Facing Problems
The clanking of feet echoed from the hallway, growing louder as they neared a door, stopped, and then said door was flung open. "Hey! I'm back!"
A gasp sounded as the door was left hanging open, rusty hinges screeching in protest. The intruder entered, burdened by a single bag, and grinned at the person who was currently having a heart attack.
"Fiona! You scared the hell out of me! What are you doing back? I thought you were gone 'till the end of the week?"
"Um, it didn't go too well. But enough of that, did you miss me?"
A sigh was heard, and then a very depressed voice moaned, "Yeah. Baby here's been kicking madly, can't wait to get out of me."
"Oh, how long have you got left, Reese?"
"Two weeks, but I could be premature, or late. The first is unpredictable, apparently."
Sitting on the bed, bag discarded at the door, the blonde placed a hand on the swollen stomach. "Oh! It kicked! How cute!"
Pouting in self-pity, the not-as-enthusiastic girl leant against the headboard, swinging her legs onto the bed. "Yeah? How would you like to have to shoot this... watermelon, out of your body?"
Making sympathetic noises, Fiona moved behind her, then started to massage the other girl's shoulders. "You've been given time to mope while I've been gone, haven't you? You're tense. You haven't been working out." Leaning over, she flicked her friend on the nose. "Naughty Reese. I'll have to be looking after you, and your kid, if you keep this up."
"You're welcome to it."
It may have been only an off-hand, muttered comment, but Fiona heard it, and embarked on a long speech.
The next morning was normal, meaning it complied with her routine. Cold shower, black clothes, cold food, and then classes.
What her peers noticed was that her mood was considerably worse then normal, going from happy to depressed in record time, only for the simple mention of anything related to her friends.
In her time there, Fiona had made quite a few friends, but found herself wishing she hadn't, wishing that she was a quiet, impolite, stoic, and all-together hated, however, she wasn't. This being so, the blonde found herself enduring endless questions of her whereabouts, each and every one of them painful to her.
By morning tea, Fiona collapsed into her seat, throwing a simple ham roll down in front of her. "I'm not going to be attending my lessons today, Raven, so you might as well go help someone else."
The mentioned teen merely nodded, staring at his beef roll.
O'Connell had to know why, though, not understanding, and to his own naïveté, managed to pester her, enough that she went off at him. Trying to hold back from maiming the unknowing guy, Fiona managed to answer coldly, "It's my business! For your own sake as much as mine, shut up!"
He stared as the teenage girl left the room, presumably heading for the tree she had been seen so many times under, and then he turned to Raven. "I don't suppose you know what that was about?"
The grey-haired teen nodded slightly, meanwhile inhaling his beef and chilli sauce bun, in a most impolite manner.
"Well, what was it about?"
"Maybe she didn't have such a great time at her friend's place. Maybe she doesn't want to remember it." Finishing the last of his food, Raven stood, leaving in the same direction Fiona had gone, only he was carrying her abandoned food in his right hand.
Um, what have I missed?
Leaving the table, O'Connell sat at another one with his friends, immersing himself into their world, where the sole topic of conversation was the upcoming party.
"I heard the whole place will be open for us, so the guys can go to the girls' rooms, and visa versa."
"I heard that the dancing is inside, the drinking outside."
"They're hiring out a DJ, one that's not too bad."
"Yeah, he's meant to have some psycho name, that's been shortened to Smash."
"I heard it was DJ Smash, that British actor, from that movie, you know, with the guns?"
"There's got to be thousands of movies with guns, Vicki. Think before you speak, idiot."
"Oh. Right. I heard there's going to be unlimited alcohol."
"There always is."
"You can invite anyone you want to, even different gangs, as long as they have no grudges."
"Hey, O'Connell, are you inviting anyone?"
Answering that with a no, his friends weren't into these sorts of parties, O'Connell was suddenly depressed that his friends had ditched him, for the sole reason that he had joined the gang.
