Prologue - Taken
The alley was dark as Roxas finally made his way home, his hands deep in his pockets as he kept his eyes trailed on the ground, the sinking blue sapphires lost in a world completely of their own. He wasn't afraid of the shadows like everybody else, wasn't afraid to lurk in the dark. Sometimes he relished in it, used it, maybe even abused it, but he always found comfort in it. The dark doesn't judge you. It can't see you to mock you; it doesn't whisper things or berate you. No, the dark treats everybody the same, it doesn't shine on some more than others like the light.
And that's why he turned to the darkness when the light failed him for the umpteenth time. That's why he gave his life over to the pathetic existence he lives today.
The alley walls were high, and the bricks were full of thick creeping grime that trembled between the shadows the moon casted. Dustbins lay scattered, busted and spilled from the drunkards the night before, cats screamed in the distance as their furry necks were torn by the sorrow in their hearts and dogs howled for the death that was to come. But other than that the night was silent, and the winter chill carried a silent, slicing knife behind its back, ready to stab its first victim as it skulked around corners and over shoulders.
His footsteps were scuffed and his jeans were torn, his thumb fingering the groove of the blade in his pocket absentmindedly as he walked, his mind elsewhere as he droned on down the usual track of crusted broken glass and rocky pebbled streets. His breath frosted in the cold and he wiped the bottom of his nose, releasing his knife for no more than a brief, flickering second before he had it returned back to its station, his watchful eyes shifting up from the pavement only to take a quick, stealthy glance over his shoulder. He was a regular down these streets, a well known shadow amongst the gloom, but still he dare not risk it. Not when he was still so far from home and the night was so ripe and plump, perfect for the picking.
He stopped at the end of the alley and pulled down his hood, closing his eyes tightly and letting the wind whisper through his hair, a cold lovers leaving embrace, a fleeting chance at fleeing warmth…the wind was like so many others he had known. Opening his eyes he looked up at the brick wall and released his hands from his pockets, flexing them in the breeze as he squared his feet on the ground and judged the drop, reflexively testing the distance like he had done so many other times on his routine shift. This was it, the start of his route home.
A small grin spread across his lips, a brief moment of triumph in the near completion of one of the two small purposes he had to his life. But the smile faded almost as soon as it had come as a violent gust of wind forced him to turn, his cobalt eyes scanning the street behind him as he looked over his shoulder, turning sideways slightly as he watched. The darkness swallowed the street behind him, the light dimming of to a fade in the distance as a bottle rolled from a nearby tipped trash can, screeching and scraping against the floor as it went.
Narrowing his eyes in judgement, he glared back and turned completely, his feet set a good distance apart as he bent his knees and waited, stilling like the wind that had suddenly vanished into the clouds, frightened of by the scraping that had cut through the thick silence. He didn't draw his blade, not yet. Too soon and he could scare whoever had dared to enter his gang's territory, and then he would be forced to give chase, but he didn't want to use his energy tonight, not when he still had so far to go.
A shrill meow rang out and a lithe cat with patched fur scurried out of the shadows, its fur on end as it hissed and took a warning swipe at Roxas. He smiled, shaking his head at his own pretence paranoia before he turned back to the wall before him, pulling his phone out of his hoodie pocket and raising it to his ear.
"Yo?"
"Hey Seifer, its Roxas." His voice sounded loud in the silence. The cat's stopped screeching and the dogs quieted their howling, opting for small whimpers instead as Roxas turned and took a deep breath, inhaling the night air and loving the taste of freedom on his tongue.
"Hey bro, how you doin' man? I didn't think you were back 'til next week bruv"
"Change of plans. Boss needed me back early."
"Boss? Man you mus' be trippin'. Boss' been impounded man. Jailbait init."
Roxas frowned in the shadows and took a step back until his heels hit the bricks on the unmoving wall. He banged them lightly and licked his lips, shaking his head as he put his head down and pulled his hood up. "Nah, he can't be. I was only talking to him this morning. He said he needed me on route tonight-"
"Dude, Boss' been cuffed for the past two days blud. For reals man, what you ringing me for? There been some trouble at your end? You need me and a few boys to come down wiv ya?"
