Author's Note: Squaresoft owns everything that's in FF8. Moby owns the song "Southside". I own the story. This actually is based on a dream I had a long time ago. Now you know if you dream about stuff you write there's probably something crazy about you, and I am proudly declaring that, yes, I am insane. I love creating my own worlds based on existent ideas. Don't steal this!

Pieces of Paper

"Southside"

See myself in the pouring home
See the light come over now
I see myself in the pouring rain
I watch hope come over me

"You ready?"

I looked at the strapping blond boy next to me. Zell was slicking his hair straight up with a mixture of blood and gel – a fashion perk that I never understood – with one hand and sharpening his silver blade on a whetstone with the other. The tight black muscle tee he wore clung to his body and showed off the bulging pectorals. A pair of gloves with steel plates on the knuckles laid by his side. The light reflected off of the metal was making me dizzy.

"Hey, Squall, did you hear me?" Zell waved his hand in front of my eyes.

I shook my head to clear it. "Yeah. I did. And yeah, I am."

"You don't look too hot. You want some more food?"

"No. I'm fine." I replied hastily. I was actually a bit hungry, but wasn't about to waste time on a meaningless hunt. Much bigger preys were waiting.

I slowly stood up, stretching my back as I did. My spine cracked loudly, but the tension didn't ease much. I tightened my bootlaces, re-buckled my leather belts (three of them) around my waist and thighs, and fixed the gloves. They weren't metal-knuckled, since the silver-bullet gun in my coat pocket more than made up the difference. The gun was actually a last resort sort of deal; gang wars usually don't involve heaters. I learned to be a bit more careful, though, since our last encounter with the GF's. My real weapon of choice was the long silver sword strapped to my back.

"Let's go," I said to Zell. He finished the sharpening and looked back up the stairs.

"Rinoa! Time to ride!" He yelled to the second floor. Soon, we heard stiletto heels clicking through the ceiling. Rinoa descended the staircase with a flow of black trailing after her.

"Coming, coming!" She huffed, her black nails scratching against my face as she went past me. "Darling, what's with the rush? We aren't due in at least 3 hours."

"What do you mean? It's already nine o'clock!" Zell said to her as we walked toward his small sedan. "It'll take a while to get to Quisty's. And who knows whether they're ready or not. And before you know it it's time and what if this crap breaks down in the middle or we run out of gas or –"

"Zell!" I silenced his tirade with one word. "Quis lives fifteen minutes from here. We're not going to be late by a long shot."

"Yeah," Rinoa clambered into the back seat while I called shotgun. "Relax, darling. If you drive us into a tree it'll take more time to fix than all those scenarios you conjured up." She pushed her black hair off her slender shoulders, then adjusted the paired daggers around her hip. "You know, these things are a bitch to sit with."

"Just don't poke yourself with them. We need every capable vampire we can get." I told her.

She smiled. "I know that, Squall."

Here we are now, going to the east side
I pick up my friends and we start to ride
Ride all night, and we ride all day
Some may come, oh, but some may stay

"Man, it's raining like shit out here," Zell commented while pulling onto the slick street. "Bad weather brings bad luck."

"No it doesn't Zell." Rinoa rolled her eyes. "What is with you tonight?"

He sighed. "Just a bad feeling, girl. Just that."

I turned around in my seat. "You're not nervous?"

Rinoa gave me a look. "I've been in these brawls more than you have, darling. You don't need to look after me."

". . . . . ."

She laughed. "Squall, it's not that big a deal. It's a brawl. We haven't lost anyone to the GF's yet, and we won't start now. Plus, the Shumis have our backs."

"It's just –"

"Yeah, yeah, you're worried, I know." Rinoa sighed. "I had a weird dream last night."

"Again?" Zell cut in.

"Yeah. Freaked me out, actually. I dreamt we were drowning in a sunny lake, which really is weird because we were actually drowning, not burning into ashes. I saw crosses floating in the sky, and the water looked silver. It's like, every single one of my fears swirled into one. It was freaky!"

My dead heart trembled slightly at the thought. All of the tortures into one. To say the thought doesn't scare me was stretching it. I may be a vampire, but all vampires have fatal weaknesses. And they all hurt like hell if one pushes them. I turned my attention back on the road, unwilling to continue the line of morbid thought. The focus right now was the GF's. Not Rinoa's semi-prophetic dream.

