Notes: Oh my gosh I actually got reviews! Thank you guys so much... seriously, that meant a lot. And here are the lovelies I would like to thank:
PrettyxRavexGirl
Kotilo
Audunke
Avi den Kanashimi
R.ninja the plushie alchemist
fullmetalguitar
XAxel's Memory RemainsX
Messenger Girl
This is for them! And those people who put an alert on this without leaving a review... ha ha.
Chapter Warnings: Rape, character death, language.
Disclaimer: Still don't own it. Surprise, surprise.
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Chapter 2wo: Nightmare
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We were walking down the street, Sora and I, heading towards the small ice cream shop we usually went to around this time of day. But today, we went for a reason other than to just get something to cool off with. Today was my fourteenth birthday and we were celebrating, since Sora was the only person that wanted to celebrate.
"What do you want?" Sora asked, turning to me and smiling. "I'm paying - get whatever you want."
"Oh no, I can pay." I grinned sheepishly. He shook his head at me as we walked inside; the little bell on the door rang.
"Do you really think I'm going to let you pay on your birthday?"
Well, damn. I tried... not that I didn't mind that I wouldn't have to spend any of my money. I still thought it was rude, but if he insisted... "Fine." I sighed.
We ordered and he payed. I don't see why he made such a big fuss about payment - we got the exact same thing we always did; me, some sort of strawberry and vanilla popsicle-like thing, and him, the same thing, only chocolate instead of strawberry
"So, do you want to do anything else today?" he questioned. "Like, go to the movies or the park or... anything?"
I followed him out of the door, of which he opened for me (Geez, I felt like royalty or something), and we set off in the direction we came from. "Nah." Hell. No. The movie theatre was boring, I almost always fell asleep, and the park was for little kids. We weren't exactly little anymore. But despite my turning down his suggestions, he just grinned at me like some sort of idiot. That's how Sora was, always so happy.
"Then we'll just hang out at home."
That sounded good to me, so I nodded my agreement.
Caught up in an ever-so-heated conversation about how doughnuts were made, we didn't noticed someone had been following us. I was starting to feel uneasy and I nudged Sora, who looked at me with a confused look, and whispered: "That guy's been following us for like... twenty minutes." Sora cast his gaze over his shoulder and sure enough, the man behind us actually sped up to us. I felt my eyes widen and Sora visibly stiffened.
"Sora..." my voice wavered.
I could hear him breathing now. "Uh... we'll cut through here."
He grabbed hold of my arm and yanked me into a familiar alleyway - one we would cut through when playing games like hide and seek or tag or something with our friends. It was long, and there were parts that you couldn't even see the wall of because of the shadows. I glanced back; I didn't see the man, but when I had turned my head to face ahead again, I bumped into something and heard Sora squeak.
I fell backwards onto the ground. "Wha...?"
My hands were suddenly being seized and bound, as were my ankles, and cloth was fastened securely over my eyes and mouth. I cried out, though it was muffled, and I heard Sora struggling. But I soon forgot about him when hands began ripping and rending at my pants.
'Oh God...'
I don't think my mind could register what was happening because it was all happening so fast. So I didn't move. I couldn't. And even if I could, what was there to do? My hands were numb from a lack of circulation along with my feet. So I just laid there. I just laid there while being... assaulted. Brutally. And by... multiple men.
I didn't know how long it had been, and I really didn't care. I was just... glad it was over.
'Oh God, oh God, oh God.'
I think I was crying. And if I wasn't, I was about to start. Now to just... get these stupid... fucking... ropes off of my hands and get to a police stati-
BANG.
I stopped moving. For a moment, I didn't hear anything, then, slowly, footsteps came close to me, then the cloth was removed from my mouth, my feet were free, and I used my hand to prop myself up, but paused when I felt something warm and wet on it. The footsteps started again, only this time, going in the opposite direction. I was scared to take the blindfold off. Scared of what I was going to see. But I needed to find someone to help me -and I pulled it off quickly- to help... Sora!
I screamed.
Blood. Lots of it. Leading to... "Sora...?" I retracted my hand and placed it carefully on his shoulder, shaking him lightly in an effort to wake him. "Sora?" I said again, my voice slightly louder than before and shaking harder.
