The aftermath of the last chapter...not that many more members left to recruit now...
"Arlene I'm telling you that's what I saw!" I said for what felt like the fifth time. As soon as I had seen Lexxa, Djarnox and Cassijxe disappear taking Myde with then I had run back to Arlene's house as fast as I could. She had answered the door to me panting and covered in cold sweat and was so shocked that she just stood there staring at me for a minute. (It must have been quite a strange sight for her because I don't run, ever.) Once she had recovered herself she ushered me in and I spilled out the whole story of what I had just witnessed. I gushed as I spoke, not allowing her the chance to interrupt me, I needed to get it out before logic took over and I tried to rationalise that I had been wrong.
"Are you sure Lumaria?" she asked sceptically. "Are you one hundred percent sure that's what you saw."
"Yes!" I cried. I knew as I told her that there was every chance that she wouldn't believe me but at that moment I didn't care. I had been right! I had been right about Xehanort's aids being involved with the mysterious disappearances around town. "I saw her rip Myde's heart out of his chest, somehow turn in black and shove it back into his chest."
"Hang on, hang on," Arlene interrupted handing me a cup of very strong smelling coffee. I took the cup but didn't drink any, just allowing it to warm the cold sensation that had taken over my body. "do you mean Myde Masterson? The karaoke guy?"
"Yeah him."
"What on earth would they want him for? I mean he's not exactly strong or particularly smart or anything." she stated sitting down on the sofa next to me.
"What on earth would they want Ienzo for?" I countered.
"Come on Lumaria," she said fixing me with a look that was almost pitying. "just because you say you saw them dragging Myde off somewhere doesn't mean they had anything to do with Ienzo's disappearance or any of the others."
"But they keep appearing!" I told her. "Every time someone disappears or goes off and no one hears from them again I've seen them. They were outside our flat on the morning we found Even's office ransacked; we even found some of their hair at the scene. I saw the tall one hanging around outside again when Lea and Isa left and they were hanging around when Braig went missing ages ago."
"But Lumaria no one's seen them or Xehanort around town for ages." Arlene told me. "Surely that should mean that they don't have anything to do with this."
"But I keep seeing them Arlene!" I said again. "It's like they want me to see them and uncover what they're doing."
"Lumaria that's crazy!" she almost snapped. "If they were behind all this, and I'm not saying I believe you, and they knew that you knew then they would make you disappear before you had the chance to tell anyone!"
"Then why haven't they?" I asked. "I've caught them outside my flat twice and one of them has seen me each time and she saw me now before she vanished through that black hole. She even spoke to me!"
"What did she say then?" Arlene asked and I could still hear the sceptical tone in her voice. I hadn't excepted her to believe me – if I hadn't seen it for myself then I wouldn't believe me either – but I didn't expect her to be this sarcastic about it. Logical, yes, but not sarcastic.
"When I saw her outside our flat the first time I saw her say the words 'three down' at me and the second time, just after Lea and Isa left, she said 'alone at last'. When she saw me after the other two had disappeared with Myde she said 'eight down'."
"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked.
"I don't know," I shrugged. "but I think they're recruiting for something."
"Like what?"
"I don't know but think about it Arlene," I implored. "since this whole thing started eight people have now gone missing and when she saw me she said 'eight down'."
"Eight people haven't gone missing, have they?"
"If you count Myde – and pretty soon rumours will start to go round that he's gone – then there's eight."
"There can't be." she furrowed her brow in confusion. "There's Braig, Dilan, Even, Aeleus and Ienzo; that's only five."
"And Isa, Lea and now Myde," I added. "that's eight."
"Are you still classing Lea and Isa as missing?" she asked sighing in exasperation.
"Aren't you?" I shot back. "We haven't heard from Lea in ages and it's not like him to just disappear off the face of the earth without getting in touch."
"Lea probably lost his phone or it ran out of battery and he hasn't had a chance to charge it yet." Arlene stated. "We've been over this, Lumaria, you're thinking this through was too much."
"How can I think it through too much?" I asked in irritation. I had known that people would find my story had to believe – it was an unreal thing to witness and you probably would only believe it if you saw it with your own eyes – but if there was one person I had hoped would trust that I wasn't crazy even if they didn't believe me was Arlene.
"All these conspiracy theories; it's not healthy." she stated. "You've got so wrapped up in this idea that there's something behind everyone going missing that you're starting to see things and let your imagination run away with you."
