A/N: Hey I am back! This time with a cleaner chapter and better plot (I hope.) Anyway, I still have no idea on how to fill the story in before I end it with a bang… I'm ranting now…enjoy!
Chapter 19
Hallucinations, Schemes and Promises
"What exactly do I need to remember?" Rinoa asked, clearly perplexed at her man's weird question. Squall looked equally confused and raised an eyebrow at her.
"Are you sick Rin? I think you still need to lie down…" he said as he tried to put her back to bed. But she protested by wriggling in his grasp and tried to push him away.
"NO!" she said clearly.
She searched Squall's face for answers and asked again, "What am I doing here?" Squall let her go and told her that he found her at Burglar Burger and she was already in that state. "You see, I didn't find the time to search for clues; I rushed you here." He explained as he felt that Rinoa might ask this.
"I am not blaming you Squall, I just want to know why I am here, and now that I know why… I wonder who did this to me." She said. "I don't remember anything, even if I force myself."
Then she turned to face Squall and reveal to him a bruised up right cheek. He tried to touch it but Rinoa just winced when he did.
"Do they still hurt? Your wrists I mean." He asked her as she touched it almost immediately when he asked.
"No, not anymore," Then she smiled at him. "But I am still queasy did I lose a lot of blood." Squall nodded and told her the queasiness will be gone if she stays still and lie down.
"Rin, I think you better sleep or else you'll get even dizzier." She just nodded as she let Squall lay her down on the bed. She thanked him and tried to go back to sleep.
After just a few minutes, her eyes fluttered open again and was frantically searching the room for Squall. Oh Hyne, why am I so scared?
SQUALL!!! She cried in her mind. She searched the room again, not trusting her initial search. "Squall?" she said. When no one responded, she tried to sit up, and when she did she got dizzy and it made her fall back to bed.
She didn't know where he was, and she was shaking as heck. Why am I shaking? I was fine a moment ago. She thought of some reasons on why she was scared. She was like traumatized or something.
"Squall?" she called out again. But alas, he wasn't there.
I am in the Presidential Palace right? She asked herself then looked at the crest on the bed sheet. Well that proves it, but where is he? She was getting more scared by the moment so she decided to get up and go look for Squall.
She started to get rid of the comfy quilts and blankets when she heard voices outside. "Did you hear, this morning at about 3am they say, the Prince arrived with a bloody woman?"
Rinoa stopped in her actions and thought, "3am? Why would Squall be carrying a bloody woman at 3am?" then she gasped. I was bloody on 3am?! Oh yeah I was, but… where is Squall now? She sat up and awaited the dizziness to attack. Oh heck here we go.
"Ungh…" she groaned as she clutched her forehead as she was getting the biggest migraine and hangover of the century. My head hurts, but I need to find Squall, I'm too scared to stay here alone.
As she stood up, her legs gave in and she fell to the floor, hitting her bruised face on the carpet in the process. "Ouch….ungh…" she said as she sat up again on the carpeted floor and clutched her bruise and her head. "This sucks!" she protested as she mustered all the strength and will power to stand and walk. She was successful and she cheered herself inwardly as she opened the door to reveal the familiar hallway.
Okay, which way is the main hall again? She asked. "I think it was this way…" she said to herself as she pointed to the left wing. She started to walk, and she was swaying. "Oh no…" she said as the hallway begun to spin, and turn into two. What is this; frigging Harry Potter?! And with that thought she fell on the floor with a thud.
"Selphie!" Quistis called. "Where's your roommate? Where's Rinoa?!"
The Iota house was in code Alpha A.K.A. "Someone-is-missing-we-should-panic" mode. Sisters of all kinds and ages were frantically making phone calls and searching the missing department of the school in record breaking time. "Everyone is in the state of panic and you are the only person who could really say where she is!" Quistis said as she clutched her hair, which was pulled into a neat bun.
Stress and panic were heavy in the Iota house, and Selphie was utterly perplexed. "Quis, I don't have any idea where she could be, she didn't come back home last night, I think she got lost or something." She said as she tried to recall if she didn't really come back.
