Has it already been a week? Man, time flies...

Don't really have much to say about this chapter except that you guys are one step closer to Roxas waking up and realizing something XD Oh, and there is total foreshadowing in this chapter. Keep an eye out for it ;P

I do, however, have something to say to one of my reviewers;

813 i love you 813: Really? I did? I feel so special now :D It really made my day when I read your review, so thanks :)

*Sigh* I'm now drawing ever closer to the last chapter I have written... I did have more written, but then someone stole my jump drive and I lost it... *sigh* Oh well... live and learn, right?

So, please review, as always, and enjoy this random chapter that involves blood, a fainting Roxas, and Count Axel :)

~Sunechirei

Full chapter title: "Gobble, gobble, gobble," the turkey said

Last week was crazy. I mean, really, really crazy. Who would have thought that Thanksgiving would have been that messed up, even in my messed up family. I mean, my parents were arguing, I mean, really arguing, which is something I've never seen before, Red was MIA for the entire week until the last few hours of Thanksgiving day, and Riku and Sora dragged me to the godforsaken place they grew up...

No, it's not as creepy as it sounds... actually, I think it was.

So, anyway, I suppose I should start. It all began when I lost control of my goddamn letter opener, leading to...

"Fuck!"

I dropped the letter opener that had just sliced my hand practically in two. Well, not in two, more like it just left a large cut, deep enough to draw blood, across my hand, extending from the bottom of my pointer finger, to the top of my palm. It hurts a hell of a lot worse than I'm making it sound, and the blood didn't exactly make me feel amazing. Stupid inability to deal with blood. I closed my eyes a little bit, hoping that the nausea would pass if I didn't look at the gush of red liquid spilling out of my hand. It didn't work.

Damn.

"Stupid, fucking, goddamn, assish, knife..." I muttered, standing up quickly. My hand was hurting like hell, and I decided it would probably be best to get a band-aid before I passed out. I just hoped I would be able to get to the first-aid kit in time...

Bursting out of my office, I ignored Kairi who had called out to me, and stormed down the stairs, heading to the twelfth floor, where the only medical supplies in the whole building. My dad could be really, really stupid sometimes. Actually, almost all the time. The stinging in my hand was extremely distracting, so I stopped thinking about the idioticness of my father, and more about how I needed to move faster.

So, I dashed down the stairs, nearly falling down them a few times. When I finally got to the floor I needed to get to, I felt as though I were dying, which I probably was. I mean, no one can bleed for as long as I was and still survive.

"Hey! Roxas! I need you to-" Ellie called out to me, but, like Kairi, I ignored her, heading towards the random cabinet in the back of the building. "Um... okay then," I heard, but didn't think much of it. I was dying. Ellie wasn't that important to me.

When I finally reached the cabinet, I opened it and searched as quickly though it as I could, hoping that I was imagining the liquid dripping down my wrist. Every drop of blood that left my body brought me closer to death, which was not a good thing. Not at all. So, when I finally found the band-aids, I opened the box as quickly as my shaking hands would let me.

"Whoa! Roxie! What's wrong with you?"

I jumped when Red called out my name, and accidentally dropped the box, spilling band-aids all over the place.

"Shit!" I muttered, bending down immediately to pick up at least one so that the stupid bleeding could stop and I wouldn't die. However, before I could get one in my fingers, Red's hand swooped down and grabbed the wrist of my bleeding hand, pulling me up as well. My face paled when I saw the state of my hand. Deep red fluid was slowly trickling down my arm, and the cut glistened the same color. I felt faint, but luckily, Red's voice brought me back.

"Uh, Roxie? You don't look so hot. You okay?" he asked me, and my vision cleared. Looking up at him, I shook my head.

"Blood...," I muttered, "I don't like blood." For some reason, I thought that maybe, just maybe Red would be just a little sympathetic, but when I said those words, a glint appeared in his eyes, and he smirked.

"Oh? Roxie is afraid of blood? Who knew?" I immediately regretted telling Red what was wrong with me. Nothing good ever happened when he got that creepy look in his eyes. "You know," Red continued, not waiting for me to give some kind of response, "those band-aids you got from the cupboard are way too small for a cut like this. If you really want the bleeding to stop-" He lifted my hand towards his face, and I wasn't breathing. "-you can just ask me to do this." As soon as he finished his sentence, lifted my palm to his lips, and traced his tongue across the cut, which caused me to let out a shuddered. Heat filled my cheeks, and I began to struggle to get away, but Red was too strong for me.

