Author's Note: Sorry for such a late update and short chapter. I really tried to make it longer, but this darn writer's block lol. Anyway, enjoy...

Namine's PoV:

I felt the urge to use the last of my strength to reach for the bottle. I have no idea what compelled me, but I just had to taste it. It was like some supernatural force was telling me to drink the liquid. I didn't even read the label on the side before I was chugging the small amount. I coughed and dropped the bottle. The taste was terrible, but then I realized something. I was up on my knees! How did I have the strength to do that? I read the label and there was a small note on the side. It read, "To anyone who finds this, make good use of it—Michael Kaufmann." I was grateful to this Kaufmann man for providing me a means to survive, but even I knew that the effect wouldn't be permanent. I just had to find Kurami or any of my friends before it was all too late!

I staggered to my feet and felt around for the flashlight. I took it and jogged through the hallways. Along the way, I couldn't help but think of a few things. I thought of how Kurami made me feel even worse for using Roxas. I'd never forgive myself, but I hoped at least Roxas could have. Now she took away any chance I had of apologizing to him and confessing my true sexuality. I no longer hated myself because of it. I saw exactly how that hatred could manifest itself. And besides, it wasn't like I would live long enough to actually find someone I could love. Depending on how effective the red liquid was and how fast my metabolism—which was pretty fast—would react to it, I guessed I had at least thirty minutes, but no more than an hour. After that, I would be dead. But that was just a guess. I had no idea how this drug worked or how it kept me alive when I should have been dead. Truly, I was nothing more than a walking corpse, reanimated by a drug I didn't even know the name of. Nothing different from the monsters that roamed these halls. I picked up the pace, not wanting to waste any of my precious time.

I ran into a few monsters, but ignored them and pressed onward. Some force, the same that told me to drink the liquid, told me to go through certain doors and finally down a flight of stairs. I had no idea I was on the second floor, but apparently, I was. I barreled through a set of doors into the girls' locker room. The shower was dripping with what appeared to be blood. Then I realized, the whole school changed form. The walls became rusty and worn, the floor turned to a grating, and the whole area gave off the smell of evil. I knew I was in the closest thing on earth to Hell, which, according to my parents, I was going to anyway.

My parents. Maybe it was best for me to die here. I'd never have to disappoint them and cause them to hate me by telling them I was a lesbian. Mom might still have loved me, but I knew dad would throw me out or at least beat me senseless until he thought I was straight enough for him. He hated my kind more than anything. Love was practically nonexistent in his heart, if he even had one of those. I didn't even think he loved me or mom at all. Maybe he loved her at a time, but that was before she became his personal punching bag.

I shook my head of those dreadful thoughts. I didn't want to spend my last few hours on Earth in depression. My main focus was to find the rest of my friends while they were alive. I knew, for sure, that searching for Roxas was a waste of time. He, the only guy I've ever loved, was dead and never coming back. But did I love him? Of course, I did, but not the way a girlfriend should. He was my best friend, but he was never anything more in my heart. I was in his, thought. He treated me like a goddess. I felt so beautiful around him. Now, I probably looked like a train wreck. There was a mirror hanging on the wall, so I shined the flashlight and looked at my features.

My eyes and cheeks were sunken in, my flesh even paler than it already was, and my hair was a tattered mess. I looked dead. Which, I basically was. I noticed my heart wasn't beating, and I had no pulse. My neck had a bite mark where Kurami crushed my windpipe. The remnant of the blood that once flowed through my body was oozing out slowly. I would have thrown up, but my gag reflex didn't work either. That just added to my despair, knowing I was as good as dead and being kept alive through artificial means. My life was over. I was just on borrowed time.

I eventually set off through the school again. I could already feel myself growing weaker. That's when I saw it, Kurami poised to strike. She had a sword above her head and started to swing down. I looked to see who she was killing, and it was Riku. I bolted toward them, determined to save his life…

Riku's PoV:

I waited for the blade to split my skull, but instead I heard a loud thud. I looked to see Namine had tackled Kurami to the ground. "You leave my friend alone!" she said with a fiery rage in her voice. She didn't look very good. She was paler than usual, almost as if she were dead. She also had an enormous bite mark on her neck that was still oozing blood.

"You…no, I killed you! How are you still alive?" Kurami asked in disbelief. She must have been the one who did that to Namine.

