Chapter 26: The Angels Weep for the Lost of the Snow
Ever sit by a window, and see the world move in fast foreword? As you sit there, standing still. Ever wake up and realize, your entire life has flown by you, and you missed your one chance to catch it? I know it sounds cliché, but that’s exactly how I felt the night my life truly took a turn for the worst.
For the week leading up to the events, I was having mind numbing nightmares…that left me bathe in a cold sweat upon awaking. Even with Reno’s soothing voice, hushing me back to sleep, I couldn’t move on from the darkness that seemed to have become a part of my mind. I was selfish, I assumed, because I was supposed to be happy…not scared. I had a wonderful boyfriend, two support parents, and a school population that couldn’t careless if I was gay, straight, or bisexual…not to mention I seemed to have conquered Shinra without even knowing it. My life was in a happy place- a place not normally traveled by myself- and yet, darkness seemed to loam over it, like a single dark cloud on a sunny day.
It was one of those nights where the nightmares plagued my every thought…vile nightmares of fire, brimstone…ravens, and a river of blood surging down my neighborhood. They seemed so out there, but a part of my gut told me this was a message…some kind of foreshadowing of events to come. I woke up with a jolt, once I felt the fire hit my skin, and painfully rolled over where my boyfriend was supposed to be laying.
“Reno,” I called out to the empty spot next to me.
I sat yup straight, and scanned the dark room, looking for any sign of that fiery red head. Nothing in the room seemed disturbed, but my gut started churning when I didn’t see him.
I hopped out of bed, and left the room wearing nothing but my boxers, and began to roam the second floor of the house for my boyfriend. After looking in my actual bedroom in vain, an orange glow leaking from the cracks in the bathroom door caught my attention. I glided towards the door, catching the echoes of a broken conversation. I pressed my ear against to door…yes I was snooping, but your boyfriend doesn’t hide in the bathroom at four in the morning for his health…only to have the door swing open.
Reno looked at me with blood shot eyes, and an expression that screamed “drama.” I came to understand that expression meant his parents were continuing their relentless assault on their oldest son, and it was wearing down on his fragile sanity.
“Parents?” I grabbed his hand and guided him out of the bathroom and back to our room so we could talk about it.
We sat on the bed, “Parents…” he hissed between his teeth.
“What did they do?”
“What didn’t they do?”
His eyes made friends with the bare white wall, as if the cracks of age seemed more important that what his mind dared to think. He didn’t want to talk about it, that much was evident, and here I was stuck in a tough place, unable to free him of those words of judgment, and disappointed gazes his mind can see.
“Forget about it,” was the only thing I could offer, “You’re living with me now, you don’t have to think about it anymore-“
He cut me off by pressing his finger against my lips, moving his green eyes from the wall, to me… “Shut up,” he growled, “I’m going to bed.”
With that, he crawled under the covers, and turned his back to me. I know I said Reno Sinclair is not a morning person, but this was different…
And curse me for not being able to see what haunted him so.
I lay next to him, and despite his cold demeanor, I wrapped my arms around his thin waist. My eyes glance out the frozen window. There was a black kind of darkness hanging in the sky, but the sweet moonlight that bounced off the white snow, gave the illusion of a perfect moment- a fairy tale evening. Perfection. A lie.
But I threw down the dark veil I wore, and looked at the light with innocent eyes.
“Reno?”
“Yeah,” he said softly.
What did I want to say? He knew I loved him, he knew I needed him…so what else could I possible say for the broken child I held in my arms, who tried so desperately to hide the tears that fell from his eyes.
“Don’t die,” I blurted out.
He chuckled, and I swear I could feel him smirk, “I’ll try, Romeo.”
-
The day was one of those lazy days, were you sit by a frosted window and watch life past you by. It was too cold to roam around the neighborhood aimlessly, and the ice from the blizzard that past through during that night left the roads a slippery mess. I laid in my most of the day- playing video games, and acting like a sloth- while Reno paced around nervously, as if waiting for something to happen. I briefly recalled the small conversation we had earlier this morning…
“Reno,” I called out, “Stop pacing and tell me what’s wrong.”