Black. Empty. Nothingness. If only life was like this, always the same, yet always different. The wonderful feeling of nothing left when a hand jolted her eyes open. "Huh?" Turning, Fiona opened her eyes, emerging from her daydream to face violet eyes. "Raven?"
Feeling something pressed into her hand, she glanced down, shocked to find her untouched ham roll. "Why...?"
The mysterious teen sat down, leaning against the tree, his eyes dilated as he looked into the sky, seeing but not seeing. "Eat. You need the energy."
"But I'm not going to class..." Protesting feebly, she sat beside him, and unwrapped it anyway.
"If you're not going to class, I'll have to train you personally."
"What?"
The only answer was his eyes falling shut, giving off the impression of sleep, but what she knew for patient silence.
"Fine. Be like that..." Muttering to herself, the girl raised the meal to her lips, slowly devouring it.
It was late. She didn't know how late it was, as she had no watch, and had only just then gotten back. Judging by the silence of the building, it had to be late. Really late.
Entering the side hallway, one she hadn't been in before, she saw pay phones, and after a quick check of coins in her pocket, she walked across to the closest one, her steps short and tired. Sorting through her coins, the night sounds passed beyond her oblivion.
Crickets chirping, clock ticking. More crickets. Creaking of floorboards above.
Wait.
Clock ticking?
A quick evaluation of the room revealed what she had missed the first time: a large grandfather clock at the end of the hall.
Three a.m.
Snorting, she turned back to the phone, dialling. It rang for what seemed like forever, and just as she was ready to hang up, there was a sound, as if the phone was dropped, then, "'Lo?"
"Moonbay. It's Fiona."
"Fi'na? Wa' you doin' ringing me?"
"Look. I've been thinking about it, and there's a big party going down this weekend. Everyone's invited. If you can make it, that's sweet, if not, oh well. Oh, sorry about the time and all."
"Yeah, what's with the time?"
"Um, I was kind of thinking, and didn't notice what time it was."
"...Whatever. I'll see if I can hook up a ride. See you."
Hanging up, the blonde sagged against the wall, sharp breaths twisting in her chest. Calming down, the teen staggered up the hall, and then facing the stairs, she sighed, sitting down.
It was comfy enough here, anyway....
Fiona woke to the sound of feet, and the occasional soft bump. Did she want to get up, find out what all the commotion was? No, she wanted to sleep. Snuggling down into her blankets, gripping her pillow...No pillow. Who dared deprive her of the most essential sleeping implement?
Opening an eye, she discovered that not only was she deprived of her pillow, but her blankets, and even her bed.
After a while of sitting there shocked, she decided to get up, and staggered to her feet.
Making it to her room, ignoring the startled looks she got from the people she passed, Fiona flopped down onto her bed, snuggling in to the warm, comforting sheets.
Everything was black, and all that she could hear was a faint buzzing, becoming louder the more she concentrated on it. That buzzing became a shape, and the shape a person, slowly walking away.
The light hair, the confident and determined swagger...
"Karl!"
The figure turned around, and it was Raven that faced her, not Karl.
She gasped. "Raven?"
His mouth opened, and he was saying something, but it seemed to be a foreign language, and it all swam past her head.
"Karl? Raven? Someone?"
Getting a bit hysterical, she ran towards Raven, but when she got there, it wasn't him any more, it was Karl again. "Karl? What's happening?"
Again, she couldn't understand what was being said.
"What? I don't understand, what are you saying?!" Pulling on Karl's sleeve, Fiona suddenly found that he was big, really big. In fact, everything was big.
Examining herself, she found the body of a young child, not a teenager. "What's happening?!"
Looking up at Karl again, she saw not Karl, but...
"Daddy! Where have you been?"
The large man shook his head at her, his face one of disgust...and now she could understand every hateful thing that came from his mouth. "Get away from me, you little wench! You're just like her, aren't you, you skank? Get out of my house, you slut!"
He was pointing over her shoulder, and Fiona turned to see the front door, to her old house. "D-daddy, how could you say that?" She began to cry, big tears spilling over her cheeks.
