Disclaimer: All FFVII characters within are owned by Squaresoft. Only the situation is my own. Sort of.
Author's Note: I have challenged myself to write werewolf stories for as many Final Fantasies as I possibly can. Don't ask why. This was the hardest one to come up with; I'm not sure why that is. I didn't want it to be the 'classic' werewolf story, and this is the result. Like it or hate it, at least I met my personal challenge. Also, there are probably a ton of inconsistencies in this story. It's been a long time since I've played FFVII. Just ignore them and pretend it's an AU if there are many of them…
CRY IN THE NIGHT
Aeris secured the bandage over her upper arm with a wince, then rolled the sleeve down over it. They'd taken too much this time; Aeris felt dizzy, and she collapsed onto her bed with a breathy sigh.
At least the bed was comfortable. And the food was good; once of Dr. Hojo's assistants had left a steaming bowl of stew and a pitcher of fruit juice for her when the doctor was done, and Aeris debated getting up and retrieving the tray. But Dr. Hojo had dug deeply for tissue samples this time, to the bone, and tears of pain were drying on her pale face. She hurt too much. She didn't want to get up…
She flopped backwards onto the cushions, biting her lip as the motion jarred her aching body. This was only the latest of the samples Hojo had taken. The pain of the older extractions was still with her. She far preferred the injections to the extractions.
I should eat, or I won't survive the doctor's next ministrations. At the moment, dying had a certain appeal. No more tissue samples. No more injections. No more imprisonment. No more pain.No more Zack…
Aeris blinked back fresh tears that welled up. She was here because of Zack; the SOLDIER had vanished a year ago, and rumors had brought her to Nibelheim. She'd hoped to find news of her lost love, proof that he hadn't just abandoned her. But the town had been close-mouthed about any dealings with SOLDIER - or Shinra in general. She'd been forced to take matters into her own hands, and had investigated the mansion after she'd seen a Turk leaving the premises.
It had proven to be a mistake. Her clumsy efforts at stealth got her quickly captured, and Hojo had recognized her as the Cetra who had escaped long ago, and now… now she was part of his mad experiments. She was treated well, being the only living source of Cetra tissue, but she was a prisoner in this dark, lonely room.
And worst of all, I still don't know what's happened to Zack! Dr. Hojo knows something; I've seen it in his eyes when I've questioned him.
Aeris pushed her body slowly upright, then brushed her hair out of her eyes. The spiky ends of the short strands stuck in her eyelashes, and she slicked the bangs back in frustration. Dr. Hojo had cut away her long, silky locks, cropping her hair to only a few inches in length. She hated the feel of the shorn locks under her fingers.
Then her fingers moved from her hair, and rested tentatively on her stomach. Nothing... She still didn't feel what Dr. Hojo had gleefully assured her was there, what she somehow sensed was there. It was another reason she had to leave. She didn't want a child to be born into this life.
A child... Her child... When Hojo had told her what he'd done, she'd wept. She was going to bear a child for this monster! It was going to be born into an uncaring environment, subject to horrible experiments. And what if it were Hojo's? She'd been unconscious while he'd experimented on her. She had no idea who - or what - the father was. But she'd determined, after she had accepted it, that she would love the child, no matter whose it was, or what Hojo did to it. And she couldn't let it down with her death, any more than she could let Zack down.
Rising to her feet, Aeris padded softly to the table where her meal had been set. Death, she'd decided, was not an option she favored.
She began to clumsily eat the stew with her left hand, since her right felt useless below the bandage. She ate in silence, the only sounds those of her own breathing, the soft slurps as she ate, and the skittering of mice in the walls. The room terrified her at night, when every creak and groan of the old manor seemed amplified in the darkness, and the dime, bare bulb in her room was unable to provide her with any sense of security. She hated the nights.
Aeris had just finished her soup when she heard a soft sound, like a low moaning, coming through the wall beside her. She froze, pressing her ear to the peeling wallpaper and listening.
The sound came again, longer this time. She wasn't sure if it was from the next room, or if the walls were conducting the sound, but she knew it wasn't the house settling.
She pushed herself to her feet, then put as much distance between herself and the sound as possible. She was locked in a house with a mad scientist; who knew what sort of grisly experiments he kept around?
