The Headless Aftermath and Other Rats in the Sun
From the author of, "An Autobiography of Vincent Valentine,"
And, "Phantom Wall Devils: An Interview with Sephiroth."
By: Down, Phoenix.
"He's the loneliest man that I've ever seen..." (Billie Holiday, from the song, 'Fine and Mellow')
Tifa didn't know that hours could pass by so slowly. It seemed like eternity, and Cloud still hadn't returned.
Every word and action he said and did, rolled around and repeated inside of her head.
She misinterpreted him.
He didn't want to kiss her because he wanted sex- he wanted to kiss her because HE REALLY DID LOVE HER.
How could she have been so STUPID to misread that? She yelled at herself, inside of her mind.
She must have really, really hurt him... to make him run out like that.
She played with the tennis ball with her feet as she sat on his sofa silently, in his living room.
She didn't realize how quiet his villa gets. The only sound was the occasional echoing drip from the bathroom several rooms back.
He must be lonely, Tifa thought. She felt sorry for him.
Slowly, her heart filled with sympathy and love... He loved her. He LOVED her... He really, really, truly, loved her. For so long. Why couldn't this be a story book? Being truly loved felt... really good...
Tifa looked up onto the living room ceiling. There were a couple of hiding water spots. How long was he going to be? Was he actually coming back?
There was a few things she wanted to tell him. She rehearsed them in her mind. "Cloud, I didn't say that I loved you because you wanted to hear it. I was just to shy and too SCARED to say it, then. Can you understand that? Maybe, maybe we CAN work, I'm just to... scared to TRY it. Ok? I mean... what will Barret think? Did you... did you know that he loves me, too? I don't want to hurt him, Cloud. I don't want to hurt you, either. I figured that choosing no one will hurt nobody. Can you understand that?" She sighed. That sounded good. That was how she felt. Then, he would ask, 'How do YOU feel, Tifa? What do YOU want?'
She would reply... honestly... the only thing she could think of.
The truth.
She would whisper, with her lips slightly pursed, and her eyes narrowed, and the stars would be bright,
"I want YOU, Cloud Strife."
Then, they would kiss...
She blushed at the thought.
She suddenly wanted to find him, and try it out.
It wasn't too late, was it?
She stood and untied the bathrobe, and tore off the green towel from her hair, and walked stark naked from the living room to the bedroom.
She pulled out a short jeans skirt and a black no-sleeved blouse from her suit-case.
It was the nicest outfit she brought with her.
She laced up her- what she nicknamed- her 'stripper boots.' They were black, leather, and laced up to her knee.
Stripper-boots or not, they looked classy with a jeans skirt. She took her case of make-up to the bathroom and quick did the, 'I-need-to-go-out-in-a-hurry,' make-up job.
She untangled the knots from her hair, and tied it up in a bun.
(That's the, 'I-need-to-go-out-and-look-good-but-don't-have-time-to-fiddle-with- my-hair, do.)
She finished the look with dark-reddish-brown lipstick.
Satisfied, she grabbed her purse and ran out the door.
She stood on the steps of the villa as the door behind her slowly, painfully, closed.
She looked around.
Couples walked hand-in-hand while talking closely underneath the drowned out light of the full moon. Orange halos of street lights illuminated the faces of a handful of laughing, loud teenagers.
The streets were filled with night-life; women dressed up in comfortable clothes and heavy makeup, and the men sized one another up while wearing light leather jackets and T-shirts.
Tifa tried to smile- after all, she did seem to fit right in.
She just had no idea on where to START looking for Cloud.
It seemed a little camp to yell his name- after all, everyone would just start looking at her oddly. But, she was tempted to. She wanted to find him; badly. She had so many things to say to him- and she wanted to say them NOW before she would loose her nerve.
She decided to check the bar, first.
The bar was right down the street, not even a five minute walk. As she approached, a group of men stopped their loud chattering, and watched her walk by.
She felt a little flattered, but also a little humiliated; she felt each and every one of their eyes undress her.
She stepped into the bar.
It was crowded and foggy. The air was filled with filmy, blue and gray cigarette smoke. The bar was glazed over in a thick haze of conversation and the smell of alcohol.
But it was a good bar. She liked the atmosphere here.
Many of the men were shirtless.
But after a careful glance around from the door, she could tell that Cloud wasn't there.
She turned to leave. As she walked out the door, the men standing there before suddenly broke the relatively friendly outside with obscene cat calls and whistling.
"Hey, can I order some fries with that shake, sweetie!?"
"Nice shoes, wanna fuck?"
"I wonder if I blow on those jugs, I'll get a nice hallow sound, oh, wait, no, that only works then you blow in her ears..."
Tifa ignored them, and continued heading down towards the sea shore. She had a feeling that Cloud would be there thinking.
Little did she notice, three of the men outside the bar who were yelling to her had one too many drinks in them.
