DAY SIX
[Traverse Town Institute]
Sora walked through the rainy streets, covered in his black raincoat. After threatening to chain Riku down to his bed if he didn't try to get any rest, he set out on his own to find out more about Ansem.
Walking through the door, a passing nurse tsked with disapproval as Sora walked to the desk, dripping wet.
"Hey, can I look through the record rooms? Ansem Valentine?" Sora asked, tapping the glass. The receptionist looked at him slightly annoyed.
"Are you a family member?" She asked.
"Uh, no... but I've been up there before." Sora tried, mentally kicking himself for thinking it would be easier.
"The record rooms are downstairs. I'm afraid you cannot get in." The receptionist briskly replied, flipping through her notebook.
"Oh, come on, he's DEAD." Sora replied through gritted teeth.
"I'm sorry, sir, but you cannot get in. If you have nothing else, please leave." The woman snapped. Sora put up his hands in defeat, and slowly slinked out of the room.
~~~
He grinned as the lock clicked. Pocketing the lock pick away and kicking open the door, Sora laughed triumph.
"Not so high and mighty now, are ya?"
Descending down the cement stairway, Sora hopped down, kicked open the door again and was greeted with the sight of video racks, file cabinets and lots of paper.
Searching through the filing cabinets, Sora finally was able to find a file labeled "Valentine, Ansem". Flipping through it, he found a bunch of reports. There was ink splattered all over them, as if someone didn't want them to be read. A few even stuck to each other.
"Damn it." Sora hissed, shutting the folder.
A slip of paper fluttered from the folder to the ground. Sora bent down to retrieve it and he flipped it over, reading the scribbled marks.
"Video SR-71"
"Video... must be over there, then..." Sora looked over to the video rack. He walked over to the rusty metal rack, hand skimming over the videos.
"SR-67... SR-69... SR-71!" His hand grabbed the sleek black case and eagerly popped it open. Disappointment fluttered on Sora's face when he found out it was empty.
"Thought it was rather light..." He growled, flipping to the back. There was a checklist that told who had checked out the video. Scanning it, Sora found out where the video was being kept.
Aerith Valentine. MAR 1978
"Shit."
~~~
The phone rang.
Riku practically jumped out of his skin when he heard it. He had learned to fear the telephone. Edging toward it, he hesitantly picked it up.
"Riku, the video is at Aerith's place!" Sora barked. Riku blinked, staring at the cursed tape, laying a few inches from the phone.
"What video?"
"Oh, I mean, er, I broke into the record center, and Ansem's files has ink all over them. Someone didn't want anyone to read them. There was also a video, SR-71, but Aerith took that." Sora reported. Riku nodded, taking all this in.
"That video could probably tell us about Ansem... maybe why he still wants to kill..." Riku whispered, fingering the cream-colored bed sheet. He frowned, wondering if it was worth the risk of getting caught breaking into a stranger's house.
But was it worse than death?
"Sora, you have Aerith's address, right?"
"Yep." Sora's reply was confident. "The records here show that she still lives in her old house. I think they would have marked some change."
"I'm going to go there NOW. Wait for me at the docks." Riku commanded, then he shut off the cell phone and dug it in his pocket. Striding out of the dorm, his gaze rested on the TV.
His own reflection was nowhere to be seen. Instead, he saw a figure with white hair draped over its face. It merely stared back at him.
Shuddering, Riku slipped through the door.
~~~
Destiny Islands
"Sora!"
Riku peered through the darkness, making out a brunette in the distance. The brunette got closer, his smiling face clearer.
"Finally. I have the address, let's go." Sora waved a slip of paper in his hand. Riku only gave him a halfhearted smile in reply.
The trip was a silent one, but Riku finally broke it when the car silently pulled up to an old stone house surrounded by a flower field. The flowers were near dead, dropping low in the ground. The grass was brown. The place looked dead.
"You sure she li-" Riku stopped when he saw the faintest light coming from the top window.
"We're just gonna barge in. Screw diplomacy." Sora snapped, nearly kicking the car door open. Riku rolled his eyes but silently agreed, together, they went up to the front door. As soon as Sora reached for it, the door creaked open, swinging away to reveal only nothingness.
Slowly, the two boys made their way in, looking around for any signs of a tape. They were in a living room, with an old TV and VCR set in the corner. The TV hummed faintly, the screen illuminated a small patch of floor near it.
And in that patch of light laid a tape.
Sora and Riku just looked at each other. Someone knew they were coming. Someone knew what they were coming for.
Bending down, Riku picked up and tape and carefully slid it in the VCR. The TV screen fuzzed a bit, then the picture adjusted itself.
Riku gasped.
