Chapter 3
The sun had barely peeked over the rim of the earth when Squall's eyes blinked open, a chill down his spine having alerted him to the fact that someone's eyes were staring at him through the darkness of the room, as of yet untouched by stray beams of light. He shifted carefully in his small bed, his blurred eyes searching slowly for the source of his sleep's disruption.--------------------------------------------------------------- "Rinoa?" the name slipped out unwilling from his mouth, his voice a little dry from a night of light snorning. Why HER name of all the others had been the first to come to his lips at such an early moment in the morning, he didn't know, but he somehow felt more comfortable with the possible outcome of this accusation than any other.------------------- "Tell me, why is that the first word out of your mouth this morning?" came a soft, dark voice from across the room, by the door. "You're supposed to stay away from Rinoa, remember? She's dangerous. Yet still, you continue to speak to her, think about her. I sense an infection in your soul, Mr. Leonhart. And it goes by the name of Heartilly."------------ -------------------------------------------------------------------- Squinting into the darkness, Squall could barely make out what he thought was Rinoa's slender, delightfully curved form leaning against the door with her arms crossed over her chest, as if in an attempt to be intimidating. "Rinoa, I don't know what you want, but I'd aprecitate it if you didn't barge into my room and stare at me in my sleep. What do you think you're doing, anyway?"------------------------------------------------ --------- He couldn't see her smirk through the dimness of the room, but he could hear it in her voice when she said, "This is my house after all. I go where I feel like going. Shouldn't I?"---------------------------------- ------------------------------------------- "It's nice that you started thinking that way, but don't you think you should take this up with Quistis?" he muttered, beginning to lose his patients with the strange woman before him.--------------------------------- -------------------------------------------- Rinoa slowly padded across the room, the darkness masking her features. The only sounds were that of their breathing. She finally came to stand next to his bed and bent down, so that she was closer to him as he curiously propped himself up on his elbow.------ "I told you before that not everything is as it seems," she whispered, her warm breath gently carresing his face. "This is something you need to remember in this place. Two people in this house are lying, and your life may very well depend on figuring out who."-------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------- "Rinoa, what are talking about?" he asked, his own voice having shrunk to a whisper as his eyes desperately searched the masked face before him.-------------------- "I'm not who you think I am," she whispered, before leaning even closer to him. "Trust me." She leaned in even closer, her lips almost touching his, when the door suddenly swung open, revealing a sour-faced Quistis.------------------------------------- "Mr. Leonhart, who are you talking to?" she demanded.----------------- --------- He stared back at her, an odd mixture of dissapointment and shock contorting his features. He quickly noticed that the only two people in the room was himself, and Quistis. "No one," he answered. "I must have been dreaming."-------------------------- (And the dream ended too soon) he thought.---------------------------- ---------- "Whatever you say, Mr. Leonhart. Just get up and get dressed. I have a witness for you to talk to," she replied as she opened the door and prepared to step out. "And one last thing. I don't want you going anywhere near Rinoa from now on. Nor do I want to hear anything about her come from your mouth. That's an order."-------------------------- After she had slammed the door behind her, he rose from his bed and fumbled for his clothes in the darkness, not wanting to take the time to turn on the light. He needed a few moments as it was to calm down after before meeting with that awful woman. There were many times, this being no exepction, that he hated his job.
