Cloud had taken to the bottle again.
With Sora alive, not comatose, and mostly healthy, he knew that he shouldn't. He knew there wasn't a reason.
But it called to him. It was seductive; it was a poison, it would kill him, and he knew it. Tifa knew it too, which was why she had stayed nights at a friend's house long before Roxas was incarcerated at Hollow Bastion.
He stared blankly at a photograph. It was Sora's picture from eighth grade. As any picture of Sora, he was grinning a wide, slightly crooked smile. His hair was shorter then, and he hadn't yet developed the spikes that had become his style.
"Cloud?"
He turned at the sound, staggering a bit. There was a loud clatter as a few bottles hit the hardwood floor.
"Tifa. What're you doin' here?"
She looked over the room in disgust, tossing her hair to one side.
"I was going to talk to you about our son. But it's clear you've been drinking again. Tell me Cloud, what's your excuse this time?"
"Roxas."
Tifa glared at him, mouth open in blatant distaste.
"You're kidding me, right? So, you're worried about Roxas, and your solution is... drink yourself to a coma? Nice, Cloud. Real fantastic work you're doing here. I thought when Sora was in a coma, and when the boys were gone, that was okay... But... No. Not anymore."
She came to him, nose to nose. "Instead of doing your job, and thinking logically, you're inhibiting yourself. Making yourself to the point where not even Sora can look at you the same anymore. You are not the man I married, and I can't take this anymore, Cloud!"
He rubbed his face, trying to clear himself of the dazed state.
"Tifa, I-"
"No. Don't say anything else. I'm going to see Sora."
She walked out the door.
"Tifa wait!"
Cloud followed.
Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump.
"You know what I love? Babies. They're so cute! Not only that, but they smell good. Mmm..."
Thump. Thump.
Dr. Axel Asuma cradled the swaddled baby with utmost gentleness. He nuzzled the baby's head with his nose, taking a deep breath. Baby powder, breast milk, and natural innocence. The child sighed softly, napping sweetly.
Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump.
"Such a cute baby. See, babies have a nature that I adore. They can't tell the police anything, they can't testify against you. They love you unconditionally, and should you want to crush their heads, they won't struggle a bit. No kicking, no squirming, nothin'."
Roxas, twine digging viciously into his wrists and thread between his lips, kicked the wall again.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
Although he knew that there was no one who could help him- Riku had made short work of subduing the adults- Roxas couldn't help but kick and squirm. It was almost time for Riku to do something else. He had been blindfolded when the two psychopaths brought him to the house, only seeing when he had been dropped off in this infant's room.
"Keep an eye on him," Riku had said, "I don't want him to screw things up again."
And so Axel was playing babysitter, for Roxas and the baby.
"Roxas, stop it. You'll wake the baby."
Thump. Thump.
"If you wake this child, Roxas, I will cut out your tongue... Or maybe... I should cut this out instead..." Axel said, foot pressing against teen's groin roughly. Roxas jumped, squirming.
Thump.
Axel smiled, brushing his thumb over the baby's cheek, speaking in a cutesy voice,
"I'm gonna haf' to huwt that pwetty bwond, aren't I?"
And before Roxas had the wit to look up, Axel had put the baby back in his crib and was leering over him. Axel gave Roxas a rough kick to his gut, stealing the wind from him.
"Next time I say something," he said, grabbing the collar of Roxas' shirt and bringing him so close he could smell the rancid cigarettes on his breath, "you will listen and behave. You're mine now. Maybe you should have a little reminder."
Axel pulled him into his lap, snaking a hand up Roxas' shirt and letting his hands caress and explore. Roxas squirmed, kicking his feet, making noises from under his threaded lips.
"Go ahead. I like the spark-"
A loud muffled bang! interrupted him.
"You know I don't want to hurt you or your husband any further if you will just-"
"He's bleeding! Oh god- oh god! I need to call an ambulance, oh please!"
"Yes, I am quite aware, Mrs. Amane. And as soon as you do as I command, there will be an ambulance right away. I'm sure your husband will be okay if you-"
"No! Oh god! Oh god, I can't!"
Riku pressed the phone into her hand, the knife tapping her shoulder in quarter notes.
"Do it. Your little babe is upstairs, and I could have his head crushed before your eyes. It'll be messy and bloody. I'll mutilate that baby until it's unrecognizable as a human being. Then, I'll make sure your husband's blood stains these walls. Not to mention, I have another hostage I could slaughter. All this blood will be on your hands, unless you make one little phone call. Time's ticking."
