Disclaimer: Hey what's up readers? I am back with a new chapter for Chronicles! I just got inspired while watching a video and now I just had to and wanted to start writing this! I will tell you all about the inspiration at the end so please sit back and enjoy!
NOTICE: These drabbles contain Lightis and some other couples depending on the story, and are in no particular order, nor do they tell a specific tale of just one story. Some of the drabbles might have a second part in later chapters, and if readers become fond of a certain drabble story, that drabble might have the chance to become a new full story.
CHRONICLES
Chapter XLVIII: Cat Eyes
Rating: M
Genre: Horror, Thriller, (bit of) Supernatural
Characters: Lightning
Pair: None at the moment
Notes: It felt like the world was against her. Empty and dark, and the shadow within were still growing. Now rising out of the ashes, she is ready to strike with her claws and fangs out for blood.
CAUTION: Violence, blood and gore, psychological themes, dark Lightning with a foul mouth and dry sense of humor and extreme loneliness. Not for the faint of heart.
It was dark for a moment until she felt that she was able to control her body again. The moment her eyes snapped open, she dug her way out of whatever she had been stuffed in.
Once she breathed the air of freedom and life again, she let out a loud and fierce angry roar. She pulled herself out of the black body bag and rolled her shoulders.
"You dirty, treacherous bastard! I allow myself to open up to you even a fraction and you stab me in cold blood!" She snarled and looked down at herself; her white hoodie was still whole except for the gaping hole that had been the blade had struck her, and the white material of the hoodie was now soaked in her blood that had dried off.
She hissed and licked her lips, tasting a bit of her blood on the top of her lips. The metallic taste reminded her of the moment before she woke up in this place—wherever she was. She spat onto the dirty floor.
Once she was sure she was steady on her feet, she stared at her hands. "So it is true… I cannot die after all."
She looked at the door in front of her and glared. "It is time to see just how mortal you are, Doc. You should not have taken anything for granted." She opened and closed her fists and the sound of her knuckles cracking gave her a clue of how long she had been stiff and still.
The smell of the room she was in was repulsive, the body bag she had been inside of was now forgotten on the floor. A corpse was placed in the corner of the room, beside the door.
"Never try to destroy something that is known to be the destroyer. The lightning destroys and cannot be destroyed…" She recited to herself, feeling her body aching for blood, hungry for revenge. She moved to the door and to her surprise it was unlocked. Of course, she thought, why would it be locked if he just keeps dead bodies inside this room? But then again he was not expecting her to rise up again from the grave and take his soul.
Lightning stepped outside and instantly caught the scent of blood and metal, and perhaps some paint. She snarled and looked around before she turned to the right.
The place looked abandoned and bond to fall apart. Her suspicions were confirmed when she noticed the sign on the wall. It was a notice for a demolition.
"Nice place he has…" She muttered sarcastically while continuing her investigation of the area. It led to nowhere but a dead end, and the only door that looked like the exit was locked tight.
Lightning looked over her shoulder and turned the other direction. Suddenly a loud scream pierced the air. Lightning winced when the noise reached her sensitive ears. It sounded like a woman screaming; no doubt it was most like the good doctor she was having an appointment with. When she reached the hall, she stopped herself, completely frozen at the sights.
Before her were the famous paintings of the historical artists; the only difference was the women in the paintings were bloody and were not paintings at all but real women, once alive now dead and suspended by wires in the poses they were meant to be in.
Lightning felt like a cat that was about to spit out a hairball. "You will pay for this you bastard…" She swore as she looked at the bodies. Did the doctor really think of himself as an artist? Using dead bodies and suspending them with wires to make them pose in any way he wants them to then have a fancy frame hang in front of them? It was sickening. The bloodstains would have been too much for any normal person but Lightning was out for blood herself. His.
As Lightning went further down the hall, the screaming got louder and louder. It was a sign that she was getting closer to her prey. And when she does find him, her claws would be ready to snatch up his heart and crush it with her bare hands.
It was not only the screaming that got stronger; the smell of blood and other tools were becoming more potent and it was hurting Lightning's sensitive nose. These animal-enhanced senses of hers seemed to be both a bother and a great help at the same time.