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Selphie Tilmitt sat alone at the dining room table, a cup of steaming coffee in front of her. She'd been awake all night, after being questioned repeatedly by Quistis. Finally, sometime shortly before dawn she had let her alone, saying that she would be back soon Mr. Leonhart.----------------- ---------------------------------------------------------- "Do you need to be shown to a room?" a sympathetic voice asked as she walked into the room, carrying a large tray of that morning's breakfast in her arms.---------------- She looked up to see the black-haired woman that she had met the night before. Quistis' sister she had claimed. "No, I'm waiting for Quistis. Do you know when she'll return?"---------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- Before Rinoa could answer, Quistis burst into the room with a groggy, fatigued Squall in tow. She sent a harsh look in Rinoa's direction, reminding her of the unpleasant confrontation they'd had the night before, after Quistis had summoned her from her bed. Rinoa quickly set down the food she was carrying and quietly excused herself, gently brushing past Squall to the door. But this was not before she noticed the way Selphie's tired eyes had lit up after they'd fallen upon Squall. As soon as she'd closed the door behind herself she felt a rush of something that felt suspiciously like jealousy.--------------- Inside, Quistis took a seat near Selphie, and Squall sat as far away from the two of them as he possibly could.---------------------------------- ------------------------------ "Ms. Tilmitt," Quistis instructed, "tell Squall everything you saw when your boyfriend was murdered."------------------------------------------ ---------------------- "Well, we were meeting on this bridge late at night," she began. "You see, we had to sneak around because he was married. We were having an affair. Anyway, we met at the bridge and were heading off to the motel when-"-------------------------------------- "When out of nowhere your boyfriend was attacked as soon as you set foot off the bridge," he finished for her, his mind slowly churning as he realized she was telling the same story as what he had dreamed before.------ ---------------------------------------- "Yeah," she nodded. "How did you know?"------------------------------ ------- "I, uh... heard about it before," he lied.---------------------------- -------------- "Anyway, I didn't see who it was that got hold of him. It was the strangest thing, like I had been temporarily blinded, or something."-------- ------------------------------- "Yes. Such was the case in previous murders," Quistis replied. "It sounds like you're a victim of the same murderer, Ms. Tilmitt."------------- -------------------------- "But what about his wife?" Squall asked. "She isn't the least bit concerned about this?"------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------ "She's too distaught to handle it. She thinks the police are on it."- ---------------- He nodded, having his own doubts about that theory. "Yes well, I have to record this new information," he said, standing from his seat and heading for the door.------------ "Wait!" Selphie called. "What about me? Do I just go home now? I'm afraid to. Whoever did this might come after me, too."--------------------- ------------------------- "Fine," Quistis sighed. "You can stay here. I'll have someone show you to a room so you can get some rest."------------------------------------ ---------------------------- "Thanks, Mrs. Trepe!" she exclaimed, jumping up from her chair and running after Squall, latching onto his arm once she had located him right outside the door. "Do you think you could show me around? You know, since you've been here awhile and all."----- Before he could answer, he looked up to notice Rinoa staring down at them from her place at the top of the staircase. Almost as soon as his eyes met with hers, she looked away, shaking her head slightly, and walked away, her back rigid against his stare.--------- Squall watched her go, his eyes following her every movement until she was no longer visible. At last, he turned to his rather annoying companion and pulled his arm away in disgust. "I'm afraid I don't have the time."---------------------------------------- She frowned but slowly backed away, allowing him his temporary peace. With a shake of his head and a sigh, he began down the hall to his own room, his brain much to cluttered even him to think out. He decided instead that he would try to catch up on the few hours of sleep that he had lost before dealing with the hassels of the day.
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The sun had risen far into the sky the second time Squall was awoken, and this time it was even more rudely than the first. He had been deep in a sound sleep, lost to the voids of an unspeakable dream, when suddenly, a bright white light washed through his vision, burning them before his memory could capture them.------------------------------ He pried his eyes open this time to find that Rinoa had yanked the drapes open, and was now walking busily from furniture to furniture, dusting.--------------------------- "What the hell do you think you're doing?!" he exclaimed.------------- ----------- She turned back to him and grinned bitterly, an expression that he felt just didn't belong on her face. "The servant must clean," she murmered before returning to her work.-------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------- He sat up on the bed, not caring for the moment that his blanket had fallen off him and gathered over his lap, revealing his muscular chest. "Well, you're not going to be cleaning in here right now. Besides, you're not a servant."