Stolen
Chapter 1
Your inside is out and your outside is in
Your outside is in and your inside is out
So come on come on
Come on is such a joy
Come on is such a joy
Come on make it easy
Come on make it easy
Make it easy make it easy
Everybody's got something to hide except for me and
my monkey.
oOoOoOoOoOoOoO
I was never this angry. I never smoked, drank, or did anything remotely scandalous. I was an angelic vision of
modesty and purity that everyone in town reformed their reckless self after. The only human being God actually smiled upon after creation. I was pride hidden carefully within skin and bone.
I made myself sick. The smiles people shone on me. The showers of kind words I constantly bathed in. It all began to suffocate me. Made me smile when inside I scowled and embrace praise when all I wanted was to turn my back. Battery acid coursed through my veins as I bled through tears. I was slowly dying and even worse in denial of my own struggle. I rather had walked alone in the darkness of my own self loathe instead of welcoming the light of satisfying revelation even if it was manifested in the glowing bonfires the pitchfork wielding townspeople started to set me on fire with. That was what made me sick. My fear of exile. My fear of being a wolf instead of a sheep. I never acknowledged my weakness until my mother got sick.
Cancer.
Just eating away at her until she was nothing more than a shell of her former self. It took someone close to me dying to awaken the side of me fear restrained from emerging. I was finally free but apparently I missed the price tag when I walked out the door with it.
oOoOoOoOoOoOoO
"Just this?"
Tifa Lockheart brushed a thick lock of mahogany hair away from her line of vision and smirked after sarcastically rolling her eyes, "You know, every other day I come into this same grocery store, buy the same items; milk, eggs, and bread, from the same cashier, which just so happens to be you, and every other day you ask me the same thing: 'just this?' C'mon, you know it's just this. Is that your socially inept attempt at small talk because there are just so many other relevant questions you could ask. Like, How are you? How's the kids? and, I'm not a big fan considering the overzealous usage of this one, but How's the weather out there?"
"First off, I know how you are. You live right next door to me. You don't have any kids. And the weather's absolutely beautiful, I just got done smoking a cigarette about ten minutes ago," the cashier smoothly rattled off almost forgetting to breathe but not forgetting to display a cocky smile, "Secondly, it's store policy to ask. It ranks right up there with Have a nice day and Thanks for shopping Sakura, come shop back with us again."
"Well, keep spiffing up that apron that giving us that golden boy smile because you're making corporations around the world very proud," Tifa teased, bagging her own groceries before pulling out her wallet and giving away the only ten in a garden of green.
Cloud Strife smirked while watching his next door neighbor scramble through her purse for her wallet. The blonde had known the petite brunette since the diaper era. Mrs. Lockheart would always baby-sit for him when he was little since his mother worked too hard to watch him herself. Mr. Strife had left his family and disappeared before his son was even born so being at the Lockheart house had always made Cloud feel like he was actually a part of a real family. Also, they were what a true family should be; loving, supportive, and always ready to listen. Proof of the three fundamentals resided in Mr. and Mrs. Lockheart barely fighting. If they did, it was something insignificant like a dish not being washed the right way.
Tifa was lucky.
"Oh, by the way, I wanted to let you know my mom's making stuffed shells tonight. Considering everyone on this side of the hemisphere knows it's your favorite dish, she asked me to extend an invite," Tifa declared, turning around and using her heels as support while her arms laced tighter around the single brown bag for leverage.
"Tell her I appreciate it, but I have plans with Aeris tonight."
She just smiled and nodded, a look of understanding tinted with disgust illuminating her face. Tifa had never gotten along with Aeris. She had tried a year ago when the couple had begun dating but the older female would always display signs of hostility. Plus, the choirgirl would constantly scrunch her nose up as though she laid her eyes upon something vile whenever Tifa would wave or exchange retorts with Cloud. Her parents, surprisingly, were good friends with Aeris's but judging from their daughter's attitude the Lockheart-Gainsbourgh alliance stopped just short of parental consent.
"Geez, stop the obvious display of joy, you're embarrassing yourself," Cloud remarked, noticing the displeasure in his friend's expression while uncomfortably running a hand through an array of blonde spikes.
She noticed the awkwardness pollute the air surrounding the small portion of the supermarket she stood in. Customers, who chose to make their exit during her five minutes of embarrassing fame, glanced at the flabbergasted girl making her blush from the unwanted attention. Tifa paid especially close attention to the clumsy way Cloud played with his hair and frowned, guilt at her selfish demeanor gnawing her into submission.
