Dark Hearts

By Valentine and Vixen

Chapter One: The Dawning Of All

Authors' Notes: FIRST PAGE OF OUR FIRST FIC EVER! Now that is something to celebrate about. Please be kind to us first timers. Constructive criticism is very welcome as we need all the advice we can get. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Yeah we don't own it… It's such a sad truth, but a truth nonetheless… Final Fantasy and all their characters belong to Square Enix…

She was in the middle of a wonderful dream, when the young woman awoke to the brightness of the morning light. She groaned. Why didn't she ever remember to put down the draperies of the window before she slept? Now she was suffering from another unwanted wake up call from cheerful Mr. Sun. Perhaps her habit of stargazing could take the blame for that again.

Still, she would never even consider kicking that habit off. Watching the stars was something she loved to do. For now, she would just have to find a way to remind herself to pull down the curtains before she drifted off to sleep. Or else, wake up before her dreams of valiant knights and angels could end again. And to her, a hanging dream could ruin a peaceful night's slumber in her huge comfortable bed. However, it was then she realized she wasn't in her bed at all, and that she was nowhere near comfortable. For she, Rinoa Heartilly was in a moving car.

The young woman blinked furiously and found that her eyes preferred to remain shut. Grumbling, with the huge amount of effort it took her to adjust to the sun's brightness, she lazily rubbed her sleepy brown eyes and mumbled something about the time.

The young woman seated next to Rinoa laughed softly at the sound of her best friend's grumpy complaints. She was looking at Rinoa from the corner of her blue eyes as she drove, and found Rinoa's morning discomfort funny. "Rinny…" the pretty blonde said to her friend. "…You are so not a morning person." Quistis laughed and continued to put her focus back on the road.

Selphie, who was the youngest of the three, was also watching Rinoa from the back seat of the red convertible. She too found Rinoa's behavior, as something to laugh at since it wasn't the first time she had such a fowl mood. If there was one thing that could get Rinoa agitated, it was when her sleep was cut short.

"You are so right, Quisty." Selphie giggled cheerfully as her emerald eyes scanned her cousin for any sign that she had truly woken up, for Rinoa could also be quite difficult to get out of bed.

Rinoa's, dark hair was all over her face. The natural golden highlights were shining under the sun. By this time, her mind was already half-awake and again, the young sleep-deprived woman mumbled something incoherently. However, this time she was more audible.

"You want a dime?" Selphie raised her eyebrow and giggled as realization kicked in. "Oh I see! She's asking for the time!" Selphie glanced at the blinking green light on the dashboard. "It's 7:08, Rinny," she stated cheerfully.

'7:08'. The numbers slowly registered in Rinoa's head as she finally managed to get an eye open. She had been asleep for five hours since they had left the last city that morning, and were currently heading towards the countryside. Her vision was still slightly blurry but she could somehow make out the shape of Selphie's bouncy brown hair and large green eyes staring at her. Rinoa frowned. It wasn't very appealing to wake up with someone watching your face at such a close distance.

The young woman sat up in her chair and stretched. "Ouch…" She groaned, as she realized she had a nasty cramp throbbing painfully in her neck, making her even more annoyed.

"Rinny? Are you awake now?" Selphie asked.

"Well I am sitting up aren't I?" She snapped, while rubbing the last traces of sleep from her eyes. Rinoa immediately knew she was being mean, despite the fact that all Selphie did was ask her a question. She sighed. Rinoa didn't like it when her sleep got disturbed but she didn't like acting harshly at the people even more. An apology was in order, she knew. "I'm sorry, Selphie." Rinoa said as she tried her best to present her cousin with a smile, "it's just that I had such a nice dream… Well, until it got cut short again."

"I understand." Selphie smiled back. "Besides I'm kinda used to your grumpy moments Rinny." She laughed.

