Yeah I know. I'm a meanie-head. So sue me.
He watched with supreme anger and sadness as Sheilia bit into Tifa's neck. The brunette's eyes were wide open, terrified and full of pain. They bore into his skin, and continued to do so even when they weren't focused on him as she was dropped to the ground.
"Tifa!" he yelled, rushing to her. The vampire jumped back, laughing.
"Approach her at your own risk." She giggled again.
Kneeling down on the dirt next to his friend, he could do nothing to help her. Her body was still, her eyes staring up into the blue canopy above them. Sometimes the venom was too much for a person's body, and they couldn't take it. He thought she was dead, gone away from him forever. Everything about her seemed lifeless, even her eyes. He always remembered them to be the most vibrant part about her, other than her smile. But now, her eyes were as blank and glassy as an empty mirror. Her smile wasn't there; why would it be? She died in pain. It hurt him so bad.
Oh God. What have I gotten her into? What have I done? He felt the tears begin to well up, but fought them. It was hard. First Zack, then Aerith, and now . . .
But then, she began convulsing.
Her body twisted and arched, her breathing erratic and heavy. She was already changing because she wasn't as resistant to things as him. He didn't even show the symptoms until yesterday when he had a small transformation at home. The day he was bit, Vincent found and treated him the best he could, soaking all his bandages in holy water before wrapping them around his body. That was all he could do, because the warrior couldn't down anything. Even when he took Cloud home, most of his wounds had reopened. The water hadn't helped him heal, just kept him from changing. But Tifa wasn't as resistant to the change as he was.
Cloud believed that he could still save her. He dug around in his belt for holy water, garlic, something that would help him save his friend. But when he looked up, it was too late.
He was staring into the blood red eyes of a vampire. The thing that pained him the most wasn't the fact that it was Tifa, but that he saw no hint of recognition in them.
Tifa's eyes had always been a strange color. There weren't many people who had burgundy eyes, and that's what appealed most to men other than any apparent aspects of her body. But now, they weren't the friendly, soft ruby color he was accustomed to. They were bright red, and evil. Cloud never thought that anything could make Tifa look evil until this day.
But even then, as he stared into the eyes of his near death, she didn't seem demented to him.
"Tifa . . ." he whispered. She snarled, striking him across the face. His whole cheek began to bleed. He saw her lick her lips, crouching to pounce on him.
"No."
He was surprised to hear Sheilia's voice, shocked to see that Tifa listened, and even more confused when he wasn't being pulled apart. Doesn't she want me dead? Why didn't she attack me before, while I paid attention to Teef? Why didn't she let her attack me just now?
The wicked laughter of the older demented one rang through the air. "As you can see, your friend is now my friend. She does not remember you, nor does she give a damn about you. She will not listen to you, only me. She remembers nothing about her past life as a human. Only of her life now as one of my kind." Sheilia tapped her foot, thinking. Cloud's heart ached when he saw Tifa recoil back to her, crouched at her side, ready to kill him, almost like someone's loyal dog. "Hmm . . . This didn't happen to me. Shenin and I remembered our human lives. But I think what her problem is the fact that she has mako in her body. The venom from my fangs interacted with it, causing her to forget everything except how to be what she is now. Yes. Shenin told me about that before." Her eyes met with the warrior's. "Let me ask you something. When you first had your symptoms, did you remember her? Did you know of anything other than how to be a vampire?" He didn't answer. "Well, that explains it." She smirked. Tifa looked at Cloud and snapped her jaws, signifying everything Sheilia just said.
She doesn't recognize me at all. All she wants is my blood. But, what am I supposed to do? I can't fight her, not even like this. She's still my friend. There's got to be something, anything that will convince her of that.
His thoughts were distracted by Sheilia's voice.
"Tell me something pet." He grimaced at what she called the brunette. "How much do you want to drink what is flowing through his veins right now?"
Her answer was nothing but a growl.
Sheilia's demonic smile made him shudder involuntarily. "That's a good enough answer for me." Her fingers snapped.
