I felt something warm and soft beneath me, like a blanket. I wasn't in pain anymore. The sun was beating against my eyelids, red and bright, so I opened my eyes. The room looked like something that would have fallen out of the Victorian Era...with creme, lace curtains that adorned the windows, a soft, rouge carpet...and an enormous bed, lush with similarly rouge pillows and grandma quilts.
It was all so cozy and familiar, in comparison to the harsh, crazy snow storm raging outside. The whole house seemed to rock against the furious winds. I could hardly see anything...only white and wet flakes hitting the window. The land seemed to stretch for miles, towards a high, black gate in the distance. It must've been a private estate...a mansion. Most mansions in town were a pretty long drive away from the outskirts of the suburbs. The sun was glazed over.
My purse sat on a small dresser beside the bed. I checked to see if everything was still there, and it was. Where was I? Where was Tyler? I sat on the edge of the bed, trying to gather the facts...
The door was open, so I crept to it and peeked out to see if anyone was there. Outside, was a long, horizontal hallway. I looked left, and that's when I saw her! Larxene! She was pacing in front of an open doorway, the light casting an opaque shadow on her hunched silhouette. She looked pissed. I popped my head back inside, and leaned against the wall, eventually sliding to the floor.
How did THEY get here?! They shouldn't be here! And what are they doing in this house?!
It must belong to Tyler. Tyler's Dad is practically rich. But is Tyler's Dad in with The Organization? I cringed at the thought.
Wait- the watch! I'm so stupid! Tyler must have found it under his bed! He must be helping The Organization...or maybe they brainwashed him, but I doubt that. They wouldn't have sent a clone to replace me if they could've brainwashed me. But why would Tyler choose to be evil?
I need to tell the others!
I reached into my bag and grabbed my cell phone, but when I dialed the number, the call couldn't get through.
No reception.
I searched for a landline phone. Something! Anything! They had to know! I stole the phone off the dresser. After I frantically punched in the numbers, I realized the phone didn't even have a dial tone.
I was in the middle of nowhere! No one would find me. Who knows where Tyler was! I was in a strange house, with the Organization a few feet away! I could've screamed all I liked. No one would've heard me. I was all alone.
I needed to find a way out of here. Whether he liked me or not, Tyler was evil, and I wasn't going to wait for him to come back. Why had he brought me here anyway?
I scoured the room for a possible escape route, and found a large vent tucked in the corner beside me. I'd seen this in movies, but I'd never actually tried it in real life. Dammit! The thing was bolted shut! I needed a screw driver. Absently, I looked in the bottom drawers of the dresser, and found a screw driver. How lucky. I untwisted the bolts, and removed the vent cover as soundlessly as I could.
I realized I would need something to keep them busy for a while, a decoy. I checked outside the door again. Larxene was gone. The door made a soft purring as it gently clicked shut. Then, I stuffed pillows underneath the covers, to make it look like I was sleeping. Hopefully, this would distract them for at least five minutes, enough time to get out.
I had no clue where I would go if I did get out. It wasn't a brilliant plan, but I wasn't going to stick around for them to resurrect my clone.
I took a deep breath, and disappeared into the vent.
The path seemed to go only one way- straight, and it was smaller than I thought, cramped and dusty. Sometimes I felt like sneezing, but every time I subdued the urge. I wormed my way through. After a little ways in, I started hearing voices. As I got closer, they became more discernible. Two voices stood out the most. Larxene's high-pitched screeching- she sounded furious- and Tyler's suave, calm voice- soft, but manipulative. I reached a dead end- another vent cover. Light flooded in, and I looked out to scan the area. The vent was in a tiny corner.
I couldn't see anything, but no one appeared to be stalking around, so I pushed the vent, and surprisingly it popped off. I caught it before it clattered to the ground. Tyler and Larxene were still arguing as I put the vent cover aside, and squirmed out, rising to my feet. I brushed some dust off my jeans. I stood in an incomplete cube, surrounded on three sides by walls, leaving me an opening to peek out and see the chaos that was ensuing.
The room was huge! The ceiling was as tall as the school gym, but it seemed too deep underground to be an extra living room. This was a massive basement, like Alex's, except bigger! I was close to the stairwell, where the exit was. Further in, however, was a lab, cold and sterile looking. Huge computers, all flashing and beeping, like Tron's World from KH2... And at the center of it all, knelt Larxene, Axel, Vexen, and Tyler, before a giant, flat computer screen with Xehanhort, grinning wickedly on it. They were all quiet now.
"Where's the girl?" Xehanhort asked.
"Sleeping soundly. I checked on her a minute ago." Axel replied.
Xehanhort's eyes narrowed, "Tyler, you may stand. The others, remain as you are. I have a few questions for you Tyler. What did you hope to achieve by bringing the girl into this? After attaining the watch, she's no longer of any use to us."
Larxene mocked, in a childish tone, "The little boy has a crush!"
"Shut up!" Tyler barked, and summoned a...key-blade?!
How did Tyler get a key-blade?!
Tyler replied, "Superior, the girl can be of use to us. The ones who sent you back and killed anti-Jess trust her. She can join our ranks, and we can take advantage of that trust to get revenge.
