[This is still a work in progress guys, I've also posted this on another forum I'm in under the name of Tainted Dreamz ^^]
Preface
Her Ivory Skin pressed against Zell's bare chest, he was feeling the pressure on his torso. She let out a shallow satisifed sigh and brushed his cheekbone with her icy index finger.
It was a time when any man would want this more than anything--But she wasn't just anything. Her nail's ran across his pale collar bone--flexing her finger in to his neck. What more could he do, just give in?
Chapter 1: Late
There ws a faint knock on the wooden door. Zell's eye's twitched at the sound and opened a little to see the sun piercing through the laced curtains.
"Zell are you awake?" the voice was awfully familiar to him. He groaned at the thought and motioned his head trying to stuff it under his pillow to muffle the sound.
"Oh come on Zell! I know your awake, i can hear you groaning in there!" the familiar voice spoke again. He sat up vertically and ran his hands under the white sheet not paying attention to the voice; he kicked his legs to get the sheet off him.
"I'm going to drag your damn ass outta' that bed and beat the living hell out of you if you don't hurry up!" the voice sounded more urgent now, than it had done before. Zell moved his pink lips to let out a slight yawn and progressed to say something.
"I'm awake god damn it! I'll meet you at the front gates in one hour," Zell's voice sounded calm and the masculinity reavealed from this.
"Fine." the sound of footsteps could be heard walking away in the other direction.
Zell stretched his pale legs over the side of the large bed and rummaged his right hand through his blonde tousled hair. The sun was warming his skin as it's beams shone through the curtains.
"I can't believe it's today"Zell thought to himself as he got himself up off the bed and started walking over to the wardrobe in the far corner of the room. He sighed letting the air come from within his chest as his left hand ran down the front of the wardrobe door to the oak handle and placed his palm and fingers around it, he pulled it towards his bare chest and let it stay open as his left hand released the handle.
Inside the wardrobe were alot of clothes--including his usual red jacket and his blue denim quarter cut trousers--it was full of assorted things.
"Hmm i hate having to wear this uniform." he muttered to himself as his eye's scanned to a SeeD uniform hung up at the right hand side of the dresser. Zell placed both hands on the head of the white hanger and pulled the uniform out to lay on the bed. He turned his body in a ninety-degree angle and started walking to the bathroom. The whole process of getting a shower, brushing his teeth and putting wax in his hair only took half an hour which to Zell was better progress than what it usually took him, but today he had to hurry.
He walked back to the bed--in a towel after drying himself--to where he had left his clothes before he had taken the shower. He took the jacket off the hanger and placed the hanger back on the bed. Zell out his right hand through the arm of the right sleeve carefully and did the same for his left. The jacket was made of black bottom weight cotton and the detail it had was remarkable; the shoulder pads contained a yellow trim along with a chain connecting the left side and the right side together at the front. The bottom of the sleeves were also lined with the same yellow trim but also contained a red band--that was about ten centimetres in size--it ran around the sleeve.
Zell finished off his uniform by sitting on the bed and putting his legs in to the black trousers that matched the jacket and belted them up to his hips as he stood up straight.
"I'm going to be late," he thought to himself as he quickly put his shoes on and paced out of the dormitory door.
Zell picked up his pace and was now running down the dormitories and in to the garden's corridors. A few garden students looked at him curiously as he ducked and weaved through them. Nida who was amongst the students--he was also a SeeD member, Zell and Nida had passed the same day--noticed Zell running past him just before he reached the front of the building.
"Late again, Zell?" Nida called after him and laughed to himself thinking of what the others would think of Zell when he showed up late again.
Chapter 2: Misson
As Zell raced past the man on security near the front gates the wind ruffled his short hair. Garden was quite large for the amount of students it could hold, after the events from two years ago--when Zell and the group came face to face with Ultimecia--the Garden had changed quite alot; it had been moved back to Balamb, and the news about Ultimecia had spread across the towns and now more students were enrolling to become a SeeD--although they were just used for smaller jobs now, as there wasnt any use for them otherwise--now two years later it looked brand new. The paint work had to be redone and new furniture had to be placed in the rooms, but all the students seemed happy about it.
"There you are," the same familiar voice broke Zell's concentration as he reached the area just after the front gates.
"Late again?" another voice asked--this one was alot deeper than the other voice; serious too. Zell's light blue eye's scanned the five figures in the area where the voice's came from.
"Sorry guys, you know how it is," Zell spoke coolly trying to persuade the others to understand. He ran his left hand along his glove on his right hand and beared a smile which showed his white teeth.
"No we don't know how it is Zell, your always late!" the voice spoke. Zell's mind wandered to a thought.
"Sheesh, what's her problem"
"Ahh, C'mon Selphie, your being a little harsh, don't you think?" the voice was Irvine's, anyone could tell by the way he spoke, especially to Selphie. Selphie's eyes gleamed at Irvine as his voice gently took her by suprise.
"Fine, but you can wake him u next time," she took her index finger and slightly prodded Irvine's protruding nose with it, while dazzling him with her smile.
Zell sighed with relief of Irvine saving his ass once more--his hand's slid down in to his pockets on his trousers and let his eye's wander round the group.
Closest to him was Selphie and Irvine.
"Still together after two years...that's long" Zell thought as he looked at their likeness in appearance--both having light brown hair--for once Irvine wasn't wearing his hat--due to the mission they had today.
His eye's moved to the next person which was Quistis smiling awkwardly and looking as if to be day dreaming. "Probably about the mission" he thought to himself after seeing that and watched as Quistis's pale blue eyes scanned to the other couple next to her. Zell's eyes followed--it was Rinoa and Squall that had caught her attention.
Rinoa was fiddling with the ring on her necklace and Squall's alerted eyes were staring straight at Zell, which caught his attention. They were all dressed in the same SeeD uniform--although with Rinoa and Irvine not being students at Balamb they got asked to join the others in being a SeeD after the incident two years ago.
"Well, are we ready now?" Squall's voice was the deeper one that Zell had heard earlier. Zell watched as Squall moved forward to them all. Rinoa smiled as Squall moved making her follow carefully.
"Timber has been having a lot of problems recently, with a wolf infestation. They want us to rid them of the wolves and find the cause of the problem," Squall spoke calmly--his voice was somewhat like a leaders should be.
"Timber? I thought they had guard's to rid them of any problems like this" Quistis's voice spoke which made everyone turn to look at her.
"I heard the guards have disappeared, Zone was telling me." Rinoa's voice carried the conversation further.
"Well, i think this will be a piece of cake for us" Zell boasted as he slapped his knuckles together as if he was ready for a fight. Squall laughed at Zell's little scene.
"Yes, the guards have disappeared, but whatever the cause is, we still need to be on guard," Squall finished the discussion. The group nodded in response to Squall's words.
"We'll be taking the train?" Selphie asked in anticipation to hear the response.
"How else would we get there?" Squall smiled in response knowing that Selphie loved to ride the trains. Zell shifted his weight from his right leg to his left as the others talked and started to walk to the far end gate of the Garden and followed them slowly walking next to Quistis.
"Wonder what is causing the wolves to appear, must be something to do with the guards going missing as well," his thoughts wondered through memories of his last trip to Timber. He hadn't noticed anything suspicious; it had only been three weeks ago too.
The sun caught Zell's attention as it blinded him a little. Selphie broke the suns rays by standing in front of him--her back was facing his direction--her brown turned up bangs were swaying in the shallow breeze.
"We're taking the car to Balamb, wont take as long then." Quistis's rosy pink lips spoke and her right hand hovered pointing at a nearby green and yellow car.
"I'm driving!" Zell's outburst cause the whole group to stare at him.
"What? I only passed the other day, give me a break," his lips pursed in to a wide open grin as he took a breath of air. He moved his legs towards Quistis and snatched the silver key--which was shimmering in the sun--from her hand. He immediately jumped on the spot and started playfully jogging to the car.
"Yes! my first time to drive this baby! he thought.
"Don't get too excited now Zell, you look like your about to combust" Quistis spoke laughing now with her right hand placed over her lips and the other arm supporting the weight of her right elbow.
"That wouldn't be a loss" Irvine snickered under his breath.
"I heard that!" Zell protested strengthening his vocal chords as he shouted a little. He put his left hand under the door handle and pulled it towards himself, letting the door open--nearly hitting Irvine as he walked by and got in to the back seat of the car. He slid his weight in to the drivers seat and rotated his torso to make himself comfortable--closing the door behind him. He waited for everyone to get in the car, they were all huddled on the two rows of seats--one on the left and one on the right, it was a good thing the car would fit more than six people in. He motioned his hands on every mirror so he could see and started the car. Zells hand moved the gear stick as he pushed it in to first gear, while he lifted the clutch up to bite point and put a little bit of gas on. Zells eyes manouvred around the mirrors and the released the handbrake making Zell slowly drive off.
"See you were all afraid i might crash" Zell chuckled turning his head sideways to see Squall who was sat in the passenger seat.
"Sheesh, you guys are worse than my mum," he continued laughing as he turned his head back to watch the road.
Chapter 3 - Blood
Rinoa stretched her legs as she got out of the car; she was soon followed by the others, with Zell and Squall getting out last. Zell stretched his arms out as he cracked his knuckles then inhaled--he could smell the salt from the sea as he did this. He had managed to get the group to Balamb safely and had parked the car at the docks.
"Come on, we don't want to waste anytime," Rinoa insisted as she tightened the laces on her boots up and signalled the group to follow. Squall shot a glance in Zell's direction--as Zell locked the car up. He turned his head to see just Squall waiting for him.
"Thanks for waiting," he said with a hint of sarcasm.
"Don't get used to it," Squall laughed and started to walk round the corner. Zell motioned himself not walking far behind Squall.
This was Zell's hometown, he felt calmed as he turned round the corner and noticed the familiar hotel. It was always home to regular guests mainly because of the ocean view. The hotel owner was busy cleaning the window when Zell walked near the front door--he could see his reflection shimmering from the cleaned window as the sun shone upon it.
"Morning Zell," the hotel owners face lit up as he saw Zell walk past.
"Morning," he replied trying to not get sidetracked as he took note of Squall now a little aways in front of him. He walked round the corner in to the centre of the town, there were a few people near the stalls as he walked past. Usually he would go to the house near the end as his mum lived there, but with him being on a job he hadn't really got anytime to be doing that.
"Don't slack behind," Zell looked as Squall spoke as he was stood a few metres away from him. He moved forwards walking up the stairs a foot at a time so that he didn't fall down, he soon reached Squall as they both walked in to the train station. The walls were painted white and the ceiling was blue to match the look of the ocean.
"About time," Selphie stood in front of them with her hands crossed she looked excited to get on the train. Squall turned and said a few words to the ticket man and gave a gesture to the group to board the train.
"Me first!" Selphie initially ran through the rusting train doors and in to the next cabin as the rest followed slowly after her.
