Chapter Six:
"Selphie? Are you even listening to me?"
"Of course I am, Rin. Really. How did your dad take it, by the way?"
"Not well at all," Rinoa said, sighing "but that's not what I called you about. Did…did you see anybody else at the party? Anyone suspicious?"
"Suspicious?" Selphie chirped "Suspicious how?"
"Like…not acting…" She trailed off. What exactly did she want from Selphie? "…Normal?"
"Normal? Like, not looking normal?"
"Partly, I guess," Rinoa murmured, twining the phone cord around a finger.
"Can't say I did, Rin. Why are you asking?"
"Its just…never mind. Forget it." She didn't know why she didn't tell Selphie. She doubted Selphie would have believed her anyway. Hell, she didn't even believe herself.
"How hard did you hit your head, hun?"
"Selphie!" Rinoa shrieked, trying to untangle her hand from the phone. She could hear Selphie giggling to herself on the other end.
"You know, you really need to—" She stopped talking, listening hard.
"What is it?" Selphie whispered, sensing Rinoa's discomfort.
"Shh… shit. Stay on the line for a minute." She put the phone back down on the receiver, taking care not to actually hang up, and then quickly crossed the room and sank down onto her bed just as her father bustled in through the doorway.
"I heard voices." Her father growled.
Rinoa feigned puzzlement. "Voices? Oh! I had the radio on. That must have been it."
Mr. Caraway's eyes flicked over to the phone. He stiffened in the doorway.
"That phone is going. First thing tomorrow."
"But—"
"No buts! You are grounded, young lady!"
"For how long?" Rinoa demanded, standing up.
"As long as I see fit."
"As long as you see fit? You can't do that!"
"I can, and I will! You snuck out of the house, Rinoa! You almost died!"
There was a silence, in which his words hung in the air like a thick fog. Rinoa opened her mouth to retort, and then slowly closed it again. She looked down at her hands.
"I can't lose you too." He said, in a voice she had never heard him use before. Surprised, she looked up into his face. His eyes were overly bright. He didn't look as imposing as he usually did; instead, he looked rather pitiful, standing there silhouetted in her doorway.
"Dad…I…"
"Its time for bed. Goodnight, Rinoa."
"Goodnight," she whispered, knowing he had already left and shut the door behind him. She let out a heavy sigh and listened to make sure he had gone downstairs. When she was sure, she went back to the phone and picked up the receiver.
"Selphie?"
Nothing. Rinoa strained her ears, listening. There was no dial tone, and she could have sworn she heard something…
"Selphie?" She repeated. What was that noise?
"Selphie!" There it was again! That noise…it sounded like a voice. Selphie's voice?
"Selphie, answer me! This isn't funny!" There it was again, louder this time. It sounded like somebody sobbing.
Rinoa dropped the phone and slowly backed away from it.
"Oh god."
She had the sudden mental image of Seifer standing in Selphie's house, grinning, a malevolent glint in his eye.
"I've got to go…" She whispered to herself, her hands clutching her face. She hurried over to her bed and shoved some pillows under the covers so that if her father checked in on her he might mistake the lump for her sleeping form. Then she pulled her long overcoat on and slipped the window open. She swiftly pulled herself through the window and dangled there. Tediously, she held on with one hand and used the other to pull the window closed before dropping to the ground. She looked up at the window smugly for a second, and then set off down the sloping driveway towards Selphie's house.
She kept to the shadows, walking briskly to her destination. The street seemed even darker than usual, so sticking to the shadows was not proving difficult. Many of the streetlamps had gone out.
She shivered, pulling her coat closer together and crossing her arms for warmth. It was oddly cold out. Her breath froze and hung in the air before she ploughed through it, spreading to the sides where it mingled and disappeared with the air.
Where is everybody?
She arrived at Selphie's house. It looked empty and still, like it hadn't been lived in for a long time. A shell of a house. She inhaled deeply, the cold night air stinging her throat. Making her way up the walk, she noticed that the driveway was empty. Her parents were gone.
She hesitated at the front door, rocking on the balls of her feet. What if she had just imagined the whole thing? Rinoa shook her head fiercely. There was nothing for it.