Carbuncle had delivered to us the "invitation", as usual. A simple grey piece of paper, with time and date and place written out in archaic style handwriting – Leviathan's, no doubt – and sealed with blood. What was peculiar was that they had given me the letter, instead of to Quistis or Seifer by default. I didn't know whether to take it as a mockery due to my relations with the alpha male or not.

"What I want to know is," Zell said while turning off the road toward Quistis' mansion, "why do the GF's want a stack now? I mean, we haven't had a single incident with them for the past six months. It's each to himself, so why would they suddenly want a trade offer?"

"They're GF's." Rinoa replied. "Only Lucifer himself knows what the hell they're thinking."

Here we are in the pouring home
I watch the light man fall the comb
I watch a light move across the screen
I watch the light come over me

"Ugh, finally," Zell pulled the car up into the huge driveway. The rain was heavier, obscuring the grand scale of Quistis' dwelling. Being the alpha female, she possessed many top worldly goods that our clan could offer. Not that she really needed a house, being a creature of the night, but it was still a symbol of status.

The three of us scrambled out of the car and dashed toward the front door. I didn't mind the wetness, actually, but somewhere within me a familiar singe stirred. I wanted to see my lover.

The door swung open before Zell even touched the doorbell. The hostess, none other than the lovely Quistis herself, gave him a look of reproach before letting the three of us, soaked to the bone, inside onto the rain mat.

"What?" Zell retorted.

"Your hair," she replied. "How many times do I have to tell you food is not for playing with?"

"Yes, mother . . ." Zell mumbled. His hair was dripping blood down onto his cheek along with water. Quistis rolled her eyes before turning, a smile in place to greet Rinoa and me.

"Where's everyone else?" Rinoa asked as she took off her duster and attempted to dry it by wringing. I shook the water from my eyes, my wet hair flew away from my forehead and splattered drops all over the wooden floor.

"Selphie and her division are on their way," Quistis explained as we all made our ways into the living room. "Xu and Nida are finding weapons in the arsenal. And Francisca isn't coming."

"She isn't?" I stopped cold. "Why not?"

"She's being Francisca. Peace-loving getting in the way I suppose." Quistis waved her hand nonchalantly. She shrugged.

Francisca had always hated the stacks between our clan and the GF's. She rarely joined rumbles we had before, and when she did she was unwilling to stab anyone in the heart. Quite lovely notions, but useless and dangerous in real life. It wasn't unexpected, but it made me worry about the condition of our group even more.

I was so wrapped in my thoughts that I didn't hear the footsteps approaching me from behind. When I felt a warm touch I nearly jumped to the ceiling, immediately spinning around to face the intrusion. The figure backed up an inch, obviously not expecting my tenseness, but the hand lingered on my side and soon its partner joined on the opposite end, wrapping me in a circle.

Before an explanation could even form on my tongue, Seifer took my words away by covering my mouth with his own. Fangs lightly nipped at my lips, drawing slivers of blood from the corners. I eagerly return the kiss, my own sharp incisors teasing his tongue. His hands slowly traced patterns through my wet shirt, onto my back.

I pulled away from the heat of his mouth when I heard silence descending the room around us. Seifer looked over my shoulder, smirked, then started to pull me out into the hallway. I heard a breathy "thank you" coming from Zell. Heh, after all this time he still couldn't take our relationship. I smiled at the thought.

Here we are now going to the west side
Weapons in hand as we go for a ride
Some may come, oh, but some may stay
Watching out for the sunny day where there's

Seifer pushed open a random door and we moved into the darkness. No sooner than the slight click of a lock was heard his heat was upon me, devouring everything within reach. My wet coat was dropped heedlessly onto the floor. He missed me – we haven't seen each other in two weeks – and I missed him just as terribly.

My back met soft mattress as we somehow managed to make our way through while not breaking the kiss he started when the door closed. Our fangs continued the battle as I ran my hands under his thin shirt, tasting muscle. He pushed wet hair away from my face, then proceeded to open my own button-down. He kissed my collarbone, lingering around the jugular vein area. I tilted my head to give him better access. I could smell his lust and rising hunger.

"Did you eat before you came here?"

I was thrown off the momentum by his sudden question that all I could do was stare at him.

"Squall, I'm asking you a question."

"No," I said.

Seifer scoffed. "Figures. You're deathly pale and you're freezing cold. Why didn't you eat anything?"

I shrugged. I wasn't that hungry and my worries had deferred me a bit.

