Some of them slept better than others. Ryu was too anxious over the disappearance of his best friend to get much rest. He was fairly good at keeping a handle on his emotions, not really one for things like anxiety and nervousness. But when it came to something like this, it was a little more difficult to make himself stay calm enough to sleep. He couldn't help but feel useless, just sitting here and not even bothering to search for his friend. He knew, perhaps, that such thinking was a little foolish, but he couldn't help it.
Sakura was in the room with him, torn between wanting to explore the creepy, empty house and knowing that she should probably get to sleep. She was a little frightened by the place, she could admit it. After seeing what had happened to Vega's parents, she began to scare herself into thinking their ghosts were still here. Maybe it was a little disrespectful, but the thought wouldn't leave her head. She turned over to look at Ryu, who looked like he was asleep, but she couldn't be sure. She decided she'd give it a few more minutes before she would leave the room, her curiosity getting the better of her.
In another room, Charlie bunked with Guile. Everyone was grouped in pairs, no one wanting to leave anyone alone in a place this big. The two talked for a little while, catching up some as they hadn't yet had much of a chance to do so, but both ultimately knew they should get some rest. Each picked a corner of the floor and did their best to get to sleep. The furniture, for the first time in their lives, seemed less appealing than the floor, even though at this point, both probably had the same amount of dust and dirt on them. But the floor didn't have that almost slimy texture as the unused bed, which helped a lot in the decision making process.
Elsewhere, Maya decided to keep the android in the same room as herself. While Rose protested some at first, she ultimately relinquished the privilege to Maya. It seemed that this woman was still dedicated to her job at this point. As far as she was concerned, regardless of what spirit was inhabiting the body of the android, it was still property of the United States, and still her assignment. If she let anything happen to it, her job would be on the line. Not to mention, the fate of the planet business allegedly going on. Rose decided then to stay with Chun-Li, who most certainly wasn't going to share a space with Bison.
But the general had no intention of sleeping. He left Vega on a couch. No one else had been willing to touch the man who could light the place up like Hiroshima on a whim, so it left him no choice. He stayed awake, unwilling to risk the party moving on without him. He made rounds of the home, moving restlessly from one room to the next. He poked half-heartedly through drawers and cabinets, searching for anything that could prove useful. He couldn't say he was surprised to find nothing worthwhile. Glass crunched occasionally underfoot where some of the panes in the cabinets had shattered. A wine glass was tipped on its side on a table, the stem of another still in tact on the ground. The kitchen smelled horribly, and he hurried through it, returning to the couch he'd left Vega on. The room provided a view of the bottom of the stairs, giving him a place to watch for anyone trying to sneak out of here. He also couldn't be sure how Vega would respond when he eventually woke up. Bison did not relish the idea of hunting Vega down if he snapped and took off from waking up here. So he sat in the chair, put his boots up on the coffee table, and waited. There wasn't much else to do now.
He wasn't exactly sure of the time-possibly nearing one or two in the morning-when he heard creaking footsteps on the stairs. His eyes found the source of the noise immediately. Chun-Li walked quietly into the room and sat across from him on the other side of the coffee table. He raised an eyebrow at her, wondering whether or not she was here to try to convince him to leave. He had no intention of doing that, and wasn't in the mood to hear it. "Do you need something?" he asked when she said nothing.
"I've been after you since I was eighteen years old. Nearly ten years now."
"Are you planning something special for the anniversary?" he said.
She snorted, and shook her head, looking around the room. "You've consumed my life for the better part of a decade," she continued. "And here you are. Just sitting right there. And I'm finally capable of bringing you down." She held up a hand, demonstrating her unique talent that interested him so much, little ribbons of water dancing around her fingers. Then they were gone. "But then this comes along, and I can't." She smirked, amused with the irony of it all.
"Better luck next time, then."
"When did you learn about what happened to him?" she asked, suddenly changing topics and nodding over at Vega. Bison glanced over at the blond on the couch, then turned back to Chun-Li.
"From the time I hired him." He was beginning to figure out her angle here.
"All this time I've spent hating him," she continued, shaking her head. "Despising him almost as much as I do you, and after seeing all of that-" she waved a hand back towards the room where Vega had nearly burned them all alive, "I realised, he's right. We were just alike. We were both out for some kind of revenge, and that need for revenge twists you and contorts you into something barely human and...I'm lucky. I was able to figure that out, and stop before I turned into...into him. Seeing him, knowing that I came so close to being what he is...I'm so lucky, and I almost want to thank him."
