Broken Memories

It was normal for the guys to hang out at night. They would always walk home as a group. Riku usually had his arm around Sora, holding him close so everyone knew he belonged to him. The little brunette liked the attention and didn't mind his moments of jealousy. Axel was the same; he would pull Roxas by the hand with a painfully determined grip without letting him go. The four would laugh together not caring that everyone could be sleeping around them.

When they spend every day like that, walking together, it was easy to forget… maybe it was not safe to be alone. Riku would always walk Sora home and then head home alone. He wanted him to be safe but he didn't care about his own safety. People are always like that, aren't they?

Their kiss goodnight was always desperately long since they knew no one was watching. In the darkness no one should be watching… so hands would wander. Riku always liked kissing him until he was breathless. He always enjoyed holding him in his arms until Sora's knees buckled because he loved being kissed. He could never get enough but the taller boy always let go, knowing he had to go inside.

And then… he walked home alone. When it was the same every night and nothing ever happened, it was natural to feel comfortable alone. He never thought it would happen. Not to him. He wasn't a small guy…he isn't easy to sneak up on. He was cautious and strong; he could fight if he had to… so he never thought he'd get attacked…

It was so fast… he didn't even hear the footsteps when they came up behind him until there was a pain in his head so intense he was knocked out.

Riku opened his eyes with a groan. All he could think was his head was pounding like he had never felt in his life. Someone was talking to him, the sound so muffled it was hard to comprehend. He was laying flat on his stomach as he tried to understand his surroundings. There were hands on his back, clutching at his shirt, shaking him as hard as they could. It was kind of painful and he tried to sit up, registering the sobbing in the voice that was still talking at him. The shaking stopped when he sat up. His head pounded over and over and he brought a hand to touch his skull, his fingers bringing instant pain as he squeezed his eyes shut. The back of his head felt like it had been torn open. When he could open his eyes again he looked at the blood on his hands. He was bleeding… but he couldn't remember what happened.

"Oh god, I'm so glad you're alive." He looked at the boy sitting beside me. His face was red from crying, tears still stinging his eyes. He looked dirty, like he had been dragged through the dirt. He had brown hair and deep blue eyes that seemed familiar. They gave Riku feelings he didn't really understand… but he wasn't sure why. "I thought I was all alone." He sobbed again. He was the one shaking him. No wonder he sounded so desperate.

At least he didn't hurt anywhere else. Riku looked around and had no idea where he was. He clutched the back of his head again as it throbbed. He didn't think it was bleeding anymore… he looked at this other stranger in confusion. "Who are you?"

The boy looked like he might cry some more but he stopped, though his breathing was erratic and his teeth were chattering. "I... I don't know… I can't remember." Worst of all, they had just been together a few hours ago and Sora didn't even recognize Riku's face. Looking at him gave him feelings of familiarity, but nothing more. The silver hair and the bright green eyes, he had seen them before. The more he thought about it the more his head hurt and he shook the thoughts away. "What's your name?"

The older boy swallowed the knot in his throat, feeling nervous. "I can't remember either."

The brunette nodded, holding in his tears. His face hurt from crying. He'd been stumbling around in the dark for a few minutes before he saw Riku on the floor. At first it had scared the life out of him thinking it was a dead body. It took him forever to gather the strength to touch him and see if he still had a heartbeat. His mind had been playing tricks on him. He was hearing things in the darkness. Silent things sneaking around. Creaking boards. Breathing… he didn't know if it was him or someone else… and that scared him to death. When he found Riku alive it had saved his sanity… just a little. "At least you're awake."

Riku hadn't quite come to understand the situation. "Where are we? What happened?"

Sora shook his head. "I don't know. I just woke up here. I was alone and trying to find a way out. That's when I found you." He noticed how Riku continued to touch the back of his head and saw the blood. "Are you okay?"

"My head is killing me." He admitted.

There was a groan in the distance, like the house was settling loudly. It started both into silence.

Sora stumbled to his feet. "What was that?" He whispered so quietly the sound hardly escaped his lips. It was so hard to get a hold of himself. He was the worst in situations like this. His mind jumped to ridiculous conclusions, thinking something… or maybe someone was there, even though he was alone. He struggled to control his breathing so he wouldn't hyperventilate.

"Give me a hand." Riku waved a hand and Sora grabbed it, pulling him to his feet. He looked around but there was nothing there. The house groaned again sounding more like an animal than architecture and the boy clutched at his back. They both knew the only thing to do was find a way out. They were in a long hallway but it was too dark to see into the distance. The silence made it seem like their breathing was echoing loudly through the halls.

