I decided to put chapter two up before any reviews 'cause it's kinda unfair the last was so short. '

When I was reading over the first chapter I was like, "wow, this is really morbid. Even for me." So I decided to add maybe little tid-bits of humor. You know, comic relief. :D

Umm...anything else? Yeah, again, I do not own Kingdom Hearts or the characters. But I do own the made-up city they live in.

With that out of the way, enjoy!

Chapter 2: The Building

"Axel." I nodded at him in recognition. "I'm Roxas." I took a ciagarette out from the pack and he had a lit match ready for me. This would be the second time I've smoked in my life. Not specifically the second cigarette but the second time I've tried to smoke. The first was about the first month of freshman year. Going into high school introduced me to new things. One of those things had to be drinking, cigarettes, and drugs. I learned I couldn't hold my liquor, so I never tried that again. Drugs, tried them once and they were ok. I just didn't know where to get them. Smoking: eh. It was just there. It's been about a year since I had a smoke so, I don't expect myself to suck the ash so smoothly.

Heh. I'm so predictable.

"Hey, hey! Take it easy. I know ya wanna die but there's better ways." Axel patted my back as I tried to rid the ash from my system. "Better?"

I straighten up and coughed out a thanks. My blue eyes examined the scenery. We were going into the even worse part of Dagmar. "Hey, are we heading for the underground?" The underground was what I, and everyone else, including the inhabitants, thought to be the worst of the bad. My apartment was in the ,what you would call: average district, where the apartments were ok, not perfect, but you could live in them. But the underground looks like it went through hell, back, and a nuclear war. I've been there once with my mom and dad, when he was still part of our family. It was just one trip. Our local grocery store was closed for the day due to remodeling, and "The Well Market" was the closest thing to our home. Through the years, I've forgotten the details of what we needed but I remember those people faces like it was yesterday. Hostile eyes, shady attitudes, anything that told your instincts they were bad. Though my experience, I learned I never wanted to go back.

"Yeah. We're going to my place."

Too late.

"Next stop. Dagmar, Industrial District." The recorded woman's voice sounded so calm. If she were really here, she'd be running for her life. The train was like some kind of portal to an alternate dimension. The Dagmar we came from was heaven and the underground was hell. The yellowish faded tiles that we walked on before entering the train had now turned to nothing but a dirt floor with a few pieces of tile that were unfortunate enough to be cracked. We walked up the piss-poor stairs and I scrunched my nose at the sight and smell of the city.

It was just as I remembered but worse. There were prostitutes all over the place. Thanks to my "invisibility" I didn't get any unwanted attention from them. Shady guys all over the streets selling things, doing drugs, hiding guns, I don't know and I don't want to. My red graphic tee and blue jeans made me feel like a fish out of water and much more rich compared to these people, even though I did get these clothes from a thrift store. Axel seemed to fit in with his hoodie and tight black pants. If I never talked to him, I would just assume he's just as shady as any of these men. But maybe it wasn't too late to assume by the way he was talking to a man hunched on the ground in an alley.

Axel handed him some money and the man with the brown beard and the scruffy clothes handed him something in return. I couldn't see it but my mind thought the worse: drugs. I could feel my heart sink. My savior is an addict? "Sorry about that," he walked back to me, stuffing the unknown substance in his hoodie pocket, "let's go." I would have asked but why would he tell me? I'm just some random kid he asked to follow.

This mutilated excuse for a city was some labyrinth. Left, right, right, left. I don't understand how Axel knew his way around. The street signs had been graffititied over, making them illegible. We walked past many shady folks. I couldn't help but to walk closer to Axel every time we passed one. He was just as shady as anyone else in the underground but something drew me to him, maybe it was the fact that he cared about me enough to kill me was enough to trust him.

"We're here." He stopped abruptly in front of a three story, brown building. He walked up the porch steps and opened the door. No lock? Inside it looked just as gross as the subways under us. There were mysterious blotches on the wall which I assue to be urine. Axel walked up the stairs and I followed close behind. We got the second floor and a woman, that was barely dressed came past us down the stairs, but he ignored her and kept on walking up. Just as we turned the corner on the stairs to go up we heard a voice call out.

"Hey, Axel!" My red-haired acquaintance looked up at the sound of his name. He called for Axel but his eyes met mine. What I don't understand is why I pay such close attention to eyes. Especially today. The woman with the dull eyes, Axel's teal eyes, and this guy's: a beautiful sky blue. His hair was a sandy blonde, styled in a mullet, which instantly reminded me of a beach. Or, maybe I though of a beach because of the gray shirt he was wearing had some faded design of a beach along with the words, "Hang Ten!" wrapped around it. "Is he your next client? Looks a bit young." He had a smile on his face which was very welcoming. Not scary or hostile. Just nice, warm, and carefree. I wish I could smile like that.