Roxas shook his head, aware of the fact that Seifer couldn't see him as more noises came from the alley, causing him to raise an eyebrow as he shifted to try and get a better view, his left hand going back into his pocket to finger the blade he held there. "No Seifer, I swear down man, Boss rang me and told me he wanted me on route."
"…Dude, you been touching the fet again? Man, how many times I gotta tell you-"
"Seifer you know I've been clean for two months now. Why would I go back to that? You heard Sora, one more time and I'm out. No if's, but's or maybe's. Just gone." He rubbed the bridge of his nose in irritation and frowned. "Look, I'm near Branshome anyway. Meet me near South And Eddy will ya? I'll be in the car park at Tesco's."
"Sure thing man." There was crackling on the end of the phone before Roxas pulled it away from his ears in irritation, scowling at the metal contraption as Seifer shouted down it. "YO PENCE! GET YOUR ARSE IN GEAR BOY, WE'S GOING OUT! ... … … … NE'ER YOU MIND WHERE, YOU JUST GET YOUR PUDGY ARSE DOWN HERE AND AWAY FROM THEM POTATO CHIPS!" There was the sound of rummaging again and Roxas slowly put the phone to his ear. "Hold on bruv, we's on our way. Meet you there in five, yeah man?"
"Yeah."
"Cool, cool. Alright man, hang tight."
Sighing with annoyance, he snapped the phone shut and stuffed it into his pocket, squinting at the darkness as another bottle rolled, the sound of glass on concrete shattering the silence that had overtaken the alley. Roxas paused then, listening hard and pulling the blade out of his pocket as the shadows in the dark moved, the chill in the wind finally slicing into him as it returned full force, blanketing the night in a cold quilt of stuffy ice.
The dogs were finally silenced, not even their whimpers ringing out anymore as the moon began to scuttle behind the clouds; each of the stars going out like busted street lamps as they slowly dwindled and died. Roxas watched, half in annoyance and half in confusion, as the line of darkness slowly began to make its way towards him, wanting to capture him for eternity as it crawled along the pavement. Normally he would have welcomed it, would have loved the feeling of invisibility as it swallowed him, but tonight…tonight something was wrong. The air felt different, artificial and fake, as if he was swallowing hot plastic while someone forced him to believe it was honey.
"Who's there?!" He shouted, slightly on edge from the perfectly relaxed demeanour he had had only a few brief seconds ago.
There was no answer. But a growl ripped through the alley that had him swallowing his courage in a rush. Pearly teeth, sharp and long, glowed white in the dark, and grey, blind yet seeing eyes, opened, watching him with a curious knock to the head as it waited in the dark, shifting slowly from behind the bins with its spiked tail swishing eagerly behind it, drool dripping from its mouth in clunks as blood dribbled between the cracks in its teeth, pieces of fur sticking out between the clumps. It was only small, about the size of a cat or a small dog, and yet the bizarreness of it all had Roxas freaked out to the max.
It gurgled and shifted a little, slinking forwards on four feet as its long ears were drawn backwards, the nostrils on the front of its face flaring mightily as it snorted and flashed its teeth once more. Roxas would have found it cute, if he had even the slightest fucking idea what it was. It had no feet, but rather its legs ended in sharp, jagged razor claws that were coated in a thickness that could only be blood. It stopped in front of him and let it's long red tongue hand out, tasting the air with its mouth. And then it stopped and stilled, listening for all it was worth as it froze.
Roxas frowned down on it, not sure what to do or say. It was breathing through three deep gashes in its side, each breath making the oily skin on its back shudder. The silence settled once more as the creature slowly got up and scuttled away from him, moving along the broken shards of glass that slit into its bare feet as if it were nothing. Roxas winced, careful not to make any sound as he watched it turn; thanking all the powers above that it was almost gone.
And then the annoying sound of his cheap phones ringtone rang out into the silence, breaking the peace as Roxas yelped loudly and struggled to pull the phone out of his pocket, cussing loudly as the beast before him let out a strangled hiss and turned, latching its eyes onto him as it screeched, it's teeth going wide and elongating as a thick flap of skin unfolded around its neck and shuddered, splattering black ooze everywhere and drenching Roxas in a thick coat of black oily sheen that crusted and stuck to him. But thankfully he shielded his face away just in time, avoiding swallowing any of the black mess as the creature extended its claws and hissed once more, scratching its way forward and clawing its way down the alley, charging at Roxas with incredible speed.
