This is my first horror and I was inspired to write this after watching Battle Royale. I just wanted to write something a bit different to the usual FF8 stuff Please review it! It's gets more gory as the chapters progress...

Chapter one - Observed

She had dreamt beforehand.

It had been a stupid dream full of disjointed images fluttering like wings of a butterfly in her mind: an empty purse, a wine glass filling with blood, her enlarged shadow desperately trying to embrace her, an unfamiliar house drifting away in the distance.

I suppose then she thought it was meaningless. But all dreams have a meaning, and that dream wasn't so much an expression of hidden emotions but a warning. Some would say a vision. You see; dreams are messages sent to us by our subconscious mind while our conscious mind sleeps. These messages take form in a variety of surreal symbols, peculiar images and unfamiliar or familiar surroundings. We witness our true feelings, we open doors that we try desperately to close while we are awake.

If only Selphie had seen the meaning – no – warning, behind hers. Though, I wonder, even if she had told people, who would've believed her? I know I wouldn't of. It's so easy to overlook the fragile memories of our sleep.

Besides, if anyone had listened to her, would they of been able to prevent the catastrophe to occur? Who knows. The only thing I know is what did happen…

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As soon as Selphie Tilmitt woke from her slumber she knew something was wrong, something was different. The feeling was so intense that it made her feel queasy; it made her stomach turn and twist and she thought she was going to be sick. Every fibre in her body quavered with a semi-conscious knowledge that something wasn't quite right. She clutched the sheets on her bed and stared with bulging eyes around the room, half expecting some sort of demon to be leering back with a heinous smile full of yellow teeth.

And it was while she was scouting her dormitory for inexistent monsters that she suddenly remembered her dream. She recalled it as any dreamer would, all the images and scenes veiled in mist: unclear and unorganised, senseless and surreal, just out of grasp and focus, the symbols becoming manipulated by the conscious mind. These random images disturbed her slightly, as most dream-like images do; yet it held a strange comfort for the girl. She came to the conclusion that her fear was due to the dream; something that accompanies a dreamer after they've awoken. Perhaps it was nothing after all.

I'm being foolish. There's nothing wrong. Everything's fine. Everything's normal. I'll go outside and there'll be another day of Garden to complete. My friends will be waiting for me. There's absolutely, completely, totally nothing wrong, nothing wrong at all, there's nothing wrong, there's nothing wrong nothing wrong there's nothing wrong there'snothingwrongnothingwrong…

She jumped when she saw it. It had blended in quite well and it surprised her more that she'd even noticed it, a tiny grey smudge against the cream coloured walls, a red light shining in its corner.

Selphie got out of bed and approached the blinking camera cautiously. How long had it been there? Why hadn't she noticed it before? Why…why was it watching her?

The brunette stood on her tiptoes and tapped it with her finger, her nail making a soft clicking sound as it met the glass. She studied it for some time while her distorted, black reflection studied her back from the confines of the tiny lens. She decided that it definitely wasn't here before she'd gone to bed and she put her hands on her slender hips, shaking her head.

'If this is some kinda sick joke,' she announced to the camera, 'then it's not funny.'

She looked around her private room expectantly. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up and icy fingers ran down her spine. She was frozen to the spot with an unexplained fear and she wanted to close her eyes and wake up but just stood there instead as a thought wormed its way into her head.

Someone's listening to you. Someone's watching you…

She tried to make sense of the camera and sighed but it came out in a strangled sob. She tapped it once more and found her hand shaking uncontrollably.

Cool it, Selphie. It's just a joke. Probably Irvine wanting to see me undress or something; don't know why I'm getting so worked up over nothing. She laughed nervously to herself. It was horribly loud in her empty room and she silenced herself quickly. Nothing's wrong, you hear me?

'Nothing's wrong!'

THEN WHY AM I SO DAMN SCARED?

With a controlled precision she began to dress and wash. She did it all slowly, knowing that if she hurried she would lose her concentration and rationality and the panic would take over to get the hell out of this room.

When she had donned her navy school attire she took several deep breaths trying to calm her and rid the dark thoughts that had suddenly clouded her vision like a storm gathering beneath a lapis sky.