They began to follow her to the poorly-lit, sparsely populated sea-shore.
Needless to say, the ideas in their mind were a little malevolent, very violent, and quite sexual.
It was all a joke and a power game to them. They wouldn't have done it if it weren't for that last shot of JD.
Tifa was oblivious of all of this. She had no idea that she was being followed.
"Cloud?" She said gently- mostly to herself as she approached the beach. The gentle scent of the sea sailed along the whispering zephyrs. The white full moon stared into it's own speckling reflection on the black waters.
The sound of the waves ripped gently upon the sandy shore.
She glanced around, and did not see him there, either.
She unlaced her boots, and slid them off.
Then, she carried them to the beach, and sat near the waves.
She slid off her socks, and the water tickle her toes.
She reflected a moment as she stared into the moon; then, shortly after, she thought about nothing.
Sand crept into her skirt. It itched, but she paid it no mind.
"Heh heh, let's go. Look, she's sittin' there right."
"You mean, 'right there.'"
"Shhhhut da fuck up, Morton."
"My names Mark, and your slurring your words. Listen, I don't want to do this with you guys, ok? It's not right. She's just a poor defenseless girl."
"You need to lighten up, Mark. Look, that bitch thinks she's better than us! Did you see the way she walked past us?"
"Did ya sssseee the size of her... *hick... tits?! Thhhey were... fuckin' HUGE!"
Mark folded his arms, and felt blood rush to his cheeks as his eyes fell. He did not want to appear to be a 'pussy'. He wasn't he KNEW he wasn't a pussy... but they sounded like they were talking ... rape? He had much less to drink than Eric and James. And Eric got mean when he drank.
They weren't even his friends... really...
"I... *hick... LOVE... you, Marty..." James draped one arm around Mark's shoulders.
"Stop it, James." Mark snapped.
"Let's go. I'm game, I'm ready. Let's get that bitch." Eric's eyes sparkled.
Mark swallowed, and glanced at James.
Eric flipped open his hunting knife. He never left home without it. Mark and James followed nearly silently behind him.
Tifa wrapped her arms about her knees. She didn't hear the three men walk up.
Big black shadows moved across her head and face.
She looked up.
Three sneering smiles beamed down upon her.
"Yeah? Can I help you guys?"
"No, but I'm sure you can help us." Eric giggled.
Tifa felt a sudden impending doom crush her.
"Uh..." She wanted to say something. She had the sudden urge to RUN.
"Lay down, bitch!" Eric snapped.
"N...No." Tifa whimpered as she sat helpless.
"He SAID, LAY DOWN." Mark kicked her in the ribs.
"I said, NO! NO! NO! HELP! HELP!" Tifa screeched. She tried to stand, but Mark continued kicking her in the ribs every time she moved.
Eric flashed his knife. Instantly, she stopped struggling. She began to sob loudly, and scream for help.
"Shut the fuck up, and do as we tell you..." Eric grimaced.
"Get away from HER!" Cloud's voice echoed over the ocean waves.
He came running down the beach with his sword in hand.
"CLOUD!" Tifa stood as the three men turned around.
"Oh, I don't believe this!" Eric grunted. As he spoke, Mark ran. James stumbled away.
Eric turned, and saw his friends vanished. He starred at Cloud. Then, he bolted away.
"...Coward." Cloud hissed as he steadied Tifa on her feet. She shook violently with fear.
"Sorry, Cloud." She muttered under her tears. She tried to rub them away, but wound up pushing sand into her eyes.
"What do you have to be sorry for?" He asked gently. "Come on, let's go home."
"No..." She sniffed, "NO! I have so much to say for you. Fuck. I got all dressed up, and look what happened! It's all my fault, it was supposed to be a perfect night. I went looking for you, Cloud. I had something to TELL you."
Cloud took her hand. She continued to rub her red eyes. "Cloud. I wanted to tell you... uhm. That before. I didn't say that just because you said it to me. I said that erlier because that's how I really felt. And... uhm." She sniffed. "Oh, God, Cloud, I'm sorry. I'm so scared. I'm so scared and I'm sorry. Fuck. I'm sorry for everything, Cloud, everything, you know? I really, really, really, DO love you, but I'm so scared... I'm scared of everything. And, now's not the right time, is it?"
"No." He smiled. "Now's a perfect time..." He placed his hands upon her hips, but kept her at a distance to let her cry.
"Your not mad at me, are you?" She lifted her face. Her makeup was completely smeared and worn away. Bit's of sand still flecked her cheeks, and hardened onto her skin as they made contact with the tears.
He placed his palm gently upon the side of her face, and brushed the dirt away with his thumb.
"No. I'm not. Of course I'm not, Tifa. Not anymore." He kissed her forehead, and smiled down at her. "You admitted to how you really felt. That's all I was angry about, not at you, but... I was angry at the fact that you didn't admit to yourself about what you really WANTED."