My cheeks were wet, cool yet warm. It was no use.
Sora was dea-
-
I bolted upright, my eyes wide with horror, shock, confusion, guilt. 'What the...' I looked down to my hands and noted that they were shaking, then, taking a few deep breaths in an attempt to calm myself, felt my whole body begin to shake. I made a sort of strangled-choking noise and brought a hand to my forehead, wiping at the many small beads of sweat, then lowered it to my eyes that were... wet? I realized what the noise I'd made was exactly, and I made another. And another. And another and another until I just couldn't control it anymore and drew my knees to my chest, wrapping my arms tightly around them and burying my face into my arms and repeated the noises - only now, they just kind of... melted together to make this one big pandemonium that sounded like a mixture of a whimper, a choke, and the kind of breathy, scratchy screams you hear in horror movies.
I didn't look up when I heard a door open, nor did I when it closed, but I did, however, manage to calm myself to a state of shaking and emotionless sobbing. You know the kind I'm talking about - where you just want to cry your goddamn eyes out, but you're too afraid to let someone hear you for fear of being laughed at. Yeah.
It was hard, but I did it.
Then I remembered about my 'guest', and wondered where the hell am I?
Panic clouded my thought. The room was dark, and even though my eyes were adjusted to it, I could still only barely make out the outline of a person. Sniffling and rubbing my eyes, I cleared my throat, "Who're you...?" God I sounded so... Ugh.
"Hm?" the stranger acknowledged quietly. "Oh, ah ha," The lights flipped on, revealing a boy. Blond hair, tall (well, everyone was tall compared to me), and had a smile plastered on his face. Can you say dork? "The name's Demyx," he came over to the... whatever I was currently sitting on and stuffed his hands into his pockets. "Did I wake you? Sorry if I did; Axel sent me in here to check up on you." -his smile faltered a bit here- "You took quite a tumble this morning. You're lucky Axel was there when he was!"
He had a contagious smile; I found myself wanting to grin back. But as his last words rang through my ears, the urge diminished. Quite a tumble...
My eyes widened.
I'm supposed to be dead.
But I wasn't. 'Axel' had saved me. Umbrella boy? More than likely. He was the one who grabbed my arm. He was the reason I was still alive. It's his damn fault my parents were going to be miserable again! ...of course, I didn't say any of this. I just voiced an innocent question instead.
"Who is Axel?"
'Demyx' looked thoughtful for a moment, setting a finger to his chin. "Why don't you just come out and meet him?"
"Uh... no thanks."
"Aw, c'mon!" Grin, grin, grin. "Don't you wanna meet the man who saved your life?"
Not really. "I-I-uh... N- ...fine."
"Alright!" Demyx turned and headed for the door. "He's out here. Come say hi whenever - I'll be sure to tighten his muzzle." And he left, smirking.
So he bites...? Oh joy! I was saved by some psycho-cannibal!
Groaning, I threw the blanket off of myself and rubbed at my wet (not to mention, puffy) eyes. I stopped as a rush of cold air surged at me, a violent shiver wrecking through my body, causing my gaze to flicker downwards.
"These aren't my boxers..."
Ohhh.
"He changed me... he took my clothes off!" My teeth clenched together, my face burning. He changed me. He took my clothes fully off and put these hideous things on me. He saw me naked. And God only knows what else he did! Ergh...
I gagged. I didn't even know this guy, and already, I hated him.
With my face glowing, I scanned the room, looking for something to wear. Preferably my own clothes, but if they weren't left out, I'd take some of his. 'His' as in Axel's. Or Demyx's. Whichever one of them is more my size. I didn't find any - not surprising - so I stood up and headed for the door.
It creaked softly when I opened it, and I found myself looking down a short hallway, leading to what I presumed to be a living or sitting room. I could see the side of an entertainment center and hear the rumble of people and music coming from the television situated on it. I walked down the hall hesitantly, peeking around the corner. Demyx was talking to someone who had their hood pulled up and facing opposite of my direction. He saw me and grinned (damn him), waving me over.
"Didn't take you long," he said.
I stayed behind the corner. I felt heat in my cheeks and I knew I was blushing. I usually did when talking to someone I didn't know. Now that I think about it, I was even nervous around people I did know. "I-I need clothes." Short and sweet.
