Four: Cloud's Number
Vincent stopped washing the dishes for a while when he heard the telephone ringing. Marlene and Denzel, who were seated on the dining table and drawing pictures, blinked. Marlene stopped drawing and turned to Vincent. When she saw that his hands were still wet, she just ran to the phone and answered it for him. "Hello?"
"Marlene?" said the voice from the other line.
Marlene's face lit up. "Tifa!" she exclaimed happily. She hasn't heard from Tifa in around two days already and she really missed her.
"How are you all doing, Marlene?" Tifa asked.
"We're alright. What about you? Did you talk to Rufus already?" Marlene asked happily.
"Yes, we have discussed a lot of things already. Where's Vincent?" Tifa asked.
"Oh he's over here washing dishes! We just had lunch! He grilled some tuna and squid! It was yummy!" Marlene said happily.
Tifa giggled. "Really now?" she asked, amazed at the fact that Vincent was good at taking care of children… not to mention, the household. "Yeah! You should've been here! And Rufus too! I'm sure he'll love Vincent's cooking! Heehee!" Marlene continued.
"Well… I sure hope he can cook something here… well then is he still around there? I'd like to have a word with him." Tifa responded.
"Alright." Marlene turned to Vincent and handed him the phone.
Vincent wiped his hands on his apron and took the phone and answered, "Hello, Tifa?"
"Hey, Vincent! How's the housewife?" Tifa kidded.
Vincent frowned. "That's a bad pun, Tifa." He mumbled, but he was somehow glad that at least she sounded happy. "I'm just kidding. Anyway, Rufus wants you to come here and join us. You can take the children with you because he also wants his doctors to take a look at Denzel." She told him.
Vincent blinked. "I see you're getting along pretty well with the President?" he asked with a sly smile on his face.
"Well… he has no more Turk left so I'm sticking around to take care of him until he is well again. Any sign of Cloud?" Tifa asked.
"He hasn't dropped by ever since the time when I told him about Aerith." Vincent replied. "I don't even want to check if he's alright; he might go all cranky again." He told her.
"Oh well… so much for him. I've been trying to call him too but he's not answering. Rufus would like him to get involved in investigating this case but it seems like Cloud doesn't even want to participate." She explained.
"Can't blame him. It's Aerith we're all talking about here." He said with a shrug. "Alright, we'll get ready. I guess we'll be there by five in the afternoon if we can get a quick ride out of Midgar." He told her.
"Don't forget to lock the house and bring the keys with you." Tifa said.
"Alright. Bye." He said before hanging up and turned to the children. "Alright you two, that's enough drawing for now. We're going to the Healin Lodge." He told them with a slight smile on his face.
"Really?" Marlene asked.
"What are we going to do there?" Denzel asked curiously with a dazed look on his face.
"The President wants to talk to me… and he wants the doctors to check on you, Denzel. Tifa must've told him about your condition." Vincent explained.
"Oh." Denzel said rather lifelessly.
Marlene cheered. "Cool! Can I finish this drawing first and then I'll go upstairs to change?" she asked.
"Well alright. But do hurry. We wouldn't want to keep the President waiting. He's got a lot on his mind now and it wouldn't help if we disrespect him by dilly-dallying," said Vincent.
oOoOo
"Denzel, these are the people who will examine you. Behave." Tifa said sternly to the little boy who was staring blank ahead at Rufus who was seated on his wheelchair facing the couch where Vincent was seated.
"…. Sure, Tifa." Denzel mumbled with a dazed look on his face.
"How about me? Where will I go?" Marlene chimed in.
"Marlene, I think it's best to accompany Denzel in the clinic. Just don't distract the doctors." Vincent told her.
"Okay Uncle Vincent. Hee hee!" the little girl said happily before going with Denzel.
"Now… President Rufus? Shall we begin discussing?" Vincent asked, turning to Rufus.
"You were an ex-Turk, I believe?" Rufus began.
Vincent was surprised at him. "Y…yes, sir." He replied.
