AN: Oh god that was long. If I could do this with Seduction it would've been a one-shot like I planned. I'm so tired… I saw a jellyfish costume this year. It was cute! I stayed home on Halloween and watched scary movies until the World Series came on. GO GIANTS! YEAH! Writing this took longer than I anticipated. I spent all Halloween writing it and I wanted to post it on Halloween. I didn't make it so I uploaded what I had before midnight! I'm sorry for the abrupt and badly placed break. I just wanted the upload date to be on Halloween. The rest of the story is here and I apologize to the three reviewers left in the dark about the suicides. I wasn't throwing the idea around because of Halloween! It's a serious topic and shouldn't be placed randomly I know. I thought of this story after watching a Korean horror film and I wanted to incorporate ghosts somehow without gore. I'm not a gore person. So I picked the least bloody deaths I could think of. So sorry for confusing and/or upsetting you. It wasn't my intention. I've been working on Seduction since July, but the ideas aren't flowing as well. Five plot bunnies hit me this week. (This story included) But, I am STILL writing it. Don't worry. Well, happy reading and I hope you enjoy!
(\-o-/)
"I'm sorry Xion, but I can't go out with you. You're a great girl, but you aren't my type." The redhead was trying his best to let the quiet girl down gently.
"O-oh, well, that's okay Axel, I uh-understand…" the ebony-haired girl forced a too-bright smile at him and seemed to be holding back tears.
"Xion I-" Axel tried to think of a better explanation than you aren't my type, but she really wasn't.
"No Axel, I-it's alright! I'm fine and I…I wouldn't want to ruin our friendship anyway! I-um, I've got to go now so see you later!" The quivering Xion dashed off without another word.
Damn it…I feel like such a dick. The disappointed looking teen sighed and started to walk towards his locker. After a few seconds he was hit on the back of the head. Hard. "Saïx! That was so uncalled for!"
"Suck it up you baby." The amber-eyed senior watched as Axel silently whined about how he could've been seriously hurt. "Don't you care about me at all?" The moping redhead silently brought out his best 'I'm so pathetic, sympathize with me' face. Saïx rolled his eyes and smirked a bit. "Stop whining." The blunette kissed the taller senior on the cheek quickly. "You're not dying."
Axel pouted, but eventually grinned at his abusive best friend. "You can't tell whether I'm dying or not by just loo-"
"Hey Axel." A short blonde boy had walked up to the two seniors and watched the ensuing abuse and listened to Axel's whimpers.
"Hmm? Roxas! Hey, what's up?" The excited redhead practically jumped on the junior and didn't see the murderous glare that was directed at his blue-haired friend. Saïx noticed though and only smiled coldly.
"Nothing much. How are you? I feel like I haven't seen you all week." The blonde's eyes softened when they shifted to look at the taller teen attached to him.
The redhead backed up enough to give the boy room and he grinned. "It's probably because you haven't. Didn't think this year would keep me so damn busy."
"Well it's almost Halloween you know. Maybe you can take a break for once." Big blue eyes glanced at deep sea green for a moment before flicking away. "Do you know what you want to dress up as?"
The redhead glanced at the ceiling in thought while he hummed. "Not really, was thinking maybe something simple like a pirate or vampire or something. You?"
"Ax, that's boring. Who stole your creativity?" Roxas' eyes moved meaningfully towards Saïx who was observing them both silently. "What do you plan to be?"
Saïx opened his mouth to answer sharply but was interrupted by his brightly colored friend. "I definitely think that he should be a werewolf! It would fit him and his bipolarity! Wait! Maybe he could go as Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde! That'd be awesome!" Axel's eyes had gotten really bright and he was literally hopping on the tips of his toes causing Roxas to bounce with him. Saïx promptly forgot what biting comment he was about to snap at the tiny junior and instead smirked at Axel's suggestion.
"I think…that is a great idea." The blue-haired teen languidly walked up to the two and stopped in front of the taller senior's face. "I'll see you later, Ax." The smirk never left his scarred face as he leaned in close while his friend seemed more confused as the seconds ticked by. He even spared a quick glance to see Roxas' reaction and the blond quietly fumed. Three uncertain seconds later there was a loud smacking noise and Saïx was speeding down the hall as a teacher screamed at him not run in the hallway.
Roxas was left with a whining Axel once again. "I give him a great idea and he thanks me by hitting me on the forehead! It hurts Roxas!" Axel pouted again. The petite blond sighed, "Want me to kiss it better?"
The taller teen stopped moaning immediately and nodded furiously. Roxas forced his head down and quickly pecked the small red spot on his smooth forehead. "Better?" Axel smiled brightly and ruffled the spikes on top of the junior's head. "Yep! You always make it better Rox! It's why I love you so much! More than Saïx anyway," the small pout came back. "Well, I've gotta get to class! Maybe you can give me some costume ideas later...?"
