HEY HEY! I'M BACK! I KNOW, ANOTHER LATE UPDATE -_-' STUFF HAS BEEN GOING ON, BUT FEAR NOT, THIS STORY WILL END! EVENTUALLY. ANYWAYS, I'D LIKE TO MAKE A NOTE ON A COMMENT; YES, ALISTAIR IS CREEPY. BUT REMEMBER; HE'S NEVER SEEN A FOREIGNER BEFORE AND NOW, IT'S KILL ONE OR BE KILLED BY HER. HE CAN'T HELP BUT BE A LITTLE CURIOUS ABOUT HER. ALSO, HE'S A WAKADO . I WOULD ALSO LIKE TO APOLOGIZE TO ANY ACE FAN-GIRLS. I ADMIT; I ONLY LET HIM COME TO BE COMIC RELIFE -_-'. SORRY. ANYWAYS, ENJOY THE NEXT CHAPPY!

Ch. 37: The Unsettling Felling of Doubt

I gulped on the stale and crusty air as the large, ancient rubble that was once Marmund loomed above me. I sighed and continued to step into the town, aware that we may very well be being watched. Ash, black as night, crunched under my boot as we advanced. The ominous air about this place wasn't so threatening as it was…sad. Like the feeling one might get in a hospital. I turned around to the others, "Alright, anybody have an idea?" White sighed as the others shuffled their feet, "We shouldn't just wait for him to find us. We should try to find him, or a good place to keep a look out." I grinned and gave them a thumbs up, "As nobody has any better ideas, I'll take that as the plan! Let's roll!" Everyone sweat dropped. None the less, they all followed as I kept walking down the street.

I looked around, the feel of this place crawling and burrowing under my skin. …This looks like the silent hill game map. And it did. All the structures were either burnt up and crumbling or nothing left but foundation. Here and there a building was still standing, but they appeared ready to come crashing down at the slightest poke. I stopped at a crossroad. The road from here split off into three different directions. I looked each way and, seeing nothing particularly wrong with any of them, turned to the others. "Alright, teams of two, each will go a separate way. Rendezvous back here in half an hour. Got it?" Everyone nodded. "Alright then, split off." Everyone tried to claim me as their partner but, as he was standing the closest, White grabbed my arm first. Yuri twitched and surveyed his options, as did the others. Boris looked at Yuri, then Ace, and then stared at Peirce. He sighed, "The lesser of three evils…." and grabbed Peirce's shoulder. Yuri growled as he stared unhappily at the only one left; Ace. Ace grinned and put his hand on Yuri's shoulder, "Guess that leaves you and me!" "It would seem…unfortunately." To which Ace seemed unaffected.

I sighed, non-too happy about the pairings either. Regardless, I sighed again, "Alright then, we'll take the left. You guys figure the rest out." With that, White and I turned and left down the left path.

…..

….

I sighed, nervous. We'd been walking for some time now, and nothing noteworthy had appeared. I glanced at White, who was observing the buildings with great interest. Eliminating the option of conversation, I also looked about. I'll admit, this place must have been beautiful in its hey-day. Where our footprints had removed the ash, it was revealed that the road we walked on was paved with rock tiles. The buildings in this area, though now crumbling and decaying, were clustered in that French Quarter* feel. I could see some poles still in their proper places, which must have once held banners or signs bearing the names of shops. Back then, it must have been a cozy, quaint little village-like city. I felt a pang of sorrow at seeing the area, knowing that once children had zipped up and down this street and busy villagers had bustled about to their next task. I stopped short, noticing a smaller path leading into an ally like area. I stared at it, feeling compelled to take the unnoticed path. White stopped, noticing my sudden space out. "…C.J? Are you alright?" Without warning, not even to myself, my feet kicked into overdrive and I beat it to the path, disappearing down it. "C.J! Wait!"

I kept running, unable to even think about stopping. Unable to think about why I was running, only that I must. "C.J! Where are you going?!" H*** if I know…. I stopped short, not even realizing I had. I stared at my apparent destination, mesmerized. Until I was slammed into from behind and sent sprawling. But of course, before I hit the ground, I felt White's hand wrap around mine and yank me upright, setting his other hand on my shoulder after I bumped into his chest. He pushed me away a little and held me at arm's length. "C.J, what's gotten into you? You could have gotten hurt, or…." He trailed off as he got a view of the area behind me. I shrugged out of his grip and turned to face it again.