"What's wrong, Roxie?" Red muttered into my hand, "I thought you wanted the bleeding to stop. Does this not work for you?"

I desperately wanted to scream at him that it didn't, and he needed to get the hell off me, but is seemed that my vocal chords weren't working, so the only sound I did make was my breath being let out. I could tell Red was grinning, and he continued to lick the blood off of my hand and wrist.

And for some strange reason, it actually felt good.

Yeah, I mentally slapped myself after that thought. Yet I couldn't stop brooding over the fact that I wasn't actually uncomfortable with what Red was doing. Obviously there was something completely wrong with my brain.

Closing my eyes, I tried once more to get away from Red before the messed up part of me took over completely and did something I would regret, but this action just caused Red to tighten his grip on my hand.

"Oi..." I finally managed to say, though my voice was no louder than a whisper. Red smiled again, and; wait for it... I heard a loud clunk which caused my eyes snapped open. Glancing fearfully over to where the noise had come from, I wasn't completely surprised to see Riku standing there, his mouth curling into a smile.

"Why, hello there, boys. I just keep running into you at the wrong moments, don't I?" Riku laughed, reaching down to pick up the book he had dropped earlier.

My head was swimming, my heart racing, and I suddenly felt dizzy again. Red had let go of my hand, and I glanced at it, only to see more blood welling up in the cut.

That's the last thing I remember before passing out.

"…Roxie! Hello? You alive in there?"

I stirred at the sound of Red's voice, and opened my eyes groggily. I had no idea where I was, what I was doing there, and why my hand hurt so badly. In fact, if it weren't for the pain in my hand, I would have thought that this was just a bad dream, mainly because Red was in it, but also because I was beginning to recognize the room I was in.

Ellie's office.

Now, how did I get here? I wondered, trying to sit up. Everything was blurry, and my head was spinning, but I desperately wanted to know what was going on, so I ignored those things and looked around. Red was sitting next to me, a worried expression etched into his face, and behind him, Riku and Ellie were talking to each other in somewhat low voices. I couldn't hear what they were saying, though Ellie seemed really pissed, and it seemed that Riku was trying to calm her down.

"Wh-What happened?" I muttered, but my words were slurred, so I figured that Red couldn't understand a word I was saying. Still, I couldn't remember what had happened to me, and it was kind of scary.

"Confused?" Red asked me, placing a hand on my shoulder. I nodded. "Well, you got a cut, then muttered something about not liking blood, then fainted."

As I continued to nod, I heard Riku scoff from across the room. "Yeah, that's all that happened…" I looked over at him, confused, but a wave of dizziness crashed over me, and I nearly fell of the small couch I had been lying on. Luckily, Red was still sitting next to me, and he caught me before I could get hurt.

Why do I feel like shit? I wondered, pushing myself off of Red's arms and looking up at him. And what did Riku mean? As I was thinking this, I couldn't help but notice how extremely warm Red was. It was extremely comforting, but the heat seemed to be tugging at my conscience, wanting me to remember something important. That something would probably be why I was in Ellie's office.

"Okay, Axel, let's move away from Roxas before there's a law suit," Ellie muttered, shoving Red off his chair. The red-head let out a whine as he crashed onto the floor, but I couldn't exactly check to make sure he was okay, as Ellie was not standing in front of me now, her arms crossed, and a worried expression on her face. "Are you okay? I wasn't aware that you had issues with blood. Your stupid father didn't bother to mention that."

I couldn't quite figure out why she would need to know about my messed up weakness, but it soon became evident when Riku walked over as well, smirking.

"Seriously, Ellie, I don't think you need to know something like this. Roxas doesn't seem to be the kind to get in a ton of trouble like that."

Right. Lawyer. Legal stuff is her specialty. I tried, again, to stand up, and this time I didn't feel sick at all, until I caught sight of my hand and had to sit down again. Sure, there was no blood present, but the gauze wrapped around the small limb was a not so pleasant reminder that there could be in the near future.

I let out a shudder.

"Man, he really does have weird issues with blood. Why didn't we see this when he punched Axel in the nose?" Riku asked, leaning down in front of me. The thought of that whole issue a few months back caused me to grimace, and Riku laughed. "Come to think of it, I also walked in on you and Axel being all lovey dovey that time as well." He snickered before continuing. "I just have horrible timing, don't I?"