Sora whined. "I hate to tell you this… but I'm so fucking scared right now."

Riku tried to hide his own shaking. He could feel the boy's body quaking behind him, dwarfing his own fear. The mystery was the thing that scared him. Someone had knocked him out. They had gone as far as kidnapping them. Who knew how far they would go. Their best bet was to escape without running into whoever did this. "Let's just… find a way out."

They started down the hall. It was difficult to see in the darkness but Riku was determined to move forward, whichever way that might be. If only they had a flashlight… a lantern… even a damn lighter would help. Their pace was slow as Riku tried to see in the darkness, moving forward blindly and Sora struggled to hear anything nearby. The slightest noise set him off and made him jump, startling Riku because he was always close enough to touch him. He couldn't decide if he knew the kid. They were strangers, at least that's what he thought, but they stuck together like it was normal. It must have been the fear of being alone that made it so easy to work as a team.

A minute later Riku noticed a door and grabbed for the handle, turning it. He turned it again but nothing happened. "Damn, it's locked."

"Let's just keep going." Sora choked. They stumbled a little farther and found another door. This time the door was open and Riku stepped inside first. He pulled out of Sora's grasp and it took the brunette all of two seconds to hurry after him.

The lights flicked on and they looked around. It was a small room. There was a desk and a bookcase but not much else. Sora breathed a sigh of relief to be out of the darkness. "Maybe there's something that will tell us where we are."

Riku nodded in agreement and started searching the desk while Sora pilfered the bookshelf. Opening a drawer the silver haired boy found a flashlight. Convenient. "Cool, we have a light." He checked for batteries as Sora walked over to the desk. There were papers on top and in the drawers, books, documents, but nothing that would tell them anything useful.

The lights flickered until they went out and darkness overtook the room. Sora gasped in surprise but Riku was prepared and turned on the flashlight. Thankfully it worked. He shined the light on Sora, "Are you alright?"

"Yea. It just startled me." He placed a hand on his heart. Sooner or later he was going to have a heart attack if weird things continued to happen. They used the light to look over a few more documents but gave up. "Let's get out of here."

"Alright." Walking around the desk he pointed the light at the door as they headed out.

A dark figure flew past the doorway and Riku dropped the flashlight. A stifled cry came out of Sora as he stumbled back into the desk, knocking things over. "What was that!?"

Frozen in shock, Riku gained control of his body. It looked like a shadow… or something… but it was so fast. Maybe they were seeing things. The light had rolled to the corner of the room and he bent down to pick it up. His hand was shaking badly but he didn't want to scare Sora so he tried to calm down. Pointing it towards the door, the brunette peeped quietly, but there was nothing there. Unable to say anything Riku moved towards the door. There was only one way to go… and that was out… he had to check if something was there. Moving towards the threshold he shined the light in both directions as fast as he could.

Nothing.

He sighed loudly. "We must have been seeing things…" He hoped. "There has to be a way out somewhere. Let's hurry."

"Okay…" Sora didn't look convinced, but he followed close behind as they moved back into the hall. They navigated the labyrinth of a hallways wondering where the hell they were. What kind of place had endless halls and so many locked doors? Every once in a while a door would be open but there was never anything useful inside. The lights still weren't working.

Time was difficult to comprehend but Riku could guess they'd been wandering around for at least an hour. The fear lessened when nothing strange happened since the first room. It was like searching a haunted house or something.

Then they came to a path that split three ways. Riku moved the light down each path but there was no way to tell which would be an exit. "Which way should we go?"

"Left?" Sora started walking down the path to the right, forgetting his directions.

"You mean right?" Riku just followed.

"Yea, whatever." A few steps down the hall and there was a quacking, like the earth moved beneath Sora's feet. The walls moved around him before he realized he was falling.

Dropping the flashlight Riku reached for Sora just in time, grabbing him by the wrist. His body hit the floor holding all of Sora's weight in one hand. The floor had given out when the brunette walked over it. He'd reacted in time to grab him, but in the hurry he dropped the flashlight and it rolled over the edge. Their only source of light disappeared into the endless darkness below.

Sora realized what happened and groaned at the pain in his shoulder. His heart jumped at the thought of falling into the darkness. He tried to turn around, thankful Riku had a hold of him. He looked up at the silver haired man above him, struggling to see. "Don't let go."

Riku tried to pull him up, but his grip wasn't that strong and he was afraid of dropping him. "Try to climb up. Hurry."

