One, two three…

dammit, he was off now...

wait, wait, here it comes...

One, two three…!

Sora sighed as the screams and gasps from the theatre's audience echoed down to his position at the ticket counter.

Yup, Sora Hashiba worked at a movie theatre.

And he got the whole nine yards- screaming kids, thugs, flirty girls (and the occasional boy), and cheap parents who insisted that their child was young enough to get in free.

There was a new rated R movie showing- The Ticking Watch, or something like that.

But Sora didn't care.

He just wanted to do his job, talk with Hayner who worked concessions, and then get paid.

And maybe abscond a few gummie bears and free movie tickets.

As Sora finished helping the last customer of the Saturday night rush, he couldn't help but snicker a little bit.

The only tickets that sold were for The Ticking Watch.

He had never seen the previews, never felt the urge to.

Quite frankly, when given the choice between scary macho movies packed with violence and ghosts and creepy inanimate objects (The Ticking Watch, for examply) and normal, sappy, cheery date movies (like the other one that just came out called Freshman Date)...

Another wave of terrified screams reached his ears.

Sora shuddered.

Well, lets just say he'd rather be stuck with a hoard of girls in the re-release of Titanic.

The empty ticket box was quite, when suddenly…

"Alex, I'd like to buy a vowel…Alex, I'd like to-"

Sora flipped open his phone, not recognizing the number.

"…Hello?"

"Sora!" …Kairi?

"Kairi, what's wrong?"

Silence.

"Kairi? Sweetie, what's wrong? Are you okay? Did you get in another fight with Namine?"

"No..I…I just got home from…and…"

Kairi Wataya was silent for a long while, and Sora heard muffled, broken sobs on the other end.

"..Kairi, tell me what happened. Did someone follow you? Did they touch you?"

Sora was gripping the phone harshly, his knuckled turning white.

"Kairi…?"

The line was dead.

Sora acted swiftly, leaping out of his chair and shouting to Hayner that Kairi was in trouble and that he should call Namine to make sure she was alright. Bounding down the stairs and flinging the theatre doors open, he let out a cry as he tripped over his own two feet and crashed onto the pavement, scraping his knees into a bloody mess.

His heart was pounding.

Kairi..

He flew around the corner.

Kairi…

Again around a corner, this time leading him to the right.

Kairi…!

Dashing down a precariously named street.

Oh God, please let her be okay!

He stopped in front of a little two story house with blue and sickly yellow trim.

It was quiet.

Too quiet.

Wincing as the old steps creaked under his weight, he pushed the screen door open, then the lock door…

The lights were off, with the exception of a small night light near the base of the stairs.

Kairi, please, be okay…please…please…

Sora continued his silent mantra as he ambled through the house, carefully grabbing a small kitchen knife in the process.

Finally, after making sure no one was on the first floor, he crept silently to the stairs.

"Kairi..?" he called softly

The first step was conquered.

The second.

Third.

Fourth.

Fifth…

He reached the top.

There was only four rooms, a bathroom and three bedrooms that were all used for storage- except for Kairi's.

He'd been here enough times to know which was hers. He gripped the door knob tightly, and raised the knife in case whoever it was that hurt Kairi was in there.

One…two..three!

He flung the door open.

No intruder.

Just Kairi, sitting on the edge of her bed, shoulders rocking slightly with each sob, still gripping a cell phone tightly. He dropped the knife in relief, his worry swirling down the drain.

"Kairi, its okay..im here now." His relief bled through his words.

Kairi was unresponsive.

"Kairi? Its me, Sora."

At last, Kairi looked up. "Sora..? Sora!" swiftly, she flung herself into his arms, and sobbed hysterically.

"Sora..I was so scared…so scared..." she kept repeating, over and over until her voice was so broken with tears that she no longer made any noise. Sora was just about as distraught as she was. When Kairi's grip finally laxed on his shoulders, he pulled her just gently enough to look her in the eyes.

"Kairi, what happened? You can tell me. I'm your best friend."

"Sora..I..I saw…" the terror was constriicting her throat like a snake.

Sora rubbed her back for encouragement. "What did you see, Kairi?"

"I..I saw..." Another broken sob escaped her lips. "It was horrible..I thought I was going to die…he was going to kill me! He killed everyone else, everyone!"

Sora stopped breathing.

"Wh..what did you see, Kairi?" his voice was barely above a whisper.

The red head in his arms sniffled.

"The Ticking Watch!"

Time stopped.

Kairi looked at Sora with one side of her mouth turned up in a sheepish smile.

"I know I'm not supposed to see scary movies Sora, but..Hayner made it sound so good…and the bad guy's twin was pretty hot…" She giggled a Kairi giggle, and drew her arms back around her thin frame.

At the word 'movies', Sora snapped back into reality.

Hayner was going to die.

The last time Kairi had seen a scary movie, she had barricaded herself in Namine's room for a week.

Hayner was dead fucking meat. Minced, run over, rotting meat.

TickTockTickTockTickTockTickTockTickTockTickTockTickTockTickTock

Hehe, well, there ya go. First chapter of The Ticking Heart.

Good, bad, keep it, lose it?

Wow, now that I actually have my own computer, I'll update all my stories soon.

Yep, even god awful Trip to Town.

Anyways, inspiration for this came from my favorite manga- Chrno Crusade, Gir from Invader Zim (mooooviiieees!! Everybody likes moooooovviiies!!) a flier for freshman camp, and my drawings of Sora that my mom insisted we put up in my room.

Please review!! They keep me going, and I normally don't get a lot…

Donate a heart- er, review- for a starving artist!

:3

Disclaimer: not mine!