It's morning in Midgar. There's a slight chill in the air, and a slight fog. However, nobody's around for it. Where could the people of this once-great city be?

Isabel stirred awake. It felt like she stayed up for a week she was so tired. She didn't get out of bed right away, but instead looked up at the stucco ceiling of her room. After a quick rub of the eyes she came to life and rose out of bed. What day is it, thought Isabel. She checked her clock on the nightstand. Saturday, 7:00 AM. The alarm went off at 7:01. Why Isabel set it she didn't know, she had no plans for the day. The bedroom window rested directly across from her bed vertically. She could not help but notice the drizzle of rain beating against the glass. Who could have plans on on a gloomy day like this, she thought.

As she made her way out of the bedroom she bumped her knee on her dresser. It was a very small room. At times it felt like a train compartment. The walls were boring; nothing but a pale shade of grey, same as the stiff carpeting. Still, it was better than the street.

The first place Isabel headed torward was the bathroom. She staggered in, very sleepy. She did her normal morning routine; instead of using the toilet she stared into the mirror and examined herself. It was always the same; skinny and tall, very tall; fair skin dotted with freckles; chest-length, wavy black hair sporting faded spots of her latest dye-job(a light brown); the small, round face with the button nose and full lips; and the eyes. The rich, crimson eyes. It was unclear why Isabel did this. Was it because she found herself very attractive and admired it? Because she saw nothing but flaws so to remind herself? Because she never wanted to forget where she came from? Whatever the reason, it had become her morning ritual ever since she can remember.

When she was through with that Isabel went to the small kitchen. She found a note on the counter, it looked quite rushed:

Isabel,

Sorry for not waking you up but I have to run uptown a little while. I should be back by this evening. There's plenty of food in the fridge and I've left 500 gil in case you wanted to do anything. Don't forget to put your contacts in! I love you and I'll see you later.

Mom

Isabel opened a door and reached into it. Out she grabbed a small blue contact lens case. She did as her mother told and popped them into her own eyes. They were now a grungy-colored shade of hazel. No, nothing was wrong with Isabel's vision, these were vanity contacts. Ever since she was a child her mother made her wear them. She detested them, not really because of the color but because they hid her real eyes, the eyes she liked. It was her, and mother just couldn't accept it. Probably because I inherited them from dad, thought Isabel. Apparently she loathes him, and will do anything to hide what reminds her of him, even her own child.

She peered over at the living area. She noticed clothes had been laid out over the sofa: a thin, red spaghetti-strap top and black bicycle shorts. At the foot of the sofa lay Isabel's favorite footwear: black combat boots given to her at a young age. White socks had been placed on top of them. I wonder what possessed her to lay my clothes today, Isabel thought. She didn't even go in the back room to change, but instead just slipped off her pajamas and put on the clothes. She went over to the counter and grabbed the Gil. Since her shorts had no pockets she stuffed the money in her left sock. Before doing anything else Isabel went back to her room. Off the nightstand she grabbed a half-empty pack of cigarettes and put them in her right sock. Then she left the apartment, went down the stairway and out of the building.

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For a summer day it was surprisingly cool. The rain had stopped and just a hint of sunlight showed itself. The cold never really seemed to bother Isabel so she didn't care. What caught her attention was how deserted the street was. Where is everybody, she thought. Normally it's fairly busy. This worried her greatly. Hope nothing happened, she thought.

Her fears were somewhat confirmed when she turned the corner and saw a newspaper stand, problem was that there's was nobody running it. She went over and picked one up and saw plastered over the front page: 3 murdered in downtown Midgar. Three people were killed last night, all in the same way: brutally viscerated, intestines ripped out (while the victims were still alive) and hanged over the nearest wall. Their hearts were also cut out and were never found.

Still, nobody was around. Not really a bustling place this street was, but even the desolation on this Saturday was abnormal. Isabel continued to walk down it though, contemplating on the news. "I feel for those people," she said aloud. How brutal was it to die such a way?

