The ages in this story WILL NOT follow Kingdom Hearts. Heck, nothing will
follow kingdom Hearts, just the characters.
- - - - - - - - - - Yuffie - - - - - - - - - -
The elevator ordeal freaked me out, I'll admit. This entire house had given me the creeps in the beginning, but I hadn't expected to be TERRIFIED of it. It didn't help that the sole inhabitant of the sinister 3-story home was just as weird.
The spiky haired boy, Sora, said something about a survivor of a wreck, but I didn't allow myself to hope. Hope hurts too much. If it was...it had to be Leon. I'd seen Selphie. Selphie was absolutely gone. But Leon, he had a chance. I was glad. This disgusted me because Selphie was my best friend as well as my stepsister.
Leon was just a guy I'd met at one of Selphie's dad, Kyo Mante's, many parties. Granted, I'd been immediately infatuated, he was still 21 and I was 16. A 5-year difference. He worked for Kyo in the construction business. He had been leaning against the wall nonchalantly with a little green cup of punch, watching everyone.
He looked so cool, so old, so dangerous, so forbidden. I was instantly taken. Of course Selphie made sure that we got stuck together in one of the Christmas games that both Leon and I were forced to play. We didn't talk much, me being too embarrassed, while he just didn't seem to care one way or the other. I soon found out he was comfortable in silence, whereas I did everything to avoid it.
The only reason we'd even been in the car together was a freak coincidence. There was a big Evanesance concert in Jackson that Sel and I needed a ride to. Leon had to go there for Kyo. He paid for Leon to drop us off. We hadn't gotten that far when the storm hit.
We reached the bottom of the stairwell, and started to the living room. I saw two people I didn't know, a guy with long silver hair and a girl with hair the color of pepper. Aerith was standing next to Riaz, but the blonde man, Cloud, was nowhere in sight.
Aerith saw us first and immediately asked, "What was that noise?" Her green eyes were wide and worried.
"Elevator crashed." Sora answered, voice low. The silver haired man was watching us.
Aerith's jaw fell. "Crashed? Are you all alright?" She asked, touching Kairi on the shoulder. Kairi nodded, still speechless. She hadn't spoken since Sora shoved her out of the way, no matter how much he tried to get us to laugh.
Something on the couch moved, catching my eye. It was a he, a soaked and poorly bandaged man with dark eyes and long dark hair. My eyes traveled downward, seeing the necklace Squall always wore.
It was Squall.
He sensed someone watching him and slowly looked up, straight at me. He blinked a few times, and then seemed to recognize me.
"Yuffie." He tried to smile but it came as more of a grimace. I felt like I was going to cry again, and it angered me. I didn't cry often, because I felt it showed weakness. But I figured that since I'd already cried most of the morning, it wouldn't matter.
"Hey..." I said, aware of how still everyone had gotten. Very slowly, as though in a movie, I walked toward him. Even more slowly, I hugged him. Carefully, as I knew he was hurt.
He tensed; I could tell he wasn't sure how to react. I didn't care at the moment, only glad I wasn't alone. Just as started to pull back I felt a hand rest on my back.
I sat back, his hand slid to meet my hand, interlocking his fingers with mine.
"Yuffie I'm sorry." He started to say quietly. I noticed the scrapes and bruises he had, and I wondered if he had any broken bones.
"What happened? Did you break anything?" I asked quickly, knowing full well what he was sorry about. I didn't want to talk about it right now.
He ignored my question. "Your sister didn't make it." He pressed on. I knew that, I'd seen her, and they had said one survivor... yet his words still knocked the air out of me.
"I know." I finally managed to whisper.
"I'm sorry." He muttered again, then shut his eyes. He didn't move again.
"Squall." I squeezed his hand. There was no reaction. "Squall." I said again, more forcefully. Still no reaction. "What's wrong with him?!" I demanded, turning to the onlookers.
"He's probably passed out. He's still breathing." Aerith answered, leaning down next to me and checking for his pulse. "Yeah, he's fine."
"Just dehydrated. Needs salts and fluids, probably a good meal and a warm bed." The girl next to the silver haired man offered.