"Come on," Seifer started to pull me up. "I have blood bags in the fridge."

"But I want you," I resisted the gesture.

He grinned. "Yes. But you can't drink from me. I need the strength for the stack, and so do you. Come on, let's get you fed."

I reluctantly got up and followed him out of the room. When I got to the kitchen, Seifer threw a bag of medicinal blood at me. O positive. I sighed. Never was much in favor for a cold pharmaceutical meal.

"You need it." Seifer leaned on the counter beside me.

Fine. I poured the blood into a soup dish and started eating. "Rinoa had a prophesy."

"Again? Good or bad?"

" . . . Pretty bad."

"Oh," He gave me a look. "They don't come true all the time."

"Yeah."

"Squall –"

His consoling sentence was cut off by a boisterous ruckus coming into the kitchen. I looked up in time to see that the rest of the clan had arrived. Selphie was arguing with Fujin on some topic I couldn't make out. Both Raijin and Irvine were on Fujin's side, trying to put in their own two cents. Nida and Xu chose at that exact same time to come up from the arsenal to join the confusion. The room's heat rose significantly. They've all been fed.

Love and darkness and my sidearm
Hey, élan

"Are we all here?" Seifer asked me through the rumble of activity.

I nodded, putting away the spoon and bowl. He stood up and cleared his throat. It wasn't particularly loud, but everyone in the room instantly quieted down. Fujin froze in the middle of a gesture. Ah, the power of the alpha.

"Is everyone well fed?" Seifer looked around the room at the nods. "Where's Rinoa and Zell?"

"Probably making out," Xu mumbled. Someone snickered.

"Someone go get them," Irritation swept over Seifer's face.

"No need, we're here!" Rinoa's voice echoed from the hallway. Footsteps followed her into the kitchen area.

"Shouldn't we move to somewhere else?" Quistis asked Seifer. He shook his head.

"What time is it?" He asked her back.

"10:15."

"All right. Devils," Seifer began. "I don't need to explain much because I'm assuming everyone knows what this stack means. It's us or them this time, and the outcome determines territory disputes. If we win, they give us the club district. We need that district, it would double our hunting population so we don't have to steal from the hospital all the time. We have to win."

That was what he said. Underneath, every single one of us knew the consequence if we lose. If we lose . . .

"Nida!"

"Yes sir," Nida straightened.

"How's our contact?"

"I contacted the Shumi clan. They'll be waiting for us at the burial ground. They did tell me that they need to refashion their weapons before they come, so they might be a little late."

Seifer eyed him. "How late?"

"Not late enough to cause a problem, sir."

Seifer nodded. "Good. Their presence is crucial. How's everyone's weapons?"

Irvine raised a hand, "I need to pick up my blades up north."

"Why didn't you get it before?" Quistis cut in.

"Because they weren't done fastening it to the gloves yet. It's just up Trabia."

"Any other problems?" Seifer asked the rest of us. When we all answered no, he clasped his hands together. "Irvine, go get those blades now, finished or not. Zell and Fujin, go with him. We'll meet in the courtroom in an hour. Dismissed."

Here we are now going to the north side
I look at my friends as they start to ride
Ride at night, yeah, we ride all day
Looking out for the sunny day

"Something's not right," Quistis said as everyone else left the room.

Seifer frowned. I looked back and forth between them, trying to figure out what exactly was going through the alphas' heads. Quistis was staring at a spot on the marble counter, concentrating.

"What's the matter?" asked Seifer.

"The Shumis. Last time I checked, they just got integrated weapons. It's odd that they should need a new version this soon."

"You're saying . . ."

"Something's off." Quistis gave Seifer a look. "Don't you feel it?"

Seifer was silent.

"That's not what I meant." Quistis quickly remedied as she glanced at me. "I meant –"

"The Shumis." Seifer cut her off. "Are you saying they are not really getting weapons?"

"They don't seem to have the need to."

"So . . . they're only saying that to us because . . .?"

"I don't know." Quistis put her hands to her temples. "I don't know, Seif. It makes no sense. It would be beneficial to the Shumis to help us. They hate the GF's as much as we do, and they're probably counting on dealing with us once we get the club district. I can't think of a reason why they would deceive us."

Seifer sighed. "Well, we just have to show up and see."

Quistis snapped her head up. "Seifer, we can't not have a backup plan. If the Shumis don't show up, we –"

"I know!" He barked. Then he softened the tone. "I know, Quis. I know. But we can't do anything now. It's too late."

