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Chapter Four

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The air made it hard to walk. As if it weren't hard enough to walk around in the dark... His legs were weak, they needed rest. But, he willed them on. He had already rested for a little bit. He needed to walk around for a while now. This would increase, or decrease, his chances of getting out of this place. Still, it was so hard to get his legs to take steps forward.

Closing his eyes, he continued walking as best he could. More often than not, he did this--closed his eyes while walking. Really, there was no point in looking at the darkness. It would only remind him more of the fact that he was alone in this place. So, when he closed his eyes, some memories would always appear... He wasn't sure if they were only his imagination, but he felt them and saw them as if he had been there himself.

He couldn't sleep.


Mommy and Daddy had told him to go to bed, school started tomorrow. But, he was so nervous... His best friend Sora was younger than he was... So, they wouldn't be in the same grade.. He didn't even start this year. What if he couldn't make any friends? Of course, there was that Wakka kid, but he didn't really know him all that well. Being someplace other than at home wouldn't feel right without Sora being there.


He stared up at his ceiling. Watching the fan spin around at medium speed. His window was always left open on winter nights. The islands did get cold, but never cold enough for snow to come. Leaving the windows open for the cold air to come inside would lower down the bill on the electricity. His parents weren't especially wealthy. Middle-class, one could say.


He watched the curtains blow around in the wind. Swishing this way and that. At least, he hoped it was the wind... Not a ghost or something... He brought his blanket up and over his mouth while his eyes darted around the room nervously. Now, that he thought about it, every shadow in his room did seem to resemble some sort of bogeyman or ghost..


Sora was usually with him. Either he would be at Sora's house or Sora would be at his. But, Sora couldn't come over today since he had to go to bed early because of school. He never told anyone but Sora and Mommy but, he was always afraid of the dark. Afraid that some monster would come out from a corner, grab him and take him away forever. That's usually why Mommy let Sora stay so often. She guessed that having a friend over would make him less scared.


And he did make him a little braver. Sora was younger than he was, so he tried to be a little braver than he really was. But... there were times when he couldn't stand being alone.. Like, if Sora got up at night to get a class of water or go to the bathroom, he would curl up in bed, under the covers, with his eyes shut tight and pretend he never left. Pretend that Sora's body was still next to his.. that he didn't have to be afraid.


But, today just wasn't the case. So, he decided he would get up and ask Mommy and Daddy if he could sleep with them. He sat up with his blanket still wound around him and looked over at the door crack where a small amount of light came in through. He looked to the windows and corners and threw his legs over the side of the bed, holding his blanket. He took a deep breath, held onto his blanket tighter, before stepping off and running to the door as fast as his legs could take him. He made it and came into the hallway!


Just as the electricity went off...


His eyes widened in the dark and he whimpered quietly, holding his blanket to his chest protectively. The shadows now covered the floor and he was scared that some sort of monster was already crawling on the floor, making its way to him..


Rubbing his cheek against the soft material of the blanket, he started taking small steps towards his Mommy's room. He could almost see the door to their room at the end of the hallway. Could almost see his mother's smile while she waited for him... He bit his bottom lip lightly and started walking faster.


That's when he heard it.. the noise downstairs.


His body stopped functioning. He couldn't breathe, couldn't move. He ducked down and hid his face in the softness of his blanket as the noises, albeit small noises, continued. He stiffened when he heard some sort of voice. He looked up from the material on his blanket. He could see three dark shadows moving around downstairs. Not in the form of monsters, though. In the form of humans...


When the figures walked into the downstairs guest room, he got up and ran into the closet into the closet in the hallway outside his parents' bedroom. He closed the door and slid down the wall until he was sitting. He could see into the hallway through the slots that made up the door and he scooted to the side so he could see the stairs. He was slightly trembling in fear.. which only increased when he heard the footsteps on the stairs.


He held his breath--or maybe he just couldn't breathe?--as he watch two of the figures walk past the closet and to his parents' bedroom. His mouth opened to tell them to stop, or anything, but then it closed again. He was too afraid to make a noise. Too afraid to warn his parents.


Too afraid to save them.


One of the men opened the door and the other stormed in with a gun held in front of him. The other man reached over and switched on the rooms' light. He saw his father sit up in bed and then stand up, his mother crawling over to his side of the bed and then standing up behind him.


"What are you doing in my house! Get out before I call the police!" His father's voice boomed.


"Shut up! You won't be calling anyone! We're the ones with the guns! We give the orders now!" The man holding the gun up shook it at pointed it at Daddy and Mommy. His mother cried out and hid her face in his father's shoulder while his father spread his arms, swallowing down his fear. "If you even think about doing anything, we'll go into the other room... You two being young, be can only imagine what's in that room. Not another guest room, ne?" He smirked and his mother's eyes widened.


"Riku!" She cried out in fear. His father grabbed her hand in comfort.


"Get out of my house..." His father wasn't talking anymore, he was growling.


And he stared. Could do nothing but watch. The rest of it was blurry... He could only see the man waving the gun around, then his father running towards him with his fists raised. Then, he just fell. His mother was the next to run up, but towards his father, then she fell too...


Then... He fell.

He didn't know what was going on. He was in a closet one moment, now he was in water. He couldn't breathe. He was still so weak, it was hard to swim. He had fallen into some sort of dark lake in this place and now he didn't know which way to swim. Well, swimming upwards would be a good idea since he was running out of air. His legs swished around as hard as he could and he swished his arms around, struggling to make it to the surface.

When he made it to the surface, he took a deep breath before being pulled down again. His energy was quickly deserting him, as was the air in his lungs. His eyes were wide open, even though he couldn't see anything--it was too dark. But, he kept kicking his legs and hoping to make it to the surface.

Wait. Why did he want to make it the surface anyway? What was waiting for him up there when he made it back? Who would tell him that they were glad he was alive and that he made it out of the water? Who would ask him if he was okay? Who cared...?

He didn't.

His legs stopped kicking and he could imagine the little bubbles of air escaping his nose and mouth. He stared up for a moment longer before closing his eyes and.. smiling. He went limp, felt so relaxed. He hadn't felt like this in... Actually, he couldn't remember ever feeling like this.

Maybe this was what it was like to be happy. To be free.

The pain in his lungs reminded his body of the need to breathe, but he just didn't care. He didn't want to breathe in that same old "air," if that's what it could be called. He wanted to be on that island.. with that boy. He wanted to see him smile.. see him laugh... Go fishing with him.. or swimming. He just wanted to be with him... To be with Sora.

And as he sunk down, all he could think about were those bright, blue eyes which were on that sun kissed face that held that grin.

'Sora...'

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Gah, weird chapter, I know. But, again thank you for all your reviews I haven't gotten any flames, either! wags tail I'm so happy now. Well, until next chappie! ... Review?