***Hi guys, I updated the Thirteenth Side (Reese: Finally.) Oh, did I hear something? Or was it the girl who I supposedly TIED UP? Anyways, I gotta write this fast or Reese here will get mad. She's my bestie. So's Pandiction and Care Bear. But Reese will be the one RUDELY barging in on my introductions. Some of you may know her from my intros for the Thirteenth Side. Whatever. Check out her page, she's TheRoadtoDawn. So we left off with Namine and Tifa's plan going to action and Riku and Sora being kidnapped by Larxene. Plus we KINDA met Roxas. And Kairi's with her "brother" Cloud. Oh, and Namine talked to Sephiroth. Did I get everything? Good. Lots more pain in this chapter, since Namine can actually feel it.***
Namine Pov
Namine groaned. It was the only sound she'd been able to make since Vexen left this time. Oh Gods. She refused to give in to the memories, feeling that a memory of testing in the lab was in her brain. But it might be better than the pain. The slashes up her arms felt like cold fire. It was almost numb from how blinding the pain was. Her limbs were so bruised; they almost looked like she was purely purple and brown. She didn't even want to look at the cuts between her legs; she'd flash back to the first week here.
Namine tried to get up like she had in the past, but ended up sinking further into the bed.
Tifa rushed out, blood seeping from her own wounds. She still had the numbing medicine in her veins; she could take care of Namine.
She ran to the cabinet in the bathroom and secured bandages and some pain-killing-bacteria-fighting-kick-ass goop. Tifa dampened some washcloths and brought it all to Namine's bedside.
"This'll sting a little" She warned the still groaning Namine, who was looking through Tifa's mind as she spoke, happy about regaining her powers.
Tifa wiped off all of Namine's cuts, making Namine literally blind with pain, and squeezed the goop onto the now clean gashes. Namine sighed in relief, her vision coming back to her. The pain was slowly leeching away, leaving Namine extremely tired.
Namine got up though, she grabbed some bread and filled two plastic cups with water from the bathroom. The goop was numbing the pain quickly, but Namine felt as though her limbs weren't attached to her body.
"Where do we get food from anyways?" Tifa asked as Namine came to her, balancing everything awkwardly.
"He puts it in the closet. We're technically not supposed to get food, and the medicine makes us not notice. But once in a while when I remember I find some bread in there. It's a bit stale though." Namine explained, remembering when she first found it in her first week.
"Oh. I kinda was just wondering. You look like hell Namine, take a nap or something." Tifa commanded, mother mode taking over.
"Okay. Slap me or something if I start screaming, 'kay?" Namine asked, laying her head on the pillow.
Her eyes glowed green as horrible memories haunted her brain.
Riku Pov
Larxene sat smirking down at Riku and Sora in the back of the long car.
"Look Larxene, any other time you want to kidnap us would be great, but today we have some urgent appointments. Someone Kairi cares about is going to die and we haven't even met her yet. So like, grow some kind of soul and let us go this once. We'll owe you." Sora said reasonably.
If Riku's hands were free he would've facepalmed.
Larxene looked mildly offended by the soul comment, but replaced her smirk quickly.
"Soul? I have a soul. It's a heart I'm missing, retard. Who is this person you so desperately want to meet." Larxene questioned.
"Like we're gonna tell you. You'll just kill her sooner." Sora spat.
'Wow he really hates her' Riku thought, 'I thought he wouldn't remember half the stuff that happened then, he was sick so much…'
"Well," Larxene began, interrupting Riku's thoughts, "If the person you're talking about is the person I'm thinking of, then she doesn't have long. Especially if she thinks about suicide. And if I know her she will think about it. A lot. She did when we were testing her." Larxene laughed, sipping a beer from out of nowhere.
"Okay, you leave me with no choice." Riku said calmly. He summoned his keyblades to his tied hands. Light flashed and his blades disappeared.
"What the-?" He asked as Larxene laughed again.
"Oh, you never thought we would give you something without being able to take it away, did you? Silly Riku, free stuff's for kids. In fact kids don't get free stuff from us." Larxene smirked as Riku and Sora death glared at her.
"Remember, we only want Riku this time, just let Sora out somewhere on the road." A tall hooded figure grunted from the front seat. He had the slightest of British accents and spoke in an emotionless, deep voice. Xaldin.