He looked at me for a second, his green eyes begging me not to delve into the issue, and returned to his mindless pacing. I huffed and returned to the Mario kart, mumbling something about how he needs to stop being so cold towards me…
“I’m not being cold,” he snapped, this time glaring at me, “I just have stuff on my mind, and I would appreciate it if you would just get off my fucking back!”
He stomped towards the door, about to storm out in a fit of rage, when the loud screech of his cell phone stopped him. He looked at me, sadly almost- all anger that was once surging through his green eyes evaporated- and then at his phone, which vibrated and sang in his jean pocket. There was a heavy, dead, silence between us…and it was making me frustrated. I knew who was calling- oh I knew very well- and it stabbed at my heart that he, who was so hurt by them, would still…be their lap dog.
“Answer it,” I growled, and returned to my game.
How could even trust those fuckers again? Let alone go back there, willingly, to carry out their pathetic missions. They….they betrayed him. Called him a friend, and allowed him to walk into the room of fire by himself. He forever has a festering scar on his back because of their cowardly ignorance. They almost broke us apart…and yet…
“Yeah Rude?”
He goes back to them, like they’re a bad habit…
“Okay, I’ll be right out…”
Then again…am I just the same…?
He crawled onto the bed, using his nimble fingers to release my grasp on the controller. He stared into my blue eyes, long…with a frustrated smirk plastered on his beautiful face.
“You’re only pretending to be mad at me,” he chuckled, though I could sense a kind of seriousness laced within his words. He leaned in and placed a soft but powerful kiss on my lips- a kiss I refused to return because of my own horrible pride.
When he pulled away, I could see how my lack of emotion hurt him in his glassy green eyes. “Is that how it’s gonna be Cloud?”
I found in painful to look into those eyes, and quickly diverted my blue orbs to the wall- doing nothing more adding more scars to his soul.
“When I come back,” he choked, “we’ll put this behind us…”
“Yeah,” I whispered.
Perhaps that satisfied him enough- that I would be still here when he got back- and he left without another word.
Thinking back on it…what would have happened if I had stopped him?
Reno’s Point of View
Should I have been mad at him for being so distant and cold? Nah. I knew without hearing it come from his mouth, what he really thought about the whole situation- and he was right. I shouldn’t have continued that love-hate relationship I had with Shinra. But what could I honestly do what they called me? Tell them to go fuck themselves, and end up risking both mine and Cloud’s lives? No thank you.
I still felt like the biggest asshole though…and that was enough to make me wanna run back into the arms of my boyfriend, and hide from the doom I knew I was going to get myself in. Running away, however, as beautiful as it sounded, was something I couldn’t do…not for this mission at least…
It was the final chapter in the “Out Cloud Mission.” My mission. I had to end it.
One part that I never told Cloud, was that we would get an extra ten thousand if he ended his life. Well…that never happened, but Rufus wasn’t going to let that small inconvenience ruin his chance to make a buck. He tried to say Sephiroth owed him for “service,”- a.k.a me getting Cloud in bed. Sephiroth of course argued that Rufus didn’t hold up his end of the bargain, thus wouldn’t get a dime. Rufus spent two months trying to sway Sephiroth…and apparently he did….
Thus, why the three of us- Rude, Elena, and I- sat in Rude’s car, in front of Rufus Shinra’s house (which was sadly next to my old house…) waiting for two of Sephiroth’s lackis, Loz and Yazoo. The whole thing seemed out of it…Sephiroth wouldn’t fold so easily against Rufus, especially for a large sum of money.
I growled to myself as their beat up car pulled out in front of us, and the two Sephiroth wanna-bes walked out of the car, and to the truck.
“Doesn’t seem right,” I hissed to Rude, “Too easy.”
“I agree,” Elena trembled, “it took Sephiroth a while to agree to the extra money…he wouldn’t give it up for nothing…”
Nothing was right…and though I could see him attempting to harm us, he wouldn’t be so crafty. He seemed like the type of guy who would have no problem just slaughtering us with his masamune. He didn’t have the brains to trick us into something…or do something elaborate. Or so I thought.
“Elena,” I turned to the blonde hair girl, who seemed to be seconds away from pissing her pants, “Pull yourself together!”
“I’m sorry,” she shrieked, “I’m just afraid.”
