Re-Creating Hell
Chapter Six: M.I.A.
By: PasifikStar


Author's Notes: Thank you for the positive reviews! I really appreciate it. I'll try to go back and fix any typos and such that I missed. And I'm glad that you guys are enjoying the story. ^_^ I hope I can live up to your expectations.

*All Standard Disclaimers Apply: I don't own Final Fantasy or it's characters.

"SQUALL!!!"

Selphie and Quistis sat on their bikes as they watched the building collapse and their friend's world crumble. Selphie's eyes were opened wide as her mouth hung partially open, but for the first time, no words came out.

*Seifer...* Quistis' mind sang out. She couldn't feel her body any more. She was completely numb. All that her senses seemed to recognized was the cold.

Selphie began to cry silently. Her body frozen in place as the rain poured down on them. "Irvine...Seifer..." she murmured quietly. "Irvine...Seifer..." Her lower lip trembled violently as she ripped off her helmet and threw it on the ground. "Irvine!!" she screamed into the pouring rain. "SEIFER!!"

Quistis continued to sit there. She didn't seem to know how to feel. She vaguely recognized Selphie's tearful screaming as the sound of crumbling concrete and metal began to fade.

Behind them, a black car pulled out and Laguna and company came out. The vampire's green eyes went wide as he paled several shades lighter. "Oh, Hyne..." he gasped out. His hand gripped the top of the car as he looked over the pile of debris.

Kiros and Ward stood by his side, looking, disbelievingly at the fallen building. Ellone covered her mouth as she got out of the passenger's seat. Her eyes filled with tears that only vampires could have. Tears of blood. "Squall..." she whispered quietly. "Irvine...Zell...oh, Hyne..." she gasped out in a shaky voice.

The sound of Rinoa's foot steps over the puddles that formed on the wet pavement began to draw everyone's attention. Her arms were limp at her sides as her tilted, almost unattached head, was jerked back and forth. Her feet dragged across the puddles as she walked through he broken gate.

She stopped a few steps from the gate and stood there. The rain showered her with water and she reveled in it. The drops of blood that had showered her the night before felt as if they were being washed away. She felt clean. She felt pure again. But she was frowning. She felt...empty.

Quistis was the first to notice Rinoa's change from shocked and horrified to bursting with magic energy. White flashes of light crackled around her in quick spurts as she stood there. She raised a her right hand and then quickly swept it back.

There was a crash as a large piece of rubble was thrown from the hole of fallen debris and to an empty parking lot to the side. Another wave of her hand sent more and more pieces of the fallen building to empty spots around the laboratory, clearing out the area.

Selphie shut her mouth, a determined look on her face as she sprang forward, mutating into her werewolf form. Behind her, Quistis threw down her helmet and jumped off her bike, racing after the lycan. She stopped next to Rinoa and closed her eyes, trying to search for any metal waves that might have been coming from the rubble.

She could make out slight waves. Slowly they got stronger and she heard a swear. "Seifer's alive!" she cried out, running towards the fallen building.

Behind her, the vampires looked at each other and rushed forward. Another car arrived and Raijin and Fujin got out. Their eyes grew large as they ran through the gates. Raijin saw Selphie starting to dig through the debris, tossing aside large chunks of fallen cement, and transformed to help her.

"Situation?" Fujin asked as she joined Quistis where the blond was standing.

"We got here and the building exploded!" Quistis gasped out tearfully. "But they're alive! I can sense their mental waves!"

"Kiros, Ward!" Laguna ordered as his fangs elongated. He jumped into the heap of fallen material and began to throw blocks of concrete and metal the size of his upper body over him in a frantic search. "Help us dig them out!"

"Right!" Kiros said. They jumped into the heap and began to remove the material that they could lift out of the way.

"Be careful!" Ellone said.

"The lab had an underground area! So watch where you step!" Quistis called out. She looked at Fujin. "Fujin call Caraway. Have him send out a medical team!"

"Affirmative!" the white haired woman said as she took out a cell phone from her back pocket and flipped it open.

Rinoa's magic energy was growing weaker as she tossed aside the last of the largest fallen pieces to the parking lot. It was now clear enough for the others to get through and dig. Quistis turned around and saw Rinoa's body begin to sway. "Rin!" she shouted.

Ellone turned and was at Rinoa's side in a split second and caught her before she fell. The vampiress felt Rinoa's head. "She's fine! She's just drained!" Ellone called out.

"I smell them, ya know!" Raijin gasped as he turned back around to shout. "I smell Seifer!"

"Keep digging!" Quistis shouted. She closed her eyes and concentrated. She mentally swore and wished her 'gift' was stronger so she could reach them. *Seifer...Seifer, you hear me?*

"Quisty?" a voice called out in her head.

