disclaimer: Don't own FF8.
An: sorry it took so long to get this chappy up but school started like two weeks ago. i'll try and get the next one up sooner.
Chapter 13
The sky was crying again. Its tears ran down his blissful face in tiny rivulets attempting to wash the ambrosia and darkness from him. His body moved. Then moved again. It was going forward, towards the final victim. The rabbit had made contact with the little boy in the park. The boy that was rotting under the swing set that they never thought to look under. His decomposing body had arisen from its earthen prison to send a message to the frightened little rabbit. Apparently, she had found his next target. The city of light was just over the horizon and he hoped that he could reach it by mid morning three days from now. He licked his lips as the anticipation and the thought of that sweet ambrosia flowing again. And the best part was that they didn't even know that he was coming.
A tingle began to run along his back as the feeling of something powerful grew stronger. He didn't know what it was or why it was making him feel anxious. Gentle fingers ran through his hair as his sleep-fogged mind began to awaken once more. There was the sound of a television and people talking. There was something really soft under him and something furry sitting against his stomach. His head was cushioned on someone's lap and the person's gentle fingers tugged his unruly hair free of the tiny tangles that riddled it. There was a pounding on the door and the talking died for a moment as someone opened it. A cry of alarm was heard and the door was shut from the dark and crying sky. Slowly, he pulled himself free of the comfort of the weightless, dreamless sleep world that he loved to inhabit. The light burned his sleepy eyes when h opened them and his ears slowly started to pick up the bits of conversation going on around him.
Irvine was talking to someone who was crying and the television was shut off. Slowly, cautiously, he opened his eyes again to view the world of those who were awake and the gentle fingers in his hair stilled. Someone was scolded and he rubbed at his eyes to rid them of the heavy veil of sleep they had been under. The furry thing was now propped on his side and watching something that was happening. He blinked slowly and let his eyes adjust to the light of the world of wakefulness before turning his head to look around the room. May was sitting in one of the armchairs and Seifer, who had been sitting in front of the couch, was missing. Irvine was also missing from his seat in the other armchair and the sounds of people talking were still present. Star squealed once he noticed that he was awake and nudged his chin. He lifted one heavy arm to pet the little moomba and turned his head to look up at Lony, whose lap he was currently using for a pillow. She smiled down at his sleepy form and scratched his head slightly. Star moved so he could roll onto his back then settled to lie on his stomach again.
"What's going on?" he asked sleepily and let a yawn escape from his throat. There was silence for a moment before bright emerald eyes in a childish like face streaked with the sky's tears and damp brown hair peered over the top of the couch at him. The person's eyes widened in shock then brimmed with tears when she saw him.
"Squall," she murmured. He rubbed his eyes again and nodded slightly.
"Who are you?" he asked the girl and instantly saw her expression change from joyful relief to crushed depression. He didn't understand why she had that look on her face. It was the same look that Irvine and Seifer had had when they saw him. A pang of recognition flitted through his heart and mind and an image tried to surface as well as a name but he shoved it back into the box it had slithered from. The girl smiled sadly down at him and scrubbed at her eyes.
"I'm Selphie. A friend of Irvine and Seifer's," she said softly. He blinked again and smiled slightly.
"Nice to meet you," he said and fought back another yawn. He sat up slowly and stretched ignoring Star's protest of giving up his warm napping spot. The little moomba curled up in Lony's lap and he could hear her groan.
"What am I? The Human Pillow?!" she cried unhappily. Squall looked back at her grinning.
"Yes, yes you are," he said and almost fell off the couch to avoid being hit with the pillow that she threw at him. Lony grumped unhappily and moved the little ball of orange fur to May and stood.
"I'll get you a towel, Selphie," Lony said and walked down the hall towards the bathroom. Seifer took Lony's vacated seat and peered at Selphie's sullen expression. May stood also and went into the kitchen. Squall scooted over and motioned for Selphie to sit down but Star quickly destroyed that option by curling up in the spot that Squall's body had warmed while he was sleeping.
"Are you looking for a friend too, Selphie?" he asked as he peered at the girl a bit shyly. Selphie blinked her large kitty cat eyes at him and nodded.
"Yeah, he disappeared a few weeks ago," she answered.
"Irvine and Seifer are looking for a friend too but I don't think they'll find him if they keep staying here," he noticed the surprise on Selphie's face as well as Seifer and Irvine's but he quickly forgot them when he heard thunder boom in the distance. Moving quickly to the window he grinned as he saw the tiny rivers on the glass. He saw Lony walk into the room fro, the faint reflection that the glass provided and turned to grin at her.