“I know…that’s why I need you to get help.”
Rude’s head literally snapped when he heard what came out of my mouth- and too be honest even I was surprised. Help…was something Reno Sinclair just didn’t ask for.
“Get Vincent, get anyone,” I told her sternly, “Just get help…something isn’t right and you know it.”
She nods, and without another word, ran out of the car and out of my view. I didn’t know if she could come through for us, but at least she would try her hardest.
Rude and I focused on the two men leaning against their car- they were waiting…waiting for us to fall into a trap maybe. What else could we go? We couldn’t run off, we couldn’t hide. We had to get out, and pray to God that they don’t have an AK47 in their pants. I’m not ready to die I think.
“You really want to go out there?” Rude said, adjusting his sunglasses.
I nodded, “no choice buddy.”
“We have a choice, everyone has a choice…”
“Yeah, but it just so happens both choices lead down the same path.”
He smiled despite the tradgity of the situation. “Let’s do it then…I’m satisfied with my life…how about you?”
“Same here bud.” Lies…I wanted to say “I love you,” one last time.
We got out of the car, with nothing but our pride and our stupidity, and walked towards the two men. The good news, they didn’t pull out any weapons and killed us on the spot, bad news was…they had that smirk on their faces that screamed trouble.
“What are you laughing at pretty boy,” I taunted with a smile.
“You guys were taking a long time in there…doing anything sexual!” Clearly Loz was the idiot of the two.
“Heh, maybe in your wet dreams,” Rude snickered.
“Though this mindless chit chat is so entertaining,” I said, “We came here for the money.”
Yazoo nodded, “Right here in the truck…ten thousand with interest…”
“Well hand it over then!”
His obnoxious finger waved back and forth in my face- I wanted to just take the damn finger, break it, and force him to eat it- “Not yet…”
“Well fuckin’ when”
They both began to chuckle maniacally, “When the light show begins.”
Cloud’s Point of View
As soon as he left, I began to regret not going after him and forcing him to stay. Maybe if I did, instead of me lying in my bed regretting everything, I could be snuggling with my boyfriend- happy. I ran my fingers through my short blonde hair, cursing at myself for being such an asshole to him. It seriously wasn’t his fault he was trapped in this gang…and fighting about it wasn’t going to help the situation.
My phone rang loudly, breaking me away from the million thoughts that ran through my mind. I growled and grabbed the blasted cell phone- whoever invented the phone needs to die a slow death- and answered it with a loud, “What?”
There was a dead silence on the other side, and I would have hung up if I didn’t hear that song in the background. “Who is this,” I hissed.
“You know, Cloud, this could have all been avoided.”
My eyes went wide when I heard the vile, deadly, voice answer me. “Sephiroth….”
He cackled into the phone, “You sound scared, Strife.”
I attempted to compose myself to the best of my ability. I knew that the call wasn’t one of peace…not Sephiroth, not after what he said to me…and all I could think about was Reno, out there, with Shinra. He would attack Reno- he would because he knows that would destroy me…
That would kill me.
“What do you want,” I hissed into the phone, trying to come across as tough as possible.
“You afraid,” He saw right through my ploy- things haven’t changed, “You shouldn’t be, Cloud, I am not going after your precious boyfriend.”
“You leave Reno-“
“But little Aeris, well…it’s such a shame this had to happen to her.”
I almost broke phone in my grasp when he mentioned her name in such a…demonic way. “What…what are you going to do her? You better not hurt her, you son of a bitch.”
“Now now,” he laughed, “everything will make sense in soon Cloud.”
“No, now,” I screamed, “what do you want from me! You want me to die? Fine, I’ll die! Just don’t hurt anyone!”
“Your death would be nice,” he whispered, “but now I want so much more- so much more satisfaction. Your death will only give me part of what I desire.”
“What do you want!”
“…Destruction…”
My whole body trembled at the word, shivers bouncing up and down my spine as if I was smacked by a bone chilling, cold, wind. “Leave Aeris out of this,” I snarled.
“To late for that Cloud….you could have prevented this.”
Before I could call him every name in the book, the line went dead. I stared at my phone in disbelief…it just didn’t seem real all of a sudden. I had to have been dreaming again, that was the only excuse I could think of. It wasn’t real, right, because no one, no one could be that insane with anger.