Zell moved to the far end of the room to look out the cabin's window; Irvine walked through the cabin doors to find Selphie and Rinoa was kneeled on the floor looking at what appeared to be her weapon--which Squall was now looking at too as she had caught his attention.
"You okay?" Zell turned his head startled to see Quistis looking at him.
"I didn't mean to startle you," she continued laughing at him.
"Me? Ahh I'm fine, just wondering whats causing all this trouble, that's all," Quistis moved closer and now Zell could see his pale blue eyes reflected in her eyes.
"You sure?" she paused,
"Well, if you need to talk i'm here," she responded and turned her torso to walk through the cabins door--Selphie could be heard singing her usual train song as the door opened. Zell's back slid down the compartment wall to sit on the cold metal floor. "What was that about?" his thoughts were incoherent as to what Quistis was thinking.
A loud intercom jingle could be heard which broke through Zell's thoughts.
"We are now arriving at Timber" it called out throughout the whole train coinciding with their arrival.
Zell was first off the train, he jogged down the steps to stop near the souvenir shop, it looked less quiet than it had done when he had last been here--almost as if no one lived here.
"Where is everyone?" Rinoa asked stopping at the side of Zell. He took a glance at her as she was looking forward to the town and turned his view to where she was looking.
"It's a little...too quiet" Squall walked in front taking the leader role once more.
"What's that?" Irvine pointed out at what appeared to be wild animals clawing at a nearby residents home. Zell saw this straight away and his reactions instantly kicked in with running to help; the animals caught attention of Zell running towards them and began to run to him. The first wolf tried to lunge at his leg which he counterattacked with his leg kicking the wolves head causing it to yelp. The other tried to attack him as he did this but a shotgun shell pierced through the wolves fur--making the wolf land motionless. Squall ran forward cutting the first wolves torso in turn making that also collapse with a severe wound.
Zell's pulse had quickened at the fact he had been fighting, he ran his left hand across his forehead as beads of sweat engulfed his glove making it damp. He kicked the two corpses of the wolves to make sure they were dead. The girls soon ran forward to Zell and the other two--which caused Zell to tighten his glove strap being cautious.
"Well we know we can deal with them," Selphie spoke stepping over the lifeless wolves. Zell felt strange, it felt as though something was inside him, his legs began to go weak, which caused him to kneel on the floor for support.
Quistis put a worried hand on his shoulder,
"Are you alright Zell?" Zell's eyes were suddenly burning and he let out an agonised scream; punching the floor hard with his fist, Quistis stepped back as he did this. Flames could be felt flickering through his veins engulfing his limbs..It soon began to deteriate, his body sat now limp on the hard concrete floor.
"Zell?" Irvine moved Zell's face and his eyes stirred, he opened them slowly seeing Irvine's face close to his. Zell stepped up quickly from the floor and stepped back--shocked and stumbled on his feet a little.
"The hell you doing trying to kiss me?!" he was now alarmed at Irvine.
"Zell, you stupid ass, he wasn't trying to kiss you, you seemed in pain," Rinoa moved forward to him to make him understand.
"I don't remember being in pain, I remember us fending those wolves off and got up to see Irvine with his arm around me trying to give me one." Zell protested at what Rinoa mentioned.
"Why the hell would i want to kiss some skinny assed guy," Irvine pointed at Zell's body.
"I've got Selphie" he reminded Zell.
"You think it might have something to do with the appearance of these wolves?" Quistis mainly directed this question at Squall,
"I don't know but we have to keep an eye on Zell" Squall replied now conscious of what was happening as he directly stared at Zell.
Zell rubbed his arm to shrug off what was happening.
"What's happening to me? Why don't i remember anything they have told me?" he thought to himself as he worried for his own sanity.
"Let's just move on," Zell spoke abruptly as he thrust his hands into his pockets as he kicked the ground with his feet when he began walking; Zell didn't know what else to think about this, the others would call him a liar if he didn't go along with them but there was something more that was happening.
The weather hadn't changed a lot it was still sunny but now dark looming clouds could be seen piercing through the atmosphere.
"We'll find out what's doing this," Quistis appeared at the side of Zell now trying to keep her pace as the same as his own.
"Yeah.." Zell's expression could be read that he was still worrying. A flash of dark blue ran past the corner of his right eye as he caught sight of Rinoa running forward, Zell's eyes followed the direction she was running to--it appeared to be a man covered in blood, he paused.
"Zone?" was his first instincts of words, who else could it be outside of Zone's house his pace picked up but as he drew closer he could see the wrinkles and the jawline more defined--this wasn't Zone.
Chapter 4 - Noise
Zell's eyeline could only see the shadows set on the unknown man's face at his level of height; he could see Rinoa crouched down next to him. Squall's left shoulder of his dark blue uniform brushed Zell's right shoulder as he pushed past him to stand at Rinoa's side. Zell moved his feet silently to stand next to them both to see what was going on--he crouched too; but cautiously as he did so. The mans features could now be seen--his face held a few wrinkles just below his eyes and the creases set on his forehead made him look to be in his late fifties. His hair was a murky grey colour and his clothing matched that of the town's guards.
"I thought the guards had gone missing?" Selphie's voice could be heard at Zell's left hand side. He rotated his head in an anticlockwise direction to see her checking the area. Squall was the first person to respond to her question as Zell turned his head back to look at the guard.
"We all thought so, what ever is doing this, we know it isnt the guards if this is happening to them" Squall let the mans hand drop--lifeless--as he was checking for a pulse.
"Hey, whats this?" the five looked in Selphie's direction as she was pointing to something which looked to be on the wall a few metres from the body. Following the others Zell stood up from his crouching position and followed as though Squall was the leader in front.
"It looks like a piece of cloth" Zell came closer to see what all their eyes were on. It appeared to be a piece of white cloth with a little blood stain on, it was attached to a sharp metal extruding pole intervening the wall.
"You think this belongs to whoever did this?" Zell asked the group. Quistis answered his question,
"It looks as though whoever it was had a struggle to kill this man and ended up getting injured in the process," she finished speaking as Zell looked at her.
"How do you know that?" Irvine joked sarcastically.
"There's more blood on the wall around the pole and the mans body has been penetrated by some metal object to leave those wounds." Zell thought about how much effort Quistis had put in to her findings.
"Well it wont be much but atleast we know whoever did this is wounded" Zell spoke moving past the wall near the stairs to look down upon the bar that was below them.
"Why didn't we think of it earlier" he thought looking down at the bar, Zell caught the attention of Squall as he was looking at him.
"Let's go in the bar, we can get some food and maybe get some information" Zell was anxious to get down as he was hungry but also felt different from what he had done when they set off.
He was the first to open the bar door--the warmth of the bar hit him as he walked through, the barkeeper was cleaning glasses at the bar and four people were sat down at different tables. Zell's eyes scanned through the nearby menu on the bar.
"Nice one" he cheered enthusiastically as he noticed the words 'Hot Dogs' wrote down. Rinoa laughed as he did this and the rest soon got their meals and sat down at a nearby table. Zell was the last one to receive his and he could smell the chilli and sauce he had put on them as he took a seat next to Irvine. He picked up the hot dog and took a mouthwatering bit as he savoured the flavours.
"Can't you eat with your mouth closed" Irvine nudged Zell's right arm which was holding the food to his mouth--it soon made Zell choke as Irvine did this. In turn Irvine noticed Zell waving his hands around and smacked his left palm to the centre of Zell's shoulder blades causing the lodged hot dog to come out of Zell's mouth--at a speed that hit a woman with a black coat on, at the next table to them. Zell was relieved but the woman turned her head round to stare sternly at Zell. He caught her glimpse as she did so--her hair was long and in blonde ringlets as it fell from her pale skin, her red rose lipstick tainted her look; he couldn't help but stare at her emerald green eyes. Irvine distracted his stare as soon as he shouted over to apologise to the woman. It didn't really help as she didn't say anything but got up lightly from her seat to reveal a small white dress that stopped above her knees--it was covered by her long black coat. She turned her body and began walking--Zell noticed she had a slight limp as she did so and she left the bar quite quickly.
"Did you guys notice her?" Zell asked turning his head to the group again.
"No, but we bet you had a good look" Quistis responded and the others laughed.
"Yeah, No, I mean..did you see her white dress and her limp?" his voice was almost protesting now, and Squall got up soon after hearing his response. The whole groupd reacted to this and got up going to the door, leaving Zell trailing behind finishing his hot dog as he walked; he was thinking about the woman they just saw, her emerald eyes were all he could see.
"Zell!" his head turned with one swift movement to see Quistis shouting at him, he was still stood outside the bar doors as though he had never moved. Zell removed his hands from his blue denim pockets and now left them loose at his side--he jogged a little kicking his legs up to reach the top of the stairs where Quistis and the others stood.
"Here, theres blood on the floor" Rinoa pointed out as her feet began following the trail that lay upon the cobbled path. Time passed as they reached the centre of the town where the trail suddenly ended.
"You think she went up?" Zell asked as his head now followed the height of the building in front of them. He moved his hands against the wall with his palm and looked up looking for any signs. Zell turned to look at the others--Squall had stepped back to see the top of the roof as the door was locked.
"I can't see the top of the roof from here" squall looked disappointed as Zell turned his head back to the building.
In that instinct he didnt know what he was doing; his right foot set on the drainpipe closest to him and both his palms of his gloves grasped the outer casing of it as he pulled his body weight from the floor to rest his left leg on a piece of brick that had being eroding from the wall.
"Zell, what are you doing?" Quistis had called out, but Zell didnt take any notice of her doing so, he continued to place his palms further up the pipe that he reached with his forearms and pushed his body up with the muscles in his calves and thighs. Zell hadn't noticed by the time he had reached halfway there were raindrops falling and landing in his blonde hair. His breathing had also quickened as he soon reached a nearby balcony--thinking he should take a break he reached his right arm out but in doing so his left palm slipped off the drainpipe--due to it being wet from the rain.
"Holy Shi--" Zell's hands flew out quickly to the balcony with an eager attempt to save him from falling to the ground. His right arm gripped a railing just in time and he could hear voices below him.
“That was lucky” he thought as sweat now rolled down from his brow and to his cheek, as it did this he pulled his left arm up to the railing struggling a little. The gloves he were wearing provided him with a little grip on the metal rails as he pulled his lower body up to reach the rails and lay his torso on the top of the balconies rail for leverage.
“I never want to do that again,” he laughed to himself as he slid over the rail and landed hard against the floor on his back—he could feel the cold drops of rain falling on his pale skin and he looked up In front blinking as every drop tried to hit his eye. Zell was in a strange place but the rain had started to ease his worrying and his breathing had slowed down.