"Sure Ax." The blond let out a tiny, but happy, smile. "M'kay, bye!" The animated teen ruffled his hair again and headed off to his second class of the day. If only he knew how much I really love him…
(\-o-/)
"Hey Roxas! I think I've narrowed it down!" The redhead was bouncing on the blonde's couch.
"To what?" Roxas walked into the room with two glasses filled with Sprite.
" I either want to be a demon or the mad hatter! Dark version of the mad hatter of course." Axel took his drink gratefully.
"Axel, you do know that Halloween is in three days right? Do you even have enough time to find the costumes you want?" The blonde raised a questioning eyebrow at the teen bouncing on his couch. "And you know everyone is going to dress up on Friday, so technically you have today to find your costume. That's it."
Axel's eyes widened in realization, "Holy shit! Seriously? Um- I- oh- Let's go to the store Rox!" And with that incoherent sentence the redhead dragged his wobbling friend, who was still trying to put his drink out of harm's way, out to his mom's old red Toyota.
"W-wait! What store?" The blonde attempted and failed to get Axel's grip off of his arm.
"Any store! We just have to get it fast and hopefully cheap! Spirit! Spencer's! Hot Topic! I really don't care right now!" The panicking senior was already behind the wheel and waving Roxas forward like he was some kind of airplane runway worker.
"Just please try not to kill us in the process." Blue eyes rolled skyward before settling on the car radio.
As Axel backed out of the driveway he asked, "Well where's your costume huh? What're you going to be?"
Roxas smiled a bit and said, "You'll see tomorrow."
The redhead pouted while turning the car towards the local mall.
(\-o-/)
It was Friday and the school was celebrating Halloween early. Even the teachers enjoyed dressing up and helping students sell treats during the big Halloween Festival.
Axel had decided to be a demon because it was the only costume that looked good enough after an hour of shopping and the possibility of several Mad Hatters around school was too high.
The redhead had been looking for his best friends for five minutes. He couldn't spot Saïx or Roxas anywhere. Not being sure of Roxas' costume made it even more difficult. He decided to go to the next best source for information: Sora and probably Demyx.
Sora had dressed up as Frankenstein's monster with green makeup and everything. But try as he might, his hair would not lay flat, so he was a spiky haired Frankenstein. Next to him was dangerously pale looking Riku with clothes that were covered in…baby powder? The silver-haired teen saw his questioning look and whispered quietly, "I'm a ghost."
He pulled off the ghost act pretty damn well.
Kairi was nowhere to be seen, which was odd since she was attached to these two like glue every day. Naminé was a white witch and Demyx was…was…"Dude, what are you supposed to be?" The redhead was stumped.
"Seriously Axel? I'm a jellyfish!" The dirty blond teen pouted while Naminé patted him on the shoulder. "It's very creative Demyx," the small girl said quietly. "Damn right it is." The boy glared at Axel while the redhead smirked.
"Sorry, Sorry, wasn't expecting my friend to turn into a sea creature, though I probably should have knowing you. Anyway, I was wondering if any of you have seen Roxas or Saïx?"
Sora slowly mumbled, "I haven't seen Rox all day" his cousin did manage to disappear during school hours often. "Hope he isn't in a classroom like the nerd he is." Riku shrugged in an 'I don't know' sort of gesture. Demyx had one of his rare angry expressions on, "I don't care where that bastard is." Everyone stared at him in shock. When the semi-mulleted teen looked up his eyes widened and he made a placating gesture with his hands…er…tentacles, "I meant Saïx! Saïx! Not Roxas!" Mostly everyone relaxed and made tiny agreements with Demyx's comment. Axel continued to glare at him. "Saïx is my friend Dem, he's not that bad."
The blonde whispered quietly, "Not to you." Thankfully the redhead didn't hear him.
Naminé spoke up, "Axel, have you seen Kairi? We haven't seen her anywhere since we drove her here. I'm worried about her."
Axel took a second to stop glaring and looked at Naminé apologetically, "Sorry, I didn't see her today. Why are you worried?" If Kairi's sister was worried, something was incredibly wrong.
The pale blonde girl looked down at her shoes, "She's been acting weird all day. Last night she cut her hair short like it used to be and asked me to help her dye it black. She messed up a bit and a few sections are still red, but she looks like this other girl I've seen around school."
"Well was the hair thing a part of her costume?" Sora was looking concerned.
Naminé thought for a second, "She was going to be a silent hill nurse…so yeah I guess it works. But, I don't think she'd go as far as cutting and dyeing her own hair for two days only."
"Well she's not acting that weird. Kairi is Kairi, you don't know what she'll do."
"Demyx, you aren't helping." Axel bopped the tall blonde on his jellyfish head.
"Well, she has not talked to me since she came home on Wednesday. She always talks to me! She won't eat and she sits up in her bed staring at the wall for hours." The small girl started to show her anxious state.
