The House of Strife II: Rebirth

By GQ and Zhak

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Chapter Four: Barret

Slate was reviewing the old cases regarding the deaths that had occurred for the past several months. He was certain that it really has something to do with a vengeful spirit, although he knows how unscientific it could be. "I don't know how else I am going to explain this, mother, but… I talked to Samara and she said she saw Auntie Aerith and Sora working together to get Kairi and then Morrigan." He said to Tifa, eight months after the incident. Her tummy had gotten bigger but she still looked more miserable than before. Three of her children are gone, her husband is still dazed, and her closest friends are gone too. "What about the company's financial…" she began. She couldn't believe she was asking that question. The hell does she care about money? But she still wants to know. The money could be useful for the investigations. If finding out about the killings would require lots of money, then she is willing to pay, just to gain justice for her family and friends.

"It's alright, mother. We're still rich, don't worry." Slate said with a slight smile on his face before he noticed the weary look on his mother's face. "Are you alright, mother?" he asked as he assisted her in sitting down on one of the chairs.

"…I need to tell you something… I hope this helps in the investigation… although I doubt if people will still come near that house or even enter it." Tifa said softly.

"What is it?" he asked. Tifa swallowed hard. "…It was your Uncle Cloud that killed your Auntie Aerith… when I asked what he did to her, he asked me what I was doing there alive while I'm supposed to be dead…" she explained.

Slate frowned. "Did you tell that to the Bureau of Investigation?" he asked.

"No… not yet… your father said that I shouldn't… because he doesn't want other people to be victims of that house." She said.

"So he believes that the house is cursed…" he muttered.

"He wouldn't say, but it seems like it…" she said weakly.

He went over to the desk and got one of the folders and showed it to his mother. "Reports also indicate that the people who got the dead bodies in that house also died a day after conducting autopsies… and the people from the morgue died too… even the gravediggers in the cemetery who dug the graves of Uncle Cloud and Auntie Aerith." He told her.

Tifa's eyes widened. "What?" she asked.

"I just compiled the information. They thought the deaths were coincidental, thank goodness… even with the rumor going around nowadays…" he told her.

"Wait a minute… everyone who gets into contact with that house… and the family… they all…" she trailed off when she heard someone arriving. They both turned to the stairway and saw Samara standing there with a teddy bear in her grasp. Tifa knew that her daughter had been in Rufus's room the whole day just staying by his side. She said that Morrigan talks to her and tells her not to leave their father's side. But how come she's in her father's office right now?

They scanned the look on her face. She looked as dazed as Kairi from before the time when she was taken away. "Samara," Tifa began. Samara turned to her mother and her eyes widened when she saw Sora standing beside her mother and holding her tummy. What frightened her was the fact that Sora knew she was looking and so he looked back at her and smiled in a twisted way. She just ran off, leaving them.

"Samara," Tifa got up, but it was too late. Her daughter had run off already. She swallowed hard and clenched her fists before turning back to her son, "Whatever you do, don't go into that house, alright?" she asked with a pleading look on her face. Slate could tell that his mother is very frightened and stressed out. His facial expression softened as he approached her, "Aw, mother… I know this is hard to do but… please settle down and just rest. It might be bad for your new baby." He told her.

She just smiled bitterly at him. "You're right… I'll try for your sake, dear," she said softly before giving her 20 year-old son a kiss on the cheek. "I'll just go downstairs now, okay?" she said before leaving.

Moments after Tifa had left, Barret Wallace arrived with Cid Highwind and Shera. "Mr. Wallace, Mr, and Mrs. Highwind," Slate said, acknowledging their entrance. They sat on the chairs in front of his desk. "I appreciate your coming over here…"

"Oh. I forgot Rufus' kid is handling things now," said the old pilot, snorting.

"Well, why'd you call us over here, kid? We want to start workin' on that case now… that fool Cloud's messin' things up! I ain't wastin' no more time!" said Barret impatiently.

Slate frowned. "Well, Mr. Wallace… I wanted to tell you all first about what you're about to risk, and…"

"Whaddya mean, 'about to risk'? We just need to knock some sense in that #### pinhead's brain!"

"Cid, calm down," said Shera. She turned to the Vice President. "Please go on."

