Hunted By The Shadows
Chapter Fifteen
The rhythmic sound was the only noise that was heard throughout the silent room. Her slow breathing gave him comfort, a security deep down inside to let him know she was still here. He still held her in his arms, her whimpers had long since ceased, yet he still needed to know she was safe. Hold on for just a moment longer. All three of them hadn't spoken a word for the past half an hour. An hour? He wasn't sure, nor did he care. Time wasn't on his mind right now. He just needed to know she was all right.
The sound of shuffling reached his ears as he saw Alison had finally moved from her position sat on the armchair. She was gathering up the broken remnants of the camera, which Squall had smashed against the wall earlier, and placing them in a black bin sat in the corner of the small room. She paced back to take the equipment, which Quistis had brought with her, studying it in her hands for a moment, before placing it on a small oak table, shaking her head slightly as she let out a sigh.
"Do you think she'll be back to collect them?" she asked, noticing Squall watching her.
Squall shrugged slightly, "I don't know," a thought suddenly entered his mind. "I think it would be best if they were destroyed, a part of me doesn't want her to get her evidence."
A small smile crept onto her lips, yet the mood was not a happy one. "I guess your right. What she did tonight was irresponsible and put Rinoa's life in danger. I think a part of her knew this could be dangerous, she just chose to ignore that fact."
The thought that Rinoa could have died tonight played over in Squall's mind and he instinctively wrapped his arms tighter around her. "I guess you two should think yourselves lucky that nothing more happened," Alison stated, noticing a more distant look in the young mans eyes.
"Why did that happen?" her quiet voice asked, sounding a little hoarse as she spoke for the first time.
Alison stopped in thought for a moment, before responding to the girls' question. "You usually have these... visions when you're asleep, right?" The raven-haired girl nodded before the doctor spoke again, "Hypnosis is different from sleep because your subconscious is still awake, as this allows you to say what is happening. That's probably why it affected you, your mind was making it real."
"Or they did want to hurt her," Squall spoke up.
Alison shrugged, "That would be the normal answer, but we're dealing with different circumstances, so I'm not entirely sure."
Rinoa thought for a moment, "It sounds strange, but... I got the impression that I wasn't supposed to actually get stabbed. Everything kind of stopped after that, they seemed confused, like something was wrong even though they're supposed to be controlling my dreams."
She felt Squall's gaze on her, and instead of trying to explain something she didn't understand herself, she leaned her head against his shoulder in exhaustion. Deep down Rinoa couldn't help a small bit of happiness and excitement surround her as the warmth of his arms encircled her. It was something she never expected Squall would do; yet she had yearned this kind of comfort from him for so long. Her thoughts were taken back to the dismal reality as she felt Alison sit back in the armchair and study her for a moment.
"In one of our sessions you spoke about a dream you had, where you were in the cemetery. Are these the dreams you were trying to tell me about?" Alison spoke leaning closer to her, a questioning look in her eye.
"Yes," Rinoa said nodding her head, "but the first dream I had, I was awake playing the piano. I was also someone else in that dream for a moment. Since then they've all been the same, just in the cemetery."
"And you see these people in your dreams all the time?"
"Not at first, I only saw one at the beginning, then I saw that woman. It was only tonight I saw five of them."
Alison nodded her head trying to understand, she wanted to come up with some logical explanation to all of this, but she knew she couldn't. A part of her believed it was something more, "So you said this was the first night you actually got stabbed?"
Rinoa nodded again. The young girl looked exhausted, Alison thought as she watched her features. "Maybe we should all get some rest and talk about this another day. Come back tomorrow and we'll talk some more, maybe even figure this out."
"You want to help us?" Rinoa asked, feeling a little shocked, she always thought that Alison would think she was insane if she ever knew the full truth. Yet she wanted to help?
Alison nodded her head as she stood up and opened the door. "Don't worry, everything will be alright. I'll speak to both of you tomorrow."
The two stood up, Squall's embraced leaving Rinoa's waist for the first time. The warmth of his arms were still present as she said her goodbyes to Alison and leaving her office. Once back outside Rinoa stopped abruptly and turned to face Squall. A sudden feeling of embarrassment filled her as she studied the ground making imaginary circles with her feet. "Can I stay with you tonight?" she asked.
Squall stopped and stared at her for a moment, "Why?" he asked.
"Just after all that has happened, I don't want to go home all alone tonight," she said glancing up at him quickly before staring back at the ground. "I'll be scared on my own, and I'll feel safer with you."
"Oh..." Squall said feeling an idiot for not realising why in the first place. She's just suffered one of the dreams; of course she wouldn't want to be alone. He stood in silence for a moment, watching her features. She stood expectantly with her arms crossed, staring back at him.
