Preamble:
Anyone who hasn't played the excellent Game Until Dawn, play it. This story is a love letter to that game, and is uses the same opening before quickly diverging from it. I got the idea because Hayden Panettiere voices Kairi, and a character in Until Dawn. The idea of putting KH characters into a horror movie was just too fun to pass up.
Enjoy
Chapter 1
Olette
On the average day Olette would have found a cute little pleasure in her tacky Christmas sweater. The overly thick red wool was horrendously fuzzy, and little black schnauzers were painstakingly knitted with care. The sight of it never failed to make Olette grin. Tonight however she could only rub the sleeve between her thumb and forefinger as she followed he friends anxiously through the lodge. "I really don't think this is a good idea. Guys?"
Whatever goodhearted reason she was trying to interject into the conversation was lost on the ears of the group. The lot of them, Hayner, Xion, Namine, and Kairi, excitedly poured themselves into a small bedroom. Namine waved her hand and gave a good natured smile. "It's just a prank Olette, no one's going to get hurt."
Even with that reassurance Olette just couldn't shake the icky feeling flowing through her. "Come on, this is mean. It's not his fault he has a crush on Kairi." It was a classic conversation that Olette had with the group a million times over. They loved pranking each other, in big and small ways. They've replaced shampoo with honey, filled Pence's car with lady bugs, Olette even snuck into a locker room once and left Roxas with nothing to wear but a cheerleader's outfit. It was part of their group dynamic. Tonight's prank however, seemed like too much.
Namine put her hands on her hips, and sighed. "Maybe, but he shouldn't be shooting googly eyes at another guy's girlfriend. I'm just looking out for my girl Kairi." Because no matter how much fun they claimed it would be, today's trick was born of only one thing: spite.
The two of them turned towards Kairi who was blushing. "We're not."
"Yeah." Coughed Hayner from deeper within the room. "We're not dating, we're just friends."
Kairi nodded. "See?"
The room let out a collective groan. The two of them had been sneaking away with each other the whole weekend, they couldn't be more obvious if they were wearing neon signs. Still Namine decided to respect what her friend said. "Hey that's fine. If you want Riku to keep hitting on you, that's just fine. Maybe you can invite him up anyway. Even if we don't prank him, maybe we get to watch a steamy make out session?"
Kairi along with the rest of the room giggled. She slapped Namine's arm, and shook her head. "Oh my god Namine, you're so bad." She nodded her head. "Let's do this."
All Olette could do was shake her head. It was like she was watching a train wreck in slow motion. She wanted to call them out, wanted to defend Riku. She wanted to put a stop to this stupid plot. However more than anything she wanted she wanted to belong. Her friends were just trying to have fun, and pranking each other was a cornerstone of their relationship. Sure this one was more vicious by degrees, but maybe it would all just blow over. Maybe Olette was over reacting.
She stared down at her shoes, and sighed. Her fight was all gone, and not a single protest remained on her lips. "I'm just going to take a bath. I-I don't want to see this." With that Olette stepped out of the room and down the hallway. She was wiping her hands of the entire situation.
Xion
Barely containing a giggle Xion squeezed into Kairi's closet along with Hayner. The two of them smiled at each other, only illuminated by the slivers of light that filtered in through the door's shutters. Everyone was in position, and now they just had to wait for the show to begin. Kairi sat on her bed trying to look nonchalant, while Namine was hidden under the bed. In the end it was a good thing that Olette wasn't around, because they were running out of hiding spots.
A flash of light illuminated the closet, and Xion closed her eyes tight for a moment. When she opened them she saw Hayner holding up his phone to one of the cracks in the closet. He gave her a thumbs up, and one of his big ol' smiles. "Gonna show Roxas when he wakes up."
Xion covered her mouth to hide a creeping smile. "Riku's going to kill you!"
They didn't have any more time to plan, right on time Riku opened the door. Silently the two of them shushed each other and pushed their eyes up against the openings of the door. Their hearts beat in quick succession as the prank of the century unfolded before them.
From their vantage point they had a view of the entire room, and everything that was happening. It was a golden seat to the greatest show on earth. Kairi was sitting on her bed doing her best to achieve a look of casual sexual appeal. Even from where they were they could see the blush rising up her face. She was no succubus that much was obvious.
Riku entered the room and instantly she could see the cool look of adoration sweep over his body. It was a look that everyone in the room had seen before. He'd been crushing on Kairi for years, which is what made it all so funny. "Hey." He tried to say it cooly, but his nervousness leaked through. " You're really here." In his hand he had the crumpled up note, they'd slipped into his room. Sprayed with Kairi's favorite perfume, just for an extra touch.
In return Kairi gave one of her classic smiles. "Well it's my room, yeah?"
"Yeah." Riku forced a chuckle because the silence was too much.
"So are we going to do this?"
Riku almost jumped back in shock. She was so forthcoming! To his credit he did manage to swallow down his shock quickly enough. He wanted to, you could tell, everyone could. Even through the pixelated screen of his phone, Hayner could tell. Even so he held himself back. "What about Hayner?" Whatever he might have felt for her, he wasn't going to let it ruin a friendship, a good friendship.
Xion thought it was sweet, and tilted her head in sympathy. Not that anyone could see it.
"What about him?" Kairi tilted her own head.
"He's your boyfriend." He said it like it was obvious.
"No he's not." It came out with more ice than she was intending. "You can ask him yourself."
Next to her Xion could feel Hayner tense up. She smiled lightly. Looks like more than one person was getting burned tonight. This just kept on getting better.