She dropped her doe eyes. "I'm sorry. I was just scared. I knew... I KNEW," she smirked, "That you were going to ask what I wanted."
"I love you." He whispered.
~
"But... But... You can't get to that room, Reeve, unless you knock down the mansion." Dante quipped.
"That's not entirely true..." Vincent said quietly.
"What?" Ray turned his fat face to him.
"You can GET to the wall, you just can't get passed it without tearing it down." Vincent continued.
"I don't care. Show me the wall, then." Reeve ordered with the gun still pointed to them.
"I know the Shin-Ra mansion better than anyone." Vincent said with a flake of importance to his tone.
"What is behind the wall, then?" Reeve asked, pointing the gun to Vincent's head.
"I... don't... know... The wall has a bookcase built into it, and at least several feet of stone slab and clay behind that. But, that's where the monster lair is, if that's what you're looking for."
Reeve cocked the gun.
"You're being irrational, Reeve. We need a wrecking ball." Dante tried reasoning with him; his arms began to ache from being up in the air for so long.
"Just show me the wall, first." Reeve snapped with peppered anger and frustration in his voice.
"Fine." Vincent said dropping his arms.
Ray, Dante, Vincent, and Reeve stood in a small bedroom in the Shin-Ra mansion. The far stone wall in the bedroom was slightly ajar; it in reality, was a secret passage way that lead to a tiered, wooden spiral staircase to the basement.
In the basement was Vincent's resting place, the secret Sephiroth laboratory, and- beyond that- the legendary monster lair that they were in search of.
"There is a knot on this wall that opens the passageway downstairs." Vincent said quietly as he turned, and ran his good hand upon the frozen, dark stones. "It... it's already open. Look." Vincent slid his fingers along the open crack in the doorway.
He pulled, and swung open the stone wall- that really was a doorway to the hidden basement.
Reeve pushed Vincent aside, and he eagerly lead the party down the wooden staircase.
Both Dante and Ray lowered their stiff arms as they aloud themselves to become swallowed into the whale belly of the impending darkness down beneath the Earth.
They traveled down, down,
Down.
Little rays of shy white light slid in strait streams and landed softly upon the cool dirt downstairs.
The sunlight that came downstairs with them nearly seemed gray; it did not illuminate anything beyond ten feet before them.
"We are going to need.. uhm, a torch, or something, if we want to continue further." Dante pointed out as he strained his eyes to see.
"No need. I know this place too well." Vincent said emotionlessly. The rage inside of him towards Reeve lurched forward and grumbled. How could Reeve have the nerve to betray his trust? He should have known better. He once worked for the Shin-Ra, he KNEW they were scum... Like himself. He, too, was guilty of working for the Shin-Ra, once...
"I have a lighter." Ray offered. He dug into his pocket and produced a golden cigar lighter. Reeve snatched it as if stealing were an instinct. "Thanks. I'll give it right back. Now, move."
Under the flickering, orange halo of a cigar lighter, they walked into the motionless shadows before them.
Ray couldn't keep himself from sweating, despite the cold, dead air.
Dante was petrified of the darkness. It wasn't the shadows itself that frightened him; it was the unknown, the things and the people he could not control. He couldn't keep himself from violently shaking in fear as he walked. Every time he spoke, he tried his best to control his sputtering- so he didn't look like the weak, frightened fool that he really was deep inside of his soul.
Every time he saw a patch of black flutter, he jumped. He felt a near panic attack creep upon him.
Vincent felt completely, totally, safe and at home there in the dusty, wet smells of the Shin-Ra basement. Returning to the darkness, the silence, the enclosed safe of death's black womb was nothing less than comfort.
They were walking HIS turf. He knew every stone, twist, and small animal in this basement.
His eyes didn't hurt any longer, either.
Reeve swelled and perspired in anticipation. He LOVED the trill of holding people hostage, of controlling them, and of walking into the unknown. He was pink with adrenaline. Everything was spinning. He was excited. A rush. It was all a game- together, under his control- they were discovering and walking into the unknown.
There was a weak, muffling sound close by.
It echoed. Whatever it was, it sounded feeble.
"Shh. What was that?" Reeve stopped completely, and turned to Vincent.
The weak, flat, golden light of the lighter lit Reeve's serious face. His features were heavily angled and sharp, as if someone chiseled his countenance out of stone with a screwdriver.
Vincent shrugged. He began to loathe Reeve and his triple crossing ways.
It was as if no moral fiber existed in his slimy skin.
"Maybe it was a BAT." Ray whispered glancing to Vincent.
"No." Vincent replied flatly, slightly annoyed. "Bat's don't sound remotely like that. It sounded human. Someone must have beaten us here."
"Let's keep moving. If someone is already here, they must be in the lab." Reeve spoke officially as he continued on.
Vincent glanced at the broken door that lead to his resting place. He remembered when Yuffie, not long ago, broke in to wake him. It was the first of many things that lead up to this situation.