Quistis nearly fell to her knees in relief as she closed her eyes and rubbed away her tears. *Oh, thank Hyne!!*

"Over here!" Selphie shouted. Laguna, Kiros, and Ward all looked up and jumped gracefully over of the sharp and jagged pieces. Together, they removed the last pieces of rubble and a pale, bloody hand shot out of a crack. Selphie's eyes went wide and she grabbed the large piece of metal that had was next to the crack and tore it out of the way, throwing it carelessly over her shoulder. "Oh, Hyne..." She whimpered tearfully.

Underneath what used to be a heavy metal door were three males. Bruised and bloody, Irvine looked up at Selphie, his cowboy hat gone. Crumpled next to him, Seifer was looking up, rubbing his shoulder. "Took you long enough." he smirked.

Selphie began to cry as Kiros and Ward reached into the cave that had been created and lifted up Zell, the one who seemed the least injured and whose hand had shot out of the crack to tell them they were there.

Ward jumped into the hole in Zell's place and lifted up Irvine. "Hey...watch the goods there, Ward!" the cowboy smiled as blood trickled down the side of his head. Ward merely rolled his eyes and Kiros and Laguna pulled the lycan the rest of the way up. He took a few shaky steps, but was other wise fine.

"Irvy!!" Selphie cried as she practically threw herself, in human form, against the bruised male.

"Ah!!" Irvine winced as Selphie crashed into him. He smiled weakly and put his arms around her. "I was worried I'd never get to see your pretty face again."

Selphie buried her face against the rough material of his coat. "You're alive... thank Hyne..."

"Ugh..." Seifer was pulled up and glared at the couple as he limped. He had been putting cure spells on himself since they regained consciousness.

"Seifer!" a voice screamed. He looked up and stopped what he was doing. What he saw nearly caused him to fall back into the hole as Quistis ran through the fallen rubble, arms extended.

He squinted his eyes, not ready to believe that she was running towards him of all people. A small, weak smile crossed his lips. Not the arrogant smirk he usually wore, but a warm one. Quistis slowed down and stopped right in front of him, but said nothing.

As blue eyes met green ones, Seifer lifted a cut hand and touched Quistis' cheek. "I know that's not rain that's just sliding down your face, Quisty..." he murmured.

Her bottom lip trembled and he pulled her against him with both arms. She raised her right fist and pounded on his chest as she cried. "You fucking bastard!" she cried as Seifer closed his eyes and allowed her to beat him. "I thought you died! Why didn't you tell us where you were going?! WHY?"

"Quisty, shh..." Seifer said. "If I called, we all could've been dead by now..." he told her gently.

She tore herself away from him, but his hands still were on her shoulder, holding her at arms length. "What was going through your head!? What if you died!? Why don't you EVER follow orders and regulations and TELL us, Seifer!? Selphie, Rinoa...I...would've lost you..."

"We didn't know it was a trap," Zell said from the side. He was sitting on the rubble staring into the hole. "Kuja said that this was where it was..."

"Who the hell is Kuja!?" Quistis yelled angrily.

"He's the informant that Squall went to see," Irvine said as he sat down on a piece of fallen concrete. Selphie was putting some cure spells on the cuts and bruises he had on his face and arms. "He's the one that they went to see at Al Bhed."

Immediately, Laguna's head shot up. "Al Bhed!? Squall went to Al Bhed!?"

Zell looked down. "It was the only place he knew where Squall figured someone might know where Adel's lab is."

"Why did he go there alone!?" Laguna gasped. "He knows that it's forbidden for him to go there!"

"He didn't go alone," Irvine grumbled. "He took Rinoa. That's why they were all bloody the other night. They were caught in the Blood Rain."

"I thought I smelled human blood..." Kiros said. He leapt out of the hole gracefully with Ward coming out after him. He shook his head. "Nothing..."

It was then that Quistis and Selphie realized something. Quistis looked at the vampires. "Where's Squall?"

"We can't find him," Kiros said. "I can't smell his blood scent anywhere."

"But he has to be there!" Laguna said, his voice rising slightly. "He HAS to be!"

"I don't understand," Irvine mumbled. "He was right in front of me...He should've made it when we dunked into that room."

Zell slowly looked up. "There was a bight light," he mumbled. "I remember turning around..." he said as his eyes went wide. "And I saw this bright white light flooding the hall before we ran into the room."

"Bright light...?" Laguna whispered quietly. His face paled of all color as he stood there, a hazy look on his face. "No..."

"I don't understand?" Selphie asked. She looked at Irvine. "What's happening?"

Irvine looked down and closed his eyes. "No..." he mumbled. "Fucking shit!" he shouted, jumping up from his seat and knocking Selphie back. "This can't be happening!"