She wrinkled her nose, trying to block out the foul scents that surrounded her. The sooner she found the good doctor, the better. But she knew planning would be the best first step to take. After all, she too was quite creative.
She sniffed the air and tried to concentrate on the scents of items she may find useful. As she took a step, her foot hit something metal. Looking down she saw what appeared to be a metal pole. She picked up the object and stared at it dubiously. "… Better than nothing." She sighed. Since this was a place full of junk, getting creative should not be a problem. Perhaps she could make a weapon?
The sound of the woman's screams brought her back to reality. Lightning shook her head and carried the metal pole with her.
Entering the other rooms, Lightning scanned every shelf she saw in search of something useful. Most of the shelves consisted of mostly old paints, dirty clothes, a fake skeleton, an abandoned easel… Lightning paused when her eyes caught sight of something glimmering slightly. She smirked and picked up the object. "This should do nicely…" She stared at the item; a saw blade.
She continued her exploring until the next room she entered provided her with a work bench. It had enough junk on it to assist with her little weapon-making.
Lightning placed the metal pole and saw blade side by side on the work benched and stared at it for a minute, trying to ignore the screams that were coming from a not-too-faraway-location. She examined the junk on the work bench and her brain began running miles and miles until she was certain a bolt of electricity ran through her head like a brainstorm.
She grabbed the pole and placed the saw blade on; it looked good enough but it needed something to keep it together. She dug through the various junk and smirked when she grabbed a bolt. "Perfect…" Her voice almost sounded like a dangerous purr.
She had everything in place once the bolt was placed on and her weapon was complete. Lightning licked her lips unconsciously as she carried her makeshift weapon with her.
Now following the screams, she could feel her prey was nearby and soon his blood would be spilled just the way she wanted it to. A low cat-like growl erupted from the back of her throat but she hardly noticed as she stopped at the doorway. The screaming was coming from inside.
She took a peek and found her quarry. The doctor stood there in front of a young woman, perhaps a year or two older than Lightning was. She was bleeding—but not too badly—from several wounds she'd received.
The doctor laughed crazily as he laughed at the woman, demanding for her to scream louder.
Lightning glared as she listened to his words. To the doctor, the woman's screams sounded like a wonderful ballad, a wonderful poem that was being recited in his ear.
The man was a complete nut; that much Lightning knew and she had no intention of letting her prey escape. Upon a more careful observation, she noticed the man seemed to be wearing a mask, and a blindfold. This made her raise an eyebrow; just what exactly was he hoping to accomplish? Or was he that screwed in the head?
No matter. The scenario was perfect. The man thought she was dead and he had a blindfold on, although he would still be able to hear her if she did not tread carefully but that should not be a problem.
Lightning gripped her makeshift weapon tightly in her right hand and stalked towards the doctor. The screaming victim noticed her and her eyes widened. Lightning placed a finger to her lips signifying the woman to keep silent about her presence. The victim was too scared and battered to object anyway. Once she was close enough, Lightning felt her primal instincts take over. Her eyes flashed for a moment like her namesake as she began to lift her weapon.
Lightning smirked darkly. "What's up Doc?" Before her prey could turn around, she lifted her weapon and brought it down onto his head. She placed every bit of her strength into her swing, making sure to hit the doctor hard with the saw blade. The man fell lifeless onto the floor, bleeding from his head once Lightning tore her weapon out of his skull.
She dropped the metal pole and stared at the victim. The woman was sobbing and hiccupping, obviously traumatized by the events. Who wouldn't be?
Lightning approached the victim slowly as if to reassure the woman that she was not a nut-job like the doctor was. She untied the ropes that bound the victim to the chair and the woman stood up but her knees buckled. Lightning caught her before she fell and straightened her up.
"T-thank you. You saved me. H-he would have killed me too, that animal! You…gave him what he deserved…!" The woman began sobbing once more, out of relief and fear. She stopped long enough to stare at Lightning. "Who…are you?" The victim asked, looking at her savior who was digging into the doctor's pockets for the key to the exit.
