Chapter One: Rainy Town
They were staying in a small motel in a small, rainy town. Actually, they've been staying there for the past few days. Most of the group was avoiding seeing each other – always having an excuse to be somewhere else. Red XIII, Cait Sith, and Yuffie were the only ones that could look her in the eye whenever she spoke to them. They all felt lost, hopeless and worst of all: defeated. A week ago, Aeris would be with them. Cheering them up like the little ray of sunshine that she was. But Aeris was gone now. Sephiroth saw to that.
Tifa sighed and ran a hand through her long silky brown hair.
Cloud had been the one that took it the worst. He hadn't spoken to them, much less look at them. The minute they checked into the motel, he went upstairs and locked himself in his room. Tifa had tried in vain to get him to come out or at least to talk to her about it, but all her efforts were rebuffed with cold silence.
"He's in a lot of pain isn't he?" she whispered to herself.
Nanaki or Red as his companions liked to call him, lifted his head up from its comfortable position on his folded paws and gazed at the martial artist with his bright orange eyes. His sharp ears had heard Tifa's soft words without much difficulty. "You have to give him his due time. He'll come around eventually." Hopefully, he thought to himself, not wanting to make Tifa feel any worse.
"It's just…it feels like I can't do anything for him." she replied, lowering her eyes to the floor.
"You can't. He has to deal with it by himself."
Cait Sith watched the bleak exchanging of words between his two friends from his spot on the rough-seated couch next to Tifa. Even though he was merely a stuffed puppet, Cait still felt a little guilty. The last words he had spoken to Aeris were that she was totally compatible with Cloud. At that thought, the gray cat covered his eyes with his hands and gave a soft whine.
Tifa reached over and scratched the area behind his ears. Even puppets have their soft spots.
Outside the dreary, morbid atmosphere of the motel was an even gloomier town. Its citizens paranoia was at a level even Yuffie couldn't compare to. It seemed like the whole town had a set time as to when they could go outside and when they were to remain locked indoors. They had arrived a few days ago a little after sun rise. A fine, spooky mist enveloped the small town and not a single soul was in sight. At first glance, the eerie silence would have lead one to thought that the town was uninhabited but when Yuffie accidentally kicked down someone's front door when she was 'just checking if anybody lived there', they were surprised to find the whole town to be very alive. They didn't take well to having strangers; especially the likes of Red XIII, Cait Sith and some even had doubts about Vincent. It took an entire mob to get Cloud to finally step up and say that they wanted a place to stay at for a few days. Maybe it was his cold mako blue eyes or the large sword strapped to his back but in the next few minutes they had managed to score a few rooms at the motel they were in now. After the first day, they got the hang of the towns' time schedule: 9:00 A.M. meant it was okay to unlock your doors and start the morning, 6:00 P.M. meant to scurry to the building nearest you and lock up. The motel receptionist had refused to say more or give any reasons as to why things were that way.
Not that they cared anyway.
The storm outside that had started mid-afternoon just got worse about an hour ago. Heavy rain drops smashed against the surface of the town, creating a loud pitter-patter that would make it impossible for anyone to sleep. Save maybe the motel receptionist sitting on his chair propped on its back legs, snoring loudly with his large spectacles hanging off one ear.
Lightning flashed outside followed by a loud boom a few seconds later.
She could hear Barret mumble loudly from his room upstairs. Having him and Cid share a room was a big mistake. If the two had constantly been at each others' throats before, Aeris's death only made things worse. They couldn't be within six feet of each other before Cid would jibe at Barret, calling him a marshmallow and the larger, dark-skinned man would yell an angry swear word in retort. But with the small number of rooms available and the fact that Cloud had a room to himself, there wasn't anything anyone could do about it.
And God knows where Vincent disappears to at night. Tifa only sees him during breakfast and even then he doesn't stick around for too long.
Maybe even Vincent needed to get always from all the sadness evident in this motel.
There was a loud patter of footsteps outside and Tifa broke out of her miserable reverie when a chocobo outside gave a sudden loud shrill. Somebody knocked on the door loudly and called, "Could somebody please open the door?" over the rain.
The motel receptionist snorted.
