God, I've had writer's block for so long, but I got some new ideas and I'm putting them down before I forget and beat myself over the head with a brick for forgetting them. I was also inspired by my new fun happy Queen CD. It makes me happy because "Killer Queen," the best song ever made, is on it. I listen to it over, and over, and over, and over forever and ever.
Now if I can only remember what happened in the last chapter…
"Get these back to Garden immediately! Have them sent to the lab and tell them to check for fingerprints, DNA, hair samples, whatever. Any trace of who did this to her," Squall commanded the officers sent with him to help search for Rinoa. "This could be a big hint in finding her. We find who did this to her, we find them, we find her."
Squall's attitude had taken a turn for the better when they found her clothes. It was a large step forward. Ever since he saw the torn garments on the earth, he had been full of energy and high hopes. Squall had begun ordering people around, ideas rushing through his mind.
"Wait, screw that. You guys will take too long. I'm taking them back in the Ragnarok." Squall turned towards one of the men standing nearby. "Coleman!" The young man jumped to attention.
"Yes, sir."
"Prepare the Ragnarok for take-off. We leave in 10 minutes. I'm going to go back. Will someone please bag the clothes?" He was frustrated that they had found a large piece of evidence, and no one was preparing it to be transported back to Balamb. "Do I have to do it myself?" A group of men herded around the evidence and packed it up.
"It's ready to go, Commander!"
"Good, get it in the ship." Squall turned around and headed back to his tent. Rinoa, I know I'll see you again. I'll rescue you. I promised…he thought. He ducked under the flap and began to pack.
The figure that had been speaking in the strangled voice came from a horribly disfigured shape. One that Rinoa didn't recognize at first. The figure had long, greasy, gray-black hair that was half missing from its head. Its face was sagging, downwards and in. It was hunched over, leaning slightly towards it's left. Its knees looked as if they would collapse under it any second now. But it held it's ground.
No matter how disgustingly demented it appeared, Rinoa knew who it was. Or who it was supposed to be, for that matter.
"Mother…?" Rinoa squinted to see it better.
It started to speak but couldn't, as it made a gargling noise, and then hacked. Rinoa had to turn around and cover her mouth as a long stream of a yellow liquid poured out of its mouth.
At that point, Rinoa didn't give a shit who it was; she had to get away from it. She began running back down the corridor, occasionally looking behind her, checking to see if it was following her. She doubted that though. It was probably just her imagination that made her see it as her long dead mother. Rinoa decided that she probably saw it as her mother because of her strong wish to be near people she loved again.
Lost in her thoughts and turning to look behind her, Rinoa's feet tangled and she collapsed on the cold floor, twisting her ankle badly. She screamed in pain and cursed. She reached forward to grab it. Already it was swollen. Her frustrations got the best of her and Rinoa began sobbing uncontrollably. She was held captive in a prison, she was alone, she was becoming delusional, she couldn't get out of the corridor, and she now had a probable broken or sprained ankle. She slowly curled in a ball, nursing her ankle.
The Ragnarok landed just outside of Balamb Garden, with Squall itching to get out and to the lab. He motioned for the men to get her clothes. They handed it to him and he stared at it, fondling the clear plastic bag in his fingers. The last time Squall had seen these clothes was when she was walking briskly away from him after his proposal.
"Sir, you may exit now," one of the men motioned to him. Squall looked down at the man and then headed towards the exit.
They paraded into Garden, Squall leading the way. People stared and murmured to eachother as they walked by, Rinoa's garments in his hands. They turned into the Infirmary, and headed towards the recently completed forensics lab that was added a few months ago. Cid had hired a doctor, called Dr. Dzek, to run the lab. Dr. Dzek was a middle-aged man who knew a lot about everything. He stood up as they entered.
"What's this?" he asked Squall.
"Clothes. Rinoa's clothes. We found them on the southern most Centra Island. We were hoping you could do some DNA tracing on it, find out who might have taken her," Squall requested.