In a white room, sitting on a chair, was a small boy. His long, white hair flowed behind his back, standing out from his tanned skin. His golden eyes were cast off, looking down at the floor. He was wearing a black coat with boots, and would have looked like any adult if it were not for the scared expression in his face.
"Video SR-71, Ansem Valentine." A stern female voice said. Riku couldn't see the source of the voice, as the camera was focused only on Ansem.
"Ansem, we're here to talk about your... violent behavior."
"I don't wanna talk. I wanna go home." Ansem snapped suddenly, fixing his icy glare directly at the camera lens, seemingly glaring right at Sora and Riku.
"We will send you home." The female assured him. "We just need to help you with your problem."
"I don't have a problem." Ansem retorted, now looking off to the side. The scared face was gone. He seemed only angry. "Everyone else does."
A thick heavy silence hung in the air.
"I want to go home." Ansem repeated coolly. "It's shitty, but it's not as bad as this place." He smirked as he said this. Somewhere in the room, sighing was heard.
"Ansem, please, speak properly to us. We're only trying to help..." The voice pleaded, but Ansem cut it off with a chuckle.
"It's too late." The demented child sneered, this time facing the camera again. He stared right at Riku, golden eyes boring in his green ones.
"No one can help me now...." He growled. Riku knew he was speaking to him.
"Ansem... that's not true..." The voice said, more sternly. "We can help you. Don't you want to be helped?"
"No..." Ansem repeated, his eyes still fixed on Riku. "I don't want anybody to help me."
"Well, what do you want?"
"... I want everyone to suffer." He hissed.
And the TV screen went blank.
Riku craned his head, looking over at his companion. Sora's blue eyes were wide, and he looked terrified. Riku didn't blame him. He, too, was scared half to death. And this was just through a tape.
"What a..." Sora started, but he shook his head. "There are no words to describe... how screwed up the kid is..."
"Indeed. There isn't."
The boys whirled around, gulping as they saw an angry Aerith. Angry didn't even being to describe it. Her lips were pursed shut, her eyes glaring at the screen with hatred. Riku realized that she was not upset at them.
"That boy..." She hissed, speaking the words as if they were obscene.
"What did you do to him?" Sora demanded, standing up and matching Aerith's glare with his own.
"Sora..."
"WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM?" Sora demanded again, his voice getting louder. He stepped forward, but Aerith did not step back.
"It's not normal for anyone to be like that! YOU were his mother! YOU should know why he is like this!" Sora ranted. He ignored Riku's pleas to stop and went on. "He's probably fucked up because of you! You always speak of him like he's some-"
"I WASN'T SUPPOSED TO HAVE THAT CHILD!" Aerith roared, slapping Sora with incredible force. Sora stumbled back and Aerith grabbed the tape from the VCR, striding back upstairs.
"No, Sora is right! What happened?" Riku demanded, helping his friend up. The two boys chased up after Aerith, bounding up the creaking stairs. They saw Aerith walk into a room and followed. They were led to a room with a balcony, and Aerith was sitting on the railing, one leg on the balcony floor and one leg dangling over. She had a thick rope tied to the railing and the other end to her neck. The rope didn't seem long either.
"Oh... God..." Riku gasped.
"Ansem isn't a normal child." Aerith calmly spoke as she tightened the noose. "Ansem is a demon. We tried to love him, tried to raise him. But he wouldn't let us. God knows what would have happened if Sephiroth..." She trailed off, eyes wandering away.
"No! We... we need to stop him! Or we'll die!" Riku pleaded, running to her.
Aerith only laughed.
"You'll die, all right. He lives only to kill... He never sleeps."
She plunged over. Riku stopped dead in his tracks and watched the rope stop.
"DAMMIT!!!" Riku screamed, slamming a fist into the wall. He started shaking, his eyes burning with anger. "Of all the fuc-"
"RIKU!"
Riku looked to the side, where Sora called him. Sora was pointing to the vast field before them. Walking over to where Sora was standing, Riku gasped at what he saw.
Blue light stretched across the field, coming to rest at a small stone well. The boys looked at each other. Someone definitely wanted them to come here.
They rushed downstairs and smashed through the door, following the light. If they had to stopped to look through the house, they would have learned that the source of the light was from the TV set, blaring static.
~~~
The well was in sight, The light faded.
Sora got there first, slowly pushing aside the stone lid. The lid scraped across the edges, finally dropping down with a heavy thud. They peered in, only to see the shimmering reflection of water.
"Wow... wonder why we're here..." Sora wondered aloud. He looked up to see Riku, staring into the depths in a trance, his eyes focusing on the water, his mouth slightly open.
"Riku?"
Riku could not hear him, for Riku wasn't listening.
~~~
Riku only saw the water. It was bright and sunny, and he was holding a blue flower in his hand.....