Tifa looked over at the door. The windows were running with rain water and it was impossible to see who was outside.
The person outside knocked louder and this time the chocobo aided in the knocking when a loud chink-chink noise of beak against wood was heard. "Hey! I know you're open. I can see the fire from inside! Open up!"
Tifa glanced over at the middle-aged receptionist to see that he woke up during the first knocking but was now pretending to be asleep.
Red XIII growled softly and Tifa shot the pot-bellied man a glare before unlocking the many locks installed upon the door and opening the door to let whatever poor soul it was inside.
The cold wind blew the heavy droplets inside, wetting the doormat instantly and at that the receptionist dropped all pretenses. He sat up straight in his chair and looked stupidly at his new guest.
Tifa stepped back to let the stranger in but when they were inside the warm room and the light from the fire gave her a clearer image of the person, she arched a brow. He certainly had a strange way of dressing.
He was an inch or two shorter than herself, perhaps even shorter than Yuffie. A mop of ash blue hair matted down from the rain hung in front of his notable amber eyes. He looked like he couldn't have been more than thirteen years old. He was wearing a short sleeved trench coat with a large hood that was cleaning stubbornly to the back of his head, though in the rain, that kind of trench coat was virtually useless. It had a high collar and was fastened with a button. What was strange was from what she saw of the hood, it had a pair of short stub horns and the face of an oni if the wearer were to pull the hood completely down. She noticed the guitar case on his back and couldn't help but wonder if he was some kind of traveling rocker.
At the moment, the boyish yet extremely pale face looked up at her in mild annoyance. "Could you, like, move or somethin'? I can't get in with you in the way."
Tifa blushed lightly at having been caught staring. "Sorry."
The boy turned around and tugged at his chocobo's reins. When the receptionist saw that he was trying to pull his chocobo inside he stood up and yelled, "Oh no, no, no, no. It's bad enough that we already have two animals in here. Leave the oversized chicken outside!"
Red huffed at being considered an animal and the chocobo clucked angrily at the insult.
"Are you kiddin'? I can't leave Elvis outside in that rain."
"Look, kid, I don' care if it's Johnny Cash, or hell Madonna! You ain' bringin' no chocobo inside here motel."
The boy ignored any further statements from the receptionist and pulled his chocobo in, kicking the door close with a mud-covered boot.
"Hey!" the man called, not liking being ignored by the midget of a runt that suddenly thinks he's running the place.
"Relax, old man, I'll clean the place up in the morning. I'll even pay extra." the boy said, dropping the guitar case to the floor and peeling off his trench coat and placing it with its backside facing up on top of the couch closest to the fire.
The receptionist mulled over the idea before settling back into his chair and folding his hands across his large stomach. "Just make sure that thing doesn't bother the other guests." He closed his eyes and resumed snoring.
"I'll have you know that Elvis is civilized. Right, boy?" He removed the reins and bit from his chocobo's mouth and scratched the area beneath his beak.
Tifa watched with amusement from her couch opposite the boy. She almost forgot that he was completely soaked and went to fetch a towel. "Here, you might want to dry off."
He turned around and Tifa got a good look-over of him. He was thin from what she saw with his shirt clinging to him. His black pants sagged and if it weren't for the large belt around his waist, it most definitely would've slide off. He was covered with mud up to the knee and he took the towel from Tifa gratefully.
"Yeah, thanks."
Elvis shook the water from his feathers and settled in a corner of the room near Red.
Tifa could've sworn she saw the receptionist sleep-glaring when the rain water from Elvis's feathers drenched the carpeted area of the lobby.
Drying his wet hair, he pulled the towel off his head and Tifa hid a smile. The way his hair stuck out in different directions reminded her of Cloud's untamable spikes.
Cloud…
"Here, thanks for the towel, Ms…Ms? Are you all right?"
Tifa snapped her head up in surprise. "Oh um, I'm fine." Brushing loose strands of hair behind her ear, she gave him a bright smile. "Tifa. Tifa Lockhart. Pleased to meet you." Taking his offered hand with the towel, she gave him a 'small handshake'. She missed his wincing as he practically tugged his smaller hand back.
"Er, Kaitzer DeLaKruz. Same here, pleased to meet you."