Visceration: a type of murder by cutting open the victim and removing his/her internal organs. The actual hanging of those parts weren't necessary to complete the act, they were merely insult to injury. This tragedy highly reminded her of another one from 4 years ago: the 7th Heaven Homicides. Could be the same person, thought Isabel. She was just 14 then, barely a teenager. Late night near closing time for the 7th Heaven bar a figure(later described as a "phantom-like shadow") brushed in and mercilessly killed 5 people. Among them was a young employee of the bar, Marlene Wallace. Isabel knew her and the bar's owner, Tifa Lockhart. Though she managed to escape death, Tifa was never the same. She became distraught over the loss of her employee. The bar stayed in business, but regular customers were also transformed thus the place was never viewed as "warm and friendly" again. Tifa remained very dispirited in everything she did even to the present day. She was nothing but a depressed old woman; not really bitter, just sad. Isabel visited often, but any conversations that took place were about as dull as the color scheme of Midgar's buildings. "What's up?" Isabel would say coming in. "Nothing much sweetie," Tifa would reply as dull as she could. The rest of the talk would be the weather and school, which Isabel did most of talking.

Even though Isabel was now on another street, nobody was around still. Her worries began to elevate. "Okay, this is strange. Shouldn't there be some freakin people in this freakin city?!?" She had hoped someone would hear and come out and say "Yes, I'm here!" but instead another noise responded. She stopped to listen and again it happened. She couldn't quite make it out, not right away at least. A growl, she thought, something's growling. She didn't move, even as the growling got louder. It was coming from behind her, but still she did not move. The owner of the growl was now directly behind her. It was a ape-like creature, with a half masticated body and blood dripping from its mouth. It positioned itself as if ready to pounce, but Isabel kept still. It lunged forward at her. She ducked and it sailed over her head, crashing into a wall. Isabel looked up at the deformed beast, and yelled in horror. The creature got up and Isabel ran, the beast now angry and chasing after her.

Isabel knew she couldn't keep running. She ran into the first building she saw. The beast saw her immediately and started in this new direction. Isabel hid behind the door; slammed it shut in the creature's face, it yelped in pain. This won't hold, she thought. She took this extra time to her advantage and headed torwards the back. She had gone into a butcher shop. Great, I got a bloodthirsty monster after me and I hide in a place with alot of meat. It smelled very awful, as if the meat was rotted, but she kept on moving anyway. She turned a corner in the hall and went into the room on the left, in it was the meat locker. The door was wide open; Half-eaten meat dangled lazily from the ceiling. A trail of blood led out of it and into the hallway. She looked ahead and in the doorway was a man leaning against the wall. That must be the butcher, she thought. She walked torwards him slowly. "Oh thank God I found you sir." She grabbed his shoulder. "I haven't seen anybody all morning, not even out in the stre--" the man fell over. Isabel screamed when she saw that his entire front had been missing. There wasn't any face; the brain was visible, but it looked half eaten, as well as the organs in the torso. The body was covered in maggots.

Isabel covered her mouth with her hands to keep from vomiting. The smell was almost unbearable; she had to get out of there. She turned to go, but in the doorway was the ape monster. She backed up, eventually it cornered her into the meat locker. The ape monster let out another growl, one so ferocious it sent Isabel to the floor of the freezer. She didn't get up, but backed away as the ape monster drew closer. Soon there was no more space to back up into, and she found her back against a wall, completely trapped. Her terror-struck face stayed focused on the ape monster's mangled one. It showed its blood-soaked fangs to her, almost as if it was grinning. This can't be it, thought Isabel. Please, don't let this be it.

To her surprise it wasn't it. Isabel heard shotgun fired, followed by more shots directed at the ape monster. It let out yelp after yelp. By this time Isabel had her face buried in her arms, so she didn't know the identity of her rescuer. Shots continued to be made until the ape monster collapsed and no more would it threaten anybody.

Isabel waited for a moment before looking up. When she did she saw the shooter kick the dead ape monster over to the side. It was a young man, not much older than Isabel. He wore a dark-blue bomber jacket, accented by leather finger gloves and a skin-tight black shirt underneath. His pants and shoes were just as black as his shirt. His hair was grey, silver maybe, and short with a whirl in the back. Sideburns that could stretch across half a continent covered his cheeks. His eyes were an interesting shade of green, and his pupils were snake-like slits instead of a circular shape. He was very broad in the shoulders. His face was grumpy, but it was handsome nonetheless. Though she had no idea who he was, Isabel wanted to hug him, kiss him, and thank him a thousand times.

The young man looked down at Isabel and gave a slight smile. He reached out his hand to her. "Are you okay?"

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