Before Cloud knew it, he was on the ground, pinned underneath Tifa. She snarled, her over sized canines dripping saliva like Sheilia's had earlier. She snapped her teeth, close to his face, but did not bite him. He stared deep into her red eyes, trying desperately to find something that could help him . . . that could help her. As he watched for that something, her eyes flickered from bright red to burgundy. She's trying to fight it.
"Tifa . . ." She growled again. "Tifa, I know you remember me. I know you do."
She swallowed. "N-no." Her eyes flickered again, her voice clipped. "I don't . . . I don't remember you. I don't know you! All I want . . ." Her focus went to his bleeding cheek. She licked her lips, her eyes flashing once more.
"Do not bite him. You can taste him, but that is it."
Tifa bent down, her tongue going across the side of his face slowly. Soon, her mouth was there, sucking the life from his body.
"Stop it. I said taste. Don't worry; we can both share him later."
Whatever blood was left in her mouth was swallowed. Her head came back up to look down at him, her lips a deep red.
"How does he taste?"
"Delicious."
Red to burgundy.
"Tifa, stop this. It's me. Don't you remember me at all?" She clenched her teeth. "It's me. It's Cloud, Tifa. We grew up next door to each other."
Red to burgundy.
"No. I d-don't know you. I've always been this way."
He shook his head. "No. You were different. You were human." I've got to buy me some time. If I don't have some kind of advantage over her before Sheilia tells her to kill me, I'll be done for. Tifa'll rip me apart, and have no remorse for it.
Red to burgundy.
"I was n-never human. I've always been this way. I despise your kind. I hate you."
He winced when she applied more pressure to his arms, pinning him tighter to the ground.
"We weren't very good friends, but we knew each other when we were little. Everyone loved you, and hated me. You played with me sometimes, though."
She shook her head, her eyes averting their gaze. "No," she whispered.
"Yes." Her nails were digging into his skin through his clothes. He began to bleed from the piercings. She seemed to not have noticed.
Just a little longer. If Tifa could get me out of the darkness when we fell into the Lifestream, then I can do the same for her now.
"Our town was destroyed by Sephiroth. My mother was killed, and so was your father."
Red to burgundy. This time they stayed their natural color two seconds longer than usual. I'm getting to her.
"We were in Avalanche together after you found me. We traveled the world. Me and you, Barrett, Yuffie, Vincent."
Red to burgundy for four seconds longer.
"Cid, Nanaki, and . . . and Aerith."
Ten seconds longer. Her head snapped up to look at him. Her jaws were still dripping, but it didn't matter to Cloud. She was remembering.
"N-no . . ."
"After it all . . ." he winced again, "Barrett let us keep Marlene. Don't you remember her? She thinks of you as her mother. You're the only real mother figure she's had. The only one she can recall."
Sheilia growled a distance away. "Stop it Strife!"
"Then I found Denzel and brought him back to live with us."
Twelve seconds.
"Kill him!"
"I left, and came back after we got rid of Sephiroth again. Rid of the other three."
"I said kill him! Kill him now!"
Tifa did nothing. She sat there, her eyes digging into Cloud. "Kill . . ."
"We became a family. We were always a family."
Fifteen seconds. Confusion showed in her eyes. "Family . . ."
Cloud grimaced. His wounds were beginning to take a bigger toll. "Yes. A family."
"Kill him now!!"
He saw it. Her eyes began to water, but then she shook it away. "N-no! I have to have . . . your blood."
He thought he was winning, but the more Sheilia spoke, the less affect he had on Tifa. Her words were stronger than his because of what they were. If Sheilia keeps talking, than he'll be done for. He sighed. "Then have it."
She did nothing. "What?"
"Have it Tifa. Take it all."
From the sad look in his face, she knew he meant it. "Why? Why won't you fight me? Do something!" She applied more pressure to his arms as if pushing on him. He was beginning to frustrate her.
"Because, I can't hurt you anymore. I don't want to hurt you anymore. I've done enough. You're my friend, no matter what. You're the only real family I've got. We've been to hell and back, and we're still here. I never though this would happen to you, but it has."
"Rip him apart!"
Her face inched even closer to his body, but hesitantly. She's still fighting.
"I'm sorry Tifa. I'm sorry for everything I've done to you. I'm sorry for leaving you this morning. It was wrong. I shouldn't have done that to you. But last night . . . I will never regret last night. I just should've been better about it."