He heard footsteps behind him, but Riku didn't care. Instead, he was yelling at himself for killing Leon. The Institution wasn't that bad. Now, he was stuck in Hell forever.
"Why did you kill him... He wasn't involved." Riku whimpered to himself. Why did he like hurting people? It just seemed too much fun...
"He knew too much. They all knew too much... we have to keep it a secret, Ansem..." Sephiroth answered from behind him. He was stroking his hair. Riku hated it. It made him feel like the child he was supposed to be.
What secret? Everyone in town hated him!
Riku wanted to say this, but a black thing flew over his head. It covered his face, and Riku struggled. He couldn't breathe! He tried in vain to swallow some breaths, but he only got plastic. His eyes were burning, his lungs hurt... He barely felt himself falling forward...
~~~
Riku made a small choking sound, and he leaned forward, falling straight into the well.
"RIKU!" Sora made a wild grab at his legs, but Riku had already slipped in.
"RIIIIIIIIKKKKKKKKKUUUUUUUU!!!!!!!!"
~~~
Riku opened his eyes. He realized that he was floating in water. He quickly reared his head up, breaking at the surface with a splash. Gasping for air, he looked up.
"RIKU!!! RIIIKKKUUU!!!" Sora's screaming was faint, but Riku could see him.
"S-Sora! I'm still here!" Riku yelled back. He looked around, but not for an escape route. "HE'S HERE, SORA!" Riku yelled louder. "HE'S HERE!"
"WHAT?" Sora screamed back, but he didn't receive a reply. Quickly, he ran back into the house to call for help.
Riku was busy searching through the water. His hands were swimming around, hoping to make contact with something.
"Where are you..." Riku whispered. He raised his eyes and looked around the walls. There was a pearly white object stuck to the side of the well. Riku reached over and picked it off the wall, examinaning it.
It was a human fingernail.
"He was still alive..." Riku breathed. He lifted his other arm, but felt something on it. Looking down, he saw his arm covered in strands of silky white hair.
A hand reached out and grabbed his arm, lifting something up. Rising slowly out of the water... Riku found himself face to face with Ansem.
The hand remained gripped on his arm, and Ansem looked at him, his face covered by the curtains of white hair. Riku reached forward, brushing aside the strands. The hair fell away, revealing a skull staring back at him. Riku sniffed, tears welling in his eyes.
"You were all alone... down here..." He mumbled, gently cradling the skeleton in his arms. "It's OK... It'll be OK..." He murmured, rocking it slowly. Tears will sliding down his face as Riku realized it was finally over.
"RIKU!!! RIKU, ARE YOU THERE?" Sora called again. "Guys, he's down there! RIKU! ANSWER ME!"
"... I'm here." Riku whimpered. "I'm here..."
~~~
They stood a few feet away from the well. Riku was wrapped in blankets, shivering from the cold. Sora walked up to his friend and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"They're gonna bury him. Along with Aerith." He chuckled at the irony. "... Must have been horrible down there... how long could you live." Sora wondered. Riku sniffed again, turning away.
"Seven days... you could live for seven days..." He sadly answered. Bending his head down and letting his hair cover his eyes, Riku started to cry out seven days worth of frustration and anger.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Heh heh heh... But Ansem doesn't want help, does he? You all should know what's gonna happen next... *prances off* THERAPY, HERE I COME!
Ugh, this is horrible. Riku is a wimp, and none of it is the least bit interesting...
If any of you recognize the name of Ansem's video from the Institute, I'll give you a cookie. Hint: It has nothing to do with the Ring movies. Or books. Or Ring anything for that matter.
Sora whistled, going through the cupboard. The seventh day had passed, and Riku had lifted the curse. Finally, they could all live in peace. Riku had gone to tell Kairi the good news, while Sora helped himself to Riku's untouched food.
Putting a cookie in his mouth, Sora walked past the TV set.
It suddenly switched on.
"What the..." Sora mumbled, the cookie dropping from his mouth.
It was a well.
"Oh God..."
Sora stepped backwards, as a screeching sound began to fill the air. He stood shock still has something clawed its way up the well.
A hand reached over, clutching the stone edge. It lurched up, the figure with the white hair in front of it's face. Ansem.
"But... But..." Sora stuttered, slowly making his way backwards, breathing heavily.
Ansem climbed out, setting his feet to the grass.. He took a step forward and started walking towards Sora, swaying rigidly back and forth, as in some sort of trance. The TV picture fizzed and was becoming distorted as Ansem got closer.
Closer...
The screeching was so loud now...
Closer...
Ansem stopped, right at the edge of the screen. Slowly, almost dreamlike, he titled his head forward. Hair spilled out from the TV screen as his head went right through the TV screen.
"JESUS!!" Sora screamed, falling down in surprise.