"Wait Naminé, you said she asked you to help her dye her hair. She talked then didn't she?" Riku said raising his eyebrow.
The girl already had an answer, "Kairi wrote the question down on paper. Even her handwriting is different." No more heart dotted 'i's and swirly writing, but painfully straight letters that were computer like.
"Sounds like she's just trying to creep you out for Halloween. Looks like it worked too! Don't worry so much Nami, we'll find her." Axel smiled reassuringly. "Hey, let's go to the haunted house!" Their school held one every year, using seniors to scare all the lowerclassmen.
Naminé still looked hesitant, but everyone else agreed.
(\-o-/)
The haunted house was lame. The decorations were really good for a public school, but few things were actually frightening. The best scare so far was the P.E. teacher, Zack Fair, grabbing Demyx's leg and trying to drag him off into the boys' locker room that had been labeled as "Hell".
"You screamed so damn loud! I think you broke my left eardrum!" Axel was giggling about it still.
"Shut up! That freaked me out! I didn't know he could get his hair like that! Only people in Asian horror movies can pull it off! Demyx was pouting and jumping at every tiny scare.
"He did look kind of scary. Did you see him laughing? That was super creepy." Sora was acting tough, but he was clutching his best friend's hand in an iron grip. Riku winced, but squeezed back.
Suddenly a loud shriek was heard and someone was sobbing. The small group ran ahead to the noise and froze.
Above them were two hanging bodies, one wearing all black, the other wearing white covered in fake blood. Underneath both bodies was Selphie. Tifa, one of the teachers helping with the haunted house, was running towards them. She froze and stared at the two bodies before shaking her head and covering her mouth. The woman quickly went to Selphie whose body was being wracked with sobs.
The group behind them was confused and they couldn't see the faces of the two bodies. They still believed that the bodies weren't real and that Selphie and Ms. Lockhart were kidding.
The rope spun slowly back and forth and turned fully.
Naminé screamed. Long and hard she screamed until she couldn't anymore. Because she found Kairi, dangling above her, eyes widened in shock, dead.
Sora fell to his knees and pressed his hands to the floor. Riku averted his eyes and sat next to Sora. The brunette launched himself into his best friend's arms and broke down. Demyx went to Naminé and held her steady as she wailed over and over again. "No, no n-no, NO! KAIRI! WHY? Why…?" The dirty blonde turned the girl's had into his chest to keep her from staring at the dead body of her sister.
Axel couldn't move his eyes away from the two bodies. He felt a hint of guilt because he wasn't thinking about Kairi at all, but the other girl.
It was Xion.
(\-o-/)
Two girls were dead. Xion and Kairi were dead. The same rope hanged them, twins in death.
Axel, Demyx, Sora, Riku, Naminé, and Selphie were told not to tell anyone of the deaths found in the haunted house. The principle didn't want the whole school to panic over two 'foolish and selfish girls.'
Naminé was inconsolable and refused to speak to anyone. Most of the other students ignored her in favor of the Halloween festivities. Sora was attempting to distract himself and became almost overbearing in his kindness. Riku stayed with him and tried to keep him busy. Demyx wasn't the biggest fan of Kairi, but he did feel sad for the girl. His usual lighthearted and carefree expression was replaced by something more solemn. Even Zexion could tell something wasn't right with the boy and walked with him for the rest of the day.
And Axel…Axel was being eaten up by guilt. He felt bad for Kairi, sure, though the way she acted sometimes would get on his nerves, but he was so much remorse because of the raven-haired girl. The girl who had asked him out, the girl he had to refuse.
What if she committed suicide because of him? The redhead wasn't trying to sound full of himself, but a lot of suicides were because of unrequited love.
'If I keep thinking about it I'll go crazy with guilt. I turned her down, yeah, but I'm gay! I couldn't feel that way for her even if I tried!' Even with this reassurance Axel couldn't help but think that if he just went out with her once to be nice, her suicide would've been avoided. 'And I don't know what the fuck got into Kairi. The girl has everything! Grades, cute face, popularity, was probably gonna get into an Ivy League.' While the redhead internally fought his feelings over the loss of a great student and the loss of a kind heart, someone snuck up behind him.
"BOO" Saïx was half Dr. Jekyll and half Mr. Hyde, currently scaring the shit out of his friend.
Axel grabbed his costume, over his heart, and panted wildly. "What the fuck?"
Saix laughed at the redhead's fear and reaction. "My costume isn't that scary, you're the one who gave me the idea, and I still managed to make you jump! Ha!" His laughter quieted down after a minute and he stared at the still panicked looking Axel. Green eyes were wide against a pale face and a spidery hand still clutched at the demon costume. Blue eyebrows scrunched together, "Axel? Are you all right? You look like you've-"
"Don't you fucking dare say 'seen a ghost'" The taller senior let out a long breath. "I'm fine, what did you expect me to do after that?"
