No you haven't gone mad. I did remove the original story and have rewritten it. I just couldnt write anything or keep the story the way it was going and looking back, all the earlier chapters needed re-done anyways. So I've decided to follow a completely different storyline. Still Cloud/Aeris as main pairing though, eventually.
As You Wish
Prologue
The first thing she noticed was the cold stone against her cheek. The second thing, which she became aware of almost immediately after the first, was the fact that her hands were bound tightly behind her back. Grunting slightly, she rolled onto her side, pushing her palms flat down on the ground and pushing her body into a sitting position.
Once she was sitting up, she glanced around her miserably. The room she was being held in was dark and damp with the tiniest slit for a window and a heavy wooden door with a small barred gap about three inches from the top.
She shivered both from the coldness around her and the fear that was slowly creeping through her body so she hunched her knees to her chest and hugged them tightly in an attempt to keep warm as she tried to remember just how she had gotten into this situation.
She remembered being at Icicle Inn with her Aunt Elmyra and a man had wanted to give her free snowboarding lessons, which she declined politely since her Auntie had always brought her up not to speak to strangers.
Then she remembered hearing Elmyra call for her. She had turned around in order to return the shout, only it never came out. Instead, she remembered this unbelievable pain at the back of her head before she collapsed into darkness.
Frowning, she reached up and massaged the still tender injury, muttering some words that her Aunt would be sure to scold her for if she were to hear. It was while cursing to herself that the door suddenly opened and she whirled her head around to see a red-haired man standing there.
"What's your name?" he demanded.
"Gainsborough. Aeris Gainsborough," the girl replied instantly. The man nodded before crossing the floor and forcing Aeris to her feet. At first she struggled until she felt him cut through her binds. However, he kept a firm hold on her arm to stop her running away. She gazed up at him. "Why did you kidnap me?"
"It's my job," he replied simply.
"What do you want with me?" Aeris asked as she was led out of the room and down the corridor. The man sighed, rolling his eyes in annoyance.
"You talk too much, yo."
They made their way to the elevator where Aeris watched the man press the button for the ground floor. She tried not to think of what could possibly happen to her as she watched the numbers counting down to her fate.
As it hit the ground floor, she took a deep breath and could feel her heart thundering in her chest. However, as the doors pinged open, she was greeted by an empty entrance hall. She was led roughly outside where a large truck was parked, the engine still running.
"Is this the only one Reno?" a blonde woman asked, startling Aeris who hadn't seen her approaching them. The man, Reno, nodded and shoved Aeris into the woman's hold. Instantly, she put up a fight, struggling hard and digging her nails into her captor's hands as deep as they would go. But the woman seemed completely unfazed as she continued talking to Reno, who was opening the doors to the back of the truck.
"Good. Your pay is in my office - my secretary will get it for you."
Suddenly Aeris was tossed into the truck with a startled squeak and before she could get on her hands and knees, the doors were slammed shut and locked, covering her in complete darkness. She took a deep breath before running right into the doors with an agitated scream, banging her hands against it and yelling desperately.
"Shut up!" the woman snarled, hitting the door back as a warning. Aeris heard Reno chuckle at the action.
"Don't scare her yet Scarlet. She'll never sell if she's scared stiff!"
"She won't sell if she doesn't learn her place!" Scarlet hissed before Aeris heard her footsteps crunching on the gravel and the sound of a door being slammed shut. It was the only warning she got before the vehicle burst into life and took off, throwing her into the opposite wall.
Shaking the shook of the impact off she sat up, replaying the woman Scarlet and Reno's words. What did they mean by selling her? Aeris felt her throat go dry with panic. Were they planning to make her sell her body to men? That thought combined with the sudden swerve of the truck sent an uncontrollable feeling of sickness to rise from her stomach and instantly she turned her head, heaving the contents of her belly onto the floor.
Wrinkling her nose in disgust, she struggled to her feet and quickly crossed to the other side trying not to think of what was going to happen to her when the truck came to a stop. Maybe when the doors opened, there would be an opportunity for her to just run. She didn't know where she would run to, or how she would be able to fight should anyone catch up with her. Besides, the likelihood of such an opening was slim, but it was the only hope she had as she listened to the engine plough on towards it's destination and her fate.
