Sora stumbled into the front door leaning on his given crutches for support. The doctors had wrapped his feet until they were white balls. He couldn't walk properly which made Aerith furious and demanding he have some walking aids.

Sora winced as he gingerly placed weight on his foot and he saw his brother and father at the dinner table eating.

Aerith clicked her tongue and Cloud looked to the oven, Roxas stood at the mouth of the stairs and pointed to the kitchen. "I left it warming for you. I haven't had any yet."

He gave his brother with a flat glance that made Sora cringe. He hobbled forward and mumbled, "Mum, I'm not hungry, I want to go to bed."

Aerith looked terribly concerned and she said, "Sora, maybe you should eat something honey."

Sora grimaced and shook his head, "Mum, I can't, I'm not hungry, really."

He nearly begged her and Aerith sighed and said in a soft voice, "Okay Sweetheart, if you need me just call out alright?"

Sora nodded briefly and walked to the stairs, he could still feel his brother's scrutiny burning at the back of his head and he hobbled up the stairs trying not to put more pressure on his feet.

He swore that the doctors had done more damage to his feet.

As he reached his room, Sora felt a brisk chill race up his spine and he flopped down onto the bed checking out every little detail on his bandaged feet.

The doctors had put this stinging clear liquid that hurt like all hell, poked, and prodded his feet exclaiming that they were 2nd degree burns.

Sora had not been amused and his pain made Aerith upset and angry.

So as he sat down he saw his breath misting from his mouth and he grumbled angrily. He saw his blue pyjama pants on the bed and made the decision to change into them. He opted for a large bed shirt and pulled that on.

He lied down snuggling underneath his covers, he felt terribly uncomfortable. It was like wearing shoes to bed.

He glanced up at the alarm clock glowing on his entertainment unit.

8:00

He felt horribly tired but he couldn't force himself to go to sleep, he watched his black bathroom for a while thinking of many things.

His family.

Roxas.

The House.

Fuck even the girl at the café yesterday.

He sighed and turned over in the dimness and got comfortable again. He closed his eyes and lie there for a moment. It was dead silent before he heard the faint sound of music. Sora lifted his head instantly.

He definitely heard music.

It was faint; Roxas' Ipod could play music without earphones. It had a small speaker, which played. It was probably that, but Roxas wasn't one to carelessly toss his most precious object and waste the batteries.

Grudgingly Sora groped for his new crutches, hauled himself to his battered and stinging feet, and hobbled towards the door.

"Where the hell is he going?"

"Oh he better be going down those stairs."

Sora shivered with the iciness of his room, crossed the hallway, and pushed open Roxas' door.

"Oh god, Riku stop him, he is going on their side."

"I can't, I will be ripped beyond shreds."

Sora glanced into his brother's room, it was dark. Then he saw a small light on the floor beside the TV. It was his Ipod on the ground; it was playing a song that Sora couldn't recognise. He noticed it was on the application screen; didn't it have to be on the music screen to play music?

Frowning Sora was just befuddled on why Roxas' treasured Ipod was on the floor.

He stumbled in towards the Ipod and leant against the entertainment unit to reach down and scoop the Ipod up.

It was very warm in his palms and he felt a gush of warm air surround him. He looked around; Roxas didn't have a heater in his room. He had occupied the empty side of the house.

The warm air got hotter and he felt his skin start to sting slightly. He gasped pocketing the Ipod in his pocket and scrambled up straight with his crutches. Then there was a blow to his stomach that completely winded him. Sora gasped in shock and nearly toppled head over heels.

He heard a hiss reverberate around the room and a jolt of fear raced right up his spine. Adrenaline began to pump and through the darkness, Sora saw a large shadow loom above him with glowing white pupils.

Sora squeaked and forgetting his crutches he actually ran back to his room, sore feet or not he had to get the fuck out of this room.

"Axel what did you do?"

"I done nothing, he invaded the room; he took the device that makes the sound."

"It's called an Ipod Axel."

"He took it, but at least I managed to scare him off."

"And he left his sticks behind!"

"Real smart Dem."

"Oh my god, he was attacked again. I can't handle this anymore. This kid will be the end of me."

"Hold out Kairi, I think he will be wising up."

"Meet him tonight Riku, it's our only chance of saving the whole family."

"But-"

"No! If you don't do it, I will!"