There was a loud noise to the right of Zell which caused him to get his posture to a sitting position—it was the room from which the balcony belonged to. He hadn’t noticed what had made the noise, but there was now a yellow shaded light emitting through the lace curtains. Pressure was put on his hands as Zell turned himself forwards to get a better look through the window—his face was nearly pressed against the cold glass when he saw the same woman again. Her body was petite and her womanly curves could be seen as shadows from the light reflected on her ivory skin. She moved to a table gliding as she did so with every little step she took with her slender legs. Zell couldn’t believe what he was seeing, how could someone so beautiful cause so much grief to others.
“Surely it’s not her,” he watched closely his eye’s not missing her every move—the flick of her wrist as she stretched her arms down to a bandage on her leg.
“The wound, it can’t be,” he whispered. Zell dropped his head in disappointment—she was so serene, he wouldn’t want to believe it—he couldn’t. His light blue eye’s looked up again through the window once more—this time she wasn’t there. Placing pressure on to his knees now, he looked further in to the room pressing his face to the glass.
The walls were a maroon colour, amongst it were pictures of people—presumably family. He looked down to stare at a creamy white carpet with a rug in the centre of the floor, covering the entire room was furniture of different sizes and different means for them. Zell couldn’t see any sign of the woman anymore as he stood up fully now; his hand reached for the patio handle, carefully and slowly he let it slide open, a smell of lavender hit his senses as he took a step on to the cream carpet. Zell’s hand slid the door back in to place as he moved a little more forward and stopped just before the rug. The room smelt of Jasmine mixed with Lily and Orange flower now; Zell took a deep breath through his nose inhaling the smell, he could feel it against the back of his throat as he did so.
Moving forwards to the door to leave—he would tell the others he hadn’t seen anything and they could leave—as soon as he moved beyond the rug he heard a noise—it wasn’t something he had heard before. The noise made him seek his eyes to the door which was closest to him—he was very alert. The first instinct was to leave, but something made him curious. Zell walked slowly and defensively to the door, laying his palm on the cold metal door knob, he twisted it and slowly pulled the door open towards him as he caught sight of what was inside.
Chapter 5 - Confusion
The muffled sounds of a cry for help were escaping a pair of pink poised lips. Zell could see a set of green teary eyes looking up at him—he crouched quickly untying the binds that bound her hands together, his eyes were focused on hers, She’s stunning he thought as he untied her legs now and released the gag from her mouth—as he did tears fell from her eyes and she flung her arms around the confused Zell.
“Are you okay? Who did this to you?” he asked her, quickly a response came from the muffled face on his shoulder.
“I’m glad,” she paused “someone, found me” she took her head away from Zell’s shoulder and rubbed her sore red eyes.
“I don’t know who took me, it was a woman” Zell looked at her with relief but on his further inspection he noticed she was wearing a SeeD uniform like his own.
“What’s your name?” he asked getting up from his crouching position on the floor and lifting her up with his arms under her body for support as he did so—she felt so light in his arms.
“I’m Aristo” the tears were gradually stopping now as they dried up on her cheeks.
“Well Aristo, I’m taking you out of here, are you from Balamb Garden?” his words were calm almost soothing as he glanced down at her eyes which seemed to be closed now—there was no response but she was still breathing. She must’ve passed out, his thoughts were more set on the girl as he took a step out with his foot and across the rug to open the other door out of the room.
He soon reached the bottom of the building from the stairs and opened the lock on the door to get out. The rain had stopped falling and he was soon faced with five angry expressions.
“Who’s that?” Rinoa was the first to step forward and approach Zell and the girl in his arms.
“She said her names Aristo, she recently passed out, I found her in that room with the balcony I climbed on to,” Zell answered her.
“You mean fell on to” Irvine laughed at him.
“Whatever,” Squall responded “We’ll take her back with us, she seems to be wearing a SeeD uniform, maybe Cid or Edea will know anything about her.” The group nodded in response as Zell kept her close against his damp chest.
They reached Timber train station and the sky was becoming dark with a night sky.
“Looks like we’ll make it back before the night sets in,” Quistis spoke as she looked up at the sky. Zell still had Aristo close to him as they boarded the train; Selphie was in her usual spot.
“I’m going to lay her down in one of the rooms till we get back.” Zell carefully moved past the group as he stepped through a door onto a corridor with a number of wooden doors. The furthest one away was the one he moved to slowly. As his arms were still embracing Aristo he opened the sliding door carefully—it was as though he were protecting her. The room was a VIP suite and there was a large settee in the far back of the room; Zell walked over and placed Aristo on it firmly to make sure she looked comfortable. A few minutes had passed when Rinoa came through the door—she walked directly to the chair across from the one Zell was sat in.
“She’s pretty huh?” Zell looked at Rinoa in a confused notion and then back to Aristo’s face.
“Zell, you haven’t taken your eyes off her” he shrugged in response to what she said,
“I’m just making sure she’s okay,” he was moving on his seat a little to get comfy.
“Besides,” he continued, “I’ve got Cori back at the library” he sighed pushing his back further in to the chair.
“Oh, that’s the library girl isn’t it? I haven’t seen her round Garden anymore” Rinoa sat with her hands on her legs as she looked at Zell inquisitive,
What’s with all these questions? He thought to himself as he looked at her again.
“She’s helping her dad in Dollet” he stopped abruptly as he tried to not look at Aristo again.
Rinoa sighed as she heard this—it was as though someone has sent her in to ask him exactly what had happened.
“Zell?”
“What?” he looked at her again.
“Doesn’t matter, it’s nothing” she smiled defensively and got up from her seat lightly to walk out through the door—he caught a glimpse of Selphie and Irvine holding one another outside the room. Come on Zell, pull yourself together! It’s just a damn girl! He punched the trains’ interior on the wall making the train rattle a little the vibration. Why am I feeling this? I feel like I’m not myself anymore he placed his head in between his hands as he thought about the events that had occurred. The train rattled some more which caused Zell to look up near the door, the walls started trembling and Selphie’s furious face was the next thing Zell saw barging through the door.
“Zell sto-,” a look of confusion as Zell stood up,
“It isn’t you?” Selphie asked as the walls trembled again, a high pitched sound followed as it could be heard when the train jolted and came to an abrupt stop. Zell looked at Selphie quickly and turned grabbing Aristo placing her in a piggy back position as they both ran forward through the corridor to the others in the front entrance room. They all had the same confused expression,
“There’s something outside the door” Squall gestured them to move back as a hand pierced through the trains’ door. Zell took this in to account and placed Aristo in the corner behind them. Each person stood in defence with their weapons out as the hand slid the door open as if it were easy.
Stood in front of them was a man standing 6 foot 3 inches tall in height; wearing black jeans which covered a pair of doc martens and a leather sleeveless top. He moved closer inside the train and his brown mid length spiked hair moved in the night breeze that was coming through the opening now. Tattoos could be seen on both his forearms and a Tanto could be seen in his belt. He moved further letting his hand glide along the inside of the door as he did so his mouth perched in to a smile and he let out a snicker.
“Fools” Zell looked with his fists in front of him as the man spoke.
“Where is she?” again his lips moved—his words were harsh.
“She who?” Squall asked with his Lionheart facing the intruder,
“Aristo! Don’t play games with me!” his voice was raised.
“You can’t have her” Zell quickly called out, there was a moment of silence before it was broken,
“Ahh, you must be the one who took her”
“You can’t have her do you understand!” Zell raised his voice.
“What makes you think I can’t” the man pulled out his Tanto from his belt and took a strike at Selphie who was the closest—Irvine intercepted his attack and the man threw his fist hitting both of them throwing them against the metal wall. Zell stood over Aristo protectively as the man tried moving forward; he was hit by Rinoa’s blaster edge leaving a wound on his arm.
“Such an excuse for a pretty face,” the man counter-attacked and grasped Rinoa’s neck squeezing as he threw her against the wall too. Quistis’s whip hit him as he did this and she stepped back where Zell was to defend. An attack by Squall was next—slashing at him but he missed his leg and nearly fell back. Using this as a distraction Zell used his Ehrgeiz to do a punch rush duel on the man hitting him a few times in his chest, which seemed to knock the man back a little—the man tried to hit Zell with his Tanto but Quistis hit it out of his hand with her whip.
“I wont give in, this isn’t the last time you’ll see me” the man grabbed his Tanto from the floor and threw it at Quistis which pierced through her arm as he escaped through the metal door. Squall and Zell took a sigh of relief—Zell looked down at Aristo then ran to the wall where Selphie and Irvine were now getting up; Squall checked to see if Rinoa was okay and Quistis had pulled the Tanto out and was applying pressure to her wound, she ripped some cloth to put around it.
“Everyone okay?” Squall asked and Zell could hear a few replied of ‘yes’.
“Who was he?” Selphie asked rubbing her arm.
“I don’t know—but he was determined to get her” Irvine pointed at Aristo.
“Well he’s gone so we should walk through the water tunnel to get back to Balamb” Zell spoke picking up Aristo who was still unconscious. Zell stepped out on to the tunnel from the broken door and began walking back in the direction of Balamb. He had a lot of issues on his mind and this was just another to add to his problems.
The walk back took awhile but Zell was the first to emerge from the station followed by Quistis who had been trying her hardest to keep up to Zell all the way—the others soon followed. It was night already and a few stars were out above them now as Zell walked past the hotel they had seen earlier; he could smell a meal—presumably it had just been cooked as he walked carefully by with Aristo round the pebbled path leading to the car which was parked at the docks.
“I guess I’m driving” Squall spoke looking at Zell and Quistis; who both appeared to be too busy to do the driving. Zell nodded in agreement and walked round the back as he pulled it open by the handle letting it stay still as he got in so the other could follow. He placed Aristo next to him as he took a seat and the others eventually got in.
“I’m sure Cid or Edea will know her, she is a SeeD after all remember” Irvine said as he put his feet on the dashboard up in front as he sat in the passengers seat next to Squall—Zell could feel the wheels under the car begin to move as Squall started the engine.
Chapter 6: Hot Dogs
A last glimpse of the sky could be seen as the Garden car pulled up inside the garage, it's brakes made a slight rusted squeak as Zell watched Squall put his foot on the brakes. Aristo was still unconscious as everyone got out quietly from the car on to the black tarmac and made their way to the door to the Garden. Zell was the last one out embracing Aristo in his arms as he manouvred out of the back door--Irvine's hand pushed the door shut before Zell could have anytime to struggle.
"Thanks" he murmured almost shocked that Irvine had decided to do something nice for once. Irvine walked past him as Zell could see the back of Irvine's uniform which looked a little dirty from the mission they had done today. His eyes looked down to Aristo's face; her eyes were still closed. Taking this in to consideration Zell followed slowly behind the others who were now entering the corridor of the Garden and making their way to the nearby elevator which was situated near the front entrance hall. Zell walked a little faster still making sure that he didn't drop Aristo, he saw student's eyes boring in to him as he walked past them as they sat studying for exams.