Riaz seemed to awaken. "Yes. I should start dinner." She sighed and shook her head. "Its just too bad..." I didn't catch the rest. My mind was working in overdrive. Memories had hit me instantly. Images flashed before me, so vivid, so real I could feel the rain; hear the thunder. The sheet of rain against the windshield, the flash of lightning...
And the woman lying dead in the road.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* She stood in the middle of the dark room, staring into the void of darkness. Her heart seemed to pound harder with every beat.
"Stop it." She whispered. The sound was foreign to her, breaking the eerie silence. She heard a thud behind her. Her eyes were almost frantically searching for something, anything to focus on.
Then there was a small laugh. It was high and girlish, startling her out of her desperation.
"Stop it." She repeated, more forcefully. The ground beneath her seemed to shudder, then the laugh came again.
This time a feminine voice, seeming to echo in her mind, asked, "What's the matter? Are you," The voice paused, then continued, sounding amused. "Afraid?"
She shuddered; she could almost feel the evil washing over her like an icy blanket. Her knees buckled beneath her, but she managed to catch herself. While she was sure she could, she opened her mouth to speak. Just after the words left her lips light filled the room.
"Leave them alone."
[-------~*~-------] Jailyn [-------~*~-------]
I grabbed the banister suddenly. What was that? The ground shook...did they have earthquakes here? Riku didn't seem phased in the least, continuing down the stairs ahead of me.
I slowly let go, making sure everything was steady, then hurried down to catch up with Riku.
"Hey." I whispered. He glanced at me. "Did you feel that?"
Despite the dim stairwell, I could see him give me a confused look.
"Feel what?"
"The ground."
"What about it?"
"It-" I began but quickly stopped. "Nothing. Never mind." I didn't want to sound crazy. I must have imagined it. Besides, Riku was already preoccupied with his thoughts again.
I pushed the experience out of my mind. Instead I looked at the carpet, it was just like everything else in the hallways, golden.
"You know." I whispered. "The interior design of this house isn't so bad. I mean, if you're into that whole 'Martha-Stewart-on-crack' feeling."
Riku laughed loudly, and it echoed. I flinched, hoping sound didn't carry upstairs. I didn't want to wake anyone.
"Leave them alone."
Riku flipped on the kitchen light.
"Holy sh-" He caught himself, instinctively pushing me behind him. I peeked around him and saw Riaz, looking as though she's been a child caught with her hand in the cookie jar.
She said nothing, just looking at us with these strangely aware eyes. The weirdest thing was the way her right eye was black and her left one was light gray.
I stepped out from behind Riku, putting my arms over my chest. It was cold in here.
"Sorry. Riaz. You startled us." I finally broke the unnatural stillness of the room. It reminded me of being a young girl; standing outside while the snow fell. It was almost a magical feeling of calmness, everything so quiet, so serene.
But there was nothing serene or calm or magical about this moment. Riaz didn't say anything, just staring at us. I vaguely wondered if she even saw us.
"What do we do?" I whispered to Riku, keeping my eyes on the frozen girl. I saw Riku shrug almost imperceptibly.
"We just came down to get some water." I said loudly, trying to snap her out of her trance. Actually that was a lie. I wanted some water, but I wouldn't go alone. I forced Riku to come with me.
She looked at me. "Oh. I'm sorry." She stepped aside, gesturing for us to go ahead. I noticed she was a lot paler than normal. That was saying a lot.
Quickly I stepped ahead of Riku and took two bottles of water out of the refrigerator. I walked past her once again. Thunder crashed just above us and I flinched. This storm was NEVER going to let up. If only Riaz had a television or phone...
It was strange, being so secluded here.
"Thank you." I said, holding up my bottle of water and handing the other to Riku. She nodded, her attention now on the small window above the sink. I didn't even want to know.
Riku placed his hand in the small of my back and led me out of the room, back into the golden hallway, and kept it there until we were back on the third floor and safely inside our gray room.
"Riku what the hell was that? What did she say before you turned on the light? 'Leave them alone'? Jesus, she's insane." I instantly began to rant, tossing the water bottle onto my unmade bed, forgetting my thirst.
Riku sat on his bed, opposite of mine, and looked out the window into the seemingly black rain. Lightning illuminated the flat land beyond the glass for a few seconds.
