Chapter 1

Haunted


It was a small concert, held in memory to those lost in the Midgar disaster two years prior, the crowd was awaiting the band in the plaza in the middle of Edge; Right in front of the north end of the Meteor Statue that was built to commemorate the same event as the concert itself. The band was called 'Twisted Ivy', consisting of a drummer (Davey), a guitarist (Jade), a basest (Ville), and finally the star of the band and its original creator a girl who went by Amelia Bones, she both wrote the music and vocalized it too. She had not changed much in the two years since the fall of Sephiroth and her escape from the abandoned lab in Junon.

She was a bit taller now and her red hair reached nearly to her knees, it was the only thing about her own appearance she really loved, she had always been fond of her red hair; Anything red seemed to captivate her really. She wore a lot of red in fact, at that very moment she wore a white silk shirt and black slacks, red boots with high heels adorned her petite feet and a crimson coat trimmed in black hung around her elbows just the way she preferred. Amelia's acid green eyes took in the sight of the massive crowd as she and the rest of 'Twisted Ivy' made their way center stage, she smiled softly, warmly, but the smile never once reached her eyes. She never truly smiled, too much pain and loneliness drenched her heart to allow for it.

The red head came up to the mic, listening to the roar of applause a moment, before nodding to her band mates to start the first song. The music started out slowly as Amelia turned to the mic and began to sing, "Long lost words whisper slowly to me…Still can't find what keeps me here…When all this time I've been so hollow inside…I know you're still there…" Each word dripped with emotion, the deep anguish and sorrow, the emptiness Amelia held inside. No one, not even her band mates knew the real reason, the person who had caused these dark feelings inside her, the man she mourned every waking second of her life.


They went through numerous songs, the sound echo around the city of Edge, stretching to its farthest corners. The band was making its way off stage, Amelia smiled a falsely bright smile as she greeted their fans, shaking hands with people and sign autographs. Everything was going smoothly until three people, who did not know of Amelia's fears or her reactions to certain things, stupidly approached the ex-SOLIDER elite from behind. The one in the lead, a tall blonde dressed in white, reached out and casually tapped the red head on the shoulder to garner her attention. Before the man, or his two black suited body guards could react, he found himself sprawled ungracefully on the cobble stonde ground with a bleeding lip and nose. "Oh Gaia! I am so-hm?" The girl, startled by what she had done, turned in humanly fast to apologize and help the handsome blonde, who was now cradling his bleeding face, to his feet, only to stop. Acid green eyes lite on the emblems on the too black suited bodyguards lapels as the tried to help their employer up. Her heart began to race, cold sweat breaking out over her pale skin as her breathing turned shallow and rapid. The taller, more built of two bodyguards, Turks, straightened to speak, sensing the woman's distress. But she stepped back, shaking her head violently, and before the men could grab her or even explain themselves, she ran; Darting into the night air of the city of Edge followed closely by her bellowing crimson hair and coat.


"Wait!" She could her them close behind her, calling out for her to stop, calling out a continuous stream of useless reassurances. Amelia darted from ally to ally, down streets and around corners in an attempt to lose the disgusting Shin-Ra lap dogs who were hot on her trail. Her mind was racing, fear clouding her better judgment and cracking what little sanity she still retained from years in that lab. All at once she was plunged head long into the idea of being forced back to that place, being strapped down and injected over and over with those strange colored chemicals that all made her body burn and her ever movement turn painful. She never wanted to go back to those days, when she was locked away like and animal, poked and prodded till she bleed, beaten and even raped for 'the betterment of science' as those men in white had claimed. The red haired ex-SOLIDER darted down another alleyway, only to find her path blocked, she had hit a dead end. Panicking and at the point of spots forming in her vision of lack of proper breathing, she frantically looked around. She was between two brick buildings, windows in various places on either side, all too high for a normal person to reach.

