Waking the Dead
By Shade
A/N: Look who's back! I said I loved this fic and I wasn't lying. All my FFVIII fics and others are currently being updated. If you want to know why I was gone for so long read the newest chapter of EH otherwise here's the short version:
Got suspended from was on his deathbed.
Suspended again
Computer gets sick
PS2 Died
Suspended again
Writing programs stop working along with EVERY other program.
Send computer off
Grandfather passes away
Suspended again
Plan funeral
Computer shop accidentally erases computers memory
I get robbed
Computer sent to someone else
Computer takes forever and a day to get back
But now it's back and I can write and man do I ever feel like writing. Oddly enough of all the updating I've been doing I haven't gotten a single review. Maybe I lost my fans T-T. Or maybe I should stop being such a review whore and suck it up.
Squall looked as if he was going to cry out but couldn't seem to get his vocal chords working just yet. He retained his hold on Seifer though, which had suddenly become much more desperate.
"Seifer," he managed at last. His voice sounded hoarse and fractured, as if he couldn't quite catch his breath.
"Squall," Seifer smiled but seemed to gag and choke on the action.
Startled, Squall released him. He was beyond confused as he watched his boyfriend cough and gasp. He kept one hand on Seifer's arm as he looked about the room madly, suddenly realizing where they were and where he was sitting.
"What are we doing here!" Squall got up and scrambled away. He didn't stop, not until his back met something solid. "Why are we here Seifer!"
"Squall," Seifer said, climbing to his feet rather shakily. He had finally managed to catch his breath and had a feeling that there probably wasn't time to answer questions. "Squall we need to get out of here."
The brunette's hands had traveled to his throat. He took in a sharp breath and closed his eyes. "My neck hurts"
"You just need to lie down," Seifer offered quickly, taking a step closer to the other. "We'll find you somewhere to rest as soon as we get out of here, all right Squall?" He vaguely registered that Squall had backed himself up to the container he had opened minutes earlier. He realized that behind the curtain of smoke, still issuing from the opening, a shriveled hand was making its way up and out. As skeletal fingers closed around the hem of the jacket Squall was wearing, Seifer rushed forward, "Squall!"
Squall followed Seifer's gaze. He turned his head and soon saw what
Seifer had. Something was climbing out from the smoke and darkness. Had there been eyes in the empty sockets staring at him, Squall was sure this skeletal being would have been watching him. Seifer's body against his own gave him the jolt he needed to cry out and jerk away. The creature lost its grip as Seifer shoved the smaller young man behind himself. "Get out
Squall!"
Squall hesitated for a moment then did as he was told. He found himself stumbling and unbelievably dizzy. He still managed to find the doorway but where was he to go from here?
Squall looked around and saw an opening above him. There was no way he could reach that
"Seifer," he called back weakly, leaning against the control panel. The container had since tipped over, the skeletal body reaching out for Seifer as he took a step back. It drug itself closer as it realized its would-be prey was moving out of its reach.
Seifer tried to close the door between the control room and the creature but abandoned the task quickly. "Climb onto that Squall." He motioned sternly to the control panel.
Squall stared at him for a moment but after another firm, "Now!" he climbed over the switch panel and onto a speaker. The equipment reached halfway up the wall. By stepping onto a monitor he was closer to the open vent but woefully short of actually reaching it.
"Seifer I can't-" he was cut short as he suddenly found himself nearly eye level with the opening. He grabbed for it before looking back.
"Seifer!" Squall was already on top of the cube when he realized Seifer was still down there and that the creature was now inside the control room.
Seifer reached for the shaft himself now and, though he was taller than Squall, there was clearly no way he was going to be able to reach the ledge.
Seifer seemed to have already realized this. He looked back to the creature now pulling itself up onto the panel and then to Squall. "You know where you are now, right? You can get out of here on your own."
Squall was still confused and disoriented but he did understand what Seifer was implying. "No," he gasped, stretching out on his stomach and reaching one arm back down, "you have to come with me."
"Shit!" Seifer hissed, kicking at one of the corpse's outstretched hands, which only caused further pain to his uninjured leg as it supported his weight. He put one hand up to the wall to balance himself. "Squall, just go! I'll find another way out! Just hurry up and-"
Seifer's hand had been high enough for Squall to grasp his wrist. He was stunned only for a fraction of a second, coming to his senses just in time to grab the cube. With Squall still pulling him by the arm he managed to get through the opening completely.
"Are you all right?"
Seifer felt hands on his back now, an arm that was undoubtedly Squall's moving around his shoulder. What had just happened? Perhaps Squall was simply stronger than he gave him credit for. Seifer rose to his knees in time to hear people below. Well, it was about time someone had been alerted by all that shouting.
When Seifer said nothing, Squall tugged him to the ladder. "Come on. You were right. We need to hurry."
Seifer took a quick, deep breath and went to the ladder. He climbed down, the pain shooting through his leg nearly causing him to drop the last four rungs. He felt Squall's arm move around his waist once they were both on the ground, supporting him to the door. All the guards were probably elsewhere, distracted by that mess Seifer had made. The cool night air brought Seifer to awareness long enough to rush Squall across the lawn and behind the bushes where he had hidden his bike.
