Well, I've been a little busy these past few days. The good news, though, is that I've finished writing rough drafts of my final two chapters. It's this chapter, then two more, and we're done. (Or are we...?)

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

A little over an hour later, we stood silently looking at the house that Tifa and Yuffie had found. "Well, that's certainly an appropriate place for a vampire," said Goofy.

It was, indeed. As Cloud had said, it was an old house placed on top of a hill, with no other houses in the immediate area. It was fairly large, and looked as though it had been quite a place in its time. And, as if to add to the atmosphere, storm clouds were gathering in the distance.

I drew my gun. "So, we're just gonna go in there?" We had gone over our plans on the ride over (being careful not to let our driver hear).

Cloud nodded. "With his senses, we won't be able to catch him by surprise with our presences. The best we can hope for is that he won't be expecting us to be so well-prepared and put up such a fight."

Donald shuddered. "And you're sure he won't hypnotize us?"

"No," said Cloud. "But my hope is that he won't think he'll have to. Of course, that's why I have these." He held up a pair of silver nails. "First chance I get, these go into his eyes."

Cloud certainly presented a striking figure. After we had gotten out of the cab (a bit of a distance away from our target), he had equipped himself with four of his swords, two at his sides, and two tucked into sheaths behind his back. Strapped to his ankles, hidden by his pant legs, were two silver knives. Several pairs of silver nails were attached to a strap across his chest, along with a silver dagger.

The rest of us had a less impressive setup. All three of us had loaded our guns with silver bullets, and we each carried a silver knife, sheathed at our sides. Goofy, given his aversion to violence, had been assigned the carrying of the flammable liquids: two cans of gasoline that we had picked up earlier that day.

"Well," I said, making sure my gun was ready to fire, "are we waiting for anything?"

Cloud shook his head. "No. Let's go."

And he strode off, us following. My heartbeat seemed to speed up with every step we took. What had Sephiroth managed to do to Kairi in a day? Had he subjected her to some sort of rigorous, painful procedure intended on destroying her humanity? How successful had he been?

We ascended the hill and reached the door of the house. Behind me, I could hear Goofy gulp and Donald's teeth chattering. "Calm down, guys," I said. "We can't let our fear show. We can't let it take us over."

"Excuse me for being afraid of a violent death," said Donald.

I turned to face him. "You think we aren't all? You know how it goes, Donald. Of course we're scared. We're always scared. But what we have to do is face our fear, and overcome it."

"It's not as easy when you're going up against a perfect vampire," he said.

I nodded solemnly. "I know. But we have to try."

He took a deep breath, and nodded.

The door was unlocked, so we were able to get in without trouble. The inside of the house was even more foreboding than the outside. Of course, there were no lights on, so the dim evening light was all we had to see by. I heard thunder rumbling, but there were no flashes of lightning bright enough to give us more visibility.

We had entered in what appeared to be an entrance hall, with a large staircase in front of us leading up to the second floor. A chandelier, adorned with cobwebs, hung from the ceiling, and a fine layer of dust had settled over every surface. "That Sephiroth guy sure knows how to pick his houses," said Goofy in an undertone.

Cloud stepped forward. "Sephiroth! We know you're here. Come out and let's end this!"

I added my voice. "Kairi! We're here! I'm not giving up on you!"

Donald winced nervously. "Not going for subtlety, are you?"

"There's no point," I said. "He's right; Sephiroth probably knows we're here already."

We waited, alert for any sign of movement. "You sure he's here?" Goofy asked.

"I can feel him," Cloud responded.

I could too; my instincts were letting me know that there was a dark presence here. And Sephiroth fit the bill exactly.

Suddenly, the door behind us slammed shut. I whirled around, as did the others. "Above us!" yelled Cloud. Instinctively, I rolled to the side, in case Sephiroth launched an attack from above. Getting quickly to my feet, I looked around to see a large, dark figure alight on the floor in front of us. In an instant, I recognized the black cloak and silver hair.

