Chapter 3
Note: There will be no warnings before a chapter with graphic scenes. It would ruin the effect of the story.
Disclaimer: I do not own final fantasy or any of its characters.
Cloud let the hot water pour over his head.
He made the mistake of looking down as it went over his body. The sight of the blood, Denzel's blood, flowing down the drain made him run out of the shower and throw up in the closest toilet. He spent a few minutes retching with his head pressed to the porcelain after his stomach had been emptied, before making his way back to the shower.
He made it quick, scrubbing his body until it was smarting. But there was no blood left on his skin and hair.
The water shut off and Cloud toweled himself off before slipping on the clothes that Officer Zachary had left on the bench. Once he was dry he opened the door slightly, looking around for the man.
He was there in a flash, pushing by him to put his bloodied clothes in a bag.
"Alright, now just grab a pair of shoes in your size and we'll head over to the office." He waited until he was ready before leading him back into the main building.
It had cleared out since they had entered. The phones were silent and several of the emergency response receivers were crowded around one desk. A couple of officers watched them, pity and sadness on their faces when they noticed Cloud behind the other officer. Quickly they moved through another door, where people at desks typed away or attempted to stay awake with their coffee cups.
Officer Zachary took him into an office and sat him in the seat across from his own. He turned on the computer and pulled out a sheet. "Alright, can you just fill this out for me quickly while I get everything set up?" Cloud took it, nodding. "Yes sir."
He made a face. "Uhg, please, just call me Zack."
Cloud filled out the information form in silence, putting down his number and information quickly. Zack grabbed it from him the moment he was done and glanced over it before putting it in a folder on the desk.
"Alright, so I'm not going to ask you about what happened until the Captain and the detectives on this case get here. I know it's not fun having to remember what happened over and over again in this kind of situation." The phone rang on the desk and he answered it, putting it down within a few seconds. "They'll be here in the next half hour. They're still in the fourth district."
Cloud nodded, clasping his hands and staring at them in silence.
"Denzel is still in critical condition, but they've removed the bullets and stopped the bleeding. He'll make it." Zack told him gently, leaning on the desk. He watched him as the minutes passed by, checking his computer every few seconds. The older man tried to work at the computer for a few minutes, but he kept glancing over at Cloud, ready to jump in if the stress of the situation finally smashed into him as the adrenaline wore off.
Finally the door clicked open and three men walked in. Cloud glanced up. Two he didn't recognise, so they must have been the detectives from central that Denzel had told him about. But the third was the famous face of the captain of the Midgar police force; Sephiroth.
The man glanced at him for a second before pulling up a chair and placing it across from him. The detectives stood behind him, one of them pulling out a recording device and setting it down on the desk in-between them.
"I am Captain Sephiroth, Mr. Strife. The men behind me are detectives Tseng and Reno. They are here to help with the investigation and needed to be here in order to hear what happened in the fourth district." Cloud found it hard to look at the captain, who had bright green eyes that looked like they saw everything. His voice was as deep as he remembered it being on the phone, though it sounded clearer in person.
"Mr. Strife, I need you to tell me exactly what happened shortly before you calling our station at exactly 2:52 this morning until the time when our officers showed up at the scene where you and Officer Denzel were being attacked. " He clicked on the recorder and waited patiently.
Recounting what had happened in the last hour or so was without a doubt one of the hardest things Cloud ever had to do. He told them about the phone call, and how he had run out to find him since he knew where Denzel tended to go in that area. When it reached the point where the killer had shown up his voice cracked and he had to stop. Tears burned in his eyes and he looked down into his lap until the moment had passed. Taking a deep breath, he looked back up at the four men who watched him and continued his story without stopping.
The men in the room were silent when he finished, only broken by the sound of the captain turning off the device. Zack's face was hard, eyes slightly red but he refused to show any other sign that it had disturbed him greatly. One of the detectives, a calm looking man of Wutaian descent pulled out a phone and began to type away at it quickly.
"While it is within my duty to reprimand you for leaving your home during an ordered curfew, instead I must thank you." Sephiroth spoke slowly, watching the younger man carefully. "If you had not distracted the criminal at the time that you did, your friend would not have survived."
