Chapter 45: Komm Susser Tod

I know

I know I've let you down

I've been a fool to myself

I thought that I could live for no one else

But now

Through all the hurt and pain

It's time for me to respect

The ones you love mean more than anything

So with sadness in my heart

Feel the best thing I could do

Is end it all and leave forever

What's done is done

It feels so bad

What once was happy now is sad

I'll never love again

My world is ending

Komm Susser Tod – Neon Genesis Evangelion

Sunday morning dawned to find Tifa, Cloud and Reeve heading to the café. They had been awake all night trying to figure out what to do and had eventually decided to ask Barret. It was 5:00 am when Tifa unlocked the café door and they went inside to find Barret. The enormous black man came downstairs a few minutes later.

"What's goin' on? Do you know what time it is?" His eyes fell on Tifa's black eye.

"Tifa! What happened?"

"I got mugged on the way home last night. It's not important. Look." She handed him the bracelet and the note. He sank onto a stool.

"I found it last night. We didn't know what to do." Tifa said. Barret reached for the telephone.

"We call the police. Where's Aeris?"

"She and Vincent have gone away for the weekend. They'll be back tonight, but we don't know where they went."

Barret dialled the phone and said,

"I'm Barret Wallace. My daughter found a threat in her mail, for her roommate. Yes, it's an emergency. Barret's Café. Thanks." He hung up the phone, "They'll be here in half an hour."

"And this was already in your room when you get there?" The policeman said, scribbling on a pad as a policewoman put the bracelet and the note into a clear plastic bag.

"Yeah. The post arrived after I had left for work. I'd only just got back." Tifa told him.

"And the black eye?" He asked, eyeing the bruise.

"I got mugged on the way home. They took my bag."

"Did you see who it was?"

"No. They'd gone by the time I got up. James walked me home." Tifa said.

"James?"

"James Winters. He's… he was Aeris' boyfriend. They broke up in October, I think it was. But he's been a bit crazy about it. Trying to break up her and her boyfriend. He and Vincent, that's the boyfriend, they got into a fight once."

The policeman noted all of that down and said,

"You think he could be a suspect."

"No." Cloud said firmly. They all looked at him.

"Are you sure?" The man asked. Cloud nodded.

"Yes. That bracelet, Eric Gainsborough gave that to Aeris. That was way after James and Aeris broke up. James didn't even know about Eric. It couldn't have been him. Plus he's still completely into Aeris. He wouldn't send her this."

But the policeman had started and turned to his partner. She nodded in confirmation of his unspoken suspicion.

"Eric Gainsborough."

"What about him?" Barret asked. The woman sighed, taking her hat off and rubbing her head.

"He was attacked. He was staying in Junon when it happened. He's in extremely bad health in hospital. We don't know if he's going to make it yet." She told them. The policeman turned to them.

"We need to know where Aeris Gainsborough is, and with who."

"We don't know. She and Vincent went away for the weekend. They're coming back tonight." Reeve told them.

The woman asked,

"Vincent's second name?"

"Valentine. No, Hojo maybe. He changed it to Valentine." Tifa said.

"We'll try and track them down. In the mean time, we must insist that you don't tell anyone about this."

"What about Aeris' parents?"

"We'll talk to them. Can you give us their address and telephone number?" Whilst Cloud did this Tifa turned to the female officer.

"Can't you tell us what's going on?"

"I'm afraid not, miss. But would you tell me the contents of your bag, so we can try and find it? Do you think this attack was related to the note?"

"No, it was just someone after my bag. It had my purse and keys, but I have spares."

"You'll have to get your locks changed. We'll try and find your bag."

"Thanks… Oh! Aeris' mobile phone!"

Tifa seized the phone and dialled the number.

Aeris lay with her feet on the pillow, sitting at the wrong end of the bed whilst Vincent sat at the opposite end. She smiled.

"You know what?"

"What?"

"I think you need a haircut." Vincent touched his hair.

"No I don't."

"You do. I noticed it last night."

"My hair was what you were paying attention to last night?" He said incredulously. Aeris laughed.

Vincent looked at the time. It was around 6:45.

"We should get up. I've got plans for us today."