Amber eyes rolled, "Um, I don't know, shrug it off and whine at me for scaring you like you usually would? Are you sure you're okay?" Warm hands grabbed the redhead's face and pulled it down to eye level. "You look like a vampire wearing a demon costume."
"Vampire, demon, same thing. Leggo of my face!"
"And if I don't?"
"Let go of his face, Saix." A hooded figure had walked up to the two seniors watching their exchange. Again amber eyes rolled upwards and Saïx's hands let go of Axel's face.
"Roxas? You're the Grim Reaper? Awesome!" The redhead's demeanor did a complete turnaround once he laid his eyes on what he could tell was his other best friend. The blonde had donned a long black robe with an ordinary black scythe, but the way it all came together made it seem almost authentic. "That's not real is it? A teacher will take it away if it is." Axel tried to look under the long hood.
"Of course it isn't real Axel, I'm not stupid." The junior lifted his hood and gave the senior a playful glare.
Axel swooped down and squeezed his best friend tight. "I know you aren't Rox." The redhead held him for a few seconds absorbing some much needed comfort. Roxas looked surprised at first, but grinned for the duration of the spontaneous hug. There was an almost smug gleam in his eye when he looked towards Saïx who was staring at them both.
To the blonde's slight disappointment, Axel let go, though his expression went unnoticed. "Hey! Do you two wanna hang out with me on Halloween? I have nothing to do 'cause apparently I'm too old for trick-or-treating. I think it's a load of BS, but my mom won't let me go. She thinks I'll scare the neighbors' kids."
"That's because you know you would try and scare kids, we don't need you hyped up on candy since you're bad enough without it, and do you really have no other friends to kidnap on Halloween?" Saïx seemed bored with the thought of staying with the redhead on Halloween and glanced at him with an expression that said 'Pah-the-tic'.
"I'd love to hang out with you Axel." Roxas glared a hole through Saïx's left eye. "I'm not to busy to spent time with my best friend."
"Of course you're not. You have no social life outside of him and it would be surprising if you did have plans. I on the other hand, have a life and I was invited to a party that night. My deepest apologies."
Axel frowned at the blue haired senior. He opened his mouth to say something but Saïx held up his hand. "Time to start the weekend. See you two in three days." And with that, he walked off.
Roxas seemed to be hoping that his glare would cause a lightning bolt to strike the rude senior down. Axel sighed and cursed Saïx's inability to tell when he should not push his luck. "Thanks for not thinking I'm a dork for asking you to hang out with me."
The blond stared ahead looking stone-faced and said to the redhead, "You are a dork" in a dead tone. Axel's face could've fallen to the floor, he pouted so hard. Roxas smiled.
"But, you're my dork."
(\-o-/)
Halloween had finally come. Saturday was uneventful after Axel went out to buy candy for the neighbors' kids that he wasn't allowed to scare. 'So unfair, mom. You leave me for a party and I still can't scare people.' But it was Halloween, for real now, and the redhead was wrapped up in his blanket watching 'Carrie.'
He thought the movie was going to be like any other high school movie done before. Drama, drama, catfight, drama, etc. But it was so much better! To him, the bastards got what they deserved for being douchebags. The religious mother was freaky though. F-R-E-A-K-Y and insane. It was awesome. He was in the middle of the scene where everyone was getting killed by brainpower when he heard a noise near the front door. 'Trick-or-treaters who want their candy I hope. If anyone eggs my house they will be scared enough to pee their pants, no matter what mom says.'
He opened the door…and…no one was there. Axel frowned and rolled his eyes. 'Damn ding dong ditch. Well I'm not answering the door anymore! I'll keep the candy for myself. Stupid…' He slammed the door shut and went back to his movie. After he watched the stupid teenagers try to run Carrie over with their car, hello? She's telekinetic! A damn car won't fucking stop her! He could feel soft breaths against his neck. The redhead jumped and turned around to see a cloaked figure standing behind his couch.
"What. The. Hell." Axel just stared and raised an eyebrow at the unknown figure.
"Would that really be your response to seeing the Grim Reaper behind you? Maybe you're too tired to care about death after eleven weeks of senior year."
"Roxas! You little bastard! How'd you get in here?" The redhead was happy, but slightly miffed at the attempted scare. He was also slightly proud for not screaming.
"Your backdoor was open. Not a smart move on Halloween." The blond pulled off his hood while smiling softly. He laid his scythe against the couch arm and sat down next to the cocooned Axel. "Cold?"
"It was colder before. I warmed up so I guess I don't really need it anymore." The older teen unwrapped himself before asking Roxas whether he was cold. The blond refused the offered blanket.
"Aw, I came at the wrong time. It's almost over!" The movie had progressed to the point after Carrie and her mother had died. One of the nicer teenage girls was laying flowers over a grave.