"No problem. It'll probably take about 24 hours. I'd suggest staying in Garden tonight; it'll be easier to reach you. You can spare one day of searching, right?"
Squall thought of refusing, but then remembered Irvine, Selphie, Quistis, and Zell, "I'll stay. I'm leaving the second we find any DNA on those that doesn't belong to her. Can I use your phone?"
Dr. Dzek took the bag from Squall and nodded. Squall turned and entered his office. He dialed and then put the receiver up to his ear. It rang once before it was answered.
"Ragnarok," the voice said.
"This is Commander Leonhart. Bring me the radio, I'm in the Infirmary."
"Yes, sir." The phone clicked and Squall hung up.
He wandered out to where Dr. Kadowaki usually worked. She wasn't there at that moment. He looked from her desk to the bed by the window. Squall remembered when Rinoa was in her coma. He had come to visit her.
I want to hear your voice…
How much he wished he could right now. Squall almost wished she were in a coma, instead of missing completely from his life. At least he'd be able to see her if she was in a coma. He could touch her, see her, and know that she was still alive. Now he could only hope, and sometimes hope wasn't enough.
"Commander, the radio." Squall grabbed the radio and excused the man who delivered it to him.
He found the channel that Quistis was on and attempted to reach her.
"Quistis, come in. This is Squall. Over," he said into the microphone. He looked at the floor, waiting for a reply.
He heard some static, and then, "Squall, I read you. Did you find something?" Quistis responded.
"Yeah, I'm in Garden. We found her clothes."
"Oh my god."
"We're having Dr. Dzek do some DNA tests on them, he'll have the results tomorrow. I need you to do something for me."
"Anything."
"I want you and Zell to abandon your posts and continue the search of Centra. If you find anything, radio me and let me know. Head out now. If we found her clothes there, we might be able to find another clue."
"You got it. I'll get a hold of Zell and we'll head down there as soon as possible. Good luck with the tests."
"Thank you. Good luck out there."
"Thanks. Let me know the results."
"Okay," Squall said, and ended the transmission.
Rinoa had crawled over the cell closest to her. She began pulling herself up with the help of the bars. She winced as her ankle moved slightly and pain shot up her leg. She could feel it throbbing and tingling. The bars served as a good way to keep herself balanced.
Silent tears streaked Rinoa's face, and slightly tickled her chin as they rolled off her face. Besides her whimpers of pain, the prison was quiet as death again. She still couldn't see very far in the pitch black. Rinoa observed her surroundings, wondering what the hell she was going to do.
She hopped once in the direction of the opposite end of the hall she came from. Her ankle flopped loosely and she breathed in sharply. "Son of a bitch," Rinoa said to herself.
"Wrap it, wrap it with your robe," she instructed herself. She sat down slowly, resting her back against the bars. She lifted her robe up to a screw holding the bars to the wall, and tore her robe with it. Rinoa ripped off a strip of her robe until it pleased her. She rolled it up, and then began unrolling it around her ankle tightly. When the makeshift bandage tightened around the swollen part of Rinoa's ankle, she muttered "Ow."
Eventually, the bandage was around her ankle, bulging on the side from the significant swelling. Rinoa felt her foot slowly going numb from the tight cloth wrapped around it. She tried standing on it, and she screamed in pain. She had definitely done something bad to it.
Rinoa leaned against the cell, throwing her head back and closing her eyes. She shook violently as she began to cry hard.
"Why the fuck can't I get out!" she screamed at the ceiling. Her shout echoed throughout the halls, and her shouts came back to her. The voices scared her and she shriveled back in fear. Rinoa again sat down, quickly. She hugged her knees and the structure creaked, which echoed and freaked her out. She buried her head between her knees and rocked back and forth.
I know it's not the big cliff hanger ending I usually end with, but it still leaves you wondering…right? Like what Dr. Dzek will find on Rinoa's stuff, how the hell Rinoa's gonna get out of there, is she going INSANE!?
To be continued…..