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Thump. A large force applied to my chest shocked me awake. I felt a heavy mass of fat and sinew lying on top of me. Damn it. I glanced at the clock: 7:04; three minutes before my alarm was set to go off. Yes, I must admit, I take a guilty, malicious pleasure in setting my alarm to awkward times such as 7:07.
I rolled out from under Sora; however, he remained asleep, regardless of his 3 foot fall. I stood up and plotted my plan of action in order to wake him up. After a moment, I inquired to myself whether I was: A. A kind, idealistic romanticist or B. A pragmatist. Nothing could have been easier.
B chosen, I swiftly kicked Sora in the lower nook of his back. He flinched and stood quickly up with drool streaming down the left crook of his face.
"What aliens?" He stuttered in delusion. Oh how I wish I had a camera. Quickly, I leaned forward and poked his forehead with my index finger.
"Back from your trip, Space Cadet Sora?" I chuckled. What an interesting guy.
He feebly batted my hand away. "As back as I'll ever be, Space Secretary Low-Cut-T-Shit," he retorted lazily. Oh, touche. I quickly leaned back and pulled up the rim of my shirt.
I attempted to brush it off nonchalantly; he smirked in return. "Be ready by 8:30," I stated with a tint of irritation, and with that, I exited into the bathroom to prepare for the day.
"So how exactly are we going to leave without your parents seeing me," Sora inquired while leaning up against the window.
Oh it's quite easy if you think about it.
I smiled widely. "Look behind you," I stated simply as if it was obvious.
He glanced over his shoulder, and quickly looked back with a mild tinge of resignation. "The window, Kairi?" he inquired in a voice that displayed slight distaste.
"Sometimes you have to throw logic to the curb," I retorted with a grin, "right, Sora?"
He rolled his shoulders. "Of course," was his quick reply.
Afterwords, Sora approached the window and proceeded to remove the red paper from the window.
What remained was discomforting to say the least. The window had large knife marks engraved in it, each made to look like animistic scratches. Also, fake blood and been splashed all over the window's surface area.
It wasn't that surprising. I would have been more surprised to discover that Sora was a homosexual. Actually, now that I think about, I wouldn't be surprised about that either; he is fairly flamboyant.
Back on topic, Kairi.
I looked upon the copious amount of damage passively. Like a child tempered like steel against the emotional consequences of war, I held an apathetic view towards the new discovery.
Sora, however, was taken aback by the show of the intention to produce fear.
Maybe he hadn't believed me last night.
Maybe he thought I was joking.
Maybe it was a wakeup call.
Maybe.
I hate maybes. They are the sick contortions of the absolute, faint, twisting shadows of the curtains of reality.
"What are you waiting for?" I called to Sora, "Open the window, we are going to be late." He snapped back to reality, and without responding, opened the window, allowing a fresh breeze to enter the previously stagnant room. I nonchalantly walked past Sora and mounted the window, and, with a wave back to Sora, hopped out of the the window. After feeling the rush of air around me, I landed on the earth in a kneeling position.
I was lucky to have such a short house.
"Sora, hurry up!" I called with a smile. He waved back, which I interpreted as a positive response.
I quickly rearranged my hair. However, after a short moment, a small glint of a metal box caught my eye.
Oh, that was the wire box for the phone and other miscellaneous electronic services!
I still needed to investigate the situation involving the phone line, as I found it to be disconnected when I called Selphie on "that night that never happened" but reconnected when I called Sora the previous night.
So while Sora was attempting to crawl out of the house and scale down the wall of the residence like a lizard, I found myself walking over to the small box. Upon my arrival, I found something disconcerting: the large 9-pin security lock left to guard the contents of the box had been picked open and was left hanging from the bottom of the metallic container. It was probably Mr. Stalker who had picked the lock, most likely either to scare me or to gloat about his abilities or... maybe it was a challenge? I furrowed my brows.
I don't like mysteries; they promote the supernatural. In this world there are no gods or spirits: only men.
Opps, sorry, I am ranting. Let's get back on topic.
Either way, the inside of the metallic box was no less disturbing.
The alarm's wire had been cut.
Furthermore, the phone line's wires had been twisted back together so tightly that the end of the point at which the two wires were entwined looked as it could draw blood. In fact, it could have; the entire telephone wire was bathed in dried blood. A small note rested in the box, perfectly white in a box that appeared as if a murder were held inside of it.
Sora appeared to the right of me. He appeared both taken aback and morbidly confused. Hell, I would have looked the same way too if I hadn't diverted my attention to the new pearly-white note. I quickly re-entwined the alarm wires, grabbed the note, crushed it in my hand, and shut the metal box with so much force that the lid rotated like a dying grandfather clock. Serves it right. Oh wait, it wasn't really the box's fault it was exploited. I'm so silly.