"And I am Nanaki. You may call me Red if you wish."
Tifa wasn't surprised to see Kaitzer yelp and almost jump three feet into the air. "I-it talks!"
Tifa smiled at them. "You've been giving people quite the scare lately huh, Red?"
The sole surviving member of his race frowned. "I don't mean to frighten you."
Taking deep breaths, the boy tried to pull off a face full of bravado. Needless to say, he failed miserably. "Frighten? Me? Pshaw, no. I was…just.. s-surprised. Yeah, that's it. Surprised."
Elvis clucked with a tone that suggested he was saying 'bull shit.'
Kaitzer ignored him.
Tifa giggled at the exchange. At least this was a distraction from the lapse of depression they've been going through these past few days.
"So I take it with that interesting jacket and guitar you have there, you're part of a rock band right?"
Kaitzer's face lit up and he took on a proud voice. "Yep. Los Loco Chocobos. Four singles and four awesome albums. We've been on creative hiatus for the past few years but I'm sure you've heard of us right?"
"No, sorry I haven't."
He looked crestfallen and Tifa was making a point to apologize when a small voice rich with a Scottish accent spoke up. "Augh, you lot better not have forgotten about me."
Kaitzer's eyes widened and he pointed a shaky finger at Cait Sith who was now standing up with his paws crossed across his chest, looking quite annoyed. "T-that thing talks too? I thought it was a toy!" His voice cracked at the end, again reminding Tifa of a boy going through puberty. It reminded her of the day Cloud's voice started getting scratchy and he tried to make himself sound more macho…
"Oy, lad, the name's Cait Sith. Not 'that thing' and I am most definitely not a toy!"
Seeing the incredulous look on Kaitzer and the tired sigh on Red, Tifa couldn't help but break out into a fit of giggles. Even with the storm raging outside and the internal conflict raging inside, tonight was turning out to be all right. Now if she could only get Cloud to get out of his room…
"I'm sorry about that, Cait. Didn't mean to make you feel left out." she said, covering her small smile with a hand and reaching out to scratch the toysaurus behind his ears.
"That's quite all right." Cait huffed, turning away from Tifa to face the mantel of the fireplace. But even he was no match for Tifa. Besides being great with kids, she knew exactly how to handle animals. Soon she had Cait curled up next to her purring.
"Cute," Kaitzer remarked leaning back into his couch, but not before his stomach gave a loud growl.
"Hungry?" Tifa asked, cocking her head to the side.
"Yeah, haven't eaten anything all day." Kaitzer blushed, trying to keep his eyes on the floor. He had been looking at her face the entire time. When the cat curled up next to her and she bent over a little to scratch his side, he couldn't help but notice her huge…erm…you know.
Tifa smiled to herself. Yep, a young boy going through the early stages of puberty. She stood up. "I'll go get you something to eat. Be right back." She gave him a quick wink that he returned with furious blushing.
Her beauty and charm seemed to work on every guy (save Barret, Cid and Vincent. She couldn't possibly begin to imagine) but the one that she actually wanted attention from – Cloud. All the previous joy leaked right out of her as she made her way upstairs to her room.
Quickly she shook her head. You're treading into dangerous waters, Tifa. She told herself. Aeris just died and now all she was thinking about was hooking up with Cloud.
"I'm so disgusting…" she whispered to herself.
Inside her room, there were two beds on opposite sides of the room and two lamps. Tifa turned to her roommate and sighed. Yuffie had rolled out of her bed again. The said female ninja was bundled tightly in her sheets and hanging an inch above the wooden floor, snoring ever so loudly and occasionally talking in her sleep.
"Zzzz….my materia. Get your fat greasy hands offa them, Barret….zz"
Best to leave her 'hanging', lest she disturb the young girl from her sleep. Grabbing her bag of provisions, Tifa returned to the lobby and tossed a bag of salty potato chips to Kaitzer. "I'm afraid chips and mineral water are all we've got."
"Better than nothing," he replied gratefully, ripping the bag open and stuffing a fistful of chips into his mouth.
Red and Tifa watched in silent fascination as the young boy devoured the entire bag and his chocobo pecked at the pieces that had fallen to the floor.