Now, another figure joined them, a bottle of whisky in hand.
"Daniel, how dare you! I won't have you insult me and my daughter! Get out, you filthy good-for-nothing piece of shit!"
"DON'T YOU DARE CALL ME NAMES UNDER MY OWN ROOF! GET OUT! JUST GET OUT OF MY HOUSE, THE BOTH OF YOU!"
"Daddy! Please..." Tears were streaming down her face, and Fiona found herself being dragged away by the lady, who was dangerously thin, and had too much makeup on. "Mummy, let me go! Daddy, please..."
"GET OUT!"
"You brat, let's go! Let go of him, we're going!"
"Mummy, Daddy..." Collapsing into sobs, the young girl curled into a ball, and found the people and house swirling, and slowly she was at the hospital.
"Mummy! Daddy!" A nurse was pulling her hand, prying her away from the still bodies of the two she had known since the beginning, the two that had brought her into the world.
"They're gone, Fiona, you have to leave now..."
Her tears were endless, and her heart was torn to shreds.
"Fiona, you have to let go.... Fiona, we have to go... Fiona... Fiona... Fiona!"
"Fiona!"
Her eyes flew open, and the blonde screamed, terrified.
"Hey! Shh, it's all right. You're all right..."
Slowly calming down, Fiona concentrated on the person, the one who had saved her from that nightmare. Or memories. "Raven... They're gone... No! They can't be... No...no..."
"Who?" He looked startled, but sat down on the bed when she started sobbing.
"My... My parents. They're gone!"
"Gone where?"
"Dead! I thought they were gone... But they killed each other. Raven.... Why didn't they tell me? Why!"
"Who?" He took her into his arms as she sobbed, not so quietly, and made soothing motions on her back.
"Everyone! The nurses... my foster parents... The school! Why didn't they tell me? I thought they were killed... B-b-but--" She paused for a shuddering breath, and hiccupped. "But they killed each other. I s-saw it!" She cried a little harder, and Raven waited patiently for it to pass, not saying a word.
Finally, she buried her head in his chest and whispered, "Dad, with a knife... He stabbed Mummy... She shot him in the head. I was screaming at them to stop... But they didn't listen. They never listened." Her voice became almost insubstantial. "Never."
A golden haze settled over the frostbitten grounds as the sun rose, not yet warming those awake to see it, but a beautiful sight all the same.
By the tree, two figures sat, leaning against the old trunk, one of them asleep, the other gazing disinterestedly at the old initials craved into the trunk as his hand ran through the sleeping girl's hair, enjoying the silky feeling.
Slowly, the girl slowly woke, blinking continuously in order to adjust her vision. "What? Where... Raven?"
The hand had long since retreated, and the guy seemed to find long past dates and initials engraved into the trunk extremely interesting.
She sat up, no longer leaning on the grey-haired person next to her, and stared at him. "How long have I been here? How long have you been here?"
Distress laced her voice, and he smiled slightly, letting that sight in itself calm her. "You fell asleep, so I stayed with you."
Still hazy from having just woken, she figured that the smile had been her own imagination, and mentally shrugged it off. "It's morning... Aren't you cold?" Shivering, the girl pulled the blanket around herself tighter, then noticed he was lacking even the threadbare blanket. Wordlessly, she threw half of it over him, and cuddled into his frame, stealing any heat he had to offer and warming herself.
After a moment's silence, they watched as Reece walked toward them, waddling with the struggle of going uphill with child, and then she started yelling at them.
"--WHAT WERE YOU BOTH THINKING, STAYING OUT HERE ALL NIGHT, COULD HAVE GOTTEN BADLY SICK, GET YOUR BUTTS BACK INSIDE RIGHT NOW--"
Raven stood, and held his hand out to Fiona, who took it, confused and still tired. While Reece continued her rant, he turned to her, a look in his eye that she had never seen in whole of his life. "I never knew you cared."
Stunned, the teen stopped mid-speech, and stared at him.