Riku still looked reluctant. "You're sure? I don't want to mess anything up."
Kairi shook her head. "You don't have to worry, there's nothing to mess up." She shook her head and took in a fresh breath. "Now, are we going to do this?"
Riku let out a breath he didn't know he was holding, and nodded his head. He closed the bedroom door with his foot, and smiled. "So where do we start?"
Xion wanted to squeal, it was actually happening! She couldn't wait to tell Pence about this! Just a few more seconds, and they'd all jump out of their hiding spots. She couldn't wait to see the look on Riku's face.
Now at home in the part she was playing, Kairi sat up a bit, and leaned forward. "How about we make out, and see where things go?" Then she cocked a brow. "But first, take off your shirt."
No hesitation anymore, Riku lifted his shirt up over his head.
Xion let out a loud audible gasp. She kicked herself for it, but it couldn't be helped. Riku was one ripped customer, and she honestly hadn't been expecting him to look as chisled as he was. She couldn't help herself! Between the bottled up laughter, and excitement of being hidden, and Riku's shiftlessness she burst! She immediately clamped her hands over her mouth, but the cat was already out of the bag.
Sora
High up in the mountains, on private land, and past a cable car. If you wanted to be isolated from the world, this was the place to do it. Then a night? In the middle of a snow storm? You'd have to be crazy to be out in the woods.
"Roxas, Dad said it'd just be us tonight right?" Sora squinted his beautiful blue eyes and tried to pierce the darkness of the forest which surrounded the lodge. The heavy snowfall didn't make things any easier. Still he could have sworn he'd seen something out there. Something human shaped, and he was sure they weren't having any other guests over.
When no response came he turned around, and saw his Brother and Pence out cold. The both of them were slumped over in their chairs leaned over the counter. They were surrounded by a sea of red solo cups half filled with drinks. That's what they get for having alcohol at a party filled with teenagers.
At the sight Sora could only sigh, and rub his head. "Once again you've outdone us all." He peeked around the kitchen, empty except for him and the two sleeping bodies. Drinks and snacks laid on paper plates and in plastic cups, but Sora found himself as the only conscious person. The whole lodge had gotten strangely quiet in the last few minutes. Everyone had snuck off to do something. Nervously he tilted his head back towards the window. Him seeing things in the forest, and the whole house going quiet? He didn't like where that was going. "Hey Roxas." He went over and rocked Roxas' shoulder, but his brother remained fast asleep. "Come on, wake up. Something weird is going on." Nothing.
Just perfect.
He might have tried harder, but there was a shout from upstairs. A commotion of sorts followed, and before he knew it Sora was running up a staircase. Whenever his friends were in danger, he always seemed to be the first person running towards it. He had a baseball bat in the lobby, but only now noticed that he didn't grab it. He could only curl his hands into fist and hope that would get him through.
The noise was coming from one of the guest rooms where the girls were staying. He sprinted over feeling his heavy footsteps speak against the wood floor of his parent's lodge. From where he was he could see Riku and Olette in the hallway. Olette had her hands on his shoulder, and looked like she was trying to calm him down. She was trying to, but from the look of things wasn't getting very far. Whatever it was Riku wasn't going to be consoled.
He threw Olette's arm off of his shoulder, and ran past Sora just as he got there. Sora called out but there was no response. Something weird was outside the lodge, and he needed to get everyone together. He felt bad enough leaving Roxas and Pence unprotected, and now Riku was running off. The timing couldn't have been worse.
Namine, along with Hayner, Kairi, and Xion came out of the bedroom all looking mortified. "Riku!" Namine called. "It was just a prank, we're sorry!" She sighed like she was exhaling her very soul, and looked down at her feet.
A storm of emotions whirled up within Sora. He didn't know if he was mad, worried, or scared. He might have been all three, but he didn't know which one he was supposed to feel right now. Confusion more than anything bubbled up from his lips. "What happened?"
He looked beseechingly into his friends' eyes, but none of them said anything. The only thing that spoke were their guilty faces. They'd done something bad, and none of them wanted to own up to it. Only Olette was willing. "They were playing a stupid prank, and it went way too far." It was clear that she knew exactly how to feel, complete anger at her immature lodge mates.
"What did you guys…" His words were cut off by the lodge shaking. The front door had slammed shut. Instantly the fear and memory of a half seen figure in the woods crept up Sora's back. "Oh no. Riku." He'd only just stopped running, but was already back at it. "You guys stay here, I'm going to get Riku."
Hayner wasted no time in taking a few steps towards Sora. "Should we come with you?" Sora wanted to smile, but couldn't manage it at the moment. Hayner never was one to mope around. He was a man of action.
Olette crossed her arms, the wool from her sweater making loud staticy sounds as the sleeves rubbed. "I think you're the last person Riku wants to see right now."
Hayner knew that full and well, but was still willing to go after Riku. He really was a man of action, which is why he had to stay. "No." Sora shook his head. "You guys stay in the lodge. I saw something out in the woods. I'm getting Riku and then I'll be right back. You guys just stay safe." With one last sigh Sora peeled off down the stairs, and towards the door. Taking only a moment to slip on a jacket, before heading off into the blinding cold darkness of the winter's night.
Author's Notes:
Hope you enjoyed. Review if you like, but there's actually some feedback I'd be really interested in hearing. I've been tooling around with the idea of turning this into a choose your own adventure game. A challenge to see if you can keep the whole gang alive until the end. I already stole the premise of until dawn, so why not the choice aspect as well. XD. Anyway I'd be interested to hear your opinion on the matter.