"Um…we have more, ya know." Tifa said, trying not to watch him lick the salt off the insides of the bag.
"Oh…sorry." He flushed and dropped the bag.
Outside lightning flashed again and thunder roared. Elvis tucked his head under his wing and whimpered. Red placed a sympathetic paw on the chocobo's wing.
Both Kaitzer and Tifa looked out the windows.
"This storm won't be stopping anytime soon. Guess you'll be stuck in here for a while." Tifa said, noticing his hand clench into a tight fist. "Is there somewhere you need to be?"
He turned around and stared into the fireplace. "Yeah. I'm…looking for someone."
"Who?" Tifa asked, her curiosity getting the better of her. She realized that she was sounding a bit obtrusive and apologized. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to pry."
Kaitzer shook his head. "No, it's all right. Actually," He glanced at the snoring receptionist. "I've been passing through this town for the past two years. I usually look in the areas outside of this town. You know the forests and the rocky caves."
Tifa nodded, though she didn't ask him why. The landscape outside of this town was harsh and filled with monsters. There was no way anybody could be living there.
"After a while, I would give up and come into town. Ask around. People here usually ignore me. Telling me to bring my troubles elsewhere. Telling me that they've got enough troubles. You know," his voice dropped to a whisper. "the receptionist won't tell you the reason why the town has a set time schedule, would he?"
Tifa and Red exchanged looks before Red sat up on his hind legs. "And why is that?"
Kaitzer's voice dropped even lower. "That's because there's some kind of psycho serial killer prowling around the area. At first, it started off with one or two people every couple a' months. Then it started getting worse. And the creepiest thing about it, he only targets pretty young girls."
"How do we know it's a man?" Tifa asked, feeling goosebumps growing on the back of her neck. No wonder the whole town was in a state of paranoia. Not to mention, on the day they had arrived, there had been a whole bunch of slaughtered chickens outside the house where Yuffie kicked down the door. They weren't safe here, and with Cloud in depression and Barret and Cid fighting amongst each other, things could get dangerous.
Kaitzer shrugged. "Who else would attack pretty girls? All I know for a fact is that he attacks houses randomly. The family of the victims all say that it happens way too fast and all they remember seeing are green specters flying around. I think they've just a lil' off their rocker."
"Green specters? That sounds like fun!" an excited voice near shouted from the top of the stairs.
Tifa and Red turned around to see Yuffie jump on the railing and slide down. The self-proclaimed 'greatest female ninja of all time' did a back flip and landed in between her friends and Kaitzer with her arms crossed across her chest and a furiously determined grin on her face. "So? Let's go nab that whacked sicko!"
The receptionist snorted loudly.
"And why would you want to do that?" Kaitzer looked curious.
"I'm bored. All this sittin' around and being mopey gets old after a while. I want to go outside and do something."
"Eh…mopey?"
Tifa looked up to see Kaitzer confused. "A friend…a very close friend of ours was kil-….died recently."
Yuffie was silent.
Red closed his eyes.
"Oh…" Kaitzer seemed like he didn't know what to say for a moment. "I'm sorry."
"Feh, what are you apologizing for? It's not like you had anything to do with it." Yuffie said quietly.
There was an awkward silence before Red spoke up. "You heard everything we just said, Yuffie?"
Yuffie looked up and the sadness in her eyes dissolved. "Yep. Tifa woke me up when she closed the door on her way out. I'm a pretty light sleeper, ya know."
Red and Tifa looked at her unbelievingly.
"What? I am!"
"Right, Yuffie, whatever you say. " Tifa rolled her eyes. "I must have been mistaken that one time you slept through the entire night without a peep when wild hounds suddenly invaded our camp. And I do recall a certain female ninja was supposed to be on guard duty."
Yuffie seemed to have lost her buff for a few seconds before crossing her arms and looking away stubbornly. "S-so? Vincent took care of everything and nobody got hurt."
"Perhaps the next time you see our silent friend, you could refrain from calling him a vampire and keep your garlic to yourself?"
"Aw, Red, you know I was just havin' some fun!"
While the red lion shook his head, Yuffie turned towards the pale boy and pointed a finger at him. "You!"
