1Disclaimer: I don't own ff7 or any of it's characters.
This is the chapter where Reno's life starts going down the drain, so I hope you enjoy Reno's torment. And when you're down, PLEASE REVIEW!!!
Chapter Three: The Orphan, Reno
It had been about a year and a half since Reno and Raine spent the night on the docks.
They had been dating ever since then, and Reno, who was now sixteen, had begun spending a lot of time at their mansion, and the rest of the Nettles couldn't have been happier. The boy, Max, still idolized him and was taking fighting lessons, as to be more like Reno. Her parents both still loved Reno and often invited him over, even if Raine wasn't there, and they had have a nice conversation.
Reno usually didn't enjoy the conversations, and instead was just being polite, but occasionally they would share a conversation that Reno did enjoy. Those conversations usually involved Reno and his guns. Reno now owned the magnum, which was still and always will be his favorite gun, one shotgun, one machine gun, and three rifles, one was double barrel and the other two were single. Reno was a freak, when it came to guns. Like a crack addict was to crack, Reno would use each of his guns at least once a day. Raine would often joke about Reno one day going psycho and gun down a bunch of people, Reno, however, was worried that it could be real.
Reno and Raine had also been going great. They had begun sleeping with each other about seven months ago. The was the first real time that Reno really thought that having sex should be called lovemaking. Also, for the first time, Reno knew he was in love. Before, in several of his other relationships, he thought that he was in love because of the attention, sex, and the looks that his girlfriends showed him. At one time, one terrible, terrible time that Reno wished he would forget, he even thought that he might even love Jamie, though it had just been because of her supreme sex, not lovemaking, but sex.
Reno's mother never really talked more about the divorce that she was planning. Reno guessed that she had proposed the idea to Robert, and he convinced her not to, probably by beating her silly. But, Reno hadn't been home recently, since he spent most his time with Raine and her family, and wouldn't know if Robert was beating his mother or not. Reno thought that he may not keep his beating, since, from a very young age, Reno had been under the impression that Robert acted that way because of Reno. Otherwise, Reno's mother probably would have left Robert before Reno was born, or even conceived.
But, Reno's life had been going well. Too bad his mother's life hadn't.
Reno walked down the road from school, one of the rare times that he decided to go to his house from school. But he decided to see his mother. He hadn't seen her in at least two weeks, and hadn't seen his father, thankfully, in four. He stepped up to the door of his home, and sighed, wondering, if his father was home, that how he would react. He would be angry, no doubt about that. Robert would be angry for at least two reasons; one because of his natural hatred towards Reno and two because Reno was back.
Reno wouldn't be surprised to come home and discover that his room had become a den or a study. Also, Reno wouldn't be surprised if Robert had completely exiled Reno from the house, and drive Reno out of his home. Reno sighed, surely his mother wouldn't let Robert do that, but then again, without Reno there all that time, maybe Robert had been completely broken, perhaps just a shell of what she once was.
Reno stood at the doorway, beginning to consider if he should go inside or not.
If he did go inside and it was just his mother that was at home, he would surely have a good time, talking to his mother as if they were old friends. He would definitely leave before his father came home, since his father would surely either beat him, his mother, or both. But, until then, Reno would probably have a great time and would try to get some of the things that he left behind, then he would probably live at the Nettle's mansion. There, he would spend, hopefully, the rest of his life with Raine.
But eventually, Robert would return and probably find and beat Reno, and definitely would beat his mother. Reno sighed and turned away and was about to head back to the Nettle's mansion, when he heard a scream emitting from his home. Reno turned instantly and tried turning the nob and found that it was locked, then Reno heard his mother cry, "ROBERT STOP!!!"
Reno then pounded his shoulder into the door, then again, and a third time, and the door was knocked down. Reno caught one more ear piercing scream, and then there was just utter silence. Reno was scared, he was beyond scared. He had never been more frightened than he was right now. Reno tried running away, but his legs wouldn't let him. Instead, his legs carried him through the house and to the kitchen, where he saw a pool of blood.
Reno looked up from the blood, again not wanting to but having to, and saw his mother lying on the table with a knife imbedded in her chest, wearing crimson clothes. Reno then saw his father standing next to the body, just staring at it. "Mom..." Reno muttered.
At first, he thought that the miner hadn't heard him, but then the large man turned to Reno. At first, Reno thought he saw fear in Robert's eyes, but then he saw a burning fire in them, something that he imagined his mother saw in the last seconds of her life. The man tore the knife out of the deceased body of Julia, and rushed towards Reno. Reno dove to the right, and his father just charged right past him, knife first, and surely would have impaled Reno had he not dove out of the way.