The younger boy could tell he was struggling and reached for the floor above. His fingers just made it and he tried pulling up. With only his fingertips clutching at the edge of the floor he slipped and a scream jumped from his throat. His body jerked to a stop as Riku struggled to hold him. The older boy's grip was painful, but it was the only thing keeping him from falling. The slip up jolted his heart again and he grabbed at Riku's hand with his free hand. "Please, don't let me go." He didn't know how far he would fall… but he was scared to know what would happen if he fell. He could die...

The lights flickered back on and they could finally see. Riku was looking down at him, smiling. "I'll never let you go."

For a moment, Sora smiled. Then his eyes widened at the sight of a man above Riku. There was no time to think as the stranger stabbed him and Riku groaned in pain. He didn't even know what happened but he coughed up blood and his grip gave out. Sora gasped as he fell into the darkness… alone… the last thing he saw was Riku unconscious on the floor before everything turned black.

With a painful groan Sora opened his eyes. "What happened..?" His head was spinning but the memory of falling flashed through his mind and he was awake. Something soft had broken his fall and he looked down at a body, screaming in terror before climbing off of it. His heart hammering, he didn't recognize the bloody mess but that didn't make it any easier to see. His stomach churned and he resisted throwing up the contents.

Turning away he struggled to his feet and his ankle sent a sharp pain up to his brain. Stumbling, Sora grabbed at the wall to keep his balance as he touched his right ankle thinking he must have sprained it from the fall. …the fall… He tried not to panic remember his friend getting stabbed. Was he dead? For some reason his heart hurt just thinking about it. The look on his face, the man standing over him, he wanted to scream just thinking about it.

He had to get out of here.

Worse… when he looked around he realized he was in a room that looked like a dungeon. There were barred cells holding bodies he assumed were dead. He stifled another yell, clasping a hand over his mouth that sent his whole body into a fit of shaking.

"Help me." A croaking voice made Sora jump. Inside of one of the cells a body moved. It was a man with bright red hair. When he realized Sora was alive and free, probably not about to kill him, he decided to speak. "Please, help me get out of here."

Sora approached the cell and examined the stranger. It was Axel, the smiling redhead always making jokes and laughing. Not that he could remember. He looked bad. He was clutching his left arm; it looked broken. Worse was the blood on his face. There was a wound above his eye that bled badly, head wounds always did, but it blooded his vision and he pinched his right eye closed. He had been alone in the cell for hours with nothing but the dead to accompany him. Sora was the first living person he'd seen…

The brunette examined the cage feeling the need to help him. He shook the door but it didn't budge. "It's locked."

The sound of a door slamming echoed into the room. Sora looked at Axel with fear in his eyes. Axel shook his head, "He's coming. You have to hide."

He? Who's coming! Sora didn't have time to think as he looked around. There was nowhere to hide. If he didn't do something he would get caught. But what could he do!? There was only one door and nothing to hide behind. He couldn't pretend to be dead… The sound of a key in the door caught his attention and he had no time left. He rushed to the door and stood behind it. It blocked him from sight as it opened and a man walked in. His heart hammered as he waited for the man to move past the doorframe, hoping he wouldn't turn around. He held his breath, desperate for quiet and the man moved away, walking towards the cell.

The stranger's attention was fully on Axel when he noticed the redhead was awake.

Shaking violently Sora stepped out from behind the door and tried to escape. He took a step through the door and hesitated. Should he run? Or should he help the poor guy in the cage? What if he was caught and killed trying to help that guy?

He couldn't live with himself knowing he abandoned someone and swallowed the knot in his throat, peeking into the room again. The man was talking at Axel but Sora was too focused on his own actions to listen. There was debris on the ground and he tried to silently grab something heavy as he approached the man from behind.

Within a few feet Axel struggled to look away as the man turned around and spotted Sora as he swung a huge chunk of wood. It hit him in the head and the man crumbled to the ground, unconscious. It made a disturbing sound as it made contact and sent a painful vibration through Sora before he dropped the weapon. "Oh my god, what did I just do…?" He whimpered, his hands shaking uncontrollably as he tried to search the guy for keys.

Axel crawled towards the door as he watched Sora until he found the keys in his pocket and jerked them free of the fabric.

There were several keys and they all looked the same to him. "Which one is it?" He raised them to show Axel.

The redhead shook his head. "I don't know. Just hurry! Try them all."