Dante thought he was going to vomit when he saw something in the darkness that sort of looked like a skull. (Although, it was nothing more than a piece of wood with a hole in it and shadows playing tricks upon it.)
"Hey, did you guys 'ere dat?" Ray stopped and asked as he brought up the rear. He seemed even fatter as he stood near the three thin men in the dull light.
They all heard it.
They all fell silent and stopped.
Whatever it was, it was now very loud, and sounded very human and female.
It sounded pitiful.
"It might be a monster from the lair." Reeve suggested.
Vincent knew the sounds of the basement.
He knew that Reeve was wrong, but didn't care to say anything.
Dante was paler than paper, and quaked evilly.
Reeve turned around, and saw a thin green line that hung in the emptiness before him. It was a doorway, some light somewhere.
He groped in the darkness, heading for the light.
They followed him. Dante ran to it, hungrily.
Reeve pushed open the door, letting the light fill the shadowed spaces. They winced as they were stabbed with lamplight.
As the party stood in the lab room, they looked about.
The room had been untouched since the day Sephiroth came and ravaged it for knowledge. Ancient papers, yellow and old, scattered the floor like forgotten, wingless canaries.
Books went unread, records went scattered and lost. All collected layers of dust, mold, and cobwebs. They stretched out on book cases for miles.
"Thank god." Dante sighed. "Let's find that huge book case, check it out, and leave. This place gives me the creeps."
Ray agreed as he lumbered further in and looked about.
"I think not."
A voice from nowhere said.
Then, the lights fell silent. They were violently shoved into the empty, cold darkness once more. Not a fleck of light escaped to shudder it's warmth anywhere.
"HEY!"
"The... fuck?"
"Whose there?! Show yourself!"
"Oh, my god, oh, my god, oh, my FUCKING GOD! I'm FREAKING OUT!"
BANG!
"Ow!"
"Vinnie!"
"MY LEG! FUCK!"
"Someone, turn back on the lights!"
"Something BIT my leg!"
"Who has the gun!?"
"Vincent! Help!"
"I think... I think I'm gunna barf."
"Dante? Reeve? Where ARE you? Who is calling my name? WHO IS that?"
Flick.
Everyone's eyes snapped. A bright, round, bubble of light appeared and hovered in the darkness.
Tseng was holding a match. And he was holding Yuffie, tightly, to his chest, with a gun pressed to her skull.
"Vinnie! Oh...!" She gulped and panicked. So, it was she whom made those pathetic sounds they heard earlier in the hallway...
"Vinnie! Where is your pants!!!?" She struggled and yelped. Tseng's grip on her was too professional. As a Turk, he knew how to keep someone in a cruel, effective lock.
"Let her go, Tseng, she has nothing to do with anything!" Reeve approached Tseng's bulb of firelight.
"Reeve. I won't stop until I kill you like you killed me." Tseng lifted the gun from Yuffie's head, and pointed it point black to Reeve's.
Without hesitation, he fired.
No one could have acted quickly enough to stop him.
The gun blast whipped the matches light into oblivion.
And everything screamed back into black.
"REEEEVE!" Yuffie screeched. She broke free of Tseng's grip, and dove to his side. She felt something sticky and hot moisten her knees as she knelt near him.
The room smelt of gunpowder and metallic blood.
"Would someone tell me what the fuck is going on?" Dante yelled, then, he vomited with a retching sound.
"Cover your eyes." Vincent ordered. A moment later, a lamp flickered on with hesitation.
Tseng had vanished. Reeve was a bloody mess on the floor. His eyes were wide open, dilated, and filmed over. Yuffie leapt back in horror.
Her hands, feet, and thighs were covered in blood.
She, too, felt her body leap and reject her stomach contents.
She swallowed, but her mouth and throat were dead dry.
"Calm down, Yuffie. We don't know if that's really him. It may be..." He sighed, and turned his head in slight repugnance, "Another one of his toys. We don't know for sure."
"Where is that guy?" Ray grunted and scratched the back of his hot-dog neck. "Sure is a good toy if it is one. It sure looks... real." Ray bent down and dabbed his fingers with blood.
"Jesus Christ." Dante pulled his sleeve across his lips. "WHERE the FUCK is that WALL we have been looking for, that's what I'd like to know! And where the FUCK did Tseng come from! I thought he was DEAD! I didn't come all this way for NOTHING!" Ray stepped over Reeve's body, and approached Dante.
"Frankly," Ray began, eyeing the book shelves, "I'd like to know that, too."
"I NEED to SEE what's behind that wall!" With trembling hands, Dante began to pull off books from the furthest and the largest book shelf in the room- which was located behind Sephiroth's old desk. One by one, he threw them carelessly to the floor.
Ray began to help him.
"There must be a secret knob, or handle, or SOMETHING!"
"What's behind the wall can't be any more frightening than the creatures in this very room. Come, Yuffie, let's go." Vincent said darkly.
