Chapter 4:
The silence was broken by the creak of a footstep on the floor. Someone trying to be cautious. There was huge bang and barely contained curses were heard from inside the bedroom. Silence again. After a minute there was the sound of a window slowly being opened.
Suddenly there was a flood of light.
Shit.
"Miss Rinoa!? What ARE you doing!?"
"Umm..." Rinoa thought hard, trying to think of a good excuse of why she was in a dress with her leg sticking out of a window. "I was...uhh....just looking...for...the, um..."
Marilyn gave a little chuckle.
"You know, the front door is a lot easier. Not so high," she gave Rinoa a disapproving look, but there was still a gleam of laughter in her eye "come on, I won't tell General Caraway."
She flicked the lights off and left the room. After Rinoa extracted herself from the window she followed.
Marilyn led the way to the side door, and when they got there she handed Rinoa a pair of keys.
"One's the house key for when you get back, the other is the key for your father's Porsche." She gave Rinoa a little wink. "Have fun!"
Rinoa grinned, and walked down to the garage, her heels making little clicking noises onthe pavement.
This was going to be a fun night.
Selphie screamed with laughter.
"I can't believe you snuck out!" She shouted over the bass of the music.
Rinoa shoved her hand over her mouth and giggled.
"Can I just get a water!?" Quistis, over at the bar, asked. She came back a minute later looking exasperated but clutching a bottle in her hand.
"Ugh, the service here is horrible."
Rinoa and Selphie both laughed and dragged Quistis over to the dance floor
"So, Rinoa my dear. Was it worth it?"
"Hell yes!" Rinoa laughed.
Feeling a tap on her shoulder, she spun around and found herself staring up into a pair of deep emerald eyes.
"Can I help you?" she asked.
"Well, you could help me by dancing with me, for one."
He flashed her a grin.
Rinoa glanced over at Selphie. "He's hot!" she mouthed.
Selphie took the hint. "I'm thirsty! C'mon, Quisty!" Selphie dragged her off the dance floor again towards the punch. A slow song came on. Rinoa laid her hand on his shoulders and he put his arms around her waist. He smelled like aftershave.
"So, you live around here?" She asked.
He chuckled.
"You could say that, I guess."
She raised an eyebrow, wondering what he meant, but then dismissing it. His blond hair was almost glowing in the black light. She noticed he had a scar that ran down between his eyes.
He saw her looking at it.
"Car accident," He said before she could ask. She noticed that he looked slightly uncomfortable, so she let it drop and continued to sway with the music.
The next song was a fast one. Sneaking out was definitely worth it.
Squall wiped his forehead and glanced down at his watch. He was off in fifteen minutes. He sighed and pushed sweaty hair away from his eyes. He glanced around after he heard squeaky footsteps in the hall by his left. It was his boss.
"Not much more to do tonight, Squall. You can head home early."
"Thanks."
He pushed his cleaning trolley back to the janitor's closet and locked it up. The elevator was mercifully Zell-free. He pushed the first floor button and waited for the ding and the woosh.
He was blasted by air conditioning as he strode out of the elevator.
There was a different security guard on now. Squall didn't know her name. He handed her the keys.
"Have a nice night," she said in a cheery voice.
He grunted in response and kept walking. The night was still young; he had no thought of going back to his musty cigarette apartment yet. He decided to take a stroll through the park that was on the way back to his place. Only a few people were on the streets. Making a mental note to buy a watch with his next paycheck, he estimated that it was around one o'clock.
"Oh, it's hot in here,"
They had been dancing for at least ten minutes straight.
"You wanna go outside and cool off a bit?"
Rinoa nodded, and wondered faintly where Selphie and Quistis went off too. Seifer, she
learned his name was, grabbed her elbow a bit forcefully and steered her outside. He sat down on a bench that overlooked the park and motioned for her to sit beside him.
"So, enjoying yourself so far?"
Rinoa nodded and grinned. She was about to add something when Seifer scooted closer and put an arm around her.
Going a bit fast there, buddy.
"I...um...."
"Relax," he chanted.
"I have to go," she announced suddenly "Selphie and Quistis are probably looking for me," she made to stand up, but he grabbed her arm.
"Don't tell me your cooled off already..."
The smell of freshly cut grass wafted on the air. Squall inhaled deeply. He loved that smell. He could hear music off to his right a bit, and grinned to himself, but it was a sad one. He wished he was a normal person like them still.
"Get your hands off me!" he heard a woman shriek. Her voice sounded like it was coming from the direction of the party. He shrugged and made his way towards her.
Seifer pulled Rinoa back onto the bench.
"C'mon," he said, his eyes gleaming wickedly "I won't bite!" He paused. "Actually, scratch that, maybe I will."
He forced Rinoa's head to one side and sank his fangs into her neck.
She screamed.
He heard her scream, and started jogging over towards the bench. He caught sight of two people sitting there. One was limp, and the other was embracing her, his face to her neck.
Biting her!
Seifer!
He ran over and ripped Seifer off forcefully.
"What are you doing!?" Seifer demanded, blood smeared all over his mouth.
"What am I doing? What are YOU doing!? There are people EVERYWHERE! You think nobody will notice? She screamed, for Christ's sake!"
Seifer laughed.
"What? Like they can stop me?"
"No," Squall growled, "But I can."
Seifers grin disappeared.
"And you're going to?"
"You know I will."
Seifers glare could kill. Squall was ready for anything, but instead Seifer spat at his feet and strode angrily away.
Squall hadn't noticed he'd been holding his breath, and he let it all out. Then he remembered the girl. He looked over at the bench.
She was lying on it, unconscious. Her raven black hair fell over her face, but her neck was exposed and pale in the moonlight.
He came a bit closer.
Blood was seeping in a fine trickle down the side of her neck. It looked so tantalizing, glittering, beckoning to him. He leaned even closer. He was so close he could smell it. He could feel the warmth from her body. He could hear her heart pumping blood through her veins. He wanted to taste it. Just a little...
Oh my god. What am I doing!?
He flung himself away with such force that he found himself on his back on the concrete, chest heaving, gasping for air.
He had to get away.
He had almost lost control.
He had almost killed her.
He turned to leave, to run back to his apartment and forget this whole thing. Forget the
fact that Seifer was right. He would have liked it. He still wanted to. Wanted to taste the warm blood running down his throat. Wanted to --
Stop it!
Maybe he was changing his mind after all? Maybe he and Seifer weren't so different.
Maybe he didn't have any control over his body anymore.
He started to edge away. He needed to leave.
You can't leave her like this, the softer side of him said, unconscious on a bench.
Luckily there was a payphone nearby.
Squall didn't have any money on him, but he still called 911 and requested an ambulance immediately, staying on the line only long enough to state his location.
He lurked in the shadows long enough to make sure that Seifer didn't come back. When the ambulance arrived he fled.
Pretty short and retarded, I know. For those of you who were looking for a big Squall/Rinoa meeting....surprise! Sorry it took so long to get this chapter up, but I've just been too lazy to write anymore. So, I hope you enjoyed, but if you didn't make sure you tell me. Squall and Rinoa will really meet in hopefully the next chapter, whenever I get around to writing it. Make sure you review, kay? If not....well....