"Selphie..." Quistis whispered as she looked over at the young lycan. "Vampires are sensitive to light...that's why they only go out at night and in the evening or late afternoon when the sun is setting. If they're exposed to a lot of light..."

She trailed off and Selphie's eyes grew large at the realization. Far away in the distance, they heard a vehicles stopping and someone saying that they were sent by Caraway.

Rinoa's brown eyes slowly opened and looked up. Her vision was hazy, but slowly it cleared and she saw Ellone above her. "Squall?" she whispered quietly.

Ellone had red tears coming down her face from the corner of her eyes. She slowly looked down at Rinoa as she was cradling the girl in her arms.

The sorceress narrowed her eyes. "Where's Squall?" she persisted weakly.

Ellone looked up, unable to look the girl in the eyes. "He's fine..." she lied.

"Alive?" Rinoa asked.

Ellone's lip trembled as she slowly nodded her head. "Alive." She sensed Rinoa's relief and closed her eyes tightly. *I'm sorry, Rinoa...*

Rinoa closed her eyes, her lips still smiling.

Quistis sat on the kitchen table. Her arms were around her head as her elbows rested on the table. Her straight blond hair shielded her face as sat there. The laptop in front of her held the day of reckoning for them. October 31st. Halloween. That was when the Blood Moon would rise. *How ironic...*

Selphie sat on the breakfast bar table, going over the notes Quistis had gathered. So it was true. Adel wanted to clone and harvest Rinoa's powers. It was so simple. Why would someone clone something they would have a hard time controlling when it was easier to get the same amount of power for themselves?

There was a knock on the door. Quistis looked up, her blood shot eyes showing all the stress she had been through. Selphie nodded and slid off the bar stool to get the door. She opened it a crack and peeked out.

"Selphie," Zell said as he stood there. "Umm...can I stay here for a while?"

Selphie tilted her head. "Zell? What's wrong?" She stepped aside and the spikeh haired blond walked in nervously.

Swallowing hard he followed her into their pent house. Quistis looked up from her research. "What's he doing here?"

"The Loire clan is in trouble," Zell told them. "Ever since Master Laguna returned, he's been completely out of it. Ellone, Kiros, and Ward can't even seem to reach him."

"Can you blame him?" Quistis snapped. "His SON is dead."

Immediately, she regretted her words as Zell's eyes looked down and began to water. "I know that!" he shouted, frustrated. He looked back up and locked eyes with Quistis. "But with him like this, the entire clan is weakening! Vampires who have wanted power were starting to voice their opinion on Master Laguna."

"I thought Sir Laguna was well respected." Selphie piped.

Zell nodded, turning to look at Selphie. "He is, but in his state, they've already begun to say he's unfit for leadership." Zell explained. He sat down on one of the chairs in their living room.

"This couldn't have come at a worse time..." Quistis grumbled as she ran a hand through her hair. "If they get rid of Loire, the new leader might break the current ties forged with other clans. This whole mission could be ruined."

"It feels like it already is..." Selphie mumbled, falling back against the couch. There was another knock on the door and she sighed. "Not again..." As she approached the door, she caught a familiar scent and pulled it open quickly.

"I'm going to Al Bhed."

Irvine stood there, dressed in fresh clothes and a new black cowboy hat. Selphie jerked her head back. "What?"

Irvine looked behind her and she stepped back, allowing him to enter. Irvine removed his hat as he entered and walked into the living room where he saw Zell. "I thought I smelled you."

"There are problems at the palace," Zell explained. "They're thinking about getting rid of Master Laguna."

"Already!?" Irvine gasped. "Those damn..." He trailed off, visibly angry. He gripped his hat tightly.

"Irvine, Zell?" a voice said from the stairs. They looked towards the stair way to the three bedrooms upstairs and saw Rinoa standing half way up the stairs. She was wearing her pajamas, light blue ones with little white angel wings and clouds on them. She had on matching slippers and Fujin was coming down behind her.

The white haired woman had stayed and watched Rinoa while Selphie and Quistis were doing research. Seifer and Raijin went to met with some clan leaders about the situation. She stopped behind Rinoa. "Stubborn." she sighed. Selphie smiled slightly in agreement.

"Rinoa..." the two males chorused. They looked at each other. Irvine smiled weakly. "How are you feeling there, princess?"

"I'm fine...where is Squall?"

That hit them like a ton of bricks. Irvine looked over at Selphie. "You haven't told her?" he whispered.

"Ellone said he was alive," she whispered back. "We...we don't know how to tell her."

"Selphie..." Irvine mumbled. He looked back at the sorceress who was now on the first floor smiling slightly.

"You have to tell her." Zell urged.