Zack nodded, giving him a smile.
The other detective spoke up, a younger man about the same age as Zack with bright red hair and dark glasses on. "For a blondie, you sure used your brains there kid." He laughed a bit, giving Cloud a lopsided grin.
The captain stood, waiting for the detectives to pass him before turning to Zack. "Zachary, I need you to set up a proper guard up for Mr. Strife. Make sure he has someone to stay with because we'll need to search his and Officer Denzel's home for any possible links between him and the other victims." Zack nodded, saluting him and quickly typing on his computer.
Once the captain had left he turned back to him, pulling out a couple of files.
"I'm going to set you up with an officer that I think you know, so it would be easier for you." He handed him a paper with Vincent's face on it, along with a bracelet. "You'll need to wear that all the time, even when you sleep."
Cloud looked at it curiously before unclipping it and putting it on. After that he looked back at Zack who was just stapling a few more files. "Why do I need a guard?"
Zack paused and sighed.
"As much as I'd like to say that it's all over and done with, I'm afraid it's not even close." He leaned back in his chair and regarded Cloud with serious eyes. "Denzel can't be touched by him anymore because he's in the hospital, and even if the murderer is a doctor, no one can be left alone with him. You, however, we can't exactly keep you in here without a warrant, and we don't want to put you through that. The murderer has seen your face and knows you have a connection with Denzel, and it's not hard at all to look in a phonebook and see your name next to his. We're just gonna keep you under watch in case he does try to go after you. The sooner we find him, or if he moves on to a new target, then we can let you go."
At that moment there was a knock on the door and Vincent came in, immediately walking over to Cloud.
"Valentine, he'll need to stay at your house until further notice, understood?" Zack asked him, standing up. Vincent nodded and immediately took Cloud by the arm and led him to the parking lot and his car.
The moment they were both seated Vincent turned on the engine and upped the heat before leaning back and closing his eyes. After a few minutes he turned to his friend.
"Are you alright?" He asked, his deep voice filled with concern. It was the most emotion Cloud had seen him express in ages, and it scared him a little. He nodded, watching his friend. "I have stuff at my house for you, but do you need anything else today?" Cloud shook his head and buckled his seatbelt as they pulled out of the station.
When Cloud woke up the next morning, he couldn't remember where he was.
He sat in Vincent's guest bedroom, looking around in confusion. He recognised the room, as he had stayed overnight at his friend's place before, but he could not remember how he got there. Looking down at himself, he noticed that he wasn't even wearing his own pyjamas, or even his own clothes.
At that moment the door opened and Vincent walked in. He paused in the doorway, making sure that his friend was awake before walking in and sitting down at a chair placed at his bedside.
"You were asleep for a while. It's almost 2. I have lunch downstairs and then we can go out and get you some stuff." The man spoke quietly, more words than he usually said. Cloud nodded, confused.
It wasn't until he was in the washroom wiping off his face did he remember the events of the night before.
As he watched the water go down into the drain it suddenly changed into red, and then everything came back. He found himself on the floor, leaning against the toilet as Vincent barged in and pulled him up. He was in a daze as he was sat down and a glass of water was pushed into his hands.
It took Cloud almost 10 minutes to calm down. Vincent told him he was in shock, that his adrenaline rush from the night before had kept him in control during the events and right after. However, it was over now and all the stress was finally hitting him.
Cloud broke down and cried as he remembered Denzel, somewhere in a hospital in critical condition.
The next few days passed quickly for Cloud.
He spent most of his time at Vincent's, usually in front of the television watching the news. He watched as the report about Denzel was released, and that a mandatory curfew had been introduced to the entire city of Midgar immediately. Tifa and Yuffie came to visit, both terrified. The coffee shop was closed until further notice.
The day after he had arrived at Vincent's he called Marlene.
Barret had answered the phone, greeting him loudly and asking why he was calling from somewhere else besides his house or Denzel's cell. Any joy was gone from the conversation when he told him what had happened. The large man handed the phone to his daughter, and Cloud felt his heart break when he heard her shriek and sobs.
Denzel had yet to wake up from the injury. He was no longer in critical condition, but he was in a coma and could be for at least a month.
