Dark Hearts

By Valentine and Vixen

Chapter Two: Black Roses

Author's Notes: We got excited about this, so here's chapter two. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Final Fantasy VIII belongs to Square Enix and not us… sadly.

"That sign was a liar…." Quistis mumbled to herself.

They had been on the road for an hour since she had spotted the sign saying that they were approaching some local village. Yet, still nothing was around.

Selphie had started playing with her hair at the backseat while Rinoa, had resolved to singing her late mother's song. Yet as bored, tired and hungry as they were, all three of them were somehow able to keep their patience. Luckily for them, their patience was about to pay off.

"Guys, look over there." Rinoa's voice cut through the silence, which led Quistis to look ahead.

There was a fork on the road.

"Right or left?" Rinoa said, biting her lip in thought.

"How bout 'Eeny-Meeny-Miney-Moe'?" came Selphie's childish suggestion, and her two friends gave a collective sigh again.

After a moment's thought, and a little discussion of their options, did Rinoa finally decide to just go with her instinct. Of course, she had to ask her friends if they agreed with her first. Now, to Selphie and Quistis, Rinoa's instinct was not something quite trustworthy for the young girl could be rather brash. However, they also knew that without Rinoa's recklessness, their lives would be much more boring.

Quistis sighed. Was she really going to do this? Sometimes, she figured that she loved her friends way too much…"Go wherever you want, Rinny. Besides, at this rate we have no idea where it will take us anyway, so we might as well take a chance."

"Yeah, Quisty is right. Besides, we won't blame it on you if we get lost and die in the middle of nowhere." Selphie said cheerfully.

Rinoa frowned. 'Great. No pressure there, Selphie.'

For some reason, Rinoa felt totally compelled to go towards the left path over the right, as if something had been pulling her there. She had been feeling this way since she saw the fork on the road. Yet, at the same time, she could not shake the alarm in her head that warned her against the very same path. Rinoa wasn't sure if her two friends felt it, but she clearly knew that there was something off as they approached the village.

Ever since Quistis had pointed out that they were finally getting somewhere, changes began to take place with the weather, although faintly.

Over the past hour, the closer they got to the village, the darker it became. The sun was no longer bright but was almost completely hidden behind unmoving gray clouds. It also seemed as if it would be raining soon with the fog that slowly came out of nowhere. Cold air began to replace the cool comfort of earlier, and eventually they had to take out their jackets. To her, everything felt suddenly eerie. However, despite all the uneasiness that she felt, not once did the drive to follow the left path waver.

As Rinoa thought and thought, the fork was soon right in her face and she had to make the decision. Against all warnings, she led the car left. Why? Because she didn't want to waste her new found freedom doing all the safe things. She knew that for them to be able to make the most of life, sometimes they would just have to take the risk. No matter what would happen from here, she would not regret.

Before long, they finally reached the entrance of the small town. There it was… 'Welcome to Black Rose Village' was engraved on the town's main entrance. Looking around, the three young women noticed that it was a quaint little town with smooth dirt streets large enough for only one lane. The houses were modest with an overall European countryside theme, yet the place seemed completely deserted. Not far from the entrance was a small diner. The young women wordlessly looked at each other and knew that that was their first stop.

"Where are all the people?" Rinoa said as she parked the car, and the three of them got out to look around. "This place is soooo spooky…"

"…Not to mention freezing." Quistis said and shrugged as she rubbed her arms, for the cold air gave her skin goose bumps. It was only fall, yet in this village it felt like winter was upon them already.

Quickly, Selphie then raced up ahead towards the diner and peered into its door. "Hello? Is anyone there?" She said as she tapped her knuckles against the cold glass.

Suddenly, an old man appeared in right in front of Selphie which caught her completely by surprise. Selphie jumped down and joined her friends while the old man came out of the diner and slowly limped towards them, all the while using a shotgun as a walking cane.

He frowned, with his small beady eyes looking over the three visitors. "What're ye folk doin' in these ere' parts. Don't ye know tis dangerous ere'?" He said in an intimidating hoarse voice.