Aeris huddled into her blankets, pressing her face to her hands. She doubted she'd get any sleep tonight, not with her nerves on edge. And, though she could no longer hear the moaning, she knew it would haunt her. It had sounded as if it were in great pain… and had been tinged with sadness, as well.
If she didn't get out of here soon, she knew she'd be the one heard moaning through the walls.
* * *
A gentle knock drew Aeris's attention from the book she was reading. She smiled slightly; only one of her captors bothered to knock. She set the book aside and called "Come in!"
There was the sound of the bolts being thrown, and the door creaked open. "Good afternoon, Aeris," the man standing in the doorway greeted cordially.
"Is it?" Aeris asked, her tone faintly bitter. She stood, brushing at the wrinkles in her stained blue shirt.
"I have permission to take you outside today," the man continued.
Aeris's green eyes widened, and she smiled. "That's great!" she said enthusiastically. "Thank you, Justyn."
Justyn was a Turk, assigned to the Nibelheim manor as protection. When Aeris arrived, he'd been charged with walking her; usually just around the house itself, but sometimes she was allowed outside to the walled grounds. Justyn was a friendly captor, sympathetic to her role as a guinea pig but too loyal to Shinra to help Aeris escape. Besides, he firmly believed that Hojo would release Aeris when he was through with her.
Would he help her if he knew that she was pregnant? That she carried something that Hojo had put inside of her against her will? What did he think Hojo was doing to her, anyway?
Aeris pulled on her sandals and followed the young Turk, grateful to be from her confinement for even a short time. They walked rapidly through the spacious rooms of the manor, ignoring the decadence of what had once been a magnificent home. Aeris had seen it all before, and certain rooms made her shudder in memory. But she was going outside, not to Dr. Hojo's subterranean lab. She was going to be out under the blue sky and breathing air that wasn't choked with dust!
She paused as they stepped outside, closing her eyes and letting the sun warm her face while the gentle breeze played with her cropped hair. She took a deep breath, scenting the last flowers of summer.
Justyn stood quietly as she completed her ritual. Only when her green eyes opened, livelier than they'd been in days, did he speak to her. "This is going to have to be a short walk; there's a storm coming, and Dr. Hojo doesn't want you out in it."
Oh, to feel the rain again… Her shoulders sagged. "Oh," she said softly. "I… understand."
Normally, Justyn would hear the sadness in her voice and try to cheer her up, but he seemed unusually somber this afternoon. She tilted her head up, then frowned as what she saw. "Justyn, are you ill?" she asked.
The Turk's normally robust features were sallow in the daylight, and shadows ringed his eyes. His flaxen hair was hanging limply from his scalp, and seemed to have lost its luster. He turned to her and smiled, but the strained expression didn't quite meet his eyes. "I haven't been sleeping well," he admitted. "I may be coming down with something."
"I'm sorry," Aeris said. "Was it the moaning?" she wondered suddenly. "Was it keeping you awake?"
He looked baffled. "Moaning?" he repeated. "Have you been hearing things?" At Aeris's nod, he shrugged. "I don't know what you're talking about. Perhaps it was one of the beasts that live in the manor."
Aeris fell silent as she followed Justyn through the winding, overgrown paths of the manor's gardens. The illness of the only man she considered a friend in this place distressed her. If he had to leave for a hospital, she'd be all alone here.
If only she could run away… But the walls around the manor were solid stone, barely touched by age. If she couldn't persuade Justyn to help free her, she had no chance. Besides, she needed to find out what Hojo knew about Zack, first.
Their walk ended too soon for Aeris's liking. The wind had picked up, smelling of ozone and blowing in thick, roiling black clouds. "Come on," Justyn said thickly, grabbing her arm to steer her towards the manor. Aeris followed willingly, but the Turk dug his hand into her arm more tightly. She cried out as the strength of his grip steadily increased.
"You're hurting me!" she said. His fingers felt stiff and hard, and she knew she was going to be bruised.
"I'm sorry!" Justyn seemed shocked by his own strength. "I didn't mean it! Did I grab you somewhere the doctor drew a sample from?"
No… that was her other arm. But Justyn's sallow face looked so contrite, she wanted to make him feel better. "Yes, that's all." She smiled weakly up at him. "You just have to be careful where you grab me."
He was careful not to touch her as he led her back, and when his attention was elsewhere, she rubbed her arm. She winced, then pulled back the sleeve to reveal the livid bruises beneath. When did Justyn get so strong? His grip is like steel!