Rinoa looked up at the sky since the top of the convertible was down. She smiled. Never had she seen the sky so beautiful before. The sun was up and she loved the way the blues and the whites of the sky contrasted with each other. Okay, so it didn't exactly look any different than before but it was the first time Rinoa had really looked at sky and appreciated it. To her it was a completely different sky. One that signaled the start of their new lives.

'A free life.' She thought. Taking in a deep breath, Rinoa tried to savor the freshness of the air in her lungs. Her skin felt tingly from the warmth of the sun and the cool of the country breeze as they sped down the empty road. She couldn't help but feel completely exhilarated. It was as if the weather was a materialization of the freedom they felt. The freedom they were so desperate to have was finally theirs and it was all because they had taken a stand and finally reached for it. She smiled again. 'We should have left that place a long time ago.'

It was only an hour later when Quistis, who had been driving nonstop, finally decided to pass the wheel to someone else. She went to the back seat to sleep, leaving Rinoa and Selphie to figure out who would get to drive next. After much 'debate' (including Rinoa's reminding Selphie what a horrible driver she was) did Rinoa finally get to drive.

"Humph!" Selphie pouted. Her petite arms were crossed tightly over her chest and occasionally, she repeated the 'humph' sounds as if to remind Rinoa that she was still mad. She had refused to talk to the raven haired girl for the past hour and frankly, Rinoa was impressed that she was able to stay angry for such a long time.

Selphie was incredibly childish for her age and Rinoa was somehow finding the situation funny. She had even smiled at Selphie when she had caught the brunette staring from the corner of her eye.

"Oh come on Selphie!" Rinoa said. "I told you I was sorry."

"Yeah but you're still no fair!" Selphie's tone was angry but Rinoa knew that her friend's anger was fleeting. She smiled as she quickly saw an opening to end their little feud. "Tell you what, after lunch I'll let you drive okay?"

"BOOYAKA!" Selphie almost yelled as she bounced in her seat. "I now forgive you, Rinny! Woohoo!"

Quistis who was still asleep at the back was awoken by the sound of Selphie's hyperactive voice. The truth was, she wasn't really all that tired, and therefore she got up and stretched. "What's all this about?" her voice was still raspy from sleep.

"Hi Quisty, You're awake already? Well, Rinny said she'll let me drive after we get lunch!"

Quistis' blue eyes went large. "Rinoa, you WHAT? Selphie's a horrible driver!"

Selphie frowned. "Hey, I am right here! I can hear you, Quisty!"

"Don't worry about it." Rinoa said, trying to reassure the blonde. "There's no one else on the road and I guess this is the best time for Selphie to get some practice."

"I guess you're right…"

Not long after, Selphie soon began singing her 'train song' and Rinoa turned the radio on to make her stop. Another argument was starting between the two girls at the front and Quistis decided to intervene before it got bad.

"Hey guys, it's almost noon." She said as she realized how high the sun was up already. "Where do we get lunch?"

Rinoa looked at her from the rear-view mirror and thought for a moment. "We could get lunch at the nearest town, wherever that is."

"Yeah…" Selphie voiced. "And I'm starving too! Considering we skipped breakfast and all again…"

"Then everything is settled. We'll just see where this road will take us." Quistis sighed. "In the mean time why don't we do something to pass the time?

Selphie's eyes lit. "How bout I spy?"

Rinoa and Quistis sighed…

Selphie's stomach was starting to get to her. It had been two hours since they played 'I spy' and since there wasn't much to spy in the middle of nowhere aside from road, tree and more trees, they quickly got tired of it. All three women had just settled into silence and decided to wait patiently for any sign of… anything. However, as time continued to pass, and as their hunger continued to get worse, there still was no sign of any of the local settlements.

Selphie lost all her vigor from that morning and slouched over the side of the convertible's window. Her stomach loudly demanded to be fed. "Ugh…" she groaned. " At this rate we are gonna starve to death!" she cried dramatically.