"First off, I would like to rehire you on the spot… if that is alright with you?" Rufus asked. Vincent was quiet for a while before turning to Tifa who was standing by the bedside table and preparing Rufus's pills for the hour. "Oh well… he needs a bodyguard… taking care of Rufus is Tifa's job. And since Cloud doesn't want to cooperate…" he was thinking quietly before turning to Rufus again with a slight smile on his face. "I'll oblige, your Excellency." He said.
Rufus nodded. "Very well. I shall request for accessories for you…" he began.
"Oh, no need to, President Rufus. I'm fine with these clothes." Vincent pointed out.
"At least a mobile phone." Rufus told him.
Vincent thought for a while before nodding his head. "…alright…" he said, although he felt hesitant upon recalling about the calls from Aerith. He noticed the perplexed look on the faces of his companions upon hearing the acceptance of the mobile phone. "Well… I think it's best that we let… Aerith call one of us. Maybe then we could find out what's causing it before one of us dies…" he stated flatly.
Rufus and Tifa were quiet for a while before the latter began, "Actually, Rude tried to help… at least what he did gave some clues. But we're still confused…"
"What do you mean?" Vincent asked.
"Rude called me around midnight, the time of his death, and Tifa and I heard voices. Strangely enough, those voices belonged to the supposedly-dead people, including Aerith." Rufus pointed out.
Vincent frowned slightly. "You think this is a set-up?" he asked.
"Well it's a bad one. And if it's a joke and we're all in a practical joke or gag show, it's not going to be a very funny one." Rufus muttered.
"It can't be a set-up! We've all seen Aerith die, right?" Tifa protested with a confused look on her face.
Nobody knew how to answer to that.
Tifa just shook her head before she swallowed hard. "I think we really need to talk to Cloud. Who knows if he's aware of these things or not… we have to clarify things with him." She told them.
"Like how?" Rufus asked.
"You try calling him." Vincent suggested.
"I don't even have his mobile phone number with me right now that's why whenever I want to keep in touch with him or get in touch with him, I call your bar, Tifa." Rufus pointed out.
"Well then," she began as she got his mobile phone and dialed Cloud's number for him. With that, she handed the mobile phone to Rufus. "Here you go. You can save it from your dialed numbers list after you talk to him." She said with a smile on her face.
Rufus waited for a few moments before Cloud finally answered. "Hello?"
Rufus was silent for a while before saying, "Cloud?"
Cloud was quiet for a while before replying, "Yes… who's this?"
"It's Rufus." Rufus replied.
Silence.
"How did you get my number?" Cloud asked in a demanding way.
"I… asked Tifa. She knows. I wanted to talk to you…" Rufus began.
"About what?" Cloud interrupted. He sounded annoyed.
Rufus stiffened as he stared straight ahead towards the window. "About the deaths occurring around…" he began, but Cloud cut off, "Don't tell me you're blaming Aerith for it too?"
Rufus was surprised.
"I'm sure Tifa already told you about it. Vincent told me about it too but I didn't believe him because it's all a lie. Aerith wouldn't do anything like that!" Cloud protested.
"We know Aerith is not capable of doing anything like that, but what if it's someone else?" Rufus asked.
"I don't want to know." Cloud mumbled.
"You have to!" Rufus snapped.
"Why? What for!" Cloud demanded.
"Six people are dead, for crying out loud! Who knows, you or me or even Tifa and Vincent and the children could be next!" Rufus pointed out.
Cloud was quiet for a while before saying, "If Aerith is the one taking lives, so be it. She can take mine for all I care… at least I can finally…" he trailed off.
Rufus narrowed his eyes. "Oh I get it, Strife. You think you can see her again that way? You're better off dead, is that what you're thinking?" he snarled.
oOoOo
Cloud cringed upon hearing those words again. Tifa had once said those words to him and the feeling was like darts piercing through his heart, although he just remained quiet. He didn't know what to do all of a sudden. Angrily, he just hung up.
oOoOo
"Blasted…" Rufus mumbled as the call ended. He just sighed heavily as he was going through his list of dialed numbers to find Cloud's and added it to his contacts.