* * *
The moaning came again that night, louder than before. Aeris could hear it from where she lay huddled in her blankets. She slid out of the tangle, wrapping one blanket around herself. The stone floor was freezing under her feet, and she wanted to just climb back into bed and pretend she was safe and secure.
Instead, she crept over to the wall and listened. There was a new sound mixed with the moaning, as if someone were crying. That's no beast… maybe it's one of Hojo's experiments!
Aeris's heart went out to whatever was beyond the wall. She wondered if she could offer it comfort. Perhaps she could make an ally of this other and they could escape together.
"Hello?" she called tentatively through the wall. "Is someone there?"
She held her breath, awaiting an answer. The manor seemed suddenly silent, without even the scuttling of rats or the barrage of rain that had beat down earlier. "Hello?" she called again, her voice unnaturally loud.
Had she frightened whoever was on the other side? Perhaps they thought she was some sort of monster!
When at last a sound echoed through the silence, Aeris jumped. The noise had not come from behind the wall, but from beyond the door! Had one of her captors come? Or was her neighbor free to roam the house? That last thought made her uneasy.
She cleared her throat and was about to call out, when the moaning came again. Goose bumps rose along Aeris's bruised and bandaged arms at the sound. The words froze in her throat, and she backed away from the door.
There was a scrabbling noise, as if something was fumbling with the bolts. The moan came again, accompanied by a wet gurgling noise. Aeris shuddered. Maybe it's letting me out. Maybe it just wants a friend.
Maybe it wants to kill me… Aeris couldn't contain her gasp as one of the bolts was thrown with an echoing clatter. Then her visitor went to work on the second bolt.
Aeris was no longer certain she wanted to meet her neighbor. Not in the middle of the night, anyway, when her imagination was running rampant.
"Hello out there… Please, go away," Aeris said, her voice quaking. "It would be better if I spoke to you tomorrow."
The hall beyond her door fell silent, and Aeris thought the other had obeyed, until the sound of the second bolt being opened carried clearly to her ears.
It wasn't leaving! Then, perhaps its intentions weren't friendly after all. Aeris looked frantically around her sparse quarters for something that could be used to block the door. There was only one bolt left, and she didn't know what her visitor would do when it came in.
Her bed was huge and heavy; dragging that was out of the question. Her only other item of furniture was the rickety table and chair. There was nothing in the small connecting bathroom she could use, she knew. Having no other option, she dragged the table and chair in front of the door. They won't hold long!
Whatever was outside seemed to be having trouble with the third bolt; she heard it snarl in frustration. There was a loud crash as something slammed into the door, and Aeris shrank back. The force of the blow had pushed the solid oak door inward for a brief instant.
The table wouldn't hold. Aeris looked for somewhere to hide, somewhere that would be safe from the thing out there. She doubted any such place existed.
Suddenly, the sounds outside ceased. Aeris slipped silently to the door, pressing her ear to the wood. Nothing. It seemed the thing outside her door had vanished.
But she took no chances. She sat in the chair in front of the door, listening, waiting. She didn't get any sleep that night.
* * *
Aeris had finally settled into a light doze and was awakened by voices outside her door. She quickly moved the table and chair out of the way as Dr. Hojo entered, a stormy expression on his face. "Are you all right?" he asked in a clipped tone. Aeris nodded wearily.
"Good," he said, relaxing slightly. He beckoned his assistants into the room, and they began to close the door.
"Wait!" Aeris cried. The assistants stopped uncertainly as Aeris went over to the door. Their bodies blocked the open door way, so she couldn't make a run for it. But she wasn't interested in a futile attempt to escape; her attention was drawn to the great furrows in the solid wooden door. They were in sets of five, and were an inch deep. Dark streaks had dripped from the gouges, and Aeris realized it was blood. She reached her hand to touch one, and had to stretch her fingers as wide as she could to touch all five furrows. "What… what did this, Doctor?" she asked Hojo.
His murky eyes narrowed behind his glasses. "That is none of your concern," he said coolly. "Now, if you will just take a seat - "
"None of my concern?" she asked incredulously. "It came after me last night! You don't want to lose your… your prize specimen, do you?" Her voice quivered in anger.