Lightning shook her head at the victim. "That doesn't matter. Forget you ever saw me. Get out of here now, and call the police." She then handed the victim the key. The woman nodded eagerly in response and ran out of the room hurriedly. She threw a glance at Lightning before disappearing from sight. Lightning knew she had to go home as well. It was most likely dark out and she needed a bath desperately, as well as something to eat.
Soon she followed the woman's example and left the place. Soon, and hopefully, the cops would find this damn hellhole full of gruesome art and deal with the situation.
She began to relax once she was outside. It had started raining but it calmed Lightning down somewhat. Making her way back to her apartment, Lightning hoped that nobody would notice the bloodstains on her hoodie. Lady Luck was on her side tonight; nobody was around in her neighborhood and she managed to reach her apartment building without a hitch. With a sigh, Lightning looked up and spotted her balcony.
She stared at her hands for a moment before looking up again. "… Dare I try?" She asked herself. Reluctantly, she placed her hand against the side of her apartment building, and then the other hand as well.
Lightning pushed herself up and in that moment she began scaling up the building until she reached her balcony. She jumped up and landed then glanced down before looking at her hands again. "… So I really did become something…else." She mused to herself. She was unsure whether to feel pissed off or grateful that she at least had something of use in her.
Her stomach growled, reminding her that it needed to be fed. When was the last time she ate anyway? Or even had a decent shower?
Lightning yanked her bloodstained hoodie over her head and dumped it in the laundry basket as she passed it down the hall of her apartment. One by one her dirtied clothes came off and soon she was in the shower, letting the hot water fall over her exhausted body. She stared down at herself as the water washed away the bloodstains on her body.
To think she had taken somebody's life and saved someone's in the process. It felt…nice. Strange but nice. She was used to not giving a damn about people so it came as a surprise that she felt relieved and a little glad she had saved someone's life tonight.
"… Am I growing too soft?" Yeah, like she was going to get an answer. She was left with only more questions rather than answers.
In a way it scared her to think she might be stating to care about others. Nobody ever cared about her; her younger sister was married now and living elsewhere with her idiot husband, other people were too scared or think she was too strange and weird to be made into a friend or to even converse to, and even the dog she had when she had been a teenager! The mutt never cared about her! She took care of him the best she could and even fed him, bathed him…and yet the dog ended up growing more attached to some old man and his wife!
They did not do anything for him! They weren't his owners and they never fed him! They were nice people, she supposed but still, they never raised the dog like she did and yet the mutt was head over heels for them! In the end she had let him go and live with them as their dog.
Lightning remembered actually breaking down into silent sobs and then into a raging fit. She didn't need anyone! Not even a stupid dog! The whole world did not care about her existence so why did she even think that getting a dog—a supposedly loyal and faithful companion—would make things better and fill the void? Even animals did not care about her! She had been foolish to think that her former pet would even be there for her always.
Since then she had continued her lonely existence. She did not care that she was alone or that she had no company of a person or a pet. She was fine by herself; she did not need a fucking friend! Lightning stepped out of the shower and trudged to her room to get dressed.
Once she had put on some fresh clothes, she sat on her bed and stared out the window. That dog had been her only friend in the world—at least in her point of view. When she had seen how happy he was to willingly obey and follow some old man who had no fucking clue how to take care of a dog—the man tried feeding him chocolate and other bad-for-dogs-food for fuck's sake!—made Lightning feel unappreciated even more. It was bad enough that no human in the world did not care for her existence, but animals too, of all things!
She had to force herself to see the truth; she did not matter. And if that was the way the world is then why should she care about others as well? Now Lightning lived for herself and her alone.
Unbelievable… After all these years she still missed that mutt enough to still be upset about her memories of his departure from her side to live with an elderly couple who had no association with him whatsoever! Perhaps she really was growing soft…
Lightning felt her appetite leave her. Now she wanted to sleep and forget about food or anything else. She wanted to stop thinking, to stop remembering and feeling. She was tired of this void inside of her that would never be filled or healed.
