Well I was trying to finish this story before Halloween but I utterly failed. I tried my hand at a semi-creepy story (hence wanting it up for Halloween). Not sure it turned out that way, but oh well. Let me know what you guys think!
Featuring: Amy (small appearance from some others)
Universe: "An Accident"
Warnings/ratings: T maybe? No curse words though.
The water felt cool on her bare skin as Ami submerged her legs into the pool. It was quiet, given the early hour. At any other time she would normally have been found studying, but these past few days she couldn't get herself to focus. The first time that'd happened, she'd tried forcing herself to study but had just ended up wasting her time, the words blurring together into a blob on her page. When it had happened again, she had found herself here at the lap pool swimming for two hours straight before her early morning class.
Swimming had seemed to help her frazzled mind. Everything just seemed to ebb away as soon as her body began the rhythmic strokes. Ami programmed her watch, adjusted her goggles, and kicked off, her body easily gliding over the water. She could already feel the tension in her upper body melting away as the cold water washed over her body.
The past couple of months had been hard for them all. With everyone busy with work and school, their normal weekly get-togethers had been reduced to monthly ones. Rei had been more distant as well. Ami had no doubt she was hiding something from them all. No one had been able to get anything out of her, much to Minako's chagrin. They had gotten in a fight the last time they all had met up, but unlike most of their fights where Rei would blow up on Minako, Rei had remained quiet as Minako reprimanded her. When Minako had stopped yelling after Usagi had stepped in, Rei had silently gotten up and left without uttering a word.
They'd all been too shocked to go after her that day. Makoto had gone over the next day with a batch of her famous cupcakes and hadn't gotten much out of Rei. Ami had called Makoto to see how it'd gone. Makoto's only comment was that it seemed Rei had seen something unsettling in one of her readings and had been dealing with it ever since. That's about the same time Ami's nightmares had begun.
Or memories, really. Of past lives and past mistakes. They all had them, she was sure of it. It was probably why they all hadn't gotten together since their last disastrous meeting. The memories were still too fresh; still too painful to drudge back up.
Ami kicked off the wall again, twisting her body methodically and beginning the rhythmic kicking as she made her way down the pool. Ami didn't need Rei's powers to know something was going on. Unfortunately, she couldn't begin to predict what it could be, and Rei didn't seem too eager to talk about it.
Ami felt her watch vibrate on her wrist as she came upon the pool's wall again. Instead of kicking off, Ami grasped the end of the pool with her arm and flicked her wrist up. She frowned as she saw Minako's name appear on the screen. It was very unlike the blonde to call this early given that she wasn't a morning person. It was a Sunday afterall. And she'd been dealing with her demons by trying to numb the pain away with heavy drinking.
Ami hesitated before dismissing the call with a flick of her finger. If it truly were important, she figured Minako would call again. Ami wanted to finish a few more laps before having to come to Minako's rescue. She wasn't nearly exhausted enough. Not enough to close her eyes without seeing flashes of blood and death.
Ami kicked off the wall, ignoring the uneasy feeling that started to bubble up inside her. There was no reason to fret, she thought. Minako probably needed a ride to her car after a night of binging. She couldn't fault Minako for that.
Sighing, Ami stopped midway in the pool, regretting her decision to ignore her friend's call. She let herself float up, staring at the ceiling while she contemplated what to do next. She still felt the restless energy humming through her body even as her eyes ached with lack of sleep. Ami let her eyes drift close. She floated for a while, her mind drifting off. Ami was startled from her reverie by angry vibrations from her watch. It was Minako, sending quick fire texts one after another.
Ami pursed her lips. Minako would not be ignored, it seemed. She took a deep breath and dove under, her arms and legs pulling her body towards the end of the pool. When she broke the surface, she inhaled deeply, relishing in the way her lungs expanded with fresh air. She pulled her goggles off and dropped them on the edge of the pool.
Ami pulled Minako's texts up on her watch, her eyebrows furrowing together as she quickly scanned the erratic messages. Minako wasn't making much sense through the texts, but for some reason, Ami felt a sense of dread. Ami jumped, her neck snapping up and away from her watch as she heard the door to the pool slam closed. Her eyes briefly registered a guy coming in with a towel drabbed around his neck, one arm obscuring his face as it toweled his wet hair. He made his way to the bleachers, dropping a bag onto them, his back to her. She noticed his head bobbing to unheard music.
