LEFT BEHIND
Surrounded
June 17 --- Slums --- 9:55 PM
"Reeve?"
"Cloud! You agreed to help." Damn guy was smiling way too much. It looked like a small military operation out here and again he wondered why the hell they needed him here.
"Yeah. What the hell, is she a fucking army?" Cloud said as he looked at the group of men and women. It made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up as he watched boys ready weapons. He felt edgy and frustrated. There was a whole military operation that was right in front of him and they dragged him into a situation that he doubted he needed to be in!
"I understand that she is quite a fire cracker," Reeve said with a smile. "Here's your earpiece."
Cloud took the piece of plastic and placed it in his ears. "We are just about to start." Cloud took his sword out of his sheath and separated it again. He grinned as he cleared some leather out of a joint. Yeah, he wasn't sorry for ruining those leather seats. He knew it was petty kind of payback at the Turks, but he was going to take what he could get.
He did not like this situation at all.
Reeve cleared his throat and his familiar voice came ringing into his ear. He kept expecting to see that annoying mechanical cat come forward at any time. As much as Reeve would deny it, the voice of the cat was not that dissimilar. He began to address everyone over the radios they all wore. He could see everyone turn their heads a little into the ear piece or put their hand up to press it up to their ear. "We have positively identified this location. It is the house with the tazed door. Check your tracking devices to confirm the location." He watched as people looked at their phones and then at the door with the red laser x marked on it. A few people lowered their tinted glasses. He could see the laser mark just fine and didn't pull out his PHS to confirm the target door.
Reeve continued. "There are 4 people in there and from the signatures, they are as we suspect. They were not moving for quite awhile but there is activity again. We should move fast. There is only 5 more minutes left before the deadline." Reeves voice spoke over a small radio, and his voice became smaller. "Cloud, you will be the first entry into the place and you will handle her if it comes down to it. Clear."
"Clear like mud," he muttered.
Tseng filled him in, but he had a feeling that they were leaving some important information about this woman that had taken Reno hostage. Tseng said something about her being on the same level as a FIRST. Something about getting a bit of mako poisoning as a kid and it twisted her a bit. Cloud had questioned him on how mako poisoning could raise a person's strength like that. He knew that there had to be more than just mako to make a person strong. He knew that the poisoning didn't make you strong if that is all you had, there was more to the mako showers the SOLDIERS used to get. Nearly drowning in it, could make you weaker and an addict to various types of drugs. If it was just mako, all those druggies on the streets would be a hell of a handful to deal with. No matter what the ShinRa said. He knew from first hand experience that it wasn't just the mako to get like how he was.
He didn't like how Tseng changed the subject on that one by showing him the pictures of the woman and a man. "Lira and Lore," Tseng said. "You will not have to worry too much about Lore. He is the reason that we are here. He realized his sister is quite insane and that she needs help."
"So, am I here to kill her or to put her in the hospital?" He growled. "I really don't understand why all of you can't handle a single girl."
Reeve looked over at Tseng. "She is the reason that Tseng has a black eye, there is a hole in the newly decorated building and 5 Turks are still lying in hospital after being hit with Cure materia. She is deadly, as simple as that. We do not want to underestimate her again."
He sighed heavily. He understood that she was the one that had damaged Tseng. He understood that she somehow had mako enhanced strength. He understood that she had a military mind. She was strong and the leader of a militia group, but he had sensed that Tseng was hiding some critical information. Tseng was a Turk and information was what they coveted. If people got hurt because he was leaving stuff out…
"We move in two," Reeve said as he rubbed his beard.
Cloud shook his head. He would rather see him as a mechanical cat. It suited his voice better anyway. Reeve still unnerved him at times.
Torture
June 10 -- Noon -- Bearnin
"You still haven't answered my questions."
Reno couldn't help but sob. It had been nothing but torture! He could barely see anymore and his voice was nearly ruined from cursing at her nearly the whole time. He doubted that he slept much. She didn't seem to sleep much and enjoyed the torture that she was inflicting. She seemed to be enjoying it, too!
"I don't … don't know the answers."
And he didn't. She was asking questions about stuff that he didn't have a clue about.