Roxas jumped, lifting his feet into the air as he grabbed hold of the metal banister on the balcony of the flat above, swinging from it slightly as he hefted himself up easily and back flipped onto the bar, crouching on it with his finger tips lightly touching the metal, catching it in an embrace he knew all too well. He watched with narrowed eyes as the creature hissed and squinted its eyes, its tail swinging violently behind it as it put one claw against the brickwork, testing the firmness before it closed its jaws and smiled up at him, grinning at him with a deathly grin he knew could only mean trouble before it began to climb the walls, scaling the brick as if it wasn't defying gravity at all.
"You've got to be fucking kidding me." Roxas mumbled, jumping from the metal banister and leaping forwards, landing on the brick wall opposite like a cat before he jumped back and waited, watching with smiling eyes as the creature bared its fangs at him and continued climbing before it jumped straight from the brick and glided across the gap that separated them, the skin on its sides unfolding to form temporary makeshift wings.
Roxas watched in astonishment as the creature landed in front of him and snapped at him, screeching once more while he stayed still, adamant that it couldn't see him if it didn't move. But he watched as the creatures nostrils flared and broke the air, the hum in its throat growing more excited as it closed its eyes on him and grinned, starting forwards once more with amazing speed. Roxas turned and ran, jumping over roofs as he went, the creature hot on his tail as he jumped back down into the streets, landing on all fours before he stood up and sped of towards South And Eddy, his mind a blur as he skimmed over cars and railings, racing down the street of an area he would normally stroll through, never looking back. Never daring to look back.
Eventually he stopped and turned around, looking for the scuttling creature and finding no trace. He paused, looking about the empty and deserted houses on both sides of him, his area, his district. Why was he running? The hiss rang out loud and clear and he saw something move with lightening speed under the car two doors down, and suddenly he remembered why he was running. He turned, his right foot burning under the strain he put on it as he twisted funny, not daring to stop as he ran towards the end of the street and banked left, storming into the empty Tesco's car park with a new ignited fear.
The car park was empty.
Completely devoid of cars. He mentally cursed Seifer and turned as the hissing grew louder, the shadows of the beast cast from a street lamp growing with ferocity and speed as it sniffed him out, its fangs bared as it clawed its way forwards. He brought his knife out of his pocket once more and gritted his teeth as it turned the corner, stopping at the entrance and grinning, slowing its pace and skulking forwards silently, snaking its way into the light while Roxas looked around for somebody, anybody, even the Old Bill. But there was no one.
The creature was coming closer, always closer, and Roxas found himself sick of running, finally pushed to his limits as he bent his knees and prepared himself with his small rusty blade; he really did need to get a new one.
The beast hissed in front of him, licking its lips as it encircled him, a master of darkness sniffing at a wisp of light, before it lunged, its teeth out and elongated as it growled and hissed in the air. Roxas brought the blade up, ducking under the creature and listening to it screech as it speared itself on his blade, the entirety of its underbelly ripped open in a shower of purple/black blood and decaying guts before it landed on the opposite side of him and fell lifeless and squirming, still oozing the dark matter as it tried to get up and reach him.
Roxas scoffed and rubbed some of the black/purple slime that was the creature's blood away from his face, feeling sick to his stomach as he marched forwards with a new strength, kneeling in front of the creature as it hissed up at him with those grey, lifeless eyes. He put his hands on his knees and laughed into the cold, his breath fogging and misting once more as the wind returned. "Heh, I thought you'd put up more of a fight. Shame really." The beast in front of him growled and spat a load of putrid black acid out of its mouth and onto the pavement; inches away from Roxas' feet, forcing him to shuffle back some. He groaned at the pathetic thing in front of him and rolled his eyes. "Let it not be said that I'm cruel" he mumbled, lifting his blade and sinking it into the thick mess that was the creature's forehead, stilling it instantly as it gave one final hiss, sinking to the ground as Roxas unlodged his blade, wincing at the sound of it slicing back out.
