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Hello whoever is reading this! =) Thank you guys for those who reviewed and favorited my story! ^.^ It took alot for me to even post one of my writings up here becuase I was worried it wasn't all that good. But thanks you guys! Really made it alot easier for me. Here is the next chapter... Hope its a good one! Let me know! ^_^
Chapter 3: Crimson Hands
The knocking went on for a minute or two before Zack finally got too impatient. He reached out and grabbed the doorknob, twisting it to see if it would give. Imagine the glee on his face when he found that it had. Slowly he pushed open the door peering around, not hearing anything coming from the interior of the apartment. He turned his head around to look over his shoulder at Angeal and Sephiroth, raising a eyebrow at them. Normally, Genesis had some kind of Loveless music going when ever she was home. It was eerily quite without that annoying track playing in the background. Only Zack would have dared to call something Genesis treasured, annoying. And to say the least it did not turn out well for Zack on that particular day.
After they couldn't get a hold of Genesis after that first phone call. They began to worry and kept calling throughout the night. Still when she didn't answer they became more worried, but had come to a agreement to wait and see if she would answer in the morning, and that perhaps she had just fallen asleep. But when she still did not answer the phone after the twelfth call, they came rushing up the stairs of the First's apartment building. Following the winding halls. They didn't even bother to take the elevator, choosing instead to use the stairs, in their rush to get to the apartment. It took them a little longer then they hoped to reach Genesis's floor, thanks to Zack 'accidentally' knocking down some secretaries, and trying to flirt with them as he helped them back to their feet.
Walking cautiously into Genesis's apartment, Sephiroth, Angeal, and Zack began to scan the apartment from the entrance way. Angeal the only one to remember to politely close the door behind them. Slowly they walked out into the living room, seeing the indention in the cushions of the couch and the tossed around blood red decorative pillows. They split up to go look into the bedrooms and the bathroom. They found nothing.
"Angeal... Were is she?" Zack asked, after they had met back up in the living room.
"I didn't see her in the guest bedroom." Sephiroth stated coming up the hallway behind Zack.
"She... was not in the bathroom." Angeal stated with a blush on his face, failing miserably at trying to mask it. Apparently she had accidentally left out some things, that all men would run away like a bat-out-of-hell from or at the very least never walk into that bathroom again.
"Has anyone checked the kitchen yet?"
Zack and Angeal looked at Sephiroth with blank expressions, when Sephiroth made that statement. Zack slammed his hand to his face repeatedly, feeling stupid for not thinking to look there. As Angeal just closed his eyes briefly and shook his head. That had been the only place they didn't look. And if she was no were else in the apartment, especially in the morning, she would be in the kitchen. Genesis loved her coffee...
Zack jumped over one of the couches, landing at the entrance way to the kitchen. Angeal and Sephiroth taking the more civil route, went around the couches to meet up with the pup. With the smell of coffee in the air. It would be a horrible lie if they ever told you they found Genesis happily sipping coffee. To find Genesis the way they did, was a horrific, traumatizing, experience in all of their life's career.
Walking into a friends home, to find them at death's door in the middle of their own kitchen. With a well sized knife sticking out of their chest. It was a horrible, un-describable feeling for Zack. Time stood still, as Angeal and Sephiroth quickly ran around him. Angeal pushing him slightly to the side as he passed. They seemed to move in slow motion, least to Zack's eyes. It was as if the lights were shut off and a spot light was turned towards Genesis. It was as if Genesis finally was able to be apart of her own type of Loveless play. The background began to slowly fade out of the picture, as Angeal turned Genesis over, his hands quickly being coated crimson. Picking her up slightly off the cold floor, he cradling her in his arms like a child. As Sephiroth brought his hands up into one of his coat pockets, whipping out his cell phone. More then likely calling the medical ward. Zack was oblivious to all of this. Just watching as two of his best friends tried to get the third one to respond to anything. He saw Angeal slightly tapping her face, while Sephiroth seemed torn as in what to do. If it were not such a dire situation Zack would have made some witty ass comment , that probably would have had him hanging from one of the flag poles out on the campus grounds. Courtesy of Sephiroth himself. He didn't even hear when one of the medical teams rushed in. He didn't even feel when he was shoved aside so they could fit a gurney into the small archway, trying quickly to gain access to their dying target.
It wasn't until Angeal came up to him and slapped him hard across his face. Before he finally snapped out of his daze. Zack shook his head, before glaring up at Angeal. Apparently he forgot about Genesis, as his mind fumed at the fact of being bitch slapped.
"What the Hell was that for, Angeal!" Zack screeched.
Zack was about to retaliate with a punch to Angeal's face, when the medical team walked past them with Genesis on the gurney. Freezing mid swing, Zack couldn't help but stare. It was kind of hard not to. The whole front of her clothes were painted in dark crimson. The red coloring of her clothes making the blood even darker and more pronounced, as it was blotched in random areas along her clothing. They had removed the knife, replacing it with tightly wound gauze. A bright pinkish tint was already seeping through the thick layer were the knife had originally been. Slowly getting brighter, even during the short seconds of just looking at her. There were also small streams of dried and fresh blood coming from her nose and one corner of her mouth.
He'd slowly brought his arm back down to his side letting it hang there like dead weight, all thoughts of punching the daylights out of his Mentor long gone, as he watched the medical team disappear around the corner and into the buildings many hallways. It took a couple of minutes for everything to start moving normally again. Zack looked to his side, his eyes settling on his Mentor and General. Their eyes both trained on the apartments entry.
Zack took note of their defeated expressions they both seemed to sport. And began to wonder if maybe his phone call last night had set these events into motion. A innocent phone call, indeed. But he didn't think one phone call would or could ever lead to something of this proportion. He knew Genesis had problems. But he never took the time to really dive into them, as Angeal and Sephiroth have done before.