"Oh, don't let the face fool you; I'm too ecstatic to contain myself! The banners are going up tomorrow."
"Always an excuse to plan a party."
Tifa smiled, revealing a row of pearly whites in support of her friend's choice in weekend activities. The heavy atmosphere seemed to lighten, the sun returning to brighten an otherwise potentially stormy occurrence. She may not like the girl Cloud chose to date but that didn't mean she had a right to intervene. He was free to date anyone he wanted without input from the girl next door. If the situation were reversed, she wanted to be the one to make the decision of who she chose to see without commentary from the all too eager peanut gallery.
"Same time? Same basic food items?"
"Me and my socially inept attempt at small talk will be waiting."
"See you then, Spike," the bright eyed teenager declared winking with a laugh before turning around with her groceries and exiting Nibelheim's only supermarket within a reasonable walking distance.
Cloud smirked, watching Tifa sashay her way out the sliding doors. She was captivating, always knowing what to say. Natural but beautiful. And her heart was always beating, always kind and full of affection. Even when she was angry she never stopped caring. There was a moment where he did ask himself what it would be like to hug her and have it mean more than just a small friendly gesture of comfort. But once Aeris came into his life, everything changed. All the feelings and fantasies he invested in Tifa soon became Aeris's. Platonic once again became Cloud's sole vocabulary choice when concerning his childhood friend.
Staring at the doors, now closed for a good five minute's time, blonde eyebrows furrowed over baby blues as an overactive imagination began its usual three hour tour. Aeris was a great girl, a little spoiled, but genuinely prime choice for a girlfriend. Unfortunately, what ifs didn't respect whatever security and good fortune the present offered. Cloud loved Aeris but he always wondered what it would be like to live out a fantasy. A reverie.
Aeris.
He felt guilty even thinking of someone else when he knew precisely well how lucky he was to have a woman like Aeris. She was gorgeous and sweet mannered. A reverie all her own. But, no matter how much beauty she was blessed with, there was always that irritating wall she held up. They had been dating for a year and Cloud barely knew her. Whenever they went out, her mind was somewhere else and conversationally, Aeris was far worse. Recently, the girl was so far gone; he would have to touch her to prove to himself she wasn't a hologram. He did everything he possibly could to keep her interested, things the other guys would mercilessly nut crack him for, but it seemed the harder he tried the more she would slip away.
It did seem rational to imagine having a relationship with someone he felt he could be happier with. Cloud cared too much for Aeris to completely give into his mental urges, though, which made having something as simple as a fantasy more of a chore than a luxury. He knew once things improved with his girlfriend, the parallel universe he created for himself and Tifa would become nothing more than a requiem. Something he would be remorseful over and perform yet another emasculating declaration of love as penance. He wanted things to get better. He wanted to make Aeris happy. So why was the thought of a Tifa-less mind span so disappointing to him?
Man, I really need a cigarette.
"Scott, watch my register, man. I'm going out for a smoke."
oOoOoOoOoOoOoO
"Umm...That felt so good."
Aeris Gainsbourgh dismounted her flame with a beaming smile on her flushed ivory face and fell beside her lover. The warm afternoon sun shone into the small room through fluttering curtains as the rotating ceiling fan did nothing to improve the unbearable temperatures the two were feeling. She turned and gazed upon the older man's features, green eyes following the trail of a single sweat bead running from his moist forehead down a chiseled cheek. His long ebony hair turned the white pillow temporarily black while closed eyelids shielded sensitive amber eyes away from the disturbing light his partner in turn chose to bask in.
"You know, you're too transparent for your own good," Aeris whispered in the man's ear causing him to open one questioning eye, "Your jaw. It clenches when you're in deep thought."
He opened both eyes this time, feeling a finger softly trace the crevice of his cheekbone which led to his jaw that was, just as predicted, clenched. This gesture only made him turn his face to the side and sit up, grabbing his pants and boxers from the floor with one swift swipe of his hand, "I'm tired of playing games, Aeris."
"What are you talking about, Zack? I'm not playing games with you."
Zach put on his boxers immediately followed by black trousers and a thin white t-shirt, "You should start asking yourself what you're in this little tryst for because we might have different ideas."
Aeris sat up with the sheet held securely over bare chest; mouth slightly ajar in shock at Zack's declaration. Her eyes took in the sight of the man before her but this time the soft light she had seen him bathed in mere moments ago was darker and slightly sinister. A complete change from the one he eluded when he was lying next to her, "What are you trying to say? You don't wanna be with me unless I'm on my back?"