"Yo Roxas blud! What you doin' to that puddy cat?" Roxas jumped a mile out of his skin and scrambled back, covering his eyes and squinting in the bright light as he turned to face the questioning voice that was talking to him. He didn't move forwards and he didn't move back, unsure of everything after what had just happened. "Pence, you waste of space man, you's blindin' him, init. Turn those mother fucking lights of!" The lights were turned down and Roxas let out a sigh of relief as Pence and Seifer stared at him, Pence in confusion and Seifer with a stupid grin. "Fucking dingbat aint ya? Co'on Roxas! Shift your arse blud, it's fackin' freezin'. I swear I think my left nut just went into hibervation."
Roxas grinned and got in the back seat slamming the door and listening to Pence tell Seifer it was actually called hibernation. Seifer grinned and ruffled Pence's hair. "Nawww, we got a college boy init. You, my bruver, should have gone to a university."
Pence chuffed up a bit and Roxas rolled his eyes, staring back out the window and sighing against the glass while his two 'friends' batted banter back and forth, ignoring him completely. He watched the ground in confusion for a minute, sitting up straighter and putting his fingers against the glass delicately, pulling out his blade and gulping, while he looked over the parking lot with disbelieving eyes. The black creature was gone.
Pence put the car into gear and Roxas gave a sigh of relief as they started moving, the car crumbling over pebbles and soot as it made its way forward. But he flinched and cursed loudly, his eyes closed tight, when a loud bang rang out, echoing around the parking lot like a cougar call.
"Fuck sake Pence, what you gone and done now?" Seifer grumbled, banging his head back against the seat.
"I aint done nothin'. The tires just bust is all."
"Then get your rump out of this car and fix it-"
"What? No way blud, it's freezin' out there man."
"Nobody get out of the car." Roxas mumbled, pulling his seat belt forward and clicking it in place. "And nobody. Fucking. Move." It couldn't be what he thought it was, he knew it couldn't be. But he wasn't about to go back outside with that thing either.
"Roxas blud, what you running your gums about? Mellow out man. Seriously. If that wussy arse bro of yours kicks you out again cuz you're too high I am not putting-"
He stopped speaking as Roxas shifted forward and held Seifers head back by his hair, the blade in his hand coming up to rest against his throat as he breathed hard. "Quiet. I'm trying to listen." They fell silent and Roxas listened to the growing gurgling and hissing he knew all too well. Pence's eyes went wide and he turned to Roxas slowly, careful not to make any noise against the leather seats as he mouthed 'what was that?'
Roxas shook his head and held his breath as the sound of scuttling came from under the car, small pattering claws scurrying up the pipes before there was another bang and the car fell slightly on its left side. Slowly, ever so slowly, Roxas pulled the blade away from Seifers throat and held it tightly in his right fist, shushing the angry scowling male with a finger to his own lips before he turned to Pence and mumbled, 'on my signal. We go.'
He motioned forwards and Pence paled, nodding slowly before something scratched along the front of the bonnet, something bony and sharp. "One." Roxas whispered, feather light while Pence slowly put the car into gear and turned back around in his seat. The claw became an arm as the creature raised itself up, almost causing Roxas to wince as the beast he had killed rose up, its eyes still seeing and lifeless as it wept, what he presumed to be, blood. He saw Pence shake, heard Seifer gulp and reach back behind him for a gun, pulling one out of his belt near his lower back and loading it as he held it steady, clicking it into place while the creature sniffed the air in a circle, its slit nostrils going wide as it let out a long, loud hiss.
"Two." His breath was so soft he was scared Pence hadn't heard him. But he had, and he slowly put his hand on the steering wheel, gripping it tightly. The creature turned back to face them and hissed. Roxas gulped and watched as it stared right past Seifer and right past Pence, focusing its eyes straight at him. It smiled, its eyes glowing as more blood dripped from it's belly, its teeth becoming larger and sharper.
"Three!"
Seifer, without any reason as to why, raised his gun and shot the creature in the face, the impact sending it sliding down the bonnet while it hung on with its claws, half of its face blown of by the impact. Pence didn't halter after that, sending the car shooting forwards and turning it around, the tires screeching as he raced for the car park entrance on flat wheels.
"Roxas! You wanna give us the grand tour on just what the fuck that bitch was?!" Pence screamed, racing onto the motor way, weaving in and out of the few cars there were as the wind whipped at them inside from the small bullet hole Seifer had made. Thankfully, Roxas thought, it didn't shatter.