Had that been speech, in the form of sarcasm, from Raven?! And the look in his eyes, was that have been mischief
Resting against her door, noticing off-handed that the paint was peeling off by the handle, showing a puke-colour underneath the current white, Fiona sighed, and turned to face Raven. "So."
Raven tilted his head slightly, and smirked a little, deciding to answer the unasked question. "The party starts in four hours. You need to get ready."
Considering this, the blonde's forehead crinkled. So, she was to get ready for the party. But what was Raven doing there? "And?"
He shrugged, indicating for her to go inside. "I dunno."
"Well, I'll get ready, and you can go get ready."
"Did you invite anyone?"
She wasn't expecting this question from him, and she opened the door a little too far, wincing as the crack of it hitting the wall echoed through the hall. "Uh, Moonbay, and told her everyone could come."
"And?"
She sighed, walking in, and closed the door until there was only an inch of his face that she could see.
"You know that he's going to be here."
Even as she slammed the door, Fiona knew Raven was right. Karl would be here. Not under her invite, but somebody had definitely invited him. Sinking onto her bed, she ran a hand through her hair, surprised to find no knots at all.
How could her hair be knot-free, when she hadn't brushed it for hours?
Sighing, she ran her brush through it quickly anyway, then turned to face her clothing selections. It was going to be a long night.
It was a full moon that night, yet nobody took notice of this symbolic fact such as ignored it, oblivious as to what phase the moon was. The party was one of the largest yet, with different gangs making momentary peace, those who didn't were thrown out.
The party-goers spread out through the whole building and its perimeters, beer kegs scattered everywhere and large subwoofers, all connected to the one stereo, were placed conveniently so that no matter where a person would stand, they could hear the music quite clearly.
Fiona took no notice of this, as she stayed in her room, waiting until the last minute to have to join the others. She sighed, contemplating things she never knew she could, and straightening out her outfit of tight black pants with flares, and a black with small white lines, three-quarter sleeved, button-up top that hugged her in the right places. Getting frustrated, she kicked her bed, then clutching a throbbing toe decided to put on her shoes and go downstairs.
In her self-inflicted misery, all she saw was teens making out on the stairs, and heard noises from the rooms. She heard loud music that would give her a headache, saw nothing but the mess and drunken losers surrounding her as she walked outside, glancing around and eventually finding what she had been seeking, and dreading- her friends.
Walking slowly but purposefully, she strode across to the small group they made, and stood alongside them, giving a small, regretful, smile when they greeted her, and returning the hugs from Moonbay half-heartedly.
At some point, she was offered a beer, and unlike her normal response, she accepted it, sipping slowly at the beverage she had for so long been against. The disgusting tang slowly faded into something wonderful, and her second cup turned into her fourth, and then her sixth, then she lost count of them.
At some point Van had started dancing with her, and then Van had turned into Thomas, then O'Connell, and then faces that had no names. Exhausted, Fiona sat down, right there in the middle of her dancing, and waited for her eyes to catch up, laughing when she saw four concerned Irvines walk toward her.
"Hey 'o guys!"
"Uh, Fiona? You alright?"
"Am I alright? Are you alright Irvine? There seems to be a lot of you now..." She burst out laughing at some unknown joke, scaring Irvine so much that he went to find someone who knew what they were doing.
As the four Irvines left, Fiona made to stand, and after four, or seven, she forgot what number she was up to, the blonde managed to stumble through the crowds of people. She tripped up because a bottle jumped out at her, and just as she fell, something countered gravity and pulled Fiona to her feet, only to have her lose her balance once he let go.
Glancing up, she smiled sloppily with recognition, before blinking furiously. "Sleepy. 'M gunna sleep now, 'k?" With that, the blonde teen gave up her battle, and faded into a drunken darkness, leaving the person holding her limp body.
Irvine hurried towards the small group of people that he knew. Spotting the blue pants and black top of his friend, he grabbed Moonbay's shoulder, wrenching her around. "What- Irvine! What the hell are you doing?"
