After Fall: The Looming Darkness

I felt really uneasy when Lightning told me she wouldn't be back from Eden until the next day. It wasn't because I thought she was wrong - I didn't think dad would try anything either, not since lawyers were already involved. But... there's just something... oddly familiar about all of this. Like I've been here before, stuck in the middle of warring factions that are fighting for my body and soul...

It's probably because of these dreams I've been having ever since I saw dad in that theatre. I keep seeing this... this darkness... coming down the hall of the theatre like a giant tidal wave that wants to swallow me whole. Everyone is consumed by it, even dad. I always wake up before it gets to me, but it's still... terrifying. Serah would probably say it's a manifestation of all my worries, and she'd probably be right. But...

What if she was wrong?

It's unusually quiet in the house, even with the five of us sharing a room. I stare up at the dark ceiling above us, Dajh on my right and Snow to my left. In the old days, when Snow and Serah still lived with us, it seemed like Snow snored loudly and constantly through the night. Now his breathing is almost as quiet as Serah's and I... I can't sleep. I'm... not nervous, really. I just want Lightning to be home already, I want things to go back to the way they were before I ran into my dad at that theatre. I wish I could go back in time and convince myself not to go with Yuj and Maqui that night, just to keep it from happening. I wish it was that simple, but it's not.

Frustrated, I carefully slide out from between Dajh and Snow, and tip-toe towards the door. I open it and it creaks slightly, but not even Dajh - the lightest sleeper I've ever met - so much as stirs. I slip out into the hall and shut the door behind me, then make my way quietly down stairs.

According to the clock in the the living room, it's half past one in the morning. Snow had told me to put Dajh to bed at eight last night, and then Serah insisted I go to bed at ten. I was still awake when they brought Noel in and settled down beside me at eleven. Just thinking about it makes me feel exhausted, but I can't ignore this feeling that something is off somewhere.

I walk into the kitchen and fill a glass with water that I quickly gulp down. I'm not really hungry, but I think about trying to find something to snack on when I see a shadow move out of the corner of my eye.

At first, I think that Snow or Serah must've woken up when I came downstairs. My heart is pounding painfully in my chest, my throat suddenly tight with fear. I turn my head to try to see if I can make out the shape of the person standing in the shadows before I flip the switch to turn on the kitchen light. There's no one there - it must've been a trick of my imagination.

I sigh in relief, then open the refridgerator door to browse through the leftovers for anything that sounds good.

That's when someone grabs me from behind. A hand clamps over my mouth, even as my arms are pinned to my sides. I try to struggle, but the person holding me is pretty strong.

I'm dragged from the house and out onto the porch. I know that whoever's on guard duty by the ridge isn't going to be looking towards the house, and even if they were, there's not much they can see in the darkness. But I have to make some sort of stand, so I do what Vanille would've done if she'd been in my place: I stomp on my would-be-kidnapper's foot as hard as I can, then bite his hand until he loosens the grip he's got on me.

Then I run. I run toward the ridge to get help from the night guard, but as I get closer, I can see Cecil slumped over at his post. I don't stop to check on him, not knowing if I'm being pursued. I leap over the two-foot high fence and head for the path that will take me towards the winding trails of the Yaschas Massif.

"Come back here you little punk!" I hear the man's voice before a weight hits me from behind and almost topples me over the ledge. Rough hands force me onto my back, and I'm staring up at a masked intruder.

I manage to aim a fira spell at my attacker, but the joy I feel is short-lived. The flames are extinguished almost immediately - he was probably expecting I'd react that way.

"Let me go!" I shout as the man pins my wrists together in one of his large hands so he can bind them together with plastic cords. I'm trying to get away, but the guy is sitting on my thighs - I can't go anywhere. "When my friends figure out what happened -"

"By the time that happens, we'll be long gone and they won't know where to start looking for you." the man replies as he cinches the cords so tight that the plastic digs into my skin. "So shut up and stop squirming before I make you stop, capiche?"

I'm quickly running out of options. I don't have enough leverage to struggle much as the man stands up and drags me with him by the grip he has on my bound wrists. I can't cast another spell without my hands free, and there's no one to hear me if I yell for help. I'm feeling a bit... desperate.

"If my father put you up to this -" I try to reason with my kidnapper, but before I can he backhands me hard enough to knock me off-balance. My vision is swimming as I'm dragged bodily further up the ridge, further away from any possible help. My heart beats so quickly that I think it's going to explode, my whole body feels like it's on fire.

Slowly, I feel pain blossoming in my bones. It starts off as an ebbing ache, and builds until I could swear I was being electrocuted. My kidnapper shoves me away suddenly, and I scoot backwards awkwardly with my hands bound the way that they are. The man opens his mouth to scream, but no sound escapes. I watch in horror as bright gold flashes of light seem to envelope him, flickering in-and-out of existence until my attacker is nothing but a mass of gold light.

Almost instantly, the gold figure erupts with a noise like a thunderclap, and the pain of my body disappears as quckly and unexpectedly as it came.

That's the last thing I remember before unconsciousness takes me.

~fin?