Rinoa gave out a deep sigh. So far, it had been her job to reassure the increasing gloom of Selphie, as well as to keep her eyes on the road. "Don't be silly... maybe we are getting close to somewhere by now..." She said sounding hopeful. The truth was, Rinoa was not exactly hopeful, nor was she in the mood to comfort Selphie. Besides, she too was in a slump, all thanks to her complaining stomach. In her situation, cheerfulness was quite hard to keep a hold of even for someone as optimistic as Rinoa.

Meanwhile, Quistis had resolved to distract her own grumbling tummy by watching the trees as they rushed past. She noticed that Rinoa seemed to be picking up speed. She figured that she was trying to quicken the chances that they would reach anywhere they could eat. Right now, she herself felt the urge to eat a large cake, since she had quite a passion for pastries. It would be a caramel cake, topped with shredded chocolate, whipped cream and a cherry. She could almost feel the sweet moist cake and savor its rich texture in her mouth. Quistis sighed loudly. Just then, as she continued to daydream and crave for her pastries, something caught her eye.

It was a small wooden sign. In fact, it was so small and almost completely hidden by the tall pine trees that she was barely able to catch what it said.

As Rinoa blazed past the sign, Quistis' face lit up. "Guys!" she yelled all of a sudden, making Rinoa swerve slightly to the left and Selphie jump in her seat.

"What is it?" Selphie said, curious as to what could possibly be so exciting to her best friend.

"I just saw a road sign." Quistis continued. "It said we are nearing some where called the Black Rose Village!"

The room was dark as usual, despite the fact that it was just a quarter past eleven in the morning. Then again, in this town, it was always dark. Thick, black curtains prevented the little light from the sun to shine through and illuminate the luxurious Victorian style library. In fact, that was exactly how he preferred it to be. No light, no noise and alone was the way Squall Leonhart had lead his rather long life. He didn't see why he should change his lifestyle, even if there were many who told him to do so.

Lying on a couch, he silently read a book.

"Cultivating Western Vegetables" Now that was a title not even his recently deceased, crummy old grandmother would pick up, but it didn't matter to Squall at all. For someone as frustrated as he, anything would be worth reading to just pass the time. Sadly for him, he had all the time in the world.

Squall found it hard to sleep properly lately and he knew it was probably due to dehydration. He figured that a boring book would help him get to sleep and so he had grabbed the nearest one from the shelves, laid down, and read. He didn't need the light to see and even if it was pitch black in the room, he could read just as well.

Just then, he felt the presence of three men approaching. He knew exactly who they were for he could feel their distinct energies a mile away. Besides, they were the only others whom he shared the estate with.

Squall frowned. "There goes my solitude."

The three men were close by now; for Squall's heightened sense of hearing deciphered that they were on their way up the stairs.

"Maybe I can still stop them." He figured, and quickly sent a wave of force with his mind, aimed directly at his companions. Immediately he heard voices curse and swear from down the hall. It was probably just Irvine and Seifer, Squall thought.

Squall knew the force he sent to their brains wouldn't really hurt them but would be enough to make others heed the warning. However, those three weren't like others. They would always find a way to disrupt his privacy, he thought. Besides, Squall knew that they were planning to talk about something important, so they wouldn't just allow him to shoo them away. Still, it was worth trying.

"Hey Squall!" an irritated voice that Squall recognized as Irvine's echoed from the other side of the door. Forcefully, it was pushed open and in walked a tall man dressed in his usual cowboy outfit.

'They seem angry.' Squall thought as Irvine stomped around noisily.

"That HURT!" Irvine frowned, obviously displeased with Squall's earlier greeting.

"Well that was the point." Squall said with a shrug. He was still lying on his back with the book in his hand. He had not even bothered to look up at the angry cowboy.

Standing next to Irvine was the even taller Seifer who was also looking at Squall with just as much anger. "Damn you, Squall. What you did wasn't necessary."

Zell, a blonde with spiky hair, who was also the last to enter, smiled as he watched his two friends' anger double at Squall's unapologetic demeanor.

