Stained Souls
Chapter 12: A Word of Caution
Once Cloud reached the bed he crashed for the first time in a long age of insomnia. His deep state of sleep lost track of the hours, that it had been afternoon the next day when Vincent woke him up. The solider expected Marlene, who was the only one brave enough of the children to come into his room, but to his shock it was the phantom ex-Turk himself.
Cloud started at the sight to the gothic dressed man who towered over Cloud, showing no expression through his crimson eyes. Cloud's aqua eyes were hard to adjust to the falling sun and the deeply shaded room that he had to blink constantly for a minuet.
"What time is it?" He asked groggily as he asserted himself up.
"Almost five." Vincent answered. "Marlene told me that you came in yesterday night and went straight to bed. Whatever you were doing must have really worn you out." His last sentence caught Cloud's mind.
"It wasn't that," Cloud defended. "I haven't slept in weeks. Just today it caught up with me." Vincent paced around the bemused room until he stopped to pick up a photo album. His clawed hand flicked through the pages gently. Every now and then his eyes would flash in a smile when he saw a familiar face.
"Looking into the past is something I didn't expect from you, Cloud." Vincent mused. Cloud got up from the bed and came to look over Vincent's shoulder.
A photo showed of Tifa as the small tomboy he knew as a child. That girl developed into a rebellious teenager and a charming young woman through the pages. Cloud smiled silently at those times when his feelings were plain and noncomplex as they were now. You could imagine how much he desired to go back to those years, if only for a day.
Vincent turned the page and a photo showing of Cloud armed and armed with a smiling friend, dressed in soldier uniform just as he did.
"Stop it!" Cloud slammed the book shut and threw it to the ground. Vincent looked at the lying volume and slowly grabbed it to place the book on the dresser. Cloud watched him intently to make sure he didn't open it again.
"I came here for a favor." Vincent said quietly. Cloud's eyes left the book. "There is a message I want you to deliver to Reno so he can send it to his source. Will you do that?" He handed Cloud a sealed envelope with no name. The blonde fiddled with the paper. "Don't open it." Vincent's words were stern and precise before he left Cloud to himself.
He heard Vincent's steps grow faint and silent once he left the house. Not another thing stirred in the afternoon. Tifa must have taken the kids out for the day. Cloud predicted. He was alone with the letter that seemed to have grown more and more interesting to him. The solder believed the letter had something in there he should know of, and it beckoned him to open it.
At first Cloud threw the letter on the dresser but even from across the room or out, its cry still filled Cloud's mind. As what all men do, he broke under its persuasion and ripped opened the letter:
"I have located the murder of these past cases and must inform you to alert the other former scientists of Shinra's Corp. In fact the predator has grown to predators. There are three to be exact from the following details of how each death was done. Their names are uncertain and so are their motives but from many witnesses they are described to share similar qualities: silver hair and green eyes with a white complexion. If it is true that these are the last clones then its possible all who are connected with the fall of Shinra and the General should be put on immediate alert. You and I myself should stay low and not cause a spectral to lure them in. I was able to claim one of these men's names and it so happens to be the leader's. Kadaj is what I found out the most complex case ever, also the most dangerous. I hesitate to inform the surviving members of the rebellious group in fear of panic; especially to the planet's hero. His state, I must inform, is very delicate at the moment and not prepared to again go on a crusade of some sort. Plan now is to inform the scientists and members and go into hiding. Stay low."
Cloud's assumption was far off of what the real meaning to the letter was. He expected Vincent would write matters like the rebuilding of the city, but to his shear shock it contained the alert for assassins. And one of the targets was not only those from Shinra but Avalanche! Cloud wore a torn look on his face. Not another one! Not another one to kill. Cloud read the letter again and again, slowing down to the point of detail about Kadaj. "Silver hair and green eyes with a white complexion" It struck a memory of Sephiroth in Cloud.
He remembered that he must go to Reno at once and deliver the message before nightfall. Cloud sealed the letter in another enveloped identical to the last and started out of the house. He made his way straight to Reno's residence and not the place where they usually meet. Wait! Cloud stopped short on the sidewalk. Today is not the day to meet Reno. He wouldn't be there to receive the letter and Vincent knows that. He felt his heart gasped beneath his chest. He knows that I have been where Reno lives. An inpatient man pushed past Cloud.
Sense came back to him with that shove and retained control over his body. He couldn't think now, this wasn't the time or place to delay. Cloud continued walking on Soul Street which will eventually turn into Stained Blvd.
When he arrived to the Courtyard Hotel a cry in him pleaded to turn back. It's no fun in indulging in your secret when someone else knows. But the thought of the letter and its importance stuck him again. Many would suffer including those he knew if this letter would never be reached. He knocked on the door.
Reno knew the knock wouldn't be Rude unless he lost the card key again. The Turk hid the gun in his back pocket, incase it would be a maid or some sort. But a quaint little woman didn't stand by the door. The person instead was Cloud and looking mildly distressed.
"Cloud?" Reno awed. "What are you doing here! If Rude catches you—'' Reno stopped by Cloud's questioning look. "Never mind, come in." Cloud entered as Reno closed the door behind them.
"I came to deliver this letter." Cloud handed Reno the envelope. "Vincent wants it given to your source and no one else to read but him." Reno felt that the envelope was rather newly made then it had been written yesterday or longer.
"What's wrong Cloud?" Reno asked. He noticed Cloud's frown.
"You should be alert. Both you and Rude."
"Why?" Reno was beginning to worry desperately.
"You and him are the last Turks. Shinra's most prized warriors. He might come after you next."
"Who's—'' Reno began but Cloud covered his mouth with his hand.
"Just do it!" He whispered. Cloud looked at Reno for a long time, deciding to kiss him or not. The soldier decided not, incase it would flame something else. Reno was taken aback by Cloud's actions but something in his manner and tone told him to send this message. The familiar plead from the letter reached Reno's ears but only faint enough to ignore it. He already knew what kind of message was contained in that letter. Reno pulled his gun out and made sure it was loaded.
The sky was beginning to glow red, a color that annoyed Cloud's sensitive eyes. But it didn't affect the icy green eyes that watched him. Kadaj was squeezed between two buildings, cramped in the small alleyway designed for a use of orphans. But his thin frame was perfect for it. He stared intently on Cloud and every detail. How he looked, how he walked, how he carried himself. Truthfully Kadaj was stunned that this was the hero.
He expected some bulky guy to thick in the head and easy for the kill. But this one interested Kadaj. His youth was obvious that he didn't live past even 25 years however; his eyes carried a burden heavy enough to fit the hero of the planet.
The killer picked out his GPS and dialed a number. Yazoo picked up on the other line. "I found him." He simply said. Yazoo and feel him smirking from afar.
"And?" He asked.
"Not exactly what I expected." He confessed.
"Really. How so?" Yazoo questioned.
"Well he's prettier then I thought." Kadaj knew this would heat Yazoo but the other remained neutral to his teasing.
"I expected so. Tell me of him." Yazoo asked.
"Young, blonde hair, blue mako eyes and a good body from what I can tell." Yazoo chuckled softly.
"No wonder Sephiroth was infatuated with him." Kadaj remembered that. "So what are you going to do now?" Yazoo asked.
"I'm going to hang around longer and then I'll kill him."
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