Quistis turned her head to Selphie and asked, "Who searched for her? Can you contact that person?" she said so sternly that brunette got goose bumps. "Ookay, I'll try to contact him."
At that exact moment, the door burst open revealing men from the Kappa Gamma house. "BOOYA!" the shorter blonde yelled as they were revealed to the busy women of Iota. They all stared at him for a while then went back to their jobs.
"Well, today's first day of classes Quis, why don't we go to class together?" Seifer asked as he approached the tall blonde, who was wearing a pink cashmere sweater and a short butt hugging skirt, which she topped off with a pair of black knee-high stiletto boots. Seifer whistled as she turned to face him wearing his most unwanted look, the "I'm-President-Look".
"Well I am quite busy at the moment, juggling finding a missing person and the first day question and answer riot on our website." She said as she indicated the Macs and newspapers spread on the coffee table. "And besides, my class doesn't start until 1pm. Unlike you, I actually passed Algebra." She said.
Seifer's face turned red as he searched for his buddies for protection, sadly for him they were all busy mingling with the women of Iota. Quistis on the other hand, went back to her previous task: which is mandating the women to search for their missing sister.
"Who is the missing sister of the Iota house this time, eh?" the cowboy behind Seifer asked the small red haired frosh.
"Well," she replied while keying in the name of the missing person while typing a brief answer to the question someone just posted on their site. "Wow, you're good in multitasking." Irvine butted in. "Ahem, as I was saying," the red head continued, "We're looking for our sister, Rinoa."
Upon hearing the name Irvine's head shot up to the direction of the very busy martial artist, and called him to attention. But to no avail, Zell's head was busy affixed to the brunette in a mini dress and he was clearly thinking of how to impress the woman. The cowboy shook his head and went to Zell.
"Hey Bruce Lee," he said tapping him on the shoulder. Zell spun around to see who it was, and on the process, he tripped and "accidentally" bent backwards and smiled at the brunette, who blushed furiously.
"Can I just borrow him for a while Miss?" Irvine said to the brunette behind Zell. The brunette sat up with her mouth wide open, from being addressed by the cowboy hat wearing hottie.
"Well now, bagging some girls behind my back?!" Irvine hushed to Zell's right ear, making him jump because of the tickling sensation it caused him.
"No man! I was just impressing her, but don't you think she's kind of cute?" he said, adding a side glance at the girl. "Well, she is. That means, she's mine;" Irvine said. "Anyway, Rinoa's missing again."
Zell shook his head unbelievingly and was about to say something when he shut his mouth again, thinking it'd be better to shut up. "Why?!" was the only word he was able to utter.
"Well, I think someone took her or something." The cowboy said while looking at the brunette Zell was previously talking to. "Anyway, you better help Seifer," Irvine said as he pointed to the other blonde who was kneeling in front of Quistis, begging her to forgive him for being rude and arrogant. Zell took notice of the situation and decided to help.
"Hey Seif! Need any help?" he yelled as he approached the troubled Seifer.
"Now, it's time for me to mingle with that brunette hottie." The cowboy muttered as he raised his hat to give him a clearer view of the mini dress wearing, short haired, long legged and pouty lipped brunette.
He whistled as she shifted her position to a more comfortable seating position, cross-legged of course. He approached her like a predator would approach a prey..err… a prize.
"Well, she's hot no doubt." He said as he cleared his throat to introduce himself. "Ahem." He said announcing his arrival in front of her. She looked up and gave him a look of pure…shock.
"Uh," the cowboy looked around for who or what she was shocked about. "Um… are you okay?" Irvine held out a hand and said, "My name is Irvine, what's yours?" he said. And the moment he did, she gave the biggest grin she could muster and hugged him.
"Ookay! What's up?! Uh… miss? Are you okay? Err….Um… wait…whoa!" the cowboy exclaimed as she repeatedly jumped while hugging him, making him fall, almost, off balance. "Whoa! Are you okay Miss?" he said, looking quite shaken but happy of the reaction he got.
"Well, yeah… better in fact." She said fixing her own dress.
