Scarlet
Chapter One: Trail of Blood
Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VIII or any of its characters.
This is my little experimental first story, and I'm hoping to use reviews to see if I should continue it. In it things might be a little…odd, needless to say, for I twisted the plot to make this dark romance. So read and do share what you think!
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She had not seen him in days. Although it really was no surprise—Squall had always been secluded, and usually holed himself up in his office for a few hours. But this was no longer a few hours she was talking about—it was a few days.
At first she had just thought that she kept missing him. There schedules were frustratingly misplaced, putting them far away from each other it seemed, at all times. He was in the training room while she was in the central office; she was in his office looking for him when he was in Cid's office.
And while they barely ever saw each other their bond never weakened, Rinoa still began to miss her knight, longing to see his handsome, albeit stoic face at least once before this day was over. Days really were too much…
And so the frustration of it all, the worry for him—for them as a unit, a couple, all led her here to this moment, to the large office door that led to his domain, the place he spent more time in than even his room—his always freezing, spacious office.
She knew that what she was doing was wrong; not only was it after hours, but she was sneaking in to see her boyfriend, uninvited, wearing nothing more than a tank top and silk shorts that were a little on the short side. Nothing wrong with that picture, now was there?
Her pulse fluttered in her throat as she reached for the doorknob, the metal cold against her warm palm and tracing a shiver down her spine as she exhaled slowly, gathering her will.
Something was wrong, and she had to, needed to, know before it was too late, before something happened to him…To them…
Rinoa would do anything to keep her Knight safe, just as he had done for her; as the door creaked open slowly her instincts began to scream danger as no light spilled through the door onto her, the room silent and dark on the other side. So very…Unnatural…
Her breath burst out of her in faint puffs of frost as she shivered, instinctively curling into herself and rubbing her arms as the cold air slammed into her. Her worry—and her fear—increased when she noticed the empty room, her eyes trying to adjust on the clearly empty desk chair. A chair that should have held the ever present form of her boyfriend…
Her heart beat like a frantic butterfly against the cage of her ribs as she stepped over to the desk, staring at the white papers that were haphazardly strewn over it. Squall was never disorganized, never untidy…
She set a hand down on the smooth wood at the end of the desk by the papers, and felt, instead of the familiar cold surface of the desk, something warm and sticky curl around her fingers. She jumped, her heartbeat seeming to echo all around the room as she shakily raised her hand to the window behind her, to the faint amount of moonlight that streamed in to produce the only light, that faint, mysterious murky light.
But even in the dimness she could discern the liquid, and a scream grew and died at the same time on her lips as she stared at the dark blood staining her fingers.
Rinoa was by no means unused to blood; back during that tumultuous time when she had battled the Sorceress Ultimacia along with all her friends, she had been forced to endure all of the bloodshed from the soldiers that were slaughtered, her friends, Squall and even herself. The red life giving liquid she had never considered a bad thing at all, but rather proof of life, of existence. She had never considered it a bad thing until now.
She nearly fell back into his chair as she shakily wiped the blood on her shirt, trembling as she briefly shut her eyes, trying to repress it. Blood in Squall's office, on Squall's desk… t could only mean one logical thing.
"Squall?" her desperate whimper split the air and was received with cold silence. She licked her dry lips again, pushed down the bile and the tears. "…Squall? Squall, please tell me you're here, please…"
When all remained silent as single tear slipped from her eye as Rinoa realized there was only one possible explanation; Squall was gone, bleeding, and he…he could be…
"Squall?" she jumped to her feet, teary eyes wide with a determination she refused to forfeit. She could not give in, not yet, could not believe it until she actually saw him, had searched the entire world for him…
"Squall?!"
She was halfway to the door, stumbling on trembling legs, when she noticed it. A trail of blood extended from the desk to the door she was now trembling in front of, leading out. She wasted no time in following it.
Heart racing faster than it ever had before, sending the adrenaline that kept her going—that sweet, homemade drug—through her veins, coursing like volts of electricity through her blood.
The drops of blood led on and on and on...
By the time it stopped, disappearing behind the hard metal door that led to Squall's room, she was panting for breath, her heart seeming to squeeze her lungs in a deadly embrace.
She fumbled in her pocket for the card key to his room, thanking god through a haze of panic that she had decided to bring it with her, and wasted no time in swiping it, nearly collapsing in relief at seeing the red light beside the door turn green as slowly, painfully slowly, the metal door slid back on its own accord to expose to her the scene of the crime.
With a cry she hurried into the room towards the dark shadow that loomed in the corner, unmistakably Squall, not noticing the sorry state of the room, the way he was hunched over.
A thin trail of moonlight fell through in a sliver of light to highlight her boyfriend's back, and as she reached out to him, eyes gleaming, he chose that moment to turn, and that light, no matter how faint, exposed it all.
And the blood running through Rinoa's veins froze as in her chest her heart stopped and was silent.
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Alright, so that was my little…Prologue of sorts, my tester if you wish to call it that. Wonder what's happening with Squall? Funny, I am too, haha. No, originally I planned on him being a vampire…An overused plot, I know, but trust me, never will it be like the book Twilight or any other sappy vampire romance; oh no, I am a dark person, so darkness…yes, time to let the darkness out!
But if you object to Squall being a vampire and can think of something else, please feel free to email me, or review it to me. Perhaps Squall could be injured by someone? Mm, that would create a mystery! Well, I don't know what I'm going to do, vampire or injured…Which plot sounds better to you? Let me know, and review if you want, I guess, ha.