The redhead grabbed at his abandoned popcorn and reassured his friend, "I was going to watch 'Audition' next, don't worry. I've got your horror fix."
"You're chasing a Stephen King classic with a Japanese horror film?"
"Yep."
The boy shrugged and watched the credits of the ending movie. "Okay."
Axel got up and grabbed the next DVD up from the coffee table. Roxas browsed the remaining movies. A bunch of Korean horror films were present along with most of the Stephen King based movies, with a little Japanese horror mixed in. The blond spotted 'Misery' 'Ringu' 'Cello' 'The Red Shoes' 'A Tale of Two Sisters' before the redhead sat down again.
Axel skipped the previews, oh how they bugged the crap out of him, and started the movie.
The beginning was slow building until the scene with a longhaired woman staring at a phone. The room was empty except for her, the phone, and a bag in the corner that- "Whoa! What the hell's in that thing?" Roxas was staring at the moaning bag and smiling woman with wide eyes.
"Human body of course. Too big to be a cat." The redhead was really just waiting for the ending scene. That was where the real horror happened.
The blond smacked him on the arm. "Don't spoil it!"
"You asked!"
"It's a habit of mine. I always ask what's going to happen, but no one ever really tells me."
"Well you can count on me to answer all of your questions whenever you ask them."
Roxas stared at his best friend. 'Friend. I hate that word.' "R-really?"
"Of course!" Axel was still looking to his T.V. screen when the younger teen moved closer to him. Green eyes peered at blue for a moment before the whole head followed. "Need something?" The redhead was eyeing his friend curiously. Roxas was no longer looking up at him.
"Do you like me?" Blue eyes once again looked at him.
Axel's eyebrows were furrowed in confusion, "Of course I d-"
"NO!" The redhead jumped at the volume. "N-no. Not like a friend. Do you like me?"
"Roxas, wha-" The blond groaned in frustration. "Do you like me like this?"
Axel couldn't speak and couldn't breathe. Roxas' lips were on his, gentle, but seriously demanding. The redhead was surprised and forgot to breathe through his nose, because Hello, again! His best friend was kissing him! Really kissing him, as in, he could feel the short blonde's tongue probing his mouth! Axel gasped in some much needed air and Roxas started tonguing him. Tonguing him.
The younger teen pulled away quickly, panting with heavy eyelids. "D-do you like me…like that?"
Green eyes were wide in disbelief. Axel was trying to breathe deeply while his brain caught up with Roxas' actions. 'Holy fu- sh- Cow!'
Apparently it was going to take a while if the older teen felt the need to censor his thoughts.
"I-uh I thought you were- um, well you told me you were asexual!"
"Axel, that was when we first met, before I knew you were gay." Roxas' emotions must've been hidden behind iron bars because the redheaded senior couldn't decipher his blank expression.
"S-so you lied because you didn't know I was gay." The blond looked away and nodded shortly.
"I'm sorry. I've made you uncomfortable and I've probably ruined your night. I'll leave now." Roxas made the motions to get out of Axel's lap 'When did he get there?' until an arm pulled his torso back.
"Shut up for a minute Roxas." The blond bit his tongue. "You like me, yeah?" One nod. "And you have since the day we met?" A second, more hesitant, nod. The redhead blinked for a moment before grabbing the side of Roxas' face and pulling it up for a short, deep, kiss.
"You should've said something sooner," and now red lips were traveling down the blonde junior's neck.
Roxas was taken a little off-guard, "W-wha- why?" Axel stopped long enough to look the younger boy in the eyes. "You really have no idea how hot you are, Roxas." The senior was grinning while sliding his hands up and down his…"best friend's" back. "I must've had a mini crush on you since maybe the second week of your freshman year! Saïx wanted to strangle me after I talked his ear off about how cute you were. Why the hell didn't you say something?" The redhead was feeling a bit miffed at all of the missed make-out opportunities.
"Because you liked Saïx!" Roxas looked pissed off. "I'm not your type!"
Axel was again completely out of the loop. "Wha-"
"Why else would you let him kiss you like he does every time I'm around? Why else would he say that you aren't interested and that I should be lucky that I'm even your friend? That I shouldn't even bother?" The blonde's cheeks were turning pink and he was glaring furiously at his hands while being bombarded with memories.
"He said that? Roxas…we never dated or anything! I just thought he was being creepy when he kissed me on the cheek like he does. I haven't gone out with anyone ever. Definitely not Saïx. He's abusive enough now, he'd suck as a boyfriend." Axel was cursing his Saïx in his head. Always trying to freak the freshman out and then tormenting him until his junior year. No wonder Roxas was so mad. What else has he said to the rest of my friends behind my back? "I'm sorry, I didn't know he said that to you. I didn't even know he knew you had a crush on me!"