"Er… yes. This may sound silly, but I believe that what's happening is not as simple as homicide. I believe that the supernatural is at work here…" Slate cleared his throat. He wasn't used to talking about the 'supernatural' in the workplace…

"What?! Supernatural, my ass! You ShinRas didn't change so much after all… lying to make things sound better! Why, I bet you just staged Cloud's funeral! If you say that he's killing everybody in this goddamn city, then it means he's alive!"

"Mr. Highwind, we did not stage the Strife's funeral… or any other funeral for that matter. What is causing the deaths of our friends and family here is beyond mortal matters… a curse!"

Barret frowned. "Slate, you believe in curses now?! I thought you were too smart to believe in them urban legends leaking in the high school!"

He fell silent. "… I saw it happen for myself, Uncle. Something… evil… took my sister. And it's not Auntie Aerith anymore…"

The three older persons in front of his desk fell silent. Slate lowered his gaze to the files on his desk. "…Even Samara felt it too, I know, even though she wouldn't say anything else to me. Just today she ran out of my office when she saw our mother. It's like she saw something else besides me and our mother here in this office…" he explained before opening the first file. It was Sora. But before he could say something else, Barret just got up in an instant and he gasped, backing away from everyone else. "What's wrong?" Cid asked.

Barret was breathing hard while staring past Slate… where Aerith was standing. Aerith just eyed him blankly and opened her mouth, but all she let out was this croaking sound that only Barret was able to hear. "Oua-a-a-a-a-a-a…"

He covered his ears. The sound was hideous… and she looked hideous too. Slate turned around but could not see anything, although he was sensing something unusual already so he moved away and just went to Barret. "Are you alright? What gave you a fright?" he asked in concern.

"YOU TOOK MARLENE!!!" Barret screamed at Aerith. She just closed her mouth and smiled, then giggled before skipping away, going to the window and disappeared through the glass. Not wanting to waste any more time, Barret instantly ran out of the office.

Cid and Shera instantly got up from their seats and ran after Barret. "Barret!" the latter called out.

Slate just stood still, unmoving. He knows where they are heading… and remembering his mother's words to him, he did not wish to follow. "But they're going to die…" he thought to himself. He couldn't let another person die. He swallowed hard before rushing after them.

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Barret was wheezing by the time he reached the sidewalk in front of the old Strife house. An adrenaline rush made him run from the ShinRa Tower to that street… and he isn't stopping for anybody. "Marlene!" he called out before going past the gate and into the front yard.
He heard Cid shout behind him, "You ##### idiot! What the hell do you think you're doing?!?"

"Barret, please calm down!" called Shera.

"Uncle!" Slate shouted behind him.

"I'm gonna get back my kid!" he replied. Before he could touch the doorknob, however, a voice stopped him. "Papa."

He looked around. Cid, Shera and Slate were outside the gate and watching him. He shook himself, thinking he was hallucinating when he heard it again… this time clearer, more urgent.

"Papa!"

"Marlene!" he shouted. "Where are you?" He started running around the house.

"####! The bear's losing his mind!" Cid screamed. He ran after Barret. Shera, seeing her husband sprinting, chased after him.

Slate stayed outside the gate. Seeing Cloud through one of the windows, he retreated a few steps. "Bloody hell… more deaths…" he thought to himself.

He waited outside, hoping for a miracle to happen…until he heard the screams of Shera, Cid and Barret. His blue eyes widened in shock. Should he do something?

He turned back to ShinRa, looking up at the tall tower. "But my family needs me…" he thought silently, remembering that he's the one left in charge of everything since his father is ill and his mother is expecting another child… and the only sibling he has left is Samara, who is still a little girl. He frowned slightly. "Never go into that house…"

Why, he thought.

He looked back at the house and cringed, clenching his fists. "I know why… maybe those who had come into contact with the house or entered it will… perish…" he thought to himself.

Then he remembered his mother and father. He felt his heart sinking when he discovered the shocking truth. "No… they're going to die!" he took a step further towards the gate of the house. "And I'm just going to stand here? No… I won't let them die!" he thought, but before he could run towards the front door, he felt a hand grasp his wrist as if stopping him. The hand felt so cold and his face turned pale. He slowly turned around the moment he stopped walking. He gasped slightly as the color slowly drained from his face. It was his twin sister, Morrigan standing before him and holding his wrist tightly. She was wearing the same red dress that she was wearing the day she disappeared with Kairi. She was smiling sadly at him.

"M…Morrigan?" he asked softly as he reached out to touch his sister's face. But then she disappeared when he blinked.