"Tell me what?" Rinoa asked. Quistis and Fujin shot looks at each other. Rinoa looked around the room, noticing the thick tension that filled it. Her smile left her lips and was replaced by a frown. "What's going on?" she asked.

Her heart began to beat rapidly in her chest as she turned around and watched very single person in the room avoid her eyes. Her eye brows furrowed and bottom lip trembled as she whirled around back around to look at her friends.

"Rinoa..." Irvine said. He didn't want to do this. He didn't want to say those words. "Squall..."

"Isn't here!" Selphie cut in. "Yes, that's it! He's not here!"

Rinoa tilted her head slightly and narrowed her eyes. "No...that's not it..." Rinoa mumbled. "You're hiding something from me."

Quistis closed her eyes tightly and took a deep breath. "Rin," she said quietly. Rinoa turned to look at her, her eyes worried as blue eyes lifted to meet them. "Squall was killed last night."

"No..." Rinoa said, shaking her head. "Ellone said-"

"Ellone lied to you last night because you weren't stable," Quistis explained. "There was a bright flash of light. You saw it...the bright flash was so concentrated...it burned Squall alive."

"No..." Rinoa said. She shook her head more violently this time. "No, that's a lie. He's alive."

"Rinoa-"

"No!" she screamed tearfully. "If Irvine and Zell and Seifer made it, why couldn't Squall!?" she cried.

"Rinoa, please!" Irvine shouted. "We all feel the same way, but you have to understand that he's gone-"

"He's not dead!" Rinoa screamed. She slammed her left fist into the glass table to her side.

"Rinoa!" Selphie screamed. Fujin ran into the kitchen and grabbed a dish towel. Immediately, all three women surrounded the sorceress. "Hyne, Rinoa..." Selphie mumbled as Quistis and Fujin lifted Rinoa's hand out of the glass and began to pick out the shards.

"What were you thinking?" Quistis gasped as she wrapped the white towel tightly against the girl's bleeding hands. "Fujin, get the tweezers in that drawer and some alcohol."

Fujin nodded and ran back into the kitchen. Rinoa's suddenly wild brown eyes turned to glare at Irvine. "He is NOT dead," she hissed behind gritted teeth. "He is NOT DEAD." she affirmed.

"Rinoa..." Zell said quietly. "I saw the light myself...it was strong enough to burn any vampire alive."

"No...it's not true." Rinoa said in broken sobs. She shook her head. "He's alive."

Irvine looked at her. "Rinoa, he did it for you," he told her quietly. "He went there to destroy the data and research on you."

"I know," Rinoa said in a shaking voice. "But he PROMISED."

"Promised what?" Quistis asked gently.

"He said he wouldn't let anything happen to me..." Rinoa whispered as she closed her eyes tightly. "So if there is still a threat out there, he's not just going to leave me..." Her shaking voice trailed off.

Quistis closed her eyes and hugged Rinoa tightly. She took a deep breath and shook her head. "I'm sorry, Rinoa...I'm so sorry..."

"I love him, Quistis..." the brunette whispered quietly, so that no one could hear. Her face buried against Quistis' shoulder.

Selphie looked up at Irvine tearfully. "Take me with you." she demanded. Irvine looked down at her, a confused look on his face.

"What?"

"If you're going to Al Bhed, I'm coming with you," Selphie told him, the look of sheer determination on her face. "Let's go!"

"Selphie, you're not going to Al Bhed-"

"We're GOING to Al Bhed, Irvine," Selphie said, calling him by his full name. "I'm going to find out what happened to Squall if it kills me."

Rinoa heard her and turned. Selphie looked back at Rinoa. "Selphie..."

"I'm not going to let you down, Rin," Selphie assured her confidently, trying to offer her best smile. "If you say that Squall is alive, then I believe he's alive!"

"Selphie!" Quistis gasped.

"Correct," Fujin said. "Believe."

Quistis looked at the two other girls she had known for five years and finally gave in. She gently let Rinoa go and smiled weakly. "Who am I to ignore a sorceress of your caliber?" she teased.

Rinoa sniffled and wiped her eyes. Irvine and Zell looked at each other. Zell took a step forward and started to hit the air with his fists. "Rinoa's right!" he exclaimed energetically. "If she says that Squall is alive, then he's alive!"

Irvine grinned a put his hat back on his head. "He's never broken a promise before," Irvine said as he headed towards the door with Zell behind him. "And I doubt this is going to make him start."

Rinoa looked at him and gave them a watery smile. "Thank you, guys..."

"Selphie!" Irvine said. He grabbed her nunchuku off the wall and tossed it to her. Her green eyes went wide as she caught them with ease. She looked back up at him as he jerked his head towards the door. "Let's go."