"What?" Sora asked as Larxene shoved him out the window, the TINY window.
'Ouch.' Riku thought as he watched his best friend land harshly on the ground and start rolling as the car sped away.
'Shit, that might've killed him.' Riku thought as he followed Sora with his eyes, trying to see if he was alive. After he stopped rolling he lie at a funny angle on the hard-packed earth that was the road. Better than concrete. Before Riku could be sure if his friend was still in the ranks of the living the car took a sharp turn and Riku couldn't see Sora anymore.
'Ah well… He's taken harder hits than that.' Riku thought, trying to reassure himself.
"So, where are we going, Larx?" Riku asked, pissing off Larxene.
"You'll see in about… Now." They pulled up in a driveway and Riku was injected with something that made everything turn black.
Namine Pov
The door creaked to the upstairs. Namine got up, hissing in pain, and limped to the door in a skimpy nightdress and a very fake smile. Had to keep up the show.
Larxene threw something down the stairs and laughed.
"That'll teach him to call me Larx." She muttered to herself as she left and locked the door.
The something was a boy.
With silver hair.
And tall.
And skinny.
"Kadaj?" Namine whispered, turning the boy on his back.
Nope.
"Ugg… Roxas?" Riku asked, looking up.
"No. I'm Namine." She explained, helping him to the bed.
"Wait… Namine… You're supposed to be dying!" Riku exclaimed.
"Well, I kinda am. Damn it! Fuck!" Namine cursed under her breath.
"What?" Riku asked, sitting up. Namine pushed him back down.
"Cloud and Kairi were supposed to rescue you and that brown haired kid." Namine cursed a few more times.
"Sora? Oh my God, what the hell is going on?" Riku asked, holding his head.
"Ah, they gave you an injection. Lucky. I told Kairi to tell you whatever she told you and sent Cloud. Oh, I hope they don't do all this shit to you." Namine mumbled.
"Lucky? Shit?" Riku asked. He sat up again and saw Namine in a full view for the first time.
He gasped.
Namine's arms were solid brown and purple. The only white skin Riku could see were lines of white under the bruises, mixed in with the angry red slashes. There was the occasional bloody bandage.
His eyes trailed down to see some normal color in her legs along with bruises and cuts. The cuts were the worst on her upper thighs, getting fewer and fewer as he looked down.
He looked at her face last.
Her gold hair had been matted and cut to just below her ears. Her eyes were too blue, with panda-like bruises surrounding them. Her lip was split and a little swollen. There were bite marks all down her neck.
Namine heard Riku's thoughts... they weren't pretty.
"Riku… I owe you an explanation. I can't give you the full story, but I can tell you a little." Namine offered, hearing his confusion.
"Yeah… an explanation would be good." Riku mumbled, transfixed by her appearance.
"First promise me you won't tell any of this to Kairi or …what was his name? Sora." Namine ordered. Riku thought for a minute.
"…I promise." He whispered, his curiosity taking over.
"My chemistry teacher kidnapped me. He was from the Organization. Don't tell me about how you were too. I know. Kairi dreams about it a lot. Anyways, he kidnapped me, took me here, and raped me. I got out that first night, but never again. He gave me this numbing medicine that you have in your system right now. It takes away your powers though, so I couldn't break down the door or anything. Then they sent Tifa in. She gets raped by my brother. I get raped by my teacher. And then I figured out a way to get my powers back, pretend I'm in love with him. My teacher, not my brother. And it's been working, almost everything's out of my system. I can feel all the pain now though. And my powers cause flashbacks. So I saw your face in my teacher's mind. I talked to Kairi and Cloud and told them to save you and Sora before they got you too. Didn't really work, did it?" Namine asked, letting herself plop onto the bed.
"They got me and Sora, they pushed Sora out of the car on top speed, injected me with something, and dropped me here." Riku explained.
"Well, we're gonna be roommates then. I'll get Tifa. Ugg… We don't get food for another week! We ate all the stuff in the closet… well; I ate all the stuff in the closet. The medicine used to make us not hungry…" Namine talked to herself as she went to get Tifa.