A sigh escaped her lips as she took a step closer. "So can I?" She had almost forgotten how difficult it was to get this man stood in front of her to speak sometimes.
"Sure," he said before walking again in the direction to his home. He felt a warm hand grab his and their fingers entwined as she caught up with him. For a moment he thought about pulling his arm away, but he stopped himself as the same tranquillity as before spread through him.
The woman looked around her office one last time, taking note of her surroundings. She had placed the equipment in a cupboard, which she would destroy another day. Something was building inside of her, a yearning to help the young girl that trusted her to do hypnotherapy. Alison turned the light off to her office before closing and locking the door behind her. Since the two had gone, she had sat in thought wondering what could happen next. She could just ignore everything that had happened tonight, and continue with her life full straightforward facts, or help Rinoa. Even though she had no idea where to start to look, it was her job to help people, and this she felt, was no exception.
Stepping out of the building and walking beneath a blanket of stars, she made her way towards her destination. Through the streets of Deling City, she could just see the illuminations from the front of the Galbadia Hotel. Quickening her pace, she ran the short distance and stopped in front of the hotel. Pushing open the glass door she entered inside and made her way down the spiral stairs towards the bar.
Alison studied the room full of residents, searching for Quistis, not really sure if she would even be here. A lone blonde woman, sat at a table in the corner, caught her eye. Walking towards the table she looked down on the woman, who was holding an alcoholic beverage in her hands, and looking deep in thought. Alison took a seat by the woman and studied her for a moment.
"Here to gloat?" Quistis responded coolly as she sensed Alison beside her. Raising the glass, she gulped down all of the brown liquid in the glass, before placing it down on the table.
"You put a young girls life in danger," Alison said watching the drunken woman "I really should gloat, but I can't, because I'm scared that Rinoa will die. I could report to your boss and get you fired, you know?"
"Too late," the woman said quietly, picking up another glass on the round table.
Anger was quickly rising in Alison, and she really hoped Quistis wasn't saying what she thought she was. "You what?"
"I already got fired," she repeated "This is the story which will get me my job back. Those good for nothing bastards will treat me with some respect this time."
The young woman watched Alison's shocked features, as she swallowed another mouthful of alcohol. "You know, they always made me do the dirty work for them. I always had to write small little articles on stupid things that no one cares about. I wanted to write something new, so I did my own investigation. Sure I skipped a few jobs for my own stories, but they just don't get it. When I get this finished they'll be sorry they fired my ass. In fact, I'll be firing their asses."
"Are you serious?" Alison asked, angered by this drunken woman's confession. "You're not even a qualified journalist and you're putting other people's life in danger."
"But I will be a journalist. I have all the information; I just need evidence, which is what tonight was for," Quistis stumbled through her drinking, "That was until that good for nothing Squall broke my camera. My other evidence is useless without video footage."
"I hope you feel ashamed of yourself now," Alison responded. A sudden thought entered her mind as she watched Quistis in such a vulnerable state. "Tell me everything you know."
"What?" Quistis said sloppily placing her glass on the table "There's no way I'm going to tell you everything, this is my story and you're not taking it away from me just because I made a stupid mistake."
"I know, which is why I'm making you an offer," Alison said with a smile "You tell me everything, and I'll become a witness to what happened tonight."
Quistis raised an eyebrow, "And why would you do anything like that for me? You're not deceiving Rinoa for the chance of a lot of money are you?"
Alison shook her head, "Unlike you, I'm risking something to help save a friend," she leaned closer placing her head in a hand, "So how about telling me all you know?"
The tiredness was taking over his senses as he stared at the old piece of paper in his hands. Trying to ignore his yearning to sleep, he concentrated on the drawing. Ellone had drawn five followers, in the front was the figure holding the sword. Squall gazed down at it for a moment, remembering back to earlier on that night. Rinoa had said his name was Ifrit. Squall took the black book in his right hand, looking from the drawing to the book in thought. Ifrit... he recognised that name.
Myth has it that Hyne had five followers when he created the world. He granted each one of them with a special power for helping and being the first to believe in him. The first follower was called Ifrit. Hyne granted Ifrit the power of fire.
Flicking through the pages, Squall read the story once more. There were five figures that came to Rinoa during the hypnosis. She said that more of the figures came gradually. First came Ifrit. The first follower was called Ifrit. He thought back to what else Rinoa had said. She had seen someone else, he realised as he thought back to their conversation earlier. After returning to his apartment she had explained everything about her dreams, he knew it hurt her but he could tell she wanted to tell him. She saw a woman.
The second follower was a young lady named Shiva. Hyne granted her the power of ice.
Squall looked back at the picture. In the front stood a woman next to the armed figure. Ifrit and Shiva, he guessed. Behind then were three more. Three more cloaked figures, all faces hidden, just like Ifrit.