He hastily sat it up and was about to climb on when he realized Squall was hanging back. Seifer didn't dare ask why. "Please Squall. I won't let anything happen to you. We just have to get out of here." He wasn't sure why his heart ached when he saw Squall come closer and climb on but he tensed noticeably when the other wrapped his arms around his waist.
Squall still trusted him.
Did he not remember what had happened? Understandably he wouldn't remember everything, but nothing at all?
Seifer banished this train of thought from his mind and quickly started the engine. Within a matter of seconds they were speeding past the guardhouse
and out onto the open road.
"Seifer, pull over."
"What?" Seifer's mind had been elsewhere. He hadn't even heard Squall speak, only felt the other's still shaking arms tighten around him.
"Pull over!" Squall's voice had a desperate quality to it.
Seifer pulled off the road and onto the grass carefully. He put his good leg down, stopping the bike a bit too quickly. "What is it, Squall?"
He looked back to see Squall climbing off the bike, stumbling back to drop onto the ground. "Squall!"
"Where are you taking me, Seifer?"
The road was empty and the noises of the city were barely noticed as were the lights. The night sky was cloudless and lit with stars. The pale light of the moon had bleached Squall's face. He looked terrible.
Seifer knelt down in the grass beside Squall. He was terrified, though he did his best to keep this fact hidden. "To your house, Squall. Like I said, 'you need to sleep'."
"No!" The forcefulness of Squall's voice made Seifer jump. Squall's eyes had narrowed, fixed upon him in a warning manner. "I'm not going back home. You're not taking me there."
Seifer was silent for a moment. He shouldn't yell at Squall. Now wasn't the time to lose his temper but he still had every intention of taking Squall back to his father. For once Seifer was willing to admit he couldn't handle what was going on. Laguna could help. Laguna could take better care of Squall than he could. "Squall, look: I don't know what's going on. I think we could both use some rest and I really need to talk to your dad. I-"
A terrible silence hung in the air between them. At last Squall looked away. Disgust and disappointment were evident in his features as he stood and stalked away. "Then I'm not going anywhere with you!"
Seifer was close to losing it now. He got to his feet and went after Squall. "You're coming with me," he said firmly, grabbing the brunette's arm abruptly.
"Let go of me." The voice that should have been Squall's sounded distant and detached. Squall wasn't facing Seifer and he was still poised to leave, eyes fixed upon the ground now.
Of course Seifer had no intention of letting him go. If anything his grip grew tighter. "I said you're coming with me, Squall."
"And I told you to let go of me!" Seifer wouldn't have had time to react even if he had been expecting what happened next. Squall used his free arm to strike Seifer, shoving him back. Seifer was used to being able to overpower Squall. Shocked, he put his bad leg back to catch himself without realizing it.
With a strangled, short cry he fell to the ground.
It was the cry that drew Squall's attention. His anger diminished in an instant as he realized what he had done. "A-are you all right?"
"Squall-" Seifer gasped, wiping blood from his mouth with the back of his hand. He propped himself up with his free arm and looked up to Squall who was watching him wide-eyed, just as surprised as Seifer was. "Fine, I'll take you wherever you want to go." It was difficult to keep the nasty tone from his voice this time.
"I-I didn't mean to, Seifer." Squall moved to kneel beside Seifer, his attention fixed on the other's injured leg. The pants were ripped but there was too much blood to see the wound itself. Squall placed one hand to the side of the ripped fabric. His fingers instinctively pressed the denim towards the leg. He applied pressure to the skin there, directing the blood flow to the lesion.
Seifer yelled again and Squall snapped his head up in time to see the blonde's hand stop just short of his face. Instead of striking him, his fist had clenched and he had merely backed away.
"Don't, Squall," he cautioned, though there was no real threat or weight to his words. If anything he appeared frightened, not of
Squall, but of what he might have done.
"Seifer," Squall was close to tears, even though he didn't seem to notice.
He buried his face in his hands. "What's going on?"
"We need to keep going. We need to-" Seifer watched Squall downhearted and tragic with his knees to his chest. He was shaking and his breathing erratic.
Seifer wasn't sure if it was a wise move but he immediately moved closer again and wrapped his arms around Squall. "It'll be all right, Squall. I'll drive us into the next town. We can get a motel for the night. We're both just tired and… hell, neither of us are in a good mood. In the morning we'll figure out what to do next, all right? We'll sort this out in the morning."
'The morning.' If they could just make it until morning everything would be all right. Squall would still be alive. The terrors of tonight would be in the past. It would be as if none of this had ever happened. Seifer felt Squall relax against him, felt the other's breath hot against his neck. Squall inhaled and exhaled then took several deep breaths. Seifer smelled of blood and imminent infection. Squall's lips grazed Seifer's shoulder as he spoke, "I'm hungry."
A/N: Props go to my beta reader Nightshadow131. So nice to know someone will still beta for you even after you've been gone for ages.
On the other hand, no props at all go to my boyfriend who not only does not realize why I'm so mad about Advent Children but also doesn't even remember who Rufus was!…No props for him…in fact I am deducting props.