"I don't care about this storm. We have got to get out of here." I sat next to him, looking at the carpet.
Riku sighed. "Lets wait it out." He said finally.
I gaped at him. "Wait it out?" I repeated. I rolled my eyes. "Fine. But if things get weirder, we are so leaving." As strongly as I felt about this place, I trusted Riku. If he said to wait it out, I'd trust him...for the time being anyway.
((~*~*&*~*~)) Kairi ((~*~*&*~*~))
I slipped into the third floor bathroom, clothes in hand, and shut the door quietly. I had tossed and turned all night, finally giving up and deciding to get in the shower. It was nearly 6. The storm was still going strong, and I was worried it wouldn't stop.
I was even more worried that it would flood. I'd voiced this to Sora and he had just shrugged, saying that if it was going to flood it would have certainly done it by now. As tough as he tried to act, I could see the thought had crossed his mind too.
At some point of my insomnia last night, I'd looked out the window. Lighting flashed, and I saw Cloud's dark green explorer sitting out front along with the others', Riku and Jailyn. It was a rusty red Ford.
I yawned and put my clothes on the area next to the sink, then reached to turn on the shower. It came on, already starting to steam. That was fine with me. I looked forward to the hot water.
I took off my top, starting a pile down next to the door. A thought hit me. Were there any towels? I leaned down and opened the little cabinet under the sink. I pulled out a dark red one. I laid it on the counter, and started to pull off my pants when I noticed something. There was a small, hardly noticeable spot. It was a darker color than the towel, a darker reddish purple. I picked the towel up to examine it and felt something wet. I brought my hand out from underneath it.
There was a red substance covering it. I dropped the towel, realizing what it was. My throat constricted, I couldn't call for help. I couldn't breath.
Slowly, very slowly I dropped to my knees and looked into the cabinet. My breath found me and I screamed.
~*~*~*~*----*~*~*~*~*
A/N: I did not want to kill this person off. I swear it. I've fought with myself over it, but know I have to. PLEASE DON'T HURT ME. *Cowers*
You may think you know who the killer is. Or what the killer is rather, but you have no idea. *Evil chuckle*
- - - - - - - - - - Yuffie - - - - - - - - - -
The elevator ordeal freaked me out, I'll admit. This entire house had given me the creeps in the beginning, but I hadn't expected to be TERRIFIED of it. It didn't help that the sole inhabitant of the sinister 3-story home was just as weird.
The spiky haired boy, Sora, said something about a survivor of a wreck, but I didn't allow myself to hope. Hope hurts too much. If it was...it had to be Leon. I'd seen Selphie. Selphie was absolutely gone. But Leon, he had a chance. I was glad. This disgusted me because Selphie was my best friend as well as my stepsister.
Leon was just a guy I'd met at one of Selphie's dad, Kyo Mante's, many parties. Granted, I'd been immediately infatuated, he was still 21 and I was 16. A 5-year difference. He worked for Kyo in the construction business. He had been leaning against the wall nonchalantly with a little green cup of punch, watching everyone.
He looked so cool, so old, so dangerous, so forbidden. I was instantly taken. Of course Selphie made sure that we got stuck together in one of the Christmas games that both Leon and I were forced to play. We didn't talk much, me being too embarrassed, while he just didn't seem to care one way or the other. I soon found out he was comfortable in silence, whereas I did everything to avoid it.
The only reason we'd even been in the car together was a freak coincidence. There was a big Evanesance concert in Jackson that Sel and I needed a ride to. Leon had to go there for Kyo. He paid for Leon to drop us off. We hadn't gotten that far when the storm hit.
We reached the bottom of the stairwell, and started to the living room. I saw two people I didn't know, a guy with long silver hair and a girl with hair the color of pepper. Aerith was standing next to Riaz, but the blonde man, Cloud, was nowhere in sight.
Aerith saw us first and immediately asked, "What was that noise?" Her green eyes were wide and worried.
"Elevator crashed." Sora answered, voice low. The silver haired man was watching us.
Aerith's jaw fell. "Crashed? Are you all alright?" She asked, touching Kairi on the shoulder. Kairi nodded, still speechless. She hadn't spoken since Sora shoved her out of the way, no matter how much he tried to get us to laugh.