Namine took a good look at Tifa as she slept. She was cut up and bruised, though not as much as Namine. She was getting skinnier. If they didn't kill them with the knives, Vexen and Loz would kill them with starvation. At least, they'd kill Tifa. Namine felt really bad about eating all the food before thinking about Tifa. Next time she'd make Tifa eat at LEAST three quarters of the bread.
"Tifa, we got a new roommate." Namine said, shaking the brunette's shoulder.
"Who?" She asked, yawning.
"Riku." Namine answered. She led the sleepy Tifa to the main room, not that it was very big.
Tifa screamed as all she saw was silver hair. She ran to the other room and locked the door.
Namine sighed. She probably should've expected that.
Namine walked to the door. She focused all her thoughts on the keyhole. There was a slight click and it opened.
"Cool! You can open doors without summoning your blade?" Riku asked. Namine, not willing to give the real explanation, nodded.
"Why can't we do that to the other door?" He asked.
"You'll pass out." Namine replied, walking into Tifa's room where she was shivering under the covers. Riku stood by the doorway, ready to bolt out as soon as Tifa started screaming again.
"Namine, I thought you liked me." Tifa whispered into her pillow.
"I do, Tifa." Namine countered, patting her friend's shoulder.
"Then why… WHY would you bring that man here without warning?" Tifa muttered.
"It's not Loz. It's not even Sephiroth, Yazoo, or Kadaj. It's Riku! He's gonna be our… friend. He'll be our friend, Tifa. I don't think he's related at all to Sephiroth or Loz. Please Tifa, he got kidnapped, just like you! It's not his fault he has silver hair!" Namine glanced at Riku as she said friend. He nodded to her.
"Stop talking to me like I'm three!" Tifa yelled.
"Then act like a big girl! I know Loz is horrible, but if he had blond hair would you scream every time you saw me? Riku's hair isn't even cut like his! Plus Loz is like, HUGE! Riku's been forced into the same situation we've been forced into. But we've got to pull it together! We can let all out feelings out when we escape from here, that's what I'm gonna do, but for now we have to focus on getting out!" Namine yelled at Tifa.
"Alright. I suppose I overreacted. I apologize, Riku." Tifa called over Namine's bruised shoulder.
"No harm done." He replied.
"Nami, can you leave me alone for a bit? I've gotta get my rest in before THEY come back. You look like shit too, take a nap." Tifa ordered.
"Can't. It'll creep Riku out, and we don't want him to be freaked out by us on the first day." Namine said, knowing Riku would hear.
"Nah, nothing can scare me at this point." Riku returned.
"Well… Fine." Namine faked being mad. At least now Riku had warning to be freaked out, and Namine was REALLY TIRED.
"Night!" She mumbled to him, and she cuddled next to Tifa on the smaller bed.
And so the memories took over.
*Flash*
'NO! Please! Don't make me live another day!' Namine heard the thing next to her plead with the sky as it turned blue.
She waited until the scientists came. They tortured the poor thing until it DID die. Namine felt a small, sparkling tear fall down her cheek as she heard and almost FELT the pain the creature was going through. She probably actually felt it, as pain comes from your brain. She had no wounds and after the poor thing died she felt nothing, but for a few hours… The creature projected loud thoughts of pain. So loud that Namine decided to end it. For everyone.
She sent a blast at the poor thing's heart. It died instantly.
Namine envied it's quick release from this hell.
Then Namine tried to do the same to herself. The little beeper-thing hooked up to her arm stopped for a moment.
Namine tried again. It worked long enough for Namine to feel lightheaded and the beeper-thing to flat-line.
Namine felt a rush of relief when her blood started pumping again, but frowned. The scientists hadn't noticed her monitor flat-lining, they had been too worked up about the creature randomly dying.
Again, Namine forced all her thought into her heart holding still, but the little animal instinct inside her still held onto life.
Finally it was the tazer from the scientists that stopped her heart for good. The smell of charred flesh hit Namine's nose as she fell into a white room.
'Is this heaven?' Namine asked herself as she wandered around it. It was a plain white room, much like the white walls of the Organization's headquarters, but… nicer. There was a waving piece of white cloth on the side wall. Namine slowly walked towards it.
She lifted it and saw a window. Outside the window there was a small clearing leading to a forest. The view was oddly… familiar.
