III – Cold
I try to hide the worst from Roxas, but I myself can't stop looking; the last thing I see before they attack the brunette are his pain filled blue eyes, terrified and full of fear. Then the biggest one obviously jerks him too hard because I see the skinny arm rip off, blood splattering all over the place. Sora's screams become the worst I have most likely ever heard. The pain pairs with desperation and fear as they rip him apart, piece by piece. We're safe, but our hearts are not.
I drag the sobbing boy away, fighting my own tears. "Axel, wait", Roxas sobs and when I stand still, he pukes directly onto his feet. "Hey!", I cry out and take him into my arms. "Roxas, I...". I can't stand it any longer. I break down right there with the shaking boy crying into my chest. We somehow manage to carry ourselves to our "house", where the others are already waiting. Telling them what happened, Xion starts crying too. While we try to comfort ourselves, Demyx suggests we go look for Ventus and Vanitas, and he is right – even though our loss is so damn tragic, we can't leave the others alone. On the map we've picked up from the café we look for the roller coaster Sora has described. Unfortunately, it's on the other side of the park. And it's dark outside. We'll have to stay here until the next day, there's no other choice. "But... but... Axel, what if they'll find us?". Zexion's eyes are so full of fear. "I... we should try to use our flash lights. I have a pan... and... we could run?". The others agree as we have no other choice. And so we wait.
"Axel?", a shy voice asks me and I look up. I'm on watch alone, which is terrible as I always have images of Sora being torn apart flashing my brain and no one's there to talk me out of it. Blue eyes pierce mine with a look so sad it kills me some more inside. "I'm cold". Looking at him more closely, I see that his lips are blueish and he's pale as fuck. No wonder, he's in a t-shirt and a pair of jeans, he's lost his jacket somewhere. "Why don't you cover yourself with a blanket or, I dunno, one of these jackets we've collected?", I ask softly, gently rubbing his back. He shrugs. "They have all of them. And I don't fit there anymore". Glancing their way, I spot the three others below jackets and blankets, all snuggled up. I snarl. "Then come here". I offer the blond the half of my jacket and he gladly slips into my arms, wrapping his arms around me. I can't help but blush, even though it's so damn inappropriate, but it is so comforting.
"Axel!". I turn my head and look at him. "Hey!". I take him into my arms and laugh. "Saïx! Why are you here?". He smiles. "Oh, we've just come here to visit. Like, no. We're on our way to New York and we thought we'd stop by". I let my oldest friend go and we talk a lot before my mum calls us for dinner. My friend's parents are here too and all of us are chatting cheerfully.
My favourite song comes on. Ventus and I, we're dancing, his body is so close to mine. I can still taste my last cigarette. He is so close. The blond, soft hair, his grey-blue eyes... why is he not mine already? "I love you", I mutter, but he can't hear it – it's plain too loud. And maybe it's better this way.
"Oh and you're the maid, okay?". Her blue eyes gleam and really, I just have to say yes, she's far too cute. "Okay", I agree and pretend cleaning the "house" we built. It's some sorta difficult; she's like 5'1'' and I'm about 6'4'', but we handle it well. I actually like babysitting her, simply because she's such a cute and easy kid.
I jerk my eyes open. What the hell was this?! Flashbacks? Am I dead? My pulse is racing. Roxas's head is resting on my chest and I wrap my arms around him as tight as I can without hurting him and desperately start to bawl.
All of us are cold. It's on our faces, in our eyes. At some point, it has gotten so cold that none of us were able to sleep anymore. We're all just staring outside, our eyes hollow. The next day just doesn't seem to arrive. All we can hope for is finding some rest tomorrow, but there's no promise. We will head out and find Ven and Vanitas, but what we'll do then is written in the stars. Of course we'll leave this goddamn park. But again, no promises. I don't even want to know whether this plague has also attacked the rest of the city, if not the world.
There's a scratch on the door once, but all of us keep quiet and with a growl, we hear the creature lurk away.
The cold is in our bones, beneath our clothes, under our skin, in the air. It's everywhere and we can't fight it.
Until we see a warm gleam through the windows. The day has finally broken.
"Time to get going, guys!".