Something on the couch moved, catching my eye. It was a he, a soaked and poorly bandaged man with dark eyes and long dark hair. My eyes traveled downward, seeing the necklace Squall always wore.
It was Squall.
He sensed someone watching him and slowly looked up, straight at me. He blinked a few times, and then seemed to recognize me.
"Yuffie." He tried to smile but it came as more of a grimace. I felt like I was going to cry again, and it angered me. I didn't cry often, because I felt it showed weakness. But I figured that since I'd already cried most of the morning, it wouldn't matter.
"Hey..." I said, aware of how still everyone had gotten. Very slowly, as though in a movie, I walked toward him. Even more slowly, I hugged him. Carefully, as I knew he was hurt.
He tensed; I could tell he wasn't sure how to react. I didn't care at the moment, only glad I wasn't alone. Just as started to pull back I felt a hand rest on my back.
I sat back, his hand slid to meet my hand, interlocking his fingers with mine.
"Yuffie I'm sorry." He started to say quietly. I noticed the scrapes and bruises he had, and I wondered if he had any broken bones.
"What happened? Did you break anything?" I asked quickly, knowing full well what he was sorry about. I didn't want to talk about it right now.
He ignored my question. "Your sister didn't make it." He pressed on. I knew that, I'd seen her, and they had said one survivor... yet his words still knocked the air out of me.
"I know." I finally managed to whisper.
"I'm sorry." He muttered again, then shut his eyes. He didn't move again.
"Squall." I squeezed his hand. There was no reaction. "Squall." I said again, more forcefully. Still no reaction. "What's wrong with him?!" I demanded, turning to the onlookers.
"He's probably passed out. He's still breathing." Aerith answered, leaning down next to me and checking for his pulse. "Yeah, he's fine."
"Just dehydrated. Needs salts and fluids, probably a good meal and a warm bed." The girl next to the silver haired man offered.
Riaz seemed to awaken. "Yes. I should start dinner." She sighed and shook her head. "Its just too bad..." I didn't catch the rest. My mind was working in overdrive. Memories had hit me instantly. Images flashed before me, so vivid, so real I could feel the rain; hear the thunder. The sheet of rain against the windshield, the flash of lightning...
And the woman lying dead in the road.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* She stood in the middle of the dark room, staring into the void of darkness. Her heart seemed to pound harder with every beat.
"Stop it." She whispered. The sound was foreign to her, breaking the eerie silence. She heard a thud behind her. Her eyes were almost frantically searching for something, anything to focus on.
Then there was a small laugh. It was high and girlish, startling her out of her desperation.
"Stop it." She repeated, more forcefully. The ground beneath her seemed to shudder, then the laugh came again.
This time a feminine voice, seeming to echo in her mind, asked, "What's the matter? Are you," The voice paused, then continued, sounding amused. "Afraid?"
She shuddered; she could almost feel the evil washing over her like an icy blanket. Her knees buckled beneath her, but she managed to catch herself. While she was sure she could, she opened her mouth to speak. Just after the words left her lips light filled the room.
"Leave them alone."
[-------~*~-------] Jailyn [-------~*~-------]
I grabbed the banister suddenly. What was that? The ground shook...did they have earthquakes here? Riku didn't seem phased in the least, continuing down the stairs ahead of me.
I slowly let go, making sure everything was steady, then hurried down to catch up with Riku.
"Hey." I whispered. He glanced at me. "Did you feel that?"
Despite the dim stairwell, I could see him give me a confused look.
"Feel what?"
"The ground."
"What about it?"
"It-" I began but quickly stopped. "Nothing. Never mind." I didn't want to sound crazy. I must have imagined it. Besides, Riku was already preoccupied with his thoughts again.
I pushed the experience out of my mind. Instead I looked at the carpet, it was just like everything else in the hallways, golden.
"You know." I whispered. "The interior design of this house isn't so bad. I mean, if you're into that whole 'Martha-Stewart-on-crack' feeling."
Riku laughed loudly, and it echoed. I flinched, hoping sound didn't carry upstairs. I didn't want to wake anyone.
"Leave them alone."