She knocked.
It was silent until… was that a cry she heard?
Desperate now, she tried the front door only to find that it was locked.
"Selphie!" She cried, pounding on the door. It was definitely Selphie's voice, but it sounded oddly muffled.
Rinoa abandoned the front door and made her way to the back of the house.
Please, let it be unlocked…
It was.
She was in the pitch dark of the kitchen, that she knew.
Where is the god damn light switch?
She fumbled blindly along the wall for a moment, but failed to find anything.
Selphie's sobbing had increased in volume, still sounding muffled.
"Selphie?" Rinoa called. "What's going on?"
More hysterical sobs.
Rinoa felt along the wall, using it to guide her into the living room. She knew she was close. Her straying hands found a couch, and she moved along it, lightly brushing it to keep her place. Rinoa was starting to feel slightly frustrated; she couldn't even make out the shape of the couch. Suddenly her foot collided with something soft.
"Mmph!"
Rinoa dropped down onto one knee, searching the floor until she found Selphie's face. She had a gag in her mouth. Horrified, Rinoa carefully pulled it off before flinging it away like something contagious. Selphie was whispering something. Rinoa bent her head closer.
"What'd you say?"
A silence, where the only thing Rinoa could hear was Selphie's panicked breathing.
"Run."
Rinoa gasped and quickly stood up. She was too late. Someone grabbed her roughly from behind and clapped a hand over her mouth to stifle her scream. A small dim lamp clicked on over to her right, illuminating the profile of a man slung casually in an armchair. He looked to be in his early twenties or so, and had long brown hair which was swept up into a ponytail. Rinoa's eyes widened as she furiously elbowed her captor, who merely laughed. The ponytail man gave a chuckle and stood up, surveying Rinoa thoughtfully.
"That was easier than I though. Who would have known you would be so predictable?"
"Fugck Yew" She spat through the hand that was pressed to her mouth.
"Now, now." Said ponytail in a silky voice.
Struck by a sudden inspiration, Rinoa opened her mouth wide and licked the inside of the man's hand.
"Eugh!" He exclaimed, quickly letting go and wiping his hand on his pants.
Rinoa spun away. "I could say the same for you," she spat. "Ugh."
She backed away warily, making sure both ponytail and his accomplice were in her field of vision, and careful not to tread on poor Selphie, who was tied up on the floor.
"Now, Rinoa." Said ponytail in a soothing voice. "Just come quietly and nobody will be hurt."
Rinoa noticed that he had a gun attached to a belt at his side, which she raised an eyebrow at.
"Who are you?" She asked slowly.
"I'm kind of wondering the same thing," said a voice behind her.
Rinoa spun around.
"You!" she hissed.
"Watch–"
Rinoa didn't even hear anyone come up to her before it was too late. Ponytail grabbed her around the waist, pinning her arms to her sides.
"…out."
She squirmed, stamping on ponytail's foot.
"Let me go, you bastard!"
"You heard the lady," Squall said softly.
"Yeah?" Ponytail sneered. "This has nothing to do with you. I'd advise you to leave right now and forget any of this happened."
"Hmm…that does sound inviting…" Squall said thoughtfully, scratching his chin. "I don't think I can, though. It's hard to forget these things, see."
"I can fix that." Ponytail said, with a faint trace of a growl.
"Squall! Watch out!"
Ponytail's accomplice had snuck up behind Squall. Squall turned, but accomplice grabbed him around the neck with one arm and pressed a gun to his temple with the other.
"There," said ponytail smugly. "Forgetting yet?"
Squall winced. "You know, I really can't say I am."
"Well. Maybe you just need some prompting."
Click.
"How about now?"
"Nope." Squall said calmly. "Still fresh in my mind, I'm afraid."
"Pity." Said ponytail quietly, giving a slight nod to accomplice.
He pulled the trigger.
Hrm. That was interesting. I actually kind of forgot about this, but then I got a review from MafGoldenHeart (thanks, by the way) and started to write it again. So I got three reviews for the last chapter. Woo. It makes me sad. I don't know if I'll keep writing this one. I'm not really sure where I'm going with this. Anyways...REVIEW OR ELSE. Heheh.