"It will not come after you again," Hojo said, unaffected by her anger. He set a case on the table and removed a syringe and an ampoule of viscous amber fluid. Aeris cringed away. "Now," he said, loading the syringe, "expose your arm, please."
Aeris had no choice but to obey. She shuddered as his cold hands rolled back her sleeve. His lips tightened when he saw what was underneath. "These bruises… where did you get them?"
"Justyn grabbed me when we were outside yesterday," she said slowly, reluctant to betray her only friend. "I didn't want to return."
"Perhaps you shouldn't be allowed out anymore," Hojo said. Aeris opened her mouth to protest. He can't take away my last bit of freedom! But before she could make a sound, Hojo jabbed the needle into her flesh and injected the contents into her arm. She yelped, and Hojo rolled his eyes. "Now really, Miss Gainsborough, I'd have thought you'd be accustomed to a little pain by now."
She gritted her teeth against the pain. "Why do you do this?" she gasped out.
"Don't worry; it's for the good of the child you carry," he said. "It's something a little different than what I've given you before, though, so you might react badly to it at first. But don't worry, you'll come to no harm.
Aeris's hands tightened into fists. "Why don't I believe you?" she whispered. Then her show of defiance was cut short by a wave of nausea. She staggered to her bed and sat, clutching her head. "What did you give to me?"
"It'll pass," Hojo said. He closed his case and went to the door. "I'll be back at the same time tomorrow. Get some sleep, and I promise you won't be bothered again by your night visitor."
The door closed behind him, and the bolts were slid into place. Aeris had no choice but to comply with Dr. Hojo's orders; she fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.
* * *
She woke once that night. Her mind was cloudy with fatigue, and the room seemed to be spinning around her. Aeris moaned. The nausea had faded, but so had her senses. Everything was hazy, and Aeris wanted to curse Hojo for doing this to her. She put one clammy hand to her forehead, which felt cool to touch. At least she wasn't feverish.
Dimly, she heard noises in the hallway. Hojo's voice was among them, and she thought she heard Justyn as well. Suddenly, someone screamed, and there was a wet snapping noise. Hojo uttered a string of curses, and she thought she heard the phrase "Reactions becoming more violent," before they moved away.
So they were moving her neighbor, and it hadn't liked that. Aeris would have felt relieved if the drug hadn't made her head feel so slow and heavy. She couldn't move; all she wanted to do was to fall back asleep. So she closed her eyes, and drifted off into nothingness.
* * *
Dr. Hojo awoke her with a rough yank on her arm. Aeris shot upright, her large eyes even wider with fear. "You're over the worst of it," Hojo said calmly.
"I... slept all this time?" Aeris asked dully. No wonder her stomach hurt; she hadn't eaten for a whole day!
Hojo prepped a syringe. "I'm doing something different today. I need you to expose your abdomen." He held up the large syringe he used for taking samples, and she shuddered. Whatever he was doing, it involved her child!
Aeris backed away from him, freeing herself from her blankets and struggling to her feet. "No!" she said. "Please... Whatever you're doing, it hurt me! Don't do this to me! Please stop! You have no right to treat a fellow human this way!"
Hojo stiffened. "A fellow human? No, my dear, you aren't human. You're a Cetran, the last of the line of an ancient race. Your people lost out to the humans," he said coldly. "You're nothing. As such, you have no rights. I can do to you as I please, and no one can tell me otherwise."
Aeris's lips trembled. She'd never heard anyone speak so cruelly about herself and her race before. She was human! Just... different. "You're wrong," she said, her voice cold with barely suppressed rage. "I won't let you do this!"
"All right. We'll do this the hard way. Hold her," Hojo said to his assistant. As the man pinned Aeris's arms to her side, she wondered distantly Where's the other assistant? Hojo never came without both of them.
She didn't struggle in the man's strong grasp; she only gave a resigned sigh and went limp. She didn't even gasp as Hojo lifted her stained shirt and drove the needle into the flesh of her abdomen, though tears streamed down her face from the pain. What was the use in struggling? The situation was hopeless.
When he released her, she placed her hand over the hole in her belly, which was trickling a clear fluid. Had he killed the fetus within her? She wouldn't put it past Hojo.
As Hojo packed his equipment and the assistant set out her meal, Aeris forced herself to meet Hojo's eyes again. "Doctor," she began.
"If it's about your rights or your missing boyfriend, I don't want to hear it," Hojo snarled.