"I guess you could say that. I would introduce you but we'll be done by tonight." He walked up, past the teen that didn't look too much older than me and turned right into a hallways. I followed behind and continued to look at him. The surfer boy was still watching me as I followed Axel.

"Keep it clean, ok?" He gave a friendly salute and Axel just let out a grunt. "Oh, and Axel?" He kept on walking. There was a long silence between them before Axel stopped. He didn't turn around. The sandy blonde teen's smile didn't faded but not completely. It just became less than what it was a moment ago. I could tell he was trying to smile through a frown. "Lexaeus. He-" he took a deep breath and glanced downward at his shoes before looking back up. "Lexaeus took it like a man today." His smile was back. It was an even greater smile than before when I first saw him. He's trying too hard to hide his pain.

Axel sighed and threw his current cigarette out of his mouth. It wasn't even finished yet. "Good for him." And he kept on walking down the hall and stopped at a door with the number 813 on it. His hand reached down in his pouch and looked around for keys. He found them and put them in the door knob.

"Axel, who was he?" He turned the door knob and pushed the door open.

"No one you need to concern yourself with." I followed him in. His apartment was very empty, small, single-roomed and more unattended than unclean. The kitchen portion looked untouched except the fridge. There was nothing in there that looked to be of entertainment. Not even a TV. There was a wooden table in the middle of the room with two chairs. Also, there was two beds in the room, one in opposite corners. To my surprise there was a large shelf that caught my attention when I first walked in. It had the most random things on it: drawn pictures, photographs, a stuffed animal, a knife, a wind chime, and many other odd things. I was most curious about the black journal that sat on the shelf. Was Axel a writer? Or was he one of those type of people to keep a journal about his life? He certainly didn't seem to be the type. "Do you want a drink?"

His voice caught me off guard. "Sure." He walked over the his yellowing refrigerator and pulled out two beers. Setting it down on the table, he plopped down in a chair and opened the can. "Sorry, I don't like drinking." I gave him a nervous smile as I sat down at the table across from him. Darkness didn't do him any justice. It only made him seem even scarier. Those purple triangles under his eyes just made him look cynical.

"Too bad, it's the only thing I got. Besides, you're going to need it." He took a long drink from his and I opened up my beer. The smell of alcohol only made me think of my first time drinking. If I remember correctly (I had too much that night) I was at a Halloween party with my friends. Beer and punch were the only beverage there but they both had alcohol in it. I thought it was cool to be drinking but the next day I spent it huddled over a toilet.

"Are you really going to kill me?" Axel choked on his drink and leaned over to stiffle himself from coughing it up. When he looked up at me, I could see anger in his eyes.

"Don't ever say that. I'm not killing you. I'm aiding you in your death." He sat up and looked at me with narrowed eyes. What the hell did I do? It was just a question. "I'm not a murderer. Don't clump me together with them." His eyes softened and he returned to his drink.

"Sorry." I winced as I swallowed the disgusting fluid down my throat. "Do you-"

"Hey, kid. Not so many questions. Let's just get this over with." He stood up and drained his beer. The can was slammed onto the table with a audible clink. I put my unfinished beer down and stood up with him. "We're going to the roof." He turned to the door and walked out. I didn't question him as I followed him upstairs to the roof.

The sun was setting. It was that time of day where the blue sky was surrendering to the darkness of night. The last sunset I'll ever see. Axel closed the roof door behind me and pulled off his hoodie. It was quite humid but my tee shirt was fine. My assistant wore a black tank under which revealed how thin he was. I couldn't help but to stare at his waist. I thought only girls could be that skinny. He threw his right arm around the shoulder and led me to the edge of the building. A low chuckle escaped from his lips. "This is pleasant. You get this beautiful view just as you die. You better get it memorized 'cause this is the last piece of earth you're going to see." He tightened his grip on me, making it awkward but comfortable. "Just to let you know, this building is three-stories high. When you fall, try to go head first." He gave one last squeeze before letting me go and walking behind me. I didn't want to turn around, but I didn't need to. I knew what he was doing. I could hear the strike of a match and the smell of cigarette smoke before he ran forward. He went pretty far back just to push me. I guess he wanted me to have some momentum. His steps were getting louder, closer. I tried to keep my attention on the sunset but my stupid eyes couldn't help but to look at the ground. Fear overwhelmed me but it was instinct that told me to turn around and jump to the right.

Good timing.

Axel turned to face me, face full of shock, when he was at the edge of the building, but he was going too fast to stop. He did a full 180 and fell backward off the side of this dump. Even with his thin, long arms, I couldn't catch him in time. I looked over the edge and watched him fall back first to the sidewalk. Even in death, I knew I would never forget those teal eyes filled with terror.

Well compared to the first chapter, this is longer. But not long enough by my standards. I don't think Chapter 3 will be that much longer. Maybe it will, it's hard to say.

I hope you liked this chapter! Please review! I cannot stress this enough! It would make me feel so good inside to know if people actually like it or not!

Thanks again for reading!

-Lady of the Cards-