Sora took in deep shuddering breaths as he tried to settle down. He dove under the quilts and wrapped himself up. It was the best he could do, if he went running down those stairs like a maniac, his family would call him a complete and utter moron, especially Roxas.

He didn't know how long he lied there under the covers trying to calm himself down. But amidst all the calamity, Sora fell asleep under the covers.

He had completely crashed.

"Don't forget to breathe through the silence."

Sora woke up abruptly and blinked his sticky eyes trying to adjust to the complete darkness. He recognised where he was and glanced wearily over to the alarm clock.

11:59 PM

What the fuck?

Sora grumbled angrily into his pillow, what had made him wake up? He had not the slightest clue.

He fixed himself under the warmth of the blankets and watched the clock's illumination.

The moment the numbers changed to 12:00. There was a clatter of footsteps over the tiles in Sora's bathroom.

Instantly freezing Sora lifted his blankets up ready to hide his face. Though it was completely childish, but hell, somebody was in here.

He nearly yelled out when there was another clatter of footsteps, this time over the carpet tiles.

Then the temperature in the room dropped dramatically, Sora could see the windows fogging up and small cracks began to appear on the corners of the old glass.

Clutching the blankets to his chin Sora nearly cried out for help.

This was scary, fucking scary beyond reason.

He quickly glanced to the bedroom door, it was shut but not tightly and he debated whether he could run to his parent's room. He stiffened painfully when he saw the mist coming in through the bottom of the door and he unintentionally whimpered and hid his face.

The room cold colder and he could feel the Goosebumps rise on his arms as it froze. Squinting his eyes shut until he saw colours, Sora looked over the quilt just the tiniest bit and saw a misty shape manifesting on the end of his bed.

He stared, unable to help himself.

As the shape defined, Sora was able to feel his mattress sink under the weight. He kept on looking until he saw an incredibly sad and very ghostly boy staring at him.

He had large sad, aqua eyes with jet-black bags under his eyes. He stared back at Sora, who noticed that his hair was swaying.

Then the boy spoke in a flat, emotionless voice.

"You're in danger."

"What the fuck" Sora's voice trembled "Y-You're a ghost, there's a ghost in my room."

The ghost was expressionless, "Yes I am a ghost. Do you have a problem with that?" Sora looked at him incredulously "You're a ghost! They aren't supposed to exist!"

"I am here am I not?"

Sora frowned and lowered the quilt slightly before saying in a muffled voice, "Excuse Me"?

The boy sighed and shook his head running his incredibly white fingers through metallic silver hair.

"You're in danger!"

"Wai-what?"

Sora shuffled his feet, pulling them away from the boy then asked, voice still muffled. "I'm in danger?"

The boy nodded.

Lowering the blanket Sora watched the shape of the boy carefully then asked, "Then how am I in danger?"

The boy looked right at him and said, still in his flat voice. "It's not only you; it is your brother and your parents as well."

That was where Sora lost his fear momentarily and narrowed his eyes in suspicion, "How? What the hell is going on here?"

The boy sighed and pointed to the bump under the quilt where Sora's feet were, "That was no accident there."

Sora sat up bunching the quilt around him and asked abruptly, "So what are you doing haunting my house and hurting me and my family?"

The boy eyes went darker, "That was no fault of mine!" He looked towards the door and then back to Sora.

"That was the making of 'them'!"

Sora frowned slightly and asked, "Who are or what are 'them'?"

"Silhouettes."

The name was dark and struck a slight fear in Sora's chest before he stammered "S-Silhouettes?"

The boy nodded, "I am Riku, I have been living in this house for a hundred and one years, I was murdered here."

The sudden abruptness of Riku's words hit home on Sora who felt the guilt rise and he simply muttered an 'oh.'

Riku narrowed his eyes, "This house used to be a hospital for people that are not like you, they had incidents that happened within the head."

His interpretation sounded…off and Sora snorted, "You meant the mentally retarded?"

He received a scowl in response and shut his mouth, cheeks burning slightly. "Look" he said "I know that this place was a Mental Asylum, what I said was true. There no need to scowl at me."

Riku's voice got some emotion in it then. He spoke harshly and coldly.

"You are not alone, even in this room Sora. I am among eight others just like me."

Sora gulped, "Eight?"

Riku nodded.