"Your conversation sounded nice…" Tifa said with a slight smile on her face.
"Believe me, it was splendid." Rufus said sarcastically with a sarcastic smile on his face. "I can tell that after this conversation he wouldn't want to talk to me ever again because he thinks that I just insulted his love for Aerith and what I've been telling him is sacrilege and blasphemy." He pointed out.
"Looks like we can move to plan B." Vincent said.
"And what is that?" Tifa asked.
"We ask other people to talk to him." He replied.
oOoOo
Tifa and Vincent gave Cloud's number to the doctors and nurses present in the Healin Lodge that afternoon and one by one, they tried talking Cloud into "making a delivery service" for them at an inn in Kalm. Vincent's plan is to make Cloud go to Kalm and from there, maybe he and Tifa can get some sense out of him and then take him to Rufus back at the Healin Lodge. However, the calls weren't really successful. Tifa and Vincent just thanked the doctors and the nurses and returned back to Rufus's room at around six in the evening, surprised to see Marlene sharing stories with Rufus.
"I'm pleased to see the two of you getting along pretty well," Tifa began with a smile on her face as she approached Rufus.
"I played Rufus's nurse! I made him drink this icky medicine that Denzel also has to take but he has to take it by injection." Marlene pointed out.
"Oh how nice!" Tifa said with an amused smile on her face before looking at Denzel who was sleeping soundly on Rufus's bed. "Oh no…" she muttered as she walked over to the boy, meaning to carry him off there and transfer him to the couch instead, but Rufus stopped her. "No, Tifa, it's alright. Let him rest there. I don't mind." He told her reassuringly.
She was surprised at him. "Oh… okay…" she said weakly.
"Why are you seated on a wheelchair?" Marlene asked Rufus.
Silence.
"Marlene, I don't think you should be asking the President such questions…" Vincent began, but the little girl protested, "…but he looks fine! Look at his face! He looks normal! And he has hair so why is he covering his head?" Marlene tugged at Rufus's blanket that was covering his head and it slipped off his head, revealing his look of awe at the child for everyone to see. She smiled cheerfully. "Heehee! See? He still looks like a prince!" she said happily.
Silence.
"Marlene, that's enough…" Tifa said with a trembling tone, fearful for the fact that Rufus could run out of patience with the little girl. She went to Marlene, "Alright, just go to my room for a while…" she began.
"What for? Let her stay here. She has no companion in your room if you leave her there and then you're here talking to me with Vincent." Rufus told her.
Tifa was stunned. "…Alright…" she said, feeling unsure.
Marlene just shrugged. "If you're going to talk about adult stuff, I'm just going downstairs." She said.
"We're…not really going to talk about adult stuff, Marlene." Vincent began.
But the little girl ignored them and just went to the door and got out before one of them could make another remark.
"That was… quick." Rufus remarked with an unsure look on his face before covering his head again with the blanket. "So how did it go?" he asked them.
"It was a failure. Cloud has started to become so suspicious of everyone now." Vincent told him.
"You think we did the wrong steps?" Tifa asked, feeling unsure.
"Whatever. That guy needs counseling." Rufus said, rolling his eyes.
"Well… it's really hard for him. You know… losing Aerith and… stuff…" she replied hesitantly. "I mean, c'mon, you'd feel the same if you lost someone dear to you, right?" she continued.
Rufus just snorted. "I haven't lost anyone dear to me yet." He muttered.
"Not even your mother?" Vincent chimed in.
Silence.
"At least I don't start hating and suspecting everyone like what Cloud is doing…" Rufus fibbed.
Silence.
"So… what now?" Tifa asked softly.
Denzel started to snore, surprising them.
"I'd better transfer him to his room." Tifa told them as she went to the boy and carried him carefully, although he felt heavy. As soon as Tifa got out of the room, she almost dropped him when she heard the familiar ringing tone again.