"I'll think of something. There must be something I can still figure out." Quistis started walking out the kitchen. As she passed me, she said in my ear, "Relax him, will you?"

I heeded her advice and walked over to Seifer. I took his hand, then started leading us back to the room before we came into the kitchen. He didn't resist, but wasn't very eager for it either. Good luck relaxing, I thought.

"Squall, we don't have time for this."

I didn't answer, but simply crawled onto the bed and bringing him down with me. I then rolled on top of him and started nipping at his earlobe.

"Squall . . . I'm not kidding. Squall!"

Despite his words, I felt his hands massaging my ass. His mouth worked against my neck, as we grinded slightly into each other. It wasn't long before he decided he should be on top and rolled us over once again. No clothing was removed – we really didn't have that much time. But the frictions caused by the fabrics were delicious in my senses.

"He can't have you." Seifer murmured against my tongue as we kissed deeply. "He can't. I won't let him. You're mine. Mine."

"Stop thinking about it." I said to him. "I'm always yours."

"We can't lose." He whispered.

I saw fear in Seifer's eyes. I was stupefied; it was the first time I had ever felt fear permeating from Seifer's body. He was truly frightened. I couldn't muster up pity or sympathy, because being the alpha there were many feelings not suited for him. All I could manage was a simple "We won't."

Here we are now going to the south side
I pick up my friends and we hope we won't die
Ride at night, ride through heaven and hell
Come back, oh, and feel so well

The ride to the burial ground was unusually noisy. Mostly from Selphie and Zell, though, for when they're nervous they like to chatter nonstop. Raijin was driving, and Quistis was shotgun in the huge van we all squeezed in. I sat alone with Seifer in the very back, my head on his shoulder. My mind drowned out the chatter reverberating in the air.

"We're so gonna kick those bastards' asses!" I heard Zell shout. "Man, I just want to grind one of the Brother's head in and –"

"Save me a piece!" Selphie added. "Damn GF's. God's Fools, I say!"

"Would you two quiet down?" Irvine was testing out his blades. He picked them up a few minutes ago; they were quite beautiful. "It's not all fun and giggles. Even with the Shumis they outnumber us. It's also on their ground."

"Beta-man, shut up," Zell retorted. "You sure know how to spoil a good party."

"Want some?" Fujin reached over and handed Zell an open box. Cocaine. Since we're all among the undead and refresh our blood often, the addictiveness of the drugs has little effects on us. However, they do give us a fairly nice high for a short while. Personally, I'd recommend the white powder if you're a vampire.

"Sure," He snorted a line and offered it to the rest of us. I reached for it.

"No," Seifer slapped my outstretched hand. "I need you straight tonight."

I smiled. "Do you now?"

He ignored my attempt at humor and stared out the window. It had stopped raining; moonlight lit up the dirt road brightly. Such a fickle phenomenon, the rain. Quick they come, quicker they go.

The drive droned on for another fifteen minutes before I saw the gates to the burial ground rising in front of me. Vaguely I could make out shadows in the distance. GF's.

"Shit," Quistis cursed as Raijin parked the van. "They're not here."

"Of course not." Nida suddenly said loudly. He then jumped out of the van and dashed toward our enemy clan. His figure growing smaller by the second.

"What the fuck?" Fujin commented. Her one good eye strained toward the distance. "Get him!"

Whether it's the drugs talking or not, we all followed Fujin's lead, running quickly toward the waiting group inside. By the time we reached them, I mentally balanced the situation. There were 9 of us, excluding Nida. There were 17 of them.

Our paces slowed as we reached a few feet away from the GF's. Nida was among them, standing to the side and panting from his spurt of running. Carbuncle was shielding him from us, as if our murderous glares could harm Nida physically. If they could, Nida would be in pieces by now.

"Fucking traitor!" Zell yelled. He went on to a string of colorful curses, but his voice died as the sole figure in the middle of the GF group took a step forward.

"Well well," Griever smirked. His grey eyes sparkled in the liquid light. "I can see that this evening will be very interesting indeed."

A/N: Yes, this is the end of the story. No, there is no more of it. At least not in this series. There will be a prequel and a sequel to this piece. (You don't think I'll really let you guys hang on a cliffhanger this bad, do you?) So wait for those if you're confused by this short piece. The Pieces of Paper series are supposed to be snippets anyway. As long as it matches the song, explanations can take a step back.