The tan gentleman abruptly halted from tidying himself up and fixed his stare on the teary eyed girl who had first stolen his attention and then his heart. Sighing, he walked over to the bed and sat on the edge, eyes never leaving Aeris and the tears she began to shed, "That's not what I meant. I'm getting tired of hiding this and I'm tired of seeing you with that other guy. This whole situation just pisses me off and drives me crazy."
"Zack," Aeris said, the tears beginning to cease their flow as her body maneuvered itself closer to the other man sympathetically, "I know it's hard, but you're twenty-four and I'm only seventeen. Do you know how angry everyone would be if they found out I've been seeing you? Do you know what my father would do if he found out? I don't want anything happening to you so we have to keep this a secret until I turn eighteen. Then, the minute I blow out the candles on my cake making my age upgrade official, we can go to town with this bit of information."
Zack smiled, brushing a wave of soft hair behind the nymph's ear, "So what about your boyfriend?"
"What about him?"
"C'mon, Aeris, you're not gonna stay with him until you turn eighteen are you?" Zack exclaimed, getting back up from the soft, inviting warmth of the bed and away from the source of his frustration. This girl had done so much for him. She had given him the comfort of another human being's genuine interest, given him her soul to take reassurance in. But just as many good aspects there were to being with Aeris there were just as equally annoying and disturbing facets in their flawed relationship. He was growing very weary of this deception.
"Yeah, I mean, that was the plan," she explained only to be rewarded with a groan of dissatisfaction and grooming continuation, "You knew what you were getting yourself into when you started this! Cloud is the perfect distraction. When people see me with him, it doesn't make hanging around the docks with you so suspicious! You have to understand that if we do anything stupid and obvious, it'll draw attention to what we've been doing behind closed doors. And dumping Cloud after a year of what other people perceived as bliss is stupid and obvious."
Aeris wrapped the sheet tighter around her small frame and crawled to the edge of the bed where the object of her affection had been previously sitting. Her eyes, a beautiful shade of aquamarine, were encased in remorse as rosy lips usually twisted up in a smile were manipulated into a troubled frown, "Please. Please, don't leave me because of this. I love you and I don't want to lose you. You make me so happy."
He sternly looked down and counted the boards necessary to create the exceptionally crafted floor he was currently standing on. His heart pounded against his chest while hearing the girl's soft plea. Zack didn't have the heart to look at her face. He knew once he took even the slightest peek, he would see the sincerity in her eyes and immediately forget the whole mess he inadvertently walked into seven months ago. He would forget and be ignorantly happy until the next time he saw the town's power couple together. Then the jealousy would return and there Aeris and he would be, back at square one arguing.
"Zack. Please, just be patient for a little while longer."
"Are you fucking him?"
Uncomfortable silence penetrated and destroyed the barrier open communication had successfully built for precaution's sake. Zack felt the yellow drain from his complexion as he mustered the courage to look at the girl on his bed who stared back, eyes slowly losing the remorse and lips frowning deeper to create a bitter sneer. The tension was like nothing either had ever felt, sexual or natural. The bad blood both withheld for the other slowly seeped into the gaps like venom and suffocated any tolerance and affection that may have been present in their half hour together. Soon enough, the love turned into resentment.
"What?" Aeris shouted, unable to grasp the choice words thrown in her direction, "I can't believe you just asked me that!"
"I asked you if you were fucking him not if you believed what I said. So are you? Are you two shacking up? Does he fuck better than me? Is that why you just can't bear to leave him?" Zack shouted back. The fury boiling within his bloodstream prevented him from shutting his mouth so mental slaps were rewarded for his brash interpretation of reality.
Aeris quickly crawled to the other side of the bed and dropped the sheet before proceeding to put on her undergarments and the dress she had specifically picked out for Zack's enjoyment, "You are such an ungrateful asshole! I'm treating Cloud, an innocent guy who just wants to treat his girlfriend right, so horribly because I feel bad for letting him touch me or know things about me only I want you to know. I'm stringing him along so people don't throw you in jail for statutory and this is how you show me you care? By asking me if I'm fucking him? Is that what you really think of me? You're disgusting and I don't even want to look at you right now!"