The blonde's dark expression lightened slightly and stormy blue eyes cleared. "He…he said it was the way I looked at you sometimes. I guess he could just tell and he tried his best to keep me away from you. I think he kissed you to…make me angry. He was trying to tease me with the person I could never have."
Axel was starting to feel apprehensive about his blue-haired friend. Maybe Demyx was right about him. "Well, I'm sorry I was never there to stop him." The redhead glanced at Roxas apologetically.
The blonde seemed more relaxed after everything was out in the open. "It's okay. I know the truth now."
Axel raised Roxas' face up and kissed him softly. "Yeah. Let's make this official." The senior grinned. "Roxas, will you go out with me?"
The blonde smiled back, "Yes, I will." Just as Roxas was about to go for another kiss with his new boyfriend, the T.V. screen went black.
Axel sighed, "Wanna watch another movie?" The blonde shook his head 'no.' The redhead turned the DVD player off and the screen flickered from blue to a random news show.
'A student was discovered dead outside of his own home. A Caucasian male with…teal hair? was found, strangled with two bloody lines drawn across his face forming an 'X' No suspects or weapons were found. No identifiable fingerprints. The young man went to-'
Roxas had changed the channel.
"H-hey! I was watching that!" The redhead stomped in indignation.
The blonde glanced at him rather coldly before speaking, "It's nothing important."
Axel looked at the junior in shock, "Some guy just died! I think that's important. And he sounded kinda like-" The T.V. flashed once and went dark again. The tiny dots of green and red from the Cable box and DVD player were also out. No other sources of electricity were turned on in the room so it was dark. A few lights from outside shined through the window and partially lit the room in a bluish glow. The crescent moon could be seen.
"Shit." Axel hated when the power went out. He always had to go into the garage and see what was wrong with their electricity box. Their garage was freezing. Before he could start mumbling and complaining about faulty wiring the lights outside started flickering sporadically.
"Axel, is anyone else here at the house?" Roxas' voice sounded small next to him.
"No, mom went out and said she'd be back tomorrow morning…probably late in the morning. Why?" Axel glanced at the seemingly frightened blonde next to him.
Roxas was staring at something intently behind him.
The redhead cocked his head to the side at his friend's expression and turned around. He didn't see anything worthy of looking at other than the flickering light filtering through the window.
That is, until he saw a figure being illuminated during every other flicker.
Axel was getting really tired of people sneaking up on him. "If it's Saïx I swear to God I will kill you for this!" After a single blink the figure was up in his face.
"I am NOT SAÏX!" The figure shrieked in anger.It was a girl, and Axel recognized her voice.
"Xion?" The redhead was paralyzed.
Roxas whispered in confusion, "Who's that?"
"XION! Shy, pathetic, copycat, forgotten, not good enough, NEVER GOOD ENOUGH, XION!" though the girl seemed solid, her voice echoed throughout the house. Her blue eyes were dead, there was a rope mark around her neck, and she was glaring furiously at Axel.
"But you died! You committed suicide with Kairi!" Axel was trying to decide on whether or not he should believe this was real or not. A ghost of a dead girl he knew on Halloween night? Really Universe? Really?
"Like I would ever commit suicide with that BITCH! She's apart of the reason of why I'm dead!" The ghost's eyes were barely opened slits in her face, the blue of them looking venomous.
"What did Kairi ever do to you?" Roxas silently voiced the question Axel was wondering in his own mind.
"EVERYTHING! THEY ALL CAUSED IT! KAIRI, SAÏX AND YOU!"
(\-o-/)
A petite raven-haired girl was slowly picking up her books and putting them into her school bag. Her name was Xion.
One of the more popular girls, Kairi, was giggling with her friends and staring at her. Her younger sister, Naminé, was asking her to hurry up so they could get their lunch. The redhead said she would catch up later and made her way towards Xion, smiling.
"Hey!"
Xion was startled, but slightly overjoyed that one of the popular girls was going to talk to her. It made her feel less invisible, less forgotten about. "H-hi Kairi!"
"You know my name? I've never even met you properly." The redhead had a smug grin attached to her face.
"O-oh, well, everyone knows you." It was true. It was hard not to know about her.
"How sweet." Kairi's smile turned into something harsher. "Stop acting you little snake. I know what you're trying to do. You'll never replace me! No one will ever like you like they love me!"
"Wha-what?" The raven-haired girl was confused at the accusation.
"Don't you act innocent with me! I saw Riku pick up your books after you tripped and dropped them on purpose! I saw you walk up to Axel too! Who are you going to go after next you little slut? Sora?"
"Kairi I'd never do th-"
"Shut the fuck up! Sora is mine and so is Riku. Keep your little slutty hands away from them. No one likes you and no one wants you! Stop trying to copy me to get to them! It won't work! Give it up!" With one last mean glare the redhead stomped away to meet up with her friends.