Quistis stepped up to face the old man, unfazed by his strange behavior. "Sorry to bother you, Sir, but we're very hungry. We were just wondering if we could get some lunch, then we'll be going."

"Ye won't be goin' nowhere once they've got ye. Them monsters." The old man said with an air of gloom in his voice. Anger seemed to swell up in him as he lapsed into deep thought. He gritted his rotten teeth and without warning, he aimed his gun at the unsuspecting young ladies. "It be best if I me-self finish ye off before they do. Don't ye worry. I'll make yer passin' quick."

It took a second for the girls to realize what the old man intended to do and by the time they figured out that he was serious, the old man had already pulled the trigger. All they could do was to shut their eyes tight, having no time to react. However, just as the deafening sound of the gun erupted in the air, the old man began to scream.

To their surprise, a large white dog had come to their rescue.

The old man had immediately turned pale as the dog deflected his shot, grabbed the shotgun from him, and violently shook the weapon. The man panicked and continued to scream with immense fear in his voice and rushed back into the diner. "That dog! It be the demon dog! Run fer yer lives!"

Unsure of what just happened, the young women found themselves left with mixed emotions. They had quite a scare and now they were unsure if they were facing a creature which they owed their lives, or one that would attack them next. One thing was for sure though… This dog suddenly didn't look much like a dog anymore. Nope, it was far too big…

"Should we run?" Quistis whispered with caution.

"I don't know… If we do it might come after us."

"But Selphie, if it wanted to hurt us, it probably would've done so a long time ago. Look at it. It's just staring at us…" Rinoa said and frowned. Then again… it kinda looks more like its staring at my chest…

Wow. That was the only word which registered in Seifer's happy mind, as he stared up at the three young women. These girls are HOT. Slowly he let his green eyes trace up their flawless legs to the curves of their chests, one by one, and he grinned. Thank God I'm a Lycan… He grinned again before he slowly approached.
"It's coming closer!" Selphie shrieked as the animal took a step in their direction, its white fur suddenly looking incredibly soft to her twitching fingers. "Hey guys…It seems friendly… Can I pet?"

"Selphie! We're not even sure if it's a dog. It looks too big to me. I bet it's a wolf."

"Aww come on, Quisty," Rinoa begged, joining her fellow dog lover, Selphie. "Besides, it's cute and you know you want to pet it too."

Seifer snickered. That's right, babe. You know you want to pet me too.

Without further approval from the logic-driven blonde, Selphie and Rinoa began to pet the animal. And it looked like it was having just as much fun as they were.

Quistis sighed and she finally gave in. "Fine! If it bites off your arms, don't come crawling back to me. Understood?"

"Booyaka!"

"Alrighty!"

Seifer rolled on his back, giving the girls full access to his belly. Wait til the guys hear about this! He mocked, thinking on how the womanizing Irvine would react. Zell on the other hand would probably just cry like a wuss and Squall would pretend like he didn't care.

Ha! He would probably tell me off for taking the job lightly or something like that. As much as he had fun being fawned over by two beautiful girls, Seifer knew his priorities. Therefore, he planned his next move.

Looking at the young women, he noticed that one of them wore a silver necklace with a ring in the center. Perfect.

Sorry bout this babe. Quickly, he lunged and grabbed a hold on the unsuspecting girl's jewelry and ran off deeper into the village.

Rinoa fell on her butt, as the dog latched on and took the most valuable thing to her. Her mother's ring, and without thinking, she ran off after the dog.

"Rinoa! Wait!" Selphie called, but was nonetheless unheard by her frantic friend.

"Selphie, lets get the car and help her." Quistis said, and they began to run for the vehicle.

Soon, they had caught up after the tired Rinoa, who was breathless by the side of the road. Tears were starting to form on her desperate eyes and as she whispered, "…mommy's ring."

"Don't worry, Rinny. We'll get it back. Hop on."

Rinoa gave her blonde friend a nod and did as she was told, silently grateful that her both her friends were there. They didn't have to be, yet they chose to come with her in her rather 'unplanned' journey.