It was a larger building, probably three stories. Though from the messed up top, it might have once been more. Windows, tall, narrow, and many broken chipped and no longer there, lined the buildings face at least twenty on a single floor. …They looked like eyes. One of two large, heavy metal doors was on the ground, leaving a huge gaping mouth on the mournful face. It was nestled up in a corner of the back of some other buildings, looking twisted and lonely. An extremely overgrown courtyard and a beat up, once white-washed picket fence enclosed the property.

We both stared at it some more. …What was this place? I took a step forward and White grabbed my hand again, stopping me. "Are you mad?! That place could collapse on our heads at any second! It's not safe!" I huffed, "I came here for some reason, and so I can't just turn and run now. …Besides, I get the feeling it's… a safe place. Just trust me, ok?" He glared into my eyes and sighed, "If you insist…." I turned and continued on, for once not minding that White didn't let go of my hand.

I gently pushed on the fence gate, the loud complaining of hinges in dire need of oiling echoing off the walls of the area. I prodded up through the overlong grass and weeds up to the (I guess) open door. I peeked in and stepped inside, a strange feeling covering me like a veil. The area we were standing in was what seemed to be a large reception area, a decaying wooden desk at the far side of the room. Both sides to us opened up into corridors farther up ahead. Rotting leaves and a surplus of dirt littered the ground, nearly coating the tile floors entirely. I looked up and was slightly pleased to find that the floor above us hadn't collapsed, having only a few spots on it.

White mumbled, "This place is in fairly good shape." "It's in a pretty isolated place, so I guess it's been more protected than the other places…but what was it?" He shrugged and started tugging me to the right corridor. The hall was dark and bleak, but I could make out the many door shaped smudges in the gloom. He reached for the nearest door and turned the handle, leading me inside. I stepped in after him and was again surprised at what I found.

It was a bedroom. Just a bedroom. There were three rusty steel, twin-sized spring bedframes, the aging mattresses crawling with insects and lined up against the three other walls. A long, narrow window with cracked panes was set into the wall in front of us. I turned and took a step to the closet on the right side of the room, the floor boards complaining unhappily as they gained my weight. I gripped the inset handle of the closet, took a deep breath, and tossed it open. "AAKKK!" The soft thrumming of millions of bugs beat past my ear as I tried to shield myself from the winged terrors.

I cracked my eyes to see, to my great embarrassment, that White had wrapped his arms around me in an attempt to shield me. I sat a moment more as the last of the pale moths fluttered harmlessly by. "Umm…White? They were just moths…." He opened his eye and looked back at the closet, "…So they were." He released me, putting his hands behind his back, "Sorry…." "It's ok."

I looked back at the closet and gasped. Inside, set on small wooden hangers, were little girls clothes. They were all tattered and moth eaten, but they were still recognize able for what they were. I gently reached out and grasped the sleeve. White leaned into the closet, "…They don't looked like they'd belonged to anyone over 8." I felt the old fabric as it gently disintegrated in my hand. I pulled my hand back and clutched it to my chest. "What is this place?"

White gently took my hand, "…Let's go." I nodded, feeling a bit ill, and turned as his tugged me out. We reached the reception area again, not having found an answer as to why we were here. I sighed and I took a look about the area again, "…I guess it was just a weird feeling…let's go." He nodded and silently started to the door. However, as I set my foot down to follow, a huge snapping came from directly below me and I went crashing right through the floor!

…..

I opened my eyes, dark spots dancing in my vision as pain spread through my spine to the rest of me. Why is it when you hurt something, you feel it everywhere? I sat up and rubbed the base of my spine, which was whining about bearing my torso's weight. I managed to tilt my head to see the hole I'd crashed through. …Way, way, WAY above me. Man, I'm lucky I didn't break my neck! Something blocked a portion of the light coming through the hole. "C.J! Are you alright?!" Oh. It's White.

"Yeah! I'm fine!" I winced and rubbed my head from the pain of speaking. "Mostly." I looked around and saw that I was inside some kind of basement. It was dark, so I couldn't see around me. I looked back up at White, "It's a long way down!" "I'll try and find some stairs! Stay put!" The hole let in the full amount of light as he moved to find the stairs. I tried to stand and collapsed again to find that my ankle ached badly. Fan-flipping-tastic. I wrapped my arms around myself and tried to look around. I stretched my hand out and gulped to see that my arm disappeared into darkness at the elbow. I pulled it back and shivered. I'm not afraid of the dark. I haven't been since I was 8. But now, all alone in the basement of God knows what this place was, I was scared. I took a deep breath, chill out. White will find the stairs and be down here any moment.

