Hello, this is the introduction to my newest fanfic/summer blockbuster, hehe. Anyway, I won't update this piece until I finish my other story first, which is happening soon... real soon. I have to get the drama in this story out of the way before anything else can happen, and yes this will be a romance later on. As some of you, quite a few, know me by now, I usually take my time with the romantic stuff... (I don't believe in love at first sight, lol, I know that sucks!) Soooo...just tell me what you think, and I'll immediately (sometime next week) begin to update like crazy.

Thanks.

StardustRay

Eternal Disclaimer: I own Squaresoft and Square-Enix!

...eh, c'mon, its reverse psychology! And Don't Sue 'cause you won't get anything...

Between Heaven and Hell

Prologue

"In a world gone mad, the ramifications of a gruesome murder ought to be handled without sympathy for the guilty. No longer will they rot in their very own prison cells, but thrown on a God-forsaken continent covered with thick, mossy forests and strange beasts lurking within every shadow. These men and women will earn the right to die by the jaws of beasts, which reflects their very own horrific practices of murder to others. In such a place will they no longer have the urge to kill, but they will spend eternity living life on the edge; afraid to turn every corner and never having inner peace. Roles will reverse. For the first time, murderers will become victims. They deserve to perish, and die a thousand deaths by the fangs of those higher above on the food chain, the T-Rexaurs."

Dr. Odine

I once agreed with those words. I practically lived my life by them; knowing that every evil person would perish a well deserved fate. I thought they all earned the right to the death sentence, and that it was good the world would be safer since people like them were being destroyed.

It was three months ago when the Esthar Government began to sentence criminals to that deserted continent. Convicts were chained together, unarmed, and let loose to roam about those forests like wild animals. Every last person who was sent there had died, some had even begged for death on live TV before being sent to that place, but to no avail.

I always felt safe at home with my family. I would sit on that comfortable sofa and judge convicts featured on the television's screen, crying out their eyes about being sorry for the suffering they caused…and I would…laugh.

I laughed at them for who they were and what they had done, and how they so greatly deserved death, but…the last time I paid close attention to TV…I was the one being judged.

How ironic is it? All those years I spent looking down at murderers…and now I am one. At least that's what they want me to believe, but I don't buy it one bit. It was all because of that girlfriend of mine…she was supposed to be my fiancée had I gotten the chance to propose.

She was the most beautiful person I knew. I learned so much from her, from Selphie. I loved her with all of my heart, and I was ready to share the rest of my life with her; however, she didn't feel the same way about me. I used to think so, but when I look back at the times we shared, I realize I was only fooling myself. I used to be so optimistic about everything whenever she was around…and on that dreadful morning, I do believe I was ready to take on the world.

I was an editor at my dad's magazine company, and a good one at that. This particular morning, he had promised to give me a new assignment; he would let me write my own article instead of editing someone else's work. Selphie waved me off from our apartment and gave me as much support as I had ever seen in my life…I should have known something would happen.

When I arrived in the office, my dad was no where to be found. He had received an offer of expanding the magazine so that people of foreign countries could read too. No, I wasn't disappointed, I was glad that my dad got an offer as great as that one. Because he wasn't there and no one had any new articles to edit, I decided to leave early for the day.

Selphie was home, as I had expected, but then… someone else was there too.

Have you ever been betrayed? Have you ever had all of the blood in your body pump to yourbrain at an incredible speed which causes your entire body to feel as though it will combust?

… In our bed lay Selphie and some stranger. She ran her fingers through his hair and kissed his cheek, unaware that I was standing in the door way witnessing it all. I swear, the thoughts that ran through my head at that moment, I deserve to be where I am right now…on this vessel bound for death.

She looked at me with those green eyes and gasped aloud, as if I was going to hurt her right there. But I couldn't do anything, only stare. Her lover looked up at me too, and I saw nothing but fear in his eyes. Slowly, I backed away from the door and took a deep breath. I could hear her tiny feet thumping against the floor; she was trying to run behind me. She grabbed my hand and pulled me back, but I threw her against the wall and said nothing. I guess my eyes said it all, for when I glared at her, she showed me the most frightened face I never thought possible.

I felt my hands urging to grab that scrawny neck of hers, and smash it together. I was trembling and panting at once; I felt like I could explode. I walked to her slowly and stood over her small insignificant body.

"…Why?"

Of course, she was silent. She was unable to move fearing that I would knock some sense into her tiny brain. She pushed her back against the wall and sat up a little, but still remained silent. Her silence was killing me slowly. All I wanted was an answer.

"Why Dammit?"

She flinched slightly and closed her eyes, still afraid and maybe even feeling pain. I wanted her to feel pain, feel my pain, so I punched the wall beside her face just to startle her once more. As much as I wanted to hit her, I couldn't. I could never forgive myself for hitting a woman, especially one as petite as Selphie. That would mean I'm a coward, but if the pain she caused me could be seen physically, one would think that we had had a fair fight. She started crying on the floor, which made me turn away. I hated seeing her cry, because whenever she was sad, I always felt the need to comfort her. This time was different. When she cried, I walked to the table and knocked a few things from off its top. The glasses shattered and left a mess on the floor.

Suddenly, her lover came from out of the room, fully dressed and concerned for Selphie. Just when he revealed his face, those glass particles began to look like my friends. How I wanted to send those glass shards through the air to pierce his skin.

"Selphie!" He said as he ran in.