-------------------------------- "Maybe not, but everyone sees me that way," she replied softly without turning around. "And I'm sorry if I disturbed your nap. I should've guessed that Ms. Tilmitt kept you up most of the night."---------- ------------------------------------------------------- His stood from the bed, his state of undress temporarily forgotten (thankfully, he'd left his boxers on in his earlier haste to get to sleep) and stomped up behind her, his anger getting the better of him for once. He pulled her around to face him and began to speak, for the moment not noticing the look of shock on her face as she saw him.----------------- "What exactly is your problem? I haven't done anything to you, yet you barge in here and act like you've got some kind of reason to be mad! What's worse is that you accuse me of something you and I both know I didn't do!"------------------------------ Once she was over her initial shock, she cringed at his anger and shrunk away from him, regretting that she'd even entered that room in the first place. "I'm sorry. I'll leave," she replied softly, her voice wavering slightly with her fear.--------------------------------- She started to go, but he grabbed her gently by the wrist and pulled her back to face him. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. I just want to know what you're problem is. And what Tilmitt has to do with it."-- ------------------------------------------ She shook her head. "You're really dense, aren't you?"--------------- ------------- As he was replying, he noticed a large, dark purple mark on her upper thigh, mostly hidden by her skirt. "What happened?" he asked nodding to her leg.---------------- This time she appeared even more terrified then when she thought he was angry at her. "It's nothing, really. I just fell or something, okay?"- ---------------------------------- Carefully, not wanting to make her feel violated, he eased her skirt up with one hand and inspected the mark more closely, telling himself that he was just curious about the mark, and that it had nothing to do with wanting to feel her leg.. "You know, I'm an investigator. Part of my job is knowing when people are lying to me. Now do you wanna try telling me again what happened?"------------------------------------------------------ "I told you, I fell," she said, this time more steadily.-------------- ------------------ He studied her eyes for a moment before saying, "It's Quistis isn't it? She's doing this to you. That's why you're so afraid....."------------ ----------------------------------- She backed away from him slightly. "No. I'm not afraid. Quistis isn't doing anything to me. Now... I have to go."-------------------------- ---------------------------- With that she half-ran from the room, leaving him to watch after her again, a small tinge of sadness rising from the frozen depths of his heart. Once again, he dismissed it as pitty.-------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------ With a sigh, and a slight shaking of his head, he turned his attention to the clock near his bed and noticed it was well past noon. Just as he was grabbing up the clothes that he had discarded on the floor, another knock sounded on his door and Selphie stepped in through the partially open door, a wide smile on her face.------------------------------ ---- "I thought you might want some company," she said, ignoring his deadly looks. "I was awfully lonely."-------------------------------------- ---------------------------------- "Do I look like I care?" he asked. "Get out!"------------------------ --------------- She smiled widely at him and said, "I will if you really want me to. So tell me the truth. Do you?" -------------------------------------------- ------------------------------- "Are you deaf, or something? Get the fuck out!"---------------------- -------------- Selphie threw a brief glance over her shoulder and out the crack of the door then said, as loudly as she could, "Alright then. I'll come by here later, since you're too busy now!"------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------- She closed the door behind her and smiled happily at Rinoa, who had been passing by as Selphie had spoken. In fact, Selphie had made sure that she heard. After all, Selphie may not have been a genious but she had quickly realized that to get to him, she would have to get Rinoa out of the picture.---------------------------------------------------------- Selphie skipped down the hallway as if she hadn't a care in the world. As if her boyfriend hadn't just been murdered. But this didn't quite dawn on Rinoa. At the moment she was too focused on what Selphie had said.----------------------------------------------- Squall stepped out from the door and immediately noticed Rinoa, who was standing, rooted to the spot, in the hall, glaring off in the direction that Selphie had gone.-- "Rinoa. What are doing?" he asked.----------------------------------- -------------- She turned a venomous gaze in his direction. "I could ask you the same question. Or maybe WHO instead," she hissed before walking away from him yet again.--------------- He started to follow after her when a tall, solid looking man in a servants uniform stepped in his path. Squall arched an eyebrow at him, having never seen him before. "Can I help you?----------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------ "Mrs. Trepe has requested your presence for lunch. Please follow me to the dining room, sir."--------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------- "Tell her I'm busy," Squall replied, searching over the man's shoulder for any remaining signs of Rinoa.---------------------------------- ------------------------------------ "Sorry, sir. But when she requests your attendence, then it's my job to see that you get there."