-Shadow-
Chapter 4 – Fear and New Faces
Being the only one in their gang mercifully lacking a Y chromosome, Olette had had her fair share of trials and scares and had long since gotten used to the unusual, unexpected, and just downright strange situations the boys always dragged her into. Though she loved them all dearly, Hayner with his daredevil attitude and hare brained schemes, Pence with his friendly but mischievous personality, and Roxas with his quiet cunning could be quite a handful. Hell, any one of them on his own was quite a handful, but all three together was often an exasperating and frustrating combination. Still, they were her best friends, her precious boys, and she wouldn't have had it or them any other way. This friendship of theirs might not have much weight in the grand scheme of things, but to her and to them, it meant the world itself.
But lately though, something had been changing. It wasn't that tomorrow was the last day of summer, either. Even if she didn't particularly like school itself, Olette did enjoy learning and with Hayner, Pence, and Roxas there, it wasn't so bad. Nor was it that they were getting older- children slowly growing into young adults. No, Olette couldn't quite put her finger on what, but she knew it had something to do with Roxas.
Sweet Roxas, kind and wonderful in a way that no one else was. Olette could have fallen for him so easily if she hadn't already had feelings for Hayner. That aside, she had always sensed that Roxas was different somehow, special, like he was meant for other things, greater things. He got those feelings and insights, and while they were almost always dead on, his trust in them was still shaky at times and had scared him more than once. He had no control over them and Olette knew it frightened Roxas where they might lead him someday, even if he never let on as much. But that was okay. He was still one of her best friends regardless, and she was happy to simply have known him and to have been his friend. And as long as they were, things would turn out alright in the end. Sleep writing or no, Roxas had a good head on his shoulders and Olette trusted him. He wasn't reckless like Hayner was. He knew the difference between real and imagined danger. The latter he disregarded with ease, but the former was something he avoided at all costs and only confronted when faced with no other option.
So for Roxas to leave her and head deeper into that- that thing's territory, deeper into what he knew was a potentially deadly situation, for no logical reason was so out of character, for one frightening moment, Olette feared he'd lost his mind. Danger or no, there was no way in hell she was going to let him go alone.
She chased after him up the stairs and into the room he'd disappeared into down the hall, demanding, "Roxas! What's gotten into y-"
But then she spotted a large black shape in the far corner of the room, curled up on the bed and the words were strangled by fear from her throat even before she finished saying them.
Roxas whipped around, at the sound of her voice or to see what had scared her, Olette didn't know, but the moment he did, a low rumbling sound came from the not-Heartless. It was growling at them.
Alarmed, she froze where she stood, and out of the corner of her eye, saw Roxas do the same. Seeing it last night in the hallway, the thing hadn't seemed cloaked in the darkness so much as one with it. Now, in the daylight, it stood out in stark contrast to the almost glaring white of the room, hunched over in obvious threat. Wicked looking claws clutched the side of the bed in a way that would surely rip the soft fabric to shreds as easily as it ripped Hayner's flesh and its glowing yellow eyes were wide and unnaturally round. Olette thought she could even make out black fangs bared at them.
So morbidly transfixed in her observation of the thing, she almost missed Roxas' low whisper, "Olette, walk towards me. Slowly…"
The girl turned her head to stare at him, convinced her friend really had gone mad. She was much closer to the door than he was, he should come to her!
"It'll be alright," he coached her, still locking eyes with the not-Heartless, "Just don't make any sudden movements."
Olette looked between the blond and the thing on the bed, torn between her fear and her friend. Very slowly and trying hard not to tremble, she crossed the room to his side, looking to Roxas for reassurance as she did so, but he still had his eyes on the not-Heartless. She cast a fearful glance at it herself and with a jolt, Olette realized it had been staring back at Roxas the entire time, not her. It considered him the threat, even though it had probably been her bursting through the door that had woken it up. Even through her fear, some part of her distantly acknowledged that Roxas had been right about the thing really not being a Heartless. They would have been dead long ago if it had, and that same wayward part of her brain had to marvel that he'd hit the nail on the head yet again.
Not that that was any consolation, really. Heartless or not, Olette still remembered the horrible wounds it had raked into Hayner. Roxas seemed to have the same thought and pulled the girl behind him once she was close enough, shielding her from the monster's gaze.
"Are you alright?" the blond asked in the same quiet voice. Olette nodded into his back. Outwardly, Roxas was the epitome of cautious calm, but she could feel his pulse racing furiously.