Lovey dovey? What the hell is he talking about?

I knew that the last time blood had been involved with me at this place, Riku and Sora had opened the door, witnessing Red pinning me down. If he considered that lovey dovey, then what in the world could have happened this time?

"Um… I'm sorry, but I have no idea what you guys are talking about," I managed to say with a sigh. I swear that Red let out a gasp of horror, but I wasn't really paying attention to him. Ellie rolled her eyes and started to talk, but Riku interrupted her.

"Let's just say Axel decided to be a vampire."

I looked over to him, confused, as Ellie scoffed and smacked her boyfriend on the arm.

"Stop saying that! It was only funny the first time," she said to him, and he answered with a "yeah, to you," in a low mutter, though he said nothing else after she glared at him. "Roxas, if you really don't remember what happened, then I suggest you don't dig into it. It might cause you to go insane."

That helped me. No, I'm serious, it did. There were only a few things that involved Red, blood, me fainting, and Riku thinking it was lovey dovey. Suddenly, I remembered everything that had happened from the time I cut my hand, until I heard what Riku said as Red licked the blood off of my wrist.

I was surprised I didn't faint again, though I know for a fact that my face grew bright red. Riku and Red started laughing, and Ellie let out a sigh, shaking her head in a sad fashion. "I'm leaving," I muttered, standing up as quickly as I could and heading to the door, despite the fact that I was extremely dizzy and wanted to just pass out. However, if I stayed, I would probably end up being teased half to death by Riku.

So, I opened the door and headed out, ignoring the protests of the two guys in the room, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw Ellie going back to her desk and sitting down, ignoring everyone else in the room. Such a strange woman, Ellie was.

As I walked down the hallway, trying very hard not to think about my hand, I heard footsteps behind me, and then Riku calling out, "Whoa! Wait up!" With a sigh, I turned around to face the silver-haired man, and crossed my arms.

"What? Come to make fun of me some more?" I snapped. Riku just laughed.

"Nah. It's not fun to poke fun at you when Axel's not around. I actually need to talk to you about something."

"What?" I was not really in the mood to listen to the accountant's plea.

"Well, you see, Kairi, Sora and I are going back to Destiny Island for Thanksgiving and, Kairi wants you to come help her get a few people we know move to Radiant Garden."

Destiny Island... I couldn't remember where I had heard that name before, and I knew it was going to bug me unless I found out. However, I had too many things to get done before I could go home, and I wasn't feeling well, so finding out where this Destiny Island place was, wasn't very important at the moment. Right now, I had to get rid of Riku, so I said, "Alright, but I'm confused about two things." When Riku rolled his eyes and waved at me to go on, I continued. "First of all, why are you telling me this if it's Kairi who wants me to come?"

"Because you were being a bastard and just ignored her when she tried to ask," was Riku's reply. I grinned, embarrassed. In my frantic dash to get a band-aid, I had completely ignored Kairi, thinking that what she was going to say couldn't be that important. Now I felt like a complete jerk.

"Sorry... I was kind of freaking out during that time," I said, laughing nervously. Riku rolled his eyes and muttered something to himself, which I didn't catch, so I asked my second question. "So, why am I needed to try and convince these friends of yours?"

He contemplated this for a second, tapping his foot like he was impatient or something. "I don't really know. And I never said they were our friends. Just people we know." Wow... Riku didn't even know why Kairi wanted me to come. That helped me a lot. Noticing my frustration, Riku sighed and continued, "Look, I know it sounds really weird, but Kairi wants you to come. And before you get any weird thoughts; no, she does not like you. You should just come."

"I didn't think she liked me!" I protested, "I know that she and Sora are going out!"

"Didn't stop you from thinking Ellie liked you," Riku muttered before blowing a lock of hair out of his eyes. I stared at him with disbelief.

"You have got to be kidding me. You're still on that? I didn't know you two were going out, so get off of my back. Honestly."

"Sorry, no can do. I-"

"Riku, I need your help with something." I never thought I would be so happy to hear Ellie's voice. Riku looked as though he were about to murder me, but as soon as she called out his name, he calmed down a little bit.

"Look, Roxie, if you really want to know what's going on, I suggest you go talk to Kairi." That was all he said before walking over to Ellie.