It was approaching her from behind. She felt her hairs rising as she held the boy closer to her. Slowly, she turned around and saw one of Rufus's doctors approaching with a perplexed look on his face while looking at his mobile phone. "Hello?" the doctor answered the call, much to Tifa's mortification. She didn't want to hear more. She just rushed to the room facing Rufus's to put Denzel there.
"Why?" her mind was screaming as she stared horridly blankly ahead of her as she placed the boy on the bed. She swallowed hard before deciding to rush back to Rufus's room. She saw the doctor mindlessly injecting something into Rufus's veins. He looked as if he didn't even notice anything strange with the call. Rufus doesn't even seem to know that the doctor had received Aerith's call. Even Vincent remained clueless as he remained seated on the couch, watching the doctor do his thing with Rufus.
Afterwards, the doctor withdrew the injection and smiled kindly at Rufus. "You're doing fine, President Rufus. I've seen a lot of improvement in you. In a matter of weeks, if you continue therapy and continue your intake of prescribed medicines, you can finally walk again and do the old stuff you like to do in the office." The doctor said reassuringly.
But Rufus just looked down to the ground, not convinced.
The doctor turned to Vincent and then to Tifa, "He can go outside tomorrow for a stroll if he wants to. Just make sure it won't rain. And he must take a bath tomorrow afternoon too." he instructed.
"Yes, doctor." Vincent replied.
Tifa just nodded and approached Rufus, standing beside his wheelchair.
"Dinner will be brought up here for the three of you and the children." The doctor told them before exiting.
"You seem distressed." Vincent pointed out to Tifa.
Tifa swallowed hard before saying, "The doctor's… mobile phone just… rang before he went in here and… it's the ringing tone that you hear whenever…" she trailed off when she noticed no reaction from the two men with her.
Rufus just turned his gaze away from her, looking down at his right hand. "That Doctor doesn't even know who Aerith was…" he thought silently, thinking that all the victims had known who Aerith was and had met her personally.
"Rufus, that doctor's life is in danger!" Tifa pointed out with a worried look on her face.
Rufus was quiet for a while before looking at her again, "Tifa, sometimes you have to sacrifice a few lives to be able to get what you want." He told her sternly.
She was surprised at his reply. "…I don't want people to die…" she said softly.
"You don't. I know you don't. But you want to find out what's causing all of this, correct?" Vincent answered. Tifa stared unbelievably at them. "So they both have the same level of thinking and understanding…" she thought to herself. "You two are really from ShinRa…" she muttered before walking out of the room.
Rufus and Vincent were just quiet. The former bowed down his head as the latter told him, "She has her days." And sighed. "Sometimes she appears strong… but deep inside I think she's just like everybody else around her…" he continued.
Rufus just blinked blankly. "As if there is still something she can do…" he muttered.
oOoOo
…and around 7 weeks later after Rufus's doctor died and the second one had disappeared, the other doctors and nurses followed; either dying a strange unreasonable death or just disappearing without a trace.
On the day the last of them had just disappeared after entering the laboratory to inspect Rufus and Denzel's red blood cells, Tifa became too frantic to get the two out of there immediately. Vincent also felt the same way about the situation.
"It's like a bad aura is surrounding this whole building. If you don't mind, Rufus, you'll have to go with me and Tifa back to Midgar away from this place." Vincent explained.
"We can't go back to Midgar! What if it follows us there?" Tifa asked.
"It will follow us wherever we go. It's useless." Rufus muttered.
They were just quiet, listening at the crickets from outside the window and the sound of Marlene's crayons on a page of her sketchpad. Denzel was just seated on Rufus's bed, staring blankly outside the window and eyeing the setting sun.
"We'll see how strong Aerith is. If she tries to follow us in Midgar then I'd be damned if she calls me once we get there." Rufus muttered before turning to Vincent. "The keys are in the front desk. Get them. The car is in the garage." He instructed.
Vincent nodded. "Tifa, you prepare the essential medicines for Rufus and Denzel and start packing their clothes. I'll wait for you downstairs." he told Tifa before leaving the room.
