So i have to be honest, i liked the fact of incorporating music in with my writing. So i've deiced to just share with you the music that inspires me to write my chapters because well, i just think is fun lol. Today's chapter was brought to you by "Run" by snow patrol. listen to it while you read...it's a good time ^_^ I hope you enjoy your read today dears
Shazz took hold of the envelope and the door closed as quickly as it was opened. She shuffled the bulky file in her hands till she found the label. Her eyes widened as the red what was printed in large red font: CASE REPORT: CONFIDENTIAL.
Dangerous thoughts began to swarm through the poor girls mind. She had delivered plenty of these kinds of papers to the Turks and it never turned out good. Case reports were only filed when and employee of Shinra did something terribly illegal, If an employee or shoulder were to die through unnatural causes, or if a SOLDIER had gone AWOL. With all that she knew, she could help but wonder if such things had happened to Zack and Cloud. Had they run off? Were they hurt…or worse?
Shazz quickly rubbed her forehead as if it were a dry erase board. She hoped that by doing so would get rid of the dark thoughts that illustrated her mind. There were thousands of SOLDIERS that were deployed all over the place; this doesn't necessarily mean that this manila envelope was meant for her boys.
With a shaky foundation of hope, Shazz made her way to the elevator. The Turks office was just a couple floors below hers and it wasn't long before she heard the familiar ding when she reached her destination and the inevitable whoosh of the doors as they opened.
The girl stepped out unto unrecognizable territory. She and been to the Turk's floor many times, but never after hours. The place was dark and hallow. The hallways were lined with a more sturdy but inexpensive tile and small circular florescent lighting figures. Shazz proceeded down the eerie pathway and the sound of her heels clacking was the only noise that accompanied her.
Her eyes then were drawn by the only light that was coming from a door that was left a crack open. She headed towards it, but when she heard voices, she pace slowed down to a creep.
She positioned herself a safe distance from the tiny crevice so that she couldn't be heard or seen. The first voice she heard had a rich baritone quality. It was crisp and stern. "Sir we have no leads as to why Sephiroth as gone missing and we haven't the faintest idea as to where he has run off too. If there were any clues that could have lead us to him they have now turned to ashes right along with that village."
Shazz let out a small gasp. Here notion wasn't has far off as she suspected? Though relieved that Zack and Cloud hadn't been mention, he heart still sank at the prospect of Sephiroth disappearing.
"Even if we can't find him, it's probably all for the best." came a second voice. This one was little bit more high pitched and laced with arrogance. "It is suicidal to go after the guy now. He's on war path!! You saw what he has done to some of our best soldiers?"
Another voice was coming through now, one that Shazz recognized. It was a deep and calm tone that was filled with authority and grace. It was Tseng; she knew from her many visits. "Yes, I know. What has happened to Zack and Cloud is unfortunate but that is why we have to stop him now. If this problem is left alone, who knows who else he will kill and what else he will destroy. Its dangers, but it a case we can't put on the back burner."
"Zack and Cloud are hurt? Why didn't anybody tell me?" This thought was stuck on repeat. Her whole body seemed to go numb and the file that she held clutched to her chest slowly slipped through her fingers. When it hit the floor the sound of its crash echoed through the hall.
"Someone's at the door."
Shazz heard a voice coming through the door though she didn't care at the time who said it. She knew she had to run, but her body became like lead. She knew that this information wasn't meant for her ears and if she didn't leave now, Shinra would never allow her to see them. "Dammit Shazz!! Move!!" Her body reluctantly listened to her screaming mind and she was running as fast as he could towards the elevator.
Shazz didn't need to look over her shoulder to know that she was being followed. The thumping of boots were trailing right behind her and coming closer by the minute. Her only mission at this point was to make it to the infirmary and in a last minute effort she quickly abandoned her plan to get to the elevator and made a sharp left and headed towards the stairwell.
The cold steal door was insight. She reached out to grab hold of the knob, but her finger tips only brushed it as an arm wrapped around her chest and pulled her away. Her demeanor now turned into a wild animal that had just been snared in a net. He body thrashed as she tried to escape her captors, but the hold on her was pretty tight.
"Holy hell," said an amused voice into her ear, "We have quite the wild on here."
"GOD DAMMIT LET ME GO!!" Shazz yelled at the top of her lungs, tears starting to sting her eyes. In an act of desperation, Shazz reached out behind her and grabbed a fist full of hair and yanked it out of the head of her captor.
"AHHHH SHIT!" Shazz watches as strands of fiery red hair floated to the floor. His grip loosened and the girl made a break for it but it wasn't long before those arms caught her up again. "Hey not so fast. That was a nice little trick you pulled there, but unfortunately for you senorita, I like it rough. Hey Rude! I could use a little help!"