"Can you blame me?" Zack asked, running a nervous hand through his disheveled hair, "Look at you. You're gorgeous through the inside out. It drives me crazy to think of some other guy touching you or making you feel things maybe I don't. I'm a fucking fisherman! I can only offer things that your boyfriend possibly one day can actually give you time ten? It'll only be a matter of time before you realize that, walk out that door, and never come back."
"I love you, why can't you just be happy with that? I feel things for you that I would never experience in a lifetime with anyone else."
"I just need time to think this over."
Fresh tears began to resurface themselves in vain as Aeris adjusted the strap of her dress and nodded quickly, "Sure. Sure, if time is what you need than I'll give it to you. I don't think we can have something if you don't have the faith necessary to keep it going. If you want to talk, you know where to find me."
He didn't say a word, just effortlessly watched as the brunette put on her shoes, grabbed her purse, and walked out the door without looking back. Before she left, Zack had caught a glimpse of falling tears causing him to sigh in confliction. Aeris was everything he could ever want. No, saying she was everything only he could ever want was an understatement. That girl was the pinnacle of everything a man could ever want, the mystical pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. How could he be so stupid as to push her out the door after she had just bore every sentiment her heart was capable of protecting?
Too much deception.
The fisherman was tired of keeping his passion to himself. It was like telling an artist not to reveal an aspect of them self with every stroke they took on a canvas. He couldn't just keep the feelings he felt for Aeris to himself. Not when there was some other guy doing all the things he wished he could be doing with her existing right under his nose. It was too much. The flare he tapped into and released when he made love to Aeris was becoming more than he could handle. Making love to her wasn't enough of an outlet, he needed more.
"Son of a bitch," Zack proclaimed, picking up the small bedside lamp and throwing it against the mirror on his dresser. The glass cracked, not receiving enough momentum to shatter it completely but producing enough damage to promote a sense of accomplishment. He sighed again. The restlessness still lingered in the shadows so it didn't make him feel totally better.
But, fortunately, it was a start.
oOoOoOoOoOoOoO
Sarah Lockheart sat in the doctor's office shaking her leg in nervous anticipation. Never one to be claustrophobic, the quadrilateral beige walls suddenly began to close in on her. Her palms were sweating, full lips loosing moisture rapidly, and slender body trembling from the lack of oxygen in the shrinking room. She had never been this anxious, not even when Tifa was born. It seemed as though she was looking straight at fate's faceless appearance and unable to view the destiny written in chicken scratch on the paper it held in it's clammy hands.
"Say something."
"Huh?" Daniel Lockheart asked, looking blankly at his wife as though his mind had just returned from a trip around the world, "I'm sorry, honey. My body's here but my mind seems to be on vacation. You okay?"
Sarah smiled, allowing her husband to cup her hands supportively, "Yeah. I just wish Adrian would get back in here and tell me what the results are."
"I just want you to know, whatever those results happen to be, we'll get through it. All of us. You, me, and Tifa. We'll beat this together."
She could do nothing more than nod, her face revealing not a trace of her uneasy disposition. The only sentiment shining through on her round face was optimism. Sarah felt God wouldn't punish anyone with rare eternal optimism and faith in the fates. She had so much to live for, so much to teach her daughter. There will be no blockade stopping her from experiencing all the ups and downs in her child's life. Sarah Lockheart was and would be a mother, not a patient.
"Sorry for the wait, guys," Dr. Adrian Gainsbourgh proclaimed, much to the surprise of the two awaiting individuals, before shutting the door to his office. He entered, immediately sat behind his desk, and removed the large spectacles from the bridge of his nose. Silence yet again reined superior much to Sarah's dismay.
"So?"
Dr. Gainsbourgh glanced from his male friend to his potential female patient and frowned. Rubbing at his temples, the middle aged physician closed his eyes to block out the expressions on the couple's face while beginning the much anticipated explanation, "I'll be frank. I looked over the tests and it doesn't look too good."
Daniel squeezed Sarah's hand only to have her squeeze back equally aggressive. He glanced over to the side for a split second and realized the tears that have long since brewed in her eyes had fallen down her lovely face. His heart strained its normal rhythmic beat as his chest concaved into itself, breathing becoming more difficult a task to perform. It was what he had feared since the moment he uttered the words I do. Throughout his 20 years of offering his love, promising to protect, and providing for his wife, it seemed as though it had all been for nothing. For the moment she needed him to protect her most, he couldn't do anything to alleviate her pain. He had failed.
oOoOoOoOoOoOoO
A young man in his early twenties ran breathlessly down the dimly illuminated back alley of Tucker's, Nibelheim's finest diner establishment. His short legs pounded the concrete in desperation as perspiration, and also what appeared to be tears, flowed down his rugged face. The cool breeze whizzing by him did nothing to cool his raging temperature. In fact, nature's thoughtful gesture seemed to only arouse his adrenaline due to noises he could have sworn belonged to his pursuer.