Rufus just sat still as Tifa rushed to the window when she felt an eerily cold breeze blow inside the room. She shut the windows and shuddered, feeling her heart pounding hard against her chest. Rufus felt the breeze too but he did not say anything. In fact, when he felt the breeze, he thought he felt a pair of hands grab his face.
Tifa went over to Marlene, "C'mon, Marlene. Enough with those drawings for now. Help me pack our stuff." She said… and she froze.
Marlene stopped drawing and just slowly looked up at Tifa with a blank look on her face that sent shivers down Tifa's spine. Tifa stared unbelievably at the drawing and she picked it up, staring hard at it.
Marlene blinked and smiled sweetly at Tifa. "Did you like it?" she asked happily.
Tifa swallowed hard. "Who… who is this?" she asked.
"It's you and you're lying beside a flower bed! Isn't it nice?" Marlene asked.
Tifa just stared hard at it as Rufus wheeled himself towards her to take a look at the drawing too. He was mortified when he saw the drawing. It looked like a dead person.
Tifa turned to the previous pages to look at the other drawings prior to what she had seen first, and then to her horror, she saw drawings of a ninja drowning, a bear with a spear-like weapon through its head, a screaming pilot, a blonde woman with a distorted smile on her face and with broken and twisted arms, a redhead man without any eyes and a bald man with broken glasses. And then on the first page, she saw a drawing of a boy and a girl embracing, but they have crowns on their heads like they were king and queen, and they're wearing blue and pink respectively. "Oh that's Cloud and Aerith." Marlene pointed out.
Tifa just handed the drawings to Rufus and pretended not to have seen anything before turning away with a disturbed look on her face. "C'mon, Marlene. Help me pack." She said.
Marlene got up. "Okay!" she said cheerfully before going after Tifa.
Rufus rescanned the drawings and it made him frown. "What made you draw these, Marlene?" he asked mindlessly.
"I see them in my head." She responded while helping Tifa.
"You see them in your head?" he asked.
Marlene nodded gleefully, "Uh-huh! She shows me things… and I remember them. Then I draw them, just like that!" she explained while putting Rufus's clothes inside a suitcase.
Tifa froze. "She?"
"Aerith." Marlene pointed out.
Tifa and Rufus were quiet for a while before the former proceeded with the packing. Rufus just sat still and stared at the drawings.
In 30 minutes, they were out of the Healin Lodge and driving to Sector 7, Midgar, to Tifa's house there.
Vincent told Marlene to guide Denzel inside because he had to help Tifa get Rufus onto the wheelchair from the car. As soon as Marlene and Denzel had gone inside to go to their room, Vincent went back to the car to carry Rufus from the backseat of the car and transferred him to the wheelchair. "I'll park the car at the back. You take Rufus inside." Vincent instructed Tifa. She nodded and carefully wheeled Rufus inside her house.
Vincent watched quietly as they entered, thinking that Rufus would really have a hard time adjusting to his new surroundings. "Well… he has to move-in with us here if he wants to live… After all, who else can he trust to take care of him?" he thought silently before turning back to the white expensive car that belongs to ShinRa… and was surprised when he saw Cloud approaching with his Fenrir. Vincent froze. "Bloody hell…" he muttered.
Cloud parked his motorcycle behind the car and stared strangely at it. "What's this doing here?" he asked.
"What are you doing here?" Vincent asked bluntly.
Cloud turned to him. "I just want to check if Marlene and Denzel are alright." He told him.
"Since when did you start caring about the children?" Vincent asked.
"What is this doing here?" Cloud repeated his question, referring to the car. Vincent did not answer. Cloud frowned at him. "This belongs to ShinRa. I've seen this in the garage of the Healin Lodge once. It's what the Turks use to go around sometimes." He pointed out.
"Well I'm glad you know." Vincent said before opening the door where the driver's seat is located.
"Did you steal that car?" Cloud asked.
"I work for ShinRa now." Vincent told him.
Cloud was surprised. "What?"
"Tifa and I… we're working for Rufus. We have agreed to collaborate with him in solving a case regarding a series of strange deaths occurring around us. Lately, doctors and nurses have died in the Healin Lodge. Are you aware of this?" Vincent told him directly.