He stood at the door while Sora shoved each key into the lock, trying to turn them one after another. After the third failure the man on the floor groaned. Sora dropped the keys in shock as Axel cried for him to hurry up. "I'm trying!" He shoved another key in but no luck. The groaning was getting louder and the man was moving. He felt like he was going crazy in the rush. He wanted to cry. He wanted to give up. Or scream. Or run. With each key he knew he was closer to failing. He needed more time but he just kept trying, hoping the next would be the one. More than half way through the key ring he finally shoved one in and it turned, a loud click echoing. "I got it!"

Hands strangled his throat from behind, pulling him away from the door before he could open it. They cut off his air and lifted him off of the ground with monstrous strength. Desperate to breathe Sora kicked his legs trying to escape, to hit his attacker, to do anything so he could just breathe again. His vision was getting dark.

Just before he passed out his knees hit the ground and he coughed as he tried to suck in air. On his hands and knees he recuperated before he looked up. Behind him Riku stood over the man's body. If he was dead, he didn't care anymore. He was on his feet hugging Riku for saving his life. "You're alive!"

Riku breathed a sigh of relief as well. "I'm glad I made it in time. Are you okay?" When he was stabbed thankfully it wasn't in a vital spot and he was able to move around easily, though his strength in his left arm was less than usual.

Axel managed to open his cell as Riku came into the room, thankful the other boy had been prepared. With his broken arm he would have struggled to help Sora in time.

Riku looked at the redhead and recognized him… but he couldn't think of his name. "Did you get captured too?"

"I guess."

Sora was the first to move towards the door, just in case that guy was still alive. "I'm ready to get the hell out of here." His leg was killing him and his throat was sore, but at least he was alive. The three left the room together, taking the keys and locking the door just in case.

A few floors above Roxas woke up alone in the darkness, just like everyone else. He coughed as he sat up, a nasty taste in his mouth gagging him. The smell of chemicals lingered in his nose. It was pitch black and he couldn't see anything as he turned his head this way and that way, hoping to understand the situation. What had happened? "Hello?" He called, not sure if he wanted someone to answer or not. "Is anyone there?"

On his hands and knees he touched the floor, searching and moving, hoping to run into something. All he found was the wall.

What had he been doing before..? For some reason his memory was blurry. He remembered walking… walking home maybe? And someone else was with him. He struggled to remember who but the image in his mind was distorted. Some nameless faceless person laughed but he couldn't see who.

His hand touched something hard and he rubbed his palm against it. It felt like the wall… he followed the surface until he touched something else. A doorframe maybe? It was so hard to tell what anything was in the dark.

On his feet he searched the frame for a doorknob wondering why it was so difficult to find anything. Finally he found it and turned the handle. It resisted.

Suddenly the lights flickered on and he gasped, looking around. He was alone in an empty room. There was writing all over the walls like it had been scratched in over and over again. Horrible things were written. Terrifying things that made him wish he was hallucinating. Words that made him think he was having a nightmare. He grabbed the door handle and jerked it open, the lock finally giving way.

He couldn't decide if he should run or be cautious. He could choose only two directions, left or right. The hall looked the same down either path. The lights flickered and he chose left without hesitation, stalking quietly through the darkness. It seemed safe enough so he called for help again. "Hello? Is anywhere in here! Can anyone hear me!?"

Something warm was on his neck and he jumped, turning around, but nothing was behind him. He was alone even as if voice echoed down the hallway. He whimpered a little but tried not to lose his mind. He couldn't give up hope. Turning around to continue down the hall the floor suddenly gave way.

Just like Sora he began to fall, but his reflexes were fast and he landed on the edge on the floor with a sturdy grip. He struggled to pull himself up. "What the hell is this place…?" When he was up on his feet he looked down into the pit below. Nothing but darkness. His brain was still trying to wrap itself around the floor opening up like a trap door.

Examining the gap he took a step back. "Looks small enough." Nodding to raise his morale he took a deep breath and ran, jumping across the gap and landing safely on the other side. He laughed at his accomplishment. "That wasn't so bad." Honestly he was relieved. Turning back to the path he'd just left his heart skipped a beat. He blinked a few times. It looked like there was someone there… in the distance… but he must be seeing things. Probably just his imagination playing tricks on him.

The lights flickered off. "Aw, damn, not now. Come on." They flickered on and off and he looked around hoping they would come back on and not abandon him. He gasped at the sight of a man across the gap staring at him. He wasn't seeing things… The man took a step back like he might jump and the lights turned off again.

A terrifying chill ran down his spine. Roxas chose to flee instead of take his chances with this freak stranger obviously chasing him. As he ran desperately trying to find his way, he could hear the footsteps chasing after him.