She shivered, shaking off the suspicious thoughts that whispered ominously in her mind. She grabbed her bag and reached the door in four strides, failing to notice the other five cameras watching her from various places.

There were three things that the bubbly brunette noticed as she stood in the hallway outside her dormitory. The first thing was that the nagging feeling that something was wrong burned in her mind stronger now, incessant and unnerving. The second thing was that it was dead silent, an obtrusive silence; one of the loudest noises that she had ever heard. But it was the third that worried her immensely; it made her fear spit and claw inside her stomach like an angry cat: the Garden was motionless. It wasn't drifting on the sea. It wasn't hovering above the ground. The engines weren't even running!

At least that explains why it's so quiet, Selphie reasoned with herself, longing for the soothing drone of the Garden's mechanics.

Something's wrong.

Selphie hopped nervously from foot to foot looking left and right as if crossing a busy street, but abruptly stopped when the eerie tap-tap-tap of her echo answered her. She considered removing her boots so they wouldn't make a noise but laughed inwardly at such a bizarre thought.

Right. Enough is enough. Time to get to class! I'm probably just late that's all, that's why nobody's

(in the Garden)

out in the hallway. See? I'm feeling better already. Nothing like good old reasoning, hey Selph? I'm so paranoid! Yep, I'll just get to class and everything will be normal and good.

After making a mental note to kill Irvine for putting the camera up in her room, she skipped off down the corridor, thinking how stupid she had been.

I mean there's probably a logical explanation for why the Garden isn't running. Maybe it's out of power…or broke down…or something. Well, anyway I'll find out after class. Which reminds me, I have to –

Something's wrong.

The green-eyed girl had entered the main circular hall. The silence hit her first; it was like hitting a brick wall. It hung heavily in the air, thick and intoxicating, completely unnatural, and Selphie found herself drowning in it, struggling through the infinite layers that were suspended around her. She hadn't expected this. She had expected at least a few students wandering around.Her surroundings were completely deserted.

The young SeeD felt so small and vulnerable amid the hall that domed out above her and the walkways that stretched around her like pointing fingers. Suddenly Balamb Garden, which she had begun to call her home, felt dreadfully unfamiliar. And although she seemed to be alone…she felt like she wasn't.

There's someone watching…

'H-hello?' The silence shivered around her, irked at being stirred from its peaceful solitude. 'Anybody…here?'

No response.

Selphie licked her dry lips and begged to be woken from the nightmare. She pinched her china-white skin until crescent shaped slivers of blood quivered on its surface. Was she really here alone? What in Hyne was going on?

All right, all right, Selphie. Think. Think. I can't possibly be alone here. Where should I go? The infirmary! If something has happened

(something really really bad has happened)

Doctor Kadowaki would know!

Selphie gingerly moved down the walkway with a nervous swiftness that kept her from breaking into a run. Her heart was thundering in her chest, her leaf-green eyes shifted this way and that; she balled her fists and clutched them against her chest in a physiological attempt to protect herself. True, she was in a state of terror that could not be matched – until later. Even after, she could not decide what was more terrifying: not knowing what had happened or knowing what had happened.

Sudden flashes would catch her eye as she near-jogged round the circular walkway to the infirmary, though she wasn't sure what it was. All she knew is that it made her twice as scared and suspicious, increasing her speed and longing to reach the medical centre.

The entrance to the doctor's working home slid aside with an automatic shush and she was greeted with an empty room. She stepped nervously into the infirmary, which looked the same as when she last saw it; Doctor Kadowaki's files were still in a neat pile on her desk, the computer was switched off, the air smelt of disinfectant and the curtain was blowing in a lazy breeze emitting from outside the open window. Still, that odd silence drifted lazily in the air.

Selphie swallowed nervously.

Something's wrong.

'Um… Doctor Kadowaki?' she called, lingering hesitantly by the door. 'Are you here? I-it's me…Selphie Tilmitt. Are you-'

'Selphie? S-Selphie… is that you?'

Selphie let out a startled cry and jumped back, making the door operate, causing her leap forward again in surprise. From her new position she could see a girl from her class curled up in a ball beneath the doctors desk. The girl stared up at her with brown eyes as large and as scared as a rabbits. Selphie kneeled down to her level.