The world, life…were nothing but a bunch of fuckers. Everyone and everything screwed you over, leaving you with pains and scars to bear with nothing for you to do but live with it for the rest of your miserable lives.
Lightning had learned the hard way that the only one she could count on and trust was herself. That way, nobody can ever be able to let her down. And she did not want any help; she could manage on her own. Besides nobody cared enough to help, so why bother looking now or ever when it will do nothing but cause you pain and feelings of abandonment.
This was life, she supposed. Nothing she can do about it. And she had been normal until she had literally brushed with death and now no matter how many times somebody burns her alive or impale her, she would always come back from the grave and take them down like they did to her.
The multiple lives were not the only thing; now she can even scale up her apartment, smell, see, and hear things from far off! And her instincts had sharpened as well.
Was this supposed to make her feel more superior? More special or unique? Well it was not! Nothing has changed; she was still alone in the world and fucked up at every turn. Unwanted by life or death, or even animals apparently.
The only thing that was probably waiting for her was death or perhaps even more attempts on her worthless life. Well if she was given such heightened senses then might as well put them to good use. If there were fuckers out there who wanted blood then she would give them blood.
As Lightning stared out at the darkness from her window, she feels her heart turn to ice. There were monsters everywhere and they were none other than humanity itself. Humanity is full of dirt and darkness in it; they are the real ones to be heated or feared, more than the monsters that children believed hid under their beds or closets. It was a pity but then again, she was Lightning Farron. She did not pity and she did not care.
It seems that she would not be sleeping at all tonight. She hardly slept anyway. Tomorrow would be another day; perhaps she might go for a walk in the park in a secluded area where nobody can see, find, or bother her. And maybe she can start practicing her new little talents that death itself has provided her with…
But for now she will continue to watch the rain and the darkness as it covered the world in blackness, just like it did with her heart.
This is a little darker than usual I noticed, and Lightning here is a dark Lightning. It has been a while since I did Chronicle again but this idea was too good to pass up.
The idea that inspired this was from the horror game known as "The Cat Lady". The game is about a forty-year-old woman named Susan Ashworth who is depressed, feeling life had no more meaning and tries to commit suicide but was given a second chance at life.
During her time in the world of the dead she was warned that five people known as "Parasites" would come into her life and all of them have a goal of harming her so she has to harm them first. She was also given "partial" immortality wherein her enemies may kill her but she would keep coming back to life; her immortality being partial is because she has about nine lives or so as shown by nine candles (she must blow one out and that would mean she is using another chance). Susan is also a lover of cats has only them for company, hence why she is known as the cat lady.
The game really freaked me out but the story was interesting.
But unlike the game, Lightning was not suicidal. She is just more dark-hearted and reckless in the story, not caring for her own life or others', and that is how she had a brush with death. Unlike Susan from Cat Lady, Lightning was given about thirteen lives (or chances) as an allusion to the Final Fantasy number she is from. And also unlike Susan, Lightning has obtained seemingly cat-like senses or even abilities which make her more extreme and deadly.
Also, this chapter where Lightning reawakens from the dead in a body bag and kills a psycho doctor is actually based from an actual scene that happened in the Cat Lady game. And yes, Lightning did pull a Bugs Bunny quote before killing the doctor.
To clear things up about dark Lightning in this drabble, first of all Lightning does not hate Serah. Serah is probably the only person (as usual) who she cares for. More than the rest of the world at least. Lightning did take care of her pet like a proper and loving owner but her own dog still left her behind, making Lightning realize that perhaps she was not an important part of anything in life.
Lightning is actually lonely and wanted a friend or companion, even trying to see if a pet would help after her attempts to make contact with other people failed. But when her dog chose another person than her, Lightning gave up and decided that perhaps it was best if she remained alone and then she began to develop dark thoughts and certain hatred towards life and the world. But she is still just lonely all in all.
Anyway hope you guys liked this new idea and as usual if anything confuses you just ask and I will do my best to answer you! And keep voting for your favorite story arc and we will see which one gets to be the next big thing after Sanctuaire! Stay cool you guys!
Until then…
