(A/N: Thank you reviewers!! Indeed chapter one was quite creepy, heh heh, muwahahahaha!!!! clears throat eh hem. Well, on with chapter 2!!!!)
She awoke, quilted with perspire. It was another nightmare...
Another nightmare...
The same one she'd had for 6 months.
Ever since she was attacked that night, she lost a part of herself. Some rumored she'd lost her sanity; others believed it was her audacity.
Whatever it was she didn't have it anymore and the doctors were convinced she no longer qualified for SeeD.
Their solution.
She was locked up inside a small, stuffy two level apartment.
Quistis set her feet to ground and rubbed her temples.
She lugged her feet down the stairs as she commenced towards her laptop.
Quistis hit the spacebar button on her keyboard, bringing her screen back on.
'I think I'll chat for a while...' she decided, took a seat in the swivel chair and logged onto instant messenger.
{Logging on.......
Logging on......
((Logged on! Welcome back, qUiStY!))
Quistis adjusted her glasses and leaned her head on hand.
"Here we go..." she pulled her lips up, making a smile, as she entered the "AWAKE" chatroom.
qUiStY: Hello? anyone here?
qUiStY: Hello? Missdoc?
qUiStY: Hellooo????
Missdoc: Nice to talk to you again qUiStY!
qUiStY: Yes, I'm glad!
Missdoc: In fact, you're the only one I've been able to talk to. Besides, nobody's up at this time...
qUiStY: Panic attacks
Missdoc: So what's keeping you up?
Missdoc: Oh...
qUiStY: How long have you had yors?
Missdoc: 2 months.
qUiStY: six
Missdoc: Well, you beat me!
qUiStY: I'm not proud of it either.
Missdoc: sigh I understand.......
qUisty: Well, I'm getting a bit tired.
Missdoc: Oh...well. Okay.
Missdoc: Night.
qUiStY: Goodnight.
Missdoc: Don't dream!
Quistis logged off. She was a bit tired, not that much though.
She stood and sauntered to the windows.
Quistis twirled the blinds, letting a wave of light enter the dark apartment.
'6 months of panice attacks...6 long months of pain and misery.' She slicked her hair back.
A knock interrupted the silence and the door opened. The Caretaker.
Not only did they have her caged in an apartment away from her friends, they had a caretaker watch over Quistis like she was a brittle old woman. Like she had disabilities. Like she couldn't handle herself!
"Hello Quistis! I'm sorry I left you alone...I just thought I'd go buy some...uhh...food and...Oh look! I got your favorite—!"
Quistis chuckled and straightened her silk, grey nightgown, "So how is he again?" she inquired.
The caretaker, June, dropped the brown bag of groceries in shock, "Wha- what??" her eyes widened.
Quistis grinned, "Don't fret. I'm not going to report you, I know about your little affair with the low self-esteem guy."
June didn't know how to respond so she bobbed her head up-down hurriedly and scurried into the kitchen.
That conversation made Quistis feel older, like a mother to her daughter. Was this useful practice? No, Quistis didn't want children.
To breed with a male? After the attack? It might've been possible before, when she wasn't so tense...
Now? She didn't want to be near men, not until her nightmares ended.
"Ohh! Maybe you should get dressed, Rinoa will be here to stopover soon."
Rinoa. Of all of her friends, she least expected Rinoa to be the one visisting everyday with flowers.
'The only one who actually didn't ogle at me.
The only one who didn't think I was crazy.
The only one who cared...'
Even with Rinoa's daily visits, she still felt uneasy.
Her friends...
'My friends...'
Nobody cared.
"I don't need to get dressed. She sees me every damn day...and yet you still treat it like it's something to be delightful about! You know what? Just shut the fuck up, okay?! You don't care! Nobody cares! I don't care! I—I!"
She fell back, gasping for breath, coughing uncontrollably.
Another attack.
June raced over to Quistis with a plastic bag, like a balloon, she made Quistis inhale-then exhale.
June took the bag away, she knew Quistis like a book. When she was hungry, when she wanted a drink, when she had similar attacks-when to take the bag away. Everything.
Even her personality.
Quistis's personality made a dramatic change after the attack. She wasn't the instructor she used to be, she was now nothing but a depressed, lonely, panic-freak.
Quistis...with her little tantrums, lectures and poetical sentences.
She was a piece of work.
"I'm sorry...I'm sorry I make you endure this. I can't help it...it just...hurts." Quistis burst in tears, unable to confine her feelings.
Quistis full of guilty reflected on why she screamed at June.
'Because I have no one else to express my feelings to. I have no one else to blame, or complain to. Nobody...'
—DING DONG—
"That should be Rinoa...I'll get the door." June left her seat on the lime- colored carpeted floor.
Quistis hastily wiped away her tears and arose from her position.
Rinoa entered with a Bosque, "Hello June! Hello Quistis."
Rinoa bestowed the Bosque to June.
"So..." she pursed her lips.
"How's life?" Rinoa beamed.
Quistis shook her head, "Fine, thanks for asking."
Rinoa took a seat on the couch, "Well, it's small talk in this small world."
Quistis peered out the window. The city of Delling was radiant, too radiant perhaps.
She began to miss the little town of Balamb.
The noisy, loud streets of Delling.
The smokey, cloudy air of Delling.
The tall buildings of Delling.
It all bothered her, she longed to break away.
"Well, it's not all small talk." Quistis finally answered.
Rinoa massaged her wrist bones, "True...very true..."
June returned, in hand was a tiny glass of wine.
Quistis obtained the glass and thanked June.
Rinoa was not here just to say hi to Quistis.
No. There was something deeper she had to tell.
Quistis knew, her face had "How-am-I-going-to-tell-her?" written all over it.
June observed as the two didn't congregate, not even a word or movement.
"How about some of the Tele?" June proposed and turned on the Television.
{Delling City News}
"Today is a mermeroable day. A day which we have all dread. A day of memories and sorrow. A day in which the devastating death of Edea Krama has come."
Rinoa's eyes broadened and June quickly shut off the television.
The whole thing, every word the man stated rewound in Quistis's mind over and over.
"Today is a mermeroable day. A day which we have all dread. A day of memories and sorrow. A day in which the devastating death of Edea Krama has come."
"Memorable day..."
"We all dread..."
"Memories and sorrow..."
"Devastating death of Edea Kramar..."
"Edea...she's dead..." Quistis covered her mouth as tears began.
Rinoa searched for the comforting words, any in fact.
"We...I...it...Quistis I'm sorry!" Rinoa's eyes teared as well.
Quistis, "Get out."
Rinoa quietly sobbed in her hands, "We didn't want to tell you. She just kept getting sicker and sicker! We didn't want to make you more upset! How could we possibly tell you??"
Quistis was at the edge, "You lied to me. You came here every fucking day with a wide smile on your fucking face! And how dare you ask me, "How could we?" You sicken me! You fucking treat me like a child!! Like I can't handle myself!!! As if I were going to collapse by knowing she was on the verge of death? Get out! I don't want you here anymore; leave before you make me more furious." She threatened.
Rinoa sniffled and stepped back, June led her out of the apartment.
And with a last word, Rinoa placed a hand upon her heart and said, "Goodbye forever."
------WELL!!???? Did you like it??? What does Rinoa mean when she says, "Goodbye forever."??? What will happen to Quistis knowing about Edea's death?? What will happen in the next chapter????? Well, you'll find out if you review!!! C'mon, I need support!!!