As Zell turned the corner he could see the stairwell to the elevator--it was in that moment that he felt a stinging sensation on his forehead. He tried to move his hand to feel what it was but remembered Aristo would fall out of his arms if he did so. The stinging pain began moving past his face the sock of this had gotten to Zell, he moved his arms so that Aristo would now be placed on the floor. Students were now gathering around as he had now gotten to his knees in agony.
"What is this?!" Zell cried out as he clasped his head within his hand, his knees against the marble flooring.......then blackness is all he saw as the weight of his body hit the ground with a loud crack.
He was sat in a park, the hustle of everyday life could be heard as he looked around, seeing people more bothered about which way they were going, or what would happen at work.
"Where am i?" he thought aloud to himself.
"Your here with me, silly" Zell shocked with a reply, turned his head to the right side of him to see a young woman smiling back at him.
"Woah, an angel..what is this?" he thought, "I've gotta' be dreaming"
She leaned in to Zell's face slowly, he could do nothing but sit there staring at her as though frozen, she came closer and slowly parting her pink shaded lips she pressed them softly against his own lips. He felt pressure as she motioned her lips in to a passionate kiss, slowly once more moving her face back so that all he could see now was her emerald green eyes.
He could smell fresh toasted bagels which aroused his curiosity, opening his eyes a little at a time, the light from the window pane shone in to his pupils as he gazed at the wall in his room.
"Morning, sleepyhead." the voice spoke softly with a tinge of excitement as he turned his head--which for some reason now hurt a little as he looked at the face peering back at him.
It was Cori, her hair was an auborn shade as it was carefully placed in pigtails and they light caught the colour perfectly.
"What happened?" Zell managed to speak as a puzzled look arose on his face.
"Aren't you happy to see me?" Cori answered.
Noticing the sudden change of subject Zell wanted to immediately respond.
"Sure i am, I thought you were in Dollet though, helping out your dad?" he asked suspiciously,
"I was, until your buddy Squall rung me to tell me you had been injured and passed out soon after. I wanted to come check you were okay." she smiled standing up from her crouched position; Zell could now see that Cori was wearing her Garden uniform, her neat little navy mini skirt stood out as it emphasised her petite fair skinned legs, her jacket was tied with a yellow ribbon which brought out the dull colour of her white shirt. Her blue eyes just gazed back at him.
"I passed out?" she just nodded once in response, Zell lay on his back again staring at the white ceiling, he could see cobwebs laced in the cracked paint.
"Whats up" her voice asked a little concerned.
"I don't know, it happened at Timber.." then the words hit him like a razor blade across his heart. He sprang upright causing Cori to jump back as though shocked by him doing so.
"Where's Aristo?" he looked at her.
"Aristo, who?" she just looked at him confused.
"The girl I saved and brought here" he got out of his bed now, noticing his body was completely bare, he grabbed the nearest pair of trousers which were his denim three quarters, Cori just giggled at the sight of him as he zipped the trousers up, they smelt clean as they now clung to his legs.
"Oh, that girl" Cori said as Zell began bouncing around the room to each different item of clothing.
"She was taken to the infirmary, apparently she woke up around midnight crying your name out" she did a silly hand gesture waving her arms about as if jealous, Zell put his last trainer on to his right foot.
"of course, you were passed out..here" she continued and sat down on the bed as she looked up at Zell who was now staring at her, he looked at her for a moment she looked quite seductive in the way she was sitting on his bed, he almost felt like he wanted to touch every ounce of her skin.
"Quistis has been with her all night" Zell came out of his trance as she spoke again.
"I'm going to see her" he turned his back on Cori, as he did she hit the pillow with her fist as though angry that he hadn't seen her advances. Zell walked out of the room shutting the door lightly; he walked at a pace that was suitable for the way his own body felt, it ached in different joints that he never even knew would ache. Yesterday he had felt pain like no other and it wasn't helping him at all today
Reaching the infirmary entrance Doctor Kadowacki could be seen through the glass door analysing what appeared to be information on her computer monitor. The faint smell of antiseptic was lingering in the corridor as he placed his right palm against the cold glass to open it. Doctor Kadowacki turned to look at Zell as he entered the room.
"Ahh, Zell, how are you feeling today?" a smile widened on her face as she got up wearing her bleach white scrubs.
"I'm alright today, thanks doc'" he smiled back as he stood unpatiently with his arms hovering at his sides.
"Stop calling me doc'" she laughed "I suppose your wanting to see your little friend" she finished laughing.
Zell bent his arm backwards so now his hand was touching his back, he scratched it nervously.
"Yeah, is she okay?" he asked looking at her.
"She's back there, go take a look." Doctor Kadowacki's arm moved as she pointed towards a curtain that was based at the back of the room, it was nearer to the door than Doctor Kadowacki's desk was. He took a step forward moving this in to his walk, pushing the white curtain to one side, he could see her laid on one of the beds.
As the sunlight caught her hair it looked as though tiny flickers of red flames were dancing, entwined with one another as it lay across the white bed sheets. Zell's eyes moved down from her hair and caught sight of Aristo's emerald green eyes staring back at him, he moved closer--just enough to see his own reflection in them as she watched his every move.
"Thank you" her words were quiet,
"I, uh, It's no problem" Zell couldn't think of anything else more to say in this situation as she thanked him. He moved closer taking a seat on the old chair that was placed next to the bed, his heartbeat began to increase as she looked at him still.
"Aristo? Can you remember anything before i found you?" the words found themselves coming out in one fluent sentence.
"Nothing, I only remember you carrying me out of that strange place" she replied now playing with a loose strand of her auburn hair.
"Oh" disappointed Zell sighed as he began to talk again,
"It's just, we were attacked on the way back here, by a man...he was looking for you"
Zell noticed Aristo's expression change from that of a happy one to a look of worry and confusion.
"Don't worry, your safe here in Garden, you should know that" his voice was reassuring. Nodding once at him Aristo smiled.
"Zell" a pause was heard, "Aristo needs to get her rest now, she'll be out of here tomorrow, plenty of time to catch up" Doctor Kadowacki pushed aside the curtain to look at them both and turned her back to walk to her desk. A draught from the curtains movement blew around the room moving Aristo's hair as Zell watched it move on the pillow.
"I want to give you this" Aristo held out a small object in the palm of her hand,
"You don't need to do tha-"
"I do, take it, or you will offend me" Aristo interrupted, holding how own hand out he reached for the object in Aristo's hand and quickly without looking at it placed it in to his pocket.
"Thanks" he said smiling
"No, thank you" Aristo turned over in the bed so that her back was now facing Zell.
Walking back out to where Doctor Kadowacki was sat, Zell could not help but think about Aristo.
"Why haven't i seen her before? Who was that man...What the hell's happening to me?!"
Without a word of goodbye, he stepped out in to the hallway again still thinking about who would be able to know what was going on with him, he stopped for a brief second,
"Oh man, i know that smell anywhere" speaking to himself he could smell the fresh cooking of sausages on a grill, not just any either, the cafeteria's hotdogs. He set off in to a run making his way to the cafeteria.
Chapter 7 - Dead End
Her whole body weight was now pressed against Zell's, he could feel every movement of her ivory skin through her satin dress that she wore as she pressed harder into his own body, her lips wandering from his collar bone to his chest. Then pain--a sharp searing pain as he looked down, red speckles of blood formed as an entry wound from her fingers nails were pushing through to his rib cage. He tried to scream...
It was dark again, Zell's eyes flickered as the moonlight was the only source of light that peered through his curtains. Moving in to an upright position, sweat began rolling down his chest and face.
"It was only a dream" his hands roamed to the place where the womans hands had penetrated his skin--nothing, not even a scratch.
"Those hot dogs must have been off" he laughed to himself as he checked the clock's interface to the left of him, the red number 02:19 stood out as he wiped the beads of sweat from his head with the back of his hand. He got up silent off the bed, grabbing his clothes from the side from where he had left them before going to sleep. He stood in one place for a few minutes,
"I guess I'll head down the training grounds."
Walking down the hallway he could see the green flourescent sign with the bold words 'Training Grounds', he yawned as he stared at the sign and entered the main entrance. The grass looked uneven as though someone had been here before him.
"Get off me!" a loud scream echoed through the area, Zell faced the direction it came from, it sounded feminine, the trees moved as another scream rung out through the trees. He began running at a pace to the source of the sound, his legs whipped by the velocity of the branches as he ran through them, he cringed as the trees hit his face, stinging sensations could be felt throughout every part of his bare body. He soon ran through a clearing in the trees and the lights from the grounds shone through gaps. It was there he saw her, stood with his Tanto in his left hand and Aristo in his right was the man, he had a broad smile spread between the dimples in his cheeks as he faced Zell.
"Let her go!"
"I told you this wasn't over" the man clenched Aristo's hand tighter as he made a crude laugh meanwhile Aristo whimpered at the pain of her hand.
"Don't you hurt her!" his fists clenched,
"Or what?" his eyes brows arched as he waited for an answer from Zell. Zell took his fighting stance as he held his fists up in a defensive notion near his face.
"Fight me instead"
"I don't have time to be playing around with you, boy!" he waved his hand as a 'get lost' motion.
He felt it then, at the back of his head, a pain like a knife drilling itself deep in to his skull, he hit the floor on his knees, scraping them that left cuts bare, his face was next, landing on the cold dirt. He tried to keep his eyes open but the pain was unbearable as he felt himself drifting to unconsciousness, the last thing he saw was the blurs of the man walking over to him with Aristo in tow.
"Zell?" Squall knocked on the hard door to Zell's dormitory as he waited for him to answer it. It wasn't like Zell at all, he wasn't in the cafeteria where Squall usually found him on a morning trying to devour the hot dogs. He was left staring at the locked door to Zell's room.
Zell felt the warmth of something trickling down his face, his eyes flickered as he began to open them, his vision was blurred as he tried to focus on the first thing he saw. Speckles of red caught his attention as he opened his eyes. A cold object dug in to his wrists as he tried to reach for his face, it was no use. Everytime he tried to move his hands the pain in his wrists became more excruciating. The only thing that wasn't bound was his legs, as he moved them to sit himself up in a position that was comfortable he was able to focus on the room, the first thing he could smell as he inhaled was rust.
"Where the hell am I?" looking round the room, it looked like a room similar to that of a prison cell. It couldn't be Galbadia's D-District Prison as that was destroyed by sand 2 years ago. Zell remembered vaguely the aftermath of them trying to assassinate Edea and ending up in the prison. This was different...Aristo was involved and he was in here for a reason he didn't even know about.
"You! Dog! What are you doing?!" Zell's head turned as he saw a face peering through a gap in the door, it was a mans face, his eyes were of a dark brown and he spoke as though he was in his late 30's.
"What the hells going on?!" Zell slammed his fists which were connected together with the handcuffs on to the floor. He felt pain but didn't think about it as the man laughed at him.
"You'll find out soon enough" the gap in the door was immediately closed, by a mechanism which looked like a peep hole.