The figure straightened, and slowly turned around, gazing at us with his cruel red eyes.

"Estuans interius ira vehementi, estuans…"

I frowned. "What's that?"

"Oh, sorry." Donald took out his phone. "New ringtone." He turned it off.

The ringtone had provided a brief distraction, but with it gone, everyone's focus returned to the matter at hand. "Sephiroth!" said Cloud, drawing his swords.

Sephiroth fixed his gaze upon him. "I understand you've been looking for me."

"Yeah," said Cloud. "Once I get rid of you, the dark shadow that you've cast on this world will be gone."

The vampiraga let out a cold laugh. "Really? You think it will be that simple?"

"You don't know what I can do," said Cloud. "I've improved since we last met."

"Perhaps." He smiled. "But this time, you don't have your friend to bail you out."

Cloud's eyes widened in fury. "Shut up!" He ran at Sephiroth, prepared to strike, but the vampiraga dodged the assault as if it were nothing.

"Cloud! What are you doing?" I asked. He had made the first move, and thus given Sephiroth the opportunity to counter it.

Sephiroth turned his gaze to me, as more thunder sounded. "I'm surprised you're not doing the same," he said. "Aren't you worried about your little friend?"

I pointed my gun at him. "What have you done with her?"

He smiled broadly. "She is proving to be a much better student than I thought."

I felt the color drain from my face. "You liar!" I fired, aiming for his head—this time, with silver bullets, they would be more than just a nuisance.

But he was too fast. Moving almost too fast to see, he ran at me and struck, hitting me in both the wrist and ankles. I lost my grip on my gun and fell. "Sora!" said Donald, and fired his own gun. Moving just as quickly as before, Sephiroth turned to him and swept him aside, sending him flying. "Ah!" he yelled as he hit the floor, gun flying from his grip.

The vampiraga turned back to me. "Don't believe me? Why don't I show you?"

I tried to get to my feet, but couldn't support myself; it felt like my ankles were broken, or at least fractured. "Yeah, show me," I said. "Then I can prove you wrong."

He looked at me like I was something unpleasant he had scraped off his shoe. "So, you persist in your idealism? Fine. I will crush it here and now!"

But at that moment, Cloud, who had been quietly creeping up on him, attacked, thrusting his sword forward to pierce his heart. Sephiroth, however, was not fooled. Dodging nimbly to one side, he watched as Cloud stabbed thin air, then picked him up and hurled him across the room. He landed hard on the staircase, and a groan of pain escaped him. "Cloud!" I yelled.

But then Sephiroth raised his voice, making it reverberate throughout the entire building. "Kairi, we have guests. Come and join my welcoming party, if you would."

From further within the house, a light pitter-patter of feet could be heard. I held my breath. Sephiroth was lying. He had to be…

Seconds later, a figure emerged from one of the doors next to the staircase, as another, louder roar of thunder sounded out. It was her. But she looked different. Her expression was harder than I knew it, and conveyed a sense of…almost tragedy. "Sora," she said when she saw me. Her voice was flat, but there was something else in it; it sounded like she was trying to conceal her surprise.

"Kairi!"

She looked away. "You shouldn't have come."

I shook my head. "No, Kairi. I should have. Nothing's going to keep me from you. I have seen the light in you, and I refuse to let it go!"

Her face took on a slightly more pained look. "You can't do anything."

"That's where you're wrong." I reached into my pocket and took out the silver necklace. "Remember this?"

She didn't say anything, so I went on. "The necklace that you used to wear all the time. The one I gave you when I first took you to my apartment."

"Precisely," said Sephiroth. "The necklace you gave her to stop her from hurting you. Because you didn't trust her." He smiled. "That necklace represents everything that holds you back, Kairi, particularly Sora's fear. You did well in leaving it."

"That's not true!" I said. "Kairi, this necklace is more than just that. It represents a bond of love."

