Chapter 8
White Turns To Red
Tifa awoke in her love's arms. He looked so peaceful when he slept, yet so cruel when he was awake. Why did she love him so? He after all had killed many people. But at the same time, did they not deserve it? And had he killed anyone recently? Perhaps she was his medication… perhaps even his last bit of sanity.
He stirred and awoke. He looked into her deep brown eyes. She smiled at him. Surprisingly, he returned the smile. Not a smile of a madman, but the smile of a lover.
"Coffee?" he asked with a just-woke-up voice.
"Sure, how do you like it? And if you say how you like your women, you'll get a dent in your head." She smiles at him
"I like my coffee a tad strong with a bit of lemon and honey, thank you."
"Alright, then lets go get some. I know a great place." She smiled.
He nodded his approval. They got up and took a shower together. The soap was French and smelled of lavender. He enjoyed cleaning her naked body. It was smooth and the water was nice and warm. For an instant they felt like they were truly a couple.
After the shower they got dressed and drove to a little café at the edge of town. Sephiroth was obviously thinking about some other than his drink. He frowned lightly as he watched the kids play in the fountain.
"Penny for your thoughts." She said.
"I'm not sure what to think anymore, Tifa. This place is becoming more and more dangerous for us, for everyone. That psycho is out there and we are here, sitting and sipping our coffee."
"About time you're the one that gets edgy."
"Is that all you have to say?" He snapped.
She looked a bit sad and hurt at the tone of his voice. "Maybe it is, sometimes its good to sit and think about other things."
"I see, well I intend to take her down. Now, do we do it together or apart?" He stared into her eyes.
"Of course I'll help you, I love you."
"Tifa, I'm dangerous to love." He looked away.
She stood and walked over to him. She sat on his lap and kissed him intensely. Their tongues battled. Finally the kiss broke.
"I like Danger, Sephie."
"You know I hate that name." He smiled and hugged her.
Later that day Sephiroth and Tifa were driving down the highway towards Cape Cod. They had gotten a lead from a resident there. Apparently his brother used to see this girl, but one day he came home and talked about her. She had lots of clippings and recordings of Sephiroth's news spots. She even made a copy of his knife. Yeah, right, it was probably the real one she stole.
They stopped at Edward RD. Sephiroth looked down the street. Everyone was gone since winter was hastily approaching.
"This is the address." His voice was cold and a tad nervous.
"Yeah, this is it… are you ok?" She looked at him with concern.
He returned her stare. "Yes, but now we have to go and face my female double. And I fear she is aware I am here."
She touched his cheek. "We'll be alright Sephie, trust me."
He nodded. "Yes." He then whispered something Tifa could not hear "you will be alright."
They exited the car. Tifa had her berretta ready. She handed Sephiroth a glock 17. He have her a look, she nodded in response. He then chambered the first round. Sadly neither of them noticed that there wasn't a bullet chambered.
The house was old, the white paint was chipping and a sad old car was in the driveway. Possibly a ford… no a Dodge. 1277, but the seven was missing. Sephiroth frowned and went to the front door and listened.
"One set of footsteps… four legs… ::sigh:: a cat." He looked unhappy.
"Wait, I hear something coming from the basement." She said pointing her gun towards the rear of the house.
They headed towards the noise. They reached the corner. Tifa counted to three on her fingers and they zipped around to the back of the house. Their guns aimed at… nothing. Just a sad dead lawn and an old white shed in the same condition as the house. Tifa went back to her relaxed yet tense state. The thunderous silence of the town was eerie. Sephiroth looked at the shed. He suddenly remembered something about old houses.
"Sometimes with houses like this the owners would dig a tunnel from the basement to the shed in case of a trapping fire."
Tifa aimed at the shed. "So she went back in the house through there, and that's what I heard."
He nodded and silently made his way to the shed.
They entered cautiously and stepped on an old rug. The shed was bare except for a shotgun rack, missing the gun itself of course. They looked around, no other doors. Sephiroth then looked down at the rug. Tifa nodded and moved as he put the rug aside. As he had suspected there was a door leading down. Tifa covered him as he opened it. It creaked loudly like a witch howling at her cat. Sephiroth slowly lowered Tifa down, she scoped the darkness best she could and helped Sephiroth down as well.
The tunnel was a wide black mouth aiming to swallow them. Sephiroth's has had adjusted to the dark as he started to walk down the cold damp tunnel. Obviously they never finished it, pipes and leaks were very visible in the now retreating night. They came to the basement door, locked and bolted from the inside.
"This is going to make too much noise." Whispered Sephiroth.
"We have no choice, bash it in and I'll waste her."
Suddenly the door unlocked. Sephiroth looked at Tifa, she returned his stunned stare. Their hearts began to beat harder and faster. Sephiroth reached for the knob, he touched it, grasped it, and then turned it. It slid inward silently.
They entered despite their now growing fear that a girl with lots of knives, and possibly guns could be around any of the corners. Tifa whipped her gun around the room, her aim steady and her heart pounding. Sephiroth then touched her arm and pointed.
There in a corner was the girl, Faith, she had hung herself. A toppled chair was under her, the obvious way she did herself in. The soft silk rope was tight around her neck, her body lifeless.
"I suppose my rejection of her was too much." Said Sephiroth as he approached her.
"She killed all those people just to kill herself in the end, that bitch." She was looking at Sephiroth.
He seemed mesmorized by her lifeless flesh just hanging there. He kissed her cheek lightly then looked at Tifa with a strange confused frown.
"She is still very warm, like—"
There was a strange noise behind him, it sounded like a muted jab, then something metallic. Sephiroth's face was in dismay as he looked at Tifa. A tear ran down his face as the same noise ran up his back.. Black blood trickled down and out of Sephiroth's mouth.
Faith was alive, in fact she had tied her belt to the pipe behind her so she would be supported. She was smiling behind Sephiroths back.. The knife had slid from Sephiroths lower back, then up and deep into his left lung.
"Yes… yes… oh yes… fuck me harder Sephiroth!" She screamed as she touched herself between her agile thighs.
Tifa's muted scream echoed through the basement. She screamed at Faith then aimed at her. The muted gunshots echoed through the basement now. 1… 2… 3… 4… she just kept firing until the life was truly gone from Faith's body.
Tifa fell to her knees and cried. She had now lost two loves in her life. Two husbands, two possible fathers to her possible children. She cried as she looked at Sephiroth. He was slumped but still looking at her. The blood stained his white silk shirt red. But she wasn't looking at that, she was looking at his expression. His eyes were open and now lifeless, but his mouth, his mouth was smiling at her. Not the psycho smile, nor the I love you smile, but a smile that told her he would be alright. The tears kept flowing through her.
She turned to her left and saw a memory. She was in her best black dress and she was at the opera.
"Miss Lockheart?" Asked the stranger.
"Yes?" she asked not knowing who he was.
"Are you enjoying the opera?"
"Yes very much so, yourself?" She smiled.
"Yes, very much so." He winked at her.
"Who are you, have we met before?"
"I must be going now." He replied, avoiding the question.
"Please, before you go I…"
"Enjoy the rest of the opera," He turned, "My lovely sapphire." He smiled at her.
The same smile, the very same smile…
She kissed Sephiroth's cheek and smiled at him, she was still crying.
"Find peace my love, find peace…"
The End