"Ohmigod! What'd you say to her?" "Yeah, she looks like she's gonna cry!" Kairi just smiled and waved them off while walking towards the cafeteria.
Xion was frozen and forcing back tears from the redhead's harsh words. It only reminded her of how Axel rejected her and how easily people forgot that she existed.
She slowly walked into the hall and bumped into a blue-haired senior. Saïx.
"Watch where you're going!" The tall teenager glared down at the frightened looking girl.
"S-sorry!" Xion looked down and tried to walk away, but an arm stopped her.
"It's you. You tried asking Axel out." Amber eyes followed her and Saïx smirked at her. "He is way out of your league. You are a pathetic and lonely, little doll that no one likes. Stay away from him." The last sentence was said with an angry glare and he shoved her out of his way before walking towards his friend to smack him on the back of the head.
One rejection and two threats found Xion in the decorated gym, sobbing. 'Everything was better when I was invisible. No one knew me and no one hurt me.' Her thoughts started to turn angry. 'Why am I being threatened? What did I do? I only tried to stay out of everyone's way! I DID NOTHING WRONG. Why was I rejected? I'm good enough! I'M GOOD ENOUGH!' She was so upset and she wanted to take it out on someone, but she was weak. She couldn't go up against a senior and Kairi could get her friends to smack her around until she bled. 'No one cares, not even my parents. Always disappointed in my grades, my lack of friends, not good enough, not good enough…what would make them care?' She thought about what made people care about outcasts and the socially invisible. 'If I died. If I died they would start caring. They would be eaten by their guilt because they drove me to it. I can make them all suffer for how they treated me!'
Xion looked up at the scary decorations and saw a fake skeleton hanging by a noose. It was tied to the ceilings beam, but the rope was long enough to be reached if she jumped on one of the decorated tables. She brought the loose rope towards her and shoved the skeleton's skull through the hole. It clattered to the floor. Xion glanced around quickly to see if anyone would come and stop her. No one did, because decorations were finished and no one would come inside until Friday. That was two days from now.
She slowly pulled the rope over her head and looked down. The table was higher than she originally thought. The table wasn't even a table. It was an old armoire. Xion stood up straight carefully, angry thoughts still flying through her mind.
Then.
She.
…Jumped.
(\-o-/)
Axel's eyes widened at the flashback. Saïx was officially a bastard in his eyes now. Only took him three times to finally get it, but third time's the charm.
Roxas was shocked silent. The redhead had one more question.
"Why was Kairi hung with you then? It doesn't make sense."
The ghost's eyes flicked towards him. "How long did it take people to realize I was gone? It took two days for someone to realize. YOU were the only one who noticed my body that day! Everyone else was focused on KAIRI! Kairi this and Kairi this! I was forgotten again!"
"But no one went into the gym before Friday! How could they notice?"
"MY OWN PARENTS DIDN'T NOTICE! THEY ASSUMED THAT I WAS WITH SOMEONE FOR ONCE AND DIDN'T BOTHER TO CALL ME WHEN I DIDN'T COME HOME!"
Roxas added his two cents, "Your parents suck."
"No kidding." Xion was still glaring holes into Axel's forehead before she made a frightening smile. "I possessed Kairi. Naminé was the only one who was worried about her behavior. I made her dye and cut her hair to match mine to see if her claim of me being a copy of her held any truth. Our faces are eerily similar, but I never tried to take her life until Friday. Controlling Kairi was boring, filled with boring chatter from her boring girlfriends. I wanted her to die so I made it seem like a suicide so I wouldn't break...the rules." She flinched at the mention of the rules. Every death needed to seem like an accident or voluntary for humans not to get suspicious. Her eyes bore into Axel's before she whispered, "Saïx is dead too, and now it's your turn."
A second pair of blue eyes widened. "No! What did Axel ever do to warrant his death?"
The ghost finally looked to Roxas. "He rejected me for not being HIS TYPE. He didn't even give me…a chance."
"But, he was your friend…wasn't he?"
"Yes...but" Xion seemed to be losing her anger.
Axel spoke up, "Xion." She looked at him. "I'm gay. I couldn't have feelings for you no matter how hard you tried. Unless you had a sex change, I wouldn't have ever been interested in dating you. I didn't want to lead you on either so I chose the best option. I'm sorry." The redhead looked at her sadly. "And you've always been good enough as my friend. Always."
Xion was stunned. She looked lost in her emotions. 'Always good enough, always good enough.Always good enough for me.' Her head lifted up slowly and there was the brightest smile on her face.
Axel gasped, "Xion!" The ghost was fading away with a happy smile on her face.
"Thank you."
Xion was gone.
(\-o-/)
Axel's mind was still reeling. It was eleven 'o clock on Halloween and he had seen a ghost, been threatened with death, and sent Xion off to the afterlife.
