The passage of darkness:
*Chapter two of the epic series! Hope you like it! fingers crossed * Sorry it's taken me SOOO long to finish this…
The passage of darkness….
*
The thud of his body falling to the floor was soft and muffled. It swooned dizzily, swaying, then dropped, abandoning them to a hideous silence. Nobody spoke. They could not speak. The sound of the shot still rang in their ears. Time stood still. It had not waited for them.
"CID!" Quistis' sudden cry brought them all to their senses. They watched as Quistis ran towards Cid's body, her beautiful eyes filled with grief and shock. It had been so sudden –
She ran towards the fallen body. His face was turned away from her, and a clear shroud of glistening white; strings and strings of tiny pearls adorning every atom of the air around him, surrounded his body. She hesitated slightly, almost as if the corpse held an unspoken taboo. She stretched out a slim finger and slowly extended her arm to touch his pale skin, to feel his once-alive pulse –
Her finger brushed the shroud, gently, so gently, but suddenly a shock buzzed through her veins and into her body. If the scene had been in slow motion, her horrified friends would have seen her delicate neck snap to one side, her silky hair grow slightly static with the electric energy coursing through her, and her hands raise in helpless self defence as she tumbled to the floor. She was not unconscious – no – but was immobilised – terrified – and could not speak.
Through her veiled eyes she could dimly make out a figure standing over her. Was it a man or a woman? The silver-gold hair tumbled over the shoulders, pale skin glowing deathly in the dim light…
Her friends started towards her, only to find that they could not move. An invisible force was pulling – or was it pushing – or both? – them downwards, tugging at every cell of their body. Restrained. Their mouths frozen in horrified positions, their blood turning to ice, their hearts filled with an untimely fear. Only their eyes could move, trained on the unearthly figure standing over Quistis. Squall struggled in vain against the all too familiar feeling of apprehension and terror that was overcoming him. Shouldn't he do something? Couldn't he? Why was he so helpless??
Don't want to be helpless…don't want to be alone…have to help…need to make a difference…
"Misguided child…"
His voice was hushed, breathy, sepulchral – a voice that would travel over the cool, rain-prismed wind, a voice that belonged in evil rainbows, golden hellish clouds. A beautiful voice – but unnerving, evil…
He paused, and raised his face so that his features were clearly visible.
His skin was white – like the mother of pearl, or the smooth surface of porcelain. Deep-set into this skin were two, smoky, black eyes. Dark eyes, that glowed like coals, and contained all of night in one stare. Bewitching, entrancing, beautiful, seductive…eyes that had a soul in a soul-less vessel…
His mouth was not ruby-red, but was a flushed, dark crimson. They were shapely, contemptuous lips. They were curved into a smile now, but they had all the power in the world…
And framing his face was a quantity of spun silver and gold hair, the threads entwined into a dazzling halo. The hair was silky, and cloud-like, and let loose to drift over his shoulders.
The figure stretched out his pale hands and muttered something underneath his breath. Squall's eyes grew scared and alone as he saw Cid's body shatter into tiny, black, gleaming stars. The stars danced in the air, then rushed together all at once and disappeared into the stranger's eyes. His eyes glowed brighter now, and he knelt down over Quistis' form. Squall tried to move, to do anything, but he was utterly at this man's mercy.
Quistis gazed upwards. This man…there was something wrong…she tried not to look into those eyes but she felt herself attracted to them, pulled to them…
"Beautiful, misguided child…"
The stranger slid a hand underneath Quistis's back and pressed her to him, so that they were face to face. Her head tilted back, exposing her bare neck. He fingered it lovingly, moving up, tracing her cheek, until his hand was entwined in her golden hair. He gently removed her hair tie and shook it loose. An expression of wicked desire spread across his face as he took a strand of her hair and laid it on his cheek.
Quistis tried to shake herself loose from his grasp but he was too strong. He pulled her face back by her hair so that his face was directly above hers. She tried to cry out in pain but could not. His hands were all over her now, roaming everywhere – she tried to pull away but it was too hard…she was being jerked cruelly to her feet…
"You need not have interfered with the circuit", he breathed, "But now – now you cannot escape. I will take you with me – to a land beyond dreams…to my land…"
He gripped Quistis by the shoulders and gently kissed her neck. A shiver shook her body and he slapped her, hard. Her eyes opened fully, wide with fear.
He turned to her friends, still immobilised, still horrified. "Ignorant fools. You cannot defeat me. You will not find me. I will win…you will lose…"
A wind had picked up around his feet, entwining him and Quistis. They were slowly beginning to disappear, to –
Quistis was regaining her strength, struggling against his iron grip, but he pulled her towards him by her hair, gripped her fragile waist, kissed her pale cheek with contempt and ice.
"Come, my darling…"
He was whispering now, venom in his voice.
"Come to a land of dreams…"
A fathomless second passed.
And they were gone.
**
What do you think? Shall I continue? Thank you for reading, and please review! The little box takes only a few seconds to fill in! Pleease?