"Please wait! We only want to talk to you…" The two Turks blocked her only exit now, hands up in a sign that meant they did not wish to bring her harm, but in her fogged mind all she saw was harbingers of doom dressed in pristine black suits. Thinking fast, she ran at the closest window, leaping up onto the ledge and kust as quickly leaping across the alley to the next highest window ledge, using her momentum to make her way to the roof. Grabbing the ledge of the closest roof, nearly missing and threatening to black out and fall, she managed to pull herself over the edge and collapse onto the other side; Onto something soft and uncomfortably warm. Without pausing to identify the object, which had made a soft 'huffing groan' at being landed on, she clambered to press herself against one of the low walls that surrounded the roof. Eyes wide and one hand out as if it was enough to stop an assailents from getting close to her, her fingers shook, her whole body trembling from exertion and fear, her vision almost black. All she could make out was a black mass with a spiky head moving toward her, her heart hammering in her ears preventing her from hearing anything else, but she felt the vibrations of many more figures as the roof door opened and several people spilled forth; Two of them the Turks and three others, Yuffie, and angry looking Tifa and a very confused, though he did not show it, Vincent. Amelia could not clearly see them of course, only make out massive black shadows which slowly closed in on her. The red head screamed hoarsely, closing her eyes tightly and grabbing her head, clawing at her scalp without meaning to and causing a slow trickle of blood to make its way down her temples.


Vincent Valentine stood near the back of the small crowd on the roof, curious as to what was happening, but not wanting to directly be apart of it. He stared over the collar of his red cape at the girl crouched dangerously close to the edge of the roof, he recognized her, they had met two years ago, but he had not seen her since then. He had not known then or even understood now, that she had a connection with Shin-Ra, he had suspected of course. Having guessed by her fidgety actions and frightened glances when they had met, that she had been badly abused. And had judged by the all white cloths she had worn, a white mini top and shorts, that she had been used in a lab. Back then he had assumed she was strong enough to move past it, after all she had warmed up to their little party rather quickly, though he always noticed she never truly seemed happy. The gunner had never deemed it necessary to ask, never one to get into peoples personal lives or business and never one to let people into his own. Though at that moment, as he watched the others crowd around her, watched her eyes widening in fear and heard that terrible scream that elicited from her vocal cords, he found he wanted to know. He wanted to understand who and what exactly had happened to her to make her this way, to cause that heart aching terror in her.

And just like that he moved, he reacted, even though his mind fought his hearts decision to get involved. The dark haired ex-Turk shoved Reno, Rude and Cloud from his path, forcing the three backward. He knelt carefully before the trembling girl, garnet eyes taking in her appearance carefully, "I'm not going to hurt you…I won't let anyone harm you…But I need to get you away from here, do you understand?" He spoke softly, his deep voice resonating and gentle in a way it often wasn't to most people, holding concern and genuine care in its tones. Though she did not reply or even nod, she visibly relaxed, if only minimally.

Vincent carefully reached out, placing both his hands over hers and gently easing them lose of her hair, wrapping his gloved fingers around her palms; Her nails and finger tips were all stained red, the blood darkening her hair in places to a shade that almost qualified for black. Her body was stiffened, the trembling ceasing momentarily, but her breathing was frighteningly shallow, almost to the point she was not breathing at all. The gunner frowned deeply, at this rate she would pass out, if not go into shock; Well a bodily shock, at the moment she seemed to be in a mental shock. A sound escaped her suddenly, a hoarse little whimper, her body curling in on itself. Vincent sighed softly, his frown only deepening, this looked as it was going to be more work than he had anticipated. "Hey is there anything we can do, the boss kinda wants to talk to her like ASAP, Y'know?" Reno piped up and no sooner had he spoken than the girl in front of Vince shrieked, forcing herself backward so suddenly she ripped herself from his hands and launched herself over the edge of the roof…


Ahh, the cliffhanger XD I will post again when I get a review, so see you soon people ^^

Song for this Chapter: Haunted by Evanescence