He really didn't know why Tseng sent him. He could guess but he wasn't told anything. He told her all that he knew about Sephiroth's death, all three of them. He told her everything that she wanted. They were all stupid questions.
"How did he die?"
"How did Genesis die?"
"Who killed Genesis?"
"Is this Zack dead?"
"Who killed Sephiroth?"
Nothing seemed to sate her appetite to cause him pain. He answered what he could.
"How did he come back?"
"I don't know." He would whisper a stammer and she would do something to hurt him. Today, she seemed to be enjoying cutting his legs. He whimpered every time she drew the knife over his thigh, or bent over and cut his calf. He didn't scream anymore. If he screamed, she would choke him. His throat hurt so much as it was, he didn't want her to hurt it anymore.
"Lira!"
Lore was at the door along with another man that looked like and older version of Lore. For a minute he thought he was seeing double. He was used to seeing her brother Lore come in and usually pulled her away from torturing him. This guy, looked like he could be their father.
"Yes?" she said and turned those cool eyes towards the men.
The older man looked startled and he didn't blame him. There was a pool of blood that surrounded his chair and she had stripped him again. She didn't want to get his clothes dirty. He had said that he didn't know to a lot of her questions today. He was surprised that he had not bled to death from her attentions. She had started asking him questions that he didn't even understand.
"What is the survival rate with exposure?"
"What other cells are there?"
"Are there any other projects?"
"Where is Sephiroth's body?"
He didn't have a clue what any of that meant or how to answer. He would eventually mutter the "I don't know." And she would cut him again.
"Errow is calling for you." The older man said. "Mother is with him right now. Come on now, before you kill him." His voice was a little shaken as he looked over to his son, who put a hand on his arm. Lore whispered something and the man just shook his head and looked back at his daughter.
She stood up and left. He whimpered. He wanted to yell and scream at her for leaving him in so much pain. But yelling and screaming hurt more, so he didn't. She handed the knife to her brother who frowned at her as she left his basement prison.
Lore was the one that came into the cell untied him and started to fix his wounds. He gave him a potion and helped him drink it before he started to bandage his legs. Helped him get dressed again and tucked him back under the heavy blankets.
He hated being treated like an invalid and he hated how he would just let Lore dress him and take care of him. Hell, he left the door open. He could run… but to where, was the part that stopped him every time. He was hurting so bad now; he didn't want to make it worse. How long had it been? They had to be missing him by now. He hadn't sent his second report. They knew where he was, and they had to be looking for him. Right? Right?
He sighed. He had to learn to be a little more diligent in his work. He knew that he wouldn't be missed that much for at least two weeks. He would be on time with his reports if he lived through this. He would never be late with a piece of paper every again!
"You should tell her what you know. It would be easier." Lore said.
"I… I have told you all that I know." He gaped. He couldn't speak higher than a whisper anymore. She had hurt his throat yesterday by nearly chocking him to death before Lore stopped her. It still hurt.
"Make something up then!" he said. "I can only control her madness so much," Lore said.
"But… but…," he stammered. "If I lie, it hurts more," he whimpered as Lore was smoothing the blanket around him.
Lore sighed heavily and looked down at him. Reno shuttered and tried to curl into a tighter ball.
"I am really sorry, but things must go this way," Lore said and ran his hand through his own hair. "It may be the only way that we can save both Errow and Lira."
Reno just looked up at him and knew better than to try to talk to him about his stupid plan anymore. He was just a pawn and pawns were not listened to.
Lore shook his head. "I will bring you some food. I will try to keep her away from you for now. Errow is quite ill as of late, and if I can convince her that we should take her to the doctors that know something…" his voice trailed. "I will be back."
Reno watched him go, closing the door of his cage behind him.
It took a lot of effort not to break. He was supposed to be a Turk. He was not supposed to break that easily. He was trained to handle being captured and interrogated and being strong through the whole thing.
She knew exactly what to do to make him talk and how to hurt him.
He felt like a failure as a Turk.
Lore returned with the food. A simple sandwich and soup.