"Those are the first words you uttered Madame!" Irvine exclaimed and she blushed red again. "Well, I don't really know what to say to you at first." She said.
"Ahem… Mr. Irvine Kinneas, my name is," she said as she stood straight and saluted the confused cowboy. "Selphie Tilmitt."
The cowboy almost spit saliva at her as he tried to yell but no sound came out. He too, jumped for joy as he realized it was his long time friend, Selphie.
"Selph long time, no see!" he said as he gave her the biggest hug he could give.
"Wow, you sure changed a lot!" he said as he set her back down on two feet. "Speak for yourself, Irvine!" she said as she pushed him slightly on the shoulder. "Well, well…" the cowboy replied while exemplifying his trench coat. Selphie stole his hat and teased him.
"Those two sure are getting along great." Zell said as he was bitterly comforting Seifer as he soothed his wounded toe.
"Dammit Quis!" Seifer yelled behind Quistis's back. She spun around and raised an eyebrow at him which made him cower and say, "Sorry babe, sorry…" Zell laughed his ass off when he heard the sudden change in tone of voice.
"What are you laughing about chickewuss?!" he yelled while giving him a smack on the head. "Well, at least some of us have better chances of getting laid." Zell said as he scratched his head and pointed to Irvine, who was currently playing with Selphie. "Yeah… that lucky ass cowboy."
"I think it comes with the hat."
Damn I sure wish Rinoa'd wake up soon, I think she might be having nightmares, but I'm not allowed to wake her up. Stupid doctor! Squall thought to himself as he went down the hallway back to Rinoa's room.
"She should be still asleep now, because if she woke now, she'd be dizzy." He whispered as he turned the corner and went into Rinoa's room. It was quiet inside, and being as sharp as he is, he saw that there wasn't any dextrose there. Where's she now?!
He spun around the room thinking she went and hid under the curtains or fell off the bed or went to the bathroom. "Why does she always make look for her?" he muttered as he clutched his head.
Squall sat on the bed beside the window and looked outside. "I'm getting pretty tired of this, and I, I mean we, missed class for this." He said as he shook his head.
He lay down on the bed for a while and decided to look for his girlfriend. "Well I am going to look for her," he said to himself, "only I am too tired for this. It's always like this, a hide and seek game."
Then he sat up on the bed and glanced at Rinoa's bed. She fell. Shoot, do I see blood?! He thought as he saw red marks on the carpeted floor. "What happened to her?!" he said in sheer frustration.
He then rushed out the door and headed right to the main hall. Where is she? If she's bleeding, then it'll be bad! She hasn't recovered much blood from her endeavor last night. "This is getting really, really annoying." He said as he asked one of the maids if they saw Rinoa.
"No sir, we didn't see her nor did we hear her approach." One of the maids replied and then went to back to what they were doing. Squall ran again this time double backing to where he was and went straight. "I swear if I marry Rinoa, I would choose to live in a small house!" he breathed as he saw Sebastian. "SEBASTIAN!"
The French make-up artist dropped his keys due to being shocked. "Vat iz ze matter messieurs?" he asked.
"Have… you…. Seen Rinoa?!" he said panting. "No I haven't. Try ze cortyarrd." He thanked him and went down. I better check the room again, she might've returned.
Squall then went back to her room and found no one there. "Now to the courtyard." I am getting exhausted… because of Rinoa again! And I haven't even done it with her! WHY?!
As Squall opened the bedroom door he said, "I didn't even give a damn for anybody before!" Frustrated even more, the young Prince went to the one place he hasn't checked yet.
"Since she's weak, I don't think she'd be able to go far… what more if she went to the courtyard?" he said to himself as he had a moment in the hallway. "I'll go…" he swayed his index finger left and right and finally pointed. "Left." He said as he started to walk to the left wing. I wonder if she went into one of these rooms. He thought as he saw the long line of vacant bedroom doors.
Hyne if I check all of these I'll be 80 years old before I finish. "Where could she be?" he muttered as he started to walk, his face sickening in the grueling process of checking all the rooms. He was about to open the 5th door on his left when he saw a white heap on the floor. What the heck?! They left the dirty laundry on the floor?!