Shazz felt herself being passed over to man who was holding on to her was like a vice. He had her arms pinned at her side and her feet were barely touching the floor. Like a cornered cat, Shazz was going to fight till the very end. She wildly kicked her legs and she came in contact with the taller man's shins several times. He never flinched and his hold on her only tightened.
She continued to twist and turn her body in order to wriggle free and the volume of her voice continued to grow as he screamed to be let go. Suddenly she felt a stabbing pain in her arm. She wasn't sure what had just happened, but she could feel something coursing through her veins rapidly.
"There we go. This ought to calm you down." Shazz looked over to the red headed Turk who was holding on to a syringe. Shazz's head was starting to get foggy and her body was slowly becoming limp. If it wasn't for the fact that Rude was holding her up, she would have sunk to the floor
"Hey boss? Who is this little hell cat?"
Shazz's vision was starting to become blurred. She felt as if she was underwater and sound was nothing more than muffled noises. She could tell that the figure of Tseng was present and she could feel his hand under her chin as he lifted her bobbing head.
"This is Miss. Heart." Tseng replied
"No kidding? This is Rufus's girl? Well damn, what do we do with her?"
"Hmmm take her to…"
But that was all the Shazz managed to hear before the drugs that inhabited her body finally took over and she slipped into unconsciousness.
Radiant mako eyes opened to find themselves behind the Plexiglas of an isolation chamber. His body tingled with the poisonous energy that was being pumped into him. He felt anew, stronger even. His body had been torn to shreds trying to stop Sephiroth, and now the wounds have closed. He glanced to his left to find his beloved, a floating corpse inside another chamber.
Zack mustered up all his strength and struck the glass casing. The cracks slowly spread across the surface and weakened the hard outer shell. He gave it another blow and it shattered as the mako liquid spilled out on to the floor.
He heard the faint beeping of the machines and he knew it was some sort of alarm. He heard footsteps coming closer and he positioned him self for the strike. A man in a white lab coat entered the room and before he had the time to utter a single word Zack hit the man upside this head, knocking him unconscious.
The soldier turned back towards the mako tank and pulled down the lever at its side. The liquid energy began to drain, leaving a green glow on the body. Zack opened the chamber and Cloud's limp body fell right into his arms.
"Whoa," Zack said as he cradled the frail creature in his arms, "You hold your mako as well as you hold your alcohol." He laughed as little as looked into the listless eyes of his young lover. It didn't faze him that Cloud was unresponsive. He knew his friend was in there somewhere and to treat him like a victim seemed to be a defeat. Cloud would evenly snap out it, so until then, he would treat Cloud like he would any other day.
Zack took a quick moment to look around him. I faint shiver crawled up his spine as he realized where he was. This was definitely a Shinra Laboratory. The cold clammy atmosphere and the dark cave like walls made it a very uncomfortable place to be.
"Thank God you're not awake to see where you are friend," said Zack as he began to position Cloud behind him, "I don't think you've ever ventured into the creeptastic sanctuary of the Shinra labs, and hopefully after tonight, you never will."
The older male hoisted Cloud unto his back and started to carry his friend piggy back style. "I know this sounds crazy dear one, but I have to get you out of here. Now that we are in the labs only means that we have outrun our use to SOLDIER. They are no doubt trying to turn us into those poor pitiful creatures we saw back at the reactor and I can't let that happen."
Zack started to make his way through the winding halls of the laboratories. He knew Shinra inside and out so it wasn't hard for him to navigate the corridors and secret escape routes. He carried Cloud with ease as they made their way through the dark halls and he continued to talk with his dearest companion as the approached the exit.
"It will be ok Cloud. We will start a new life. One where we only have to answer to ourselves and we can live together without the rules and restriction of SOLDIER. We wouldn't even have to wait for the weekends to have sex anymore. The world will be our bedroom now. Doesn't that sound amazing?"
Zack could smell the air of the outside world coming through the exit up ahead. The glow of the moonlight was lighting the way and Zack began to pick up the pace. "We're almost there."
Zack opened the heavy earthen door to a small opened field that had had woods right across the way. He was about to step out the door when he suddenly hesitated. He felt like cloud was subconsciously trying to tell him something.
"What's wrong Cloud? Something on your mind? Shazz?" Zack felt a bit exasperated but the hint of smile never faded from his lips. "I know you want to go get her and to be honest, a part of me does too. But in the long run, it would best that we continue our journey without her. If she doesn't know where we are, Shinra will have no reason to harass her. So as of right now, you and I have to go about our lives as if she doesn't exist."
He attempted to get outside the dark corridor again but something continued to hold him back. He sighed as glanced over his shoulder at the sleepy face that rested there. "Don't look at me in that tone of voice mister. You shouldn't fuss over her so much. She's tough old gal that can take care of herself. It's not like we will never see each other again. Somewhere down the line we will meet again. We still have a promise to keep remember?"
Satisfied, Zack made his way through the tall grass of the field and disappeared behind the multitude of trees.