And he thought his Halloween movie night would be boring.
He and Roxas had moved to his bedroom because neither of them felt like watching more horror movies after that.
"I'm glad you helped her find peace." Roxas was sad for Xion's treatment in life.
"We helped her find peace. Thanks for your help Roxas. Not sure if I could've handled that alone." The redhead pulled Roxas in by the stomach and toppled backwards onto the bed. The blonde laughed, "No problem." They both relaxed and were left alone to their thoughts.
Axel exclaimed, "I'm too excited to go to sleep now!" Roxas flipped himself over onto the redhead's chest and initiated a staring contest.
Axel blinked in confusion and the blond surprised him with a "You lose!" The redhead pouted before flipping them both over.
The senior looked down at his 'prey' while Roxas raised an eyebrow at him. His head dipped down slightly and he quickly pecked at the blonde's lips before backing away.
Roxas frowned and lifted his head to reach Axel's lips again. Axel dodged to the right before their lips could meet and dodged again after Roxas' second attempt. The blonde sat up in frustration and lifted his hands to keep the redhead's face still. "Stop being a tease."
Axel grinned, "You know you like it." Roxas silenced him with firm lips and the redhead shifted in his lap.
Their kisses escalated and Roxas looked at Axel with impatient eyes. The blonde had wanted this for so long, wanted to touch Axel, possess him fully. And now that Saïx was out of the way, he could.
The redhead was aware of his impatience and tried to think of where he put his condoms and lube and he couldn't really think right now because Roxas was cupping his erection in one hand and pinching a nipple with the other while his mouth trailed against Axel's neck. "R-roxas we need-!" "No we don't. You're clean right? Don't worry, I don't really care right now."
"But lube!" The blonde groaned in irritation and detached himself from Axel's body. His eyes raked up and down the redhead's exposed body and sent a silent message that said 'hurry.'
Axel dove for his bedside table and opened a small cabinet throwing out various items looking for the bottle he needed. His train of thought was 'I'm going to screw Roxas; I'm going to screw Roxas. I'm going to screw Roxas on Halloween. Holy shit.'
The blond had started stroking his own length in Axel's absence. His arm was blocking his choked moans and he felt like he couldn't hold on.
The redhead was distracted watching Roxas pleasure himself, lube forgotten in his hand.
Roxas peered out of the corner of his eye and stopped stroking before grabbing Axel by the shoulders and flipping him back on the bed. The blonde was panting through parted wet lips. He grabbed the lube and poured some before stroking Axel's length. The redhead arched slightly and groaned at the feeling.
Roxas poured more out and reached behind himself for preparation. After a few moments of whimpering and stretching the blond was ready. They both were.
Roxas lowered himself slowly over Axel with a few gasps escaping him. The blonde settled on the redhead's lap and moved his hands up to fondle Axel's chest.
The redhead was confused because…Roxas didn't wince once. "Hey, are you a virgin?"
The blonde looked up at him and blushed slightly while nodding. Axel had no reason not to believe him because Roxas was definitely as tight as a virgin would be. The redhead cupped the junior's face, "Are you okay?" The blonde shifted around and clenched before answering. "Y-yeah, I'm fine."
The redhead moaned at the tightness around him while his mind was wiped clean of anything but pleasure. Roxas started to move and…
Axel was lost.
(\-o-/)
The blonde slowly stroked his boyfriend's hair smoothing it back from a pale forehead. The clock showed the time '11:58' and light filtered through a small window.
The teen felt a sudden presence and glanced towards Axel's bedroom door. There stood a familiar figure.
Saïx.
His appearance was altered. The scars left on his face had spread wide and healed. His eyes were a menacing and glowing yellow. Enraged.
His voice echoed much like Xion's.
"You killed me," the ghost snarled baring sharp teeth.
Roxas smiled. "What proof do you have? It could've been Xion for all me and Axel know."
"XION COULDN'T GO AFTER ME BECAUSE YOU KILLED ME BEFORE SHE HAD A CHANCE! YOU STRANGLED ME!"
"Shhh, you'll wake him up." The blonde teen had brought a finger to his lips and continued to stroke the face of his unaware boyfriend. "You deserved it. No one can ever keep him away from me again."
The apparition roared in fury and leapt at the bed housing the murderous junior.
Saïx slammed hard into an invisible barrier and he whimpered in confusion. Cold blue eyes flicked up at him cruelly.
Fierce yellow eyes glared at the two behind the barrier. "What are you?"
The blonde only smirked once more before saying, "Wouldn't you like to know?"
The clock struck midnight, ending Halloween's reign over the world. Saïx roared once more before something forced him away from the land of the living. But, right before he left, Roxas laid an innocent kiss on Axel's cheek. The blonde smiled an awful grin at the departing ghost and whispered,
"Mine."
(\-o-/)
End.
(\-o-/)