[To be continued]
Preface
Her Ivory Skin pressed against Zell's bare chest, he was feeling the pressure on his torso. She let out a shallow satisifed sigh and brushed his cheekbone with her icy index finger.
It was a time when any man would want this more than anything--But she wasn't just anything. Her nail's ran across his pale collar bone--flexing her finger in to his neck. What more could he do, just give in?
Chapter 1: Late
There ws a faint knock on the wooden door. Zell's eye's twitched at the sound and opened a little to see the sun piercing through the laced curtains.
"Zell are you awake?" the voice was awfully familiar to him. He groaned at the thought and motioned his head trying to stuff it under his pillow to muffle the sound.
"Oh come on Zell! I know your awake, i can hear you groaning in there!" the familiar voice spoke again. He sat up vertically and ran his hands under the white sheet not paying attention to the voice; he kicked his legs to get the sheet off him.
"I'm going to drag your damn ass outta' that bed and beat the living hell out of you if you don't hurry up!" the voice sounded more urgent now, than it had done before. Zell moved his pink lips to let out a slight yawn and progressed to say something.
"I'm awake god damn it! I'll meet you at the front gates in one hour," Zell's voice sounded calm and the masculinity reavealed from this.
"Fine." the sound of footsteps could be heard walking away in the other direction.
Zell stretched his pale legs over the side of the large bed and rummaged his right hand through his blonde tousled hair. The sun was warming his skin as it's beams shone through the curtains.
"I can't believe it's today"Zell thought to himself as he got himself up off the bed and started walking over to the wardrobe in the far corner of the room. He sighed letting the air come from within his chest as his left hand ran down the front of the wardrobe door to the oak handle and placed his palm and fingers around it, he pulled it towards his bare chest and let it stay open as his left hand released the handle.
Inside the wardrobe were alot of clothes--including his usual red jacket and his blue denim quarter cut trousers--it was full of assorted things.
"Hmm i hate having to wear this uniform." he muttered to himself as his eye's scanned to a SeeD uniform hung up at the right hand side of the dresser. Zell placed both hands on the head of the white hanger and pulled the uniform out to lay on the bed. He turned his body in a ninety-degree angle and started walking to the bathroom. The whole process of getting a shower, brushing his teeth and putting wax in his hair only took half an hour which to Zell was better progress than what it usually took him, but today he had to hurry.
He walked back to the bed--in a towel after drying himself--to where he had left his clothes before he had taken the shower. He took the jacket off the hanger and placed the hanger back on the bed. Zell out his right hand through the arm of the right sleeve carefully and did the same for his left. The jacket was made of black bottom weight cotton and the detail it had was remarkable; the shoulder pads contained a yellow trim along with a chain connecting the left side and the right side together at the front. The bottom of the sleeves were also lined with the same yellow trim but also contained a red band--that was about ten centimetres in size--it ran around the sleeve.
Zell finished off his uniform by sitting on the bed and putting his legs in to the black trousers that matched the jacket and belted them up to his hips as he stood up straight.
"I'm going to be late," he thought to himself as he quickly put his shoes on and paced out of the dormitory door.
Zell picked up his pace and was now running down the dormitories and in to the garden's corridors. A few garden students looked at him curiously as he ducked and weaved through them. Nida who was amongst the students--he was also a SeeD member, Zell and Nida had passed the same day--noticed Zell running past him just before he reached the front of the building.
"Late again, Zell?" Nida called after him and laughed to himself thinking of what the others would think of Zell when he showed up late again.
Chapter 2: Misson
As Zell raced past the man on security near the front gates the wind ruffled his short hair. Garden was quite large for the amount of students it could hold, after the events from two years ago--when Zell and the group came face to face with Ultimecia--the Garden had changed quite alot; it had been moved back to Balamb, and the news about Ultimecia had spread across the towns and now more students were enrolling to become a SeeD--although they were just used for smaller jobs now, as there wasnt any use for them otherwise--now two years later it looked brand new. The paint work had to be redone and new furniture had to be placed in the rooms, but all the students seemed happy about it.
"There you are," the same familiar voice broke Zell's concentration as he reached the area just after the front gates.
"Late again?" another voice asked--this one was alot deeper than the other voice; serious too. Zell's light blue eye's scanned the five figures in the area where the voice's came from.
"Sorry guys, you know how it is," Zell spoke coolly trying to persuade the others to understand. He ran his left hand along his glove on his right hand and beared a smile which showed his white teeth.
"No we don't know how it is Zell, your always late!" the voice spoke. Zell's mind wandered to a thought.
"Sheesh, what's her problem"
"Ahh, C'mon Selphie, your being a little harsh, don't you think?" the voice was Irvine's, anyone could tell by the way he spoke, especially to Selphie. Selphie's eyes gleamed at Irvine as his voice gently took her by suprise.
"Fine, but you can wake him u next time," she took her index finger and slightly prodded Irvine's protruding nose with it, while dazzling him with her smile.
Zell sighed with relief of Irvine saving his ass once more--his hand's slid down in to his pockets on his trousers and let his eye's wander round the group.
Closest to him was Selphie and Irvine.
"Still together after two years...that's long" Zell thought as he looked at their likeness in appearance--both having light brown hair--for once Irvine wasn't wearing his hat--due to the mission they had today.
His eye's moved to the next person which was Quistis smiling awkwardly and looking as if to be day dreaming. "Probably about the mission" he thought to himself after seeing that and watched as Quistis's pale blue eyes scanned to the other couple next to her. Zell's eyes followed--it was Rinoa and Squall that had caught her attention.
Rinoa was fiddling with the ring on her necklace and Squall's alerted eyes were staring straight at Zell, which caught his attention. They were all dressed in the same SeeD uniform--although with Rinoa and Irvine not being students at Balamb they got asked to join the others in being a SeeD after the incident two years ago.
"Well, are we ready now?" Squall's voice was the deeper one that Zell had heard earlier. Zell watched as Squall moved forward to them all. Rinoa smiled as Squall moved making her follow carefully.
"Timber has been having a lot of problems recently, with a wolf infestation. They want us to rid them of the wolves and find the cause of the problem," Squall spoke calmly--his voice was somewhat like a leaders should be.
"Timber? I thought they had guard's to rid them of any problems like this" Quistis's voice spoke which made everyone turn to look at her.
"I heard the guards have disappeared, Zone was telling me." Rinoa's voice carried the conversation further.
"Well, i think this will be a piece of cake for us" Zell boasted as he slapped his knuckles together as if he was ready for a fight. Squall laughed at Zell's little scene.
"Yes, the guards have disappeared, but whatever the cause is, we still need to be on guard," Squall finished the discussion. The group nodded in response to Squall's words.
"We'll be taking the train?" Selphie asked in anticipation to hear the response.
"How else would we get there?" Squall smiled in response knowing that Selphie loved to ride the trains. Zell shifted his weight from his right leg to his left as the others talked and started to walk to the far end gate of the Garden and followed them slowly walking next to Quistis.
"Wonder what is causing the wolves to appear, must be something to do with the guards going missing as well," his thoughts wondered through memories of his last trip to Timber. He hadn't noticed anything suspicious; it had only been three weeks ago too.
The sun caught Zell's attention as it blinded him a little. Selphie broke the suns rays by standing in front of him--her back was facing his direction--her brown turned up bangs were swaying in the shallow breeze.
"We're taking the car to Balamb, wont take as long then." Quistis's rosy pink lips spoke and her right hand hovered pointing at a nearby green and yellow car.
"I'm driving!" Zell's outburst cause the whole group to stare at him.
"What? I only passed the other day, give me a break," his lips pursed in to a wide open grin as he took a breath of air. He moved his legs towards Quistis and snatched the silver key--which was shimmering in the sun--from her hand. He immediately jumped on the spot and started playfully jogging to the car.
"Yes! my first time to drive this baby! he thought.
"Don't get too excited now Zell, you look like your about to combust" Quistis spoke laughing now with her right hand placed over her lips and the other arm supporting the weight of her right elbow.
"That wouldn't be a loss" Irvine snickered under his breath.
"I heard that!" Zell protested strengthening his vocal chords as he shouted a little. He put his left hand under the door handle and pulled it towards himself, letting the door open--nearly hitting Irvine as he walked by and got in to the back seat of the car. He slid his weight in to the drivers seat and rotated his torso to make himself comfortable--closing the door behind him. He waited for everyone to get in the car, they were all huddled on the two rows of seats--one on the left and one on the right, it was a good thing the car would fit more than six people in. He motioned his hands on every mirror so he could see and started the car. Zells hand moved the gear stick as he pushed it in to first gear, while he lifted the clutch up to bite point and put a little bit of gas on. Zells eyes manouvred around the mirrors and the released the handbrake making Zell slowly drive off.
"See you were all afraid i might crash" Zell chuckled turning his head sideways to see Squall who was sat in the passenger seat.
"Sheesh, you guys are worse than my mum," he continued laughing as he turned his head back to watch the road.
Chapter 3 - Blood
Rinoa stretched her legs as she got out of the car; she was soon followed by the others, with Zell and Squall getting out last. Zell stretched his arms out as he cracked his knuckles then inhaled--he could smell the salt from the sea as he did this. He had managed to get the group to Balamb safely and had parked the car at the docks.
"Come on, we don't want to waste anytime," Rinoa insisted as she tightened the laces on her boots up and signalled the group to follow. Squall shot a glance in Zell's direction--as Zell locked the car up. He turned his head to see just Squall waiting for him.
"Thanks for waiting," he said with a hint of sarcasm.
"Don't get used to it," Squall laughed and started to walk round the corner. Zell motioned himself not walking far behind Squall.
This was Zell's hometown, he felt calmed as he turned round the corner and noticed the familiar hotel. It was always home to regular guests mainly because of the ocean view. The hotel owner was busy cleaning the window when Zell walked near the front door--he could see his reflection shimmering from the cleaned window as the sun shone upon it.
"Morning Zell," the hotel owners face lit up as he saw Zell walk past.
"Morning," he replied trying to not get sidetracked as he took note of Squall now a little aways in front of him. He walked round the corner in to the centre of the town, there were a few people near the stalls as he walked past. Usually he would go to the house near the end as his mum lived there, but with him being on a job he hadn't really got anytime to be doing that.
"Don't slack behind," Zell looked as Squall spoke as he was stood a few metres away from him. He moved forwards walking up the stairs a foot at a time so that he didn't fall down, he soon reached Squall as they both walked in to the train station. The walls were painted white and the ceiling was blue to match the look of the ocean.
"About time," Selphie stood in front of them with her hands crossed she looked excited to get on the train. Squall turned and said a few words to the ticket man and gave a gesture to the group to board the train.
"Me first!" Selphie initially ran through the rusting train doors and in to the next cabin as the rest followed slowly after her.
