7. A Daughters Search for Answers (1/2)

my husband em

aced me

on the bed, knowing that my mother had committed suicide. to tell

you the truth, even after all she did to me, i became remorseful.

how could she have hung herself? if my dad was alive, and if he ever

came back, he'd probably be paying for a funeral service. i doubt

i'd be able to go, even if there was a funeral service. i'd

probably only get flowers and cards.

during that time, i

still thought about cain. in fact, he visited in secret, in the dead

of night, almost a week later. he put a hand over my mouth and put a

finger to his lips when i awoke. he motioned for me to come outside.

before doing so, i arranged some pillows in my exact shape. i

slinked outside and faced cain with my arms crossed.

"what?"

"i heard about your

mother. i'm so sorry. truly, i am."

"cain, there's

something i wanna know."

immediately, his eyes

ightened, if you could believe that.

"you said this was

naraku's domestication camp?"

he nodded.

"well, a friend,"

i paused, "an acquaintance of mine was cursed, and he couldn't be

freed unless naraku was dead. now the curse is lifted. so how can

this be his camp?"

a long pause followed

this.

"you really

want to know?"

i glared at him: that

was such a stupid question he should've known better than to ask.

"well, i and jerry

perry are some of naraku's offspring. even though he is dead, he

can control us from hell, with permission from the devil, himself."

i was stunned, but not

because cain had suddenly flinched with either pain or fear. it was

because naraku could control him, even though he was dead and in

hell.

so that explained

everything.

"akela?" said a

voice from the door. it was shahara.

i narrowed my eyes.

"this isn't what it seems. you're not to tell anyone about

this, not inu-yasha, not even my harry. definitely not harry."

cain snorted.

obviously, he thought i was still too young to be hitched.

i turned on him.

"cain, we will talk." i went inside and got in bed,

ignoring the pillows.

in the morning, though,

i did tell everyone i'd gotten wind of naraku's controlling of

cain and perry from hell, in league with satan himself. and let me

tell ya, they were just as stunned as i was. miroku looked like he

could do with a memory charm. harry clenched his fists into fists,

sparks flying from them unnoticed and uncontrolled. shahara was

pacing in wolf form.

all the kids and

shippo and rin were playing outside, so they couldn't hear. we

could hear their screams of delight through the open window.

"what do we do now?

should we call wolverine again?" inu-yasha asked.

"we don't know

where he is," harry mumbled.

"buffy?" shahara

inquired.

"sunnydale was

destroyed, so she could be anywhere," i said.

"so who should we

tell?" miroku asked.

i suddenly had an

idea. "dad."

everyone stared. they

had never heard me talk about my father since i told them he was

missing.

"someone should go

looking for him. someone who's not enrolled in the camp, otherwise

we'll be the ones searched for."

"akela," harry put

his arms around my shoulders, "we don't know where he is, much

less if he's---"

"i know! i don't

care. someone still has to look for him. i'll not rest till i

know more about his whereabouts."

in the end, nakago

volunteered for the search. he said, "'i am in your debt.'"

i guess this was because i persuaded cain to let him go. either way,

someone was looking for my father. nakago left about three days

after the decision was made. he didn't run a lot because he needed

to save his energy for the journey. before he sped off, he swore to

me he would find my father, even if, when he was found, he was dead.

too embarrassed to hug him, i transformed and the sides of our heads