Author's note: shh...i'm not supposed to be typing right now. see, my dad said i'm not allowed to type as often because of my low geometry grade. :( i've got high grades in everything else but math. wah! it's not my fault! my teacher is like jackie chan...except he doesn't teach while running around killing ninjas...yeah!
well, that's my reason for not updating soon enough! sorry everyone who has been waiting...-hides under a rug-
well, the wait is over...i think? haha, hope you have fun reading! ehehe...eh...-sleeps-
Chapter Twenty Six: Caution Tape
I just couldn't believe it...I just couldn't. Nothing could honestly make me believe that Arson was actually in the gym, on the dance floor...and possibly somewhere else I didn't know of. I didn't want to think about it but Zexion's voice constantly nagged at the back of my head.
Arson! He's been here! He's been here!
I kept picturing that guy standing at any corner just watching and waiting for someone so he could blow them up. That's how deadly the guy seemed. I would've mistaken him for a killer. But, as I was just about to push open the exit door, I knew it.
Arson was a killer.
No, Roxas, please, please don't think something like that. No. He is not going to kill anyone. Just think back to what Olette said... Twilight Town is the safest place in the entire universe...right? Please, try to believe it, Roxas. Go on...believe it!
Feeling like I was being swarmed by thousands of voices and eyes, I banged by head once on the exit door to which one of the teachers nearly collapsed from screaming so much. They shined a light on me and I panicked, opened the door and darted outside in the cold. I could hear them calling out to me to come back, Roxas, come back...
It wasn't much like me to not respond to an adult...with the exception of an emergency. I mean, not everything was an emergency to me. If I failed a quiz, if I tripped and twisted my ankle...those things weren't emergencies. Axel lost: that was a real disaster.
xxXXxx
Of all times, of all times! Why did it have to be now? Just when I was ready to bang my door open, I realized that I had lost my house key somewhere; maybe it fell when I was running. I felt like I had been running from a ghost.
"Damn door!" I cursed and, using what was left in me, started throwing punches at it like crazy. I kicked and even tried scratching at it, not once thinking or remembering that mom was at home, possibly asleep by now. "I don't have time for this!"
Right when I felt my hands turn numb, both from the cold and from the hitting, the door swung open and I found myself in a face plant on the living room floor. I just let the pain rush right past me. I couldn't care less if I even had a brush with death. Something in my head was telling me that now wasn't the time to be concerned about myself.
"Oh, Roxas! Oh! What is...what are you doing? Do you think this is funny pounding on the door like that?! Honestly! Where is your house key? Shouldn't you have it with you?"
I took only a second to get together enough air in me to straighten up. I pushed up from the floor and rubbed my head before standing. Mom's mouth went on flapping but all I heard were buzzes and my own heart beat. I shook my head at her and broke into a fast walk toward the kitchen.
"Roxas! You get back here and tell me what's going on!"
"Sora,.." I panted.
"Sora? Is this about your brother? Why what's wrong with him?"
"No!" I said, loud enough for mom to drop her jaw. I was so gonna get killed after this. "No. Does Sora...have Riku's cell number...lying around here somewhere?" I turned to the fridge and began clawing through paper after paper that clung to the door. Pizza...school...Olette's mom...Hayner...where the hell was it? To think, the two had been best friends for millions of years and the damn number was playing hiding games with me.
It took some effort, and more screeching from mom before I was finally able to see the number on a small, ripped, crumbled up piece of paper. I tossed all the rejected numbers onto the counter and spun back toward the living room, trying to get my hands to calm down from shaking so much. I had to find some way to hold onto the paper and my cell at the same time.
Mom followed right behind me, holding her bathrobe shut over her chest with her hand ready to slap across my face. I'd let her do it, and then I'd go on calling. Nothing was gonna stop me.
I flipped my phone open and began punching in the numbers digit after digit. It felt like it took forever to type in and even longer to hold up to my mouth to speak. "Come on, pick up...Riku..." I breathed into the phone and paced back and forth on my heel.
"Roxas, can you just tell me what's wrong? Is someone hurt?" Mom held her head in her hands as she sat down on the couch, trying her best to keep her voice calm and clear. How was I supposed to answer her? Is someone hurt? I don't know...I just don't know...I wish that I did; or maybe I didn't.
"Riku...answer me..."
"Hey, this is Riku."
"Riku! Riku, hey, where're..."
"I'm not here right now so call back. If this is Sora, don't bother 'cause I hate your guts, haha! Just kidding."
"To page this person, press 1 now. Otherwise, you may hang up or leave a message after the tone."
I let out a stifled groan and bit my lip until I could taste metal from my blood. I let go when the tone came and I tried to sort out what I wanted to say first.
