously like the Shikon no Tama.

'Shikon no Tama? Hadn't that been in Grandpa's weird stories?'

What the hell?

Kagome's eyes widened an impossible amount as the monster's disgusting tongue lashed out once again; but before it could make contact with her face, she pulled her hands in front of her in an act of self-defense... and the monster let out a pain-filled screech.

"That must have been the power of the Shikon!" it screamed before falling downward, swallowed by the sea of magic and lost from her view.

"Whoa," Kagome breathed to herself as the light died down beneath her, "did I just do that?"

After moments of dazing off with her mind blank from the aftershock, Kagome sat herself up from her uncomfortable position in the fairly large well. It immediately registered in her that, instead of the dark, wood tile ceiling of their family's well-house, a clear, blue sky was pasted above her. The clouds floating nearly invisibly over her head made the whole image look painted.

Looking for any way to get out, she managed to pull herself up with the help of thick vines that hung over and down the insides of the well. The process of climbing was tiring, yes, but all was worth the trouble when she took a breath of air so fresh that it was almost choking. Pollution seemed to be nonexistent, and she was reminded of Grandpa's whines about the tainted oxygen of the city of modern Tokyo.

"In the old days," he had always said, "the air we breathe was healthy and much finer than the air of today."

And Kagome would point out that, although he was old, there was probably a bunch of pollution in his 'old days' as well. Now, the governments were trying their best to improve with crazy policies and strict, new laws. After that, Grandpa would most likely throw a fit, stomping off angrily with a broom to ward off demonic spirits that surely did not exist, all the while mumbling about ungrateful teens nowadays.

Kagome shook her head of the crazy thoughts, and focused upon her surroundings.

'Where is this place?'

The question ran repeatedly through her mind, possible answers forming an illusion before her mind's eye.

Tall trees lined the clearing the well was situated in. Lush shrubbery covered all naked grounds and flowers she had never encountered before littered the wild grass beneath her feet. Occasionally, a butterfly or two would fly past above her head, their softly colored wings fluttering prettily.

Uneasy at the all-too-perfect scenery displayed in front of her, Kagome slowly sorted out her thoughts, searching for any solution that may be found. Anything to do in the current situation.

"So, basically," she began out loud, as if it would have helped with the problem, "something pulled me down the well, and now I'm obviously not in Tokyo anymore."

Yes. That seemed to be simple enough.

"And it's supposed to be my birthday today!"

Sulking with new vigor, she leaned against the well, her arms crossed over her chest defiantly despite the fact that no one was there to see her. Her shorter-than-knee-length skirt rid up slightly, showing even more of her thighs than previously, but she didn't take notice.

"Maybe," an idea formed in her brain, seemingly crazy, yet logical at the same time, "I could jump back into the well. It was what brought me here, wasn't it?"

Excited, she jumped up from the rim of the well. Shining determination clouded her blue-gray depths, and she turned abruptly to face the opening of the aged contraption - the wicked object that had thrown her into this mess in the first place... unless you counted Buyou.

Firmly planting a foot upon the rim, Kagome contemplated the outcome should her plan fail.

'Most likely a broken leg,' her mind offered her supportively, and she had to shake her head to forcefully chase away the bad images forming in her mind.

"This will work, yes, yes, this will work..." she chanted to herself.

She got ready to jump.

"Hey! I think there's someone here," a loud voice broke through her concentration, and she flailed her arms awkwardly to keep from falling backwards.

A rustle of bushes to her right captured her attention, and she watched, horrified, as a soldier clad in heavy armor stepped out. He was armed, with a gun held in his hands and several blades and swords strapped to his hip. Upon inspection, Kagome could make out bits of crimson substance coating his weapons.

Blood...?

Her eyes widened.

"It's a woman!" she heard the soldier yell to someone, his eyes fixed on her throughout the whole while as if afraid she would attack the moment he diverted his attention.

More rustlings of bushes around her brought several more soldiers, all odd in appearance. One stepped forward slightly to survey her, and she instinctively took a step backwards.

"Just take her," he said, his bluish eyes dancing with amusement as a smirk formed upon his lips, "we are to return immediately, we can't be wasting time in such trivial matters like this."

"Take me?" Kagome wondered for all to hear, confusion clearly etched into her voice, as she flashed her gaze over each of the men. "Take me where? Who are you people?"

Another soldier stepped forward, it was the first one that she had seen. He was fairly large with his long hair tied into a braid, and he smirked, alike the previous soldier, as he removed his helmet to scratch his head with long claws.

Claws...?

Kagome was suddenly very, very wary; not that she hadn't been cautious previously.

These things were not human!

"So you're a Japanese-speaker," the soldier spoke, "how pleasant. I wasn't expecting to come across any Japanese woman. Unless..."

He paused and the first soldier that had spoken continued for him, "unless you're that traitor, Higurashi's daughter. I heard she went into hiding after we killed the old man."

He laughed cruelly, and Kagome's eyes widened. 'Higurashi?'

She barely registered what was happening, as the man with the blue eyes motioned for the other men behind him. Two pairs of hands wrapped around her upper-arm and she had to bite her lip to stop herself from crying out in pain as sharp claws dug into her soft skin.

Struggling was futile as she was dragged away.

The 'war,' if you could even call it, that this story is based on happened only around sixty-nine years ago. Ways to Die is still taking place five-hundred years back, though. I'll try my best to make alternations, and I'll be apologizing beforehand for any off-time content that may come in later chapters.

I strongly suggest that you stay away from this fiction if you cannot take graphic death.

This fiction is based on Japan's 'passing' of Nanjing in China, which actually resulted in three-hundred thousand deaths of innocents. Apparently, Japan's textbooks has edited the 'Nanjing Massacre' to a mere 'Passing of Nanjing.'

I do not mean to offend any Japanese.

Most deaths here were told by my teacher during history class.

And uh, don't forget to review. ^^;;