He felt stunned. Slowly, he turned his gaze downward… and saw his sister Samara holding his wrist where Morrigan had held him.

He just stared unbelievably at her. Where did she come from?

"How did you get in here? What are you doing here?" he asked in concern as he bent down and clutched her shoulders gently. "Theodore told me to come in here because he said that you're coming here too." she said softly.

He shivered when he heard her say that. "Theo? Theo spoke to you?" he asked.

She just stared up at him.

"Do you see him?" he asked probingly.

"No… I only hear him screaming at night… he said that we should kill mommy's baby." She said softly.

"What? But why?" he asked.

She shook her head. "I don't know. Whenever I will ask him, he could not answer anymore because he says that Sora is preventing him from doing so." She said softly.

"Sora…" muttered Slate. "Oh, bloody hell… I don't know what to do…" he sat down on the concrete and buried his head in his hands. "I think… I should go in the house… destroy everything… make sure nobody will ever, ever be cursed again... and brutally killed…"

Samara sat down beside him. She stared blankly at the house. "Uncle Barret… Uncle Cid and Auntie Shera… they're dead now… aren't they?" she whispered.

He looked up at her. "Samzy… don't say that."

"They're dead, aren't they?!" she repeated. Her voice cracked as she continued. "Theo, Vinnie and Morrie are dead… Kairi is dead… Riku is dead… Mommy and Daddy are going to die—"

"Samara…"

"And now… and now… You're going in the house! You're going to let Cloud and Aerith and Sora kill you?! Are you abandoning me?" she started sniffing.

"No… no… don't cry…" Slate hugged his little sister and looked at the house. "Maybe not today…" he muttered. He stood up and started walking to the ShinRa Tower, taking Samara with him.

"Look. It's mommy," Samara suddenly said, pointing at a pregnant woman, wearing a pair of sunglasses and a bandanna on her head, walking dazedly at the sidewalk.

"Mother?!" Slate ran over to her. Samara chased after him. Tifa was panting heavily when the two reached her. She smiled bitterly at her two children. "Mother, what are you doing here? And unescorted?!" her eldest son asked in panic.

She breathed heavily. "I… was taking a nap… and I had nightmares… so I tried finding you two. I thought I'd find you here, and I didn't want to involve anyone else…" she panted.

"Nightmares?" asked Samara. "What kind of nightmares, Mommy?"

Tifa bit her lower lip. "Well, honey, it had something to do with…" she hesitated.

"C'mon, Mother, what is it?" Slate inquired probingly.

"With… your Uncle Cloud. He… he was trying to get my baby…" she answered, her voice low and frightened.

"What?" Slate responded in awe. Then, they heard some thudding coming from inside the house so they all turned to look towards it again. Tifa looked up at the window and thought she saw Rufus standing there and looking down at them with a bloody face and smearing the glass of the window with his own blood using his hands but he still maintained his poker-faced expression. She gasped. "Rufus!" and went towards the house. She ran inside.

"Mother!!!" Slate rushed after her.

Samara just remained in the street, watching in horror before turning up to look at her father again. And she saw it in her head… back in ShinRa HQ… her father is dead. She turned paler than usual and opened her mouth to say something to him, but no sound came out. Tears fell from her eyes. "Daddy…" she whispered in a voice that seemed to falter as she reached out a hand to him. And then he disappeared.

Tifa stepped inside the house but before she could go further inside to start climbing the stairs, she felt her abdomen aching. "Ah…" she hissed in pain as she held it, as if to support herself. She backed away from the stairs and turned to the mirror facing it. She could see her own reflection plus another person's reflection. It was Cloud watching her writhe in pain.

Slate finally caught up with his mother and saw blood dripping from her legs going to the floor. "Mother!" he called out.

"Slate… I…" she began. But it isn't her 9th month yet…

"Mother, let's get you out of here!" he told her. As soon as they got out of the house, they went towards a less-secluded street with Samara following after them. The public was surprised to see the First Lady out in the public and about to give birth prematurely with her eldest son and one of her daughters.

Slate ignored the questions and the whispers; he just hailed a cab and once they got inside, he instructed the driver to go straight to the nearest hospital. Since there was a heavy traffic in Sector 1 due to the rush hour, the driver just drove towards the Sector 5 hospital.

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That's the end of chapter four. Please review. :-)