a/n; This chapter's a lot shorter than the past few, so I'm sorry about that.
It's taken me so long to even start writing this, and I liked where I ended it,
so I was just like, what the hell. At least things are starting to get interesting.
- x -
vii.
- x -
When Selphie's eyes are opened, she finds the world's been painted black.
A tingling sensation in her arms signals that they are asleep, but she can still feel the slight pressure of binds across her wrists. As best as a blind girl can, Selphie tries to check for damage. It's cold, the concrete flooring does little to cushion her bare feet, and the back of the chair is digging into her spine, yet she seems to be otherwise unharmed. In a rush, yesterday's (or was it only minutes ago?) events replay themselves in her mind's eye – a charming stranger, a devilish grin, and a set of yellow eyes peering out of the shadows – and for a moment, Selphie cannot breathe.
"Oh, shit."
Suddenly, footsteps muffled by a medley of voices begin to approach. The conversation swells dramatically (music played by an orchestra no one can see) at the sound of a door being opened, and it takes all of Selphie's willpower to stop herself from shaking.
"Are you sure that this will bait the girl?"
"Of course it will. They're best friends, after all," another voice says with a certain sneer.
The sound of an impatient sigh floats lazily through the room, "I just wish he'd hurry up already with retrieving the spiky-haired brat. We only have so long, you know."
"Dude, will you stop complaining for like, one second? Seriously. That kid has one hell of a stubborn streak, in case you don't remember."
"I remember everything," the third voice snaps, annoyed, "But what I don't recall is why Nine was chosen to 'help'. We all know he's an incompetent fool. The man can't even follow simple orders!"
"Oh, shut up, will ya? Now that we found the girl, we've got bigger fish to fry."
The other voice sighs in response, but nothing more is said. Footsteps file out slowly, the only other noise heard is the sound of a cell phone being dialed. The door creaks to a close, and Selphie is left alone again.
Or so she thinks.
Something soft brushes across her cheek, making the young girl gasp into her gag. A low chuckle from behind her sends shivers down her spine.
"A rose for a rose," he whispers, and Selphie can feel the bile start to rise. She attempts to move away, but to no avail. The chair is nailed to the floor.
Upon seeing this, the voice simply laughs, his grip tightening on her shoulder. "It's no use, little bird," he says gently, "No one is here to save you."
And when Selphie tightly shuts her eyes, a tear rolls down her face.
- x -
The filtered morning sunlight casts a sickly glow on the grease-slicked table in front of her, a grimy ketchup bottle reflecting off of the laminated menu. The smell of stale coffee and bacon sits in the air, and bad music from the 70's softly plays throughout the room.
And Kairi, all dolled up in a pretty little white dress, feels remarkably less out of place here than she did back at the hotel.
"So, who's winning?"
Kairi looks up and meets the amused gaze of Axel, the young man who had kindly gotten her the hell out of that stifling prison.
"Um, what?" Ah, Kairi. Always the eloquent one.
Axel smirks and nods toward the table, "The staring contest you're having with this guy over here. Who's winning? Because I think the table's at a disadvantage, not having eyes and all."
Kairi flushes slightly, but scowls in an attempt to regain her composure. "Very funny. Why'd you take me here, anyway? It's not exactly a place I'd peg you to haunt."
"We're here to talk," he says, suddenly serious, his green eyes watching her with an unsettling intensity. "You can't expect me to see all of that and keep quiet. I am me, after all. Personal boundaries and I don't really mesh well."
"I can tell," she mutters, crossing her arms over her chest and moving her gaze to the rain-washed window.
A small silence then follows as Kairi stares defiantly at the humanity outside, ignoring Axel's unwavering gaze. With a sigh, he gives up, running a hand through his mess of hair.
"Look. Kairi. Kai," he adds, grinning at the predicted reaction as she turns to face him sharply, "I'm not going to pretend that I know you. 'Cause I don't… which is why we need to talk about a few things. Like the fact that most of Manhattan is probably aware by now that you spent the night at my place."
Kairi tenses, opening her mouth to object, "But nothing –"
"– happened, I know." Axel finishes for her, and the girl seated across from him notices just how tired he looks. "You know that isn't going to cut it. Nothing needed to happen. The match has been thrown, princess, and these flames are the kind that I can't handle."