Or we can use her as bait. Roxas and the others are bound to come looking for her. If we capture Roxas before DIZ does, then Sora won't be able to wake up. Either way, with her on our side, there's nothing stopping us from controlling the world."
"But what's so special about her? Couldn't we easily use her brother, or her cousin the meet the same end?" Vexen griped.
"No, because unlike her brother and cousin, she has been exposed to darkness. The darkness inside her is her greatest weakness. We can exploit that weakness to get what we want. We can control her. Also, my new powers seem to have the most effect on her..." Tyler persuaded.
I stared at the black, star-shaped scar on my wrist, and suddenly, everything seemed to fall into place. Tyler was the blackmailer. Tyler was the one who had arranged our meeting at Apple Bees. It had all been a trap, his grand scheme, and I had fallen right into it. I was confused, angry, and hurt. Tyler was the one causing me pain, and in addition to breaking my will, he was planning on using me to exact revenge on my family.
"That's an excellent plan. You have much more talent and possibility than Roxas ever did...which is why I'm making you, Tyler, the new Number 13.
You must capture Roxas though, DIZ might try to infiltrate the real world and take him for Sora. The real worlders are already enough of a problem." Xehanhort added.
"Roxas can never be replaced!" Axel shouted.
"No one cares about your pain, so why don't you keep it to yourself?" Tyler retorted coldly.
"It looks like we have an uninvited guest..." Larxene hissed.
All the chatter stopped. I froze. Suddenly, she twisted around swiftly, and a bolt of lightening shot out of her hand! I ducked just in time, as the blow blasted half the wall away. As it was crumbling, I bounded up the stairs and skidded down the hall, feeling something hot at my heels. I knocked down anything in my path- chairs, tables, vases- anything that could get in their way.
I reached another stairwell, the one that descended to the front door. But what my eyes fixed on was the small black and silver key, all by its lonesome, on a small table by the door...
A car key.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Larxene. I bolted down the stairs as her hand extended out to shoot me again. The glass window next to me on the starwell exploded. I shielded my head as the glass shards scraped my arms. I heard the bolts flying overhead, and after two more blows, the banister on one side of the starwell collapsed in flames. She growled in frustration at her poor aiming, but everything around me seemed charred or on-fire.
I grabbed the keys, and slammed open the front door. A cold, wet wind battered my face as I slipped out. That's when I saw it, a beautiful, black BMW. My ride out of here.
I sprinted for it, struggling through the snow that went up to my knees, but I didn't care. I was more than half-way there! Larxene was huddling by the doorway, but she didn't throw any lightening at me. She looked angry and cold, staring with repugnance at the gray sky and the frosty, snowy wonderland. I never would've guessed that Larxene hated cold weather. She just glared at me, like she was waiting for something to happen. I didn't stare at her long, because I finally got the car door open. I vanished inside and shut the door.
I twisted the key in the ignition, realizing only too late, that the steering wheel was gone.
In my peripheral vision, I saw a dark figure sitting casually beside me. I could see his maniac smile, even in the dark. He clapped his hands lightly. It was a horrible sound. It meant failure.
"Smart, but not smart enough."
I turned my head slowly to meet his gaze. Tyler's gaze. God only knows how he got there before me and managed to rip out the steering wheel. It didn't feel like only three minutes of my life had passed.
"Why? Why are you doing this? Why are you helping them?" I asked.
He smirked, and moved in closer, tauntingly, his lips to my ear. I couldn't look at him. I looked straight ahead, at the blustering snow storm, feeling his warm breath on my face.
"I'm doing this for us. Once the world is in the palm of our hands, we can have anything we want. You can have anything you want. Think about it." He coaxed.
"There's nothing to think about! There's no 'us'!"
"You still have feelings for Roxas." He hissed.
Was that jealousy in his tone? Perris already had the world in the palm of his hand! Sure, his parents were strict and wanted to pretend they were middle-class, but he could have anything he wanted! Girls threw themselves at him! At one time, I wished he could have me too. I don't know the exact moment that crush died, but it was hard to imagine that Tyler could be jealous of anyone, or anything.
"What makes you think joining the Organization is going to make me fall for you?"
"Because you want me." He was serious.
"What?!"
He was snobby and selfish! The super-intendent's kid! Accustomed to getting everything he wanted! How could I not see this before?!
"Zack was right about you! You're insane!" I tried to open the car door, but it was locked, and the button for unlocking the doors was gone too.
Fuck.
"I'll take care of your little family soon, but first..."
The wretched pain returned. It shot through my limbs, getting saturated at my heart. I gritted my teeth and doubled over, gripping the car door with one hand, and my chest with the other. I tried to take deep breaths.
"If you can't make the right decision, then I'll make it for you. You no longer have a choice." His voice was cold and hard, like stone.
He shoved me against the car door. Then leaned toward me, arms propped against the door on either side. He was blocking me in. He touched his lips to mine. I tried to stay as numb and emotionless as possible, but he refused to be ignored. His tongue pried into my mouth. It was futile. When I tried to push him away, he pulled my hands away and kept kissing me.
After about a minute of unrequitted affection, he cursed and gave up.
The awful pain radiated in my head this time. I blacked out.