Seifer slammed the door as he got into his car. Raijin sat down in the passenger's seat and closed the door lighter. "I can't believe him," Seifer growled as he turned on the car. "That fucker!"

"What should we do?" Raijin asked. Seifer put his car in reverse and backed out of the drive way. "We can't just ignore Caraway, ya know."

"Rinoa's going to be pissed. She won't do this," Seifer said. "I can't believe Caraway pulled that on us."

"He's only concerned about Rin, ya know," Raijin said. They got on to the street. "We have to tell her, ya know."

"Yeah," Seifer grumbled. He snorted and said sarcastically, "I just can't wait to tell Rinoa that her father wants her off the mission and in a fucking Safe House."

Selphie looked up at the warehouse. She tilted her head to side. "This isn't exactly what I pictured it to look like..."

Irvine grinned as he looked at her. "It's different inside."

"Sure..." Irvine lead them around the corner to one of the doors on the side. He lifted up his hand and gave the metal door three heavy knocks.

"Think they'll let us in?" Zell asked as he kept a wary eye out for any trouble.

"I should be fine...no one's here in the day time," Irvine said. Zell nodded.

Suddenly, they heard the door unlocking and the faced the metal door. It opened slightly and a young man, from what Selphie smelled, a lycan, opened the door. He had thick, layered blond hair and looked suspicious of them.

"Who are you?" he asked, his eyes narrowed as he stood behind the door. Irvine rolled his eyes.

"Quit with the twenty questions, Zidane," Irvine snapped. "We're looking for Kuja."

The lycan at the door jerked his head back. "Irvine?"

"Who else would dress like that?" Zell snickered behind Irvine. The cowboy shot Zell a glare to shut him up, but Zell continued to snicker as Selphie covered her own mouth to hide her smile.

"Where is Kuja?" Irvine demanded, a little stronger this time. *Oh, Hyne...will they stop laughing? There goes all my credibility down the drain...*

"You guys alone?" Zidane asked. He looked around and saw no one else and opened the door further. "You better come inside."

The three of them followed Zidane into the warehouse, where the smaller Lycan closed the door after them. He waved for them to follow him as they went through the main floor of the massive club. Selphie got her first look at the place and didn't find it as foreboding as she had imagined. Then again, it was the middle of the day and the sun's light illuminated the entire place.

"Is Barret here?" Irvine asked. He looked at Selphie to explain. "He's the bartender to the vampires on the forth floor. That's where Rinoa and Squall probably were."

"Barret quit," Zidane explained. They walked across the dance floor and Selphie could smell the remnants of human blood on the floor and frowned slightly. "Right after the incident happened. We think he was threatened."

"Threatened?" Irvine asked. "By who?"

"Wouldn't say," Zidane shrugged. "He just went up to the Al Bhed owner, Cid, and said he wasn't going to work here any more."

"That's strange..."

"Yeah, well, when you see this, you won't question him," Zidane lead them to the back room. "I'm not supposed to show anyone, but I owe you for introducing me to Dagger."

"How is the little cutie, anyway?" Irvine asked casually. Selphie shot him an annoyed glare.

"She's doing fine," Zidane said. "She was there the night it happened, too. You have no idea how glad I was to know she wasn't in the room."

"Why? What happened?" Zell asked.

They arrived in the back room and Zidane unlocked a heavy metal door and slid it open. The smell of burnt flesh flooded their noses as Zidane stepped aside so they could look in. "THAT happened."

"Holy..." Irvine mumbled.

"What ARE those things!?" Selphie gasped as she covered her mouth and nose. Her eyes watered as she saw the blackened things against the wall and on the floor.

"We're not sure," Zidane said distainfully as he looked into the room. He let out a deep breath and pointed to one of them. "But we're positive that THAT'S Kuja."

"Oh, Hyne..." Selphie mumbled. "It looks like they were burned to death!"

"That's exactly what happened," Irvine said. He knelt down by Kuja's body and studied it. He turned around to look at their guide. "Where were they found?"

"The back lounge on the forth tier," the werewolf replied. "It's like they were frozen in their spots when it happened. There wasn't a struggle or anything."

"What about the room?" Zell asked. "Can we see it?"

"Sorry, but it's been off limits-"

He was cut off abruptly by, someone's first hitting the wall next to his head. Zell smiled at him. "C'mon, man...just this once."

Zidane shook his head weakly. "Sorry, but Cid said no one is allowed in the room."

Selphie pushed Zell away and slammed her hand against Zidane's neck, pinning him to the wall. She smiled happily...a little too happily. Her body began to make sounds as her bones and muscles changed. "My best friend is in trouble," she began, her voice threateningly cheerful. "She might just have had to watch the man she loved die," Her slim fingers turned into claws and Zidane swallowed as he felt head around his neck from magic energy. "I love my best friend and if I have to see her cry one more time, someone will pay. And not fast and bloody at the hands of my werewolf form...no..."