From the author of, "An Autobiography of Vincent Valentine,"
And, "Phantom Wall Devils: An Interview with Sephiroth."
By: Down, Phoenix.
"He's the loneliest man that I've ever seen..." (Billie Holiday, from the song, 'Fine and Mellow')
Tifa didn't know that hours could pass by so slowly. It seemed like eternity, and Cloud still hadn't returned.
Every word and action he said and did, rolled around and repeated inside of her head.
She misinterpreted him.
He didn't want to kiss her because he wanted sex- he wanted to kiss her because HE REALLY DID LOVE HER.
How could she have been so STUPID to misread that? She yelled at herself, inside of her mind.
She must have really, really hurt him... to make him run out like that.
She played with the tennis ball with her feet as she sat on his sofa silently, in his living room.
She didn't realize how quiet his villa gets. The only sound was the occasional echoing drip from the bathroom several rooms back.
He must be lonely, Tifa thought. She felt sorry for him.
Slowly, her heart filled with sympathy and love... He loved her. He LOVED her... He really, really, truly, loved her. For so long. Why couldn't this be a story book? Being truly loved felt... really good...
Tifa looked up onto the living room ceiling. There were a couple of hiding water spots. How long was he going to be? Was he actually coming back?
There was a few things she wanted to tell him. She rehearsed them in her mind. "Cloud, I didn't say that I loved you because you wanted to hear it. I was just to shy and too SCARED to say it, then. Can you understand that? Maybe, maybe we CAN work, I'm just to... scared to TRY it. Ok? I mean... what will Barret think? Did you... did you know that he loves me, too? I don't want to hurt him, Cloud. I don't want to hurt you, either. I figured that choosing no one will hurt nobody. Can you understand that?" She sighed. That sounded good. That was how she felt. Then, he would ask, 'How do YOU feel, Tifa? What do YOU want?'
She would reply... honestly... the only thing she could think of.
The truth.
She would whisper, with her lips slightly pursed, and her eyes narrowed, and the stars would be bright,
"I want YOU, Cloud Strife."
Then, they would kiss...
She blushed at the thought.
She suddenly wanted to find him, and try it out.
It wasn't too late, was it?
She stood and untied the bathrobe, and tore off the green towel from her hair, and walked stark naked from the living room to the bedroom.
She pulled out a short jeans skirt and a black no-sleeved blouse from her suit-case.
It was the nicest outfit she brought with her.
She laced up her- what she nicknamed- her 'stripper boots.' They were black, leather, and laced up to her knee.
Stripper-boots or not, they looked classy with a jeans skirt. She took her case of make-up to the bathroom and quick did the, 'I-need-to-go-out-in-a-hurry,' make-up job.
She untangled the knots from her hair, and tied it up in a bun.
(That's the, 'I-need-to-go-out-and-look-good-but-don't-have-time-to-fiddle-with- my-hair, do.)
She finished the look with dark-reddish-brown lipstick.
Satisfied, she grabbed her purse and ran out the door.
She stood on the steps of the villa as the door behind her slowly, painfully, closed.
She looked around.
Couples walked hand-in-hand while talking closely underneath the drowned out light of the full moon. Orange halos of street lights illuminated the faces of a handful of laughing, loud teenagers.
The streets were filled with night-life; women dressed up in comfortable clothes and heavy makeup, and the men sized one another up while wearing light leather jackets and T-shirts.
Tifa tried to smile- after all, she did seem to fit right in.
She just had no idea on where to START looking for Cloud.
It seemed a little camp to yell his name- after all, everyone would just start looking at her oddly. But, she was tempted to. She wanted to find him; badly. She had so many things to say to him- and she wanted to say them NOW before she would loose her nerve.
She decided to check the bar, first.
The bar was right down the street, not even a five minute walk. As she approached, a group of men stopped their loud chattering, and watched her walk by.
She felt a little flattered, but also a little humiliated; she felt each and every one of their eyes undress her.
She stepped into the bar.
It was crowded and foggy. The air was filled with filmy, blue and gray cigarette smoke. The bar was glazed over in a thick haze of conversation and the smell of alcohol.
But it was a good bar. She liked the atmosphere here.
Many of the men were shirtless.
But after a careful glance around from the door, she could tell that Cloud wasn't there.
She turned to leave. As she walked out the door, the men standing there before suddenly broke the relatively friendly outside with obscene cat calls and whistling.
"Hey, can I order some fries with that shake, sweetie!?"
"Nice shoes, wanna fuck?"
"I wonder if I blow on those jugs, I'll get a nice hallow sound, oh, wait, no, that only works then you blow in her ears..."
Tifa ignored them, and continued heading down towards the sea shore. She had a feeling that Cloud would be there thinking.
Little did she notice, three of the men outside the bar who were yelling to her had one too many drinks in them.
They began to follow her to the poorly-lit, sparsely populated sea-shore.
