I feel proud for getting this done for today. yay :)

October 2nd, 07:08am

I never liked to sleep past 7. I felt like I was wasting my day when I was well enough rested as it was. Even when I didn't have class I still left my alarm set for 6:30, although most of the time I'd just hit snooze and lay in bed for a few more minutes, staring at the ceiling. It wasn't like I had some lust for life and didn't want to lose a minute; it was just that I didn't see the point in wasting the day in unconsciousness.

So that's why I was downstairs that morning, slowly pacing the kitchen and running my hands through my mess of hair. I knew Sora wouldn't be up for at least another three hours, even when he was healthy he was stupidly lazy, but I couldn't help feeling anxious. I would have checked in on him but I knew he wouldn't appreciate it. He didn't like people acknowledging when he was sick, however serious it was. So I decided to busy myself with cleaning up around the house. I washed up the dishes from the night before, chucked out empty cans of food and drink, and unlocked the back door - locking the doors at night was a habit I picked up from home. There was a strange smell in the air as I past through the back garden, where I dumped the bag of rubbish for tomorrow. I sniffed lightly and wrinkled my nose, deciding to breathe through my mouth before walking back inside. I didn't realise until later that what I had smelt was burning.

I past Sora's room later, on my way to the bathroom. There was no noise from within, not even the usual sound of his light breathing. I told myself that it was just because I wasn't really listening, though. But then again I never was.

I closed my eyes as I stood beneath the shower, feeling the water run down my back and shoulders. The sound of the endless scatter of water echoed in my ears, but it was oddly calming. Although I found myself listening intently for sounds beyond the walls of the bathroom. I was so on edge that I ended up standing completely still for ten minutes, my forehead pressed to the tiled wall of the shower as I waited. I don't what I expected; screaming? Choking? Maybe both. But I didn't hear a thing even as I left the bathroom, wrapping a towel around my waist. On my way back to my room I glanced towards Sora's door…which was now open.

I paused while shaking the water out of my hair, frowning deeply. I was almost certain that it had been closed before; I had even made a mental note of it as I past earlier. I took a step back and peered into the room. I couldn't see the window but it was obvious that the curtains were still drawn shut. It would be near enough impossible to see more than rough shapes in the darkness, if not for the light creeping in through the open door.

"Sora…?" I called uneasily. I stepped towards the door and caught sight of his empty bed, the sheets thrown haphazardly across the mattress. They were half on the floor, twisted and crumpled. Clearly he hadn't had a good nights sleep.

I slowly backed away from the room, leaving the door open as Sora had left it. I didn't want him accusing me of perving on his stuff - which I wouldn't have put past him to do. I paced back across the landing to my own room, quickly pulling on boxers and a pair of faded black jeans. I picked up the first shirt I found, laying across the small stereo on the dresser (an inside-out white shirt and black T-shirt) and yanked it over my head. I yawned widely as I left the room again, stealing a quick glance out the window. I could see the street outside, completely empty except for two people dashing across the road. It reminded me of when I used to play tag at school, although they looked a bit too old for such games. There was no point in dwelling on it though.

I stretched my arms above my head as I yawned, working the dull pain out of my lower back. I thought briefly that I must have slept funny, then I was walking downstairs.

"Hey, Sora, you feeling better today?" I asked, raising my voice so he'd be able to hear me from wherever he was in the house. There was no answer, though. I rested my hand on the banister and swung myself round, barely breaking my stride as I turned the corner towards the kitchen. I saw him immediately, staring out the window with his head tilted to one side like the garden was something incomprehensible.

"Sora?" I sung, laughing lightly. However I found myself slowing as I approached the doorway, my smile slipping as he silence persisted. "Dude, you OK?" I asked nervously, somewhat afraid that he was suddenly going to collapse.

But no. As a matter of fact, that was a situation I could have handled easily.

I stepped forward once more and rested a hand on the doorframe. I was only a few feet away from him now, with only the table between us. I didn't make a noise, but it was as I stepped into the room that Sora's head snapped round. I recoiled slightly, backing out of the room again as the abrupt movement startled me. I laughed briefly at my actions and focused my eyes back on his face. He looked strangely blank for a moment, as though he was completely empty of life, and then his eyes narrowed. His forehead and nose creased and his upper lip curled back, revealing a row of unnaturally sharp teeth. His rigid body turned towards me and for the first time I noticed the bandage on his bare arm, darkened by the crimson of blood.

My eyes widened considerably and I found myself stepping away from him. There was a strange feeling in my stomach, like it was being squeezed really tightly or twisted into dozens of unfixable knots. It took me a moment to realise that what I was feeling was terror.

Sora raised an arm and threw it out with frightening speed, hurling aside the table with as much ease as if it were a glass. Several chairs clattered to the floor as the table flew out of sight, but I heard as it crashed into the wall and splintered to pieces. I winced back at the sound, but my eyes remained on Sora. It was like I was in some kind of trance, one that refused to let me tear my gaze away from his. My feet kept moving backwards, though; somehow edging me towards the door without needing my mind to control them.

Sora appeared to smile for a moment, and I felt a glimmer of hope that he was just messing with me. Then his jaw snapped open and an inhuman snarl ripped out his throat.

