A/N: Sorry about the wait. I'm not very good at keeping up with updates at the moment! This chapter is a little shorter than usual, but it's very bulky in my opinion, so I don't think it's too short. I actually really like this update, I think it's an improvement from recent ones. I've actually been in the mood to write this recently, so I had a spare few hours to finish it today. I hope you enjoy it!

Chapter 11

"No…" Elena muttered and looked down at her shoes, feeling strangely cold inside. "Where has he gone? I knew this would happen…"

Reno had vanished so quickly that Elena hadn't bothered going after him. After he had slipped inside the vampire base, there was no way of knowing which way he would go. Elena didn't want to get herself and Rihanna lost. The blond shook her head and looked up at the redheaded girl next to her. To Elena's surprise, she was smiling.

"Don't you see?" She asked, positively grinning. "That's a good sign. He's not going after us. He's going after the vampires."

"But… that's what they want." Elena muttered. "Phoenix will think we suspected him to make Reno go for us. What if he's lured Reno to him to kill him first, thinking we'll go after him-?"

"'Lena, 'Lena - calm down. You're going far too fast here." Rihanna stepped in front of the blonde to block her view of the vampire base entrance. "I think… I think it's time we started to see things from Reno's point of view."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Elena snapped, trying to get past Rihanna to give chase to Reno. The redhead girl was not taking any of it though, and grabbed the blonde's wrist sharply.

"He's trying to help!" Rihanna almost yelled. "Don't you see that?"

"Don't talk to me like I'm an idiot, Rihanna." Elena lowered her tone. "He's going to get himself killed."

"He's got more chance than both of us put together!" Although Elena was consciously trying to calm the already heated conversation down, Rihanna didn't seem as keen. "At least he's playing an active role in this. All we've done is talk and think and think and talk… all the while ignoring how much he was suffering!"

"The only reason why he's got more chance than us is because you're not with him to help him make stupid decisions. You may be his sister, but I've known him a lot longer than you have. He needs help." Elena looked darkly at the slightly taller girl. Although Reno's sister had that familiar glare etched in her expression that Elena had seen so much in Reno, the girl still looked a little lost. Her slightly lanky arms were loose by her side, and her eyebrows were raised, giving her a look of desperation. Elena, however, was not going to give in to it.

"Elena-"

"Get out of my way." Elena may have been shorter in stance but she looked up at Rihanna in a dominant manner. "I'm going to help my friend."

Rihanna made no effort to stop Elena this time as she walked straight past her. Elena kept walking without looking back, knowing that her friend was staring straight into her back. She knew that she had just dealt Rihanna some harsh words, but enough was enough. She did wonder vaguely why Rihanna hadn't followed her straight away, but didn't let her mind dwell of it for too long before slipping through the dark doorway into the vampire base.

It was just as Elena remembered; completely dark around the whole place, with a vague, unidentifiable source of light making it just possible to see. The great hall she was in was just as dismal and dirty as it had been the last time she was there, but there seemed to be new junk lying around. It only took her a few seconds of scanning her surroundings for Elena to identify the dim source of light.

Laying by the wall to Elena's left was a pile of various colored materia. Although the materia was familiar to Elena, it still seemed to emit an odd sort of glow compared to normal materia. She walked slowly over to them, her heart pounding almost in time with her hesitant footsteps, and kneeled over to examine the pile. Fire, bolt… barrier… cure… almost all of them Elena could imagine a use for, and considering she was now on her own it would be even more essential that she had as much materia as possible. She only had a cure materia, and a weak ice on her, because her magic skills were possibly not as up to scratch as they should have been.

As Elena reached over to pick one of them up, her heart leapt as she heard definite footsteps behind her. 1, 2, 3 steps… before they came to a stop. The blond could almost feel someone's eyes on the back of her head as she drew her hand backwards a little too quickly. She caught one of the glowing orbs on the top of the pile, which fell to the floor, making a sickening cracking noise at it came to a stop. Elena cringed and tried to stay as deadly still as possible, but a loud sigh behind her was too much. Crying out slightly, the blond leapt to her feet and ran, as fast as she could, down the nearest passageway.