Needless to say, the ideas in their mind were a little malevolent, very violent, and quite sexual.
It was all a joke and a power game to them. They wouldn't have done it if it weren't for that last shot of JD.
Tifa was oblivious of all of this. She had no idea that she was being followed.
"Cloud?" She said gently- mostly to herself as she approached the beach. The gentle scent of the sea sailed along the whispering zephyrs. The white full moon stared into it's own speckling reflection on the black waters.
The sound of the waves ripped gently upon the sandy shore.
She glanced around, and did not see him there, either.
She unlaced her boots, and slid them off.
Then, she carried them to the beach, and sat near the waves.
She slid off her socks, and the water tickle her toes.
She reflected a moment as she stared into the moon; then, shortly after, she thought about nothing.
Sand crept into her skirt. It itched, but she paid it no mind.
"Heh heh, let's go. Look, she's sittin' there right."
"You mean, 'right there.'"
"Shhhhut da fuck up, Morton."
"My names Mark, and your slurring your words. Listen, I don't want to do this with you guys, ok? It's not right. She's just a poor defenseless girl."
"You need to lighten up, Mark. Look, that bitch thinks she's better than us! Did you see the way she walked past us?"
"Did ya sssseee the size of her... *hick... tits?! Thhhey were... fuckin' HUGE!"
Mark folded his arms, and felt blood rush to his cheeks as his eyes fell. He did not want to appear to be a 'pussy'. He wasn't he KNEW he wasn't a pussy... but they sounded like they were talking ... rape? He had much less to drink than Eric and James. And Eric got mean when he drank.
They weren't even his friends... really...
"I... *hick... LOVE... you, Marty..." James draped one arm around Mark's shoulders.
"Stop it, James." Mark snapped.
"Let's go. I'm game, I'm ready. Let's get that bitch." Eric's eyes sparkled.
Mark swallowed, and glanced at James.
Eric flipped open his hunting knife. He never left home without it. Mark and James followed nearly silently behind him.
Tifa wrapped her arms about her knees. She didn't hear the three men walk up.
Big black shadows moved across her head and face.
She looked up.
Three sneering smiles beamed down upon her.
"Yeah? Can I help you guys?"
"No, but I'm sure you can help us." Eric giggled.
Tifa felt a sudden impending doom crush her.
"Uh..." She wanted to say something. She had the sudden urge to RUN.
"Lay down, bitch!" Eric snapped.
"N...No." Tifa whimpered as she sat helpless.
"He SAID, LAY DOWN." Mark kicked her in the ribs.
"I said, NO! NO! NO! HELP! HELP!" Tifa screeched. She tried to stand, but Mark continued kicking her in the ribs every time she moved.
Eric flashed his knife. Instantly, she stopped struggling. She began to sob loudly, and scream for help.
"Shut the fuck up, and do as we tell you..." Eric grimaced.
"Get away from HER!" Cloud's voice echoed over the ocean waves.
He came running down the beach with his sword in hand.
"CLOUD!" Tifa stood as the three men turned around.
"Oh, I don't believe this!" Eric grunted. As he spoke, Mark ran. James stumbled away.
Eric turned, and saw his friends vanished. He starred at Cloud. Then, he bolted away.
"...Coward." Cloud hissed as he steadied Tifa on her feet. She shook violently with fear.
"Sorry, Cloud." She muttered under her tears. She tried to rub them away, but wound up pushing sand into her eyes.
"What do you have to be sorry for?" He asked gently. "Come on, let's go home."
"No..." She sniffed, "NO! I have so much to say for you. Fuck. I got all dressed up, and look what happened! It's all my fault, it was supposed to be a perfect night. I went looking for you, Cloud. I had something to TELL you."
Cloud took her hand. She continued to rub her red eyes. "Cloud. I wanted to tell you... uhm. That before. I didn't say that just because you said it to me. I said that erlier because that's how I really felt. And... uhm." She sniffed. "Oh, God, Cloud, I'm sorry. I'm so scared. I'm so scared and I'm sorry. Fuck. I'm sorry for everything, Cloud, everything, you know? I really, really, really, DO love you, but I'm so scared... I'm scared of everything. And, now's not the right time, is it?"
"No." He smiled. "Now's a perfect time..." He placed his hands upon her hips, but kept her at a distance to let her cry.
"Your not mad at me, are you?" She lifted her face. Her makeup was completely smeared and worn away. Bit's of sand still flecked her cheeks, and hardened onto her skin as they made contact with the tears.
He placed his palm gently upon the side of her face, and brushed the dirt away with his thumb.
"No. I'm not. Of course I'm not, Tifa. Not anymore." He kissed her forehead, and smiled down at her. "You admitted to how you really felt. That's all I was angry about, not at you, but... I was angry at the fact that you didn't admit to yourself about what you really WANTED."