But it was Bison's turn to shake his head, and he spoke in a lower voice than before. "You aren't the same," he said in a low voice, eyes rolling up towards the roof. He looked back down at her. "You have always been out for revenge. Perhaps for him, it began as a need for it, but it's certainly different now. His mind is completely destroyed, and no, there is no hope for him. I know, because I made sure of it. I needed to make him sicker, more crazed, paranoid...It's in my best interest to surround myself with self-destructive, angry people like him." He held up his own hand this time, the room lit with the sporadic, crackling glow of psycho power. "It makes me stronger."
"You're a leech."
"Call it whatever you like. There is no shortage of broken people in this world, and I give them a greater purpose."
She frowned. It wasn't that she suddenly cared for Vega-he was going behind bars the minute this was all over, and if she was lucky, she could get Bison at the same time. She simply pitied him now when she hadn't before. When her father had died, she remembered how much anger she felt, how the only thing that seemed to matter anymore was getting back at Shadaloo and the people who had done this to her. She remembered how often she found herself feeling suddenly helpless and lonely without him in her life, and wondered how many times Vega had felt that way after his mother died. While she found healthier ways to deal with her loss, and friends who provided a support system for her, Vega seemed to have gone down the opposite path. And Bison had been there to facilitate it. Vega was far from innocent. But being found by people like Bison in your most volatile and desperate moments was the quickest way to ruin your life for good. Bison was right-there were plenty of people in the world with horrible things happening to them, and there were just as many people ready and waiting to prey on them.
"Oh, what the hell!" Chun-Li looked over at the source of the sudden exclamation. Vega pushed himself up into a sitting position with one hand pressed against his forehead and his eyes screwed shut. "I swear to God, you are giving me brain damage when you do these things."
"I wouldn't have to do it if you behaved less like a child and more like an adult," Bison snapped.
Vega opened his eyes, ready to say something very crude, when he caught a glimpse of a third party and hesitated. Then he suddenly remembered all at once where they were, and he forgot all of his irritation with Bison. "Why are we here? I thought I dreamed this," he said. "I don't want to be here."
"We're here until morning, so you may as well accept that and go to sleep," Bison ordered.
"No," Vega said. "No, we aren't staying here, we can't stay here."
"We have to sleep sometime, Vega, and this is as safe a place as any to rest," Chun-Li said. The place wasn't dangerous, albeit a little creepy in the dark like this.
"Safe?!" he cried. A short, deranged laugh chased the word out of his mouth. "Sure, safe, I definitely thought this place was safe when I was being beaten all of the time!"
She looked away from him, uncomfortable with how his eyes were darting all over the place like some animal trapped in a cage and looking for an exit. "I didn't mean-"
"Why are you still talking?" he hissed back.
"Go back to sleep," Bison said with an air of finality. "We aren't leaving until morning, and that's still a ways off."
"Then you can stay here, I'm leaving," Vega said, stepping on the table as he headed for the door.
Bison sighed, having seen that result coming from a mile away. Bison began to warn him that his patience wasn't going to last much longer, but a noise cut him off. Vega stiffened, rooted to the spot. Music was playing from the other room, and someone was singing along with it. "Mais la vie separe...Ceux qui s'aiment..." came the voice faintly from another room.
"What is that?" Chun-Li whispered, glancing up at the others. Vega seemed unable to will himself to take another step, and Bison stood now, listening intently.
"Tout doucemont, sans faire de bruit!" the voice continued to sing. It wasn't Rose, and definitely not Maya or Sakura. Chun-Li got to her feet, took a step towards the source of the voice, but this action seemed to suddenly bring Vega back to reality. He grabbed her by the arm and shook his head. "No, let's just leave."
Upstairs, Sakura paused in her exploration of a photo album, ears perking up at the noise from downstairs. She wandered towards it, spotting Bison, Chun-Li, and Vega below, and whispered, "What's going on?" She'd wondered if perhaps there had been some sort of altercation, and was ready to get some help if that were the case. But that couldn't be it-Chun-Li didn't look upset, but curious, and Vega looked near the verge of a panic attack, while Bison seemed fairly concerned about something. Then she heard the singing, too, and drew her brows together. "Who is that?" she whispered.
"Doesn't matter, we're going now," Vega whispered back as Sakura made her way down the stairs to meet the others.
"Et la mer efface sur le sable...les pas des amants desunis..."
"Stay there," Chun-Li said to Sakura, holding a hand up. The noise was attracting more attention now, and Charlie and Guile had both made their way out to see what the problem was. When it was explained to them that the source of the voice was a mystery, they joined the others in an effort to solve the puzzle. But Vega already had the answer, and was still pleading with them to start heading out. But they all seemed bent on ignoring him and finding out who'd apparently snuck into the place without anyone noticing.