I bumped into Sora when I stood up; he quickly regained his composure. The wind picked up and tussled around our clothes and hair. Our eyes soon met, but we quickly averted our eyes.
Sora was the first to speak, "So, what does the note say?" he said painfully lightly in a tone of masked dread.
I felt the note in my hand and fiddled with it, touching it with my fingers and thumbing it softly, nervously. Afterwords, I cracked my neck and slowly opened the folded-in-half piece of paper.
It read as follows:
Dear Kairi,
We are going on a trip.
.edu/shadow
Sincerely,
Creepy shit. After reading the message multiple times to myself, I finally dictated the message to Sora without mentioning the website address. It didn't seem that outrageously important at the moment. I looked closely at him. His countenance had paled slightly; he appeared confused or as if he were juxtaposing two propositions with similar probabilities.
After a few moments, Sora tilted his visage towards me and stated plainly, "Well, that could mean anything from kidnapping or, if he sits at out lunch table, simply a trip to the mall with friends." Well duh, if the messages weren't obscure, I would have no trouble finding him.
Silly Sora, silly me, silly stalker, silly world.
I sighed openly. Sora appeared confused. Although it sounds rude, I disregarded Sora as I was in my own little world, calculating probabilities based on the evidence we had gathered. I took a deep breath. Nothing. We didn't have enough data; hell, we didn't even know if the stalker was a guy or a girl. That left only one option: wait.
In the FBI, it's well known among senior investigators that sometimes the only way to catch a murderer is to wait for them to strike again and then procure evidence.
Evidence is the key. In this world, there is only one truth, and it can only be uncovered with evidence.
Thus, let us wait.
Rather, we should probably start walking to school right about now. I sighed.
However, suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a small part of an animal or person duck into obscurity. Maybe I was seeing things. Maybe.
"Sora, let's discuss this later," I started in a non-negotiable tone, "I have a strange feeling follows me to school." He looked at me puzzled; however, I disregarded him and began to walk towards the direction of our place of learning.
"Wait, Kairi!" Sora gasped back while jogging to catch up to me, "Why would it matter if he overheard us?" Silly Sora, isn't it obvious? People these days.
I shot him an offside glare; he looked back me both innocently and incredulously, at one end probably not understanding why I was upset with him, while on the other end probably not understanding why discussing the stalker while he was listening was a bad idea.
"Sora," I started as a large gust passed over the area, "this is not going to be a battle of physical violence; rather, it will be a battle of information and wit." I checked his response; his expression lightened and I continued. "This conflict will not be won with blood, guns, or steel; in contrast, strategy and planning will play a major roll". I wagged my index finger at him as if I were a grandmother chastising a child. Quickly, he tried to playfully bite it in response; however, I pulled it back in time. His eyes met mine. I continued my finger wagging. "Remember Sora, loose lips sink ships," I finished.
Suddenly, a cloud cloaked the sun, a gust of wind kicked up some dirt and detritus, and some leaves fell off a nearby Maple tree. Afterwords, the world fell into a calm.
I believe Sora understood, as he soon nodded in agreement and performed the action of zipping his lips up and throwing away the key. I'll be honest, it was kind of cute.
We continued walking, and we arrived at school without further incident.
Time-skip
Dear Diary,
I'm so sorry for having locked you in a safe for so many years; although, I hope you've become good friends with my chemicals. Don't tell the other substances, but my favorites are Lithium and Potassium!
I love confiding in things that can't respond.
Class today was uneventful; no more notes were left on my locker. Until fourth period, the only interesting occurrence was a fight during Physical Education.
However, during the period of lunch, while the shrill sound of dissonance permeated the room, an interesting announcement was made: Namine wished for us all to go to the beach. This would seem quite innocuous if I didn't have to deal with.
Well, I should explain. Namine's parent's are hotel tycoons; in summery, they're loaded. Thus, every year, she receives a relatively extravagant birthday present. Apparently, this year, her parents gave her permission to invite her friends to spend a night or two at one of their numerous beach-side hotels.
I wish I were rich. Then I could buy off the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and get some Uranium that's higher grade than the shitty stuff I already have. Oh wait, back on topic, Kairi! Wait, was it really necessary for me to write that in a diary? Nevermind.
Back to the trip.
It would be lovely, grand, splendid. Normally, I would be thrilled to have been given the opportunity to go. However, one thing still bothers me. The letter.