But I didn’t have much time to dwell on the phone call…
A loud explosion rocked my ears, and I swore I could feel my lunch come up to my throat. I didn’t even have to look out the window- the sound of shattering glass, inhuman screams, and the orangey-red light coming off the corner of my window told the whole story. The boy, that silver haired boy, finally snapped. I dashed out of my house- I can’t even remember running down the stares…or telling my mom to call 911…it was just all surreal.
Only several feet away from my house, was the scene of such dismay. Smoke reached the sky, blanketing the clean twilight sky in an ominous black shadow, as flames of yellow, orange and red, growled from a car wedged around a power pole. The pole was tipping…and only seconds away from crashing onto my neighbors house. Loose power lines seethed on the street, sending sparks in random directions. I walked closer to the scene, despite my father screaming at me to come back. I couldn’t…I just couldn’t walk away.
Some neighbors ran out of their houses, gasping, crying…screaming- “someone call the police!” I think someone said. Or maybe that was me again. I was in a daze, almost high from the whole experience. I stopped in front of the car- my dad screaming at me again…- I couldn’t believe it was happening. It was Sephiroths car…or…what was left of it.
“The door is opening!” Someone shouted.
I looked at the passenger side…were the door was slowly creaking open. A bloody hand reached out for support, but I could only stand there and watch the figure pull itself from the car…
Drench in her scarlet blood, there she was…head to toe in death…
“Aeris!”
-
Reno’s POV
Smoke arose suddenly from Clouds block- the sounds of people screaming echoed through the smoke and reached my ears. All reality shattered…and all I could think of was Cloud…
I forgot about the two dangerous figures standing before me, until someone’s fist collided with my face, sending me to the ground with a loud “thud.” Warm liquid cascaded from a large gash on my head, dripping onto the cold street. I attempted to get up and fight back…but someone grabbed my collar and dragged a couple of yards from my car…
The figure forced me on my feet, swinging me around so I could see his menacing eyes.
“It’s too bad,” he punched my in gut, causing more blood to rain from my mouth; “Cloud will be loosing two people he cares about.”
Before I could respond, he punched me again, in the face, harder and with more force…sending me backwards into a glass sliding door.
I was lying in a pool of my own blood, with glass and snow decorating my still body; I tried to keep my eyes opened…
If I close them, it’s all over…
--
Cloud’s PoV
You ever see a baby being born? It’s probably the most beautiful thing one human being could see. There’s a new life, covered in blood, crying for your love. And you, as the parent, could do is hold out your hands and hold the trembling figure in your arms, hushing her weeps.
I guess I could compare the tragedy I was to witness, with the beauty of child birth- there was a girl, covering in blood…crying for my love. Aeris…she couldn’t even stand up once she got out of the car. I rushed to her, only to catch her in my arms as she tumbled to the fall. I was kneeling on the floor, cradling Aeris’ dying body in my arms, as the blood oozed from the millions of cuts that tore her body into the shreds. The fire next to us roared with anger, sending more power lines to their own death.
“Clou-“blood erupted from her mouth as she attempted to say my name.
“Don’t talk,” I pushed away some bloody strands of brown hair from her face, “Don’t talk, you…you need to save your strength….”
“You’re such a dreamer…” her voice trailed off, and her eyes lite up as if she was coming back to me. She looked straight into my eyes, as if looking for an answer to a question she didn’t ask…and smiled as if finding exactly what she needed.
“Don’t cry Cloud…” she weakly laughed, “don’t cry…”
I shook my head as if trying to deny even that- but the tears streaming down my face were hard to cover up, and my mind, so full of pretty words, couldn’t mask up the terror and disastrous situation Aeris and I were in...no…I just….I just couldn’t understand why I could feel her soul slipping again from me, and no matter how hard I tried- I tried-I couldn’t save her…all I could do was sit there on that blood soaked floor and cry for her. All she did was smile and laugh, as if…as if it was all a joke to her.
“Why are you crying,” she choked, “are you crying for me?”
I opened my mouth to answer, but words refused to come together for me, and all I could muster out were more weeps.