'Moeru… is that you? What are you doing?'

Moeru leaped out from beneath the desk and captured the SeeD in a firm embrace.

'Selphie! It's really you! I'm so glad I'm not alone anymore!'

So this is real…

Selphie pushed her fellow SeeD away and asked, 'Moeru, tell me, what is going on here?'

The raven-haired girl tugged at one of her two plaits and gaped for a moment at the brunette. She shook her head. 'Oh Selphie. I don't know! I woke up this morning and – and everyone was gone! Garden wasn't moving and I thought we'd crashed and then I came here looking for the doctor but – but then I saw…'

She pointed to the table opposite them. Selphie turned and her heart leapt to her mouth. An injection needle lay there covered in blood.

Something's

Selphie recoiled in horror as she registered just how much blood there was. There was a puddle on the table and it was dripping onto the floor in thick, slurping globules, staining the white tiled floor and forming another puddle.

Wrong

Her voice had prickles, and those prickles became lodged in her throat preventing speech. Goosebumps raised their backs all over her body and she felt the blood drain from her face and a cold sweat form on her brow. She tried to swallow but found that her mouth was completely dry.

'I – I don't know what happened,' she heard Moeru say as if from a distance. 'I saw it when I came in b-but there's n-no body or anything…'

Selphie finally turned back to her. 'Have you seen anyone else?'

Moeru shook her head violently and added, 'I can't find my weapon either. I've looked everywhere. There's… there's not a-any type of weaponry about!'

'Is that why you were hiding?'

'Yes…but, I was also hiding from that.'

Selphie followed where she was looking and couldn't believe what she was seeing.

'Another one…'

The camera watched them incessantly, observing their every move, its red light blinking methodically. Selphie felt a shiver run up her spine and down again. What is this?

'There are loads of them,' Moeru added, her voice quavered as she pointed to three more cameras, each with their little grey bodies turned to look at the girls kneeling on the floor. Selphie felt sick again.

'W-we have to find out…what's going o-on. Come on, we have to find the others.'

'B-but what if there aren't any others?' Moeru objected, her voice cracking with fear. 'Can't we wait here until someone finds us? They'll come wont they?'

Selphie gave her a sharp look. But what will we do if the person that used the needle comes first? 'There will be others. Squall must be here somewhere. He'll know what to do.'

She stood up on unsteady legs and reached down for her friend's hand, trying to avoid looking – or thinking – about the blood soaked needle on the table just a few feet from where she stood. She didn't want to know at the moment why it was there and why there was so much blood; she wanted to find Irvine and Rinoa, Zell and Quistis and Squall, Hyne, she wanted to find everyone! There had to be a logical explanation for what was going on.

Moeru kept a firm grasp of Selphie's hand as they exited the infirmary. Selphie's heart was pounding and she cursed the clop-clop their shoes made against the floor.

As they made their way around the walkway Selphie's mind involuntarily slipped back to the blood soaked needle on the infirmary table. The needle had been used as a weapon; she was sure of it, and she feared for her boyfriend's safety and that of her friends. She felt helpless, a boat being carelessly tossed by a stormy sea. She wanted Irvine with her, wanted to see him smile his charming, lop-sided grin and tell her it would be okay. But by now she knew that it wasn't okay and if she wanted Irvine with her she'd have to be strong and find out what the hell is going on?

The pair was outside the elevator now, on their way to Cid's office and it was as Selphie pressed the button to open the doors that she saw it: a flash of black against a watery background; out of place yet well known. Selphie's heart leapt and she forgot about the approaching elevator and sprinted down the steps, hand in hand with Moeru, calling after him frantically.

'Squall! Squall!'

But as she circled around the side of the central structure he was gone. She was disappointed but unperturbed and after hesitating for just a second to recover her bearings, resumed sprinting after him in the only place she thought he would have gone.

He couldn't of gone far in such a short space of time. He must be in the nearest place, which is the library. I'm so sure it's Squall, he'll know what's going on.

Selphie dragged Moeru behind her and hurtled through the library doors expecting to see Squall standing before her, arms crossed, pensive expression and moody frown etched into his features. But it wasn't Squall.

It was just horrific.