"Uhm, uh, Riku. Riku, it's me...uhm...Roxas, Roxas. That's me. Hey I'm just, just calling 'cause Zexion, ah, he's Axel's friend, he told me to call you and check in. I'm gonna try calling you up again but...Riku just pick up the phone ok? I've gotta know if you guys are ok...is Axel ok? I mean...call me. Call me. Bye." Hurriedly, I shut the phone and rubbed my forehead while staring at the floor.
This was hurting me so much. Too much. I was just thinking that somehow he'd show up, knocking on my door saying that he lost his way through the dance. Or maybe he went back home and couldn't get inside so he was coming to see if he could stay at our place. I shut my eyes and faintly heard tires screeching off in my head. No...nothing I made up could've been practical. Why did kidnapping have to be real?
"Roxas, honey, are you ok? Roxas?"
I opened my eyes and didn't look up. "I don't know..." I whispered.
"Honey, you have to tell me what happened. Let me help you out, ok?"
She wouldn't understand. She would end up telling the whole town that someone was missing. I didn't want this to be other people's business...I didn't want Axel to get so much attention on his pain. Then he'd be surrounded by so many people that wouldn't understand. And if I wasn't there to help him out, then he'd definitely break apart. God, Axel, where are you?
"Roxas. Are you sure you don't want to..."
Just when mom started up talking again, trying her best to console me, there was a loud banging coming from our door. I forced my head upright and, glossy-eyed, stared at the door.
"Mom! It's Sora! Open up!"
"Oh, did he forget his key too?" Mom sighed uselessly and stood up. She dragged her blue, fluffy slipper feet to the door and unlocked it, letting Sora stumble inside like he'd been thrown in by a tornado. I was hoping for someone else to tell you the truth...
"Mom, you gotta see this. All these cops are talking on their walkie-talkies around every corner. There're all saying that we've gotta stay inside our houses."
"Then why should I go see it?" Mom asked, rolling her eyes at him.
"Well...I'm guessing it's 'cause the power was cut for miles...look outside, it's like darkness ate up the place."
"Is that what this is about? Oh, Roxas, don't scare me like that!" Mom whined, turning toward me. "I know you're not fond of the dark but..."
"Roxas? When'd you get here?" Sora asked, staring at me like I had risen from the dead.
"Sora!" I said, suddenly feeling my heart jump. Sora literally jumped and stared at me. "We're going to Axel's house."
"What? Why?"
"Just listen to me! There's something...wrong...I think there's something wrong with him."
"Roxas, breathe for a sec, ok? Tell me what's wrong."
"I don't know, ok? Alright? I don't know yet. But the more we sit around here and do nothing the more..."
"Excuse me, ma'am. Do you have a minute?"
Oh what now? More people showing up on our door like abandoned kids...? I watched the shadow of the unknown person appear from behind Sora before I could see a police officer standing straight and erect in the doorway. Sora spun around and blocked mom protectively.
"Sora...yes, officer? Is there a problem?" Mom lightly pushed Sora to the side.
"A bit of a problem. There's a house a couple of neighborhoods down from you experiencing some difficulties. We're not all too sure about it but, just to keep you safe, I need to ask you and your kids to please lock yourselves in your house and to not answer the door for anyone."
"A couple of neighborhoods down? What, which house? Who?" I asked randomly but mom shut me up my raising her hand.
"I'm sorry. He's been a little shaky tonight. Alright, I understand."
"Thank you ma'am. Stay inside!" With that said, he trudged back down the steps and out of sight down the street. Mom tightly shut the door and began turning several locks, making sure to keep us air tight. No, no, no...this ruined everything.
xxXXxx
"Roxas! Aren't you going to eat something?"
I kept my head pressed tightly against my mattress and squeezed a pillow over my face. Hopefully, if I squeezed tight enough, I wouldn't be able to breathe anymore. And if that happened, then I'd be able to remove everything and everyone. No matter how hard I pressed and no matter how tight it got to breathe, my head was stuck. I couldn't throw away people like that. Especially if that person happened to be Axel.
Mom's voice eventually died off and the house fell dead silent. My blood ran cold and my head suddenly felt extremely light. Getting uncomfortable, I pushed the pillow away and sat up in bed.
Breath in, breath out...don't cry. Boys don't cry.
I turned my head to the right and noticed my calendar pinned to the wall under the moonlight. I squinted to make out how many days were left of school but each time I counted a day, that tiny, stubby little pencil blocked my view. It kept swinging weakly by a string. As it swung, the ring on my shirt began to follow its beat; weak and near death.
I had a thought that I should grab both and fling them out the window. What was I thinking? I could barely even lift a finger to touch them. There had to be a way...someway or another I was going to get out of here. Let mom ground me. Let Sora call the cops. I didn't care...I just didn't care.