Ansem reached his arms out, setting them on the floor. Slowly, he crawled out of the TV set, using his arms to pull him through. Once all of him was out, Ansem continued crawling toward Sora , using his fingers... mere bloodied stumps to pull him the rest of the way.
His fingers suddenly stopped, and Ansem rose up, towering over the frightened Sora. Sora heard ragged breathing, not sure if it was his or Ansem's, and looked up at his shrouded face.
"Wha... why..." Sora gasped, clutching at the doorframe so hard his knuckles were turning white.
Ansem stepped forward, water still dripping from his hair. He tilted his head, face still hidden behind the thick white hair. Sora could have sworn he heard a chuckle.
"I do this because it's fun."
The words hung still in the air. And slowly, Ansem let part of his hair fall back, revealing one golden eye, glaring downwards. As Sora stared into it, he screamed in agony, feeling a burning sensation in his neck. Slowly, something ripped out of his neck, Sora's screams gurgled as blood rushed out the wound.
His head dropped next to his body, the face frozen in a look of utter terror.
Ansem let the rest of the hair fall away from his face. He grinned at his work. Clutching Sora's body and head, dragging it on the couch, Ansem set the body on the couch and set his head where it should be.
~~~
"Hey, Sora, I brought Kairi here and-"
Riku and Kairi were interrupted by the loud blare of static.
"Sora?" Kairi called. The two looked at each other and stepped forward. Riku didn't get far before he saw red stains splattered on the carpet.
"Oh my god..." Riku registered this and ran to the living room. There was Sora, sitting on the couch, his back to Riku. The TV before him blared static. Stepping forward, Riku reached out to shake Sora.
"Sora...?" Riku gently shook the limp body. The shake caused the severed head to roll off, onto the space next to the body.
Kairi's scream was piercing, but Riku just stood there. Stood there, staring at the TV.
"You..." Riku growled. He pushed the still-hysterical Kairi back and ran to his room. Locating the tape on the bedside drawer, Riku grabbed it and threw it on the ground, shattering the cover.
"WHAT DO YOU WANT??" Riku screamed in rage, grabbing the tape rolls and ripping them apart. "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU WANT???" He kicked the remains of the tape against the wall and violently tore at the useless ribbons.
"WHAT... DO... YOU... FUCKING... WANT...??" Riku collapsed on the ground, drawing several shuddering breaths. Ansem killed Sora. Despite all they did, it wasn't enough.
What did he want?
"What do you want...?"
"I want everyone to suffer."
The hissing sound had come quickly and gone quickly, but Riku heard it. He understood. Slowly, Riku thought this over... why did Sora die... and how did he help cause the suffering...?
"I showed him the tape... he saw it when I was copying.. Oh... my... god..." Riku numbly thought. He lifted himself up from the room and trudged back to where Kairi was sobbing in the corner, and where Sora looked up with lifeless glassy eyes.
Riku stepped over and turned the TV set off. His fingers traveled to the back of the VCR and they clasped over the copy of the tape he had made that day. Realization smacked him right in the face.
"I made a copy..."
~~~
Riku and Kairi stood there as they showed a friend of theirs a copy that Kairi had made, saying it was a school film they found.
"What... should we tell her?" Kairi asked quietly.
"We tell her to make a copy. Spread it around." Riku answered.
"But..." The girl shifted uncomfortably. "Then... it's a never ending cycle... to spread the suffering...A-"
"That's what he wants." Riku grinned sadistically. "That's what Ansem wants."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
END
OK, first off, I apologize. I ruined the story. It sucked. I'm sorry again, but that's the best of my ability. X_X Flame me all you want.
And I just wanna say something: I never understood why Rachel had to free Samara from the well, and how that would help her realize she had to copy the tape. I dunno. But still, if Rachel could have figured it out anyway after Noah died and she could have done the whole copy thing, blah blah blah, everyone is happy.
But in this version, I had another reason: Ansem was trapped in the well, so while he could kill you, he had to 'will' you to kill yourself. Hence why Tidus, Wakka and Selphie died different deaths (Ansem obviously had fun with Selphie X_X). However, when Riku found Ansem's corpse in the well, Ansem was able to do the dirty deed himself.
And yes, Sora died the same way Leon did. The difference is that Ansem doesn't need a knife anymore. Bwaha, if any of you find a plothole, tell me and I'll come up with some half-assed excuse to cover it up. Mmmm... plotholes...
Ansem: MWAHAHAHAHAAA!! KILL ALL HUMANITY!! WATCH MY TAPE! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!!!
Sadako: _O WHY ARE YOU HERE, DISNEY CHARACTER??
Samara: I'm sick of all the copycats. Let's kill him!
Sa-Something: _ _ *sneaks away*