Ami let out an exasperated breath, relaxing her shoulders as she chided herself. She glanced down at her watch, looking at the dark screen now that it looked like Minako had stopped sending messages. Ami figured she needed to grab her phone to make sense of the messages but stayed put. She took a deep breath and dipped underwater. She wanted to scream out, to let the water absorb her frustrations; instead she stayed under, holding her breath until she felt the familiar burn in her lungs.
Ami began to pull herself up when arms shot through the water, pinning her underneath. She opened her eyes in shock, a hazy outline of a person appearing above her. Ami grabbed at the hands desperately but they held steadfast. Ami twisted her body until she felt her feet touch the wall of the pool. As black dots popped into her vision she kicked out, feeling the hands give. Ami clawed through the water, swimming up to catch her breath. Coughing up water, she took big gulps of air in between frantically looking around for her assailant.
Hearing laughter to her right she snapped her head that way. She couldn't help the gasp that escaped her lips as her eyes took in the figure.
"I always thought it poetic if you died drowning," the man who eerily looked like Zoicite said.
Ami felt her body become rigid, her vision blurring as she tried to keep the hysteria from rearing out. There was no way it could be him. He was supposed to be dead. They had made sure of that.
Amy had to swallow down the bile that burned through her throat. The Zoicite-esque man laughed again, malice burning bright in leaf green eyes. "Come now, have you really forgotten everything we've been through?"
The glint in his eyes had Amy's body moving purely by muscle memory and instinct. She dove down; her arms frantically pushing her further lower as an ice shard barely missed her head. She twisted her body and swam as fast as she could underwater, moving away from the man above. When she was an arm's length from the other edge of the pool she felt a stabbing pain shoot through her. Ignoring the throbbing ache, Amy scrambled up and out of the pool. She glanced down and saw the crimson puddle of her blood ebbing around the pool.
"Oh, might want to get that looked at by a doctor. Looks bad."
Amy snapped her head up, the all too familiar sting at the corner of her eyes making her hate herself. She loathed him at that moment. Detested him with every cell in her body. Abhorred the stupid mirth dancing in his eyes as he looked at her. She grimaced as she applied pressure to the laceration on her side. She needed to stop the bleeding or she'd be in trouble.
"I could fix that for you," the man half whispered. He seemed to hesitate before flicking his wrist, sending another icicle hurling towards her.
Amy threw herself flat against the pool tiles, crying out as the wound on her side throbbed. She quickly rolled once and sprang up, narrowly sidestepping another shard. She dodged another projectile by rolling the opposite direction. She tried avoiding another shard but slipped on the slick floor covered in her blood and fell hard on her knees. She heard his chuckle as she breathed hard from exertion.
Amy gathered up what remained of her strength. She crossed her arms and focused the energy to her hands. The energy manifested itself as blue water droplets hovering near her hands. She quickly hurled her arms out, dispersing the energy. The droplets turned into tendrils as it snaked across the room, mist quickly engulfing the area. She heard the man curse as the fog thickened around them.
Amy pressed her earring, her computer manifesting around her eyes. It was the only way she could see through her fog. She slowly got up, trying to make no noise as she moved. She knew he would start hurling icicles around the area, hoping to catch her randomly. At least that's what the old Zoicite would have done. This one seemed to be listening intently though, not lashing out dramatically like she had predicted. Amy shuffled around the pool, clutching her side with her bloodied hand.
As she took another step towards the door she saw, from the corner of her eye, as he sent an icicle towards her general direction. It scrapped her arm, leaving a large gash as it crashed into the wall and shattered. She bit down hard on her bottom lip so she wouldn't scream out. He sent another shard the opposite direction, tilting his head to listen. He threw a few more around the area, one coming close to her again. She waited a few seconds before moving again, telling her heart to be silent as it thumped loudly against her chest.
She tried taking another step but felt herself pitching sideways and caught herself on the wall. Her vision became blurred and she felt a rushing in her ears. The small noise alerted her to him and he looked towards her general direction.
"Caught you little mouse." He looked ready to finally end it when a bright white light appeared behind him. Amy watched as he glanced towards his left as Rei, Minako, and Makoto appeared.
Makoto kicked him hard, sending him flying back and into the pool. Green lightening flickered around her, pooling around her hands. She launched the attack into the water. Amy slipped down the wall as Rei and Minako rushed to her side as the mist faded with Amy's strength. The last thing she heard before blacking out was his shrieks echoing off the pool tiles.