"Don't touch her!" I said to warn him if he had made another move, I would hurl one of those broken glasses across the room in a flash. "Don't you dare lay another finger on her! Get out of here, now!"

"NO!"

"If you don't leave, I'll call an ambulance and I promise that you'll be the one riding inside of it!"

"Irvine, just go!" Selphie screamed to him.

Without second thought, the guy was out of the door. "Oh some lover he is, see how quick he left you here! I would have stayed for you, Selphie! You know that!"

"Squall, I'm sorry."

"You're not sorry, so don't even waste your breath. If you were sorry, you wouldn't have brought him here, in our house, in Our Bed! I can't believe you!"

Once again, she had fallen silent. It seems the guilty have no words to explain, only excuses. But even before this happened, I had been feeling emptier with every day gone by. Maybe Selphie felt the same way? So I just had to ask…

"Selphie…did you ever really love me?"

Those green eyes slowly turned to me as she whispered her answer, "…No."

My heart shattered…and needless to say, I was out of that door quickly. I rushed myself to the Pub and stood there the entire day, bingeing myself with alcohol. That one year I spent with the woman, and that was how she repaid me. I needed to get her out of my mind, once and for all…and apparently; alcohol was the best way to do it.

I drank so much that I forgot most of what happened that day and night. I do remember meeting a new friend there, and learning that he worked for Esthar and was currently taking a breather. My new friend and I, we hit it off pretty well. I drank a few more beverages, and called it a night.

The next day, I woke up in bed, wreaking of alcohol and a stench I had no idea existed at all. I was not surprised to find that Selphie wasn't beside me, and there was a thought in my mind which suggested that maybe my odor had scared her away. I smiled a little and squeezed the pillow within my grasp. Suddenly, I heard a man clear his throat loudly and annoyingly, which shot my eyes right open.

"Mr. Loire?" His voice rang like the bell in Dollet, loud with a lasting affect.

"Um…yes?" I said while rising from my bed, trying to wipe the sleep from my eyes.

"You are under arrest for the murder of Ralph Odine of Esthar."

"W-what! Are you serious?"

"You have the right to remain silent. Everything you say can and will be used against you in the court of law."

"This is some kind of mistake! I don't even know him!"

At that moment, I realized I should have remained silent. When I mentioned myself never actually meeting him, I was served with evidence that Odine was the guy at the bar I had become friends with so quickly. It turns out just hours after I walked out of the door with him, he was found dead on the street in Timber.

From the time I discovered Selphie, and the mad fit I threw before I left, to the time I arrived at the Pub and drank my sorrows away concluded that I had motive for the murder. It was ludicrous. Why would I want to take that man's life?

As time grew on, more and more people began to testify with or against me: people from my job, the bar, friends, family, and Selphie. I believe Selphie's statement was the most convincing of all. According to her, I was acting like an entirely different person earlier that day, a bad one, a side of me she had never really seen for her self. She said I looked like I could have killed her. And of course, those were a bad choice of words to use.

Needless to say, the jury empathized with her and looked down on me like a mad dog. So here I am, on this vessel, chained together with another convict who was probably accused of murder as well, except, he probably did commit the murder. I on the other hand, have no idea what happened that night. I don't know if I'm innocent or if I did commit the crime. Honestly, I don't remember a single thing that happened from the moment I stepped inside the Pub. My life has just been handed over to those beasts in the forests of Esthar.

For all my life, I worked hard for what I had gained. Even though my dad and mom were financially successful, I earned everything I had for myself. I've never cheated for anything I obtained, and I almost reached every goal that I set out for myself. I had a life, I had family, I had friends, and I had…a fiancée, but…because I laughed at the reality broadcasted all over the world…here I am, a laughingstock to home viewers, a murderer.

Because Odine was the genius who developed this new form of capital punishment, I got the death sentence and cruel treatment from soldiers of Esthar. I don't know what will happen to me when I get there, and to tell you the truth, I don't even care anymore.

Did I mention that every last person who was sent to this continent has died by becoming a meal for those beasts? Before me, there have been people sent off to this continent every four weeks for two consecutive month. These people were sent off in bunches of six or more. Six or more convicts' bodies or death cries were discovered, by the wardens, whenever any of them encountered a T-Rex, and it was announced that they were successfully killed so the family of the convict's victim could rest at ease because their killer had been slain.

The last case I remember hearing about was that of the first woman sentenced to death. The wardens said she died just as soon as she stepped out of the vessel. Her father fought hard to protect her, but just like the men who had prayed for another solution besides this fate, he failed. After losing his daughter, he fought hard to protect others from losing their sons and daughters the same way he did. I guess his plan failed because…Here I am, awaiting my cruel fate.

I miss my family, and I will always love them. My mom, my dad, and my sister, they are all I know, but right now no one can save me.

All hope is lost. All tears have been shed. All the love and support in the world couldn't prove me innocent, and so, my life for as long or as little as I have lived, will be over. All I worked so hard to achieve…erased. And now, I can't help to think that I lived my life in vain.

At this point in time, the only thing that will keep me from crying is the fact that maybe I am a murderer…and just like I said before, murderers deserve to die. Don't we?

Author's Note:

Well, that's it. Like I said, the real story will kick in next time.

...Capatilizing in the midst of a sentence...especially a direct dialect sentence usually means a character is angry, too. But thanks for pointing that out, I hadn't meant to cap all of those words.

to naysaysfire--Thanks for telling me, here's a repost of the same story!