You Were Mine
Chapter 12
Do or Die
Tidus tried hard to keep his jaw from dropping. He hadn't expected her to say anything that quickly. He was prepared to con her into slipping with the information, but now she'd tripped him up. She rose from her seat; the same sadistic smile on her face that had been there moments before.
"Don't look so shocked," she said, standing over him. As if realizing some kind of power over him, he jumped up to meet her face to face, but regretted it. The look of this girl sent a shudder through him, and couldn't imagine what she'd been doing to Lindsay.
"Where is she?" he asked as calmly as he could, wondering if he could sound convincing enough. "What have you done with her?"
"She's in that room right behind me," she replied with a toss of her blonde hair. "But you'll need to get through me first."
He wasn't so sure that was the way to go about this. His weapon wasn't with him, because as he was intending, the meeting was supposed to be just a pleasant questioning about Lindsay's disappearance. How would it look if he showed up with a gigantic sword at his side? He had decided to op for the risk of hostile terms, and figured his fists would do. But from the look of this girl…he was doubtful that that would pull him through. She seemed hell bent on never allowing him to see Lindsay again, if it was the last thing she did. What was he supposed to use to defend himself now?
"You want to fight?" he asked neutrally, making sure that's what she meant.
Kelcie didn't brandish a weapon, but put up her fists in a ready stance instead. "You got it. Hand-to-hand?"
Tidus was shocked. Had she been planning that all along? Or had she really been waiting for him to suggest it? It didn't matter anymore, he guessed. She was ready to fight, so he would be too.
"Fine. If I beat you, you'll let me through to Lindsay?"
"In a heartbeat."
Tidus raised his fists, his expression somber and concentrated. Focusing on a place to strike the girl, he threw the first punch.
"TIDUS!" Lindsay screeched, all too late. She could hear them already engaged in physical battle, and mentally kicked herself for not drawing attention to herself earlier. But at least they didn't have weapons. Tidus had a better shot that way, she figured. He was strong; he'd make it through.
She stared at the closed door as if she wished to burn a hole through it with her eyes, desperately wanting to see if Tidus was winning. What if he didn't succeed? What would Kelcie do to her? She could only hope her man would prevail.
Blood ran steadily down his face, after Kelcie had struck back from his first punch. She'd hit him square in the nose, and he'd hit her jaw. She had to admit, the guy could pack a punch. But that wouldn't slow her down.
She hit him in the stomach, getting a rewarding breath of air gushing out of him in return. He stumbled backward, clutching his abdomen, and she attempted to go in again while he was weakened. Raising her leg to kick him in the exposed part of his ribs, she was surprised to be knocked back on the floor.
He had flipped her over. Grabbed her leg in mid-air and flipped her back like a rag doll.
Damn, she thought silently in the dazed second she spent on the floor. He's better than I gave him credit for. Slamming her feet forward, Kelcie brought herself up to standing position again, a slight head rush never halting her step.
"Nice moves, Big Boy," she commented as they circled one another. "But if you expect to see Lindsay again, I need nicer than that. Don't be afraid. That shit about never hitting a lady doesn't apply to me."
"Oh, I wasn't worried," Tidus retorted, a sly grin on his bloodied face. With his comment, he made an effort to hit her again in the same place she'd got him earlier, but he wasn't the only one with blocking moves.
Taking his arm that was thrusting forward to meet with her slim stomach, she twisted it at an awkward and unnatural position and heard an anguished cry in return. As he reeled from the dislocation of his arm, Kelcie reached for the revolver, loaded with two bullets, in her back holster.
Yuna shifted in her seat for the fifteenth time in the past ten minutes. Tidus had been gone. She hadn't liked the idea of him going in by himself at all, but knew he wouldn't have it any other way.
"Will you stop fidgeting, Yuna? You're making me really nervous!"
Yuna looked at her friend incredulously. "You're nervous? I'm a wreck! Oh, if anything happens to him…"
"Nothing will happen," Rikku tried to encourage her, but the words seemed dull. "He'll be fine. He's Tidus. He's…invincible." The last word she spoke was a whisper, as if something inside her didn't believe it and wouldn't allow her to say the word with confidence.
Yuna made no comment in reply, merely staring out the window at the still house. Turning the car on again, she pressed a small button, the effect being the window traveling downward. She wanted to hear everything that was going on, but this would have to do.
She glanced at the time: only thirteen minutes had gone by. Should they go in anyway? What if he was already hurt, and they hadn't heard anything? Maybe he'd be fine…but what if it was too late? These questions had been rolling inside her head since the second Tidus stepped in the house, and the wondering was killing her. Why hadn't they arranged some sort of signal to go by?
Suddenly she heard it. Like a shot in the dark, it snapped her to attention, leaving her in shock for a split second.
Rikku looked at her in puzzlement. "What is it, Yun? Did you hear something?"
Yuna stared back, but not for long before she slammed the door handle open and began scrambling up to the house. Rikku shouted warnings and pleas to her as she went, but she ignored them.
That same whistle she'd heard and been taught so long ago.
She knew he was in serious trouble.
Lindsay couldn't stand this anymore. The occasional thunk on the floor told her they were still fighting before, but now there was quiet.
An unnerving quiet.
"Tidus!" she yelped, almost positive it did no good, but wanting to try anyway. She fought against the ropes still tied to her legs and arms, knowing that act was futile as well. She felt entirely helpless…useless to help Tidus in any way shape or form.
"Somebody help me!" she cried, tears welling in her eyes. "Please! Tidus! Help!"
Still quiet.
A muffled voice spoke again; she could tell it was female, but could only pick up on half of what she was saying.
"…Want to get through to…? …Really worth the trouble…? …Can't you see…? …She was never worth your life…"
And then one word rang clear in Lindsay's ear, "Goodbye, Tidus."
Tears had soaked her face, but this made her moistened eyes shoot open. She would've covered her ears from the sound of the gunshot, if not for the fact that her hands were tied together. As she heard the fire of the gun, she screamed over top of it, "NOOOO!"
The ricochet of the gun reverberated throughout the home's rafters, and Lindsay could only wonder if Tidus's heart had stopped beating for the woman he loved.
Author's Notes: Mwa ha ha, cliffhanger!!! Just a couple chapters away from the finale, guys, I hope you like it thus far. It took me a long time to come up with the chapter title for this, and how this chapter was gonna go. There will be a lot of POV switching here, so I'm sorry if I jumped around too much. To Minky, sorry bout assuming what you meant. Next time I'll try to interpret it a little better, okay? Oh, and thank you so much to Noelle, who gave me the tip on the formatting. That helped out a lot! I was looking for a way to fix that. Thanks!!