She dropped her doe eyes. "I'm sorry. I was just scared. I knew... I KNEW," she smirked, "That you were going to ask what I wanted."
"I love you." He whispered.
~
"But... But... You can't get to that room, Reeve, unless you knock down the mansion." Dante quipped.
"That's not entirely true..." Vincent said quietly.
"What?" Ray turned his fat face to him.
"You can GET to the wall, you just can't get passed it without tearing it down." Vincent continued.
"I don't care. Show me the wall, then." Reeve ordered with the gun still pointed to them.
"I know the Shin-Ra mansion better than anyone." Vincent said with a flake of importance to his tone.
"What is behind the wall, then?" Reeve asked, pointing the gun to Vincent's head.
"I... don't... know... The wall has a bookcase built into it, and at least several feet of stone slab and clay behind that. But, that's where the monster lair is, if that's what you're looking for."
Reeve cocked the gun.
"You're being irrational, Reeve. We need a wrecking ball." Dante tried reasoning with him; his arms began to ache from being up in the air for so long.
"Just show me the wall, first." Reeve snapped with peppered anger and frustration in his voice.
"Fine." Vincent said dropping his arms.
Ray, Dante, Vincent, and Reeve stood in a small bedroom in the Shin-Ra mansion. The far stone wall in the bedroom was slightly ajar; it in reality, was a secret passage way that lead to a tiered, wooden spiral staircase to the basement.
In the basement was Vincent's resting place, the secret Sephiroth laboratory, and- beyond that- the legendary monster lair that they were in search of.
"There is a knot on this wall that opens the passageway downstairs." Vincent said quietly as he turned, and ran his good hand upon the frozen, dark stones. "It... it's already open. Look." Vincent slid his fingers along the open crack in the doorway.
He pulled, and swung open the stone wall- that really was a doorway to the hidden basement.
Reeve pushed Vincent aside, and he eagerly lead the party down the wooden staircase.
Both Dante and Ray lowered their stiff arms as they aloud themselves to become swallowed into the whale belly of the impending darkness down beneath the Earth.
They traveled down, down,
Down.
Little rays of shy white light slid in strait streams and landed softly upon the cool dirt downstairs.
The sunlight that came downstairs with them nearly seemed gray; it did not illuminate anything beyond ten feet before them.
"We are going to need.. uhm, a torch, or something, if we want to continue further." Dante pointed out as he strained his eyes to see.
"No need. I know this place too well." Vincent said emotionlessly. The rage inside of him towards Reeve lurched forward and grumbled. How could Reeve have the nerve to betray his trust? He should have known better. He once worked for the Shin-Ra, he KNEW they were scum... Like himself. He, too, was guilty of working for the Shin-Ra, once...
"I have a lighter." Ray offered. He dug into his pocket and produced a golden cigar lighter. Reeve snatched it as if stealing were an instinct. "Thanks. I'll give it right back. Now, move."
Under the flickering, orange halo of a cigar lighter, they walked into the motionless shadows before them.
Ray couldn't keep himself from sweating, despite the cold, dead air.
Dante was petrified of the darkness. It wasn't the shadows itself that frightened him; it was the unknown, the things and the people he could not control. He couldn't keep himself from violently shaking in fear as he walked. Every time he spoke, he tried his best to control his sputtering- so he didn't look like the weak, frightened fool that he really was deep inside of his soul.
Every time he saw a patch of black flutter, he jumped. He felt a near panic attack creep upon him.
Vincent felt completely, totally, safe and at home there in the dusty, wet smells of the Shin-Ra basement. Returning to the darkness, the silence, the enclosed safe of death's black womb was nothing less than comfort.
They were walking HIS turf. He knew every stone, twist, and small animal in this basement.
His eyes didn't hurt any longer, either.
Reeve swelled and perspired in anticipation. He LOVED the trill of holding people hostage, of controlling them, and of walking into the unknown. He was pink with adrenaline. Everything was spinning. He was excited. A rush. It was all a game- together, under his control- they were discovering and walking into the unknown.
There was a weak, muffling sound close by.
It echoed. Whatever it was, it sounded feeble.
"Shh. What was that?" Reeve stopped completely, and turned to Vincent.
The weak, flat, golden light of the lighter lit Reeve's serious face. His features were heavily angled and sharp, as if someone chiseled his countenance out of stone with a screwdriver.
Vincent shrugged. He began to loathe Reeve and his triple crossing ways.
It was as if no moral fiber existed in his slimy skin.
"Maybe it was a BAT." Ray whispered glancing to Vincent.
"No." Vincent replied flatly, slightly annoyed. "Bat's don't sound remotely like that. It sounded human. Someone must have beaten us here."
"Let's keep moving. If someone is already here, they must be in the lab." Reeve spoke officially as he continued on.
Vincent glanced at the broken door that lead to his resting place. He remembered when Yuffie, not long ago, broke in to wake him. It was the first of many things that lead up to this situation.