She flinched at the word "love." "My father made this specially for my mother," I went on, "because he loved her. And at first, yes, I did give it to you to limit your powers. But I also gave it to you because I knew it wouldn't hurt you. And I came to regard it in a different light." I looked directly at her. "My father saw it worn on the woman that he loved the most in the entire world. I…I was hoping that I could do the same."

There was no mistaking the look of shock that crossed her face. "Sora…" she said, barely audibly.

"And I still hold that hope, Kairi."

She turned to me, finally meeting my eyes. In hers, I saw barely concealed tears. "But…"

"But you are wrong." Sephiroth stepped between us. "Your stubbornness knows no bounds. You will not accept the simple truth."

I glared at him. "What can I say? I've always been a bit of a stubborn guy."

His face darkened. "We'll see how you act when I'm through with you." He started towards me.

"Get back!" said Goofy, and fired his gun. Caught by surprise, Sephiroth barely managed to dodge the bullet, and turned his attention immediately to Goofy. He rushed over to him and struck him in the stomach, sending him to his knees, gasping for air.

"Goofy!" I yelled.

Cloud, shaking himself out of his daze, ran up to Sephiroth, swords in hand, but, for the third time, was thrown aside, hurled at Kairi's feet. "Now, Kairi," said Sephiroth. "Take him down. He is a man who hates you and your kind. You know it! How does he deserve to live?"

Kairi looked between Sephiroth and Cloud, indecision on her face. Before she could make a move, Cloud shot up, grabbing the silver dagger from the strap around his chest. I caught my breath. He was going to attack her…

But he didn't. Knocking her to the floor, he drove the dagger into her dress, pinning her to the floor. Immediately afterwards, he took out one of his silver knives and hurled it at Sephiroth. But the vampiraga's reflexes were too quick. The knife passed harmlessly by him. Turning around, he seized one of the wooden beams holding up the second floor and pulled, tearing it away. As I marveled at the sheer strength of the perfect vampire, he hurled it at Cloud.

Cloud moved a split second too late. The beam clipped him in the hip, and, with a grunt, he stumbled and fell, clutching the spot where he had been struck.

More thunder rang out, and flashes of lightning became visible. The storm outside must have been fierce. Unfortunately, we didn't have time to worry about that.

Another bang sounded out, and Sephiroth barely dodged another bullet. He whirled around to see Donald firing repeatedly at him. Moving at barely visible speed, he ran in, but Donald threw himself to the side, still firing.

This seemed to catch the vampiraga by surprise. Upon finding that his target was not where he expected, he turned, and in that instant, forgot to dodge the bullets. Two hit him directly in the chest, and he let out a loud snarl of pain. "That's it, Donald!" I yelled encouragingly.

Smiling confidently, Donald pulled the trigger again, aiming at the now-weakened Sephiroth. It emitted a click that I knew all too well, and a sense of dread filled me. My friend had been a little too trigger-happy. He was out of ammunition.

Donald realized this almost as soon as I did. His eyes fell to his gun, then back up to Sephiroth, who was glaring at him. "Uh…" He dropped his gun and made a cross with his index fingers. "Get back?"

The vampiraga scowled. Quick as a flash, his hand shot out and grabbed Donald's makeshift cross. He squeezed briefly, and I heard a crack as Donald's expression turned to one of pain. "You don't have much blood, little man," he said in a dark, threatening tone. "But you're a nuisance. And seeing as how I have you here, and your friends are incapacitated, you will be first."

Mustering my strength, I crawled over to where my gun was lying, a few feet away. Picking it up, I turned back to Sephiroth, who had Donald by the throat. My fingers curled around the trigger, and I fired.

It caught him by surprise; the bullets hit him in his back, and he flinched. Dropping Donald, he turned to face me, fury etched in his face. "They're silver this time," I said.

"And that will cost you," he responded. In a second, he closed the distance between us, grabbed my gun, and crushed it with his bare hands. "Imagine this as your bones," he said. "Then you know what's about to happen to you." He grabbed my arm—my left arm, the one that bore the scar from Kairi's attack. "But you won't die yet. I have plans for you…" He looked down at the scar. "Let's just say there will be more where that came from."