Demyx looked blank for a second, then he threw himself over the edge of the chair he was seated in and pulled a bag into his lap. Next thing I knew he was tossing clothing in my direction. Sadly, it didn't quite make it to me. So, scampering quickly and scooping the items up, I stopped when something hit my back. I turned.
The person Demyx had previously been talking to was turned in his chair, smirking at me. His hood was still up, but I could see red hair falling over his chest area. Two dark triangular marks complimented his light complexion as they rested under his eyes. And his eyes... so green. I caught myself staring (and he must have too because he chuckled) and looked down, suddenly finding a small stain on the light colored carpet so very, very interesting.
"So," he finally spoke; his voice made me shiver. "You live."
My brain was lagging like, severely, because the way I heard his words, they just sounded all jumbled up. Blinking, I hugged the bundle of cloth closer to my chest and nodded dumbly. I hoped what ever it was he said would make sense if I nodded...
"Hey kid," he spoke again. "go get dressed."
"I have a name." I pulled my blue gaze up to meet his green one. "R-Roxas."
He looked at me for a moment, then turned his attention back to Demyx. "Axel. It's a pleasure, I'm sure. Now go get dressed or you're going to get sick." So this is Axel.
Going to get sick. De ja vu, much?
I only nodded and went back the way I came.
x x x
When I came back out, 'Axel' had removed the hood from his head completely. I was sitting, a little awkwardly, in a chair near the hallway, across from Demyx and to the left of Axel. This is a really nice house... I thought, eyeing my surroundings. Almost everything was white, or a color like it. The carpet was more of a cream color, the furniture was white, the kitchen (the little bit of it that I could see) was a light sky blue color with white cabinets and tabletops. It was just... wow. It was small; two bedrooms and one bath (I counted the doors on my second trip down the hall).
I was interrupted from my contemplating when my stomach decided it needed attention and let loose a loud growl. All eyes, even my own, were now staring at it; Axel's were dancing with amusement, Demyx's were shocked, and my own were overflowing with embarrassment as I shut them, hoping to just become invisible. But my luck was never that good.
"...I guess I have to feed you?" Axel's voice called over to me. It wasn't harsh, but... soft, I guess. "Hm-" I glanced up to catch Axel looking at his wristwatch. "-It's about time to eat... Demyx, go make something, will you?"
Demyx beamed and stood, bouncing happily towards the blue kitchen. "You got it!"
After Demyx had happily started to cook whatever it was he was cooking, I looked over to Axel. "How can anyone be that happy?" My voice was quiet, despite the fact that I was trying to use a normal tone. "I mean... it doesn't seem n-natural..."
Axel stared at me for what seemed like the longest time, making me a tad uncomfortable, but slowly, a smile crept onto his face. "Dunno, really. He's just that guy that's always smiling. Kinda makes you wanna smile back, you know?"
"Yeah." I did. When he came to check on me in the room... Oh right. "Hey Axel?"
"Hm?"
"Why did... why did you do that?"
If happiness were a cupcake and confusion were a fat guy, the cupcake would be gone. Sadly, that's exactly what happened. "Why did I do what?"
"Get me out of the river..."
He went silent. I dropped my head. "Never mind. Forget it." I stood. "Where are my clothes? I'll get out of h-here."
"Sit." he hissed. He fucking hissed. But I didn't. I still stood there.
"Why?"
"Fuck. SIT."
What the...? Psycho AND bipolar? Greaaat. I'm not sure why, but I started to shake lightly. Maybe it was his tone; maybe it was the fire in his eyes as he glared at me. I gulped and fell back into the chair.
"Now then," he said through gritted teeth. "Why did I pull you out of that river? Because you were going to fucking kill yourself." By now, Axel's loud-ness had captured the attention from the blond in the kitchen. Axel was standing over me, hands clutched into fists. "I wasn't about to let some kid throw himself off a bridge and drown. What were thinking? That you thought it would be okay to take the fucking easy way out? That you wanted to hur-"
But... I got him killed...
"-amily, just so you could be selfish? What about your frien-"
It's all my fault... i-if I hadn't been born, he wouldn't have wanted to celebrate my b-birthday...