"Thanks…guys… for coming with me…"

"No problem, Rinny." Quistis smiled reassuringly and put her focus on the road. "Now where did that bastard go…"

The young blonde drove as fast as the narrow streets let her. They were slowly gaining on the little thief until it turned on a sharp corner, catching Quistis completely off guard. She had missed the turn and had to back up until they came to where they had last seen the dog.

Suddenly, they weren't quite sure anymore.

"Is this right?" Selphie asked as they realized that it entered through an open gate.

"Well that's where I saw it go through… I'm sure." Quistis said "We might as well follow, since we've gotten this far. Rinny, you, and Selphie open the gates back so the car can get through."

After hurrying through the action, the two girls got back in the car, and they proceeded on their way. The only problem was, beyond the gates, everything else looked different.

Gone were all the houses, replaced by a forest on both sides of the car, gone was the dirt road, replaced by a thick carpet of dead leaves, and worst of all, gone was the dog.

Selphie sighed. "Great… now where do we go?"

"Be patient, Selphie. It's probably in here somewhere. It couldn't have gotten far." Rinoa said determinedly.

Slowly, Quistis drove the car deeper into the forest trail which lucky for them was large enough for the car.

Silence followed. There was suddenly a heavy feel to everything around them and they were now very aware of the fact that everything became dark.

"Uhh…guys? What time is it?" Selphie asked a moment later, completely puzzled.

Quistis glanced at the clock and as she saw the numbers, her blue eyes went wide. This can't be right. She thought. "Selphie, its only 3…"

"Whoa…that's odd…maybe the clock's not working." Rinoa's said, with her confusion clear on her face.

Again, silence followed. By this time, the sky was a dark, deep orange and the moon was already visible. Was it really just 3 in the afternoon? It felt more like 6:30 to her.

Rinoa had to check again. And as she did, her brown eyes went wide. "Guys. It's now four…"

A second later…

5pm…then 6…

then 7…

then 8…9…10…11…12…

"Weird..." Rinoa said as she watched the numbers change right before her eyes.

"I'm starting to get creeped out!"

"It's probably just broken."

"Or maybe it was the wind..."

"Selphie! The wind? Seriously..."

"Let's just leave it, alright?"

Selphie slouched over the car's side with her hand dangling over the window. She sighed. Things are getting so weird here. Where are we anyway? Just then, her emerald eyes caught something in the shadows of the forest. A figure walking in the dark. Suddenly, Selphie heard a low howl.

"Guys, what was that? Don't tell me there are wolves here too!" She squeaked, scurried closer between her friends, and whispered. "I don't want to be here anymore. Let's go back!"

"Neither do I, Selphie. But Mom's ring…"

"We'll be fine." Quistis smiled weakly and reassured her two friends. Maybe that was just the dog we are after… she thought, trying to calm her self down as well. The idea of hungry wolves lurking in the shadows was not something she would be excited about.

After a few moments, things had started to die down and the girls began to relax again. Apparently, the forest trail was quite long. Quistis sighed. She was beginning to give up on this. The dog could be anywhere by now. Just then, their headlights started blinking. She shrugged, but then, it blinked again… and again. Even the wipers had started moving rapidly on their own.

"QUISTIS, STOP DOING THAT!" The younger two yelled.

"I'm sorry, guys! But that wasn't me! It's the car! It probably has some serious problems."

"But it was checked recently before we took it!"

"…maybe it was the wind?"

"SELPHIE!"

Silence followed and lighting flashed. Then… the rain poured hard. Suddenly, the car stopped moving... Quistis tried desperately to restart the car, however nothing happened. She tried again and again, yet all her efforts proved futile.

"What the hell is going on?" Quistis said exasperatedly, as she slouched back in her seat. Her logical mind was obviously being tested here, and honestly she was starting to get scared. The blonde looked to her side where Rinoa was seated.

The young raven haired girl had her hand over her heart, the place where her necklace usually settled and immediately, Quistis felt sorry for her friend. It was very important to her and to think that she would lose it was something even Quistis could not bear. They had to keep trying. "Guys, lets go. We can just walk from here."