"Me?"
"Person-that-I-don't-know-the-name-of, find me this psycho serial killer and I'll show him a good one-two beating from Yuffie Kisaragi!" Yuffie placed her hands on her hips and stuck her chest out and laughed loudly.
The receptionist picked his nose idly in his sleep.
"Like I said the guy attacks at random and there's no way to tell when or where he'll..."
A sudden loud scream from the building next door interrupted Kaitzer as he hopped to his feet. The receptionist suddenly seemed to be awake as well and he was shaking with fear. "I-it's…
"It's him," Kaitzer growled.
Yuffie grinned, pulling out her Twin Viper. "Then let's go kick some butt." The young ninja kicked down the door and rushed out into the rain before any of her friends could stop her.
"Yuffie!" Tifa called, before slipping on her Diamond Knuckles. She ran out into the rain followed by Red.
Kaitzer watched the girls and Red run past them silently before grabbing his trench coat and running out after them. "Elvis, watch the cat and the old man. Make sure nothing gets inside!"
The chocobo clucked in reply, placing his body in front of the front door.
"Yuffie, wait!" Tifa shouted over the pounding of the rain. "We don't know what we're up against."
But the young ninja had already dashed through the large hole next to the house's front door that was most probably made by the serial killer and into the room.
"That girl sometimes really…" Tifa began to herself but she couldn't finish her sentence as she arrived at the scene just in time to see the killer.
Those victims' family members were right. It was a green specter and there was more than one of them. They were hovering several inches off the floor and had their ghostly hands wrapped around a young girl about Yuffie's age. The specters seemed to be causing some kind of whirlwind inside the room and the smell…the bile rose in Tifa's throat. It was the smell of rotting flesh. One of the specters opened its mouth and emitted a shrill, high pitched scream that knocked Yuffie against the wall. While the ninja was stunned from the blow, the specter's hand stretched and shot towards Yuffie.
Red leapt in its way and using a material on his Gold Barrette sent a Fire spell at the specter. The magic attack barely grazed the apparition and it swatted Red out of the way a person would swat an annoying housefly. It didn't need this beast. It only needed young girls. The specter once again tried to reach Yuffie.
"Oh no you don't!" Tifa shouted, sending a flying kick at the specter.
However, her foot caught into the phantom's body and she was stuck. The specter shifted its body and Tifa was hanging upside down. Tifa squirmed in resistance and looked up in horror to see that the specter was swallowing her inside its body.
"Sorry but," Tifa pointed her palm at the specter. "You're not taking any of us." And she fired a Blizzard2 spell directly at where the specter's face should be. A mouth ripped open and the specter screamed, dropping Tifa.
Red bounded underneath the martial artist and used his body as a cushion for Tifa to land on.
"Thanks, Red." Tifa said breathlessly.
"No problem." The lion grunted, trying to show that she didn't hurt him as much as she did.
Kaitzer skidded to a stop in front of the house just in time to see the building's owners rush out, crying hysterically. His eyes widened at the sight of the screaming girl in two of the apparitions' grasps and a third one attacking Tifa and Red.
"Hang on, guys!" The boy reached into the back of his belt and pulled out a long, wound-up leather whip with a thick handle and a spiked tip and end. With a flick of the wrist, he had the whip wrapped around the two specters and the captured girl and swung into the room with his two feet out in front of him, ready to kick the third specter.
But the specter turned around just before impact and knocked Kaitzer flying and crashing into the wall. He landed with a thud, next to Yuffie who regained consciousness the minute Kaitzer hit the floor.
The ninja sat up slowly, rubbing the back of her head. "Ugh, what happened?"
"Glad to see that you're still with us." Kaitzer said, as he too sat up. "Watch out!"
He pushed Yuffie out of the way a split second before Red came crashing in between the two of him.
"Gah! We're getting our butts kicked by some floating green jello?! No way!" Yuffie shouted, hopping to her feet.
Tifa stood determinedly in front of her three friends. The green specter eyed her and for a moment neither of the two did anything. And like any human being, Tifa couldn't stare at her opponent forever and she blinked. The green specter struck, fast as lightning, its elongated arm was within a foot of Tifa before a loud gunshot sounded and a speeding bullet tore through the specter's arm.