------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------- "Fine, I might as well get this over with."--------------------------- --------------------- He followed the stern-postured man out of the hall into the dinning room where Quistis and Selphie were seated around the table, as they had been earlier.------------------ "Good after-noon, Mr. Leonhart. Glad to see you could make it," Quistis commented. "Now be seated. I want to know how things are going."-- ---------------------- "What do you mean?" Squall asked as he sat down, ignoring the plate of food that had been set out for him in a chair closer to Selphie's.------- ---------------------------------- "You've had ample time to come up with some answers," she pointed out yet again.------------------------------------------------------------------ ----------------------- "This isn't easy," Squall growled. "Especially when you can't even tell me who acts suspicious to you, and who doesn't."----------------------- ------------------------------- Quistis laughed. "Well, if you want someone who acts suspicious, start with my sister. But I know it couldn't be her. After all, an attempt was made on Seifer Almasy's life during all of this, and heaven knows she'd never do anything to harm him."-------------- "Seifer? Heir to the Almasy fortune? What does he have to do with Rinoa?" Selphie asked curiously.-------------------------------------------- -------------------------- "Seifer and I were business partners not long ago. I suppose that's why there was that little case of attempted murder. And yes, he does have what could be considered a fortune in a town like this, but it's nothing compared to what I have. Anyway, he and Rinoa got better acquainted and eventually the two got enaged to one another. Rinoa was head over heels in love. But Seifer decided, because of Rinoa's mental imbalances mostly, that he couldn't marry her and broke it off. She was heart broken. She still is. The pathetic thing still wears the engagement ring, a silver band with black markings on it."---- Squall eyebrows shot up as he quietly listened in on the two womens gossiping. So, she was going to act like she was jealous and he was jerk for making her that way, when all the while she wanted another man? He fought down the waves of rejection while thinking of a way to get back at her.------------------------------------------------------- "She wouldn't want revenge?" Selphie was saying, shaking Squall from his bitter thoughts.-------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------- "No. She'd never want to harm him. That's the only thing about her that I know for certain." -------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------- "If you'll excuse me, I've got work to do," he said, standing from his chair. "You always say that, but you never seem to get any work done," Quistis commented.---------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------- "Besides, you haven't even touched your food," Selphie protested.----- ------------- "I'm not hungry," he replied as he walked off toward his room. {+}{+}{+}{+}{+}{+}{+}{+}{+}{+}{+}{+}{+}{+}{+}{+}{+}{+}{+}{+}{+}{+}{+}
Rinoa sat in her room, her knees pulled up to her chest and her arms folded around a pillow as she stared into space. She was fighting off an "unexplainable" feeling of pain and rejection, her mind continously focusing on the scene she had witnessed earlier.-------- When she'd finally had enough of her restless thougts, she decided she would try to settle her mind. She stepped out of her room and went down the hall to Squall's room, producing a key from one of her pockets. She used it to unlock the door and slipped inside, having over-heard Squall's conversation with the servant and knowing he would still be away at lunch.------------------------------------------------------------------- ----- As she walked through the dim room, she could feel the heat spreading across her cheeks. She knew she had no buisness being in there, but now that she was, she couldn't help herself. She glided around the room, carefully running her fingers over his possessions, taking everything that was part of him and etching it into her memory.-------- She was so focused on her unauthorized exploration, that she barely heard the key turning in the door in time to hide. She ducked into the walk-in closet just as the door swung open. Rinoa gazed through the crack in the door as Squall stepped into the room, a look of anger and hurt carved onto his face of stone. He pulled open one of the drawers in the table next to his bed and rumaged through it for a moment before finding what he had been looking for. Rinoa watched intently, her paranoid mind wondering if he could hear her excrushiatingly loud heart beat. He was just about to exit the room when she lost her balance in her crouching position and fell to the floor with what she thought was a defening sound. His head immediately jerked in her direction, his heavenly blue eyes searching the closet door. Rinoa stumbled farther into the closet until she felt a wall in front of her. She groped frantically for something to hide behind or beneath, but to no avail. She waited for a moment, holding her breath, until she finally heard the door to his room swing open, and slam shut again. She was just letting out a relieved sigh when the door swung open and the light from the bed room flooded in, exposing her to the intimidating silhouette that towered in the doorway.
{+}{+}{+}{+}{+}{+}{+}{+}{+}{+}{+}{+}{+}{+}{+}{+}{+}{+}{+}{+}{+}{+} A/N: Poor the karosene on me and light a match! Jealousy is running rampant, and I have the feeling there's going to be some major heat coming my way. And what do you mean, romping?