"Yes, here I will introduce them." He simply waved his hand and almost immediately, another two figures solidified into view. About three seconds later, two girls, they looked remarkably similar.

One had bright red hair and the other with fair blonde hair. Both had striking blue eyes, and both had the large black bags, hollowing out their eyes. They too, looked incredibly sad.

Riku gestured to them, this is Kairi and Naminé, Kairi joined me about five years after I went. Namine was one of the last to die, before the hospital shut down."

He looked to the door and sighed, "The others haven't come, but there are others, there's Tidus, Yuna, Zack, Yuffie and Leon, we were all tortured one way or another."

His face grew even sadder and Sora whispered, "What the hell happened?"

Riku glanced to the girls and Namine; the blonde walked over to the bed and sat down beside Riku. Kairi stood at the side and watched.

Riku sighed, "I told you before that we aren't alone, I mentioned the 'Silhouettes.' Sora nodded and Riku leant forward, "They are the dark side, evil, pure evil."

Namine nodded and whispered for the first time "They were patients like us back in the days of the Hospital."

Her eyes were wide and glassy, "I died a hundred years ago, I was never given the chance to move on, my sister and I."

Riku nodded, "Our house is split right down the middle."

Sora guessed right away.

"Roxas is on their side?"

Riku nodded, "We can protect you if you are on this side, but one of the crafty bastard can control heat, so it's better on 'their' side, because we make everything so cold."

Sora nodded, "Tell me about the Silhouettes?"

Riku's face went dark.

"There are 12 Silhouettes in total, then there is the Original Silhouette, he resides and bides his time up in the attic waiting for his next victim."

Sora shivered without realising it and then whispered, "What does he want?"

Riku's face scrunched, he was an olden day ghost, that had been alone, he didn't know of the new world that had sprung up around him.

"I do not know if there is a name for having issues in the head, where you see things that are not real."

Sora answered immediately, "They call is schizophrenia, it can be treated with medication."

Riku frowned, "Well, we suffered terribly, this-this schizophrenia, a lot of patients suffered from it, and that's what 'he' wanted, when you become a Silhouette you have greater powers, each Silhouette has an individual power on what they saw most in their moments of pain."

Sora nodded feeling the warmth out of his feet dissipate, he shivered.

Then Naminé spoke up, "The Original wanted a certain person that could travel to a place called the 'In Between,' a place between death and the living. You can do so much in there and affect the living way, or even bring people back from the dead."

She faltered and Kairi added, "He found this particular person, but even as a Silhouette he defied the Original and suffered terrible consequences."

Naminé nodded, "He fought the Original to save me and my sister, as a result had his heart cut out. He lives in a lot of pain every day; he can't feel anything, no emotions. Though he is a Silhouette, I feel sorry for him. He failed the Original, so now he is waiting for the next victim who can travel to the 'In Between.' We have all been alone for an incredibly long time."

Riku nodded, "She's right, this particular Silhouette is taking a shine to Roxas, I don't know if he knows that maybe Roxas can travel. But if he was acting normally, Roxas would have been slaughtered by now."

Sora gasped and Riku nodded, "We can't leave this house, because The Original took our souls, we are failed experiments, and that Silhouette as well."

Riku leant forward, his hand disappeared under the blanket, and Sora felt a ghostly touch on his feet.

"What are you doing"? He whispered alarmed.

Riku looked up, "We can fix your feet, unless you want to live in pain!"

Sora was hesitant but nodded. Riku grabbed his feet and he was consumed by iciness. Then he asked in a grim voice, "What do we do, to help Roxas?" He looked to the three ghosts, "What is a Silhouette, can they get us?"

Riku shook his head, pulled the covers back, and quickly unwound the bandages. Sora was shocked when his feet where perfectly fine. They were healed, except welts that would have scarred were vivid blue.

Riku answered his question, "Its shows you have been marked by the Spirits."

He nodded to Kairi who nodded and walked to the door and opened it.

Riku pulled Sora up, his hand went through his, but he was able to feel the grip on his wrist.

They walked to the door and Kairi whispered in a small voice, "Just our luck, here comes one now."

Sora looked out the darkened hall and saw shadows flickering and twisting away. A long black figure appeared to be walking on black mist; it walked with its head down and was shrouded in a black cloak.

It looked like a Grim Reaper.

Silhouette

Naminé whimpered from behind them and whispered, "Who do you think it is?"