Reno reached for his holster that contained his beloved magnum, and aimed at the large miner. "STOP!" Reno shouted, the gun shaking in his arm. Robert, however, simply spun around and continued charging at Reno. Reno felt the magnum's trigger, and was put the smallest bit of pressure on the trigger, but never pulled it enough. No matter how inviting the trigger was, he couldn't pull it on his own fa... on Robert.... at least not yet.
Reno rolled out of the way as Robert dug the knife into the wooden floor, making it almost slide out of his hand, unfortunately, Reno wasn't lucky. Reno jumped back up to his feet, and now aimed at Robert where Reno was once lying. "I WILL KILL YOU!!!" Reno shouted, however, once again, the miner seemed not to notice and instead stumbled back to his feet and began chasing Reno.
Reno was about to run, and then stumbled over his feet and fell to the ground, fortunately his gun was still at hand. However, then Robert cut up with him, and threw the knife into Reno's lower back, near if not a direct hit to his right kidney. Now, Reno felt confident enough and spun on his back and fired three shots into Robert's stomach. Robert, however, then just stumbled, surprising not falling on his back, but then he fell forward, landing directly on Reno.
At first, Reno's back flared in pain, but then he was more concerned about his father's large body crushing his smaller stature. "HELP!" Reno cried. "HELP ME!!! ANYONE!!!" Fatigue, however, took Reno by the head, and he fainted, he was completely exhausted physically and mentally.
Reno woke up a week later in the Nettle's mansion, in a bed that he normally slept in when he was invited to stay over for the night. The bed was what Reno would call unnaturally comfortable, with all white sheets. The head of the bed was right under an arch shaped window, that had a tree behind it, and, the first night Reno slept over, well, slept over in this bed, he had been reminded of a horror movie, since the shadow of the tree in the moonlight greatly reminded Reno of horror movies.
Reno also felt something in his arms, and Reno glanced over the thing in his arm and smiled. It was Raine, and she was lying in Reno's bed, which was a queen size, and had her arm on Reno's chest and she had positioned his arm to cover her back. The next thing Reno felt was a dull pain in his back and an aching pain in his stomach. Reno knew what the pain in his back was, but he was mystified by the pain in his stomach. Reno lifted the thin sheet of blanket that covered his body, careful not to wake Raine, and saw that his stomach was wrapped in a cast.
What happened? Reno thought, and suddenly wondered what the pain in his back, the pain that he claimed to know, was. What's going on?
Reno lied the sheet back down, and slight turned to look for a clock, when Raine moved and mumbled, "Don't move yet, Reno..." Suddenly, her eyes shot open, as if realizing that Reno was now awake, and looked up at him, with a half shock expression and a half merry look. "You're... awake..." She said, still in disbelief.
"Yeah," Reno nodded, smiling at her. Reno then, to prove to her and to himself that he was here, kissed her forehead very softly. "What happened?"
"Oh Reno!" she exclaimed, seeming not to hear his question. She leapt on top of him and kissed him frantically, actually, Reno was beginning to wonder if she was going to rip off the sheet and whatever clothes he might be wearing. Reno then moaned slightly in pain, despite his pleasurable thoughts, since she had her knee dug into his stomach wound. "Oh, sorry!" she exclaimed, and rolled off him. "How are you feeling?"
"Alright... I guess..." Reno muttered. "What's... going on?"
"Don't you remember?" Raine asked with a look of worry in her eyes.
"Remember what?" Reno asked.
"Well... what's the last thing you remembered?"
"I remember..." Reno muttered, trying to think back. "Um... Going to my house to get my stuff... but that's all..."
"You don't remember... what happened inside the house?" Raine asked.
"No," Reno shook his head. "What happened?"
"You... um..." Raine muttered. "Maybe I should let the doctor tell you..."
"No," Reno said. "I want you to tell me. I want to hear the words from the woman that I love."
Raine deeply blushed at the statement, and said, "well, we don't know exactly what happened... since we weren't there... but... well, are you sure you want to know?"
"Yes," Reno answered without hesitation.
"Alright," Raine nodded.
Raine took a deep breath and began, "Well... we think that when you went inside, you saw that your father killed your mother. Then you and your father got into a fight or he snuck up on you and stabbed you in the back. But then you shot your father with your gun... and then he fell on top of you, breaking one of your ribs..."
"My... mother's..." Reno muttered. "Dead...?"
"Oh Reno," Raine said as she sobbed softly, and wrapped her arms around his waist. "It's all right... everything will be ok..."
"My father... killed her..." Reno muttered.
"Yes, Reno," Raine said, still sobbing slightly for him more than for herself. "I'm so sorry!"
"Is... my fa... Robert dead?" Reno asked.
"Yes. You shot him."
"Is it... my fault?" Reno questioned himself.
"What? Reno?" Raine asked.
"I wasn't there for her..." Reno muttered. "I... didn't help her..."
"Reno?" Raine asked again.