He rose his foot and brought it down, hard, on my shin. I let out a yell as I felt the bone snap. "You will lie here, powerless," he said, "as I kill your friends one by one. Then, you will be my prisoner. And you will be the final instrument in helping her turn to the darkness."

I spat in his face. "Never."

He smiled cruelly. "You have no choice. I am a hundred times more powerful than you. Than any of you. You came in here, foolishly thinking you could stand a chance against me. Even your so-called hunter was easy to defeat."

"The hunter's right in front of you," I said, and whipped out my knife. I thrust it at him, aiming directly for his heart. But he was not as surprised as I had thought, and knocked it out of my hand, sending it skidding across the floor. "Your attempts are pathetic," he said. "Now, prepare to feel a world of pain!"

He raised his hand dramatically, a gleefully murderous look on his face. But then came something that none of us were expecting.

"Get away from him!"

A loud rip sounded through the air. Sephiroth turned to see Kairi, dress torn, rise from the floor and grasp the silver knife that Sephiroth had knocked away. I stared at her. The handle of the knife was silver, too; it deterred vampires from using them. But here Kairi was, holding something made of pure silver, glaring at Sephiroth. It would have to be causing her enormous pain, and yet she refused to let it show.

"What are you…" began Sephiroth.

She ran at him, knife out. She was slightly faster than the rest of us, so I hoped she might have more of a chance. But he dropped me and shot out an arm to her, gripping her by the throat. "You would turn on your own kind, even after all I have shown you?" he demanded. "You would even use that which is the bane of our kind?"

Kairi struggled, but could do nothing against the hold of a perfect vampire. "Our kind…doesn't matter," she managed to say. "Sora…is more…of a friend…to me…than you…could ever be!"

The vampiraga stared at her. "So be it," he said. "I made my attempt, but you are beyond redemption. You are not worthy to be one of us." He peered at her. "I still sense my blood within you. Now, I will take it back!"

I blinked. "What?" I looked at Cloud, who was struggling to get up. "What's he talking about?"

He shook his head. "I don't know."

But Sephiroth was doing something. I could see Kairi convulsing slightly, as he seemed to be focusing on her. "What are you doing to her?" I yelled.

"I am reclaiming my gift," he said. "She has proven that she is not deserving of it."

"But what…"

He ignored me, and continued to focus on Kairi, whose body continued to shudder. He was doing something to her, but what?

She had the same question. "What the hell…are you…doing to me?"

"My blood," he said. "If you had stayed with me, you could have learned this power. I can control my blood."

"C-control it?"

"Yes. I can separate it from yours. And once I remove it…" He let his threat hang.

My mind was racing. If Sephiroth removed his blood from Kairi's body, would that remove her vampirism? Could she…could she become human again? On the other hand, how much of his blood was contained in her? If it was too much, she wouldn't be able to survive losing it.

But there was nothing I could do, except watch. My gun was crumpled uselessly on the floor, my knife was still in Kairi's hand, and my broken leg made sure I wasn't going anywhere.

My friends were similarly incapacitated. Donald was lying on the floor, nursing his broken fingers and bruised throat. Goofy was still curled up, recovering from the punch that Sephiroth had dealt him. Cloud, though the most able-bodied of all of us, was still unable to stand, and could only glare at Sephiroth.

Unwilling to just stand by, I crawled over to my gun and picked it up, hoping I could still get some use out of it. As soon as I saw it, though, I knew it was a lost cause. The metal was far too bent for the gun to function at all, and to bend it back would take strength that I did not have. At this point, the only thing I could do was throw it at Sephiroth, but that would be like tapping him with a toothpick; he'd barely even feel it.

Then, a look of cruel satisfaction spread over his face. "It is done," he said. Then, without warning, he brought his face down to Kairi's neck and bit down.

It was one of the worst moments of my life. Kairi's mouth hung open as her face contorted in pain. The sound of Sephiroth draining her blood reverberated through the room. And I could only lie on the floor, completely powerless to help the woman I loved. It was hell.