The third follower, Quetzacotl was given lightning. Leviathan was given water and finally Pandemona was granted with the power of wind.
The five followers, now with these new powers agreed to Hyne that they would take responsibility of being in charge of the elements they had been granted.
The followers of Hyne were the ones killing them? Why kill Ellone, and all those other people? Why Rinoa? He stopped in his thoughts a moment as something caught his eye. A shadow on the floor from the coffee table seemed to be moving. Confused, Squall turned away, thinking that he was probably imagining it; he hadn't exactly got much sleep lately. Turning back to the book he was surprised to see more shadows around his room, all stretching across his wall. He watched in awe as he saw all the shadows in his room seemed to be stretching out, as if the sun were lowering, but it was already night. He watched as the shadows made their way across the walls and ceiling, until they gathered together at a doorway. He stood to his feet as he realised within the door lay Rinoa, asleep.
Stepping towards the door, he noticed that it was completely covered in darkness. A panic suddenly burst through him as he touched the handle, and quickly pulled his hand away. It was freezing cold. Reaching back to the handle, he tried opening the door, but it wouldn't open. Fear struck him as he began pounding on the door trying to wake Rinoa. Hearing nothing from the other side, he tried again to open the door, this time using more force. Again, the entrance remained tightly shut. Squall backed up a few steps and lowering his shoulder he accelerated towards the wooden frame. He smashed against the door hard but it didn't budge.
The shadows on the wooden surface seemed to lighten slightly, then withered away, back to their normal places throughout the room. Touching the handle again, it was a normal temperature; he twisted the handle and the door opened. A sudden relief spread through him as he made his way inside the dark room. He could hear small whimpers, and as his eyes adjusted to the dark, he saw Rinoa sat up in bed crying.
She turned to him as soon as she felt his presence near by. "I thought that my dreams would be normal, but there were five of them again," she said through her tears. Rinoa felt the bed shift as he sat down near her and pulled her close. She wrapped her arms around him and leaned her head against his shoulder, welcoming the comfort. Something still didn't feel right for her though; there was still a feeling deep down inside her that was darkening, losing hope. Lifting her head up she faced Squall. "Tell me everything is going to be alright," she cried, "We are going to make it aren't we?"
Squall couldn't help but turn his head away as she demanded him to answer. He wasn't going to lie to her, not now. The truth was he didn't know, he wanted to say something positive at this moment in time, but he couldn't. They were getting to Rinoa, and because of that, he realised that they were getting stronger. The memories of those crawling shadows still lingered in the back of his mind. He could feel her warm breath on his neck, as she held on to him tighter, becoming weaker as he didn't answer her. Lifting a hand he stroked her hair gently, as an attempt to give her some security, yet he knew now that nothing he could do would help her.
"You know that I'm going to die soon," he heard the whispered words escape past her lips. It pained him hearing her say that, but he knew that it was probably true. Placing his right hand under her chin, he lifted her head to face his. Their eyes locked for a moment, and he searched her eyes, trying to find some bit of happiness. Some small trace that made her the person she was when he first met her. There was only fear and sadness visible in her eyes. For a moment, he forgot all about his past, and his fears. Before he was aware of his actions he felt the gap between them close as their lips met. The softness of her lips danced against his, sending a burst of emotions through his veins.
A screaming voice in the back of his mind pulled him back down to reality as he slowly pulled away from her. Not now, he told himself, he had got this far without showing his weakness against her. Letting go of her waist, he turned his head away. He felt her hands grip around his arm and pull him back gently.
Rinoa imitated his actions from before by caressing his face to make him look at her. "Stay," she said softly, "I don't want the future. I want the present to stand still. I just want to stay here with you..."
Seeing a softer look in Squall's eyes, she took the opportunity to close the gap between them once again. This time, the kiss was more passionate as she allowed him to explore within her mouth. She felt Squall's arms wrap around her, holding her tightly. Deep down she was glad that this time he didn't pull her away, as she felt her body being lowered back down onto the bed. For the first time today, she realised what kept her holding on to life, for just a little longer.
Authors note: Yeah, it sucks I know, but you trying to write an intimate scene with your brother right next to you! I had to hide behind my curtain! Anyway, I hope the romance was all right, at least satisfactory? I'm no good at writing romance anyway! Oh yeah and in case no one noticed, the sentence 'I don't want the future. I want the present to stand still. I just want to stay here with you' is from the game where Rinoa and Squall are in space. I've been playing the game again recently, and that sentence kinda stuck with me, I just really wanted to use it in this story! I'm sorry if I made Quistis a little too bitchy at times as well, she is a nice person deep down, just very passionate about becoming a journalist I guess... Thanks for reading!