"I... I just wanted to know how Justyn's feeling," Aeris said. "He hasn't come for our daily walks recently."
"He's fine," Hojo said shortly. "But you're staying in here for now. Don't worry," his thin lips tightened, "if this doesn't work out, you'll be out of here soon enough."
Aeris shuddered. That could only mean one thing: She was going to be taken to the lab again soon.
* * *
The next two days passed in a blur for Aeris. She barely remembered anything besides Dr. Hojo's visits when he came for her injections. Whatever he was giving her didn't make her as ill as the first time, but it still gave her a skewed sense of reality.
Her visit to Hojo's lab was enough to snap her back into the real world. She was in a half dazed state as she followed the doctor, led by the burly assistant who had a viselike grip on her sore arm. She followed sluggishly as she was led to the hidden entrance, and the assistant gently but firmly guided her down the spiraling stairway into the lab's subterranean depths.
When the doctor began to strip her, everything snapped into focus. "What are you doing?" she cried, as his cold hands pulled away her only protection. She tried to escape his hands, but the assistant held on to her tightly. Together, they forced her down on the operating table and strapped her into place.
Hojo checked the restraints, then nodded in satisfaction. "I'm correcting a problem," he told her thinly. "Watch her, Justyn, until I get back."
A guttural noise from behind Aeris's head was the only response as Hojo walked away.
"Justyn?" she called hopefully. When she received no reply, she attempted to crane her neck around, looking for the Turk. "Justyn, help me, please..."
Still he said nothing. She shivered in the chilly air and examined her surroundings to take her mind off the situation.
She'd only been down here once before, when Hojo had impregnated her. She knew she'd blocked out the memories of the worst of it, but the half healed scars along her abdomen frightened her. He'd told her beforehand that Cetrans didn't reach breeding age until they were about thirty, and he'd had to make some... changes to her body. What was he going to do to her now? She refused to think about it as she looked around. The lab hadn't changed much; the shelves of dusty books and rows of gleaming equipment on racks were the same. The two glass tubes were again covered, and she wondered what was within that Hojo wanted to hide.
The most disturbing part of the room was a gurney pushed to the side. A sheet covered the lumpy form beneath, and blood stained the covering. "Oh my," she whispered in horror.
"That's Hojo's assistant," Justyn said from behind her head. "Or what's left of him."
"What happened?" she asked. When he was reluctant to respond, she pleaded, "Justyn, please! I need someone to talk to me! Don't leave me alone."
"I'm sorry," Justyn said in that curiously thick tone. He stepped forward, into her line of sight. Aeris's breath caught in her throat as she took in the horrifying sight. "You'd probably be better off if I weren't around."
"What happened to you?" her voice was almost a sob.
Justyn was a changed man. His skin was draped over his frame, lined with stretch marks and looking like an ill-fitting garment. His blond hair was thinner, with bare spots along his scalp where it had fallen out completely. His blue eyes were dull, and sunk into their sockets. Strangely, there were large flecks of gold in their irises. "I didn't mean to frighten you," Justyn said, stepping back. "I just thought…"
"Don't go away," she whispered. "Come back, please…"
Justyn obliged, setting on hand on her own. His hand was swathed in bandages, she noticed, with blood at the tips. "What happened to you?" she asked again.
Justyn didn't get the chance to answer, because Hojo chose that moment to enter. "Let's get this over with," he said grimly. He pulled on a pair of rubber gloves, then ran his fingers over her abdomen. "The sooner I remove this child, the better."
"What?" Aeris choked out. She stared at Hojo in disbelief. "Why? You… you can't do that!"
"The child is defective. It isn't what I'd hoped it would be," Hojo said coldly, as if it were her fault. He removed a scalpel from the case he carried, examining it in the light. "I'm afraid you just aren't compatible with Justyn," he said. "Not even after all the alterations I made. But at least the fetus should be interesting to dissect."
"Justyn? You're the father?" Aeris stared up at the miserable Turk. He wouldn't meet her eyes. "You knew?" When he didn't respond, she turned back to Hojo. At least he's not the father! "Please don't take it," she said softly.
"First you don't want the child, and now you're begging for its life," Hojo snarled. "The mothering instinct is pathetic. It will be a freak, Miss Gainsborough, despite my efforts on both of you." Then the doctor smiled. "I'll learn from my mistakes with this one." He patted her stomach, and she cringed away from his touch. "And maybe I'll find a better father for your next."