"Um... okay?" I guessed that it would be best for me to go talk to Kairi about it, otherwise I would be kidnapped and dragged to the airport in a body bag, even though I wouldn't be dead, and most likely when we landed in Destiny Island, Sora and Riku would be extremely mad at me for whatever random reason they would come up with, so I would have nothing to be thankful for on this glorious holiday.

Well, that probably wouldn't happen, but who knew what they would do to me if I didn't at least go talk to Kairi.

So I headed back upstairs, knowing that even if Kairi did beg and plead and I said I would go with them, there was no way my parents would let me, so I wasn't really worried about what would happen.

When I finally got up to the thirteenth floor again, Kairi spotted me immediately and practically jumped out of her seat.

"Roxas! I heard you fainted! Are you okay? And did Riku talk to you about coming with us to Destiny Island?"

I blinked, still kind of out of it, and replied, "I'm okay, I guess, and Riku kinda talked to me about it. He wasn't very informative about it, so he told me to come ask you." Kairi looked as though she were about to scream, but luckily for me, she didn't. "So... um... what do you want me to do, exactly?"

Sighing, she sat back down in her seat. "I have a few friends back at Destiny Island, and they really want to get away from there, you know? But they don't know anything about the outside world, with the exception of Selphie. You, on the other hand, have lived in Radiant Garden all of your life, and I'm assuming you've traveled like, all across the world, so I want you to come and talk to them about it."

That doesn't sound too bad, I think. "Okay… um, so how-"

"We're leaving in two days, then coming back the day after Thanksgiving." Yes! I could get out of this! My parents were way too obsessed with me spending time with them; or, at least my mom was, so there was absolutely no way- "I've already talked to your parents about it, and they said it was fine."

Goddammit!

"Are you serious? You went and talked to my parents?" I growled. Kairi flinched, and then let out a nervous laugh.

"Well, you see, Sora and Riku told me that if I didn't, you would make something up, like you're parents wouldn't let you go, so I asked them, and they said they wouldn't mind." Okay, my co-workers have become way top good at reading me. Well, with the exception of Riku, who was now completely convinced I'm I'm not!

I really didn't want to go to this place, but I would feel bad if I didn't, especially since I had no excuse now. I mean, this woman, who has never been mean to me, was asking for a favor, and it would be assish of me to say no. Hayner would probably disown me if he found out I was even considering not going. Even though it doesn't seem like it, Hayner actually cared about people, and didn't like to make girls cry. With the exception of Olette, but he had elementary school syndrome, so...

"Fine. I'll go with you."

Kairi practically squealed and probably would have jumped on me she weren't behind a desk. I knew I was going to regret this, but Kairi looked so worried about her friends, even though Riku said they weren't their friends, and I didn't know what Sora thought. I never saw Sora anymore. I wonder what he does in this company. He's like Red in the aspect. Always doing nothing, but still worked here...

I think it was about then that my head began to really hurt.

"Um... I'm not feeling very well, so I'm going to go home now...," I muttered. Kairi laughed and nodded.

"Okay, thank you so much!"

"Yeah, yeah."

"I don't see why this is such a big deal."

"It's not. I just want to know the truth."

"I've told you the truth!"

"Have you really?"

"Yes! What reason would I have for lying to you?"

"I don't know anymore, Teef."

"Dammit, Cloud!"

My hand was shaking as I held it over the handle to the door that led to the living room where my parents were arguing. I mean, actually arguing. Like, on the verge of screaming arguing. It was really scary. This was the angriest I've ever seen them be at each other, and I was extremely scared.

I couldn't help but think that maybe this would really get out of hand, and that the two of them might separate or something, and as I was thinking this, I realized that this might be why Mom was so willing to let me go to Destiny Island.

"Tifa, we should talk about this later," my dad said, and I heard a chair scraping. Scared, I jumped back from the door, not sure what I should do.

"But-"

"No, I'm sure that Roxas is listening to this, and he doesn't need to hear it."

As fast as I could, I ran away from the door and stumbled up the stairs that led to my room. I was still shaking horribly as I dashed to my room, making sure that Dad didn't hear me running through the hall. Nothing good could come out of this. Their argument was still playing in my head, and I leaned against the door to my room when I was inside it. Nothing, I mean nothing, good could come out of this.