"Mom! I'm home! I left Sophie's as soon as I got your call, what's the emergency? Is everything okay?"
Silence spread like a damp draft up her spine. After a second of listening closely, she could note a muffled thumping noise. Kairi took off her coat.
"Mom! Mom? Hello! Is anyone home?"
"Ahh, Kairi. What a pleasure to see you again."
She whipped her head towards french doors, a sick chill going up her spine at the sight of a man whom she used to call a teacher. He held her mother's throat in the crook of his elbow, the blade in his other hand teasing her throat.
"Mom! Oh my- oh my god! Mr. Utada!"
Kairi dropped her bag on the ground and ran towards the man, who made his death grip even tighter.
"One more step, and she's dead."
Kairi held up her hands in surrender.
"Kairi, no!"
She didn't see the cloaked figure behind her. He grabbed her arms, wrenching them behind her back, forcing her to bend over.
"No, wait. What're you doing? What did I do? Let her go!"
Riku pushed Kairi's mother through the french doors, locking them. He smiled innocently, twirled his knife between his fingers as he came within inches of her face.
"You got too close."
The knife ripped through skin and plunged into her gut. Kairi's eyes bulged, mouth opening wide in shock and pain. Riku yanked it out of her, snarling as he roughly entwined his fingers in her hair, pulling her down.
"I'm not done with you."
Using his soiled knife, he ripped through thread and buttons until her breasts and stomach were exposed. He ran his rough hands over the soft flesh, making red lines with blunt fingernails as he clawed down her belly.
Kairi screamed, bleeding while agony coursed through her being quicker than her blood.
Riku turned to Roxas, huddled on the stairs with the infant in his lap, Axel keeping him in place with a hand entwined in his hair. His eyes were wide, and it looked as if he was going to vomit. Riku smirked as Roxas choked to keep the bile down.
Riku yanked at her hair,ss pulling her head back, her ear close to his mouth.
"How does it feel? How does it feel to have something rip away at you? I've dealt with that for weeks upon weeks." He carved his knife through the soft skin of her throat, releasing her to the floor. She struggled to her knees, lifting her head just for a moment to look Roxas in the eye.
Her body collapsed in a lifeless, messy heap.
Riku gave it a second glance of disgust, wiping the blade on his jeans. He tucked the knife into his waistband. Walking up the stairs to glance briefly at Roxas,
"This is because of you. This is all because of you."
Riku took the baby into his arms, cooing softly into its ear as he patted the baby's back. Roxas shook in great tremors, little animal-like noises bubbling in his throat with bile.
Axel wrenched Roxas down the rest of the stairs, kicking him in the ribs and pulling up Roxas' chin to ensure dominance.
"We've got more important things to do tonight. Get up Sunshine, we're leaving."
"Cloud, just leave, okay? Sora doesn't need to see you like this!"
Tifa stood in front of the door, blocking the view.
"See him like what? Mom, what's going on?"
Cloud pushed Tifa away, staggering towards the bed. Sora backed up, eyebrows creased in confusion and surprised.
"What're you doing Dad? You're drunk, why're you here? What happened?"
Cloud shook his head,
"No, too many questions." Cloud put his hand on Sora's thigh, "I'm sorry. For everything. I'm sorry I can't find your brother, I just don't know-"
"Dad, stop, you don't need-"
"Mr. and Mrs. Hikaru, I wasn't aware you would come in this late. Is there-" Dr. Asuma glanced over the situation, noting Mr. Hikaru's inebriation. "I see. Mr. Hikaru, I'm going to ask you to leave. Mrs., if you wouldn't mind making sure he gets home safely."
Tifa nodded, grabbing Cloud by the arm and going towards the door.
"What's-? No, I want to see Sora. Roxas is gone, and Sora's not- he's not gonna' be next!" Cloud glanced at Dr. Asuma, just catching the hint of a smirk.
"You...Wait a minute, you were Roxas' doctor... It was you. You're working with that teacher! You! It's you! Tifa, stop, we need to- stop Tifa!"
"I'm sorry doctor. This won't happen again."
Dr. Asuma nodded, taking out his stethoscope and looking over Sora.
"Breathe in...and out."
As soon as Sora's parents were out of sight, down the hall, Dr. Asuma closed the door.
"Alright Sora, are you feeling any pain?"