"It's raining!" he said happily and tore out of the house out into the crying night.
"Squall!" Lony yelled after him and stood in the doorway while he ran through the puddles that the sky had created from its tears. In his gleeful play amongst the falling tears he didn't push back a memory of a little boy running through the rain. Slowly, a faint image began to appear before his eyes and his laughing and glee slowly faded into the shadows of the night. The boy before him was running around happily, splashing in puddles and ignoring the shouts of the woman who was to be taking care of him. Other children were also playing in the rain but his eyes remained fixed on that little boy. Mud clung to his legs and the rain tried to wash it away but failed miserably. It was one of the few times that he would let tears cascade down his face and form little rivers that would stream down his little cheeks. His laughter was forced and the rain whipped at his clothes and punished his skin. The storm was bad but he continued to ignore the shouting. The howling of the wind cut into his ears and he knew that the other children were slowly going back inside for their amusement was done for now. However, as his sadness and misery grew his laughter faded and he stood in the rain and let its punishment tear at him.
The little boy slowly faded and the rain continued to pour down on him. The icy arms were around him again, soft and comforting. He felt so safe here but he knew that it could not last long. The arms tried to tighten around him but he struggled. He didn't want to let these arms take him to that place, wherever and whatever it was, he just didn't want to go. The arm wouldn't let go and he started to go numb. His cold body began to stop its struggling and his mind began to fall asleep. He couldn't fall asleep here. It was bad. He just knew that it was bad for him to fall asleep here. He didn't know why exactly but he couldn't fall asleep. The cold receded and was replaced by burning warmth. The sky's tears were gone and replaced by something pouring over him. The burning warmth entered his body and tried to warm it not matter what. The cold disappeared and slowly, his eyes began to focus once more. The little boy was gone and the feeling of arms around him was comforting. His head was nestled under someone's, a woman's, chin and those same gentle fingers, Lony's fingers, were running through his hair. But it wasn't Lony that was holding him. It was May.
Something was shielding his body from the sky's sobbing and the warm arms hugged him close. He clutched that warm person and tried to fight off the tightening in his shoulder blades. Something was coming. His gut was tightening in anticipation of… of what? His mind was a muddled mess of confusion and his body was trembling badly. He was aware of someone singing, or telling a story but he couldn't hear it. All his mind would concentrate on was the feeling of something big coming and the spider web of cracks on the walls in his mind. He could see them even though he was staring at the sodden earth near him. His head began to spin as the shadows loomed around him and his stomach lurched unhappily in his body. Bile rose in his throat but he fought it down. He could see the thick shadows now and on the horizon, when the morning would break, there would be even greater shadows coming towards them, shadows that he had seen before and that haunted his dreams. He couldn't push them away this time and tried to cling to May even more as the shadows began to close in.
"Something's coming," he whispered, his voice scratchy and hardly audible in his clogged throat. The shadows were growing thicker y the second and he wanted to leave. Go inside where it was warm and he was away from these tears and gulping sobs. But… the sky wasn't making those sounds. He wasn't making those sounds and neither was anyone else. The shadow of a little girl invaded his sight and the shadows shrank away from that image. The girl was sitting on a stone floor with a torn doll at her feet. He felt his heart start to crack at the sight of the little girl and tried to shove the image away but it would not fade like all the others had. The girl continued to cry great hiccupping sobs and the image of a little boy appeared. But this image reminded him of someone. As did the little girl. Numbness began to settle inside of him again and the warmth began to fade to be replaced by the icy comfort of that being that lurked in his mind and fed on something. He couldn't scream at it to let him go and his mind rebelled against him as more cracks appeared in the walls. He could feel someone shaking him and could hear someone shouting but he could not hear what this person was shouting. He felt something trickle down from his mouth and faintly tasted something metallic.
Slowly, his eyes began to loose their sight and tendrils of that blissful world began to reach for him. He accepted their embrace and let him pull him down into their world and away from these awful images and shadows that plagued him. He didn't know if his eyes closed and through the veil of blissful darkness he could see people staring at him fearfully. He felt his lips move and words escape him. He did not know what these words were before he fell completely into the darkest reaches of the world of those who slept.
"The shadows… are all around you… the come from… the horizon…" were the last words whispered into the sobbing night before the shadows receded to find another piece of flesh to terrorize.