Dear Kairi,
We are going on a trip.
Sincerely,
Oh well. No risk, no reward.
Hmmm, however, I might need to pay a little more attention to Namine. It could be a coincidence that she offered us a trip around the time I received the note; however, I don't believe in coincidences.
In summary, I will go on the trip for the sake of evidence, to become closer to finding the identity of .
The king must move so that his servants will follow.
Semper Fidelis,
Kairi
"Game plan?" Sora inquired. He was sitting on my bed, kicking his feet like a bored child. I was sitting at the desk of my computer. I had already replaced the construction paper covering the window, seeing as I didn't want my parents to see the knife marks and other points of creepiness.
I sighed. Sora could be so dense sometimes. I gave him the look. You know. That look. The one children give to their friends when their amigos declare they caught a fish "that" big. The one scientists give to creationists when they declare that there is no evidence for evolution. The one that teachers give to students who state that the fact that their answer is word-for-word the same as another student's including the spelling mistake is coincidence. That look.
I rested my head on my palm. "Sora, if we are going to spend a night or two with everyone," I started, "we might as well attempt to find some information and evidence about our favorite stalker."
Sora was staring at my ceiling fan. A potato could tell he wasn't paying attention. Sigh.
I cupped my hands around my mouth. "Pst. Sora," I whispered, "Pst." He snapped out of his fairy tale land.
"Oh yeah, information, stalkers, aliens," Sora mumbled in embarrassment while rubbing the back of his head, "I heard you." Aliens? Really? Whatever, he got the gist of it.
"Yeah so," I started with my favorite finger wag, "if your going to objectify women with your buddies or discuss something else, at least try to glean some intelligence conspicuously."
Sora batted it off. "Of course, Kairi," he chuckled, "all that guys talk about are sports, video games, and breasts." I grinned slightly and threw my mousepad at him.
I don't think he was lying.
"Punch buggy: blue"
Smack. Sora's fist mildly collided with my arm. I sighed.
"Sora," I started with a joking glare, "you are so childish".
Sora appeared overly taken aback; this soon degenerated into a friendly smile.
"Your just jealous that you didn't think of it first," he chided with a Cheshire-like grin. I brushed it off and continued looking out the window.
We were on our way to Namine's family's fancy hotel. Four or five of us were in each individual car, each paying gas money to a driver, in our case, Xion. In our car, we had (obviously) Xion, Sora, Roxas, Axel, and of course me.
"Your looking for one aren't you?" Sora whispered in my ear. I jumped in surprise. God damn it.
I wasn't looking for one of those silly cars. How immature would that be?
"Sora, no one plays that game after elementary school," I started with a mock glare. This quickly broadened to a smile. Sora raised his eyebrows quizzically.
"Punch buggy: yellow".
Revenge is so sweet.
We entered the lobby. A wave of vanity and wealth pulsed through my senses.
The lobby and its decorations probably cost more than I would make if I were a lawyer who lived for 300 years. In this chamber of wealth and prestige lied deep crimson carpets, a massive, almost industrial-size chandelier, butlers, gold plated silverware, silver tables, and several items known only to those who could afford them.
It was overwhelming to say the least.
Namine was waiting for us, standing close to the entrance way, while, in contrast, the rest of her group (Selphie, Hayner, Olette, Aeris) were sitting down at a nearby table.
"Hello everybody," Namine said earnestly, "please relax while we wait for everyone to arrive". We all took our seats at a nearby table of luxury.
Namine had always interested me; she was a unique case of one who lived uncorrupted by wealth. Every day in school she worked diligently as if she couldn't live on her inheritance for the rest of her. In addition to this, she would never raise her voice or speak unkindly of someone. Furthermore, she wore a relatively cheap, white dress day after day.
In my opinion, what's more interesting is that she would never get her white dress even slightly dirty. I swear Namine could take a white BMW offroading and never get a single speck of dirt on it.
Whether she was a genius at cleaning or cautious to the point of schizophrenia I don't know.
Namine gave us our rooms. Each room would have 3 people in it; in total, 4 rooms would be occupied.
There was a room of Selphie, Namine, and I.
There was a room of Sora, Roxas, and Axel.
There was a room of Aeris, Xion, and Olette
There was a room of Pence, Hayner, and Riku
Namine told us we would start our fun and activities tomorrow so long as nothing intrusive and unexpected occurred.
However, only one problem existed. Something of that nature occurred that night.
Author's Note: Actually, I was planning to have the first night at the hotel in this chapter but this chapter was already long enough.
Furthermore,I didn't really like this chapter. Oh well.
Now to forget to upload the next chapter for another week.