"Fuck! No," he screamed, slamming his fist against the brick wall which separated him from freedom. More tears fell from his eyes as he frantically surveyed the area for an escape.
"I didn't steal any money from the profits I got from Rude. I swear. All the money I got from him, man, is in the pot I gave to you. Please! I'm telling you the truth."
Cigarette smoke poured out from shadows the towering enclosed walls produced as footsteps echoed loudly down the narrow path. A very tall man with scraggly red hair emerged from what appeared to be hiding. The vivid scars under both eyes added emphasis to the frigid expression on his face as his mouth parted and rested the cigarette between two thin lips.
"What's my name?"
The hustler looked confused and a little scared. He began to back up against the imprisoning wall unsure of what was to come next. He had reversed himself so much so that it became questionable whether the man had actually fused his body together with the concrete.
"Did you say something?"
"N…no."
"N..no? I asked you a simple question so it should be y…yes," the red head exclaimed, pulling out a gun from his jacket lapel which was rewarded with a cowardly whimper, "Now that I have your undivided attention – What is my name?"
"R…Reno!" He screamed, noticing the stalker cock his gun without the slightest regard evident for the importance of human life. The expression on his face was unnaturally robotic, a picture perfect image of what a true sociopath should be. The man lacked empathy so reasoning with him was a lost cause. All the lackey could do now was do what he was told and speak when he was spoken to.
"Oh good," Reno breathed, placing the gun to his side and allowing a foreign smirk to grace his gaunt face, "For a second there I thought my name was Bozo 'cause of how much of a fucking clown you're making me look like!"
Both men were quiet and skeptical of the other's company, eyes barely blinking with extreme focus on the other. The green eyed monster smiled a cold and aloof smile which bore no sympathy or understanding. He stood, slouched over, cigarette butt still resting within the confines of a dry mouth. A murderer who trafficked drugs since puberty, Reno wasn't going to allow years of restrained humanity to surface now. Not over a trivial stain.
"Reno, I swear man, I didn't steal…"
"Shut the fuck up," he shouted, grabbing the cigarette from his mouth and flicking it at his ex-comrade's face, "I didn't ask you to speak."
He hissed as sparks hit his already unattractive face. The cigarette didn't inflict much pain, just a slight sting any normal burn would cause. The man had experienced unconceivable torture since he was but a youngster. Pain now, no matter which form it came in, was short lived and dull. His worn body refused to react any further than it already had during all these grueling years.
"Do you want to know why there is no hope for the human condition, Damien? First off, us bright eyed, bushy tailed humans are too busy blindly fucking to realize the condition's already been fucked beyond reparation. So why fuck when the fucking has no further effect? I mean, people do drastic things to get a reaction, right? I never really got the answer to that question. It was the one philosophical thing I remember about my father," Reno explained, removing another cigarette from the box in his pants pocket and placing it in his mouth while leaning up against one of the alley walls, "Now, how can we do our part in making the human condition respectable again?"
"I don't know," Damien mumbled, his lip quivering but looking towards waking up tomorrow morning. Reno had never spent this much time carrying on conversation with someone he deemed a traitor. If a mark was made, he would carry out the hit without second thoughts or wasting a single valuable second. There was still hope.
"Ok. Easier question, why is there no hope for the human condition?" The red head asked, taking a drag from his cigarette right after setting it ablaze, "Because people like to fuck. How can we do our part in making the human condition respectable again? By not fucking. See the conundrum here. We absolutely love to fuck in an unfuckable society. You want someone to make a sacrifice and clean up yet no one can stop fucking! Animals parading around for the rights of species they originally believed they were. What a trip."
"That is a fucking trip."
"Do you at least know what the moral of this story is?"
Damien nodded and laughed as though that would be a joke he would tell his buddies tonight at the local bar, "Don't fuck."
Smirking, Reno shook his head, "No, obviously there is no moral. I just like hearing myself talk."
Loud gunshots echoed menacingly off the walls and evaporated into the bustling sounds of Nibelheim society. The sky seemed to embrace the slight gray color polluting an otherwise crystal blue ocean as silence became much more deafening than the shrill screams of the small children walking the streets hand in hand with their parents.