Riku shook his head, "It has the hood up, I can't tell who-"

Before he could finish, Sora jumped back refraining to yell.

The hooded figure jerked its head up and stopped walking, Sora saw bright yellow eyes. The hood flew back revealing incredible blue hair and the pale face marked with a brutal X.

There was a menacing hiss that froze Sora's bones and the Blue Silhouette hissed again revealing a mouth full of lengthened razor sharp fangs. It rushed forward towards Sora who fell back.

The Silhouette hit an invisible barrier, it glowed white before going invisible after he stood back and growled again in an animalistic way.

Sora felt his heart clench and Riku whispered, "That's Saix, he is the only half successful Silhouette of the Original."

He pushed Sora behind him and stood straight and the Silhouette whispered menacingly, "You can't protect him always, I will kill him."

The darkness whipped around, the black mist swirled around, and the Silhouette vanished.

Sora looked desperately to the Spirits, "Are they all like that?"

Riku nodded, "and they are all incredibly dangerous."

Sora stood there dumbfounded as Kairi shut the door, her eyes wide and frightened. Sora frowned then asked in an angry voice, "How the fuck do we kill them?" Riku nodded and the four went back to the bed and sat down.

"I have been observing them for some time and I must inform you this, Silhouettes are dark immortals. You can't kill them."

Sora's face fell but Riku held up a finger to silence the words that were going to come out of Sora's mouth. "But, I heard two particular Silhouettes talking about it 50 years back, I now know that Silhouettes 'bond' to different things, it could be another Silhouette or a human, anything really, destroy that and they will die."

Sora bit his lip and again Riku answered his unasked question. "We do not know what the Original has bonded to, I'm sorry."

Sora let out his breath and looked around the room at the ghosts sitting beside him. Was this real?

Or was it just a dream?

He shook his brown spikes and wiggled his now blue-scarred feet. He would have to hide them from now on in.

He saw the ghosts staring at him and he said in a wobbly voice, "I-I don't believe this, this isn't supposed to be fucking real. How-Why did this happen to us?"

He looked around the room again, saw the older pieces of furniture, and said in a soft voice, "Did the other resident only live on this side of the house?"

Riku nodded, "The Silhouettes got hold of her husband about thirty years back, they totally devoured him right in front of her."

He shook his head, "We have been living in fear well over a century, the Silhouettes aren't like us at all."

Sora was afraid, unsure and weary.

This wasn't simply real, but he was concerned for the safety for his family. Though Roxas pissed him off, he was his baby brother, if he was a target, there would be absolute hell to pay.

Sora looked to all the incredibly sad faces and realised that Naminé had said she had a sister. He opened his mouth and asked the blonde girl, "Didn't you say you had a sister? Where is she?"

All three of the Spirits cringed and Naminé whispered, "She isn't like me, she is on 'their' side." She jerked her head towards the door, folded her arms across her chest, and looked down.

Sora looked through the misty figures and saw the lights of his alarm clock illuminating his room. It was 12:24.

Riku watched him then said in a soft voice, "We shall leave now Sora, but if you want to help your family, you have to help us. Warn your brother of 'them' and move him away from that side of the house, he will be safe here on this side."

Sora jerked back to look at Riku, more questions on the tip of his tongue, but Riku shook his head of silver hair and disappeared in white smoke along with Kairi and Naminé. The temperature rose again, though it was still cold.

Sora shivered and threw his blanket around himself not quite believing what had happened. He threw himself back on the pillow and stared at the dark bathroom. It was silent; Sora strained his ears to hear out for any noise in his bedroom.

He felt fear spear bolt through him when he heard a long howl from outside the house. It sounded like a human.

There were yowls and hisses down the hall, then growls right outside Sora's door. Throwing the blankets over himself Sora knew that those were the Silhouettes, they were scaring him alright.

There was a scratching sound at a door down the hall and then the creak as a door opened and shut.

Roxas' room.

Sora was scared for his brother. How he could sleep through that he didn't know.

And that shadow in his room, was that a Silhouette living in there?

He didn't know if it was the Silhouette that had his heart cut out; the eyes were black and white. The one he had seen earlier had bright yellow eyes.

It pierced his memory and he cringed at the vividness. The Spirits were seemingly unafraid, and Sora was absolutely terrified.

He never, ever wanted to meet a Silhouette face to face.