An: sorry it took so long to get this chappy up but school started like two weeks ago. i'll try and get the next one up sooner.
Chapter 13
The sky was crying again. Its tears ran down his blissful face in tiny rivulets attempting to wash the ambrosia and darkness from him. His body moved. Then moved again. It was going forward, towards the final victim. The rabbit had made contact with the little boy in the park. The boy that was rotting under the swing set that they never thought to look under. His decomposing body had arisen from its earthen prison to send a message to the frightened little rabbit. Apparently, she had found his next target. The city of light was just over the horizon and he hoped that he could reach it by mid morning three days from now. He licked his lips as the anticipation and the thought of that sweet ambrosia flowing again. And the best part was that they didn't even know that he was coming.
A tingle began to run along his back as the feeling of something powerful grew stronger. He didn't know what it was or why it was making him feel anxious. Gentle fingers ran through his hair as his sleep-fogged mind began to awaken once more. There was the sound of a television and people talking. There was something really soft under him and something furry sitting against his stomach. His head was cushioned on someone's lap and the person's gentle fingers tugged his unruly hair free of the tiny tangles that riddled it. There was a pounding on the door and the talking died for a moment as someone opened it. A cry of alarm was heard and the door was shut from the dark and crying sky. Slowly, he pulled himself free of the comfort of the weightless, dreamless sleep world that he loved to inhabit. The light burned his sleepy eyes when h opened them and his ears slowly started to pick up the bits of conversation going on around him.
Irvine was talking to someone who was crying and the television was shut off. Slowly, cautiously, he opened his eyes again to view the world of those who were awake and the gentle fingers in his hair stilled. Someone was scolded and he rubbed at his eyes to rid them of the heavy veil of sleep they had been under. The furry thing was now propped on his side and watching something that was happening. He blinked slowly and let his eyes adjust to the light of the world of wakefulness before turning his head to look around the room. May was sitting in one of the armchairs and Seifer, who had been sitting in front of the couch, was missing. Irvine was also missing from his seat in the other armchair and the sounds of people talking were still present. Star squealed once he noticed that he was awake and nudged his chin. He lifted one heavy arm to pet the little moomba and turned his head to look up at Lony, whose lap he was currently using for a pillow. She smiled down at his sleepy form and scratched his head slightly. Star moved so he could roll onto his back then settled to lie on his stomach again.
"What's going on?" he asked sleepily and let a yawn escape from his throat. There was silence for a moment before bright emerald eyes in a childish like face streaked with the sky's tears and damp brown hair peered over the top of the couch at him. The person's eyes widened in shock then brimmed with tears when she saw him.
"Squall," she murmured. He rubbed his eyes again and nodded slightly.
"Who are you?" he asked the girl and instantly saw her expression change from joyful relief to crushed depression. He didn't understand why she had that look on her face. It was the same look that Irvine and Seifer had had when they saw him. A pang of recognition flitted through his heart and mind and an image tried to surface as well as a name but he shoved it back into the box it had slithered from. The girl smiled sadly down at him and scrubbed at her eyes.
"I'm Selphie. A friend of Irvine and Seifer's," she said softly. He blinked again and smiled slightly.
"Nice to meet you," he said and fought back another yawn. He sat up slowly and stretched ignoring Star's protest of giving up his warm napping spot. The little moomba curled up in Lony's lap and he could hear her groan.
"What am I? The Human Pillow?!" she cried unhappily. Squall looked back at her grinning.
"Yes, yes you are," he said and almost fell off the couch to avoid being hit with the pillow that she threw at him. Lony grumped unhappily and moved the little ball of orange fur to May and stood.
"I'll get you a towel, Selphie," Lony said and walked down the hall towards the bathroom. Seifer took Lony's vacated seat and peered at Selphie's sullen expression. May stood also and went into the kitchen. Squall scooted over and motioned for Selphie to sit down but Star quickly destroyed that option by curling up in the spot that Squall's body had warmed while he was sleeping.
"Are you looking for a friend too, Selphie?" he asked as he peered at the girl a bit shyly. Selphie blinked her large kitty cat eyes at him and nodded.
"Yeah, he disappeared a few weeks ago," she answered.
"Irvine and Seifer are looking for a friend too but I don't think they'll find him if they keep staying here," he noticed the surprise on Selphie's face as well as Seifer and Irvine's but he quickly forgot them when he heard thunder boom in the distance. Moving quickly to the window he grinned as he saw the tiny rivers on the glass. He saw Lony walk into the room fro, the faint reflection that the glass provided and turned to grin at her.
