Authors Note: Hi people! Sorry I haven't updated for a while, I've just finished my exams and our computer is being updated at the moment so I only have today to write this chapter up. Please forgive if there are a few mistakes in the chapter, I probably won't have time to edit it. Anyway on with the show…
Disclaimer: Square-Enix owns everything, yes everything…
Chapter 7 – An old friend
Squall slowly woke up, his world spinning before him. The memories of what happened came back to him, as he felt his head aching where he had been hit. He attempted to lift a hand to feel the wound but found that his hands had been tied behind his back.
He opened his eyes to see that he was in a small room. It was an empty room, from what he could see. He guessed it was somewhere in the basement, due to the breezeblock walls and the cracked concrete floor. He noticed that his chair had been bound to another chair on either side, the three chairs forming a circular shape. On each of these chairs sat a friend, Irvine to the right and Rinoa to the left, although Squall was unable to see either of these clearly. Behind Squall, a set of stairs led down to this level. A man and a woman stood guard, each with their own weapon.
"Rinoa, are you okay?" Squall asked his voice choked out.
"Yeah," she answered slightly shaken.
"Hey! No talking," the male guard shouted.
"I'll fetch Seifer," the female guard whispered, pushing her short platinum hair back.
Squall examined the room for a way to escape. From his vantage point he could not see anything, even the entrance to the room was out of sight. Squall let out a defeated sigh. If this was 'the' Seifer Squall knew his life could be in real danger.
Squall heard footsteps behind him. A blond man entered, wearing a white trench coat that swept along the floor as he glided down the stairs, followed by the return of the female guard. He looked over to see his three prisoners, as he looked over Rinoa cast a cold gaze towards him.
"Now that's not a very nice look Rinoa," he smiled. "After all I'm letting you stay in my hotel for free."
"Shut up Seifer," Rinoa growled.
Seifer tutted. "Is this how you treat all your ex-boyfriends? Leave them and then try to steal their money."
"You know that money's mine." Rinoa was quickly remembering why she had left Seifer.
"Yes, and I know you'd try to get it back. You see Rinoa, you taught me everything you know and, well, let's face it that isn't that much," Seifer said walking closer to her. He smiled cockily at her. "You could have stayed with me and had it all, but instead you left and now I'm afraid you'll have to die."
"No," Irvine shouted. "You can kill me but leave Rinoa."
Seifer looked over towards Irvine. "Ah, if it isn't the cowboy Irvine. Don't worry, after Rinoa dies I'll let you follow her. You see, I have a reputation to keep and if I let you go everyone would think they could get away with stealing from me."
Seifer moved closer to Rinoa, his face inches from her. "You can end this Rinoa, just come back to me and we can forget all of this. Kiss me and I'll let you live," he said moving his face closer to Rinoa's. He moved his lips towards Rinoa, much to her infuriation as she struggled to get away from them. "Come on Rinoa, don't resist. It's just one kiss," he whispered in his ear.
"No," Rinoa shouted, her head slamming forward, smashing him in his mouth.
Seifer quickly moved away. "Bitch," he snarled touching his mouth to see that it was bleeding. Rinoa stared back at him triumphantly. Seifer moved back to her fiercer that before, his hand grasping her shoulder, digging deep into her skin. "Rinoa, you seem to have forgotten who's in charge here. I'm sure you can remember what I'm capable of. All I wanted was a kiss, but now I think I want more from you," Seifer said resting his hand on her inside leg.
"Don't you dare Seifer!" Rinoa screamed, struggling to push him away. Seifer ignored and continued to push his hand further up her skirt.
"Rinoa," Squall shouted instinctively, pulling up violently trying to escape the ropes, ignoring the pain as they dug deeper into her skin. Seifer stopped and stepped away from Rinoa, much to her relief. Seifer stared at the reaction from Squall. "That voice…" he thought out loud. He stepped round to see the face of Squall. "You!"
Squall stared into Seifer's eyes. The colour from his face quickly faded away. There he was Seifer Almasy, right in front of his eyes once more.
"Well, well, if it isn't my old friend Squall Leonhart," Seifer laughed. "It seems you might have a soft spot for Ms Heartilly."
"Don't touch Rinoa or I'll kill you personally," Squall threatened.
"That's not a nice way to talk to your old friends, especially since I know a secret about you," Seifer smiled. "I can probably guess what you're doing right now and I don't think Irvine and Rinoa would like it very much."
Squall remained silent; he knew Seifer was right. Seifer had once worked alongside Squall; they had joined the same day and became friends quickly. But on one case had become too involved in a case and ended up killing an innocent. He was fired the next day but since then he had set up his own criminal empire. If Seifer wanted to he could tell Irvine and Rinoa his whole history…
Seifer smiled watching Squall thinking about his problems. "Don't worry Squall, I won't tell them," he said with a seeming compassion. "Although it probably would be amusing to see their reaction, but I think I want to be the one that finally kills you all."
Seifer walked to the exit, where the two guards were waiting. "I think we'll make this a public execution. Fujin, you stay here and guard them. Me and Raijin will gather the troops; I think they deserve to see some action, and there's nothing better than a slow death of your enemies." The two men walked out, the door slamming behind them.
As soon as the door closed the woman pulled out a small knife. She ran over to where Rinoa was sat and began to cut the ropes. Once Rinoa was free she began to work at freeing the other two. Squall and Irvine quickly felt their ropes sliding away.
"Why are you doing this?" Rinoa asked her.
"I don't agree with what Seifer's doing. I wanna get out of here but I try to leave I'll probably end up dead before I took a step from this building. I've never seen Seifer look at a woman like he looked at you; I think he had something special planned for you. I don't want to be involved in helping Seifer harm any more people," the woman answered.
"Thank you," Rinoa replied solemnly.
"Hey, how are we going to get out of here?" Irvine interrupted.
The woman walked up to a crate and pushed it aside. Behind it stood a vent, the woman bent down and prised it off. "Go straight down there, it leads to the alley behind the hotel. You should go quickly."
"Thank you," Rinoa said once more before climbing into the vent. After Rinoa had got some way into the vent Irvine followed after her. Squall got ready to go when he felt a hand fall on his arm. He turned round to see the woman standing next to him. "Make sure you get an arrest, you don't want to end up like me - stuck on the same case for over a year," she said with a smile.
Squall looked at her in surprise. "You're an officer?"
She nodded. "You're lucky Seifer asked me to stay guard, Raijin would have made sure you died."
"Thanks."
"You better go now," she said saluting.
Squall answered the salute then climbed into the vent. He crawled through the tight space and emerged at the other side in the dim lit alley. Rinoa and Irvine already stood waiting for Squall, Rinoa held out a hand to help Squall out.
Irvine slammed his fist against the wall. "I can't believe that bastard."
"We didn't get our money either," Rinoa reminded him.
"Damn," he slammed his fist against the wall again before shaking it pain. "I think we should come back in force and take it back."
Rinoa shook her head. "No, I don't want to see Seifer again," she said, shuddering at the thought of what he nearly did. "I think we should go back to Deling City"
Irvine reluctantly accepted. "Come on then."
*~*~*~*~*~*~
Authors Note: Ok, not the best ending to a chapter but I couldn't think. Come on people you've gotta forgive me…please? Well anyway there was a probably a few mistakes in there I missed so tell me if you see any. That's all for now, please review my pretties!
Thank yous go out to: Billy The Wild Angel, Mariko, Sandra Leonhart, bn431, Sammy-Chan, CelesteSpring, Rinoa Leonhart, Keiry and mymy. Yay, you all deserve a clap on the back or summits like that…