Just then, the door opened and a man with gray hair combed to one side and a small mustache wearing doctor's clothes stepped inside. He was slim and about average height, maybe a little more, and he stepped over to the bed with a notepad and pencil. "Miss Raine," the old man kindly said. "Could you please leave?"
"Yes, of course," she nodded, and left, giving one last caring look at Reno.
"Now, Reno," the old man began once Raine had shut the door. "How are you feeling?"
"..." Reno was silent. "What have I done...?"
"Reno?" the doctor asked.
"I abandoned my mother..." Reno mumbled. "I left her... to die..."
"Nonsense, Reno. Your father killed your mother. You didn't leave her to die... now, how are you feeling?"
"..." Reno was silent for another moment, then answered, "Fine."
"Good," the man said, jotting something down on the paper. "You were actually pretty lucky. Your father-"
"Robert," Reno corrected with a hint of anger. "His name is Robert."
"Right, Robert," the doctor said, writing something else down. "Robert stabbed your back, and missed your right kidney by half an inch! The knife did little damage except for a stab wound. We were able to find you soon enough so that we could treat any infection that was growing, and there were none."
"Why..." Reno mumbled, not listening to anything the doctor was saying. "Why did he do it?"
"Well, upon further inspection," the old man sighed. "We... found divorce papers on the table. We believe that is why your fa... Robert killed her."
"..." Reno was silent. "I... did kill her..."
"What do you mean? You didn't do anything to her."
"I told her to leave him. Almost every time I visited her and he wasn't home I would tell her that... It's my fault... then, I couldn't protect her..."
"Reno, you have done nothing," the old man said, touching Reno's shoulder. "Now, I suggest you get your rest."
Reno nodded, and the doctor left the room, then Reno lied down and closed his eyes, and fell asleep surprisingly easily.
"Reno..." a woman's voice cried.
Reno looked around, he was back in his house, but something was different... and Reno immediately realized what it was, the walls were covered in blood. Reno walked towards the source of the voice, and there he saw his mother, and he cringed in fear, but then paralyzed due to his fear. The woman in front of him had nothing in her eye sockets and had maggots crawling in them. Her chest had a large gaping hole, where snakes were crawling in and out of, and all the rest of her flesh was a greenish brown color. Then, to top it off, on the top of her head was a crow glaring down at him.
"Who... who are you?" Reno asked, surprising himself by being able to talk.
"You don't even recognize your own mother?" the skeletal being asked.
"M... mom..." Reno mumbled.
She then rose a shaky finger towards Reno, "You did this to me... you abandoned me... you left me for dead... you let him kill me..."
"No," Reno shook his head. "I didn't kill you... I... I tried to help you!"
Suddenly, the crow spoke, "You failed her," it said in a haunting voice that would forever haunt Reno's mind. "You failed her and you will fail others..."
"... Others?" Reno asked.
"Everyone you love," the crow foretold. "Will die. Because of you."
"What?" Reno asked. "You're... you're wrong! I KNOW YOU ARE!"
"Believe what you wish," the crow told him. "Whether you believe that this is your fault or not, you will realize that it was you who failed her."
"NO I DIDN'T!" Reno screamed. Reno spun around, wanting to get away from the crow, and his dad mother. He rushed for the door, and pulled it open, he then leapt through the door and...
He sprung up and his eyes burst open.
There, he saw all the Nettles gathered up, and they all looked slightly frightened by Reno's actions. "Uhh... sorry..." Reno mumbled.
"How are you feeling, Reno?" Mr. Nettle asked.
"Uhh... alright, I guess..." Reno mumbled once again.
"Are you sure?" Raine asked. "You look a little pale..."
"Yes," Mrs. Nettle echoed. "You do look pale..."
"I'm alright," Reno responded, then slightly smiled. "I... I know it wasn't my fault that my mother was... killed."
"That's right," Raine nodded and smiled. "It's not your fault. If anything you avenged her death. You did the best thing you could have done."
Reno looked up and smiled, "Thank you, Raine."
"Yeah!" Max exclaimed. "You were awesome, Reno!"
Reno chuckled and said, "Thanks, Max."
"Perhaps we should leave Reno alone for a little while," Mr. Nettle purposed.
"Alright," Max sighed and followed his mother and father outside, then turned to Raine. "Aren't you coming, Raine?"
"I'll be out in a minute," Raine responded. Max then shut the door, and Raine and Reno shared a passionate kiss. To Reno, it felt as if he had never been truly kissed before, but, of course, he had.
"Raine..." Reno mumbled when they separated.
"I'm so happy you're alright," Raine told him.
"Thanks," Reno smiled.
"I love you, Reno," Raine told him as she walked to the door.
"I love you, too, Raine," Reno told her, and then she winked at him one last time, then left.
I love her, Reno thought. But... the crow... he said that everyone I love will die... Well, I won't let Raine die... I'll never let her die...
That's chapter three!
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and there's more to come!