"Don't psychoanalyse me, Arlene, I don't need that right now." I snapped.
"Then what do you need?" she asked.
"I just need you to take me seriously!" I exclaimed. "Even if you don't believe me I just want you to trust me!"
"When you say it like that you make it sound as if you're going to do something stupid like go after them." she muttered before sighing. "Promise me you won't do anything stupid, will you?" She looked up at me with those beautiful blue eyes of her and for a moment I forgot everything. I forgot all about the disappearances, forgot all about 'The Trio' and what they might be doing, all I saw was Arlene. If there was any time for me to man up and tell her how I had felt about her all this time then it was now. I put down my coffee and reached over to brush a strange of her hair behind her ear.
"I promise." I almost whispered as I slipped my hand round to the back on her neck and leaned closer towards her. "For you."
As the distance between us began to close I felt Arlene's warm hand come to rest on my knee, her slender fingers gripping it ever so slightly. I could feel her breath hitting my lips, the scent and sight of her was intoxicating; her flowery perfume mixed with coffee from her shift in the café, her eyes fluttering closed and her lips parting little, her tongue darting out to moisten them. Her hand began to slowly slip up my thigh and as I felt her squeeze it softly I closed the distance between us and pressed my lips to hers.
I awoke the next morning to a mug of coffee waiting on the bedside table for me next to a note from Arlene. The note said that she hadn't wanted to wake me but she had to go to work and would see me when she got home. I picked up the coffee and leaned back against the soft pillows of her bed. I sighed contentedly; after last night there was nothing that could dampen my mood today.
Last night had been the most amazing night of my life; after years of mooning after her I had finally spent the night with Arlene, kissing her, holding her, making love to her. I know that's a very romanticised look at what she probably would only think of as a one night stand but I was still in love with her and it had meant the world to me. Even if when I saw her tonight she would tell me that it was a mistake and we should go back to being just friends I wouldn't care. There was a slim chance that she felt the same way that I did (a very naïve hope of mine but it was enough).
I finished off my coffee and got out of bed. I found my clothes still strewn on the floor where we had left them the night before and got dressed thinking I would shower when I got home rather than using up her hot water. I gave my mouth a quick rinse with mouthwash, made the bed and washed up my mug (it was the least I could do after she had made me the coffee) before leaving my own note saying I'd pick her up from work later and attaching it to the fridge and left the flat.
The cool morning air hit me almost as soon as I stepped outside and I checked my watch wondering what time it was; quarter to nine. I had known that it was after eight because that's the time Arlene usually leaves for work…and the fact that I know that makes me sound like such a stalker but I maintain it's because I've been walking her to and from work the last couple of days. I now had the rest of the day until she finished work, much like I usually did but this time I was actually motivated to do something rather than sit around and wallow.
I walked the streets back to mine, taking care to avoid the alley where Myde had gone missing, until I turned a corner and saw Cid standing outside a small shop. He was talking to a boy with short blonde hair and it looked like a serious conversation. Cid clapped the boy on the shoulder and the boy smiled at him before he went back inside the shop changing the sign on the door so that it now read 'Closed'. I made my way over to Cid and saw that the shop was a clock shop – I had been in there a number of times to get Lea's alarm clock fixed because he doesn't seem to realise that throwing it against the wall is not the best way to turn it off if you wanted to continue using it.
"Hey Cid." I said as I reached him. He turned his attention from the large window display of clocks and watches.
"Hey Lumaria." he replied gruffly. I looked up at the 'Closed' sign on the door and the closed blinds on the second floor.
"What happened?" I asked.
"You know Rould; the guy who owns this place?" Cid asked.
"Yeah, he used to fix Lea's alarm clock when he threw it against the wall." I replied. "What happened to him?"
"He went missing this morning." Cid told me. Immediately any elation I had been feeling about spending the night with Arlene was gone. So 'The Trio' as they called themselves had struck again and so soon after Myde had been taken by them. Maybe they had decided after all that Myde wasn't what they were looking for (whatever that was) as Lexxa had kept saying and they had gone after a replacement. "He told his son that he was coming to open the shop early but when Jasper arrived the shop was still closed and there was no sign of Rould anywhere."
"What about the shop?" I asked.
"No sign of forced entry and no sign that Rould even got here in the first place." Cid told me.