"What are you doing?" she whispered fearfully in his ear. "We have to get out of here!"
"Wait," he whispered back. "I need you to do something for me."
"What?" What could possibly be more important that getting out of here with their lives?
His answer was as unexpected as his request. "Look at that photo on the wall and tell me if you recognize anybody in it."
"What?" she said in disbelief, her incredulousness overriding her fright for a moment. They were ten feet away from death, literally staring it in the face, and he was worried about some picture!? Over on the bed, the monster shifted at the sound of her exclamation and growled louder in warning. Olette whimpered and ducked behind Roxas again, hating herself in her cowardice for allowing him to face such danger alone.
"Olette, please? Just trust me, I need to know," he pleaded, not reacting to either her or the not-Heartless. "Do any of them look familiar to you at all?"
Unable to do anything else, Olette cast a furtive glance at the beast over his shoulder for a moment. It had moved to the edge of the bed, its too-round eyes narrowed into yellow slits and its dagger-like teeth clenched tight in that awful snarl. Forcing back her fear, she looked away from the thing and carefully studied the portrait beside her. In it, a young girl, maybe seven or so, sat in a small but ornate chair while two boys stood on either side of her. She and one of the boys had darkish hair, while the other boy had light hair and appeared to be older than the other two. Olette recognized their clothing as being from around the turn of the last century, but nothing else about them was familiar.
"No," she told Roxas, "not at all."
She heard him sigh in disappointed resignation. "Let's get out of here, then," Roxas said, turning to look at her and taking his eyes off the not-Heartless for the first time.
But no sooner than he'd spoken than the thing hissed suddenly, leaping from the bed onto the table in the middle of the room and snarled at the teens, the old wood creaking ominously under the sudden weight.
Olette shrieked and they both jumped back. The monster crouched low, as if to pounce, but Roxas snatched Olette by the hand and wrenched her back toward the door and out of the room.
-oOo-
They fled across the mezzanine and down the stairs as fast as their legs could carry them. His heart was pounding, his lungs screamed for air, and Olette's death grip on this hand was causing him to lose feeling in his fingers, but Roxas didn't care, concentrating only on getting himself and his friend out of the mansion and away from danger.
Reaching the front door, he wrenched it open, practically shoving Olette out into the courtyard ahead of him before he slammed it shut behind them.
Hayner and Pence were waiting for them on the front steps. They leapt to their feet from where they sat the moment the other two burst through the door.
"What happened?" Hayner demanded, immediately checking on Olette when he saw the girl's terrified state.
"Did you see it?" Pence asked, looking to Roxas.
The blond nodded, breathing too heavily to speak. He pressed his ear against the wood, listening hard for any sound of the not-Heartless following them. He hadn't heard anything inside, but still.
That had been way, way too close.
"Back to town," Hayner ordered, putting an arm around Olette to steady her. "Now."
They made their way back to the woods quickly. They didn't talk. Hayner was too worried/angry, Pence was too concerned, and Olette…
Even after they'd lost sight of the mansion, Olette was still beyond upset, as she had reason to be. Not once but twice in the last twenty four hours, she had been terrified that she and someone she loved were going to die. Pale and shaking so badly from fright, she was having trouble just walking until Hayner decided to pick her up and carry her the rest of the way, muttering soothing words in an effort to calm her down. Olette didn't protest, just clung to him and cried into his shoulder.
Pence gave Roxas a fleeting glance was, but the blond did not acknowledge it. Looking at her terrified face, Roxas felt like the scum of the earth. He knew that he had done that to her. He had acted impulsively, and in doing to, put both himself- and worse- Olette in danger. It was one thing that she and Hayner had stumbled upon the not-Heartless by accident, but it was quite another for Roxas to have intentionally lingered and gone deeper into an already dangerous situation and as a result, he carelessly brought Olette into harm's way, just because she'd acted as friends do and refused to leave him. He had almost gotten her killed- all to satisfy his damned curiosity.
Guilt, thick, sharp, crushing guilt hit Roxas like the broad side of a tidal wave and it was all he could do to just keep walking.
"I hate to say I told you so," Pence said quietly beside him, also watching the little brunette crying in Hayner's arms, "but I told you it was stupid."
Roxas didn't bother answering him. He doubted he could have talked if he wanted to.