Cloud stared at him unbelievably for a while. "If this is about Aerith again…" he began, but Vincent interrupted him, "I did not say anything about her, Cloud. You're the one who thought of her. Do you know anything about this?" he asked.
"Why are you blaming Aerith? She's… she's…" Cloud stammered with a deep frown on his face and a tone that seemed to falter as he went on.
"…dead." Vincent told him.
Cloud snapped. "She is not dead…" he wanted to scream out loud, but he could not do so because it would be so inappropriate for him. Instead he just glared angrily at Vincent.
Vincent was surprised upon Cloud's silence, but seeing the look in his eyes made him feel a bit awkward about the situation. It was the first time he has ever felt something like… fear… after all these years of feeling so numb and careless about everything but himself. There was something in Cloud's eyes that made him feel like his heart had stopped beating for a few seconds.
Cloud looked up at the house and then back to Vincent again. "I see. So that's what you think… well then…" he just turned and walked off, going back to his Fenrir. Vincent watched as Cloud hopped onto it and sped away.
Noticing that the window upstairs had opened, he looked up to see Tifa looking down at him with a disturbed look on her face. Vincent just sighed heavily, shaking his head in dismay. "Don't ask…" he told her before going to the car again to park it properly. Tifa just shook her head in frustration. "Wasn't gonna…" she muttered before turning back to Rufus who was seated on his wheelchair and looking around the room. She smiled sheepishly at him. "Sorry if it's small. I know how much you're used to living in big rooms, unlike this one, which is probably just the size of a broom closet in ShinRa." She told him. Rufus wasn't sure if she was being sarcastic or not, but he just wheeled himself towards the mirror and slowly removed the blanket from his head, looking at himself. "It's perfectly fine, Tifa…" was all he said. He could not really find the right words to say to her because if he told her frankly what's on his mind, he might sound so vulnerable… and he still has his pride to maintain.
Tifa studied his facial expression for a while before smiling slightly and walked to the door. "My room is just beside this one. The bed is by the wall dividing our rooms. If you need anything, just knock. I'll be able to hear it because my bed is just beside it." She told him.
He looked down on his lap, refusing to respond.
"For now I'll just be downstairs to cook our dinner. Yell if you need anything." She told him before stepping out of the room and went to the stairs. She met Vincent on the way, but he was going up. "Where's Rufus?" he asked.
"I placed him in Yuffie's old room just beside mine so that I can easily hear him if ever he needs me." She said as she finally reached the first floor and went to the kitchen.
Vincent just took the initiative to go to Rufus's new room to stay there and guard him for a while, but before he went there, he checked on Denzel and Marlene's bedroom. Marlene had fallen asleep beside Denzel on his bed. Quietly, Vincent just went to Marlene and carried her, placing her on her own bed. With that, he left them and went over to Rufus's room. He saw Rufus scrolling down on his mobile phone. Peeking from over his shoulder, he saw that he was going through a list of names from his phonebook. Rufus knew that Vincent was there behind him so he just spoke up, "I'm still bothered by the deaths…"
Vincent stood still, staring at the names. "Did you tell this to Tifa?" he asked.
Rufus just exited the phonebook menu and handed his mobile phone to Vincent. "I don't want to inflict further worry in her. I've seen the way she is dedicated to her work concerning me…" he said softly.
Vincent began reading the names again and checking the numbers. After a few moments of silence, he sat down on Rufus's bed, staring at the phone. "You don't have Cloud's mobile number here?" he asked.
"No. We always contact each other through landline. I have the number of this house, though." Rufus replied.
Vincent frowned slightly, his mind suddenly functioning, getting an idea; but he was not sure. He looked away from the phone and stared at the wall, reflecting on his thoughts before turning back to Rufus with a curious look on his face. "Tifa mentioned that she has an old mobile phone, correct?" he asked.
"I deem so…" Rufus replied.
"But Cloud's number is not in her current phone?" Vincent said.