"-ean, honestly! You've got a life here! Why don't you stop feeling sorry for yourself and fucking liv-"
I killed Sora.
"I killed him."
"-nly got o- ...what?" Axel stopped abruptly, anger fading from his face, covered by concern. "You... what?"
"I... I got him killed, i-it was... all my fault...!" My hair fell into my face as I bent it down. Small, dark dots appeared on the jeans I was wearing - proof of my tears. I whimpered and gripped at the hem of my shirt. "I killed him... I killed him..."
The whole of the small house was quiet, spare my small whimpers, chokes, gasps and coughs. Why did I choose a place so public to end it... Why didn't I just use a-a knife or-or-or a gun or something? God, I'm so stupid. I can't even kill myself right. It's a horrible feeling - to realize you're nothing to anyone, to realize that, since day one of your pitiful life, you've been a screw-up, a stupid little kid who can't do anything right.
Axel sighed - he sounded a lot closer than he had previously, and before I knew it, he pulled me to him, one hand stroking my hair gently, the other around my tiny waist. "You didn't kill him. It's not your fault. You both were just at the right place at the wrong time." he was speaking so softly, like if he were too loud, I'd break. And he was so warm... I couldn't control it anymore. I clutched his shirt tightly, pressing my face into his shoulder and sobbed. I mean, flat out bawled on this guys shoulder, not caring how loud I was, not caring if I was going to knock something over with my quaking. I needed this. I'd never cried like this. But I wasn't only crying for my own selfish reasons anymore. I was crying because someone care. Someone actually cared enough to brush off the fact that I was getting their shirt wet, that I might ruin their hearing or break something.
Axel cared. This crazy, bipolar stranger cared. My own parents weren't like this, even though they should have been. It felt so good.
"Hey, hey, hey," I heard Axel whisper. "Calm down. You're alright."
I took a deep breath and let it out shakily, nodding against his neck and letting out one last, final sob. I didn't want Axel to pull away just yet, but good things can't last forever. He set his hands on my shoulders and pulled back, smiling. "Feel better?"
I shook my head no and rubbed my burning eyes when they threatened to turn the faucet back on. Axel's smile faltered a bit.
"Well-"
"Maybe this will help!" Demyx suddenly piped up. He entered the room with a tray balancing three bowls on top. "Food usually makes people feel better..."
I sniffed and tried to smile at his attempt to cheer me up.
"No, Dem." Axel's tone was laced with laughter. "Food makes you feel better. It just makes everyone else feel bloated and gross."
"D'aww! HEY! Don't be like that!"
I watched with a smile as the two fought. Funny... how fast moods change around here. I liked it. Maybe they'll let me stick around for a while. Soon, I was laughing - Axel and Demyx were hitting each other with pillows and calling each other some really... odd names. But it quieted down when a loud BEEP sounded from the television.
'This is a channel three news break,' A man sitting behind a desk appeared. 'A fire has broken out in a small neighborhood. Fire rescue workers, ambulance's, police officers, bystanders, and our very own Selphie Tilmitt is on scene: Selphie?' The scene switched to one of a brunette girl, holding a mic.
'Thanks, Zell. I'm here on the scene of the fire that started no more than twenty minutes ago.' Roxas froze. 'There appears to be no one inside; The brave firemen are searching desperately for a sign of life. A neighbor has confirmed that the couple that own this house are still here, however, it may be too late for them.' That... that's... 'The neighbor has also confirmed that it is only this couple that live in this house, she says the son moved away a long time ago. We're now going- Oh! The firemen are coming back out-' The camera zoomed in on two of them carrying some sort of lumps. 'Oh dear... it seems as though the couple is dead. We'll get back to you when the fire dies down - Zell?'
"Hey Roxas, don't stare at the screen like that, you'll ruin your eyes."
Oh God...
"Roxas...?"
No... no, this-this isn't happening. It's just another n-nightmare...
"...Roxas...?"
My... my parents are...
"ROXAS!"
...dead.
"My parents are dead."
Someone please just kill me.
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Notes: Yay! I finished! Kind of a cliffy... heh, sorry.
Oh, I'm trying to make chapters longer. At least this one was longer than the last... xD
Remember, I need reviews to know whether or not to continue this, so... have it. Plus they make me smile...