That was all the encouragement I needed. I cried out and spun around, sprinting to the door with newfound speed. There was a crash behind me, followed by a roar of anger and the loud pad of rushing footsteps on the kitchen tiles. I smacked into the front door almost the second I started running along the short hallway. I fumbled for the handle and yanked it down sharply, but it didn't budge. I had a second to remember that I hadn't unlocked it yet, and to feel the panic that came with it, before I had to swerve aside. Sora hurtled into the door, crudely mimicking the same movements as me, causing it to tremble from the force. He screamed in what might have been pain and turned on me, teeth bared in an animalistic snarl. I pushed myself away from the door and sprinted up the stairs, taking two at a time. I'd seen enough horror movies to know that that was not a good idea. That's how you get cornered and ripped to shreds. But I had no other option - unless give up and die was in the selection.

Sora bounded along behind me, stumbling on the uneven ground of the staircase but regaining himself instantly. I glanced over my shoulder as I reached the landing. He was closer than I'd expected, so close in fact that if the stairs had been a few steps higher he would have undoubtedly caught me. An image flashed through my mind of Sora latching onto the fabric of my jeans; pulling me back sharply and plunging his teeth into the calf of my leg. I quickly shook away the delusion of my own blood soaking through the carpet, dripping from the hungry lips of my brother.

I turned the corner and ran for the first open door in sight, which thankfully was my bedroom. I practically leapt into the room, catching a glimpse of Sora as he turned the corner at the top of the stairs. A low growl ripped out of his chest as he stared at me. Saliva foamed at the corners of his mouth, streaming to the floor in thick droplets.

I slammed the door shut, and was instantly greeted by the sound of heavy fists pounding on the wood. His roars grew louder with fury and I backed away from the door, knocking against the dresser. I gasped and spun around, striking out at the piece of harmless furniture and injuring my fist in the process. I breathed in heavily as I cradled my trembling hand, realising just how badly I was shaking. My heart was thundering against my ribcage, its pounding echoing in my ears like the pain of a bad memory. My head darted about the room desperately in some kind of sick synchronisation with the hammer of Sora's fists on the door. I pulled the chair away from my desk and pushed it under the door handle, as if Sora might somehow be able to knock it down in the midst of his frenzy. Better to be safe than sorry, right…?

I glanced towards the window for the second time that day. But it was the first time I really saw what was outside.

A car was parked at the side of the street, its lights flashing intermittently as the wail of a siren cried out like the howl of an injured beast. The sound was dulled from inside the walls of my bedroom, but still very much there. I glanced to the other side of the road, my eyes wide. Most houses appeared to have been broken into, windows smashed or doors shattered into splinters of wood. A flash of red caught my eye through one of the smashed windows, trailing a thick line of smoke outside. Flames tore up the curtains, the room within filled with the red of fire and the thick, dark grey of smoke.

My eyes snapped back down as a man ran straight through the middle of the road, his arms spread wide. The wind tore at the flanks of his grey jacket and they fluttered behind him, like a sick impression of wings. His jaws spread wide and he screamed as he veered off to the side, finding a target out of my line of vision. I wasn't so far away that I missed the blood splattered across the front of his shirt, splashed across the lower half of his face. There was another scream from the street, so completely human and full of fear that I squeezed my eyes shut and covered my ears. Sora's fists crashed louder against the door, his emotionless scream reaching my ears despite my best efforts to drown him out. I was almost crushing my head between my two hands, forcing them forward so tightly that after too long they might have smacked together. Sora screamed louder, and then I found myself doing the same. I squeezed my eyes shut tighter and screamed hoarsely, somehow grateful for the seconds of relief from the noise outside; and even more so from my brother's crazed roars.

…never felt like such a mistake…

My eyes snapped open as music blasted through the room, loud enough to be a stereo. I found the source in seconds, lying on the floor by the bed. My phone. The loudest phone ever to exist. I remembered that Sora had changed my ringtone a few days earlier as a joke.

Running from lions never felt like such a mistake…

What world are you living in, I thought.

I collapsed to my knees and crawled forwards briskly, snatching up my iPhone before it had a chance to stop ringing. I'd only had it for a little over a week - a birthday present from our parents - and couldn't for the life of me figure out how to work the damn thing. My eyes scanned the touch screen for a moment, wide and panicked. I groaned in irritation. In the end I pressed the first button I saw and lifted the phone to my ear, fingers crossed.

"Roxas…?"

I gasped and silently thanked what ever force had helped me in those few seconds. "Namine!" I cried in relief. "Are you OK? Where are you? Are you safe?"

There was silence for a few seconds, then Namine's voice came through the phone in a tight and trembling whisper. "Do you know what's happening, Roxas?" She asked. She sounded out of breath.

I found myself shaking my head, even though she couldn't see me. "Please, just tell me you're OK…" I pleaded. For some reason I found myself dreading her answer.

Silence once more, and then, "I heard banging when I woke up," She explained, her voice breaking. "There was this screaming outside my room and I went out into the hall. There was a woman on the floor, crying and holding onto her neck. Roxas…There was blood everywhere. I didn't know what to do and she kept screaming and she was spitting blood all over me and…and I think she died."

Despite my horror, I frowned. "You think?" I asked. "What do you mean, you think she died?"

Namine breathed a laugh that was completely humourless. "I felt her pulse. I think I did it right, anyway, and I didn't feel anything. But then she sat up and looked at me, like she didn't even know there was this hole in her neck. Then she just jumped on me and she was growling…I don't know…"

"Namine," I interrupted her softly, running a hand over my face. "Are you OK?" I asked again, slowly.

Namine breathed in sharply. I heard footsteps through the phone and high-pitched screams. They had to be close to her, for me to hear them so clearly. The thought terrified me. Where the fuck was she?

Namine sobbed. "It hurts…Roxas."

Axel in the next chapter. Horray! Please R&R x