Zell looked at Irvine, slightly worried as Selphie now seemed to tower above the other lycan, her fur stiff and bristled as pearl white fangs glimmered in the light.

"They will die a slow and painful death from my magic from within inside out," Selphie threatened behind sharp fangs. "Do you understand?"

"I understand..." Zidane squeaked out. Selphie pulled her hand away quickly, letting him fall back against the door and put his hand to his neck and rub it gently. "Follow me." he said tiredly as he closed the back door and headed somewhere else.

"Glad you saw it my way!" Selphie smiled happily. She waved for Zell and Irvine to follow her.

"Remind me to stay on her good side." Zell whispered to Irvine.

The cowboy nodded and grinned. "I like it when she's aggressive," Irvine grinned. "Hyne, that's sexy." He watched her tail swish back and forth, content with her accomplishment.

They went up a cage like elevator and arrived at the forth floor where their lycan guide took them to the back room. He unlocked it and pushed it open. The others looked inside.

"That's strange," Zell said. "Nothing looks like it was burnt..."

Irvine sniffed the air. "The scent is still here..." he mumbled.

"What scent?" Selphie asked, smelling the air as well. She turned back into her human form and narrowed her eyes. "I've smelled that before..."

"I don't smell anything..." Zell mumbled.

Irvine seemed to have a revelation as he smiled and nodded. "I know that smell...after the blast I could smell it everywhere...it's chemical that probably had something to do with the explosion and the blast of light since it didn't smell like explosives and we didn't smell it until after the blast."

Selphie nodded. "I get it!" she gasped. "The room wasn't burned because it didn't need to be. The blast of light that happened at the lab happened here, too, only there wasn't explosives with it..."

"Meaning that if Squall had been burned alive..." Irvine mumbled as he and Selphie looked at each other, smiles crossing their faces.

"He still would've had a physical body...and since we couldn't find his body or anything like that..." Selphie trailed off. Irvine nodded.

"What?" Zell gasped. "What's going on?" He looked utterly confused and Selphie squealed.

"Zell, Squall isn't dead!" Irvine told him.

"Really!?" the blond gasped, his eyes growing large with a hopeful look. But the look quickly faded into worry. "Then...where is he?"

"I don't know," Selphie said as she turned to Zell and smiled. "But if he's not dead, he's alive somewhere."

"And if he's alive," Irvine said as he slapped Zell's back joyfully. "We'll find him!"

His vision was blurry, as he expected. Slowly, his squinting eyes adjusted to the darkness in the room. Blinking he looked around the room and felt his blood freeze in his veins.

The room was dark except for a dim lights on each of the four walls. He had been laying on a cot in the far side of the room. Quickly, he sat up and looked around some more. "Zell? Irvine?" No answer. "...Seifer...?" he added reluctantly.

He stood up at the sound of locks being opening and reached for his gun blade. He looked around and found it was gone. Fangs growing out, he prepared to fight as the door across from where he had been sleeping opened. A tall vampire in a red trench coat and band wrapped around his head entered.

Immediately he was recognized and sheer hatred flooded his emotions as the vampire who had the gall to kidnap Rinoa dared show his face in front of him.

Long black hair nearly covered his face, but narrowed eyes could be seen behind them. "Squall Leonheart," his deep voice said. "Follow me."

"Who the hell are you!?" Squall growled, preparing to fight him.

"I wouldn't suggest attacking me," the vampire replied. "Else you won't find your way out."

"Where the am I?" Squall hissed, his eyes glowing an eerie red.

"My name is Vincent," he told him casually and turned around. "Follow me."

"Don't turn your back on me!" Squall shouted angrily.

"You don't have a choice."

"Quistis!" Selphie shouted as she ran into her pent house with Zell and Irvine behind her. She looked around the room wildly and found Raijin in the kitchen cooking with Fujin leaning against the counter. Selphie frowned. "Where are they?"

Fujin opened her mouth to answer when they heard yelling. "No! I'm not going!" They heard a door open and someone's footsteps rushing out.

"The dark room lab..." Selphie mumbled. She turned her head and out from the hall way on the first floor came Rinoa.

She was flushing and looking angry as Quistis and Seifer rushed out behind her. "Rinoa, what are we supposed to do about it?" Seifer shouted. "It was your father who told us to!"

"I'm not going anywhere until I know Squall is safe!" Rinoa shrieked.

"What's going on?" Irvine asked as Quistis approached them.