My hand closed around my gun. No. No, I would not just sit here and watch. I would fight until my body was bruised and broken beyond repair. And then, I would still keep fighting. "Get away from her!" I bellowed, and hurled my gun with all the strength I could muster.

It struck him in the back of the head, and his face pulled away from Kairi's neck and turned to me. "The weak struggles of a loser," he said contemptuously. "No matter, though. I have taken all of my blood back." He turned towards the now-limp figure in his grip. "She is no longer one of us." He drew her closer, and looked into her face. "And now, options. Should I kill you straight-out, or let the shock and loss of blood do the work for me? Either way, you're dea—"

He broke off, a look of shock and pain crossing his face. He tried to speak, but only gasps came out. Dropping Kairi, he stumbled backwards, and, with another flash of lightning, I saw what had caused this change. Protruding from his left breast, buried to the hilt, was my silver knife.

I stared at Kairi, lying still on the floor. She had done it.

Fury all over his face, the vampiraga tried to grab the knife and pull it out, but the silver hilt made him recoil whenever he touched it. "Cloud!" I yelled; it was now or never.

He nodded. "Right!" Mustering his strength, he got to his feet and ran at Sephiroth, drawing the silver nails as he did. Sephiroth raised his head to face him, but his wound had severely dulled his reflexes, and he was unable to act before Cloud plunged the nails into his eyes.

He let out a scream, one so loud and unholy I thought I would go crazy just listening to it. But Cloud seemed unaffected. Drawing the two swords at his side, he thrust them into his enemy's body: one in his right breast, one in his abdomen. Then, continuing with his fluid movements, he drew the two swords from his back and stabbed Sephiroth with them, as well, placing one in each of his legs. The screams got louder, but Cloud kept going. Dodging the frantically moving figure of the vampiraga, he ran over to Goofy and grabbed the two cans of gasoline that lay by his side. Then, he ran back to Sephiroth, uncapped the cans, and threw their contents all over him.

Now thoroughly doused in gasoline and blood, Sephiroth seemed to lose all of the cool cruelty he had possessed beforehand, and could only rage blindly and furiously, lashing out at anything in the vicinity. I watched him anxiously; he was strong enough that a single blow could kill any one of us, and while he was not within striking distance of me, Donald, or Goofy, his speed would allow him to become so in less than a second.

But Cloud was on it, and he knew what he was doing. Taking one of the knives strapped to his ankles, he doused it in the remainder of the gasoline. Still moving quickly, he whipped out a matchbox, said something in an undertone that I didn't catch, lit a match, and set the knife's blade on fire.

Meanwhile, Sephiroth was getting weaker. His initial berserker mood seemed to have subsided, and his struggles and strikes were becoming weaker and less frequent. Cloud surveyed him, looking for an opening, then ran in and struck, driving the flaming blade into his body. In seconds, the vampiraga's entire body was in flames. His screams were renewed, but he could do little aside from convulse in agony. For a moment, I felt sorry for him; burning to death had to be one of the most painful ways to die. Then, I remembered what he had done, and my pity vanished.

Soon, Sephiroth's screams had died down, and a charred, burning body lay where he once had been.

For a moment, no one spoke. Then, I said, "Is it over?"

Cloud exhaled and sank to his knees. "Yes. He's not completely dead just yet, but he's too weak to stop us from killing him for good." He looked back at us. "Is everyone okay?"

Goofy nodded, breathing almost entirely normally. "I'll be fine."

"Yeah," said Donald, a little hoarsely.

A single, ragged breath caught my attention, and I whirled around. "Kairi!"

She was twitching feebly on the ground, eyes barely open. Gathering my remaining strength, I crawled over to her and took her in my arms. "Kairi!"

She looked at me weakly. "Sora…" Her eyes, now an ocean blue, stared at me, but were beginning to dim. She managed a smile. "You…were…right…"

Then, she let out one last, shuddering breath, and her body went limp.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

...thoughts? Reactions?