But my parents arguing were the least of my worries at the moment. I still had to pack for a trip I really didn't want to go on, but had to because my coworkers were very strange people who thought that they could make me do whatever they wanted to do. Sadly, I had a feeling they were right about that fact. I mean, ever since I had joined my dad's company, I had become a total push over!

So, anyway, I had to pack for my trip which I knew was going to be completely messed up, and yet, I didn't really want to. So, instead, I collapsed onto my bed and decided it was time to take a nap. Finally.

I have officially decided that I hate airports. Nothing good ever happens when you're in them. Absolutely nothing. Ever.

It sucks.

Especially when you're stuck in one with three people; two guys who think they're better than everyone around them, and a girl who seems oblivious to her friends' narcissism. It also doesn't help that you don't want to be at the airport because it's the day before Thanksgiving and you've been practically shipped off by your parents to "help" a few people neither you, nor your parents have ever met before.

Man, there's something wrong with my family.

Of course, it doesn't help that my parents are fighting, so they probably just wanted to get rid of me for a while. Naturally, I wanted to know what was going on, but there was nothing I could do at a god damn fucking airport. Then, for the next three days, I'm going to be stuck in an island in the middle of nowhere... It's like Mom, Dad, and Kairi planned it so I couldn't figure out anything.

I wouldn't put it past them.

"Roxas, the plane's here, let's go." I felt Kairi's hand on my shoulder, but I didn't quite register what she was saying. I was too out of it from thinking so hard. "Roxas..."

"Wait... what?" Riku and Sora were staring at me with a strange expression when I finally snapped out of my little daze. "What?"

"The plane is here. We're leaving. Are you ready?" Kairi asked, stretching her hands out for me to take. Next to her, Sora growled and Riku let out a laugh, but I was still too out of it to understand why they were acting that way.

"Uh, yeah. Okay." I stood up, ignoring Kairi's hands and headed towards the plane. "Sorry. I'm a little, uh, out of it."

Kairi smiled at me, then took Sora's hand and led the man, who was glaring at me, towards the gate. I headed towards the gate as well, trying to ignore this strange nagging feeling that something was going to go wrong during my little vacation. After all, practically everything went wrong in my life now a days. It's like the world was trying to get back at me for some odd reason, like I was oblivious about something...

"You seem worried about something," Riku stated obviously as we were waiting to get on the plane. I looked up at him strangely, not sure if it was a statement or he was trying to be nice. For once.

"Um... yeah, so?"

"Just pointing out what I see. I don't particularly care."

"Well, aren't you nice."

"I know, I am."

They could build monuments to Riku's assishness. And his selfishness. And his narcissism.

I ignored Riku and handed my ticket to the flight attendant, wishing desperately that I this was going to fly by, much like the past few months had. Then, I could get home, and do everything I can to find out what was going on with my parents. That would be very nice.

As I boarded the plane, I began to think about the one person who I didn't want to; Red.

I don't know why I was thinking about him, I mean, he was visiting his family in Radiant Garden, and I was going to be thousands of miles away from him for the next three days. So why was my brain being so stupid! I mean, sure, the hand that he... defiled, still stung a little bit, and I still had to bandage it so I wouldn't faint at the sight, but that didn't mean I had to think about the tall, red-headed freak.

Then again, it was rather entertaining to think about hi-

Why am I thinking this! I nearly screamed those words out loud, but I knew that it would be bad, seeing as I was currently sitting next to Sora, and he would totally make fun me for saying that. Of course, he would only make fun of me after interrogating me until I told him what I meant by that. Why do I always hang out with abusive people...?

"Attention passengers, we are now leaving the gate," a very feminine voice said over the intercom. I mean, really feminine. I've never met anyone with a voice that high and light in my entire eighteen years of life. It was really creepy. "In a few moments, we will be taking off, so please, buckle your seat-belt, put up your tray table, put your seat in the upright position, and turn off any electronic device until the captain says it's safe to do otherwise. Thank you, and have a nice flight."

Well, I decided, there was no point in freaking out about this anymore, so I decided to just lay back (when they allowed us to) and "enjoy" the ride.

I thought that this would be the end of my worries, that going to Destiny Island for the holiday would actually be fun, and that dealing with Kairi's friends wouldn't be that hard. I mean, Sora and Riku, though they were annoying to deal with, weren't that bad. I had a feeling that her other friends couldn't be worse than those two.

Sadly, however, I was completely and totally wrong.

Life just sucks.