"Well, I know it sounds crazy, but my connection with Roxas and all, I get what he feels sometimes. And right now-"
Sora lifted his shirt, revealing black and blue splotches over his ribs.
"It's really tender here. And my legs still aren't doing any better. I still can't bend my knees."
Dr. Asuma nodded,
"I see. That thing you have with your brother sure is something. Here, this is a drug that's recently been developed. It has minimal side effects, and should help ease the pain."
Dr. Asuma washed his hands, and sterilized a small patch of the skin on Sora's neck.
"You've had an injection before?"
Sora shivered, shaking his head.
"Yeah... I have."
"Right, then you'll feel just a pinch... There you go. Everything's going to be alright now. Have you heard of Ketamine before?"
Sora shook his head, and Dr. Asuma smiled.
"Well, it's something that should make you feel better, okay?"
"I feel weird. Like, I feel so..."
Sora fell back onto his pillow, eyes becoming glossy and dead.
"Dr. Asu...ma?"
"It's okay Sora."
Dr. Asuma set up a wheelchair by his bed, and strapped Sora in.
"Here we g-"
"Sorry, I forgot my purse," Tifa walked into the room. "Doctor, is there something wrong? It's pretty late to have any tests."
"Oh, yes, that's right. I just had to run some tests is all."
"Right."
Tifa ran her hand through Sora's hair.
"Sora? I'm sorry you had to see your father like tha-" Then she saw his drugged eyes, and his lifeless expression.
"What did you do to my son?"
She glared at the doctor, taking a defensive stance and blocking the doorway. Dr. Asuma rolled out his shoulders.
"Mrs. Hikaru, please, attend to your husband. I told you, I have to give your son-"
"No, I'm not that stupid. Tests at this time at night? No, I don't believe it. You've got him on something, and it's starting to make me wonder. You were Roxas' doctor, and he went missing. Doctor, since when was it procedure to drug your patients like this before 'tests'?"
"I see."
Axel walked towards her, hands digging in his coat pockets.
"I tried to be friendly. Honestly, I didn't think I'd have to use this."
She punched his arm, to little effect. He grabbed her by the hair and yanked her down. Tifa fought all the way, and managed to break skin on his wrist with a bite.
"Bitch!"
Axel withdrew a pocketknife and jammed it underneath Tifa's chin. Blood spurted out, splattering Axel's cheeks.
A loud thud drew his attention away from Tifa. Sora had fallen out of the wheelchair and was making little noises. Axel withdrew the knife, leaving her to fall on the floor.
"Sora, that's very bad."
Axel heaved him back onto the wheelchair and folded his arms on his lap.
"Be good. I'm not allowed to hurt you."
Axel turned back to Tifa, crouching to her level,
"You want to know what happened to Roxas? I've beaten, burned, and touched him. His mouth is sewn shut, and you and everyone else won't be able to stop anything!"
He stood, wiping his face on the sleeve of his coat, examining his work. He pushed Tifa out of the way of the doorway with his foot, and nodded. Axel wheeled Sora, who moaned feebly, out of the room, and headed for the elevator.
Cloud sat in the passenger's seat, dazed and hazy. Tifa had gone back into the hospital a forever ago, and he was beginning to feel antsy. The alcohol, although waning in effect, was still making him jittery and unsure and- goddammit.
His mouth fell open stupidly as he watched the doctor, changed out of his long sterile coat, wheeling his son out of the hospital.
Cloud fumbled for the door handle, stumbling out and shouting,
"Hey! Get away from him!"
The doctor seemed surprised, but not threatened by Cloud's presence.
"Go home. It'll be better for you that way."
Cloud staggered towards the doctor, intentions twisted and hands in fists as he charged.
"Dr. Asuma, you get your filthy hands off my son!"
With cold resignation, Axel kicked out Cloud's legs, and stomped on his groin. A flurry of rage burned in him. Axel snarled, kicking at Cloud until the anger began to dwindle. Sora fell out of the wheelchair with a thud.
"I'm getting so annoyed with you and your fuckin' family. Can't any of them just mind their own god damn business? If it weren't for Riku, and your brother, I would kill you for causing so many problems for me."
Axel adjusted Sora, and gave a second glance at Cloud.
"Maybe Roxy would enjoy a little more company."
Dedication to Alli, my awesome Beta who keeps trying. :)
I'm not dead yet. But watching this one chapter deleted and having to rewrite it crushed me. :'D