"Fiona's drunk, she can't stand or anything, I need help dealing with her."
"Fiona?" The person that Moonbay had been conversing with immediately took interest, and ordered Irvine to take him to the drunk blonde, while Moonbay frowned at him. "Karl, do you think you should-"
"Moonbay, I don't care. Alright? It might be the alcohol, but I'm pretty sure that I just don't care any more. I want Fiona back. She's mine, and I love her. I can't stand the thought of her drunk!"
Moonbay's dark eyes widened as she marvelled at her friend's inherent stupidity. "Dude, what the hell was that? Have you considered that she might not want to see you?" But her helpful comments were wasted, as the two males had long since departed into the throngs of people, searching for a drunken blonde.
Sighing, Moonbay looked around for a familiar face, and once she spotted the ever-pregnant Reece, she strode over, hoping to engage in some sort of conversation.
The two guys were completely sober, frustrated, and lost. "This is where I left her! I swear! How could she have moved? She couldn't even stand properly!" Stressing out, Irvine craned his neck around the hordes of people, trying to catch a glimpse of blonde hair.
"How could I have let this happen...? Alright. We obviously can't find her from here. We need to find a base point, somewhere to look down from. Let's try inside, see if there's any windows from one of the upper levels."
The two males set off on their mission, shoving their way through groups of drunken people as they worked towards their goal.
Moonbay choked, gagging as she curled over.
Reece grabbed her shoulders, and whacked her on the back, as another person she didn't know took the smoke from her hand.
"Shit. Shit. This stuff is so strong!"
Standing up, Moonbay revelled in the affects of her last puff, giggling when the two Reeces scowled at her. "That stuff is bad for you. But...ooh! I miss it so much!"
"You're pregnant, so shame! And you too, other Reece."
Reece looked confused, and then shook her head, deciding that it was the effects of the drugs. She just rolled her eyes. "Man, I hate him. This massive party, and I can't drink, smoke, or anything! I'm so fat, and there's nothing that I can do but laze around."
"Dude, stop complaining. And what do you mean him?"
Irvine and Karl were both looking out of every window, trying their hardest to find blonde hair in the masses of black clothing and mainly dark hair.
"Can you see her yet?" Desperation laced Karl's voice as he scanned yet another section of the crowds.
Reece's voice dropped as she suddenly turned shy. "The father."
"No, I can't see any blondes, let alone her."
Irvine's worried eyes locked on to Karl's own green ones. Neither of them dared state what could be happening to her; to state it would be to confirm the possibility.
Moonbay's eyebrows raised curiously. "And he is?"
Replies;
gundam06serenity
I updated, and though you claim to update every week, I FINISH WHAT I START!! I've made many mistakes, like reading almost everything you've published, only to realise after that you won't finish them! It's annoying, 'cause I wanna know what happens!
And yes, Karl is being an asshole. That is his role, in my mind. Who knows what he seems to be when written down on paper, but up here in my mind, he's worse then Prozen… or maybe not. He is one of my favourite characters, so I don't know why he's evil.
I'll make you a deal. If you can update Gangs, The Black Rose, Shinigami's Secret, Those Foretold, What If, Outsider, Christmas Shopping and maybe Homeless, (I can't remember if you finished that one), then I'll try my hardest to update faster.
-Once a week. Snort-
Rave-Art
Yay, I updated again! What is it with you people and me updating? Well, to whatever evil force overtook your minds and made you all read this, I thank thee. And.. yeah. Thanks for reviewing!
Taltos
Cow, you have six .hack DVD's? I've only got one… pouts. I'm dying to know what happens, (they just kidnapped, or whatever you want to call it, the guy/girl Tsukasa? ! How could they end it there?), but I have to pay for what I buy, and I can only buy it at this pop-culture show thingy called Armegadon, (or something like it), and that's not 'till next year. I'm saving for that, and a game for my newly bought PS2. Figured it was time to get one of those, since I got a job. Finally.
You're the only person to review every chapter, did you know that? Just thought you should feel special.
-Devil