Zell moved to the far end of the room to look out the cabin's window; Irvine walked through the cabin doors to find Selphie and Rinoa was kneeled on the floor looking at what appeared to be her weapon--which Squall was now looking at too as she had caught his attention.
"You okay?" Zell turned his head startled to see Quistis looking at him.
"I didn't mean to startle you," she continued laughing at him.
"Me? Ahh I'm fine, just wondering whats causing all this trouble, that's all," Quistis moved closer and now Zell could see his pale blue eyes reflected in her eyes.
"You sure?" she paused,
"Well, if you need to talk i'm here," she responded and turned her torso to walk through the cabins door--Selphie could be heard singing her usual train song as the door opened. Zell's back slid down the compartment wall to sit on the cold metal floor. "What was that about?" his thoughts were incoherent as to what Quistis was thinking.
A loud intercom jingle could be heard which broke through Zell's thoughts.
"We are now arriving at Timber" it called out throughout the whole train coinciding with their arrival.
Zell was first off the train, he jogged down the steps to stop near the souvenir shop, it looked less quiet than it had done when he had last been here--almost as if no one lived here.
"Where is everyone?" Rinoa asked stopping at the side of Zell. He took a glance at her as she was looking forward to the town and turned his view to where she was looking.
"It's a little...too quiet" Squall walked in front taking the leader role once more.
"What's that?" Irvine pointed out at what appeared to be wild animals clawing at a nearby residents home. Zell saw this straight away and his reactions instantly kicked in with running to help; the animals caught attention of Zell running towards them and began to run to him. The first wolf tried to lunge at his leg which he counterattacked with his leg kicking the wolves head causing it to yelp. The other tried to attack him as he did this but a shotgun shell pierced through the wolves fur--making the wolf land motionless. Squall ran forward cutting the first wolves torso in turn making that also collapse with a severe wound.
Zell's pulse had quickened at the fact he had been fighting, he ran his left hand across his forehead as beads of sweat engulfed his glove making it damp. He kicked the two corpses of the wolves to make sure they were dead. The girls soon ran forward to Zell and the other two--which caused Zell to tighten his glove strap being cautious.
"Well we know we can deal with them," Selphie spoke stepping over the lifeless wolves. Zell felt strange, it felt as though something was inside him, his legs began to go weak, which caused him to kneel on the floor for support.
Quistis put a worried hand on his shoulder,
"Are you alright Zell?" Zell's eyes were suddenly burning and he let out an agonised scream; punching the floor hard with his fist, Quistis stepped back as he did this. Flames could be felt flickering through his veins engulfing his limbs..It soon began to deteriate, his body sat now limp on the hard concrete floor.
"Zell?" Irvine moved Zell's face and his eyes stirred, he opened them slowly seeing Irvine's face close to his. Zell stepped up quickly from the floor and stepped back--shocked and stumbled on his feet a little.
"The hell you doing trying to kiss me?!" he was now alarmed at Irvine.
"Zell, you stupid ass, he wasn't trying to kiss you, you seemed in pain," Rinoa moved forward to him to make him understand.
"I don't remember being in pain, I remember us fending those wolves off and got up to see Irvine with his arm around me trying to give me one." Zell protested at what Rinoa mentioned.
"Why the hell would i want to kiss some skinny assed guy," Irvine pointed at Zell's body.
"I've got Selphie" he reminded Zell.
"You think it might have something to do with the appearance of these wolves?" Quistis mainly directed this question at Squall,
"I don't know but we have to keep an eye on Zell" Squall replied now conscious of what was happening as he directly stared at Zell.
Zell rubbed his arm to shrug off what was happening.
"What's happening to me? Why don't i remember anything they have told me?" he thought to himself as he worried for his own sanity.
"Let's just move on," Zell spoke abruptly as he thrust his hands into his pockets as he kicked the ground with his feet when he began walking; Zell didn't know what else to think about this, the others would call him a liar if he didn't go along with them but there was something more that was happening.
The weather hadn't changed a lot it was still sunny but now dark looming clouds could be seen piercing through the atmosphere.
"We'll find out what's doing this," Quistis appeared at the side of Zell now trying to keep her pace as the same as his own.
"Yeah.." Zell's expression could be read that he was still worrying. A flash of dark blue ran past the corner of his right eye as he caught sight of Rinoa running forward, Zell's eyes followed the direction she was running to--it appeared to be a man covered in blood, he paused.
"Zone?" was his first instincts of words, who else could it be outside of Zone's house his pace picked up but as he drew closer he could see the wrinkles and the jawline more defined--this wasn't Zone.
Chapter 4 - Noise
Zell's eyeline could only see the shadows set on the unknown man's face at his level of height; he could see Rinoa crouched down next to him. Squall's left shoulder of his dark blue uniform brushed Zell's right shoulder as he pushed past him to stand at Rinoa's side. Zell moved his feet silently to stand next to them both to see what was going on--he crouched too; but cautiously as he did so. The mans features could now be seen--his face held a few wrinkles just below his eyes and the creases set on his forehead made him look to be in his late fifties. His hair was a murky grey colour and his clothing matched that of the town's guards.
"I thought the guards had gone missing?" Selphie's voice could be heard at Zell's left hand side. He rotated his head in an anticlockwise direction to see her checking the area. Squall was the first person to respond to her question as Zell turned his head back to look at the guard.
"We all thought so, what ever is doing this, we know it isnt the guards if this is happening to them" Squall let the mans hand drop--lifeless--as he was checking for a pulse.
"Hey, whats this?" the five looked in Selphie's direction as she was pointing to something which looked to be on the wall a few metres from the body. Following the others Zell stood up from his crouching position and followed as though Squall was the leader in front.
"It looks like a piece of cloth" Zell came closer to see what all their eyes were on. It appeared to be a piece of white cloth with a little blood stain on, it was attached to a sharp metal extruding pole intervening the wall.
"You think this belongs to whoever did this?" Zell asked the group. Quistis answered his question,
"It looks as though whoever it was had a struggle to kill this man and ended up getting injured in the process," she finished speaking as Zell looked at her.
"How do you know that?" Irvine joked sarcastically.
"There's more blood on the wall around the pole and the mans body has been penetrated by some metal object to leave those wounds." Zell thought about how much effort Quistis had put in to her findings.
"Well it wont be much but atleast we know whoever did this is wounded" Zell spoke moving past the wall near the stairs to look down upon the bar that was below them.
"Why didn't we think of it earlier" he thought looking down at the bar, Zell caught the attention of Squall as he was looking at him.
"Let's go in the bar, we can get some food and maybe get some information" Zell was anxious to get down as he was hungry but also felt different from what he had done when they set off.
He was the first to open the bar door--the warmth of the bar hit him as he walked through, the barkeeper was cleaning glasses at the bar and four people were sat down at different tables. Zell's eyes scanned through the nearby menu on the bar.
"Nice one" he cheered enthusiastically as he noticed the words 'Hot Dogs' wrote down. Rinoa laughed as he did this and the rest soon got their meals and sat down at a nearby table. Zell was the last one to receive his and he could smell the chilli and sauce he had put on them as he took a seat next to Irvine. He picked up the hot dog and took a mouthwatering bit as he savoured the flavours.
"Can't you eat with your mouth closed" Irvine nudged Zell's right arm which was holding the food to his mouth--it soon made Zell choke as Irvine did this. In turn Irvine noticed Zell waving his hands around and smacked his left palm to the centre of Zell's shoulder blades causing the lodged hot dog to come out of Zell's mouth--at a speed that hit a woman with a black coat on, at the next table to them. Zell was relieved but the woman turned her head round to stare sternly at Zell. He caught her glimpse as she did so--her hair was long and in blonde ringlets as it fell from her pale skin, her red rose lipstick tainted her look; he couldn't help but stare at her emerald green eyes. Irvine distracted his stare as soon as he shouted over to apologise to the woman. It didn't really help as she didn't say anything but got up lightly from her seat to reveal a small white dress that stopped above her knees--it was covered by her long black coat. She turned her body and began walking--Zell noticed she had a slight limp as she did so and she left the bar quite quickly.
"Did you guys notice her?" Zell asked turning his head to the group again.
"No, but we bet you had a good look" Quistis responded and the others laughed.
"Yeah, No, I mean..did you see her white dress and her limp?" his voice was almost protesting now, and Squall got up soon after hearing his response. The whole groupd reacted to this and got up going to the door, leaving Zell trailing behind finishing his hot dog as he walked; he was thinking about the woman they just saw, her emerald eyes were all he could see.
"Zell!" his head turned with one swift movement to see Quistis shouting at him, he was still stood outside the bar doors as though he had never moved. Zell removed his hands from his blue denim pockets and now left them loose at his side--he jogged a little kicking his legs up to reach the top of the stairs where Quistis and the others stood.
"Here, theres blood on the floor" Rinoa pointed out as her feet began following the trail that lay upon the cobbled path. Time passed as they reached the centre of the town where the trail suddenly ended.
"You think she went up?" Zell asked as his head now followed the height of the building in front of them. He moved his hands against the wall with his palm and looked up looking for any signs. Zell turned to look at the others--Squall had stepped back to see the top of the roof as the door was locked.
"I can't see the top of the roof from here" squall looked disappointed as Zell turned his head back to the building.
In that instinct he didnt know what he was doing; his right foot set on the drainpipe closest to him and both his palms of his gloves grasped the outer casing of it as he pulled his body weight from the floor to rest his left leg on a piece of brick that had being eroding from the wall.
"Zell, what are you doing?" Quistis had called out, but Zell didnt take any notice of her doing so, he continued to place his palms further up the pipe that he reached with his forearms and pushed his body up with the muscles in his calves and thighs. Zell hadn't noticed by the time he had reached halfway there were raindrops falling and landing in his blonde hair. His breathing had also quickened as he soon reached a nearby balcony--thinking he should take a break he reached his right arm out but in doing so his left palm slipped off the drainpipe--due to it being wet from the rain.
"Holy Shi--" Zell's hands flew out quickly to the balcony with an eager attempt to save him from falling to the ground. His right arm gripped a railing just in time and he could hear voices below him.
“That was lucky” he thought as sweat now rolled down from his brow and to his cheek, as it did this he pulled his left arm up to the railing struggling a little. The gloves he were wearing provided him with a little grip on the metal rails as he pulled his lower body up to reach the rails and lay his torso on the top of the balconies rail for leverage.
“I never want to do that again,” he laughed to himself as he slid over the rail and landed hard against the floor on his back—he could feel the cold drops of rain falling on his pale skin and he looked up In front blinking as every drop tried to hit his eye. Zell was in a strange place but the rain had started to ease his worrying and his breathing had slowed down.