"…." I looked around, sure I'd heard something. "…Hello? White, is that you?" "…No." I jumped at the sound of an unfamiliar voice and drew the gun White had given me, aiming it into the darkness. "Who are you?! Show yourself!" "I'm in front of you." I glared the darkness. I could tell the voice was indeed coming from there, but I couldn't see the source. "Who are you?!" "I'm a friend. The only one you can trust." "How can I trust you?! I can't even see you!" "Nor do you see your instincts, and yet many trust them blindly. I've come to speak the truth; it is your choice to listen to my advice or not." I narrowed my eyes; the voice was…strange. I couldn't tell if it was male or female, young or old, it was just…there. "…Did you call me here?" "Yes." "Why?" "To talk to you." "And what do you want to talk about?" "I've come to warn you." I blinked, "…About what?" "About the Joker." I groaned and rolled my eyes. "Seriously, this again? I've been over this!" "Not about just them, but about all of them. This world is no more than an illusion, set over the true world; your world." I continued to glare, "…So?" "So, who created that world? Why are you in it? And most importantly, how do you escape it?" I glared, "What are you babbling about?! If I fill the vile, I can go home!" "Ha! You believe that? Do you honestly believe you will be allowed to leave if you win the 'game'?" I gulped, feeling nervous, "…Can't I?" "You were brought here to play as a pawn in this game, C.J. We all are nothing more than that; pawns. Once the game is over, you will be discarded, along with all the others. Including Alice."

I narrowed my eyes, "Again, what the h*** are you talking about?!" "Allow me to answer that with a question. What lies beyond a dream?" I paused, "…Nothing. It ends." "Very good. Now, what lies beyond a game?" "…Again, nothing. Those always end to." "Bravo. In this case C.J, the dream and the game go hand in hand. Both were born at the same time, and they will end at the same time. Now then, the question remains; who started this game? Who dreamt this dream?" "…I don't know."

"It was you C.J. This world was created by YOU." My eyebrows hit my hairline. "ME! WHY AND HOW WOULD I THROW MYSELF INTO ALL THIS?!" "You didn't do it intentionally. And this world did exist in some form before your arrival, but you and Alice…shaped it, into the world you see. However, once this game is over, this world will unravel into its original self, taking both of you along with it. You see C.J, there is but one fate for those who fall prey to this world; oblivion." "What?" "There is nothing after a game. Only nothing. And then a new game begins. It has always been this way, since mankind was capable of shaping this world." "So what are you telling me?" "I'm telling you to escape. Filling the vile will end the game and you along with it, but there is one way to wake from this nightmare." "…What?"

"Kill the thing that holds this game and this dream together; break the rules, and you shatter them both. You must kill the games controller." "And who's that?" "The Joker." I jumped, eyes wide and a cold sweat starting, "WHAT?! YOU'RE TELLING ME TO K-K-K!" "Yes, you must. He is the controller of this game; the only thing constant in the game." I shook my head violently, "Nu-uh! I don't even know you! I can't know i-if you're even telling the truth!" "So ask him. Why do you think the sun has not set since you set out for the Badlands? And why didn't night come until after you'd returned from visiting Elda? He controls the time, the seasons, everything. And not to mention that a role holder cannot kill him." "What do you mean?!" "As I said, he is a main factor in the game. It is against the rules to kill him. A role holder must go by the rules. Even if they do kill him, he'll just come back. However, a foreigner is not technically bound by the rules. YOU can kill him, and he'll stay dead."

"That doesn't tell me anything!" "Ask him. Ask him why the sun is still up, ask him the true reason to why he's so hated." "He already did!" "Not all of it. He left off quite a bit of the whole truth." I shook my head. "I'm not killing Joker. End of story." "Very well then. I've no intention on forcing you, but consider this; why, when it is known that the world is not perfect, does this world seem so? What other than a fabricated fantasy could be this…?" The voice faded as it apparently went away. I shivered. I honestly didn't even want to know what that was. Whatever it was, it called me here to convince me to kill White. Why it would want me to do that, I don't have a clue.