Riku flipped on the kitchen light.
"Holy sh-" He caught himself, instinctively pushing me behind him. I peeked around him and saw Riaz, looking as though she's been a child caught with her hand in the cookie jar.
She said nothing, just looking at us with these strangely aware eyes. The weirdest thing was the way her right eye was black and her left one was light gray.
I stepped out from behind Riku, putting my arms over my chest. It was cold in here.
"Sorry. Riaz. You startled us." I finally broke the unnatural stillness of the room. It reminded me of being a young girl; standing outside while the snow fell. It was almost a magical feeling of calmness, everything so quiet, so serene.
But there was nothing serene or calm or magical about this moment. Riaz didn't say anything, just staring at us. I vaguely wondered if she even saw us.
"What do we do?" I whispered to Riku, keeping my eyes on the frozen girl. I saw Riku shrug almost imperceptibly.
"We just came down to get some water." I said loudly, trying to snap her out of her trance. Actually that was a lie. I wanted some water, but I wouldn't go alone. I forced Riku to come with me.
She looked at me. "Oh. I'm sorry." She stepped aside, gesturing for us to go ahead. I noticed she was a lot paler than normal. That was saying a lot.
Quickly I stepped ahead of Riku and took two bottles of water out of the refrigerator. I walked past her once again. Thunder crashed just above us and I flinched. This storm was NEVER going to let up. If only Riaz had a television or phone...
It was strange, being so secluded here.
"Thank you." I said, holding up my bottle of water and handing the other to Riku. She nodded, her attention now on the small window above the sink. I didn't even want to know.
Riku placed his hand in the small of my back and led me out of the room, back into the golden hallway, and kept it there until we were back on the third floor and safely inside our gray room.
"Riku what the hell was that? What did she say before you turned on the light? 'Leave them alone'? Jesus, she's insane." I instantly began to rant, tossing the water bottle onto my unmade bed, forgetting my thirst.
Riku sat on his bed, opposite of mine, and looked out the window into the seemingly black rain. Lightning illuminated the flat land beyond the glass for a few seconds.
"I don't care about this storm. We have got to get out of here." I sat next to him, looking at the carpet.
Riku sighed. "Lets wait it out." He said finally.
I gaped at him. "Wait it out?" I repeated. I rolled my eyes. "Fine. But if things get weirder, we are so leaving." As strongly as I felt about this place, I trusted Riku. If he said to wait it out, I'd trust him...for the time being anyway.
((~*~*&*~*~)) Kairi ((~*~*&*~*~))
I slipped into the third floor bathroom, clothes in hand, and shut the door quietly. I had tossed and turned all night, finally giving up and deciding to get in the shower. It was nearly 6. The storm was still going strong, and I was worried it wouldn't stop.
I was even more worried that it would flood. I'd voiced this to Sora and he had just shrugged, saying that if it was going to flood it would have certainly done it by now. As tough as he tried to act, I could see the thought had crossed his mind too.
At some point of my insomnia last night, I'd looked out the window. Lighting flashed, and I saw Cloud's dark green explorer sitting out front along with the others', Riku and Jailyn. It was a rusty red Ford.
I yawned and put my clothes on the area next to the sink, then reached to turn on the shower. It came on, already starting to steam. That was fine with me. I looked forward to the hot water.
I took off my top, starting a pile down next to the door. A thought hit me. Were there any towels? I leaned down and opened the little cabinet under the sink. I pulled out a dark red one. I laid it on the counter, and started to pull off my pants when I noticed something. There was a small, hardly noticeable spot. It was a darker color than the towel, a darker reddish purple. I picked the towel up to examine it and felt something wet. I brought my hand out from underneath it.
There was a red substance covering it. I dropped the towel, realizing what it was. My throat constricted, I couldn't call for help. I couldn't breath.
Slowly, very slowly I dropped to my knees and looked into the cabinet. My breath found me and I screamed.
~*~*~*~*----*~*~*~*~*
A/N: I did not want to kill this person off. I swear it. I've fought with myself over it, but know I have to. PLEASE DON'T HURT ME. *Cowers*
You may think you know who the killer is. Or what the killer is rather, but you have no idea. *Evil chuckle*