Scarlet
Chapter Two: The Real Squall
Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VIII or its characters
Ok, so here you go, what I decided to go with. Tell me what you honestly think, ok? Personally, I find it odd, but hey, I'm an odd person, haha! So it makes sense that I wrote it…But anyways, please enjoy!
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He stood in front of her in the same way he always had, still and silent, a questioning look in his eyes and his brunette head cocked to the side. The only thing different about the whole scene, the thing that had her flinching back in horror, was the remains of a body resting at her boyfriend's feet.
The blood flashed in the moonlight, highlighting the puddle on the floor that was the same sickening shade as it was on his lips. Blood…
The strong metallic smell churned her stomach as she stumbled back a step, pulse dancing in her jugular as she tried for the life of her to organize her thoughts, grasp onto some semblance of normality.
As she stood there, hand unconsciously clutched to her chest as she fixed her wide, glazed eyes on him, she mutely said his name, her mouth opening and closing but no sound other than ragged breaths coming out.
His head tilted to the side even more, and he raised a bloody hand to rub at the back of his neck—a nervous gesture that seemed so disproportionate given the situation that if Rinoa had not been chocking back sobs she would have—might have—laughed.
But there was nothing funny about the dead limp body at Squall's feet and his blood, that man's blood, covering Squall's lips, his fingers. Nothing funny at all…
"Rinoa…"
His voice was gravelly, and made her want to put her hands to her ears and block him out forever. His voice was unfamiliar to her, frighteningly foreign and callous. He sounded as though…As though he were possessed…
When he took a step towards her, over the dead body of the man, she took a step back, her wide eyes filling with shocked tears as she stared down at his outstretched hand, at the blood that stained it. And…And on his unnaturally long fingernails she could clearly see it, flecks of skin caught under the nails…
"Rinoa, you found me…" He drawled casually, calmly, as he took another step towards her. Her back hit the metal door as her heart gave one loud warning thump in her chest.
She licked at her dry lips desperately, tried to summon up her voice.
"How…W-Why…?" Was all she managed to get out in the end, and she froze at the large grin he gave her, one that bared his teeth. His fangs… The pointed incisors were right there before her eyes, stained still with the man's blood that he had just drank, drained the man of…
And her world was spinning, her eyes widening and widening and widening as a type of shock jolted through her system as she realized it, what had been happening all along.
"Y-You're a vampire…?" He laughed, throwing his head back, and the laugh was not his own. It was richer, deeper, and far too boisterous to ever be released from Squall.
"A vampire?" he quirked his brow at her, took another step towards her. "That is such an ugly term for what I am Rin, and I do believe that you just insulted me…"
"W-Where's Squall?" she whispered fiercely, her wide eyes boring into him as the first flicker of hate was spawned inside of her.
"Squall?" he said, his smile falling a bit so that his fangs, thank god, vanished behind his lips. "Why Rinoa, can't you tell? I am Squall! And here I always thought you to be at least somewhat level headed…"
"No!" she rapidly shook her head, clenched her hands into fists as she glared at him. "You monster, you're not Squall! Squall would never do this, kill another human just for blood!"
He paused for a moment, as though seriously considering her question, before slowly nodding. "I suppose you are right; he could never handle such a thing but fortunately…I can."
"And who exactly are you?" she demanded, glaring him down. "And don't tell me you're Squall!"
"But Rinoa, my sweet, I am, I really am! I'm just a more…advanced version of him, one that was created to help him—I mean us—survive. The Squall you love could never kill but I…I can, and, as you can see…" He smiled again, and held up his bloody hand. "I did."
"You're…You're not Squall dammit! Get the hell out of his body!" she screamed, no longer caring as she hurled herself away from the door, consumed by fury, shock and pain, and tackled the impersonator of Squall to the ground.
"Get the fuck out of his body!" she growled, desperately shaking him. "Give Squall back to me!"
Her heart broke when the beast beneath her did nothing more than laugh, bearing his fangs at her in the trickling moonlight in a flash of red and white. "But Rinoa, I'm right here! And I'll be here every single night until it's done, doing this exact same thing. What's the matter Rin? You look sad about that; I can't help but wonder why?" He chuckled darkly, and just grinned some more when she smacked him hard across the face, trembling over top of him as she glowered down at him.
"Not if I can help it!" she ground out, wondering if it was possible to use her Sorceress powers to rid Squall's body of this vampire's spirit.
As she began to focus on the chasm of power within her, Squall seemed to realize what she was planning, and in one single deft movement honed from years of training to be a SeeD had their positions reversed, and Squall now held the struggling, now utterly terrified Rinoa down.
"Let me go you bastard!" she snarled up at him, trying to knee him in the stomach. With an unnatural growl of his own Squall leaned down to flash him fangs at her, and smirked when she immediately went still beneath him, watching him with wide eyes still brimming with tiny tears.
"You can not get rid of me Rinoa, not that way. In fact, you can't get rid of me, unless you plan on destroying both parts of me, the Squall you love and the Squall I am now…"
She was still, gasping for breath when he slowly leaned down, keeping his eyes, those familiar dark grey eyes, focused on her as he placed his face, that fanged mouth, near her neck where the jugular vein pulsated with her life.
She felt her muscles lock as she felt his hot breath fan over her, and only began to cry harder when his familiar scent enveloped her. The scent of her beloved, her Knight…
"Rinoa…" she heard him lightly groan, and felt one of his rough hands—calloused from years of practice with a sword and coated still with the man's sticky blood—reach up to grab her around the neck next to where his face was, still hovering over her jugular.
She closed her eyes as the hand began to tighten, and wished silently for death to just come and take her as Squall's mouth touched her neck. So warm for someone being so cold… As long as the Squall she loved was not there, she did not want to be either…
"Sleep tight, princess…"
Hot breath washed into her ear, sending her heart into a spasm, before the darkness she had locked herself behind grew even thicker, and the floor beneath her, the scent of blood and that warm breath all around her were gone, shattering into a million shards to cut into her and scar up her heart as Rinoa lost contact with reality, if what she had been in really could be considered reality…
But as long as her heart still beat in her chest, it had to be.
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Ok, so there you go; what I've translated a vampire story into, haha. I did not want Squall to be the good guy; all too often the hero has to be so perfect, so heroic. You can consider this part of Squall to not really be him at all, but just merely the reactions the powers and thirsts of a vampire on his body.
You could also say he has Split Personality Disorder, but as mentioned in here, Squall created this being that he is acting like to deal with the fact of him being a vampire; after all, how can Balamb Garden's commander be a being that devours the blood of the innocent? He can't be, so that by hiding behind this other self in a way, he is one of the innocents, and actually not committing the crimes.
You could also think, if you chose, that this really is not Squall, but is rather a copy of him and the real Squall is captured somewhere…Hm, that's not that bad of a plot! What do you think?
Please Review!