"Seifer and Raijin went to tell Caraway and the other clan members... Caraway doesn't want Rinoa on the job any more," Quistis let out a deep breath and looked over at Rinoa, who was still shouting at Seifer. "He wants us to take Rinoa to a Safe House."

"What!?" Selphie gasped. "No! We can't just do that to her!"

"I agree...Rinoa won't just sit back and be hidden away," Quistis nodded. "If we hide her now, she'll take things into her own hands." she added in a low voice.

"She's in this way too deep..." Irvine mumbled.

"I'm not going and that's final!" Rinoa shouted.

"We can't just not listen to your father's orders!" Seifer growled back.

Rinoa was breathing deeply and narrowed her eyes. "You've broken the rules and orders hundreds of times to make sure your mission went well and that everyone was safe!" she screamed. "For once, Seifer, LET ME BREAK the rules!"

Seifer closed his mouth. Quistis nodded. "How many times have you gone behind our backs, Seifer? How many times to work on something just so we wouldn't be at risk? We never wanted you to, but Hyne knows that never stopped you."

"No one wants anyone to get hurt," Selphie told Seifer sternly. "But we're all going to get hurt one way or another."

Seifer sighed. "The Safe House will keep her safe-"

"And that's what it's there for," Selphie cut him off. "Seifer...what would you do if you were in Rinoa's shoes? Even if your life depended on it...would you seriously go to the Safe House?" Everyone looked at Seifer. "Or would you go after the one you cared about?"

Seifer stood there, not moving. Slowly he turned to his sister and then Quistis. His eyes settled on her blue ones. "What the fuck do you think?"

Behind him Rinoa began to smile. "Thank you, Seifer..."

Irvine and the others let out a sigh of relief and he turned to Selphie and nodded. Selphie looked over at her blond friend. "Quistis, do you know of any chemicals that can make a bright flash?"

"Yeah...why?" Quistis asked.

"Do you know where we can get samples of them?" Irvine asked.

"Of course," Quistis said. "I can always call Professor Auron from the finishing school. He said he'd help if I needed anything for future projects."

"Get us samples of everything that you can think of that might be able to make a bright flash of light that can be set off by a timer or something," Irvine said. "And find out where it can be made."

"Hurry, Quisty!" Selphie urged, practically dragging the blond to her lap top.

"What is this all for?" Rinoa asked.

Selphie looked up at Rinoa and smiled brightly. "We went to Al Bhed-"

"You went WHERE!?" Seifer growled, immediately eyeing Irvine, knowing who was responsible for taking Selphie there.

"It was in the middle of the day," Irvine assured him. "Don't worry."

Seifer grumbled and turned his eyes away. "As I was saying..." Selphie said, sticking a tongue out at her brother. She bounced over to Rinoa and took the girl's hands. "There was a smell in the room that Irvine recognized from the lab AFTER it exploded. The room was were fifteen vampire bodies were found burned to death and since the room wasn't touched since the incident, what burned them must've been light."

"Going along with what Zell saw, that bright white light," Irvine said. "We think that there was a light that exploded in the room, too."

"So? What's the big discovery?" Seifer snorted impatiently.

"There were physical bodies found afterwards in Al Bhed," Selphie told Seifer. "And Squall was no where to be found at the lab..."

Rinoa's eyes went large. "I told you," she smiled and hugged Selphie. "Didn't I tell you? Hyne, I knew he was alive!"

"The big issue now is just finding him," Zell smiled. "But we suspect that we can find out who can make those chemicals and track them."

"To a lab..." Quistis mumbled. A wide smile crossed her face. "You guys are geniuses!!" She typed on her lap top quickly.

"Dinner!" Fujin shouted. Raijin was putting some noodles in bowls.

"Eat up, ya know! We have a lot to do, ya know!" he said as he and Fujin handed out the food.

"Raijin, I didn't know you cooked!" Selphie said as she took a bowl and began to eat it's contents. "Oh! Booyaka! This is great!"

"Save some for the rest of us, train girl," Seifer said as he grabbed a bowl for himself and sat down on the glass table. He narrowed his eyes and frowned at a hole that had been covered with paper and tape. "What happened here?"

Rinoa looked away casually and tried to hide her hand behind her back. "Selphie dropped some big thing on it..." Rinoa said casually. "You know how she is."

"WHAT!?" Selphie gasped. She looked at Seifer and winced. *Oh yeah... he'll freak if he knows Rin did that...* "Geez...you don't have to make me sound like some accident prone freak."

Zell and Irvine chuckled as they ate some noodles. "Yeah, she's not Master Laguna."

"Sir Laguna is a klutz?" Selphie asked, wondrously. I never would've guessed. Rinoa thought about it and giggled as she remembered the vampire who threw his drink over his shoulder while energetically using hand motions.