He snapped out of his mussing, if that is what you would like to call it, when Sephiroth and Angeal started making their way for the door.
"H-hey! Were are you two going!" A stupid question, but Zack being...well him. Couldn't help it as the question just naturally slipped past his lips.
"Go back to your apartment Zack." Was all Angeal had to offer, before he and Sephiroth disappeared out the door. Not bothering to close it behind them. Zack remained silent and stayed were he was long after both of his commanding officer's had departed.
Sighing, Zack walked away from the kitchen going around one of the plush couches before sitting down on the couch that was facing towards the TV, burying his head into his hands. After a few minutes he brought head up, letting his open hands slide a little ways down his face, still covering his nose and mouth. Today's events had taken a lot out of him, at least emotionally wise. Letting out a breath he didn't realize he was holding, he let his hands slide off his face completely to rest on his lap as he leaned back into the couch. Futilely seeking comfort from the couches soft fabric.
He had been in Genesis's home before, but had never really cared for how it looked on the inside. Merely seeing the color red everywhere quickly making him loose his interest in the past. As he sat quietly on the couch, he let his eyes wonder around the decently sized living room. Taking in the sight of a big flat screen mounted on the far wall, which he would have killed to have. He pried his eyes away from the TV with a feigned huff of indigence. Bringing his eyes to look around at the various paintings and plants that were strategically placed throughout the apartments interior.
He grew up in Gongaga. A place bountiful with foliage of every kind. Were the only thing to do there for fun was to either camp out or hope you knew how to use a weapon, and hunt down some monsters for the local farmers. He had left his small hometown hoping to prove he had what it took to be a hero. His short attention span though, made many believe it was a futile dream. Something he should stop striving for. He would have too. If it weren't for him meeting Genesis and Angeal on accident one day.
He had been feeling down from the last confrontation with the other cadets. The ones that told him he'd never amount up to anything, and that his dream was nothing more then a child's fantasy. When he had been running through the halls, trying to escape the wrath of his latest prank victim. He had come sliding around the corner, paying no heed as to what was in front of him at the time, and slammed right into someone. He had been more focused on looking behind him as he ran, a smirk plastered to his face all the while. That smirk... had died a quick and painless death after he had looked up at who he had ran into. The person had not even fallen over, but Zack did hear a almost silent grunt as the breath exited the persons lungs. His face turned sheet white as his eyes traveled up from the black military boots, and up the black pants and sweater. His eyes taking in the one article of clothing he dreaded seeing the most. It was the red overcoat. Slowly bringing his gaze higher up, his eyes finally settled on the persons face. . . or should he say Genesis's not so happy, and very pissed, face.
Genesis had been in the throws of trying to strangle him when Angeal had waltzed by casually and told Genesis to let the poor puppy go. It was the very day that Angeal had effectively began to call him 'puppy'. After a very awkward apology and explanation later. A few days later Zack had noticed that Angeal had come to one of his training classes to 'observe the new recruits' as he put it. When before it was unheard of to see Angeal doing such a thing. After a few weeks of this, Angeal had approached him and has asked him if he would liked to be Mentored by him. Zack seeing it as a opportunity to reach his goal even faster, had hastily agreed. After that he would occasionally get to see Sephiroth and Genesis. Which he made it a goal to try and piss Genesis off every chance he got.
Zack was pulled out his musing when he felt something vibrate on the couch he was sitting on. Making him jump up and away. The back of his legs effectively catching onto the coffee table behind him as he backed up a little to far. Sending him tumbling over it and knocking the items that were placed on the table off and onto the floor.
Sitting up quickly while rubbing the back of his head. He glanced at the couch, with a scowl on his face, for the source of the vibrations. Spotting the phone innocently sitting on one of the couch cushions.
Grumbling he shifted his body so he ended up kneeling before the coffee table. He began to pick up what he had knocked off, being the remotes to the television, a literature magazine. Placing them back onto the coffee table as he started to stand up. He was about to leave the apartment with the intention of going back to his own or to go to the nearest liquor store. When his foot caught on the many pages of the forgotten book that was nestled just in the perfect place to make him trip and fall flat on his face.
"Gaia be damned!" He screeched, as he glanced down at the book. A eyebrow raising curiously when he spotted his foot practically buried in the pages of a book. He shook his foot, taking little effort to free himself from its pages, before he brought his legs into position to be able to crouch in front of the book. He picked the now tattered book, some of the pages falling out. Probably from his foot accidentally tearing them from the bindings. Quickly he gathered the pages and carefully put them randomly into the book where he thought they were suppose to go.
Finally shutting the book, he became curious as to what kind of book this was. But by taking a quick glance at the cover he noticed there was no title. So he turned the book sideways taking a look there for any signs of what this unknown book was called. "Loveless, huh? So this is the thing that nearly got me killed by Genesis when I tried to hide it! You've got to be kidding me... It just looks like some old piece of junk..." He turned the book this way and that, trying to distinguish why Genesis saw so much value in such a pitiful thing.
He began to stand up from his crouched position, his legs screaming for blood to return to them. He was going to put it back onto the coffee table, but right when it was a inch from the surface of the table he pulled his hand back. Bringing the book up to his face, with a calculating expression. 'Maybe I should keep a hold of this. Genesis would be pissed if it got lost...' With that thought he pocketed the book, before making his way out of the quite apartment. Shutting the door silently behind him.
There ya go ya guys. I made this chapter hopefully longer. ^_^ Tell me how it was! Appreciate all reviews, comments, advise, or pretty much anything along those lines! Hehe! Also sorry if you found any error's in my spelling or anything like that. I tend to miss those quite often.