I wondered if Zexion was there already...finding some way to break into Axel's house while people held him back. That could be me right now...it was gonna be me.
I slowly turned toward my window and stared outside at the pitch black town. With the power cut, no one would see me. I'd blend right in and let it steal me away. I took my time, which was hard to do, to unlock my windows and push them open without them squeaking all too much. Once they were at least halfway open, I looked over my shoulder at my door then back to the street below me.
Right...we were two stories up. I'd get myself crushed if I tried to jump from here. Defeated, I slapped the windowsill and frantically looked right then left. As if that was of any use. The dark kept me blind. I turned back to stare at the street under my window...jump, Roxas. Just jump. You can handle a little pain...
I shook my head. What was I thinking up just now? A suicide call? I looked back at my bed and thought of something just then. Now really wasn't the time to be thinking slowly. I grabbed at my sheets on the bed, removed the case on the pillow as well as the bed covers. I rolled them up together and tied each off until they were like a rope. I tied off one of my old t-shirts at the end and, without even double checking the knots, tossed the end out the window. Luckily, it fell about a story down. I guessed I could jump from there...
"Sorry, mom..." I whispered. "I'm so crazy, I know...but..." I looked down again when I suddenly heard some feedback from a microphone in the distance. Great, the cops were starting to gather and I didn't even know if our issues were related. Swiftly, I kept the other end of the fake rope under a huge pile of pillows and dirty laundry and put both feet over the edge.
Halfway down, I jumped and hit the ground like a pound of nails. I stumbled a bit and looked back up before yanking the rope, along with loose laundry, out of the window. I didn't bother to clean it up. I just took off panting down the street and to the front of my house.
If I wanted to get to Axel, it would have to be before the cops caught me.
xxXXxx
"To page this person, press 1 now. Otherwise, you may hang..."
I shut my phone again and kept on running. Why the hell wouldn't Riku pick up his phone? That just supported my thought that maybe their whole family was falling apart. Riku wouldn't be asleep at this hour. And on a Friday too! He should've been at the dance. Still running, more like limping since my right ankle was aching, I flipped open the phone and tried again only to get the stupid automatic voice.
"Shit," I hissed to the ground and shoved my phone back into my pocket. Why was this taking so damn long? Breathe...I had to breathe...just keep running and breathe.
I skidded around the corner and drew in a deep breath. This was it. If I died from what I would see, I hoped that the police would at least say I was out doing a good thing. At least for me it was. Dammit, it was.
Right when I turned the corner, I was stopped by this flashing blue and red light that pinned me like a deer in the headlights. All around me were people. Women, men, runaway kids and teens...like me. They were all staring at this one house to the right of me, occasionally turning their heads to the person next to them to start up some game of telephone. But I knew that game, the phrase always came out different.
The scene was even causing the women to keep their hands over their mouths while the men just stared at the sky, maybe praying? All of them were held back by long strips of yellow tape that read CAUTION in huge black font. What that tape surrounded was that one house: all dark and banged up as the very first time I saw it. A prison. Only this time, I saw it as nothing but a real prison.
I slowly inched toward the tape as far as the police would let me. I still felt like I was miles away. Seemingly hundreds of black swat trucks were positioned around policeman after policeman; car after car; machine gun after machine gun; spike bomb after spike bomb. I felt like I was a target in this war zone.
I never took my eyes away from the house. Were these people crazy? What exactly were they planning to do? Just to think...I was up on that roof...mindlessly standing with nothing but the moon as my witness. Now what?
I tried to overhear the conversation from the woman and this one runaway kid next to me. The kid was playing around with his loose tooth while he started randomly talking to me.
"Ya know...I heard the guy in there is a monster. That's what my mom says. She's says he looks at you and you nearly die..."
I looked away for one second.
"If that's the case, then those guys he has inside the house with him must be long gone by now..."
"Guys? What?"
"You didn't hear?" The little boy closed in on me and hid behind my leg. "He's got his kids in there...he's not letting them out."
Breathe in, breathe out...breathe in...I'm dead.
sorry that that was a short chapter! i'm trying my best to get this going but i just didn't want to blabble so i cut this chapter and made it the rest of the next chapter. that should be posted about friday or saturday...or sunday night...have faith in meeeee!!! -flails-
...COLTS WON THE SUPAHBOWL...wahoo
haha, there's my real person message that is probably the only non-anime related thing i will ever say. wheehoo!
i miss axie waxie...really, i want to hug him...kiss him...well...doesn't everyone?? no? ok, i'll shut up. -runs off into bed-
CAUTION...WAR ZONE AHEAD,
kokoro77 (yes, i'm a war zone, no? XD)