Turning away, Kairi bites the inside of her cheek to keep herself from dashing out of there and into the haven that is her bedroom, hiding under the covers until the whole world melts away. It's only typical that right after she does something genuinely kind for another human being, her own life goes down the drain.
Kairi lets out an aggravated moan. Karma isn't a bitch – she's a two-faced whore.
All of the sudden, Axel's cell phone beings to vibrate. His face remains impassive as he reads the received text message, but as soon as the phone is shut, he slaps his hands onto the rickety table and pushes himself into a standing position. The noise makes Kairi jump and look up in alarm.
"Fine. You know what? We can talk another time. Right now, you seem like you need to curl up into a ball and eat a pint of Ben & Jerry's or whatever chicks do to escape from their problems. I'm just sick of you sitting there, pouting at me like it's my god damn fault."
And before she can protest that it is his fault in the first place, he roughly grabs Kairi by the arm and all but drags her out of the door.
"Hey, what –"
"I've got a schedule to keep, sweetheart. Places to go, people to see. I don't have time for high school drama, all right?"
She's in a taxi before she can blink, and Axel is nowhere to be found. Dazed, Kairi stares blankly at the head of the passenger seat.
"What the hell was that about?"
- x -
The air in the club is thick with secondhand smoke and teenage rebellion. Strobe lights flicker dangerously in time to the feverish dancing, further concealing any form of identity that just so happened to have gotten in. Girls vie for attention with short skirts and darkened eyes while a heavily remixed song pumps out through the speakers.
In the midst of all this, acting as though he owns the world, is a certain young man named Riku. And while he doesn't own the world, he does own the club, and around here, that's the next best thing.
"Ri-ku," the brunette next to him whines, obviously uncomfortable, "Can we leave now? It's a school night, and I'm pretty much bushed…"
The older teen fails to even offer his friend a glance; he only sips his drink and stares at the crowd of bodies before them. "You can go if you want, Sora. I'll be right behind you."
Sora rolls his eyes, knowing full well that he'll find Riku passed out on the floor of the hotel bar in the morning, but rises to leave. "I'm not letting you do this to yourself. Not again," he says firmly, and takes Riku's hand, pulling him upright.
It isn't late enough in the day for Riku to stumble around like a drunken fool, but stumble is what he does. His balance is lost for a single moment in time, and that one moment is all it takes for him to go flying into Sora's chest and for the pair to fall ungracefully onto the floor.
It takes roughly ten seconds for either one of them to rise.
"God, Riku, you stupid klutz…" Sora mutters, cursing the slight pink in his cheeks as his blue eyes scan the crowd around them, silently saying, "There's nothing to see here."
But the klutz in question simply stands, and Sora is surprised by the stony look on his friend's face. He rakes a slender hand through his long silver hair, the other hand pocketing what seems to be his fallen cell phone.
"I think I'm going to take a cab," he says curtly, and turns on his heel without even giving Sora so much as a wave.
- x -
The air is cold. Frigid. The entire building is cast in the glow of weak daylight, despite the sunny sky of late afternoon. The walls are blank – lifeless. There is no humanity, here.
"What took you so long?"
Voices gather behind the sleek metal doors of a conference room.
"I told you, I was busy."
"Busy? Buddy, there ain't anything more important than your family."
"'Family'. Tch."
"Don't light up in here, moron. It makes the whole place reek."
"I can smoke wherever I want to smoke!"
"Settle down, you bunch of neanderthals!"
The room lapses into fragile silence.
"Thank you. The boy isn't here yet, so the meeting will begin in a few minutes. If he fails to enter by that time, well, you'll just have to wait and see."
Nervous laughter arrives right on cue.
"Eight, please share with the class how your project is coming along."
Zoom in on a flash of fear in a young man's eyes.
"It's fine. He'll come around within the next couple weeks."
The camera pans left to a feral grin.
"Oh, really? Well, then…"
One, two, three.
"…I guess that we should speed up the process, if that's all right with you. It is, isn't it?"
Get set…
"Yeah. Why wouldn't it be?"
Action.