There was a loud noise to the right of Zell which caused him to get his posture to a sitting position—it was the room from which the balcony belonged to. He hadn’t noticed what had made the noise, but there was now a yellow shaded light emitting through the lace curtains. Pressure was put on his hands as Zell turned himself forwards to get a better look through the window—his face was nearly pressed against the cold glass when he saw the same woman again. Her body was petite and her womanly curves could be seen as shadows from the light reflected on her ivory skin. She moved to a table gliding as she did so with every little step she took with her slender legs. Zell couldn’t believe what he was seeing, how could someone so beautiful cause so much grief to others.
“Surely it’s not her,” he watched closely his eye’s not missing her every move—the flick of her wrist as she stretched her arms down to a bandage on her leg.
“The wound, it can’t be,” he whispered. Zell dropped his head in disappointment—she was so serene, he wouldn’t want to believe it—he couldn’t. His light blue eye’s looked up again through the window once more—this time she wasn’t there. Placing pressure on to his knees now, he looked further in to the room pressing his face to the glass.
The walls were a maroon colour, amongst it were pictures of people—presumably family. He looked down to stare at a creamy white carpet with a rug in the centre of the floor, covering the entire room was furniture of different sizes and different means for them. Zell couldn’t see any sign of the woman anymore as he stood up fully now; his hand reached for the patio handle, carefully and slowly he let it slide open, a smell of lavender hit his senses as he took a step on to the cream carpet. Zell’s hand slid the door back in to place as he moved a little more forward and stopped just before the rug. The room smelt of Jasmine mixed with Lily and Orange flower now; Zell took a deep breath through his nose inhaling the smell, he could feel it against the back of his throat as he did so.
Moving forwards to the door to leave—he would tell the others he hadn’t seen anything and they could leave—as soon as he moved beyond the rug he heard a noise—it wasn’t something he had heard before. The noise made him seek his eyes to the door which was closest to him—he was very alert. The first instinct was to leave, but something made him curious. Zell walked slowly and defensively to the door, laying his palm on the cold metal door knob, he twisted it and slowly pulled the door open towards him as he caught sight of what was inside.
Chapter 5 - Confusion
The muffled sounds of a cry for help were escaping a pair of pink poised lips. Zell could see a set of green teary eyes looking up at him—he crouched quickly untying the binds that bound her hands together, his eyes were focused on hers, She’s stunning he thought as he untied her legs now and released the gag from her mouth—as he did tears fell from her eyes and she flung her arms around the confused Zell.
“Are you okay? Who did this to you?” he asked her, quickly a response came from the muffled face on his shoulder.
“I’m glad,” she paused “someone, found me” she took her head away from Zell’s shoulder and rubbed her sore red eyes.
“I don’t know who took me, it was a woman” Zell looked at her with relief but on his further inspection he noticed she was wearing a SeeD uniform like his own.
“What’s your name?” he asked getting up from his crouching position on the floor and lifting her up with his arms under her body for support as he did so—she felt so light in his arms.
“I’m Aristo” the tears were gradually stopping now as they dried up on her cheeks.
“Well Aristo, I’m taking you out of here, are you from Balamb Garden?” his words were calm almost soothing as he glanced down at her eyes which seemed to be closed now—there was no response but she was still breathing. She must’ve passed out, his thoughts were more set on the girl as he took a step out with his foot and across the rug to open the other door out of the room.
He soon reached the bottom of the building from the stairs and opened the lock on the door to get out. The rain had stopped falling and he was soon faced with five angry expressions.
“Who’s that?” Rinoa was the first to step forward and approach Zell and the girl in his arms.
“She said her names Aristo, she recently passed out, I found her in that room with the balcony I climbed on to,” Zell answered her.
“You mean fell on to” Irvine laughed at him.
“Whatever,” Squall responded “We’ll take her back with us, she seems to be wearing a SeeD uniform, maybe Cid or Edea will know anything about her.” The group nodded in response as Zell kept her close against his damp chest.
They reached Timber train station and the sky was becoming dark with a night sky.
“Looks like we’ll make it back before the night sets in,” Quistis spoke as she looked up at the sky. Zell still had Aristo close to him as they boarded the train; Selphie was in her usual spot.
“I’m going to lay her down in one of the rooms till we get back.” Zell carefully moved past the group as he stepped through a door onto a corridor with a number of wooden doors. The furthest one away was the one he moved to slowly. As his arms were still embracing Aristo he opened the sliding door carefully—it was as though he were protecting her. The room was a VIP suite and there was a large settee in the far back of the room; Zell walked over and placed Aristo on it firmly to make sure she looked comfortable. A few minutes had passed when Rinoa came through the door—she walked directly to the chair across from the one Zell was sat in.
“She’s pretty huh?” Zell looked at Rinoa in a confused notion and then back to Aristo’s face.
“Zell, you haven’t taken your eyes off her” he shrugged in response to what she said,
“I’m just making sure she’s okay,” he was moving on his seat a little to get comfy.
“Besides,” he continued, “I’ve got Cori back at the library” he sighed pushing his back further in to the chair.
“Oh, that’s the library girl isn’t it? I haven’t seen her round Garden anymore” Rinoa sat with her hands on her legs as she looked at Zell inquisitive,
What’s with all these questions? He thought to himself as he looked at her again.
“She’s helping her dad in Dollet” he stopped abruptly as he tried to not look at Aristo again.
Rinoa sighed as she heard this—it was as though someone has sent her in to ask him exactly what had happened.
“Zell?”
“What?” he looked at her again.
“Doesn’t matter, it’s nothing” she smiled defensively and got up from her seat lightly to walk out through the door—he caught a glimpse of Selphie and Irvine holding one another outside the room. Come on Zell, pull yourself together! It’s just a damn girl! He punched the trains’ interior on the wall making the train rattle a little the vibration. Why am I feeling this? I feel like I’m not myself anymore he placed his head in between his hands as he thought about the events that had occurred. The train rattled some more which caused Zell to look up near the door, the walls started trembling and Selphie’s furious face was the next thing Zell saw barging through the door.
“Zell sto-,” a look of confusion as Zell stood up,
“It isn’t you?” Selphie asked as the walls trembled again, a high pitched sound followed as it could be heard when the train jolted and came to an abrupt stop. Zell looked at Selphie quickly and turned grabbing Aristo placing her in a piggy back position as they both ran forward through the corridor to the others in the front entrance room. They all had the same confused expression,
“There’s something outside the door” Squall gestured them to move back as a hand pierced through the trains’ door. Zell took this in to account and placed Aristo in the corner behind them. Each person stood in defence with their weapons out as the hand slid the door open as if it were easy.
Stood in front of them was a man standing 6 foot 3 inches tall in height; wearing black jeans which covered a pair of doc martens and a leather sleeveless top. He moved closer inside the train and his brown mid length spiked hair moved in the night breeze that was coming through the opening now. Tattoos could be seen on both his forearms and a Tanto could be seen in his belt. He moved further letting his hand glide along the inside of the door as he did so his mouth perched in to a smile and he let out a snicker.
“Fools” Zell looked with his fists in front of him as the man spoke.
“Where is she?” again his lips moved—his words were harsh.
“She who?” Squall asked with his Lionheart facing the intruder,
“Aristo! Don’t play games with me!” his voice was raised.
“You can’t have her” Zell quickly called out, there was a moment of silence before it was broken,
“Ahh, you must be the one who took her”
“You can’t have her do you understand!” Zell raised his voice.
“What makes you think I can’t” the man pulled out his Tanto from his belt and took a strike at Selphie who was the closest—Irvine intercepted his attack and the man threw his fist hitting both of them throwing them against the metal wall. Zell stood over Aristo protectively as the man tried moving forward; he was hit by Rinoa’s blaster edge leaving a wound on his arm.
“Such an excuse for a pretty face,” the man counter-attacked and grasped Rinoa’s neck squeezing as he threw her against the wall too. Quistis’s whip hit him as he did this and she stepped back where Zell was to defend. An attack by Squall was next—slashing at him but he missed his leg and nearly fell back. Using this as a distraction Zell used his Ehrgeiz to do a punch rush duel on the man hitting him a few times in his chest, which seemed to knock the man back a little—the man tried to hit Zell with his Tanto but Quistis hit it out of his hand with her whip.
“I wont give in, this isn’t the last time you’ll see me” the man grabbed his Tanto from the floor and threw it at Quistis which pierced through her arm as he escaped through the metal door. Squall and Zell took a sigh of relief—Zell looked down at Aristo then ran to the wall where Selphie and Irvine were now getting up; Squall checked to see if Rinoa was okay and Quistis had pulled the Tanto out and was applying pressure to her wound, she ripped some cloth to put around it.
“Everyone okay?” Squall asked and Zell could hear a few replied of ‘yes’.
“Who was he?” Selphie asked rubbing her arm.
“I don’t know—but he was determined to get her” Irvine pointed at Aristo.
“Well he’s gone so we should walk through the water tunnel to get back to Balamb” Zell spoke picking up Aristo who was still unconscious. Zell stepped out on to the tunnel from the broken door and began walking back in the direction of Balamb. He had a lot of issues on his mind and this was just another to add to his problems.
The walk back took awhile but Zell was the first to emerge from the station followed by Quistis who had been trying her hardest to keep up to Zell all the way—the others soon followed. It was night already and a few stars were out above them now as Zell walked past the hotel they had seen earlier; he could smell a meal—presumably it had just been cooked as he walked carefully by with Aristo round the pebbled path leading to the car which was parked at the docks.
“I guess I’m driving” Squall spoke looking at Zell and Quistis; who both appeared to be too busy to do the driving. Zell nodded in agreement and walked round the back as he pulled it open by the handle letting it stay still as he got in so the other could follow. He placed Aristo next to him as he took a seat and the others eventually got in.
“I’m sure Cid or Edea will know her, she is a SeeD after all remember” Irvine said as he put his feet on the dashboard up in front as he sat in the passengers seat next to Squall—Zell could feel the wheels under the car begin to move as Squall started the engine.
Chapter 6: Hot Dogs
A last glimpse of the sky could be seen as the Garden car pulled up inside the garage, it's brakes made a slight rusted squeak as Zell watched Squall put his foot on the brakes. Aristo was still unconscious as everyone got out quietly from the car on to the black tarmac and made their way to the door to the Garden. Zell was the last one out embracing Aristo in his arms as he manouvred out of the back door--Irvine's hand pushed the door shut before Zell could have anytime to struggle.
"Thanks" he murmured almost shocked that Irvine had decided to do something nice for once. Irvine walked past him as Zell could see the back of Irvine's uniform which looked a little dirty from the mission they had done today. His eyes looked down to Aristo's face; her eyes were still closed. Taking this in to consideration Zell followed slowly behind the others who were now entering the corridor of the Garden and making their way to the nearby elevator which was situated near the front entrance hall. Zell walked a little faster still making sure that he didn't drop Aristo, he saw student's eyes boring in to him as he walked past them as they sat studying for exams.