“It’s my fault…”
No it wasn’t, it was mine. I wanted to tell her that. I put her life in danger; I allowed this monster called Sephiroth to come after her, wrap his grimy hands around her slim form, and choke the life out of her. I was so blinded…I was so stupid…
“I’m sorry,” I finally managed to spit out, “I am so sorry Aeris…”
“I…grew up too fast…so…” her smile faded away… “so I had to…die so young.”
She went to sleep…an eternal sleep. I felt her last breath of life exit her body and she became absolutely still. I never knew….people could be this still or this silent. She didn’t even look real anymore…she looked like a beautiful statue. The color drained from her cheeks, and the blood finally stopped running…her eyes were closed so softly…but the light, it hit her just right that…she looked like an angel.
“Aeris,” I blurted out, “Wake up…?”
But she didn’t answer me…
“Come on, this isn’t funny anymore.” I shook the body. “You have to wake up…you’re too young to leave…”
I laid her body in her pool of blood, “You aren’t dead, that’s impossible.” Did it not hit me?
I crawled away from the body, and leaned against my neighbor’s house, my eyes never leaving the still form of my friend- my friend who was dead. Dead. “Aeris…”
I heard voices swarm around me; broken cries. I heard a mother pleas for help, I heard a father inhuman scream, I heard neighbors weeping…and I think I head my mother screaming for me. But…no one came near us…it wasn’t real. No one could admit that it was. No one could allow themselves to acknowledge what had just happened. A little girl, whose life was just beginning, died in the arms of the “innocent” little boy. These kind of scenes do not happen in these kind of neighborhoods. These kind of scenes, happen below us, in the slums…
So this couldn’t have been real.
But it was…
Someone grabbed my shoulder and shook me out of the trance I was in. Half surprised, and half blinded from tears, I jumped up and looked around like a manic for the culprit. The hand, the cold hand grabbed my shoulder again, and swung me around to face him. His scarlet eyes burned into me with pity and anger swirling within them.
“Cloud,” he hissed, “Why are you here?”
I shook my head, “what?”
He shook me again, “Reno’s in trouble! Do you want to loose someone else you love!”
“Loose?”
I didn’t wait for him to answer; my legs knew what to do. I took off, like a bat out of hell…with the risk of running into the arms of my dead boyfriend.
-
Reno’s POV
My eyes sprung open, and I was met with the image of someone’s ceiling staring down at me. I tried to recall the events that got me into this awkward position, of being in a strangers house, glass shrouded around me, and warm liquid cascading down my head. However, an inhuman scream jolted me from my thoughts, and a sprung up as if I was being attacked. Dizziness overwhelmed me, and I almost hit the floor again…
“Dammit,” I grabbed my bloody head, “What’s doing on-“
I looked up…too my own despair, and saw I had woken up in the bowels of hell- power lines where cut and swimming on the street, sending sparks to erupt into the sky, and cars were set ablaze by angry arsons. I cautiously walked out the house, stepping on glass covered in my own blood, and looked around my block in disbelief. People were running out of their house, screaming in pain…as windows burst from the flames within the houses. I turned to the right and saw a mother clutch her injured child, while a father- held back by his friends- attempted to run back in the house for his daughter.
“What…” Rude laid on the floor, beaten to a pulp, and breathing harshly, as his car burned near him.
More shattering glass caught my attention, and my eyes laid themselves on Rufus second floor bay window. “Rufus?” Gun shots erupted…and Rufus stumbled back into the window…
He fell for so long….
Glass fell along with him…
It was all in slow motion…he reached for help…he reached for God’s help. But he fell…
The crack could be heard from miles away…and drowned out the terrifying scream of the people who witnessed it. The whole word had gone absolutely, fucking, insane.
“Reno!”
And yet, amidst the confusion and fear…his voice seemed so perfect…
I turned to the left…and past the destruction, was my blue eyed boyfriend covered in blood. “Run,” I whispered to myself… “Run you fucking idiot just run!”
I ran as fast as I could, despite my legs crying for collapse. I didn’t expect to make it into his arms…I was going to fall and never wake up- the world was just so insane, it could have happened…
But the next thing I knew, his arms engulfed me, and I was pressed against his strong chest- sobbing like a child.
And for a second there, I forgot about the hell behind me…