Purity in Childhood

It was almost midday when the red-headed youth slipped out the front door, waving good-bye to his mother. He bounded down the road to a group of children playing at the playground not too far away. He stopped next to the biggest of the boys; he was about fourteen and had short, messy, blonde hair. The red-haired boy had his hands on his knees as he breathed heavily. The red-head looked up and smiled, "Hey, Erik," He began, "I'm ready to go see that abandoned house!" He straightened, his head came up to the other boy's chest.

Erik smiled, "Awesome," He ran off in the direction of the town's center, "Come on, Reno!" Reno raced after him, catching up after a few moments. The two boys left the others behind and ran up a dirt path that broke off from the center. The path became narrower with every few steps they took until the path ended at a closed down house that anyone could tell was haunted. Erik looked over his shoulder to Reno, "Come on, we can rip off those boards." He said, pointing to the front door that was boarded up by long ebony wood and rusty nails.

The two boys approached the doors and began to pry the wood from the door. The first few pieces were rotted, eaten away by time. The boards underneath were even worse, the rotting had nearly destroyed the whole plank and it came off effortlessly. The plank broke about into numerous chips and the doorway was now unblocked as Erik attempted to up the door. The doorknob didn't turn. In frustration, Erik took and few steps back and threw his body into the door, no luck. He made a second attempt, this time, the door gave way and Erik went tumbling inside. Reno poked his head around the corner, peering through a cloud of dust at Erik. He stood, brushing dust from his pant legs and Reno joined him inside.

The two boys looked around curiously, Reno coughed as a pocket of dust filled his lungs. Erik looked down at the younger boy then continued to walk upstairs once Reno ceased the coughing. As they neared the final steps, the step Reno had placed his left foot gave way and Reno fell through the staircase to about his thigh. Erik finished climbing the stairs then knelt down, holding his hand out to Reno, "Grab my hand and I'll pull you out!" Erik shouted. Reno reached out and grasped Erik's hand tightly, using him to pull himself out of the hole, "Be more careful next time, Reno."

"Next time..?" Reno muttered as Erik rushed up a smaller flight of stairs and into the hallway above. Reno followed carefully and ventured into a bedroom. He glanced out the window to see a group of men in suits. He wondered quietly what they were doing there but didn't bother asking Erik. Reno investigated around the room, opening drawers and wardrobes, finding old, ripped clothing and dusty books. Everything in the room seemed so old to Reno despite the house only being closed for a few years.

Reno picked up one of the books from a shelf and flipped through the pages, examining a picture that he had found inside. It was a diagram on how Materia was formed but it all seemed like gibberish to Reno, half the words he couldn't even understand. Tossing the book onto the rickety old bed, Reno left the room and moved to the next where Erik sat on the ground, examining the charred pieces of wood in a fireplace. Reno bent down next to him and stared, trying to figure out what Erik was looking at. Erik reached into the fireplace and pulled out a wood chip, closing his hand around it with a surprised expression, "Reno, feel this. It's still warm."

Reno took the wood and felt its strange, ominous warmth. He shivered as he got a weird feeling from being in the house, "But the house has been boarded up for years," Reno gulped, "Do you think someone's living here…?"

Erik stood with his back to Reno as he smirked, "I don't know, Reno, it's likely." Erik strode out of the room.

Reno scrambled to his feet and rushed into the hallway, looking both ways for Erik, "Erik! Erik, where'd you go!" Reno was shaking in fear as he walked down the hallway to his right. As he neared the end of the hallway, Reno turned and went to walk the other way when someone jumped out of the room beside him and tackled Reno to the ground. The force broke right through the ground, causing Reno and his attacker to fall to the first floor. Floorboards and dust covered the two as Reno shrieked trying to get away.

As Reno freed himself, he bolted out of the house with extreme speed. Reno looked over his shoulder to see someone following him. As he turned his face forward, he bumped into one of the tall men in suits. Reno bounced off of him and staggered back, looking up. The man had long, black hair that had been pulled into a ponytail. He looked down at Reno with a raised eyebrow, "Can I help you..?"

Erik placed a hand on Reno's shoulder, laughing loudly, "Oh my god, Reno! You should've seen your face! You were so scared, you ran out of that place so fast!" He looked up at the man, trying to calm his laughter.

"Tseng," A man called from further up the road, "Stop playing with the children and get a move on!"

The black-haired man took one last look at Reno then rushed after the other man in a suit. Reno then turned to Erik, "Who were those people..?"

Erik narrowed his eyes in disgust as he watched the men disappear, "Turks. They're no good lap dogs of Shinra who will stop at nothing to please their stupid-ass President." He sighed, "Come on, I'll take you home."

'That was how long ago again...?'

The click of footsteps echoed through the streets of the small town. Elderly men and women strained to see who the young, attractive man was. He looked awfully familiar to the towns-folk as he passed through and straight up to the boarded up house. It had been boarded once again, this time with steel bars that would be impossible for him to break through. A smile formed on his lips as he remembered the time he went in there with his friend. The man let out a quiet laugh, "The times we had in there, huh Erik?"

The man walked back down to the main center and knocked lightly on the door of his old friend, Erik. A elderly man answered the door and his eyes went wide, "Reno, my boy! Is that you?" The man hugged Reno in a huge hug, "Where did you run off to?"

"Hey, old man," Reno laughed, "How has it been? I don't suppose Erik's here, huh? I wanted to pay him a visit after all these…" Reno trailed as he saw the man's face become swallowed by deep sadness, "Is something wrong?"

"Reno…" The man started, "Erik… Erik died about a year or two after you left. He left town and didn't come back. After a week, we sent out a search party for him. The party returned with his body."

Reno looked down at his feet in confusion, "Erik's… Dead?" He couldn't believe it. He raised his head, "Where's he buried?"

"Out back," The man replied, "I'm sure it would do his restless soul good to see you again. Elaine and I think that Erik's soul s still here, waited for you to come back and say goodbye."

Reno nodded and waved goodbye sadly, walking around the house to the back where a tombstone lay with an engraving, "Here lies Erik Vaince, loving son, caring friend, and role model." Reno read off the stone. Reno dipped his head as he knelt down, "Erik… I can't believe you're dead…"

"Reno!" A bald man yelled at the red-head, "Come on! We have to get back to the helicopter!"

Reno stood and looked back at Rude then down to the tombstone once again, "Looks like I turned out to be a Shinra lap dog… You must hate me now." He sighed and shook his head, joining his partner on the road and walked towards the roaring helicopter. He seated himself in the back of the helicopter as Rude flew, "Funny…" Reno spoke to himself, "Erik always said that I would grow up pure… Looks like that purity was only in childhood."