The sun had barely peeked over the rim of the earth when Squall's eyes blinked open, a chill down his spine having alerted him to the fact that someone's eyes were staring at him through the darkness of the room, as of yet untouched by stray beams of light. He shifted carefully in his small bed, his blurred eyes searching slowly for the source of his sleep's disruption.--------------------------------------------------------------- "Rinoa?" the name slipped out unwilling from his mouth, his voice a little dry from a night of light snorning. Why HER name of all the others had been the first to come to his lips at such an early moment in the morning, he didn't know, but he somehow felt more comfortable with the possible outcome of this accusation than any other.------------------- "Tell me, why is that the first word out of your mouth this morning?" came a soft, dark voice from across the room, by the door. "You're supposed to stay away from Rinoa, remember? She's dangerous. Yet still, you continue to speak to her, think about her. I sense an infection in your soul, Mr. Leonhart. And it goes by the name of Heartilly."------------ -------------------------------------------------------------------- Squinting into the darkness, Squall could barely make out what he thought was Rinoa's slender, delightfully curved form leaning against the door with her arms crossed over her chest, as if in an attempt to be intimidating. "Rinoa, I don't know what you want, but I'd aprecitate it if you didn't barge into my room and stare at me in my sleep. What do you think you're doing, anyway?"------------------------------------------------ --------- He couldn't see her smirk through the dimness of the room, but he could hear it in her voice when she said, "This is my house after all. I go where I feel like going. Shouldn't I?"---------------------------------- ------------------------------------------- "It's nice that you started thinking that way, but don't you think you should take this up with Quistis?" he muttered, beginning to lose his patients with the strange woman before him.--------------------------------- -------------------------------------------- Rinoa slowly padded across the room, the darkness masking her features. The only sounds were that of their breathing. She finally came to stand next to his bed and bent down, so that she was closer to him as he curiously propped himself up on his elbow.------ "I told you before that not everything is as it seems," she whispered, her warm breath gently carresing his face. "This is something you need to remember in this place. Two people in this house are lying, and your life may very well depend on figuring out who."-------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------- "Rinoa, what are talking about?" he asked, his own voice having shrunk to a whisper as his eyes desperately searched the masked face before him.-------------------- "I'm not who you think I am," she whispered, before leaning even closer to him. "Trust me." She leaned in even closer, her lips almost touching his, when the door suddenly swung open, revealing a sour-faced Quistis.------------------------------------- "Mr. Leonhart, who are you talking to?" she demanded.----------------- --------- He stared back at her, an odd mixture of dissapointment and shock contorting his features. He quickly noticed that the only two people in the room was himself, and Quistis. "No one," he answered. "I must have been dreaming."-------------------------- (And the dream ended too soon) he thought.---------------------------- ---------- "Whatever you say, Mr. Leonhart. Just get up and get dressed. I have a witness for you to talk to," she replied as she opened the door and prepared to step out. "And one last thing. I don't want you going anywhere near Rinoa from now on. Nor do I want to hear anything about her come from your mouth. That's an order."-------------------------- After she had slammed the door behind her, he rose from his bed and fumbled for his clothes in the darkness, not wanting to take the time to turn on the light. He needed a few moments as it was to calm down after before meeting with that awful woman. There were many times, this being no exepction, that he hated his job.