Without warning, a hand set itself on my shoulder. I jumped a mile and twisted around, aiming the gun and had to force I not to shoot when I saw that it was just White. He jerked back and looked at me wide eyed. "What's wrong? You look pale." I stared at him and shook my head, putting the gun back in my bag. "It's nothing." He looked at me, unconvinced, and pointed behind him, "The stairs are over there. I'm sorry I took so long, but they were at the other end of the corridor. I swear I thought it would never end."

He turned and took a step in the indicated direction. I tried to stand again and winced when the pang went through my leg again. Less than before, but it still hurt too much to walk. Still, I shoved myself to my feet and tried to walk. White turned his head and stopped instantly when he saw my limp, "You hurt your leg?!" I nodded sheepishly, "Yeah, I guess I landed on it wrong. It's nothing, I can walk it off." Instead of turning and walking to the stairs, he sighed, walked over to me, and scooped me up like I weighed no more than a kitten! I blushed, thankful that the darkness hid it, "W-what are you doing?!" "You don't expect me to let you try and walk up rotting stairs with an injured ankle, do you?" I huffed and, instead of arguing, wrapped an arm around his neck so I wouldn't fall as he started walking again.

I'll admit, it was actually kind of nice. …Forget I said that.

Eventually, after what seemed to be an eternity of stairs and the d*** hallway, we finally made it back to the reception area. White glanced down at me, "How's your ankle?" I nodded, "It's fine. You can put me down now." He smiled apologetically and set me on my feet. My ankle ached, but just a tiny bit. I gulped and looked around the area again, "I still can't figure out what the heck this place was." White shrugged and started to the exit. I looked after him, …Can I really trust that voice? It said it was a friend, but…there's no way White isn't my friend. And what about all that stuff the voice said, about the game?

I sighed and took a step forward, only to kick something which skidded across the floor a few feet with the clink that could only be metal on wood. I frowned and picked up the item. It was a rather large rectangle of metal, about the size of a mailbox plate. I wiped the dirt and soot off the smooth surface to reveal an engraving on the once shiny bronze plate, now turned green.

I read the inscription and automatically felt ill. I tossed the cursed thing across the room and stepped back, away from the horrid thing, clasping my hand over my mouth. White came running and put a hand on my shoulder, "C.J! What is it?!" I pointed to the plague wordlessly, not trusting myself to not get sick. White hesitated and walked over to the bronze rectangle, bent over, and narrowed his eyes after reading the inscription. He walked quickly back to me and put his arm around my shoulders, grasping my hand in the other, "Let's go."

I nodded, still ill, and let him walk me out of the cursed place. As we finally got out the door, I felt the compulsion, similar to the one I had earlier, and ran away from the building. I hopped the gate and stumbled on the other side, a lump in my throat. I balled up on the other side of the fence and sucked in my breath, trying not to scream. White was next to me in an instant, wrapping his arm around my shoulders, and gently tried to calm me down, "It's alright C.J. It's alright." I gulped, finding my voice again, "I'm sorry. It's just…I haven't been in one for 4 years, and I was hoping never to set foot in one again." He nodded, "I understand…." I sat there minute more, unable to gather up the will to get up. Sighing, I stood, "I think we should head back. It's been awhile since we split up."

He nodded and stood up. I glance back once more, still frightened of the place. I swear, the cracks in the panes shifted into small, dirty figures in the windows. I shivered and grabbed White's hand, forcing myself to turn away from the structure. We walked back up the ally, silently, back to the intersection…and away from the desolate Marmund Children's Orphanage.

OH MY…THAT'S RATHER DEPRESSING. THIS ONE OF THE DARKER CHAPTERS IN THE SERIES. AND TO ANYONE WHO MAY THINK C.J OVER REACTED, REMEMBER THAT SHE SPENT A LARGE PORTION OF HER LIFE BEING HANDED FROM ONE ORPHANAGE TO ANOTHER. I HOPE YOU ALL ENJOYED ANYWAY! PLEASE LEAVE A REVIEW! THEY REALLY ENCOURAGE ME! (EVEN FLAMES ARE WELCOME!) I MEAN, THE NEW SYSTEM IMAKES IT WAY EASIER TO LEAE A REVIEW, RIGHT?