Shazz's eye's fluttered opened as a bright florescent lights shone into her eyes. She felt groggy and dizzy. She went to reach her hand up to steady her spinning head, but she couldn't move her arm at all. She looked down at her side and noticed that her hands were in restraints. Sleepily she looked about the room and noticed heard the faint beeping of an EKG machine, she could smell the how sterol the room was, and felt the stiff white cotton sheets that she laid in. She knew that she was in the infirmary, how she got there, was a mystery.
"H…h…hello." her voice was weak and barley audible. She cleared her throat and tried again. "Hello? Anyone?"
A young doctor walked into the room with a smile on his face. "Oh Miss. Heart, you're finally awake?"
He walked over to her side and started to check her pulse. Shazz couldn't help but notice that the young MD was fairly handsome. He Auburn hair was tied back into a pony tail and his green eyes sparkled through the square framed glasses.
"What happened," she asked, still trying to wake up from her drug induced coma, "How long have I been out? Why am I tied to this bed? And where are my clothes?" Shazz noticed that she was wearing won of the very open hospital robes. It made her shiver to know that someone else had undressed her.
The doctor grinned and laughed a little at all her questions. "Well Miss. Heart, it seems that you had a run with a pretty severe case of hysteria. We had to sedate you but unfortunately the dosage you were given was supposed to take down a full grown male, so you were out of it for a couple days. As for the restraints, it's just standard protocol. It doesn't happen often but when most patients wake up from a trauma, their first instinct is to escape. As for your clothes, don't worry, one of the female nurses took care of that."
Shazz just nodded her head and let the doctor finish checking her vitals. "Everything looks good Miss. Heart. I'm going to go ahead and release you from these restraints and whenever you feel ready, you are more than welcome to leave. Just call for a nurse and she'll bring you the discharge papers."
He smiled at her again as he took the clipboard off the front of her bed. As he headed towards the door, Shazz's thoughts were starting to stir. Bits and pieces of the events that took place the night before started to come together.
"Doctor, don't leave here thinking that I don't remember why I was sedated." The young doctor stopped dead in his tracks, sucked in a deep breath, and turned around. He had been prepped by Rufus incase this situation should arrive. "What happened to Zack?"
"I don't think this subject is appropriate for the condition you're…"
"To hell with my condition. Where are they?"
The doctor sighed and he approached the foot of her bed. "Miss. Heart, Zack and Cloud's condition is very fragile. What happen in Nibelheim was tragic. Sephiroth had gone AWOL and in in effort to stop him from leaving, Zack and Cloud were severely wounded. Right now they are being taken care of it our ICU and in their current state, any sort of stimuli would be detrimental to their health. That's why we had to stop you from getting to them Miss. Heart. Who knows what your irrationality could have done to them."
Shazz's eyes were downcast. She sort of felt guilty for acting the way she did. She would have never wanted to do anything to hurt her friends. "When can I see them?"
"As soon as we get any good news. I promise." Shazz nodded her head again. "Take care Miss, Heart, everything will be ok." the doctor waved good bye and walked back out the room. He felt bad about lying to her, but Rufus forbade anyone from telling Shazz the truth about her dearest friends. He had a wait and see plan going on. He was banking on Zack and Cloud returning to Midgar for her.
Shazz rested a couple more hours before she decided to take her leave. Once she left the infirmary, she felt as if everything wasn't going to be ok as the doctor had promised. Though nobody paid her any mind, she felt as if she was in the spotlight.
When she went home that night, she could saw headlights following her home. As she entered her house, she had an eerie feeling that someone had been in here. When she would answer her phone, she noticed there was an underlying hint of static that she had never heard before. It was as if someone had tapped into her phone line.
Work wasn't much of relief either. Places she once had full access to, was now denied to her. Where ever she walked to within the Shinra parameter, she could faintly hear footsteps a safe distance behind her. She noticed that some of the files that had been in her cabinets had gone missing. Most of her computer hard drive had been wiped clean. She couldn't do much on it now but type a few memos and play solitaire.
Weeks had gone by and she hadn't heard a peep out of Rufus except for when he would buzz her on the intercom and tell her to go home. He mainly locked himself up in his office and he rarely had anything for Shazz do to. Some days Shazz would just sit at her desk and wait for the word to be released. It was like she was working in her own little prison cell. It was awful, and upon that, she had received no word yet about the condition of Zack and Cloud. At times she felt that she would go insane.
But on one particular late night as Shazz waited for her usually cue to go home, she received a different message.
The intercom started to buzz and Shazz leaned over and pushed the call button. "Yes sir."
"I need to see you in my office." His voice as gruff and tired and his tone was less than inviting. Shazz heard the other side of the intercom click off and she felt a pang of fear shoot through every bone in her body.
She cautiously opened the heavy oak doors, and walked into the dark unknown.