After a series of gory threats from Seifer and Irvine, Squall finally looked up at the two men peering down at him, their eyes, seeing perfectly in the dark as well. He sat up, put the book down, and sighed. "I know what you came here to tell me." Despite the fact that he was abruptly changing the subject, Squall's words suddenly made the situation more serious.

Seifer took a seat on a nearby chair and Irvine and Zell did the same.

"So you feel them too huh?" Seifer said. "It's been a year and a half since we had 'guests' here."

Irvine nodded all too knowingly. "The truth is I can't wait either. I'm so sick of animal blood. They taste so bland and it runs too thinly. The blood of humans... young women... now that's what I miss the most."

Squall closed his eyes. "Young blood..." he whispered to himself, remembering the feel of the dark crimson liquid as it ran down his throat. The three of them sat in silence for a while, remembering when they had their last pleasant 'meal' with great craving.

Zell who had remained silent the whole time finally spoke out. "Squall we have to act quickly, before we get any weaker."

"I know." Squall said then turned to Seifer who would handle the first stage of their usual plan. "Well...You know what to do."

Without a word, Seifer stood up and walked towards the door. He knew exactly what to do. Already the smell of blood was getting stronger and stronger by the minute and he could feel his drive strengthen as well. Irvine was right, he thought. It had been so long.

"Way too long..." he whispered before finally leaving the room.

Irvine looked at Squall. "All we have to do now is to wait for him to bring them here. There are three of them, right? And since Zell was the last to get flesh it's now our turn." He said as he reclined in his seat and used his hands as a pillow.

Squall watched Irvine with cold blue eyes and with a push of his mind he sent Irvine falling off the chair. Squall smiled evilly.

Irvine immediately stood up and frowned. "Alright, alright! I'm leaving!" he yelled and stormed out of the room.

Slowly, Squall turned to the last person who was still with him. And as their eyes met, Zell was smart enough to dash out before Squall could say a word. Or worse, turn his brains into mush.

As soon as Irvine and Zell left, Squall laid back down on the couch. "Alone at last." He mumbled and closed his eyes, finally able to drift off to sleep.

Seifer ran as fast as he possibly could, and in this form his speed was inhuman. The trees were beginning to blur and the wind was cool against him. He loved being out in the forest where his strong sense of smell picked up easily on the different scents of nature. Seifer took in a long deep breath and stopped.

There it was, the sweet scent of three young women was hidden amidst the scent of autumn but he detected it immediately. 'They are close now.' he thought as he continued to run towards the village.

Thinking about them made Seifer lick his teeth. "So close." All he had to do now was to patiently wait for them to appear and he would begin their carefully planned strategy.

His adrenaline began to pump in his veins as the thrill of being in hunt started to kick in. Although he wasn't exactly going out for a kill already, the anticipation of knowing that he would soon be able to taste sweet young blood was enough to get him anxious.

However, Seifer knew that there was much to do before anyone did any eating. After all, they still had to check if any of them was the one. It would take a lot of effort especially on his part, but he wasn't exactly complaining.

Since vampires were quite squirmy (as he'd like to put it) when underneath sunlight, Squall and Irvine had to wait in the mansion patiently until they got stronger or at least until the sun was hidden behind the thick clouds.

Zell on the other hand, was assigned to a different job. That meant that the task of collecting was left entirely upon him. The truth was, Seifer didn't really mind the chore...Besides Lycans love to hunt.

Authors' Notes: Whew!! Are first chapters really this hard to start? I mean things are going at such a slow pace for us. Also we're concern that the characters might be OOC. Please tell us what you think.. Like we said before, constructive criticism is very welcome. Now for just a little something about this story before we go… We've decided to depict vampires and Lycans in a slightly different way. You'll see when the plot starts kicking off… At some points, they actually seem less like vampires and Lycans to us and more like…uhh something else. Thanks for reading.