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Selphie Tilmitt sat alone at the dining room table, a cup of steaming coffee in front of her. She'd been awake all night, after being questioned repeatedly by Quistis. Finally, sometime shortly before dawn she had let her alone, saying that she would be back soon Mr. Leonhart.----------------- ---------------------------------------------------------- "Do you need to be shown to a room?" a sympathetic voice asked as she walked into the room, carrying a large tray of that morning's breakfast in her arms.---------------- She looked up to see the black-haired woman that she had met the night before. Quistis' sister she had claimed. "No, I'm waiting for Quistis. Do you know when she'll return?"---------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- Before Rinoa could answer, Quistis burst into the room with a groggy, fatigued Squall in tow. She sent a harsh look in Rinoa's direction, reminding her of the unpleasant confrontation they'd had the night before, after Quistis had summoned her from her bed. Rinoa quickly set down the food she was carrying and quietly excused herself, gently brushing past Squall to the door. But this was not before she noticed the way Selphie's tired eyes had lit up after they'd fallen upon Squall. As soon as she'd closed the door behind herself she felt a rush of something that felt suspiciously like jealousy.--------------- Inside, Quistis took a seat near Selphie, and Squall sat as far away from the two of them as he possibly could.---------------------------------- ------------------------------ "Ms. Tilmitt," Quistis instructed, "tell Squall everything you saw when your boyfriend was murdered."------------------------------------------ ---------------------- "Well, we were meeting on this bridge late at night," she began. "You see, we had to sneak around because he was married. We were having an affair. Anyway, we met at the bridge and were heading off to the motel when-"-------------------------------------- "When out of nowhere your boyfriend was attacked as soon as you set foot off the bridge," he finished for her, his mind slowly churning as he realized she was telling the same story as what he had dreamed before.------ ---------------------------------------- "Yeah," she nodded. "How did you know?"------------------------------ ------- "I, uh... heard about it before," he lied.---------------------------- -------------- "Anyway, I didn't see who it was that got hold of him. It was the strangest thing, like I had been temporarily blinded, or something."-------- ------------------------------- "Yes. Such was the case in previous murders," Quistis replied. "It sounds like you're a victim of the same murderer, Ms. Tilmitt."------------- -------------------------- "But what about his wife?" Squall asked. "She isn't the least bit concerned about this?"------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------ "She's too distaught to handle it. She thinks the police are on it."- ---------------- He nodded, having his own doubts about that theory. "Yes well, I have to record this new information," he said, standing from his seat and heading for the door.------------ "Wait!" Selphie called. "What about me? Do I just go home now? I'm afraid to. Whoever did this might come after me, too."--------------------- ------------------------- "Fine," Quistis sighed. "You can stay here. I'll have someone show you to a room so you can get some rest."------------------------------------ ---------------------------- "Thanks, Mrs. Trepe!" she exclaimed, jumping up from her chair and running after Squall, latching onto his arm once she had located him right outside the door. "Do you think you could show me around? You know, since you've been here awhile and all."----- Before he could answer, he looked up to notice Rinoa staring down at them from her place at the top of the staircase. Almost as soon as his eyes met with hers, she looked away, shaking her head slightly, and walked away, her back rigid against his stare.--------- Squall watched her go, his eyes following her every movement until she was no longer visible. At last, he turned to his rather annoying companion and pulled his arm away in disgust. "I'm afraid I don't have the time."---------------------------------------- She frowned but slowly backed away, allowing him his temporary peace. With a shake of his head and a sigh, he began down the hall to his own room, his brain much to cluttered even him to think out. He decided instead that he would try to catch up on the few hours of sleep that he had lost before dealing with the hassels of the day.
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The sun had risen far into the sky the second time Squall was awoken, and this time it was even more rudely than the first. He had been deep in a sound sleep, lost to the voids of an unspeakable dream, when suddenly, a bright white light washed through his vision, burning them before his memory could capture them.------------------------------ He pried his eyes open this time to find that Rinoa had yanked the drapes open, and was now walking busily from furniture to furniture, dusting.--------------------------- "What the hell do you think you're doing?!" he exclaimed.------------- ----------- She turned back to him and grinned bitterly, an expression that he felt just didn't belong on her face. "The servant must clean," she murmered before returning to her work.-------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------- He sat up on the bed, not caring for the moment that his blanket had fallen off him and gathered over his lap, revealing his muscular chest. "Well, you're not going to be cleaning in here right now. Besides, you're not a servant."