"Since you went away," the woman continued along with the song, "The days grow long... And soon I'll hear old winter songs..." The woman sat with her back to them, gazing out the window as she brushed her fingers through long, blonde hair. Streaks of red were dripping through it, making them all feel a little nauseous. That couldn't be what they thought it was. An old record player was spinning a dust covered vinyl, playing it perfectly in spite of it. "But I miss you most of all, my darling, when the autumn leaves start to fall..."
"Who is that?" Charlie whispered. The woman turned around now, as if surprised at the sound of the voice. The image was an unsettling one. She was a ghostly pale shade, eyes completely black and blood running from her eyes, nose, and mouth. A fresh bullet wound still bled from her forehead, and she tilted her head at them as she said, "Mi pollito? Donde has estado, mi pollito?"
"What is going on?" Guile whispered in disgust.
"Jesus Christ, please," Vega whispered frantically, grabbing the sides of his head.
"We shouldn't have come here," Bison said with a nod. But the woman was already very interested in them now, standing up, picking a knife up from the table as she did so.
"Por qué no volviste a mi?" she asked, shaking her head and arching her eyebrows in inquiry.
"Maybe we should leave now," Charlie said with a nod. No one disagreed, turning away in order to leave, only to be met with the corpse not more than a foot in front of them. Chun-Li gave a short cry, being closest to the ghost now. The woman didn't seem too concerned with most of them, continuing to stare at Vega.
"Que me dejaste..." She reached out a bloodied hand and he squirmed out of the way.
"Detente..." he said, voice shaking. "Dios mio, por favor, detente."
"Oh, my chick," the woman answered in thickly accented English, her voice sweet and matronly. "God doesn't listen to the prayers of the devil." In an instant, a horrifying, inhuman roar toar from the woman's throat as she took a swing with the knife. It would've sliced Vega's jugular clean in two had Bison not grabbed him by the arm and thrust him out of the way of the blade. Her eyes burned a deep purple now, and she tightened her grip on the handle of the knife. The noise was enough to wake the rest of the sleeping inhabitants of the house up, and they rushed from their rooms to find what had caused it. When Rose laid eyes on the ghost, she demanded Maya to power up the machine and bring it out here, knowing what was behind this.
It headed for Vega again, but then, the calm voice of the android caused the apparition to hesitate and glance calmly over her shoulder. "I think this is a very unfair move," he said.
The woman didn't seem too concerned with the machine anymore, however, and continued her advances. "Se un niño bueno, pollito." She curled a finger at him, as if indicating for him to come to her. Vega stared at the apparition. This wasn't something he was very prepared to deal with, and he wasn't sure how to respond to it. Few people in the room were, for that matter, being able only to stare as well. But the machine took a step towards them, ready to end this. She continued to ignore it as it approached, and she stood face to face with Vega.
"Stop," he said, trying to appear confident and failing.
"No amas tu madre?" she asked, appearing deeply hurt. "No quieres venir conmigo?" One pale hand entangled itself in his hair and he froze at the touch. The blade bit into his side and she stumbled a bit as he was suddenly pulled from her path. Then the machine took hold of her. Her blackened eyes flew open wide, and she cried out for Vega's help. His head snapped up-he knew he couldn't do anything, and beyond that, she'd just tried to stab him. This wasn't his mother, although it still hurt just as much to hear her scream like that. He squeezed his eyes shut at her shouting, as if she were being injured and beaten. The machine hadn't done anything to harm her. It took the apparition by the shoulders, and said, "Your turn is over now." She shrieked again, crying for Vega, accusing him of hating her, abandoning her, and why wasn't he helping her now if he loved her? He gritted his teeth, the pain in his side helping to remind him that this was not his mother. But the sting of the accusations from such a familiar and beloved voice, one he hadn't heard in a little over a decade, was perhaps just as painful.
Then, the room was silent again, and the apparition had disappeared into a fine black mist which seemed to evapourate into nothing. No one really knew what to say at that point. The machine broke the silence, turning its eyes to Vega and saying, "He will not come back for some time. But as long as you are in this party, the enemy will always know where we are."
Vega squeezed his eyes shut, holding a hand to the wound on his side. She hadn't hurt him badly. At least he had that much to be grateful for. He looked up, and asked, "Why? Why me?"
"You and Fire are his pieces," the machine responded. "He can feel where you are at all times. You are like a tracking device, and he uses your signal to find the others. But if he can kill just one of you, then the game is over. We must be more careful."
Vega looked down, feeling something along the lines of embarrassment. It was a little stronger than that. Guilt, even. But he gritted his teeth, and spat, "Well what do you want me to do? I can't really help all of that."