Tifa turned towards her savior and she beamed. "Thanks for the save, Vincent."
The silent gunslinger nodded before reloading. He leapt into the room, his golden, pointy-toed boats making a loud clacking noise. He eyed over the state his comrades and the stranger was in before raising his Shortbarrel at the specter. His crimson orbs narrowed before he unleashed an onslaught of bullets.
The specter screamed as the bullets tore through it and it let loose another screech attack which Vincent easily dodged by rolling to the side. The two specters' holding the captured girl placed itself in front of the injured specter, using the sobbing girl as a human shield.
Vincent glared at them for using such an underhanded tactic.
"The hell's goin' on here?!"
"See, I told you there was somethin' goin' on next door, but ya just had to be a stubborn lil' asshole 'bout it!"
"Ah shut it, ya big ugly marshmallow!"
"Hey, you senior citizens! Now ain't the time to be fighting like an old married couple." Yuffie shouted, waving her Twin Viper wildly in the air.
"Brat, watch out!" Cid shouted, his cigarette falling out of his mouth.
The specter, seemingly recovered from Vincent's attack, shot an arm out past Tifa towards the distracted Yuffie.
"Yuffie!" Red called, leaping in front of her, only to be knocked aside again.
Kaitzer rushed in front of her the minute Red was knocked away tried to block the specter's arm. Small tentacles began sprouting from the arm and wrapped themselves around his neck while other tentacles reached around him toward Yuffie. The ninja retaliated by twirling her Viper, snipping a few strands of hair from the back of Kaitzer's head in the process.
"Um…oopsie."
"Hey kids, ya better duck!" Barret shouted, raising machine gun hand and unleashed a powerful Big Shot at the specter's elongated arm.
Goo exploded and dripped harmlessly off Kaizter and Yuffie's shuriken. "Way tah go ya big marshmallow! You could've killed us!"
Instead of retorting against Yuffie's insults like he normally would have, Barret raced towards them. "Tifa, get out of the way!" He roared.
Vincent was there first along with Cid to stop the specter's other elongated arm from getting Tifa but for some reason, it passed right through Cid.
"The hell?" Cid muttered, checking to see if he was still in one piece.
Vincent fired several shots into the arm but was knocked back by a third arm that sudden sprouted from the specter's body.
Barret stood protectively in front of Tifa but like Cid, the arm passed harmlessly through the dark-skinned man and wrapped around the martial artist tightly.
"Hey! Keep yer goo to yourself!" Yuffie threw her shuriken but it caught onto the specter's arm like a stick in a pile of glue. "My Viper!"
"I'll get it back." Kaitzer, using Barret's back as leverage launched himself into the air just as the specter pulled Tifa into its body and begin to leave. Flicking his wrist expertly, the whip wrapped itself around all three specters, and he tugged. But instead of the whip cutting into the specters, his whip snapped and tore into pieces. "What?!"
He was knocked aside by a screech attack and into Barret and Cid. Vincent raised his gun and decided against it, lest he hit Tifa or the other girl. The specters tore threw the roof and disappeared into the storm.
"Tifa! We have to save Tifa!" Yuffie made to rush out the house, but Vincent grabbed the fluttering strands of her head band causing the young ninja's head to snap back.
"We can't do that, Yuffie."
"Why not! We can follow them! And then…and then…"
"And then what?" Vincent released the trembling girl. "We need to have a plan. We can't just charge blindly in like you did right now."
Yuffie spun around and looked towards Barret, Cid and Red for support. Barret kept his eyes on the floor as the rain dropped in from the hole in the ceiling. The water dripped down his face and he gritted his teeth, punching a large hole in the floor with his gun arm. "Damn it!" Cid was leaning against the broken door frame, trying unsuccessfully to light his cigarette in the rain. Red hung his head in defeat and Kaitzer was picking up the pieces of his broken whip.
Her lips trembled and the rain water stung her eyes. Without any shame, Yuffie broke out into a loud bawl. "F-first, Aeris and…and hic…now Tifa! Hic! Waaaah!"