"It's raining!" he said happily and tore out of the house out into the crying night.
"Squall!" Lony yelled after him and stood in the doorway while he ran through the puddles that the sky had created from its tears. In his gleeful play amongst the falling tears he didn't push back a memory of a little boy running through the rain. Slowly, a faint image began to appear before his eyes and his laughing and glee slowly faded into the shadows of the night. The boy before him was running around happily, splashing in puddles and ignoring the shouts of the woman who was to be taking care of him. Other children were also playing in the rain but his eyes remained fixed on that little boy. Mud clung to his legs and the rain tried to wash it away but failed miserably. It was one of the few times that he would let tears cascade down his face and form little rivers that would stream down his little cheeks. His laughter was forced and the rain whipped at his clothes and punished his skin. The storm was bad but he continued to ignore the shouting. The howling of the wind cut into his ears and he knew that the other children were slowly going back inside for their amusement was done for now. However, as his sadness and misery grew his laughter faded and he stood in the rain and let its punishment tear at him.
The little boy slowly faded and the rain continued to pour down on him. The icy arms were around him again, soft and comforting. He felt so safe here but he knew that it could not last long. The arms tried to tighten around him but he struggled. He didn't want to let these arms take him to that place, wherever and whatever it was, he just didn't want to go. The arm wouldn't let go and he started to go numb. His cold body began to stop its struggling and his mind began to fall asleep. He couldn't fall asleep here. It was bad. He just knew that it was bad for him to fall asleep here. He didn't know why exactly but he couldn't fall asleep. The cold receded and was replaced by burning warmth. The sky's tears were gone and replaced by something pouring over him. The burning warmth entered his body and tried to warm it not matter what. The cold disappeared and slowly, his eyes began to focus once more. The little boy was gone and the feeling of arms around him was comforting. His head was nestled under someone's, a woman's, chin and those same gentle fingers, Lony's fingers, were running through his hair. But it wasn't Lony that was holding him. It was May.
Something was shielding his body from the sky's sobbing and the warm arms hugged him close. He clutched that warm person and tried to fight off the tightening in his shoulder blades. Something was coming. His gut was tightening in anticipation of… of what? His mind was a muddled mess of confusion and his body was trembling badly. He was aware of someone singing, or telling a story but he couldn't hear it. All his mind would concentrate on was the feeling of something big coming and the spider web of cracks on the walls in his mind. He could see them even though he was staring at the sodden earth near him. His head began to spin as the shadows loomed around him and his stomach lurched unhappily in his body. Bile rose in his throat but he fought it down. He could see the thick shadows now and on the horizon, when the morning would break, there would be even greater shadows coming towards them, shadows that he had seen before and that haunted his dreams. He couldn't push them away this time and tried to cling to May even more as the shadows began to close in.
"Something's coming," he whispered, his voice scratchy and hardly audible in his clogged throat. The shadows were growing thicker y the second and he wanted to leave. Go inside where it was warm and he was away from these tears and gulping sobs. But… the sky wasn't making those sounds. He wasn't making those sounds and neither was anyone else. The shadow of a little girl invaded his sight and the shadows shrank away from that image. The girl was sitting on a stone floor with a torn doll at her feet. He felt his heart start to crack at the sight of the little girl and tried to shove the image away but it would not fade like all the others had. The girl continued to cry great hiccupping sobs and the image of a little boy appeared. But this image reminded him of someone. As did the little girl. Numbness began to settle inside of him again and the warmth began to fade to be replaced by the icy comfort of that being that lurked in his mind and fed on something. He couldn't scream at it to let him go and his mind rebelled against him as more cracks appeared in the walls. He could feel someone shaking him and could hear someone shouting but he could not hear what this person was shouting. He felt something trickle down from his mouth and faintly tasted something metallic.
Slowly, his eyes began to loose their sight and tendrils of that blissful world began to reach for him. He accepted their embrace and let him pull him down into their world and away from these awful images and shadows that plagued him. He didn't know if his eyes closed and through the veil of blissful darkness he could see people staring at him fearfully. He felt his lips move and words escape him. He did not know what these words were before he fell completely into the darkest reaches of the world of those who slept.
"The shadows… are all around you… the come from… the horizon…" were the last words whispered into the sobbing night before the shadows receded to find another piece of flesh to terrorize.