"The human brain can survive for a little while without oxygen from blood. You neglected to make sure I was dead. I found this little bottle next to where you dumped my body," Namine said angrily. She pulled a small, empty vial from her pocket.

"No, you found some Aglaophotis?" Kurami asked in horror. "I thought that Mason girl used the last of it to destroy the goddess!"

"Apparently there was a little bit left," Namine said. "Now, I'm going to make you pay for killing Roxas! I know I'll die when this stuff wears off, but I can at least avenge him!"

"That's what you think," Kurami said. She slowly started to disappear in the floor. Namine tried to grab her, but she'd already sank into the ground before Namine could grab her.

"No," Namine screamed. She hung her head down and began to cry.

"Namine, what was that all about?" I asked as I crawled to her and embraced her.

"Riku, Kurami killed Roxas!" she cried. "She drank my blood, but this Aglaophotis stuff is keeping me alive. I don't know how long it will work. I'm already feeling weaker. Please, find everyone else and save Vanitas before it's too late."

"Namine…I'll try," I said. She collapsed into my arms. "Namine, please don't go!"

"Riku…I…I see Roxas," she said, her eyes focusing on something behind me. I turned my head, but didn't see. "Roxas, I'll be there…soon. I can…finally tell you how sorry…sorry I am for using…you. I couldn't love you the way you deserved…" Namine died in my arms. I wondered what she meant by "using" him and not being able to love him. I always thought they were the perfect couple. I didn't want to just leave her body there, but I couldn't exactly take her with me, especially with my broken leg. I took a broomstick leaning against the wall and made a makeshift splint by tying it with my earphones and a piece of string. As much as I hated to, I left Namine's body lying on the ground and hobbled away. I turned to look at my beautiful friend one, last time and continued into the Darkness. I resolved that I was going to find Xion, Sora, and Kairi alive and that we would rescue Vanitas, kill Kurami, and get out of the town for good.

The school never seemed to end. I was haunted by the image of Namine's dead body lying on the ground. I was also frightened that I would run into Kurami again. She didn't screw around with us. She just wanted the kill. But why? What did she want with us? Was there some reason, or was she just a senseless murderer? Namine's last words hung in my mind. It was like she regretted something. Was she in love with another guy while she was with Roxas? No, Namine wasn't like that. She would never cheat on him with another man.

The dark hallway seemed to get darker as I went on. It wasn't just a normal pitch-black darkness. This darkness seemed otherworldly. It was unnatural. Nothing should have been that dark. Blood and rust stains were covering the walls. My cellphone light didn't do much good. It was like the darkness was sucking the light away from the phone. But hey, a little was better than nothing. It at least kept me from tripping, which was difficult in and of itself with this splint. I'd need real medical treatment soon, but I wasn't looking for that to happen. I wasn't even looking to make it out alive.

I thought I saw a figure in the distance, but it bolted before I could make out who it was. "Hey, come back!" I shouted, not thinking it could have been a monster or even Kurami. No, it couldn't have been Kurami. She'd wait a while for my pain to subside before attacking me again. She was probably after Xion, Kairi, and Sora.

Despite my instincts to stay put, I chased the figure as fast as I could. I screamed in pain each time I landed on my leg, but didn't let it stop me. I needed to find out who it was.

It was backed into a corner with nowhere to run when I finally caught up to it. "Please, don't kill me!" it called to me, apparently thinking I was a demon, and I recognized the voice. I walked closer to this man, who was now in a fetal position in the corner, and was shocked when I finally saw his face.

"Vanitas, what happened to you?"

Author's Note: So, what did you think? I really have a habit of leaving these chapters with cliffhangers, don't I? lol How did Vanitas escape Kurami? Is this even the real Vanitas? I'll let you guys think about that for a while as I update Her Scars and Beauty of Darkness lol. The delay on Beauty of Darkness is because I just re-wrote the whole chapter I was working on lol. I tried a third-person PoV, but decided I do better with first-person.

Another reason I've been so slow recently is that I just got into reading The Hunger Games. I saw the trailer for the movie when I went to see Breaking Dawn and am so excited! Easily the best books I've ever read. I just started the third and final book today after finishing the second this morning.

P.S. About the letter on the Aglaophotis bottle, I originally had it written by Heather Mason from Silent Hill 3, but thought it would make more sense if Kaufmann from SH1 would have written it. Plus, I thought it would be nice to have this in continuity with the games. lol

Until next time, friends...