He approached it, taking precaution because the last time he checked out something like this, a dog lashed out on him. Last time I checked something like this, Ellone's late puppy lashed out on me! He approached it, tiptoeing on the process. He moved it with his foot before realizing it wasn't just a heap of dirty laundry.
"Fuck! It's Rinoa!" he quickly scooped her in his arms and ran to her room. This is just great it's not a puppy, it's my girlfriend!
Selphie didn't let go of Irvine's hands as she told him how she ended up in the school. "I took the exam for Political Science here and in Trabia Sciences," she said while fidgeting in her seat. "But I failed the exams, both of them, miserably." Irvine laughed. "You taking up Political Science?" he said while trying to catch his breath from laughing.
"You can't even pass 8th grade History!" Selphie pouted and retorted, "HEY! I told you not to bring up such things! They respect me now!" the cowboy snorted then said, "Respect? More like pitied!" Selphie stuck her tongue out and stormed away. Irvine being the softy he is, stopped her and told her it was only a joke. "It's a joke! J-O-K-E!"
"Look at those two," Zell said from the other side of the room. "They're as close as siblings!" Seifer turned his head towards the other side and laughed. "Well, if they are, they look nothing alike." Then he stood up to approach Quistis.
"Babe, if you ain't coming with me this morning, can I make it up to you with dinner?"
"Wow, he finally mustered up the courage." Zell thought.
"No." the tall blonde said. "No, not just dinner… Dinner is nothing compared to what an ass you are today." Then she went to talk to the women on the other side of the room.
"Have you found her yet?" she asked one of the women near the computers.
"No, we're still searching." She breathed in deep and said, "Okay, let me know if there are any hits."
Seifer took notice and went to her and asked, "Who's missing, babe?" Quitis looked at him and said, "Rinoa, again."
At that exact moment Seifer's phone vibrated. "Oh, I got a call," he said looking at his phone. "It's Capt. Puberty; I better take this, excuse me." He said as he went to a quiet corner and talked.
"Yo! Seifer here." While the conversation lasted, Seifer's expression turned from shocked, to relaxed, then to angry, then back to being normal.
"Okay, okay… use your name if you must. See yah, man." Then he snapped his phone close and went back to Quistis. She raised an eyebrow at him and asked who it was.
"It was Squall." Quistis nodded and asked if he mentioned anything about Rinoa. "Yeah, he did. He said Rinoa and him won't be coming to school today." Seifer explained briefly. Quistis halted all the searches being conducted and asked in outrage,
"WHY NOT?! IT'S THE FIRST DAY OF CLASSES!" Seifer's eyes became huge and he looked like he was about to pee his pants. Everyone else in the room bore the same look of terror on their faces.
"Uh… Squall said," he said in almost a whisper. "That Rinoa is in his care, she was in an ambush last night and has lost a lot of blood, and thus she can't come to school." Quistis had her eyebrows raised, and Seifer can feel the back of his burning from all the stares of the women in the room. "What?" Quistis muttered in sheer shock. "What happened?"
Seifer explained what Squall told him and by the end of his, rather short, story everyone in the room looked worried as heck. "Oh no, poor Rinoa!" one of the freshmen said. "She just came out of the hospital!" another one exclaimed. "Why is she so unlucky?"
"When will she come back?"
"Why is it Squall always finds her first?"
"Who do you suppose did it?" and a couple more questions floated in the air that Quistis got pissed.
"Will you all please quiet down!" she yelled.
"Please! Your murmuring will not help ease the situation."
Selphie was nearing tears as she approached Quistis's side. "I'm sorry; I was supposed to keep an eye out for her." Quistis just shook her head and said, "It's nobody's fault."
Squall carried Rinoa back to her room and laid her on the bed. He looked for the detached dextrose tube and placed it back. She was looking paler than usual because of the severe blood loss and the bruises on her face makes her more ghostly. Squall gently swept her hair away from her face to gaze at her bruised and ruined face. He then touched the yellowish bruise on her right cheek which made him draw back, because he imagined how that bruise was made. Rinoa, as if feeling his presence, moaned. Squall then looked her intently, trying to figure out what she wanted, when her eyes suddenly fluttered open. She then looked at him and then smiled.