"There goes another one then." I muttered.
"Yeah." Cid sighed. "How are you coping what with Lea vanishing like that?" I shrugged.
"I'm ok, I guess." I replied. "I mean I'm keeping myself busy; I'm making sure Arlene gets to and from work safely, I've put up posters with Lea's picture on them and I'm just waiting to see if he gets in contact with me in the meantime."
"Only thing you can do I suppose." he stated turning to look back inside the shop where the blonde boy I had seen him talking to was checking the cash draw to see if any money had been taken. "So what are you going to do now?"
"Probably see if Arlene will move into my place, when she gets back from work, then I can make sure she's safe." I replied. I guessed he hadn't been talking about what I was going to do with the rest of my day. "You?"
"I'm taking Aerith back to Traverse Town." he stated. "Now that eight people have gone missing…"
"Nine." I corrected.
"Nine?" he asked, shocked. I nodded.
"I was walking back from Arlene's last night and bumped into Myde – the guy who comes to karaoke all the time – I heard him screaming but when I got to where I thought he was he had vanished." I told him. I decided to leave out the part about seeing him getting his heart ripped out and being dragged through a black hole by three crazy girls. After the way Arlene had reacted I knew that no one would believe me if I told them what I had really seen. Cid sighed and shook his head.
"See at first I thought I could live with it; just a couple of big guys gone off and not told their families where but now; Myde, Ienzo and your mate Lea, they're just kids." he said. "It's not safe for her round here anymore and I'd much feel better if she was away from all of this."
"I can understand that." I murmured. "Will you say goodbye to her for me?"
"Sure thing." he gave me a small smile. "Look after yourself, Lumaria, and get out of here as soon as you can."
"I will." I told him.
"And look after that lass of yours as well."
"I will." I said again. If I was going to I had no intention of leaving Radiant Gardens if it wasn't with Arlene. "Good luck Cid." I extended my hand.
"You too kid." he said and shook it. We smiled at each other for a moment before Rould's son opened the front door of the shop.
"Hey Cid, everything was still in the till but I'm just going to check the stock room; see if anything's missing." he stated.
"Be right with you Jasper." Cid replied before turning to me one last time. "Take care kid and make sure you don't stay here much longer."
"If I'm ever in Traverse Town I'll look you up." I replied as he followed Jasper into the shop. I sighed sadly before continuing on my way back to the flat. I was going to miss Cid and Aerith too – he had always been good to me and Lea (occasionally giving us free drinks if he knew we were celebrating or if we had no money) and Aerith had always been sweet to me.
Since Briag had first gone missing things had spiralled from there, now Radiant Gardens didn't seem quite so radiant anymore. When it had once been a beautiful garden filled with flowers now it was overgrown with thorns and danger lurked under every leaf. It was no longer a place I felt safe in and it was no longer a place I could call home. Xehanort's and his aides had come and turned it into something dark and black just like they had done with Myde's heart.
I unlocked the door of my flat and leaned against it once I was inside. I let out the deep breath I hadn't realised I was holding and looked up at the ceiling. I had made up my mind; as soon as Arlene got home from work I would ask her to leave town with me, even if she didn't want to take our relationship any further I knew that she would be safe away from here. I turned and locked the door behind me (not that I was paranoid or anything, I just wanted to be safe) and went into the kitchen. I headed straight for the sink and began to make myself a cup of tea, mindlessly humming to myself as the sound of the water boiling filled the flat.
I turned intending to go to my bedroom and begin packing away my things for an evening departure and dropped my cup in surprise as I found myself face to face with a figure in a hooded cloak exactly like the ones Lexxa, Djarnox and Cassijxe had been wearing. I reached around in the draining board behind me until my fingers found the blade of the sharpest knife Lea and I owned. I grasped the handle and brought it round to face my assailant. This was it; this was what Arlene had been talking about. Cassijxe had seen me one too many times and maybe had even heard me telling Arlene about her and her friends and now she had come to silence me.
"Put that away, you're not going to do much good with it." said the figure and I almost dropped the knife in surprise; the voice was male. The figure lifted a black gloved hand and pulled his hood down. Red spikes tumbled out and I stared into two familiar acidic green eyes. There may have been the addition of two teardrop tattoos underneath them but there was no mistaking it; the man in front of me was Lea.
And next time...Number 11