The sound was overpowering, taking over his mind. All he could image was this man closing in, grabbing him or worse. He ran until his legs hurt, his breathing was ragged and his mouth was dry. He nearly ran into a railing when he came upon a large open room. Stairs led down a level and down there it looked like… a door? No way. The footsteps were still coming though. He ran down the stairs, skipping two at a time, until he slammed into the door. It could be the only way out. Of course the door was locked and he jerked on it several times, violently trying to pull it open.

"Come on! Come on! Open!" He searched for a lock but there weren't any. He couldn't get out. He had to hide. There was nowhere good to hide and not enough time to think. It kind of looked like a living room. He crawled under a low table between a few neatly placed couches. It was dark… he could only hope the lights didn't come back on now.

His eyes strained to see. He could hear the footsteps coming down the stairs. They were slow now. It was so quiet and his breathing was shaking so badly he covered his mouth with one hand. The footsteps were quieter… until they were right in front of the table Roxas hid beneath. He jumped but held in the noise trying to escape. The voice scared him even more. "Here kitty, kitty, kitty. Where aaare youuuu?" The boots were so close he could touch them. He held his breathe thinking even his breathing was too loud. Tears threatened the corners or his eyes and he was so focused on being still he thought he'd lose his mind.

After a desperately long moment the boots moved away and he almost sighed in relief. Then there were more footsteps. A lot of footsteps. The man moved towards to noise but Roxas couldn't see anything in the dark.

At the worst possible moment the lights came back on. Roxas cursed internally repeating 'please don't find me' over and over in his head. Everything would work out if the man had given up. It was quiet for an awfully long time. For a moment he even thought about crawling out from under the table.

…until suddenly someone stepped in front of it again. They got down on their knees and leaned down to see under the table. Roxas pinched his eyes shut for a nanosecond and tears squeezed out of the corners. He thought he'd escaped. It should have been long enough! Why did he have to come back!?

"Hey, are you okay?" Axel peeked under the table and spotted the little blonde.

Roxas nearly melted into the floor, his breathing calming down. He could almost recognize that face. It was someone he knew. Someone safe. "I thought it was him… you scared me." He crawled out from under the table and hugged the man. It seemed like an appropriate reaction.

The redhead didn't seem to mind, though he didn't know why. "We knocked him out cold. Don't worry."

Sora and Riku were next to them and when Roxas managed to stand up they moved towards the door. While Axel and Riku searched for a way to open it, quickly moving on the breaking it down with a bit of teamwork, Sora examined Roxas.

"How did you get in here?" The brunette asked.

Roxas shook his head, wishing it was over already. "I don't know. I woke up in a pitch black room and then that man was chasing me. I just happened to run this way." It made him uneasy still being in the room, but there was nowhere else to go but back into danger.

Sora understood. "We all woke up alone. Do you remember anything? I mean, from before?"

So he didn't have any memory of this place either. "I don't…"

They both sighed. "Let's help with the door." Roxas agreed and within minutes it was open through brute force.

Outside was nothing but wilderness as far as the eye could see. They ran without thinking as far as they could for as long as they could. Seconds, minutes, maybe hours later, they stopped. They're adrenaline had worn out and they were tired.

They were all scared but they couldn't move any longer. "Let's rest. Surely we're far enough that we could rest for a few minutes." Everyone agreed, partially because no one could run any longer. They sat down to rest but one after the other they fell asleep from exhaustion.

Sora opened his eyes to darkness. He panicked when he didn't recognize his surroundings. His heart was beating to fast he thought it might explode out of his chest. Struggling to his feet he ran for his life until he stumbled upon a body.

Little did they realize… they never made it out of the house. Weeks later the house was found by the police. They found several missing persons inside. This included a blonde boy close to the front door. His body was beneath a table apparently stabbed to death. Another body was found in a hallway near an opening in the floor, a sever stab wound in his abdomen that probably caused him to bleed to death. Down in the basement they found two others. One body was inside a cell that apparently died of starvation. And another boy near the cell with a broken leg. It was impossible to say if the infected wound killed him or if he'd been strangled first.

The house had been abandoned for hundreds of years and yet there were many fresh bodies. It quickly became known for being haunted. They say the victims still lingered in the hallways and relive their deaths over and over without even knowing it. They can't even tear down the building because of freak accidents that constantly happen.

They never found the killer…

Notes from Shadows

How was it? I never write horror but why not try?

What is the absolute scariest thing that could happen to you if you were lost in a house like this? I'd love to hear! Mine would be the dark figure in the darkness that suddenly moves. That would scare me to death. What about everyone else? X3