No one else spoke again until they arrived at Olette's house. Her mother met them at the door, having heard them coming up the driveway, and was alarmed to see the state her daughter was in. Hayner, Roxas, and Pence looked at each other. They had agreed earlier to keep the not-Heartless at the mansion a secret, but before any of them could come up with an adequate cover story, Olette wriggled out of Hayner's grasp and told her mother that they had been in the woods when she'd slipped and had a bad fall.
"I'm alright, Mom, really," she said as the older woman began to fuss over her, "It just really scared me is all. I didn't even get scratched, see?"
"Are you sure, Olette? You didn't break any bones or-"
"I'm fine," the girl assured her, "I just want a bath and some dinner. Will you draw one for me while I say good night to the guys?"
Mrs. Marquette still didn't look convinced, the features of her face drawn in obvious concern, but withdrew back into the house anyway. Olette turned back to her friends, smiling tiredly. Roxas could still see the dried tears on her face, but she seemed to be doing loads better than before.
"We've been a bad influence on you, little liar," Hayner complimented back-handedly, giving the girl a relieved but equally tired smile of his own.
She grinned at him. "I learned from the best."
"You sure you're alright?" Pence asked. Of all of them, he had known Olette the longest, and wouldn't leave until he was certain of her well being.
"I'm sure," the girl said, hugging him. "Food, hot water, a few bubbles, and I'll be good as new."
She hugged Hayner too, then turned to Roxas.
"Olette," he began.
"I'm okay," the little brunette said firmly, looking him square in the eye. "We're all okay. Don't worry about it."
She had to know he would anyway, had to know he could see the traces of fear still lingering in those bright green eyes, but she hugged him just the same. Roxas returned it, abet still feeling guilty.
When Olette disappeared into her house, the boys began to head home themselves. His house being in the other direction Pence said goodbye at the next corner, leaving Roxas and Hayner to make their way to the upper part of town. It was quiet between them for a few blocks, but it wouldn't last. Roxas hadn't fooled himself into thinking his best friend wouldn't notice the exchange between him and Olette. He didn't have to wait long.
"What was that about?" Hayner asked once they were alone. It was early evening, most of the townsfolk were probably just finishing up with dinner, but it somehow felt much later, the rain Pence's father promised having finally appeared as thick, angry storm clouds in the northeast, stretching across the horizon, blotting out most of the usually orange-wash of the sky. But to the west was still clear, the setting sun still visible, leaving the town bathed in an almost surreal mix of light and shadow.
Roxas was quiet for a moment. Instead, he fished the boy's phone out of his pocket and gave it to him.
"It's not your fault, Roxas-" Hayner tried to say, seeming to know what the other was thinking, but Roxas cut him off.
"It was my fault!" he yelled. The other blond thought he felt guilty because it was Roxas who was so adamant about Hayner getting his phone back. He didn't- couldn't know the truth that Roxas had almost gotten himself and Olette killed. Roxas had to get this out, had to tell Hayner what really happened now or he never would never have the courage to tell him the truth.
And then everything started just spilling out of him. Roxas told him about following the trail back to the hallway and finding the phone then getting back to the foyer and remembering the boy in the photographs on the wall. "I dunno, I just- I thought about him and then it was like- like I just had to get another look at his face again! So I ran up the stairs- I told Olette to hang on for a second and went up to the room, but Olette followed me and then there's that…shadow-thing just lying there on the bed and it's growling at us and-"
But Roxas then just couldn't continue, too upset with himself to tell the rest of what happened.
"It was my fault, Hayner," Roxas choked, furious with himself. The other boy just stood there, staring at him. For a long moment, he was absolutely silent. They both stood there in silence, one in shock, one in guilt. Roxas didn't blame him. He wouldn't have had any idea what to say, either. Vaguely, he wondered by Hayner hadn't punched him yet for being so stupid.
Thunder crackled in the distance, the clouds having almost completely taken over the sky by now.
The blond looked down at his shoes, awaiting judgment. "I never meant to hurt her," he whispered, fighting back his tears.
"'Course you didn't," Hayner said softly, putting a hand on his friend's shoulder. "I know you never would."
Roxas glanced up at him through his bangs, and Hayner just looked right back, his eyes sad and heavy but understanding. Roxas didn't deserve friends like him, Pence, and Olette. He really didn't.
-oOo-
It was a nice town, he supposed. Quiet, peaceful, the kind of place where neighbors knew each other by name and actually talked to one another for reasons other than soccer balls kicked over the fence or a pet soiling the wrong lawn. But with sundown well on its way and the storm closing in overhead, the usually sleepy town had taken on a distinctly hard edge, the once cheery atmosphere suddenly becoming charged and much less friendly.