"I'm not sure; but I never really checked or asked her." Rufus told him. "Why not?" Vincent asked. "…I don't know… privacy issues?" Rufus replied, shrugging, not really wanting to admit to Vincent that he hasn't thought about it yet.
Vincent felt his heart leap. In an instant, he rushed to the other room… Tifa's room. He stood by the doorway for a while and scanned the room with a speculating look on his face but he was being alert on something… but he was not sure what. He reached for the light switch and turned it on. As he stepped further inside and continued to scan the room, he heard Rufus's wheelchair moving towards him. "Vincent, what are you doing?" Rufus asked sternly.
Vincent began searching for something in Tifa's bedside table drawers. "It's gotta be here somewhere…" he muttered.
"What?" Rufus asked.
"Her old phone. We have to find it. If my speculation is correct, then we can save other people's lives… especially ours!" Vincent told him with a frantic expression on his face as he continued to rummage through her stuff.
"You can't just barge in here and start looking for her old mobile phone! Besides, how can she use that old one? It's not charged and it doesn't even have a valid sim card anymore!" Rufus told him, thinking about how Tifa would react if she finds out that they were rummaging through her stuff without her permission.
"She'll understand even if we don't have permission from her. This is for her safety!" Vincent told him.
"Well what is your speculation about this and you're so excited?" Rufus demanded, getting impatient… because he could already hear Tifa's footsteps on the stairs.
"Whoever has Cloud's mobile phone number in his/her mobile phone will die." Vincent finally said.
Rufus felt his hairs rising when he heard that. "Bloody brilliant!" he said exasperatedly.
Tifa finally arrived in her room, surprised at Vincent rummaging through her drawers. "What are you doing!" she demanded in shock.
"Tifa, where did you put your mobile phone?" Vincent asked.
"It's… here with me." She replied, quite unsure.
"No, the old one. The one with the invalid sim card?" Rufus asked.
"Oh, it's over here…" she stepped inside to go to her closet, but she froze when she heard a message alert tone.
Rufus's eyes widened. Vincent stopped rummaging through her stuff when he heard it too.
Tifa's heart began to race. It's definitely not her current message alert tone, but she still checked on her mobile phone.
No message. She swallowed hard, feeling so nervous. She suddenly wanted to cry.
Vincent instantly went to her closet and searched one of the drawers there… until he found the old mobile phone. It was an MMS phone similar to Cloud and Rufus's. Carefully, Vincent flipped open the screen… and to their awe, it was switched on… and on the screen was "Multimedia Message Received. Read now?"
Tifa felt so stunned. Rufus and Vincent were speechless, even as the latter went to them before pressing confirm so that they could view the MMS.
It was a video.
Their eyes were wide while watching it: a young lady with long brown hair was brushing her hair while humming a tune. Cloud's Theme. She had her back to them and she was wearing a pink dress. They couldn't see her face because the lighting was very poor.
"Aerith!" Tifa exclaimed.
The young lady stopped humming and brushing her hair, as if she heard Tifa. Slowly, she turned her head to her left side, as if to look at all of them from her peripheral vision…
And then she smiled before she started to sing again, but this time, it's the song that they have all heard before: "Why do birds suddenly appear everytime you are near? Just like me, they long to be close to you…"
And then the battery indicator turned red and the mobile phone just switched off by itself.
It took a while before Vincent finally found the courage to speak up to Tifa, "You… have Cloud's number there. Anyone who has it… will receive the call…"
They were all silent for a few seconds before Tifa finally collapsed on the floor.
"Tifa!" Rufus mentioned in shock.
Vincent was still holding the mobile phone, staring horridly at it. He placed it on the dresser before turning to Rufus who was stooping from his wheelchair to check on Tifa who was lying on the floor unconscious. "She passed out." Rufus told him.
Vincent stared at her for a moment, contemplating on what had just happened. He just could not believe that Aerith could do that… and now Tifa's next. And Cloud wouldn't even help them with the matter. Frustrated, he instantly went to the window and jumped out, deciding to look for Cloud.