Dante thought he was going to vomit when he saw something in the darkness that sort of looked like a skull. (Although, it was nothing more than a piece of wood with a hole in it and shadows playing tricks upon it.)
"Hey, did you guys 'ere dat?" Ray stopped and asked as he brought up the rear. He seemed even fatter as he stood near the three thin men in the dull light.
They all heard it.
They all fell silent and stopped.
Whatever it was, it was now very loud, and sounded very human and female.
It sounded pitiful.
"It might be a monster from the lair." Reeve suggested.
Vincent knew the sounds of the basement.
He knew that Reeve was wrong, but didn't care to say anything.
Dante was paler than paper, and quaked evilly.
Reeve turned around, and saw a thin green line that hung in the emptiness before him. It was a doorway, some light somewhere.
He groped in the darkness, heading for the light.
They followed him. Dante ran to it, hungrily.
Reeve pushed open the door, letting the light fill the shadowed spaces. They winced as they were stabbed with lamplight.
As the party stood in the lab room, they looked about.
The room had been untouched since the day Sephiroth came and ravaged it for knowledge. Ancient papers, yellow and old, scattered the floor like forgotten, wingless canaries.
Books went unread, records went scattered and lost. All collected layers of dust, mold, and cobwebs. They stretched out on book cases for miles.
"Thank god." Dante sighed. "Let's find that huge book case, check it out, and leave. This place gives me the creeps."
Ray agreed as he lumbered further in and looked about.
"I think not."
A voice from nowhere said.
Then, the lights fell silent. They were violently shoved into the empty, cold darkness once more. Not a fleck of light escaped to shudder it's warmth anywhere.
"HEY!"
"The... fuck?"
"Whose there?! Show yourself!"
"Oh, my god, oh, my god, oh, my FUCKING GOD! I'm FREAKING OUT!"
BANG!
"Ow!"
"Vinnie!"
"MY LEG! FUCK!"
"Someone, turn back on the lights!"
"Something BIT my leg!"
"Who has the gun!?"
"Vincent! Help!"
"I think... I think I'm gunna barf."
"Dante? Reeve? Where ARE you? Who is calling my name? WHO IS that?"
Flick.
Everyone's eyes snapped. A bright, round, bubble of light appeared and hovered in the darkness.
Tseng was holding a match. And he was holding Yuffie, tightly, to his chest, with a gun pressed to her skull.
"Vinnie! Oh...!" She gulped and panicked. So, it was she whom made those pathetic sounds they heard earlier in the hallway...
"Vinnie! Where is your pants!!!?" She struggled and yelped. Tseng's grip on her was too professional. As a Turk, he knew how to keep someone in a cruel, effective lock.
"Let her go, Tseng, she has nothing to do with anything!" Reeve approached Tseng's bulb of firelight.
"Reeve. I won't stop until I kill you like you killed me." Tseng lifted the gun from Yuffie's head, and pointed it point black to Reeve's.
Without hesitation, he fired.
No one could have acted quickly enough to stop him.
The gun blast whipped the matches light into oblivion.
And everything screamed back into black.
"REEEEVE!" Yuffie screeched. She broke free of Tseng's grip, and dove to his side. She felt something sticky and hot moisten her knees as she knelt near him.
The room smelt of gunpowder and metallic blood.
"Would someone tell me what the fuck is going on?" Dante yelled, then, he vomited with a retching sound.
"Cover your eyes." Vincent ordered. A moment later, a lamp flickered on with hesitation.
Tseng had vanished. Reeve was a bloody mess on the floor. His eyes were wide open, dilated, and filmed over. Yuffie leapt back in horror.
Her hands, feet, and thighs were covered in blood.
She, too, felt her body leap and reject her stomach contents.
She swallowed, but her mouth and throat were dead dry.
"Calm down, Yuffie. We don't know if that's really him. It may be..." He sighed, and turned his head in slight repugnance, "Another one of his toys. We don't know for sure."
"Where is that guy?" Ray grunted and scratched the back of his hot-dog neck. "Sure is a good toy if it is one. It sure looks... real." Ray bent down and dabbed his fingers with blood.
"Jesus Christ." Dante pulled his sleeve across his lips. "WHERE the FUCK is that WALL we have been looking for, that's what I'd like to know! And where the FUCK did Tseng come from! I thought he was DEAD! I didn't come all this way for NOTHING!" Ray stepped over Reeve's body, and approached Dante.
"Frankly," Ray began, eyeing the book shelves, "I'd like to know that, too."
"I NEED to SEE what's behind that wall!" With trembling hands, Dante began to pull off books from the furthest and the largest book shelf in the room- which was located behind Sephiroth's old desk. One by one, he threw them carelessly to the floor.
Ray began to help him.
"There must be a secret knob, or handle, or SOMETHING!"
"What's behind the wall can't be any more frightening than the creatures in this very room. Come, Yuffie, let's go." Vincent said darkly.