Lore smiled at him. "Eat up," he said as he placed it beside him on the bed. Reno nodded and shakily tried to pick up the sandwich even though he wasn't hungry. He found that his wrists and fingers weren't following his orders. He could still see the deep indents from the ropes that she had tied him with. It almost hurt to move his fingers.
"Here. Let me help you," Lore said and picked up the sandwich. "You need to keep your strength up."
He took a bite and talked with the food in his mouth. Yeah, his mother taught him better, but manners didn't mean anything when there still was a pool of your own blood in your jail cell. "Why? So you can let your sister kill me?"
Lore sighed. "It is not that simple. I won't let her kill you. She will realize that she is wrong in doing this. Unfortunately, it may take awhile, but I won't let her kill you."
He took another bite of the sandwich offered to him. "Then why do you let her torture me?" he said.
"You have information, no matter how little you think you have. She knows that Sephiroth is dead. But there have been sightings as well as there have been sightings of silver haired men. I believe when we searched, there were pictures of you fighting some of them as well."
He gasped and nearly chocked on his sandwich.
"That is why she knew who you were." Lore said simply and then touched his hair. "Your hair stands out as much as those silver haired boys that were killed."
"She-she hasn't asked about that." He whispered. That was a year ago and he tried not think about that time all that much. Hell, he didn't know there were pictures of him fighting Yazoo.
"She has. Her question about other projects and project S. She is wondering if those boys were part of that." Lore said and offered him a spoon of soup, which he took.
"I don't know if they are… I… I mean… It…," he stammered as another spoon of soup was put in his mouth. "I don't know what made them! They… they…" Reno found his head spinning. "they were just remnants."
"Yes, we heard that term. Remnants. From Sephiroth of course. She wants to know where they were kept, if they were kept, if they were part of some sick sort of experiment." Lore said and offered him more of the sandwich.
"See, you know more than you think you do. Just tell her that and she will not leave you in a pool of blood." Lore said with a smile. "You need to eat to keep your strength up."
Reno was beginning to wonder if they were playing good cop, bad cop with him. But then, Lira was way to far gone, to be anything but bad cop. Lore was too nice to be anything but a good cop and he hated to say it.
It was working.
Crash
June 17 – Unknown Location —Unknown Time
She was awake and coddling the young boy in her arms. Lore sat beside her. She didn't move. Her hair was blocking her face, which was all the better for him. He didn't want to see those insane pale blue eyes that we nearly white looking back at him.
"Sis."
They were listening to a radio channel.
"There has been no announcement."
She lifted her face then and he saw that her cheeks were streaked with tears and it seemed that the madness had lessened a bit in her face, but it was still there.
"I know."
She gripped the boy's shoulders tighter and pulled him closer to her chest. The boy grunted in his sleep. They had drugged him up pretty good. He wished he had some more of the drug they were giving the boy. All he could feel was the pure pain that rippled through is body as well as the pure fear that he was going to be dead soon. What they had given him had worn off.
"You are coming with me? Right?" She said.
He nodded and tears were coming down his face. "Of course. I wouldn't dare abandon you sis."
She smiled and buried her face into the silver hair of the boy. "I will make sure that it doesn't hurt," she whispered.
Lore nodded and rubbed her shoulder. "Do you want me to give him the shot now?" Lore took that tube that he had placed in his sleeve and readied it as she just nodded and rolled up the shirt on the sleeping boy; that stupid thing that he was playing with earlier. It was a syringe!
He watched as Lore gave a heavy sigh. He reached forward and in a quick movment, he plunged the needle into the side of her neck and pushed down the syringe.
She gave out a terrible yell and threw her brother across the room. Her son rolled off her lap and in a daze he looked up at her with his very green eyes and in shock.
"Traitor!" She bellowed and tore the needle from her throat. Lore could not answer as he was in a pile, unconscious on the floor. She stumbled a few steps, as if she were going for her weapon, but whatever was in that syringe, it was hitting her hard and fast. He watched her stumble and try to reach her spear.
Lore looked on with wide confused eyes.
That was when the door was broke in.
He was never been so happy to see Cloud in his life.
Tbc….
Next Chapter…. Don't you stay Dead & Safe
