She

By: General Quistis (generalquistis@yahoo.com) or (generalquistis@hotmail.com)

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EIGHT: Inside the Well

            Tifa gazed outside her window and watched silently as some of the townsfolk entered their houses after a hard day's work. It was already 5:30 in the afternoon and the sun was already beginning to set. Her eyes began to brighten up a little as she caught a glimpse of the orange skies… then they became blank again. She moved her hands, touching the glass by the bright setting sun and she frowned angrily at herself as she clawed mindlessly on the glass by the setting sun. "How come the sun doesn't blind me? How come I don't feel any pain in my eyes whenever I am staring at the sun? What is happening to me?" she thought angrily as tears began to form in her eyes. She sniffed and bit her lip as she stopped clawing at the window and then quickly, she removed the bandages around her hands and saw the still fresh wounds and gashes all over them. She clenched her fists, trying to feel any pain, but there was none. She began to feel her own pulse but she could not feel any. Her vision began to blur because of the tears and she sobbed quietly before she took a step backward and then finally punched the glass of the window.

Her eyes grew wide when she felt the shards pierce through her skin and caused some to create scratches on her face, her neck and more on her hands and arms. She withdrew her trembling hand from the broken window and took a few more steps backward before she ran to the other window, opened it and jumped off.

***

            "What was that?" Rufus demanded as he ran into Elena and Reno.

"It came from the second floor, sir!" Elena announced.

Rufus was silent for a while, but his eyes grew wide in astonishment when he realized who was the only person in the second floor. "Tifa." He mouthed before he pushed the two aside and rushed upstairs.

"President Rufus!" The two Turks ran after him.

When Rufus got inside Tifa's bedroom, the sight of the broken window and the shards of glass were too much for him. He became enraged and he really wanted to kill Hojo again if ever they could revive him. "NO!" he rushed to the window and looked outside. He felt a gush of the cold afternoon air hit his face and it made him shiver… and from where he is, he could recognize the girl wearing the maroon floral sundress with long dark hair, staggering down the street, leaving some trail of blood on the ground. He wanted to scream because of the frightful sight he just saw. He did not know why he suddenly felt so afraid of her and what could happen to her. "He turned her into a monster!" he realized quietly as he felt the room spinning around him. He took several steps backward to the door, keeping his eyes on the window. "But I have to save her…" he whispered softly, confusing Elena and Reno. It made them feel alarmed when he just bolted out of the room and rushed down the stairs without saying anything more to them.

Elena ran after him. "President Rufus! Where are you going?!" she called out.

Reno's eyes were wide in confusion as he headed for the lounge where the others stayed to inform them that there is an emergency and they should act quickly.

***

            Rufus continued to run but he didn't know where Tifa went. "Where are you…" he thought silently as he began to feel so nervous. "TIFA!" he called out desperately. As he continued to run and gaze around the place, somewhat shocking the other citizens of Nibelheim upon seeing the young President running around the streets with a disturbed expression on his face. "TIFA!" he continued to shout her name, but he couldn't hear an answer.

He stopped when Dark Nation suddenly sprung out of nowhere. "Nation! Where is Tifa?" he demanded.

"Meowrgh!" she replied, as if urging him to follow her. She began to run going to the opposite direction, keeping a steady but fast pace, enough for Rufus to catch up with her.

"Where is she taking me?" he thought quietly with a troubled look on his face as he slowly realized that the black panther was leading him to a place which he had dreaded so much…

The well.

He stopped running and so did Dark Nation when they saw Tifa removing the lid from the well. After she did so, she looked inside.

Rufus, thinking that she was going to jump in, rushed to her. "NO! Tifa, what are you doing?!" he demanded with a nervous tone as he grabbed her and tried to take her away from the well, but she was struggling, until he felt himself leaning against the well.

When Tifa saw that he was close to the well, she smiled at him and jumped up at him, giving him a sweet kiss…

…and the next thing that Rufus discovered, he and Tifa were falling inside the well…

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Author's note: Oh man… this is getting creepy… *shudder*……. No, Tifa isn't crazy. There's just something inside the well… oh, you'll find out what it is… :)