It probably unnerved the townsfolk, warm and safe in their houses, but to the dark-hooded man still walking the cobblestone streets, the change in mood suited him just fine. Preferred it, even. Indeed, the encroaching shadows, like the lack of people out and about, was almost a balm to him. No glaring, heavenly light to expose him for that he truly was. No laughing, smiling, living people to remind him of what he had once been. He almost felt… at ease here, as much as any of his ilk could feel anything. But that aside, it was fair to say he liked this town, the sloped, crooked streets and numerous alleyways providing many places in which to hide, conceal, to forget and to be forgotten.
Unfortunately, those same characteristics of this place that so appealed to the stranger also served to prevent him from finding his way.
The mission was so simple: find and identify the targets, and if one could not be found, to at least locate their place of residence so they'd know where to set up surveillance. Usually such trivial assignments were left for the Dusks to handle. Simple, right? But noooo, something had been interfering with the Dusks' reconnaissance one of the targets, preventing them from even getting an adequate visual. Bad enough that he got the short straw to deal with this in person, but if the others found out he'd gotten lost on top of that, he'd never hear the end of it.
The man sighed heavily under his hood. Even if he wasn't really annoyed, he felt the farce of frustration was necessary and scowled appropriately. This was not what he'd signed up for when he'd joined in this little escapade. 'There's a lot I didn't sign up for,' he thought darkly, 'but too late to back out now.'
Oh, well. Maybe it was time to call on one of the locals.
Looking around, he spotted a blond boy on the corner up ahead, glumly waving goodbye to a friend going in the opposite direction. He'd do. Not wanting to deal with anymore than he had to, the man waited until the friend was well around the corner before he approached.
"Hey, kid!" he called, walking over to him. "I'm looking for Market Street. You know where it is?"
Barely giving him a second look, the kid mumbled, "This way," heading off in the direction the man had just come in, hands sulkily in his pockets.
'He's showing me where it is? Well that's awfully nice of him…'
"Hmm?" the boy asked, turning toward him.
'Oops. Did I just say that out loud?' "Uh, I just said that it's nice of you to show me around."
"I live on Market Street," the blond shrugged, "it's no trouble."
He lived there, huh? Maybe he could gather a little Intel on the target then. What luck.
Except almost every last question he'd tried to ask the kid was met with either a vague "sure," "yeah," or just a shrug. The blond didn't seem to be paying attention to him at all or else really distracted by something, preoccupied. Teenagers.
The man frowned. It figures that the one time in two years he'd had actually tried to start a conversation, it was with the anti-conversationalist of the year. 'Jeez, you could out-emo the Superior, kid.' Then again, if the little punk wasn't cooperative enough for useful information, at least he could have some fun with him.
"So, is everyone around here so gloomy, kid? Or did I just win the jackpot with you?" he quipped. "What's the matter? Girl trouble?"
The kid wasn't biting. Worse, didn't even appear to have heard him at all. He just kept staring at his feet and he walked.
The man struck up a grin. "Or is it boy trouble?"
The boy stopped and looked at him. Didn't tell him to shut up or screw off or to mind his own damn business. Just looked at him, obviously tired and just wanting to get home. That's when he noticed the tear tracks on his face. Well damn. If he was capable of it, the man reckoned he might actually feel a little guilty.
"Sorry kid, it's just…" he apologized, "you looked like you needed a laugh."
The boy shook his head, shrugging. "It's okay,"
"So, we're cool, then?" the man asked, cocking his head a little to the side.
"Yeah, we're cool," the blond replied, offering a small smile and his hand. "I'm Roxas."
Vivid green eyes narrowed in the shadow of his hood. 'Well, that was easier than I expected,' he thought, prompting the corners of his lips to curl upwards in a smile. The chains of his coat ties clinked together as he pulled off his hood, releasing a shock of crimson hair. "The name's Axel," he said, shaking the boy's hand. "Got it memorized?"
-oOo-
A.N. Yes, Axel finally makes a real appearance in one of my fics. About time, right? He's a hard character to write. I couldn't seem to get into his head, not for this scene, anyway. A special thanks to ShinobiCyrus for helping me get him to behave. And for those of you who are concerned about AntiSora (he'll be known as Shadow in this fic, hence the title) there is a reason why he's being so hostile right now. He won't be like this for long, though, I promise.
Thanks for reading, and don't forget to review!