"You can. As your choices brought you to his side, so too can they deliver you from him." Vega frowned. How, exactly, was he supposed to get away from this 'enemy' if he wasn't even aware of how he'd fallen to him in the first place?
Sensing his frustrations, Rose tried to switch the topic. "Perhaps we should try to get whatever rest we still can before morning comes."
"I don't think I'll ever get to sleep again," Sakura whispered, heart still racing from the brief display of horror she'd witnessed. It wasn't enough that this house was creepy-it was also genuinely haunted.
"We can sleep in shifts," Charlie offered, hoping that would make her-and anyone else who felt nervous about it-feel a little more comfortable. "And maybe we should all stay in the same room."
"There are ten of us here," Guile said. "How should we do this?"
"I'd say two shifts of five people. The more people awake at one time, the better," Ryu put in.
"How many hours left til morning?" Maya asked, rubbing her eyes. Now that the initial terror of the attack had worn off, she was already feeling tired again. The thing hadn't been after her, so it was easier to not get anxious over it.
Bison glanced down at his phone. "Roughly six hours until sunrise, if this is still accurate," he said. "So two shifts of three hours."
"Who gets to go to sleep and who has to stay up?" Charlie asked, looking around.
"I'm not tired," Sakura, Vega, and Bison all said at once. Then Sakura cried out from habit, "Jinx, you owe me a soda..." voice faltering as she realised the people she'd just jinxed wouldn't play along with a game like that. Bison glanced over at her, raising an eyebrow, but she saw the corners of Vega's lips twitch up just slightly, and even if he was smiling at her and not with her, it made her feel better.
"I'll stay awake," Ryu said with a nod. He'd gotten so little sleep to begin with, but he knew it would take a lot to get back to bed at this point. He didn't want to deprive someone else of rest if they could get it.
"And I guess I can be lucky contestant number five," Charlie put in with a shrug. He looked over at the others. "Sweet dreams. See you guys in a few hours." While the others did their best to get their last few remaining hours of sleep, the first shift stayed quiet for the most part. Sakura realised that she should refrain from making noise, but at the same time, the silence was what helped make the house so creepy. She kept looking around, expecting to see another ghost or monster.
"How far away is the airport from here?" she whispered to Vega, who looked over at her and shrugged helplessly. She drew her brows together, not understanding how he could've lived here and not known where such a place was. "But...I thought you lived here." He nodded. "So why don't you know?" Again, he shrugged and shook his head.
"It's quite a walk," Bison put in, since Vega decided he wasn't talking now. He was a little irritated, but gave the younger man a pass. He was grateful just to see that he hadn't become problematic after this last attack, and the reminder that he was a tool of the enemy. "But I don't have an exact figure."
Sakura frowned. "I wish the dragons were here. Then Earth could take us where we needed to go."
"A little walking never hurts," Ryu said.
"Yeah, but it's a long way," she replied. "And wait-isn't Barcelona basically a really big beach? How far from the ocean is the airport, if the sea levels have risen?"
To that, Vega groaned, and covered his eyes with his hands in a clear show of frustration. He drew his hand over his face, but contributed nothing to the conversation.
"What?" Bison asked. Vega sighed. Bison frowned, and asked again, "What is the problem?" With a slightly louder sigh, he stood up, and left the room for a second. Everyone exchanged glances.
"I'd be a little weird right now if my dead mother just stabbed me in the ribs, so maybe we should let it slide," Charlie suggested with a shrug. But then, before anyone could say anything else, Vega had returned with a little cylinder of aluminum, sat back down beside Bison, and tossed the object at Sakura. She caught it with both hands, a little surprised, then inspected it. It was a blue can, white letters spelling out 'kas', with a stylized drawing of a green apple on the front. Pressing her lips together, she asked, "What is...man..zana?" She looked up at Vega, confused as to why he'd given her this.
"Apple. But I sure wouldn't drink it-it's nearly ten years old. I'll get you a real one some other time, florecita." Now her confusion was gone, and she smiled. It was why he hadn't been talking when he so clearly wanted to-he had to get her a soda, or he was still jinxed. "And the problem is just what she said. The airport is-or was-right on the beach."
"There aren't any private air fields around, further inland?" Charlie asked, not even bothering to ask what the can was about.
"Perhaps, but even if there are, a. I don't know where, b. they are unlikely to let us use their planes without a great deal of cash, and c., there is a high likelihood that most have evacuated already." He stopped talking for a second, and glanced around the room again as if to make sure everything was in order.
"Then how are we going to leave?" Ryu asked.
"Walk," Vega answered with a shrug. It was the only one any of them had.
updated 3/20/14