Kaitzer looked over at the crying ninja, the rain once again matting his hair down. "She's not dead just yet," he said quietly. "He likes to play with them before he kills them."
Vincent and Barret looked over at the pale boy.
"You know about the killer?" Vincent asked, coldly. Barret and Cid approached the boy lest he tried to run.
"We're all in a real shitty mood now so ya better start singing, kid." Barret growled through gritted teeth, looking down upon Kaitzer with dangerous, narrowed eyes.
Kaitzer blinked the rain out of his eyes and looked up nervously at the hulking black man, as well as the other two men. He licked his lips and said, "W-well…"
I couldn't save her…
The blonde man threw another furious punch at the wall, making another indentation identical to the other one hundred. Gritting his teeth, he covered his eyes with his other hand, leaving his trembling fist inside the hole in the wall.
He could have saved her. He was right there. Right there in front of her! He could have moved. He could have stopped Sephiroth! He could have! He could have!
But he didn't…
"Why…am I so weak?" He whispered to himself.
There were loud steps of someone running up the stairs and stopping in front of his room. "Cloud!" Yuffie's voice shouted from the other side of the door.
Cloud remained silent.
"Cloud, we know you're in there! And you better come out now!"
Minutes ticked by without a word from the blonde ex-SOLDIER.
"I'm gonna kick down the door!"
"Yuffie." He finally said, his voice hard and cold edge. "Why can't you guys understand that I wish to be left alone? Why?" He near shouted.
There was silence before with a loud splintering sound, Cait Sith flew in screaming into his room. Cloud looked up with surprise before turning his cold mako blue glare toward the female ninja who still was standing with her arms out in a throwing position.
"Because Mr. I'm-brooding-leave-me-alone, Tifa's been kidnapped!" Yuffie stomped into the room followed by Red, Barret, and Vincent.
Cloud looked at the members of his team before settling his eyes on the floor between his feet. "So?"
"So we're going to save her and bring her back!" Barret lifted Cloud up off the edge of his bed and forcing him to stand up.
"I…" He couldn't look them in the eye anymore. "I can't save anyone. You guys go find her without me."
SMACK!
The men in the room looked in surprise as the young ninja delivered a ruthless backhand on the ex-SOLDIER. "Cloud, this isn't only about you! It's about all of us. We all feel bad that we couldn't do a thing when Sephiroth killed Aeris."
"But I was right th-"
"We're a team, spikey. We lose together and we win together. We've already lost Aeris, but we can't lose Tifa." Barret said, quietly. "And damn it, we can't save her without you." Cloud looked up to see the older man's eyes piercing into his own. He looked at the others in the room.
Vincent nodded solemnly at him.
Yuffie gave him a 'v for victory' sign.
Cait Sith, who was sitting atop Red's head, gave him a thumb's up.
"We believe in you, Cloud," Red said, giving the blonde man a fierce, fangy smile.
They believed in him…They trusted him to do what's right. He's already…lost Aeris. He'd only feel more guilt if he were to let Tifa die as well.
Cloud closed his eyes and when he opened them, the others knew that the Cloud that they knew and respected was back. His voice rang with determination "All right. Fill me on the details."
Tifa opened her eyes slowly. Her body was stiff and sore, like she had been stuck in the same position for a long time. Carefully she glanced around her prison. It was too dark and her vision was too hazy to see properly but she could tell that she was in a large room filled with nasty looking machines and in the center of the room was what looked like a surgery table. The captured girl was lying on it, covered only by a thin, blood spattered white sheet. She turned her head towards Tifa and gazed at her pleadingly with tear filled eyes. "Help me, please."
Tifa wiggled her wrist and found that they were chained to the wall on either side of her head and her feet were chained together in one large manacle. Her gloves have been removed and her phone taken away. She struggled to break lose, but the rusty, old appearance of the chains were deceiving and they proved too strong for her to break. "Hang on," she whispered back. "I'll be right there."
"Ah, so you are awake now, mon doux(1)." Said a smooth, low voice laced with malice.
Tifa looked up and screamed.
End Chapter
1) mon doux: my sweet
Next chapter, the AVALANCHE team interrogates Kaitzer on what he knows about the serial killer and Tifa is subjected to torture.
