It Began One Night
By Ricco Ragazza
Disclaimer:
I wrote this. It belongs to me. Hehe Well, the final
fantasy VIII characters don't belong to me, but everything else does!
AN~ Uh, I needed an ego boost, so I made this story so it
would look nice on my stats… j/k! ^_^
~*~
It Began One Night
~*~
~By Ricco Ragazza~
~*~
Horror; it sounds like a simple
enough word, right? It isn't like you don't hear it all the time; a fairly
common word. So, in addition we cross it off the list of words to find the real
meanings of; I know I certainly did. One night I began to understand the
meaning in all of it's entirety. I didn't go searching
for the meaning; it came in search of me.
I led a
normal enough life I think I can say. What do most normal seventeen year-old
girls do? I'll leave you to figure that out.
So, maybe by now your wondering: How did I learn the true meaning of
horror? Read on, here's my story…
*****
"Quisty! Where are you goooing!" Selphie Tilmitt's high-pitched
voice echoed off dark, hollow cavern walls as she took a few cautious steps
forward. She had never liked being in the Fire Cavern before, and this time was
no exception. The sinister shadows cast on the smooth dirt floor were not in
the least confronting; nor were the whispers and snarls that would reach her
ears and send cold shivers down her spine.
There
was no answer, only silence, deafening silence. Silence that bit into the deep
corners of Selphie's mind, eating away at the last
strings of composer she had managed to seal away from the demons. Evil shadows
danced playfully on the path in front of her as she stared ahead blankly. A
chill wind blew, and as it passed her by, it blew away every sense of false
security she had had left.
"QUISTY!
QUISTY!" Selphie's voice
screamed into the abyss that was lying in front of her menacingly. Where could Quistis be? She had run off into the unknown only a few
moments ago; why wasn't she replying? Suddenly, Selphie
felt naked and helpless. The silence was maddening; a brooding silence.
Something was going to jump out at her any moment…she could feel it…
Selphie frowned and bit into her bottom lip until a small trail
of blood ran down her chin. She was shaking, and her mind was quaking under the
invisible menace that was hiding somewhere in the shadows around her. Her mind
was alert, too alert. Every sound was magnified a million times over, echoing
in every deep part of her mind.
*****
Fear; I
always had liked to think of it as an over-rated word. Even through the ordeal
with Ultimecia I had kept my cool, and after that I
had thought of myself of more of an ice-woman. One night I was proved wrong; I
finally understood that we are all vulnerable to fear.
It chews
away at the bones in your legs, thus making you sway for something to get of
hold of. Then, it invades the deepest most sacred places in your mind, ripping
away at all of your secrets. Fear knows everything you know; plus everything it
knows. This was one of the only enemies I had ever been outmatched against.
After fear
knows your secrets, so it plays with your emotions. Say, you had a bad
experience that you had hidden in the deepest nook of your mind. Fear would
distort the memory until you thought it much worse than it had been, and then
it would make you feel as though it were close to happening again. How does one
deal with the images fear stores in your mind? Only the strongest of people can
slay the Demon Fear that the Devil sent to earth to raise havoc and stir doubt
in the quaking mind.
If only I knew how to slay
the fear that haunts your mind, body, and soul! If only…
*****
When Selphie's screams and pleas for Quistis
to come back out of the unknown abyss had finally came to a jarring stop all of
the sudden Quistis felt it. She felt it crawl up her
legs leaving her knees weak and trembling. It then made its way to that deep
pit in her stomach and raise havoc inside. She tried to calm herself; she tried
to let go of the fear she was feeling. It was to no avail.
Quistis couldn't move. She wouldn't move. The slightest
movement would give away her position to her assailant. One slip up, and she would be no more. It didn't help her fear to
hear Selphie calling after her with such a trembling
voice. If only Selphie could understand and hide as
well!
She could her Selphie pulling in harsh deep breaths, and she could almost
hear Selphie's horror screaming like a waif. Quistis began to let her mind run away with itself; maybe
neither of them would ever make it alive out of here…