"I don't know-" Roxas started before Seifer cut in.
"Whatever that mother fucker was, it's dead now. Half its guts are stuck to the fucking pavement back there."
"Don't be so sure." Roxas mumbled, leaning forward in his seat so he was between the two. "I knifed that bastard open and stuck my blade in its brain. The fucker still came back."
"So, you mean, this things after you Roxas?" Pence asked. And Roxas already knew the train of thoughts going through his mind.
Roxas slapped him upside the head and Pence had to fight to swerve them out of the way of a honking lorry, yelping loudly as he rubbed the back of his head with one hand, the other clutching the steering wheel for dear life. "Don't even think about dumping me on the side of the road with that thing out there you fucking mother fucker. I've had more than enough weird for one night, there's no fucking way your using me as bait while you two get away."
"But blud, that things only after you. You're covered in that slimy shit and all it wanted to do was lick it fucking of you. Why don't you go get a motel room and let it lick you away from us huh?" Seifer grumbled, rubbing his temple with the gun and muttering as he picked at the hole in the car windscreen with his fngers, not caring as it sliced into him. "Gonna need a whole new fuckin' window now blud. I hope you got some fucking cash man, you're forking out for it."
"Seifer, you know I've got no cash man. Not 'til Ansem pay's me at the end of the month."
"Then you'd best get it from some place else man. I can't go round sortin' business in a bust up car. What would the other's think bruv, seriously?" Roxas stayed silent while Seifer put on a high pitched tone and batted his eyelashes. "Oh look Simone, Ansem and Seifer must have gone soft. They're ridin' round in bust out wheels and the rest of their gang is running from-" his voice turned back to normal and he glared at Roxas, kicking the dashboard and growling. "-motherfucking monsters! I swear down Roxas, you'd best start givin' me answers or I'm gonna start givin' you shit."
Roxas frowned. Ansem was the leader of their gang, but when he was away locked up, which was a lot lately, Seifer ran the rules. Of course him and Seifer got on, but it only took him seconds to explode. "Alright. I'll get you the money."
"Damn fucking straight, dog. You get it to me by Thursday or you'll be running extra shit for me. And I don't wanna have to do that to ya Roxas man. You know, I like you. But you always make me want to hate you." Seifer sighed again and turned back to him as Roxas slumped in the backseat, Pence still going one hundred and twenty miles per hour down the motorway as the traffic thinned out into nothing but small dots in front of them and nothing behind.
Roxas was about to say something, opening his eyes and his mouth to explain everything he could, no matter how strange it might sound, before he saw something black and oily shine under the lamp lights, a shadow that crept across the side of the back left door. Somehow, someway, Roxas knew what was about to happen. "Seifer sit down man! Put your seatbelt on!"
Seifer looked at him confusedly before he scoffed and grinned. "Seatbelts are for wusses" he laughed.
Another screaming bang rang out as Roxas was about to tell him again, Pence screamed about loosing control and the car span, pushing Roxas against the side of the window with such force that he heard his head crack. The world span and a deep sickness ignited inside him as Seifer and Pence screamed, yelling into the cold night. But nobody heard. And nobody saw. So nobody stopped. And nobody helped.
The car turned and swerved under the bright lights that ran along the motorway, the bonnet smashed against the metal that cornered of the woods and splintered it, the front dinting inwards as the engine gave out and the metal heap that was the car tilted down the hill of mud that led towards the forest of winter pines and redwoods. The car flipped forwards and landed with a loud thundering honk on the ground below, the front smashing into a large redwood as the back remained lifted in the air.
Roxas opened his eyes a crack and groaned. His head was pounding in his skull and his body felt as heavy as led. The light from the cars headlights burned his sensitive pupils and the car horn must have been jammed because the annoying BEEP screamed at him constantly. But there was a sound that hovered over it. The sound of someone speaking, no begging. Roxas had to strain his ears to hear it but it was definitely there, hiding amongst the car wreckage.