"Let's just say that living in the Loire palace you get to see some pretty interesting things..." Zell admitted.

"There are three compounds that can be mixed to make the make a bright flash of light that you described," Quistis said. She smiled. "And luckily, all the elements that we need are all in the dark room lab...Rin, can we borrow some of your chemicals for your film development?"

"Yeah...go ahead..." Rinoa said. Quistis nodded and printed out a sheet of paper. She headed over to the dark room lab as the others ate dinner.

"See, Rin..." Selphie said with a warm smile. "He's alive."

Rinoa smiled weakly. "I just hope he's all right..."

The hallways twisted and turned in such a way that Squall wondered if the vampire leading him really knew where they were going. Just went he was on the verge of sounding his opinion, Vincent stopped in front of a metal doors and the werewolf guards at the door opened them for them.

The room was dark as they walked through a corridor and into an elevator. They stood there in silence and when the doors opened once more, they stepped out into a large, circular room. There were six circular marble columns around the room and embedded in the walls were hundreds of head sized glass cylinders filled with a dark blue liquid.

"Amazing what a little blood a lot of technology can accomplish, isn't it?" a voice said. Squall turned and found that he was alone in the room. He narrowed his eyes and honed in on a figure hiding in the shadows. Glowing red eyes stepped out of the darkness and sharp teeth smiled back at him.

"Adel...?" Squall murmured.

"Hello, Squall..." Adel smiled slightly. She was dressed in a dark silver dress that covered her entire body. Her hair was hidden behind a black scarf around her head and long, sharp nails gently tapped one of the glass cylinders. "I'm the one who brought you here."

"Why?" he hissed angrily.

Adel looked shocked and she blinked as she looked at him. "You would've died had I not summoned you here," she told him. "That light would've burned you alive."

"Why am I HERE!?" Squall growled.

"I need something of yours," Adel said, smiling softly. "Something that has been in your family for millennias."

"Why would I give that to you?" Squall hissed.

"It used to belong to my family," Adel said. "My vampiric side."

His eyes went wide. "You're...a hybrid?" he mumbled.

"My father," Adel said. "Do you hear them beating?" she asked suddenly, her head tilting and looking around the room as she raised her pale, exposed hands. "The steady beat of life is captured within these walls."

Squall narrowed his eyes as he scanned the cylinders that lined the room. He could hear it now. Ba-dump...ba-dump. It echoed in his hears. The rhythm was familiar. He had heard it before.

"What do you want from me?" Squall hissed.

"You have a ring," she said. "It is of a silver color and a lion with wings is carved on to it."

*Griever!* Squall smirked slightly. "That ring is no longer mine."

"I know," Adel said calmly as she walked over to the wall. She wrapped her hands around one cylinder and pulled it out with one sharp tug and held it in the palm of her hand. "It was not on your person...and since you originally came to that old laboratory to destroy some data on a certain sorceress..." She looked over at him and saw him stiffen. She smirked. "It must be with her."

"Why do you need it?" Squall asked, keeping his eyes on the creature in front of him.

She placed her hand on the top of cylinder and slowly began to unscrew the top. "Everything from the ancient ceremony that sealed the gates must be in tact when I open them," she lifted her eyes to Squall's. "That ring was on the hand of the vampire that sealed the gates. It seems that the ring was used in part of the ceremony, although we're not sure how yet, we will find out."

"You're not going to get it."

"Of course not," Adel said as she tossed the lid to her side. It slid across the floor and made a cling sound as it hit it. The dark blue liquid suddenly turned dark red. "You will get it for me."

Squall let out a scoff on shook his head. "What makes you think I'll get it for you?"

Adel smiled, her fanged teeth showing under her dark lips as she put her free hand into the open cylinder. The smell immediately hit Squall's nose and he knew exactly what that liquid was. It spilled from the top and Adel pulled something out from the liquid and held it up.

Squall stared at it in horror as it moved. With each pump, the bodyless heart spewed out dark red blood. A blood whose scent he easily identified.

"Recognize it?" Adel smiled. A smile left her face suddenly as her long nails pierced the beating muscle, bringing an end to it's movement. "It is the heart of the sorceress...If you don't bring the ring to me..." She threw the mutilated heart at Squall and he jumped back slightly. Blood dripped from it's wounds as it laid there...lifeless. "I won't use these hearts for my consumption. I'll consume her myself."

Squall's breath grew heavy as his eyes looked up and met the mad woman's. His teeth were blared and his eyes took on their red glow and he lunged at her, letting out a vicious growl as he did so.

Two strong arms held him back as he watched Adel stand there, laughing as she licked the blood off her hand. He felt a needle prick his neck and he blacked out.