Her skin crawled at the implications. He was offering himself… "What's wrong with it? Why won't you tell me? And what did you do to Justyn?" Her voice cracked.
Hojo critically examined the wreck Justyn had become. "I gave him an infusion of Jenova cells, missed with the genes from one of our local menagerie. It was part of a program to make stronger Turks for President Shinra. I used his sperm cells on you because I figured the modifications would make him the most compatible. I was wrong," he spat.
Then Hojo calmed himself. "Enough of this." He pulled out a syringe, and injected the contents into her abdomen. She immediately felt the area go numb, and she realized with dawning horror that she was going to be conscious while he destroyed the life within her!
"Don't!" Aeris tried to move her body, but the restraints held firm, and she couldn't feel her body below her breasts anyway. "Stop this!" Hojo lifted the scalpel and held it over her abdomen. "Justyn! Don't let him do this!"
"Don't struggle," Hojo said irritably. He plunged the razor sharp bland into her skin and, although she felt no pain, Aeris screamed.
"Doctor Hojo!" A hand clasped around Hojo's forearm, lifting the hand and scalpel. Blood welled from the small cut. "I can't let you do this!" Justyn held Hojo in an unbreakable grip, and Hojo regarded him in shock.
"Release me," he commanded imperiously.
"Let her go, Hojo. You've tortured her enough!" Justyn's voice was rough, rattling wetly in his throat.
The crushing strength of Justyn's grip was making Hojo's face contort in pain. "Release me," he said again. "President Shinra will hear of this – "
A growl escaped from Justyn's throat, and Hojo froze. His breath came out in harsh gasps as he stared into Justyn's eyes.
Aeris watched with horror as Justyn's hand twisted, and she heard the sound of bone breaking. Hojo screamed as Justyn released him, and he clutched his broken arm to his chest.
Justyn stood over Aeris. "Are you all right?" he asked, his voice so thick she could barely understand it. He began to fumble with the restraints. "Get out of here," he said. "Go away; far away."
He couldn't seem to get a grip on the buckles, and he swore. He ripped the bandages on one hand away with his teeth, then began to work on the buckle again.
He freed one of her hands, leaving behind a smear of blood. His fingers… they're worn to the bone! The brief glimpse of his hand that she got as he went to work on her foot revealed the reason for his clumsiness: the flesh was split at the ends, revealing the white of bone beneath. She didn't let herself dwell on that, however, as she used her free hand to work on the restraint around her other hand.
She paused once and glanced around. "Where's Hojo?"
"Probably getting a weapon. Run from this place as fast as you can," he said, an urgent note in his voice as he freed one of her feet.
"What about you? I can't leave – " she protested.
"It's too late for me!" he screamed. The strap broke under his hand. Aeris, her other hand now freed, scrambled to her feet and stared at Justyn with shock.
There was something terribly wrong with him. His whole body shook, and his breath was coming in ragged, uneven gasps. He squeezed his gold-tainted eyes shut and backed away from her. A sobbing sound escaped his pursed lips, and red-tinted tears streamed down his cheeks. "Get out of here," he begged.
With shaking fingers, Aeris picked up her discarded clothing and clumsily began to dress. The wound in her abdomen bled profusely, but the drug still masked the pain. Her entire attention was on Justyn as he began to moan.
The familiar sound tore at her. He was the one crying in the night? But… why? What's wrong? She stood frozen, staring transfixed as Justyn dropped to his knees. "It's happening again!" he gurgled in a barely coherent voice.
For a moment, it seemed as if Justyn could fight off whatever was happening. His trembling was becoming less violent, and his breathing eased. Then he screamed and blood sprayed the wall behind him, followed almost instantaneously by the sound of a gunshot. Justyn fell limply to the ground, his body twitching. A huge hole had been opened in his side by the bullet.
Hojo came up behind her, holding a gun in his good hand. "Now," he said in a strained voice, "let's get you back up to your room. We'll finish this later."
"J-Justyn?" Aeris whimpered. No… he can't be dead… he's my only friend here… "You killed him…" She rounded on Hojo, shoving him away from her. "You bastard! You killed him!"