"Cloud, I need to go to the station for a little today. Are you alright with coming along?" Vincent asked him as he walked into the kitchen that morning, his uniform on. Cloud nodded, going to put his dishes in the sink.
The station was as he had remembered it. It was a little busier than it had been the night he was there, with the phone ringing every so often. Police officers sat in the locker room, exercising or chatting to their partners. He and Vincent passed them by as they headed to the offices.
Cloud found himself sitting in a waiting room as Vincent went to work. He read through one of the magazines, currently reading an article about whether or not a certain celebrity that he didn't know had fake breasts. A few officers stopped to ask him if he needed anything or where his guard was. But he spent a good hour alone.
"Oh hey! Haven't seen you around much." A familiar voice pulled him out of his article, and he looked up. Zack smiled at him, walking up to sit himself down next to him. He spread himself out, nearly hitting Cloud in the head with one of his arms.
"So how's staying with old Valentine? Boring dude if you ask me." He asked, giving him another smile. Cloud chuckled slightly. "He's not that boring. Just serious." Zack made a face and immediately paled when Vincent walked out from his office and gave the younger officer a glare.
"Don't you have anything better to do than mess up the chair?" He asked, annoying laced in his voice. Zack grinned, putting his feet up on the table as well. "Nope! Seph's not around and he didn't leave any orders so I pretty much just have paperwork."
Vincent sighed, before looking around. "Where is Sephiroth anyway?" He asked, noting that the man rarely took a day off. Zack shrugged. "It's Aerith's birthday today. He might have taken her out somewhere for the day."
The older man sighed again and went back into his office once making sure Cloud was okay. Zack answered the silent question. "Aerith is Sephiroth's little sister." His expression suddenly changed and he sighed.
"She has major organ failure and can't leave the house very often. Every year on her birthday Sephiroth hires out a limo and hauls her support system anywhere in the city and the area she wants to go. Last year she turned 18 and he took her to Costa Del Sol." Zack frowned, before standing and dusting off his pants.
"But she's alive and always seems to have a smile on her face, which is what matters the most. Well, off to paperwork!"
Cloud watched him walk back to his office, just in time for Vincent to come out and say that he was done. When they drove home he looked out the window and watched the few people that still were brave enough to walk outside.
It was then that he noticed that they were heading to the opposite side of the city, not back towards Vincent's place. "Where are we going?"
Vincent gave him half of a smile before focusing on the road. "I got a call from the hospital. Someone wants to see you."
Cloud nearly ran to the room that the nurse had told him his friend was in. Several doctors looked at him funny and yelled at him to walk, but he was too excited to slow down. The room was at the end of a hallway, on the corner of the building with a lot of windows.
Denzel sat in the bed, talking on the phone to someone. He glanced up when the door opened and a huge grin broke out over his face. He said goodbye quickly to the person on the phone and just watched his friend for a few seconds.
The two hugged for a few moments before Cloud sat down on a chair placed next to the bed. He could see the bandages on his arm and chest, and there was an IV attached to his wrist, but the equipment for someone who was about to die was nowhere in sight.
The happy moment passed though, as a sad expression crossed Denzel's face.
"I'm sorry I dragged you into this."
Cloud gave him a sad smile and shook his head. "I'd rather be in this situation than have you not here anymore." He squeezed his friend's hand. "Have you talked to Marlene yet?"
"Yeah, I was just on the phone with her when you came in. I'm going to have a bunch of new bruises when she comes back." He laughed a bit, pointing at the faint bruise that his girlfriend had left on his arm before she had left. He paused for a second, planning out his words.
"She and Barret want me to go join them as soon as I'm able." Denzel told him quietly, playing with the sheets a bit. "I said yes, but I don't want to leave knowing that you have to deal with the shit from my screw up." Cloud sighed, shaking his head.
"Go. Nothing will happen to me." He smiled at his friend, who made a face.
"Last time you said something like that, didn't you get kidnapped by Yuffie and get dragged all the way to Cosmo Canyon to visit Cid? I didn't know where you were for a week man." The memory made him pause.
"And get a damn cell phone."
To be continued –
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