As Zell turned the corner he could see the stairwell to the elevator--it was in that moment that he felt a stinging sensation on his forehead. He tried to move his hand to feel what it was but remembered Aristo would fall out of his arms if he did so. The stinging pain began moving past his face the sock of this had gotten to Zell, he moved his arms so that Aristo would now be placed on the floor. Students were now gathering around as he had now gotten to his knees in agony.
"What is this?!" Zell cried out as he clasped his head within his hand, his knees against the marble flooring.......then blackness is all he saw as the weight of his body hit the ground with a loud crack.
He was sat in a park, the hustle of everyday life could be heard as he looked around, seeing people more bothered about which way they were going, or what would happen at work.
"Where am i?" he thought aloud to himself.
"Your here with me, silly" Zell shocked with a reply, turned his head to the right side of him to see a young woman smiling back at him.
"Woah, an angel..what is this?" he thought, "I've gotta' be dreaming"
She leaned in to Zell's face slowly, he could do nothing but sit there staring at her as though frozen, she came closer and slowly parting her pink shaded lips she pressed them softly against his own lips. He felt pressure as she motioned her lips in to a passionate kiss, slowly once more moving her face back so that all he could see now was her emerald green eyes.
He could smell fresh toasted bagels which aroused his curiosity, opening his eyes a little at a time, the light from the window pane shone in to his pupils as he gazed at the wall in his room.
"Morning, sleepyhead." the voice spoke softly with a tinge of excitement as he turned his head--which for some reason now hurt a little as he looked at the face peering back at him.
It was Cori, her hair was an auborn shade as it was carefully placed in pigtails and they light caught the colour perfectly.
"What happened?" Zell managed to speak as a puzzled look arose on his face.
"Aren't you happy to see me?" Cori answered.
Noticing the sudden change of subject Zell wanted to immediately respond.
"Sure i am, I thought you were in Dollet though, helping out your dad?" he asked suspiciously,
"I was, until your buddy Squall rung me to tell me you had been injured and passed out soon after. I wanted to come check you were okay." she smiled standing up from her crouched position; Zell could now see that Cori was wearing her Garden uniform, her neat little navy mini skirt stood out as it emphasised her petite fair skinned legs, her jacket was tied with a yellow ribbon which brought out the dull colour of her white shirt. Her blue eyes just gazed back at him.
"I passed out?" she just nodded once in response, Zell lay on his back again staring at the white ceiling, he could see cobwebs laced in the cracked paint.
"Whats up" her voice asked a little concerned.
"I don't know, it happened at Timber.." then the words hit him like a razor blade across his heart. He sprang upright causing Cori to jump back as though shocked by him doing so.
"Where's Aristo?" he looked at her.
"Aristo, who?" she just looked at him confused.
"The girl I saved and brought here" he got out of his bed now, noticing his body was completely bare, he grabbed the nearest pair of trousers which were his denim three quarters, Cori just giggled at the sight of him as he zipped the trousers up, they smelt clean as they now clung to his legs.
"Oh, that girl" Cori said as Zell began bouncing around the room to each different item of clothing.
"She was taken to the infirmary, apparently she woke up around midnight crying your name out" she did a silly hand gesture waving her arms about as if jealous, Zell put his last trainer on to his right foot.
"of course, you were passed out..here" she continued and sat down on the bed as she looked up at Zell who was now staring at her, he looked at her for a moment she looked quite seductive in the way she was sitting on his bed, he almost felt like he wanted to touch every ounce of her skin.
"Quistis has been with her all night" Zell came out of his trance as she spoke again.
"I'm going to see her" he turned his back on Cori, as he did she hit the pillow with her fist as though angry that he hadn't seen her advances. Zell walked out of the room shutting the door lightly; he walked at a pace that was suitable for the way his own body felt, it ached in different joints that he never even knew would ache. Yesterday he had felt pain like no other and it wasn't helping him at all today
Reaching the infirmary entrance Doctor Kadowacki could be seen through the glass door analysing what appeared to be information on her computer monitor. The faint smell of antiseptic was lingering in the corridor as he placed his right palm against the cold glass to open it. Doctor Kadowacki turned to look at Zell as he entered the room.
"Ahh, Zell, how are you feeling today?" a smile widened on her face as she got up wearing her bleach white scrubs.
"I'm alright today, thanks doc'" he smiled back as he stood unpatiently with his arms hovering at his sides.
"Stop calling me doc'" she laughed "I suppose your wanting to see your little friend" she finished laughing.
Zell bent his arm backwards so now his hand was touching his back, he scratched it nervously.
"Yeah, is she okay?" he asked looking at her.
"She's back there, go take a look." Doctor Kadowacki's arm moved as she pointed towards a curtain that was based at the back of the room, it was nearer to the door than Doctor Kadowacki's desk was. He took a step forward moving this in to his walk, pushing the white curtain to one side, he could see her laid on one of the beds.
As the sunlight caught her hair it looked as though tiny flickers of red flames were dancing, entwined with one another as it lay across the white bed sheets. Zell's eyes moved down from her hair and caught sight of Aristo's emerald green eyes staring back at him, he moved closer--just enough to see his own reflection in them as she watched his every move.
"Thank you" her words were quiet,
"I, uh, It's no problem" Zell couldn't think of anything else more to say in this situation as she thanked him. He moved closer taking a seat on the old chair that was placed next to the bed, his heartbeat began to increase as she looked at him still.
"Aristo? Can you remember anything before i found you?" the words found themselves coming out in one fluent sentence.
"Nothing, I only remember you carrying me out of that strange place" she replied now playing with a loose strand of her auburn hair.
"Oh" disappointed Zell sighed as he began to talk again,
"It's just, we were attacked on the way back here, by a man...he was looking for you"
Zell noticed Aristo's expression change from that of a happy one to a look of worry and confusion.
"Don't worry, your safe here in Garden, you should know that" his voice was reassuring. Nodding once at him Aristo smiled.
"Zell" a pause was heard, "Aristo needs to get her rest now, she'll be out of here tomorrow, plenty of time to catch up" Doctor Kadowacki pushed aside the curtain to look at them both and turned her back to walk to her desk. A draught from the curtains movement blew around the room moving Aristo's hair as Zell watched it move on the pillow.
"I want to give you this" Aristo held out a small object in the palm of her hand,
"You don't need to do tha-"
"I do, take it, or you will offend me" Aristo interrupted, holding how own hand out he reached for the object in Aristo's hand and quickly without looking at it placed it in to his pocket.
"Thanks" he said smiling
"No, thank you" Aristo turned over in the bed so that her back was now facing Zell.
Walking back out to where Doctor Kadowacki was sat, Zell could not help but think about Aristo.
"Why haven't i seen her before? Who was that man...What the hell's happening to me?!"
Without a word of goodbye, he stepped out in to the hallway again still thinking about who would be able to know what was going on with him, he stopped for a brief second,
"Oh man, i know that smell anywhere" speaking to himself he could smell the fresh cooking of sausages on a grill, not just any either, the cafeteria's hotdogs. He set off in to a run making his way to the cafeteria.
Chapter 7 - Dead End
Her whole body weight was now pressed against Zell's, he could feel every movement of her ivory skin through her satin dress that she wore as she pressed harder into his own body, her lips wandering from his collar bone to his chest. Then pain--a sharp searing pain as he looked down, red speckles of blood formed as an entry wound from her fingers nails were pushing through to his rib cage. He tried to scream...
It was dark again, Zell's eyes flickered as the moonlight was the only source of light that peered through his curtains. Moving in to an upright position, sweat began rolling down his chest and face.
"It was only a dream" his hands roamed to the place where the womans hands had penetrated his skin--nothing, not even a scratch.
"Those hot dogs must have been off" he laughed to himself as he checked the clock's interface to the left of him, the red number 02:19 stood out as he wiped the beads of sweat from his head with the back of his hand. He got up silent off the bed, grabbing his clothes from the side from where he had left them before going to sleep. He stood in one place for a few minutes,
"I guess I'll head down the training grounds."
Walking down the hallway he could see the green flourescent sign with the bold words 'Training Grounds', he yawned as he stared at the sign and entered the main entrance. The grass looked uneven as though someone had been here before him.
"Get off me!" a loud scream echoed through the area, Zell faced the direction it came from, it sounded feminine, the trees moved as another scream rung out through the trees. He began running at a pace to the source of the sound, his legs whipped by the velocity of the branches as he ran through them, he cringed as the trees hit his face, stinging sensations could be felt throughout every part of his bare body. He soon ran through a clearing in the trees and the lights from the grounds shone through gaps. It was there he saw her, stood with his Tanto in his left hand and Aristo in his right was the man, he had a broad smile spread between the dimples in his cheeks as he faced Zell.
"Let her go!"
"I told you this wasn't over" the man clenched Aristo's hand tighter as he made a crude laugh meanwhile Aristo whimpered at the pain of her hand.
"Don't you hurt her!" his fists clenched,
"Or what?" his eyes brows arched as he waited for an answer from Zell. Zell took his fighting stance as he held his fists up in a defensive notion near his face.
"Fight me instead"
"I don't have time to be playing around with you, boy!" he waved his hand as a 'get lost' motion.
He felt it then, at the back of his head, a pain like a knife drilling itself deep in to his skull, he hit the floor on his knees, scraping them that left cuts bare, his face was next, landing on the cold dirt. He tried to keep his eyes open but the pain was unbearable as he felt himself drifting to unconsciousness, the last thing he saw was the blurs of the man walking over to him with Aristo in tow.
"Zell?" Squall knocked on the hard door to Zell's dormitory as he waited for him to answer it. It wasn't like Zell at all, he wasn't in the cafeteria where Squall usually found him on a morning trying to devour the hot dogs. He was left staring at the locked door to Zell's room.
Zell felt the warmth of something trickling down his face, his eyes flickered as he began to open them, his vision was blurred as he tried to focus on the first thing he saw. Speckles of red caught his attention as he opened his eyes. A cold object dug in to his wrists as he tried to reach for his face, it was no use. Everytime he tried to move his hands the pain in his wrists became more excruciating. The only thing that wasn't bound was his legs, as he moved them to sit himself up in a position that was comfortable he was able to focus on the room, the first thing he could smell as he inhaled was rust.
"Where the hell am I?" looking round the room, it looked like a room similar to that of a prison cell. It couldn't be Galbadia's D-District Prison as that was destroyed by sand 2 years ago. Zell remembered vaguely the aftermath of them trying to assassinate Edea and ending up in the prison. This was different...Aristo was involved and he was in here for a reason he didn't even know about.
"You! Dog! What are you doing?!" Zell's head turned as he saw a face peering through a gap in the door, it was a mans face, his eyes were of a dark brown and he spoke as though he was in his late 30's.
"What the hells going on?!" Zell slammed his fists which were connected together with the handcuffs on to the floor. He felt pain but didn't think about it as the man laughed at him.
"You'll find out soon enough" the gap in the door was immediately closed, by a mechanism which looked like a peep hole.
[To be continued]