"Oh really? It's rather early, isn't it?"

"Yes. But it's going to take a while in the car, so we need to get going soon."

"Where are we going?"

"Secret." She threw a pillow at him.

Downstairs, her phone rang. But it was on silent, so no one heard it.

Tifa groaned in despair.

"Nothing. It must be on silent."

"Give us the number and we'll track it down." The male officer said, writing notes on his pad.

Cloud looked at the officers.

"Can you call us as soon as you find something?"

"Sure. We'll call you here. Thanks for your help."

As the police left they sat down in silence. Tifa sniffed hard.

"I can't believe it… what if they can't find her?"

"They will. And tonight she'll be back here, safe and sound." Barret said.

"I want to know what's going on! It's so unfair…" Cloud muttered angrily. Reeve looked at the time.

"I'm going to call Yuffie."

"What about the Turks? Shouldn't someone tell them?" Tifa said. Barret nodded.

"I'll give Marlene a call and tell her to contact them. In the meantime, I'll make you all something to eat."

No one was really hungry, but it was a matter of life and death to turn down Barret's cooking.

Infalna and Matthew stared aghast at the officers.

"Someone's after Aeris?"

"I'm afraid so. It is urgent that we find Aeris immediately. After the attack on Eric Gainsborough, we fear for her safety." The officer said solemnly.

"What happened to him?" Matthew asked.

Vincent and Aeris walked, arms around each other, down the alley. It was now about 9 in the morning. Vincent was parked near the town centre. They set off down the road, towards the sea.

"A man called Lucas Palmer. Eric Gainsborough owed him money. An extremely large amount of it," the officer explained to Aeris' horrified parents, "Eric was counting on getting money from Aeris, from what we understand. When she refused to give it to him he had to explain to Palmer that he didn't have it. He's been on the run from Palmer since then. Two days ago, Palmer caught up to him."

Aeris flicked the radio on. The Turks were on, singing "All Star." She immediately started to sing along, as Vincent smiled, driving comfortably. The sun beat down, casting warm rays over the countryside. Aeris sang,

"Somebody once told me, the world is gonna roll me, I ain't the sharpest tool in the shed…"

"Near death?" Infalna said in horror. The policeman nodded.

"Eric probably explained that Aeris had lots of money and now Palmer is out to get his money. And if he can't get it, taking the life of Eric's only daughter is going to teach him a lesson."

"Aeris…" Infalna sobbed as Matthew held her.

Yuffie listened in shock.

"No freakin' way! Someone's trying to kill Aeris?!"

"We need to stay calm. Chances are the police have already caught up to Aeris and taking care of her right now." Barret said. Cloud was pacing the café impatiently. Barret had put up the closed sign so they wouldn't be interrupted, in case the police called. Reeve was hugging the shocked Yuffie and Tifa was huddled on a chair, chewing her lip, occasionally wincing as her eye twinged.

They drove along a deserted lane, with rough ditches along the sides. The song faded away and Vincent said,

"We're nearly there. Another fifteen minutes maybe."

"I wanna know where we're going!"

"And I'm not going to tell you. You'll have to wait."

"Urgh, if I didn't love you so much I'd hit you!"

"It's never stopped you before." He said cynically, casting her a sideways look.

"We have people out searching for your daughter and for Vincent Hojo, or Valentine. We'll call you as soon as we know anything." The officer said, standing. Matthew stood to shake his hand, but Infalna couldn't move. Sobs racked her body as she wept into her hands.

It happened so quickly. The bonnet of the car gave an enormous bang and black smoke started to pour from it. The car jolted and Vincent wrenched at the steering wheel. The car fell into the ditch by the side of the road, tumbling over and over. Aeris was screaming as the glass shattered and Vincent shouted her name, but then there was nothing but silence…

Everyone in Barret's café looked up sharply as the telephone rang.

(A/N: LOL, another cliffy, I'm afraid! But the good news is that I'm getting back into my stride! I'm back on course and ready to get writing again. Thanks for all the reviews, you're all lovely. I love you guys! I don't know the artist of the song, but it's a great song and there is a website where you can download it. If you want to know where, just email me. My address is in my profile. In the mean time, please review and I'll try to update soon.)