"It had to be done," Hojo said flatly. "He was a failure." He prodded her with his gun. "Now move-"
A low gurgling halted them. As one, Aeris and Hojo turned to Justyn's body, which was twitching spasmodically. "Oh, no," Hojo whispered, backing away.
Justyn's flaccid skin began to swell outward, until it was taut over bulbous, misshapen muscles. His clothing stretched and burst as his body grew larger, until they were merely shreds. The hands and toes, with their exposed bone, twisted and hardened into curving, stained claws. The most striking change, however, was in his face. It bulged outward into a muzzle which opened to reveal snaggled teeth. His ears swept upwards into high points, upright like a cat's or a… wolf's. Justyn's crouching form, Aeris realized, resembled a furless, misshapen wolf. But no wolf had the stringy, patchy hair crowning its head, or veins that stood out sharply in grotesquely stretched skin.
Justyn's eyes opened, a feral, liquid gold that showed no recognition of her. Saliva dripped from his jaws, splashing on the floor beneath him.
This was what had attempted to break into her room, then. This thing that wasn't Justyn. Blood still spurted from the wound in his side, and he seemed unsteady on his awkward legs with their mismatched joints. He was dying, but he wasn't going without a fight.
With a shriek that sounded like a sob, the creature sprang forward. His shoulder slammed into Aeris, and she toppled and fell, but Hojo was Justyn's intended target. Though, from the sideways look it gave her, she guessed she was next.
Get out of here… Go away; far away! It's too late for me! And it was; she could see his life leeching away with every beat of his heart as more blood escaped from his wound. It was too late… Aeris turned and ran, adrenaline overcoming the drugs in her system. She made it to the stairway, where Hojo's assistant was standing guard. He made as if to stop her until she cried, "It's in the lab! It's killing Hojo!" She pushed past the man and ran up the stairs without stopping to catch her breath. She didn't hear anything behind her, and guessed the assistant had gone after Hojo.
She ran, out of the hidden entrance into the manor. She ran through the decadent rooms, ran towards the massive entrance hall. She ran, unchallenged, out the door down the lawn to the main gate. Her heart felt as though it would burst, but she paused only long enough to unlatch the gate, then she was again running, away from Hojo, away from the mansion, away from Nibelheim… away from Justyn…
When she was beyond the town's limits, she finally staggered to her knees and fell. Her stomach heaved, and she retched, bringing up the contents of her stomach. Only then did Aeris allow herself to curl up into a ball and cry as if her heart would break.
* * *
In his lab, Hojo climbed shakily to his feet. His assistant moved forward to help, but Hojo waved him away. Hojo carefully examined himself, taking note of every scratch and bite mark. He hurt terribly, but he wasn't fatally wounded.
Angrily, he kicked the corpse of his attacker. It had almost killed him! If Hojo hadn't managed to fire his weapon and shatter the creature's skull, it would have killed him before the wound in its side overcame it.
"Tell me you caught her," Hojo said softly to his assistant.
"You were in danger," the man began, and Hojo snarled.
"Then I've lost almost everything." He gave the corpse one last kick. He'd have to cremate it later, when he tended to his wounds… "But at least I still have Jenova… and these two." He limped over to the two glass tubes and pulled the covers away, revealing the shapes of two tranquilized men within. "I can still work on them." Hojo's lips curled into a bloody smile.
* * *
She was home again. It had taken almost a month, but Aeris had made it to her home in Midgar with her foster mother. It would take her a long time to get over what had happened in Hojo's manor, and she didn't think the nightmares would ever leave.
But she couldn't dwell on the events; she had more important things to think about. Two months after her escape, Aeris stood in her bathroom and stroked the bulge in her midriff. Her frantic flight and subsequent trip home hadn't harmed the child, the doctors assured her, and she was glad. A part of Justyn would live on. But… would it be affected by what Hojo had done to the father?
She went over to the mirror and began to brush her growing locks of hair. She couldn't wait for it to be long enough to pull back again. Then she paused, studying her face in the mirror. She'd lost the gaunt, pale look, and was physically returning to normal. Now, if she could just lose that haunted look in her eyes…
Wait a minute… She leaned closer to the mirror, studying her green eyes. What is that? Even after all the alterations I made… Hojo's words came back to her, and she felt a wave of horror pass through her. She'd thought he'd meant Justyn… What did he do to me?
Her green eyes were flecked with patches of gold.
The End