Twenty-five seconds.
"Bite him!!" That was the shrillest he'd ever heard Sheilia's voice.
Tifa's mouth let out a deep snarl. Her lips came closer to him, to his neck, but he could still see her eyes. Please Tifa . . .
"I'll never stop loving you either."
Red to burgundy. It stayed.
"Kill him now!!"
Her face buried into the space between his head and shoulder. Cloud braced himself for her teeth, but felt no pain. Her mouth was right at his pulse point, but she did nothing. He didn't feel the blood being drained from him, or his limbs being ripped from his body. There was nothing but her breath hitting his neck repeatedly. "Family . . ." She was silent for a minute longer. "Cloud . . ." She came up, looking deep into his cerulean gaze. Her eyes were red again, but he saw recognition in them this time. "Love . . . Cloud."
"What are you doing?!" Sheilia sounded frantic.
Tifa got off of Cloud, standing in front of him. He tried to sit up, but everything was sore. "Cloud . . . and I have . . . We have a family." Her attention was to the ground, her hair covering her face. "We have . . . we have love." She sounded strained, as if she were still trying to fight what had damned her.
She's winning.
"No! You have nothing! You don't know him!" The demented one's eyes were almost bulging out of their sockets.
Tifa's head snapped up. "You don't know anything about me. You know nothing about what I have."
Sheilia snarled, running towards them for Cloud.
Tifa growled, low in her throat before pouncing.
Cloud watched as his friend's body collided with the other's. He heard some screams, and then Tifa landed firmly onto the other vampire. She stared down at her for a solitary minute, then began ripping her to shreds. Sheilia fought back, scratching and clawing to try and get away from what everyone knew to be her death. Once she even hit Tifa across on the side of her head. The brunette snarled, bending down and clamping hard on Sheilia's shoulder. She moved her head to the side, tearing off part of her arm. The corrupted one's screeching filled the air, shrill and dire. Tifa's hands scratched her face and grabbed her limbs. He heard the menacing sound of hands and arms, legs being ripped off. Never did he think that she would be able to do something like this. But he thought about who was doing it. It was the vampire part of Tifa. She let it go, just not on him.
He let out a big sighing relief for that.
Cloud, with the help of his giant sword, stood, limping over to the scene. Tifa was finishing, he could tell. Bits and pieces as well as whole body parts were sprawled across the ground. Tifa sat upon what remained of Sheilia's body. She was heaving with rage and bitterness. The scary fact was that Sheilia was still alive through it all.
"And for the record," Tifa bit through her teeth, "I'm no one's pet."
Her hand came down across the other vampire's neck.
Sheilia's head flew a few yards away. It hit the ground, disappearing in black smoke. When Tifa stood, the rest of her body did the same.
Slowly she turned towards Cloud. The bright red color was fading, being replaced by the natural burgundy hue. The vampire was gone. There was only his best friend left. His love.
He felt it leaving him, too, as if it disappeared with the smoke in the air.
She stared at him, then down at her hands. They were covered in blood, soaked to the bone. Her mouth was the same way. Her eyes widened, her body shook. "Oh God," she whispered. "What . . . what did I do?"
Cloud gazed upon her for a moment. The cut on her stomach had disappeared to be replced by a scar when she changed. It stayed that way now. The only thing that was bleeding was a couple of scratches along her arms and from the side of her head. He stepped to her, holding her in the tightest hug he'd ever brought upon her. "You just did the best damn thing I've ever seen."
She struggled to get out of his grasp, staring up into his eyes. She noticed his bleeding face. "I . . . I did that to you." Her eyes watered. "I'm . . . I'm so sorry." She collapsed.
Cloud caught her, holding her again. "No Teef. I'm sorry. About this, about--"
He was silenced by her lips on his. He tasted the bitter blood on her lips, but ignored it.
"I know. I remember. You said . . . you said you'd always love me. You said you'd never stop loving me. Do you mean it?"
He nodded. "Yes." She smiled, then her eyes fluttered.
The last thing she saw were the tears falling from his face onto hers.
Hope you guys enjoyed this fic!
Finally, Cloud did something right...