The three young women got out of the car and began walking. They were all soaked from the rain and their stomachs reminded them that they were still unfed. Unexpectedly, as they got a few feet away from the car, its headlight flashed open and the engine switched on. The car suddenly began rocking back and forth faster with every passing second, before it began backing up away from them.

It took a second for the realization to hit her and instantly, Quistis' blue eyes opened wide. Oh no…. It's gonna run over us.

"RUN!" She screamed with her voice trembling and loud against the heavy sound of rain.

And all three women ran as fast as they possibly could. None of them dared to look back as they could all hear the angry engine behind them. Adrenaline kicked in and their minds were going blank.

Someone… Help…

Seifer watched silently from the woods and frowned. There they were, driving into the trail. Everything was going according to plan, yet he could feel things were off. His senses knew that something else was there, and he knew exactly what it was. Oh you're not taking them from us… he grinned. I'll make sure of that.

A while later, Seifer's hearing caught the girls talking, panic was now clear in their voice and he could smell their fear rising up. Apparently, something was messing with their clock. Aha so the Bitch has begun to work. Well, two can play this game.

If she would try scaring them away, he was just going to have to lure them back. A good howl from their 'superhero wolf' would fix everything right? And so, Seifer howled.

The brunette in yellow obviously heard him, but to Seifer's dismay, she only seemed to get more scared and frankly, he could feel that so did the other two.

"Let's go back." He heard one of them say and Seifer immediately cringed. Oops. Maybe I shouldn't have done that.

Seifer decided to sit and wait what would take place next and he didn't have to wait long. The car's wipers were moving on their own now, and Seifer could smell that rain was on its way. For a minute there, he almost felt sorry for them and their miserable predicament, but he knew things would only get worse. Next, the car stopped. It seems like she is serious this time. Only she won't get what she wants.

He watched as the young ladies left the car and began to walk. Seifer knew what was going to happen next as the car began to back up. Shit. She wants to run them over!

Now, he knew he had to act quickly.

This was a nightmare. It had to be. Her legs felt numb and she was freezing from the cold rain. Rinoa could feel her strength leaving her as she drained what was left of her energy to save her life. She felt as if the possessed car was torturing them by making them run so hard for so long before it would take their lives. Killed by my car… What would Caraway say?

She looked over at her friends. They were just as tired and scared as she was.

This can't be it. We were supposed to be free and having fun…

Just then, her foot slipped on the mud and Rinoa felt her world tumble down as she too began to fall. No…

Her crash against the hard floor was something Rinoa barely felt, for the young girl was too busy bracing her self against the larger, more painful impact of metal against human flesh and bone that was still yet to come. However as Rinoa prayed the whole thing to be over, the impact never came.

Rinoa looked up ahead of her and saw her two friends frozen in their tracks, their wide eyes staring back beyond her and towards the car. Rinoa, following her companions' eyes, looked behind her and she was shocked. The car had stopped because of the same white dog.

The large animal stood directly between Rinoa and the red car which strangely stopped moving. It slowly looked back at the terrified girls and began to walk past and ahead of them.

Quistis and Selphie saw the opportunity and rushed back to their fallen friend, helping her to her shaky feet. None of them said anything, but there was an unspoken agreement to follow the dog as it led them onwards in the trail.

Eventually, the dog stopped in front of another gate. However, what astounded them more was not the size of the massive iron-gate, but what lay beyond it.

For on the other side, was a vast clearing, one that was covered with a sea of black roses. And at the center of the field was a large house.

Authors' Notes: First off, did that old dude sound like a pirate or was it just me? Anyway…I felt like the first chapter was boring and dragging? I just read it again and now I'm not quite sure about it…Hopefully, this one is better. It's definitely longer though, but a lot more fun to write. Also, about that 'eeny-meeny' thing…I have no idea how it's really spelt and neither did Vixxy. Anyway, we appreciate all who read. Catch ya guys later! –Valentine

Hope you enjoyed chapter two. Honestly, I also liked this chapter better than the first one. Hopefully, the next one will be up shortly. See you soon!-Vixen