She had absolutely no clue whether whoever the person was had followed her or not, but Elena had no desire to stop running. Her breathing ripped through her chest, so fast it was beginning to pain her, but she would not stop. It was only when a sharp cramp shot down her left hand side that she stopped.

The young lady had not been paying attention to where she had gone at all, and her current surroundings were completely unfamiliar to her. She didn't even think they'd been there all the other times they'd paid visit to the vampires. She pulled one of her own materia out of her pocket and held it up, desperately trying to peer into the darkness. Her breathing was too loud, and she was sure anyone would notice her by hearing her pounding heart. Someone could be standing two feet away from her and she couldn't see.

Suddenly, without even feeling it coming, Elena gasped for breathe and lowered herself onto the floor. She kneeled as low as she could and felt the warm, salty tears pouring down her face.

"How could you be so fucking stupid, Elena!" she sobbed to herself. She had argued with Rihanna, she had let Reno go… and now she was alone. Completely alone, with no inkling as to where she was.

Frantically, Elena tried to control her emotions, and breathed in and out deeply. However, the calmer she became, the surer she was that she could hear something. No, not something… someone. For some reason though, it didn't unnerve Elena. It was someone weakened, someone coughing, or gasping for breath.

As quietly as she could, Elena drew her gun from her waistband and stayed crouched low to the ground, facing the direction from which the sound was coming, and held her hand holding the materia as far out as she could. As she crawled slowly across the hard ground the sound did indeed become louder, and almost became a whimpering. Eventually, something in front of her caught Elena's eye. Something, almost definitely someone laying on the floor, came into Elena's field of vision, and she would recognize that figure anywhere…

He was still alive, she could tell from his faint, rattling breathing. Whether he was conscious however was a different story. She got as close as she could get and put her hand towards him.

"Reno?" She said, shaking his shoulder gently. When she got no response she moved herself so she was at his other side, and rolled him so he was laying on his back. She called his name again and he moaned slightly.

There was something strange about the redheads appearance, but Elena couldn't put her finger on it. His skin was very, very pale, and his tattoos looked strangely dark. Even with his eyes closed, Elena could see exhaustion etched on his features. It was a combination that was all too horribly familiar.

Suddenly, the redheads eyes snapped open, but he didn't look straight at Elena. Instead, he looked right ahead of him and struggled to hit feet.

"Are you okay, Reno?" Elena asked, grabbing Reno's right arm to steady him. The redhead nodded.

"I'm fine." he said, his voice strangely husky and quiet. He brushed off his jacket and looked around, slightly confusedly. "Where's Rihanna?"

"I- I don't know." A pang of guilt shot through Elena's chest, but she ignored it. "Reno, what happened?"

"I dunno… must've gotten caught or somethin'" Reno muttered, still not looking Elena in the eye. "Let's go."

The redhead wasted no time in heading off down a corridor, but Elena was reluctant to follow him. She was almost certain of what had just happened to Reno, and if she was right, there was a good chance she would end up dead.

'It's just you now, Elena. Don't mess up'

Still very cautious, Elena followed the redhead, gun at the ready, through the darkness. She couldn't help but wonder about Rihanna, and feel guilty because now, thanks to Elena's foolishness, all three of the individuals were in horrific danger.

Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer. Elena had never even thought about that saying before, despite being told it various times as a child. Right now was the first time she had ever considered the value of going through with such a philosophical thing. With Reno in her sights, she was much safer than she would be in she ran off.

Suddenly, whilst Elena was wrapped up in her own thoughts, Reno stopped walking and turned around, staring at Elena for the first time since she'd found him. There was a strange glint in his eyes, despite the fact that visibility was not particularly high. Elena stepped closer to him, staring determinedly at his neck.

"Let me see it." Elena said, putting her hand forward to move his collar out of way. She was caught in the act however by Reno's cat-like reflexes kicking in and his hand snapped around Elena's wrist. The blond gasped and looked up at her companion.

"Surprised, 'Laney?" He grinned, revealing a glinting row of sharp teeth.

A/N: There ya go! I hope you enjoyed it! And I'm starting to get back my cliffhanger writing ability. Cookies for people who know what's gonna happen!