Slowly he unbuckled his seatbelt, his fingers feeling clumsy and thick as they moved over the big red button. The car door was harder. He opened it slightly, but it took him all his time and a good shove of the shoulder before he was able to tumble out, landing with a groan in a heap on the ground, his body aching all over as he coughed into the mud. He grabbed hold of his stomach with one hand and half walked, half crawled over to the back of the car where he rested against the metal frame and groaned lightly.
"Please! Please! I'll do anything. You can have anything, everything I own. Just please don't do this. Please."
Roxas peeked around the corner and spied Pence on his knees, begging into the ground as tears ran down his face amongst the dirt, a cloaked black figure standing in front of him with the small black decaying monster at his feet, sitting the way a dog would heel at its master's side. The figure clicked its fingers and Roxas watched in horror as the creature stepped forwards and latched it's fangs around Pence's throat and slowly squeezed, a black poison going into Pence's skin as his blood was drawn out and the flesh was ripped.
A gurgling wisp of a noise was torn from pence's throat as the blood in his veins suddenly turned black and the poison crept up his skin. His eyes became red, rolling upwards and fluttering, and his skin became a deathly pale while his pupils became dilated and his body twitched, all of it convulsing under the small monsters control before it finally ripped its jaw free and took half of Pence's flesh with it. And Roxas saw, terrified, the rotted insides of his friend's throat before he fell forwards and landed with a thud on the ground, bit's of him crumbling and snapping of as he landed.
Roxas put his back against the car and cursed as it let out a metallic bang, the figure's head turning beneath its black hood as it set its eyes on him. And he felt the bore of judgement eat at him through the metal car. There was nothing for it, noting left to lose by staying here; he had to get up and onto the motorway; to find help or die trying.
He stood, his head throbbing, and he ran, faster than any time he had run on a night patrol as he ducked under low hanging branches and jumped over shrubs that grew in the undergrowth, stumbling in muddy ditches and heading for the lights above as he heard the fingers click behind him. And he knew the creature, whatever it was, was coming.
He heard the hiss grow louder as his foot caught on a rock and he went tumbling towards the ground, his head a mess as all of the colours seemed to merge, the world spinning at an odd angle that he couldn't seem to grasp. He went to turn left, scrambling to get up, when he saw the grey eyes staring at him again from above, looking down on him with blood on its lips and flesh between its teeth, the flesh of his friend this time though, not some poor cats.
Stilling and too afraid to move, he held his breath and nervously waited for what he knew was about to come, silently wishing he still had his blade in hand. He was so preoccupied with watching the monster that he didn't see the figure reappear out of the shadows, and he didn't see the gun in his hand, but he felt the dart that bit into his shoulder and he yelped and shuffled away some, pulling out the dart that was stuck in his arm and blinking down at it as the world became fuzzy and bleary. The letters were hard to read, and the colours were beginning to fade. He heard the sound of footsteps, but when he looked up he could see nothing but shadows, shadows and darkness. And then the overpowering grogginess took hold of his senses and he felt himself fall backwards, his body's muscles striving to disobey him as they refused to move, his legs refusing to get up and run as the sound of hissing and footsteps grew to a deafening point in his ear.
"You'll make a fine contender for the games." A thick voice mumbled as the creature gurgled once more and snapped its pearly jaws.
Roxas wanted to retort, to call this son of a bitch exactly that, but his tongue felt thick and heavy in his mouth and he just couldn't find the energy to move. The darkness swallowed him then, finally taking him as he fell into the realm of unconscious sleep, his mind pleading with his body to get up, but he couldn't. And there was nothing more he could do except mull over all the prospects of what 'the games' were and hope, pleading with the heavens above, that someone, anyone, would help him.
But of course, like all the other times earlier that night, nobody came.
There's the prologue guys :) I hope you all enjoyed. I know the dialogue for Seifer and sometimes Pence was a little hard to understand, but I wanted them to stay in character. Anyway, you probably won't see them again for the remainder of this fic. but if you want me to explain what they were saying I'll be happy to do so :)
Credit for some of the plot ideas behind this fic go to Candy3314. :) Thankyou so much again ^_^ I will point them out where and when they happen, I don't want to give anything away for anybody who may be reading this story ;)
In no way are any of the themes or ideas relayed by this fiction/text alowed to be copied to another document or copied and reworded onto a seperate fiction. I own the idea to this story however the characters belong to the respective owners of Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy. Thankyou.