-------------------------------- "Maybe not, but everyone sees me that way," she replied softly without turning around. "And I'm sorry if I disturbed your nap. I should've guessed that Ms. Tilmitt kept you up most of the night."---------- ------------------------------------------------------- His stood from the bed, his state of undress temporarily forgotten (thankfully, he'd left his boxers on in his earlier haste to get to sleep) and stomped up behind her, his anger getting the better of him for once. He pulled her around to face him and began to speak, for the moment not noticing the look of shock on her face as she saw him.----------------- "What exactly is your problem? I haven't done anything to you, yet you barge in here and act like you've got some kind of reason to be mad! What's worse is that you accuse me of something you and I both know I didn't do!"------------------------------ Once she was over her initial shock, she cringed at his anger and shrunk away from him, regretting that she'd even entered that room in the first place. "I'm sorry. I'll leave," she replied softly, her voice wavering slightly with her fear.--------------------------------- She started to go, but he grabbed her gently by the wrist and pulled her back to face him. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. I just want to know what you're problem is. And what Tilmitt has to do with it."-- ------------------------------------------ She shook her head. "You're really dense, aren't you?"--------------- ------------- As he was replying, he noticed a large, dark purple mark on her upper thigh, mostly hidden by her skirt. "What happened?" he asked nodding to her leg.---------------- This time she appeared even more terrified then when she thought he was angry at her. "It's nothing, really. I just fell or something, okay?"- ---------------------------------- Carefully, not wanting to make her feel violated, he eased her skirt up with one hand and inspected the mark more closely, telling himself that he was just curious about the mark, and that it had nothing to do with wanting to feel her leg.. "You know, I'm an investigator. Part of my job is knowing when people are lying to me. Now do you wanna try telling me again what happened?"------------------------------------------------------ "I told you, I fell," she said, this time more steadily.-------------- ------------------ He studied her eyes for a moment before saying, "It's Quistis isn't it? She's doing this to you. That's why you're so afraid....."------------ ----------------------------------- She backed away from him slightly. "No. I'm not afraid. Quistis isn't doing anything to me. Now... I have to go."-------------------------- ---------------------------- With that she half-ran from the room, leaving him to watch after her again, a small tinge of sadness rising from the frozen depths of his heart. Once again, he dismissed it as pitty.-------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------ With a sigh, and a slight shaking of his head, he turned his attention to the clock near his bed and noticed it was well past noon. Just as he was grabbing up the clothes that he had discarded on the floor, another knock sounded on his door and Selphie stepped in through the partially open door, a wide smile on her face.------------------------------ ---- "I thought you might want some company," she said, ignoring his deadly looks. "I was awfully lonely."-------------------------------------- ---------------------------------- "Do I look like I care?" he asked. "Get out!"------------------------ --------------- She smiled widely at him and said, "I will if you really want me to. So tell me the truth. Do you?" -------------------------------------------- ------------------------------- "Are you deaf, or something? Get the fuck out!"---------------------- -------------- Selphie threw a brief glance over her shoulder and out the crack of the door then said, as loudly as she could, "Alright then. I'll come by here later, since you're too busy now!"------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------- She closed the door behind her and smiled happily at Rinoa, who had been passing by as Selphie had spoken. In fact, Selphie had made sure that she heard. After all, Selphie may not have been a genious but she had quickly realized that to get to him, she would have to get Rinoa out of the picture.---------------------------------------------------------- Selphie skipped down the hallway as if she hadn't a care in the world. As if her boyfriend hadn't just been murdered. But this didn't quite dawn on Rinoa. At the moment she was too focused on what Selphie had said.----------------------------------------------- Squall stepped out from the door and immediately noticed Rinoa, who was standing, rooted to the spot, in the hall, glaring off in the direction that Selphie had gone.-- "Rinoa. What are doing?" he asked.----------------------------------- -------------- She turned a venomous gaze in his direction. "I could ask you the same question. Or maybe WHO instead," she hissed before walking away from him yet again.--------------- He started to follow after her when a tall, solid looking man in a servants uniform stepped in his path. Squall arched an eyebrow at him, having never seen him before. "Can I help you?----------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------ "Mrs. Trepe has requested your presence for lunch. Please follow me to the dining room, sir."--------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------- "Tell her I'm busy," Squall replied, searching over the man's shoulder for any remaining signs of Rinoa.---------------------------------- ------------------------------------ "Sorry, sir. But when she requests your attendence, then it's my job to see that you get there."