"I was scared." She said in a weak voice. "So I went to look for you."
"I know, I'm sorry I left you." Squall responded as he stroked her hair. "Hush now, I'm here I won't leave." Rinoa then closed her eyes and held Squall's hand against her forehead with her free hand.
"Keep it there; I like it when someone touches my forehead when I sleep."
Then she smiled, but she also winced because of the pain it causes when she does. Squall felt sorry for Rinoa and decided to stay there for the remainder of the day.
"I won't leave you I promise."
Meanwhile, Keena was intently staring at the hair strands in front of her. "Why am I so obsessed with killing this bitch?" she breathed as she clutched the strands and watched them crumble. They were so fragile from being tanned under the sun. "Well seems like I have made them brittle, I wonder," she said as she looked up at the sun, "if she'll be brittle if I drenched her with sunlight too?"
She then looked up and checked the time; it was already 7:45am. Hmm, I have class in 15minutes, I guess I should go. "I wouldn't want to keep the professor waiting," she snorted as she gathered up her things and stood up, "waiting to tell us that classes have been cancelled due to a discovery they have made in Burglar Burgers counter top." She then gave a mischievous laugh then exited her room.
"So Celine, you have Algebra too?" a frosh asked the tall brunette.
"Yeah but I don't think we'll be classmates." She replied almost in a whisper as she heard footsteps descending the stairs behind her. "Well, I better go now. See yah!"
The tall brunette went to join her usual clique, led by none other than Keena. No one could contain them, not even the sorority president. They are free to do whatever they want to do, because they have the authority to do so, and thus the reason they chose to join this sorority.
Keena gave a sharp glance at the frosh at the other side of the room and they immediately looked the other way. She then looked at her posse and laughed. "Damn, imagine that." Her friends laughed with her as they opened the door for their "leader".
They were part of a small contingency of the people who graduated from Esthar High, and because of this, they feel as though they are superior. They went to their respective rooms for Algebra and they stared, anyone who tried to smile or even look at them, down. They think I would just let them be nice to me, a queen? She thought.
"Now, where is my room?" she said.
"Keena I think it's this way." a frosh from Zeta Phi said. Keena just smiled and thanked the girl.
That was a rhetorical question, and why was she eavesdropping on us?!
"Hey Keena!"
Keena spun around to see who the person was and when she did she accidentally bumped into a short brunette with fly away hair. "So sorry!" the brunette said. Keena just stared at her and waved her off as she looked for the person that called her.
"Hey hun, it's me." The guy said while approaching her. Keena just raised her eyebrow at him and was about to ask him who he was when he said, "Roger… Roger Covet." She got shocked at she realized that the tall, built, dark and handsome guy was her ex-bed-playmate.
He wore a black faded shirt and some butt hugging denims which he paired with a pair of black Chucks and a couple of chains. His face was of that a rock star only cleaner. His hair was chopped off to a clean cut and had a couple of piercings on the nose and eyebrows. He looked like a bad boy but hot.
"Hey Rog'!" Keena said as she tapped his shoulder. "Nice to see you again." She said as she examined the changes.
"Nice to see you too, Kee." He said as he walked and beckoned Keena to walk with him. "I see you chose Esthar U too."
"Obviously." She replied nonchalantly as she noticed that most of the people in the hallway stared at the eye catching couple. Keena was then self conscious and asked herself if the clothes she was wearing were ugly. She was wearing a blue halter top, skinny jeans and a pair of 4in stiletto heels. Her hair was clipped messily at the back but it suited her well. She was hot indeed.
"Wow Kee, you sure are hot." Roger said as they went to the far end of the hallway and turned left. "Well, if I say so myself, you look different too, Rog'" she said.
"You look better. I like it." Then she wrapped her arm on his and walked to her classroom. "Why don't we get back together?" she said with an evil smirk.
I could actually use you.
A/N: How did you find my chapter? I almost got abducted by mice while writing this, R &R :)
