A/N: Here's the revision of Chapter Three . . .
Original A/N: Without further ado, here's the next chapter. ^_^ Kermit the Frog? O.o Well that was close, Wolfie...
Chapter Three
"Taichi!" Hikari sighed in relief. His sudden appearance had given her quite a shock, to say the least.
"Yeah, it's me," he said nonchalantly, as if standing in the middle of a deserted forest in the middle of a terrible storm was an everyday ordeal. "I found a place where we can hide until the rain passes through, alright? Follow me." Without waiting for a response, Taichi pivoted on his left foot and hurried off.
Takeru and Hikari gave each other a quick look and obeyed Taichi.
He led them to an old two-story cabin. The outside walls were weather-beaten and peeling, the front door only hanging on by two of the three hinges. The ancient shingles on the roof flapped wildly in the unrelenting wind. The place gave Hikari a bad feeling, but she knew that it was shelter, dilapidated or not. And a predicament such as hers, shelter was a very good thing.
They rushed inside. Hikari instantly wrung out her hair. "Thanks, onii-chan. How'd you find this place?"
"Oh, I was just . . . passing by when the storm started. Miyako and the others had told me that you two were stuck, so I came in to get you two," Taichi grinned sheepishly.
Hikari returned the smile. "Gomen." Takeru nodded his agreement as he made his way over to a tattered old red velvet couch. "Think it's safe to sit on?" He wondered aloud.
"I'm not gonna try it!" Hikari giggled, and then jumped as a particularly loud roll of thunder rumbled outside.
"We can stay here until the storm front passes through," Taichi said, back to them as he scanned the room. "I'm going to explore around." He carefully started up a flight of stairs that didn't seem to be too sturdy.
"Be careful!" Hikari yelled after him.
"I wonder if anyone ever lived here," Takeru murmured thoughtfully, taking in his surroundings. The red sofa was the only piece of furniture besides a rocker chair that was in worse condition that the couch. An extremely dusty fireplace lined the far wall, and next to was a big, gaping hole that led to who knows where. Neither of them wanted to find out. "And where they went."
Hikari shrugged. She felt too tired to respond else wise. It was scary, but the once repulsing upholstery of the cushions was starting to look comforting. . . She shuddered and snapped herself out of it.
Zzt. Zzzzt.
A tape of Hikari and Takeru sitting on a bench, age ten.
Sniffle. " 'He pushed me offa slide, T.K.! And now I have this great big cut and it hurts.' " Sniffle.
" 'Hey, it's alright. Now, let's get that cleaned up, okay?' " Takeru wiped Hikari's eyes.
She gave a wavering smile. " 'Thank you, T.K.' "
Zzt. Zzzzt.
Static.
A tape of Hikari sitting in the high school bleachers, merely five months ago.
" 'Come on, Takeru! Go! Go! Shoot!' " She cried, getting to her feet.
Takeru, on the slick basketball court below, let the ball fly in an accurate jump shot. . . Swish. It didn't even hit the rim as it slid through the hoop.
The crowd went wild, and Takeru smiled up at Hikari, who blushed in return.
Zzzzt.
It went dark.
Darkness, thick and surreal.
"Hikari. Hikari. Hikari. Hikari. You're on no basketball court now. And no one's gonna be able to clean your wounds . . . they'll be too deep."
"Taichi's been gone too long. I'm going to see what's taking him," Hikari told her blonde friend.
"I'll come along."
The two carefully started on the same route as Hikari's brother. They moved around large flaws in the wood where maggots had eaten away. With every step came a loud and decisive creak. All the horror stories she'd ever read flooded into her mind.
The staircase finally ended, leading into a narrow hallway. Hikari took a step forward, but Takeru gasped and pulled her back roughly.
"Hey!" She wasn't mad, just concerned. "What's wrong?"
"Look at the floor," he said gravely.
So she did, and had a similar reaction to Takeru's.
There was no floor.
It had fallen in, or rotted away. That really didn't matter, but all Hikari could see was blackness below her. "God," she whispered. "I almost fell through . . ."
The mind of a maniac is an empty thing.
If you're human.
It wasn't human, not in the very least.
At least, it didn't think so.
Nevertheless, its mind was empty, anyway. Of emotion. Of memories.
It didn't know its gender. It didn't know its nationality. It knew nothing, only that it was seeking revenge. Seeking revenge on something that had done this to it.
And she would pay.
Hikari's heart pounded in her chest. Takeru hadn't removed his arms from her shoulders, but she didn't mind. "Taichi . . . what about Taichi? He went up here, did he not?" Hikari asked.
"Yeah. I know the floor didn't give away recently, so there's no way your brother was taken along with it. But how did he get through?" Takeru knelt down and examined a shard of wood jutting out of the wall. "How strange . . . this feels like we're inside a Stephen King novel."
Hikari gave a short nod of the head but said nothing further. She self-consciously scooted closer to her blonde-haired friend as they both lapsed into silence. Takeru's observation about the book was appallingly close to reality.
"Hey, what are you guys staring at?"
Hikari and Takeru gasped in surprise as a voice sounded out from behind them.
It was Taichi, standing there with a placid smile on his face. "What's wrong?"
"Who . . . how . . . you . . ." She squeaked.
"Is that so?" Takeru murmured, rapping his knuckles against the hallow wall. "How'd you find it?"
"I stumbled when I saw the hole and fell to the side against the door. It cracked open a bit and I went inside to investigate," Taichi replied.
The three of them stared at the slightly ajar wall. They had been talking about a passageway that Taichi had stumbled across.
"Wanna go down? It's really neat," there was an odd gleam in the soccer player's eyes.
"Sure," Hikari spoke up.
A/N: Well, there ya have it, folks. ^_^
Original A/N: Whew! I cannot believe that my interactive fic was totally wiped off FF.N! I didn't even have a chance to back it up! Life isn't fair... oh, well. Signing off.