------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------- "Fine, I might as well get this over with."--------------------------- --------------------- He followed the stern-postured man out of the hall into the dinning room where Quistis and Selphie were seated around the table, as they had been earlier.------------------ "Good after-noon, Mr. Leonhart. Glad to see you could make it," Quistis commented. "Now be seated. I want to know how things are going."-- ---------------------- "What do you mean?" Squall asked as he sat down, ignoring the plate of food that had been set out for him in a chair closer to Selphie's.------- ---------------------------------- "You've had ample time to come up with some answers," she pointed out yet again.------------------------------------------------------------------ ----------------------- "This isn't easy," Squall growled. "Especially when you can't even tell me who acts suspicious to you, and who doesn't."----------------------- ------------------------------- Quistis laughed. "Well, if you want someone who acts suspicious, start with my sister. But I know it couldn't be her. After all, an attempt was made on Seifer Almasy's life during all of this, and heaven knows she'd never do anything to harm him."-------------- "Seifer? Heir to the Almasy fortune? What does he have to do with Rinoa?" Selphie asked curiously.-------------------------------------------- -------------------------- "Seifer and I were business partners not long ago. I suppose that's why there was that little case of attempted murder. And yes, he does have what could be considered a fortune in a town like this, but it's nothing compared to what I have. Anyway, he and Rinoa got better acquainted and eventually the two got enaged to one another. Rinoa was head over heels in love. But Seifer decided, because of Rinoa's mental imbalances mostly, that he couldn't marry her and broke it off. She was heart broken. She still is. The pathetic thing still wears the engagement ring, a silver band with black markings on it."---- Squall eyebrows shot up as he quietly listened in on the two womens gossiping. So, she was going to act like she was jealous and he was jerk for making her that way, when all the while she wanted another man? He fought down the waves of rejection while thinking of a way to get back at her.------------------------------------------------------- "She wouldn't want revenge?" Selphie was saying, shaking Squall from his bitter thoughts.-------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------- "No. She'd never want to harm him. That's the only thing about her that I know for certain." -------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------- "If you'll excuse me, I've got work to do," he said, standing from his chair. "You always say that, but you never seem to get any work done," Quistis commented.---------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------- "Besides, you haven't even touched your food," Selphie protested.----- ------------- "I'm not hungry," he replied as he walked off toward his room. {+}{+}{+}{+}{+}{+}{+}{+}{+}{+}{+}{+}{+}{+}{+}{+}{+}{+}{+}{+}{+}{+}{+}
Rinoa sat in her room, her knees pulled up to her chest and her arms folded around a pillow as she stared into space. She was fighting off an "unexplainable" feeling of pain and rejection, her mind continously focusing on the scene she had witnessed earlier.-------- When she'd finally had enough of her restless thougts, she decided she would try to settle her mind. She stepped out of her room and went down the hall to Squall's room, producing a key from one of her pockets. She used it to unlock the door and slipped inside, having over-heard Squall's conversation with the servant and knowing he would still be away at lunch.------------------------------------------------------------------- ----- As she walked through the dim room, she could feel the heat spreading across her cheeks. She knew she had no buisness being in there, but now that she was, she couldn't help herself. She glided around the room, carefully running her fingers over his possessions, taking everything that was part of him and etching it into her memory.-------- She was so focused on her unauthorized exploration, that she barely heard the key turning in the door in time to hide. She ducked into the walk-in closet just as the door swung open. Rinoa gazed through the crack in the door as Squall stepped into the room, a look of anger and hurt carved onto his face of stone. He pulled open one of the drawers in the table next to his bed and rumaged through it for a moment before finding what he had been looking for. Rinoa watched intently, her paranoid mind wondering if he could hear her excrushiatingly loud heart beat. He was just about to exit the room when she lost her balance in her crouching position and fell to the floor with what she thought was a defening sound. His head immediately jerked in her direction, his heavenly blue eyes searching the closet door. Rinoa stumbled farther into the closet until she felt a wall in front of her. She groped frantically for something to hide behind or beneath, but to no avail. She waited for a moment, holding her breath, until she finally heard the door to his room swing open, and slam shut again. She was just letting out a relieved sigh when the door swung open and the light from the bed room flooded in, exposing her to the intimidating silhouette that towered in the doorway.
{+}{+}{+}{+}{+}{+}{+}{+}{+}{+}{+}{+}{+}{+}{+}{+}{+}{+}{+}{+}{+}{+} A/N: Poor the karosene on me and light a match! Jealousy is running rampant, and I have the feeling there's going to be some major heat coming my way. And what do you mean, romping?