Then she was pulled back into life by paddles on her chest. She coughed and gasped.
The scientists were besides themselves, they HAD to figure out a way to stop her from doing that.
Then one came up with a plan… They did surgery on her mind and figured out how to disable something that would kill her, but let her keep her powers.
After that Namine got a new power, a power she told no one about.
She could talk to the dead.
Not like how Jenova and Areith talked through her, but actually talking to the dead. She spoke with her mother and Areith. On occasion Jenova. Once or twice she spoke to a man named Zack, but she had trouble speaking to his, seeing as she never met him, saw him, or had him speak through her.
And she had to endure the listening to dying creatures. Every day.
And she had no way to die.
*Flash*
"Holy shit. Namine! Your eyes…" Riku said, staring at Namine as she awoke.
"Happens all the time. Told you that you'd be freaked." Namine responded, groping around for her sketchbook.
"Here." Tifa said holding it out to her.
Namine's eyes were still half closed in tiredness, but she blearily drew out her dream onto a page. She flipped it over and continued to draw.
Riku snuck a glance and saw the horrific pictures on the page. He turned to Tifa.
"Why's she drawing that?" He asked.
"Because it helps her somehow. That's not all she used to draw. She used to draw really beautiful pictures of things, very detailed. Entire forests with individual leaves, veins on butterflies wings, feathers on a bird. You name it. Now… this."
"That's horrible." Riku mumbled, and the door burst open.
"Honey! How was your day?" Vexen asked from the top of the stairs.
"Horrible without you around." Namine answered with a pout on her face. She could feel Riku's confusion coming off him in waves.
"Aww… That's what I like to hear. Loz! Xaldin! Have fun with the others. In fact, we'll just all use this room today, no sense in dirtying two sheets." Vexen said thoughtfully.
"But sweetie, Tifa and I are girls. We rather like our privacy." Namine smiled cheerily, sending waves of persuasion at his mind.
"No, we want to let Riku know how things are done here." He said just as sweetly. Namine shrugged with a smile and threw her arms around his neck, kissing him.
"I want you to scream for me today, love." Vexen ordered Namine. She nodded. That way she could let out her true feelings.
Loz headed for Tifa, who still put up a pretty good fight, but he strapped her to a chair.
'Riku…Sorry.' Namine thought to Riku. He was confused as he got it, but nodded in his mind, accepting her apology… for what, he had no idea.
Xaldin headed for Riku and started punching the shit out of him.
Loz started cutting Tifa and lowering her panties.
Vexen ripped off Namine's dress, revealing her cut up mess of a stomach. He slashed it with his knife and started punching. She screamed. He laughed.
At least Riku didn't get raped.
Sora Pov
Sora groaned as he sat up. His body hurt like hell. This was worse than when he got in a fight with Riku…
"Riku!" He shouted to the empty road. There was nothing in sight.
"FUCK!" He yelled at the top of his lungs, mentally kicking himself for letting this happen. Who knows what's happening to Riku?
Sora sighed and checked his pockets. There was $2.75. Enough for a pay-phone.
No pay phone in sight. Sora sighed again, knowing he'd have to walk forever and that it was going to hurt like hell. He got up and picked a direction.
Three hours of solid walking later and he found a gas station.
He walked in and saw there was a drinking fountain. Thanking God, the walked over and drank a ton of water. The gas station owner looked at his oddly, but said nothing.
He walked to the pay-phone and put in his quarters. He dialed Kairi's cell.
On the second ring she picked up.
"Hello?" She asked breathlessly.
"Kairi, thank God. I'm out in the middle of nowhere…. Can you get me?" He asked.
"Sure, we were searching for you and Riku, where are you?" She asked worriedly.
"Um… Where am I?" Sora asked the dude at the counter.
"Star-Station Convenience Store, 231 Coconut Avenue." The man answered. Sora repeated the info for Kairi.
"Okay, Cloud's got it in his GPS. Is Riku there too?" She questioned.
"No, I got shoved out a window and woke up three hours away from here. I only have two dollars left." Sora answered.
"What-" Kairi started, but was cut off.
"For more time, please put in $0.75 to continue call." Said a robotic voice.
Sora hung up and bought a Twix and an A&W.
This was gonna be a long week.
