Hi there! Here's my first story submitted up for Fanfic! I own nothing except for any OCs (and the plot), all other rights go to Square Enix and Disney. Enjoy!

The halls of the Castle That Never Was were desolate and quiet. The eerie silence that hung over the massive structure was almost suppressive and threatened to overwhelm everything else. There wasn't a single living soul to be seen…

Suddenly a scream broke through the oppressive silence. A blood-curdling, gut-wrenching scream that rattled the walls and hallways. It seemed to come from the deepest pits of the castle. More screams followed, each louder than the next until the screamer's voice gave out in one final, dry croak.

"Are you ready to cooperate with us, boy?" A deep, raspy voice spoke out. It came from inside one of the dungeons many cells, meaning the voice's owner was more than likely inflicting the pain on the person within. There was a moan and the sound of someone coughing up something. This just resulted in a sinister chuckling sound. The mysterious person seemed to enjoy his victims pain.

"Well?" He continued. "Are you going to answer or do we need to continue?"

Another voice spoke up, a young man's. Even though the voice was filled with pain, there was still a cocky edge to it.

"Like… I said old man…My answer is still the same…Hell…No!"

Inside the cell, a young man lay bloody and beaten on the ground. Blood poured from multiple wounds and his skin was horribly bruised. As he tried to get up, a swift kick to the ribs sends the poor soul sprawling on the cold floor in a fit of coughing as he spat up blood. Above him, his assailant smiled sadistically down on him.

"I am sorry to say, that I simply cannot take that as an answer. It pains me to the core of my heart that after all I have done for you; this is the thanks I get. For shame…"

The young man choked as he tried to clear his airway, gulping in breath. He struggled to bite back what he had to say about the old man's heart, but it wasn't easy. As much as he would love to give him a piece of his mind, that would be way too stupid.

"Well if you will not cooperate with us, we have no further use for you" the old man continued. "But first, you have something I want…Now I think I will take it…" He slowly stalked his way towards his helpless victim. Despite the fear building up inside, he had to stay as strong as possible. Showing weakness would just be letting the old man win.

The dungeons were quiet for a few minutes. Then a horrid scream let loose, much worse then all the others combined.

…

"AHHHHHHHH!"

Tegan woke up with a jolt. She couldn't control herself for a few minutes, so she just kept screaming, even when her throat began to hurt. When she finally calmed down, she held herself and tried to stop her shaking. Dawn broke and the first light of morning shone through the blinds of her bedroom window. With shaky footsteps, she made her way to it and threw open the shutters. A gush of cold air blew in her face and stopped her shaking for good. Taking a deep breath of the cool morning air, she thought to herself.

My god, what a nightmare. It seemed so real too…That's it. No more playing videogames and watching horror movies til midnight, Tegan…

Moving away from the window, she turned on the lamp by her bed, illuminating the green walls of her bedroom. Lying around on the floor were cases for games, movies, anime, and CDs. Posters of rock bands and pictures were plastered on the walls and random stuffed animals were flung all over the place. A red guitar was leaning on its rack against the wall next to an easel. A wooden shelf held a picture, a Heartless plush, and a metal chain with a funny looking locket on it. So it was kind of your typical 16 year-olds room.

"Okay," Tegan sleepily muttered. "First things, first; breakfast. I'm useless without my morning shot of caffeine. Today's the day I start painting out in the woods, isn't it?"

Tegan lived by herself in an old, two-story house in one of Maine's many forests. She lived just outside a small town called New Haven, but she didn't deal with people much. This was fine with her. She wasn't exactly the closest with people in town and she only came in when she needed to run errands. Sure, there were a handful of people who actually talked to her, but for the most part people gave her wide berth whenever Tegan reared her redhead.

Making her way downstairs to the kitchen, she mentally made a list one what she needed to bring with her. Easel, paints, brushes, rags, pencils…Fishing net, bear trap, sweat socks…? No those last weren't right.

God, where's that coffee…?

It wasn't til her cup of coffee did her brain start to function properly. So she wolfed down some cereal and went to work getting ready. Making quick work of her supplies packing, she took her time getting dressed in her clothes.

A dark green T-shirt with the words "Art" and "Soul" printed graffiti style on it was underneath a zip up dark gray wool hoodie (the sleeves were hacked off). After shrugging on her favorite brown shorts, fishnet leggings, and combat boots, Tegan slipped on a pair of red and white stripped fingerless gloves that went up to her elbows. Next were a blue wrist warmer and her leather choker with a big metal "X" on it and her locket. After running a brush through her curly, red hair she was all set.

"Okay, off I go."

She made her way out the door, lugging a wagon holding her painting stuff and stuffing her trusty survival knife in her boot (one could never be too careful). She sang softly while walking through the trees, looking for a choice spot to set up shop. Her mind turned to the weird nightmare she had earlier. Not for a long time did she dream something that truly scared her, but that one really rattled her bones.

What could that have meant? Usually if I have dreams like that, something bad is right around the corner…

A strange noise suddenly stopped her dead in her tracks. Tegan couldn't be sure, but she could have sworn she just heard something moan. How was that possible? No one ever came out to her woods. Ever.

The noise came again. Whipping her head around, Tegan tried to find where it was coming from.

"Hello? Is someone out there?" she called out. She heard more moans from her right. Dropping the handle of the wagon and whipping out her knife, she crept over and looked behind some trees. What she saw made her blood run cold.

Propped up against a fallen tree was a boy her age. His spiky black hair had bits of leaves and sticks stuck in it and a cut on his forehead was trickling blood over his eyes. He wore a really weird, black and red bodysuit with matching boots and a half-skirt. The clothes had been torn in many places, revealing cuts and bruises. His golden eyes were unfocused as he struggled to stay conscious. He tried to stand up using a very strange weapon to support himself, too. It looked like a cross between a sword and a key, but was very sinister looking and was covered in gears and chains. Tegan's eyes widened.

"A Keyblade…" she breathed. When the weapon disappeared from his hands, he jaw dropped. It was a Keyblade, Void Gear. One that belonged to only one person. Vanitas. A villain from the Kingdom Hearts series, for crying out loud!

Vanitas looked over in her direction at the sound of her voice. His eyes focused ever so slightly before he passed out. As quickly as she could, Tegan ran up and caught him before he got himself hurt even more. She leaned him back against the tree while her mind reeled. This wasn't happening…It couldn't be happening…

He shouldn't even be here. Let alone exist. What's going on!

"Hey, hold on." She said. "I'll fix you up; just don't die on me yet, man... Oh geez, what am I getting myself into?"

Tegan: what HAVE i gotten myself into?

L&DH: oh, you'll see~

Tegan: i hate your cryptic stuff...

L&DH: well, that's all for now. Read and review please!

both: BYE!