From Now On

Pairings: IrvinexSquall, LagunaxSquall, SeiferxZell

A/N: Short chapter for now, but the next one will be a little longer.

From Now On

Chapter 2

It was dark. The night came and it rained heavily outside. Carefully the blond boy walked through dark halls. A blackout had occurred because of the rain and Zell was tired of waiting for the electricity to come back. He thought about spending the whole night under his bed covers, but his stomach pleaded for him to do something about the growing hunger awakened.

Trying to find out where he was, he touched the walls for guidence until he felt something in his hands. A shiver ran down his spine... He went suddenly still and breathed hard until...

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh."

"Chicken, what's your problem?"

Zell thought about screaming again, but then realized he recognized the voice.

"Oh, it's you... I thought... I... What you're doing in here?"

"I was trying to go downstairs when someone decided to have a feel of me... Tsk tsk didn't know you felt this way about me."

"Hey... It's not...."

"Who's there?"

"Me and Chicken."

"Bastard."

"Oh thank goodness you're okay. Let's go downstairs and see what happened. Come, I know this place like... Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh."

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh," Zell screamed too, not knowing why, but he was certain that something had happened for Laguna to scream like that, something bad.

"I was sure the stairs weren't here before," Laguna said while lifting himself up. He was lucky not to have rolled down the stairs.

"Are you alright, sir?"

"Yeah... yeah, but, please, don't call me sir, call me Laguna. And you, man, are you alright? Why did you scream?"

"Me? Oh...."

"Chicken-wuss is afraid of darkness."

"Am not."

"Oh, yes, you are."

The blond boys were lost in their argument, forgetting to ask if Laguna needed any help, so the man descended the stairs awkwardly. After a few frustrated attempts, he made it safely through the main hall, only bumping into some couches and dropping some chairs and vases along the way. When he passed through the corridor that led him to the inner part of the main floor, he saw a light in the end of the tunnel.

"Mr. Loire, are you okay?"

"Yes, dear."

"You seem hurt..." Selphie got closer and looked up with big green worried eyes.

"Oh, it's nothing, just dropped a few things on my way here, nothing too expensive... I think. Hey, I see you found a flashlight."

"Oh, yes! I'm always prepared for these kind of situations! It seems we're out of energy... bad bad storm... Can't watch TV."

"Guess we have to survive this night without it... Any idea?"

"What if we gather at the fireplace telling horror stories?"

"Sounds great!"

Can I pretend I didn't hear it and go back to my room?

"Is that you, Squall?"

"..."

Selphie grabbed the boy's hand. "Let's go build up a fire."

Nooo.

"Do you know how to do it, dear?" Laguna asked concerned.

"Of course! I always see it on TV!

"Please, can I go with you?" another voice asked.

"Ahh... Okay, Irvy-chan, I won't let you all alone in the darkness. I'm a good girl."

"Thankz!"

Squall normally liked to have Irvine around, but something was telling him that Selphie, Irvine and fire wasn't a good combination.

"I'm going with you too!" Laguna said excitedly.

Oh, no.

Squall never prayed, but he thought that was a good time to start.

xxx

It was still raining heavily outside.

"...While the girl hid in the wardrobe... Suddenly, she heard footsteps getting closer and closer and her heart was beating so quickly she was afraid the killer could hear it. But then it all went dead silent... 'till a loud thunder stormed in the skies and she screamed when she saw her boyfriend's head rolling on the floor. And she passed out. The next day she was found alive, but the identity of the cruel murderer remained a secret until today. They say she could never get near a circus anymore and she still heard the laughing of the clows in the dark of the night. That was a true story."

Seifer's laughing filled the brief silence that showed up after Selphie's tale.

"It's not funny, Seifer! It's really real and you shouldn't make fun of it."

"Selphie, this not even scared chicken here."

"Yeah, I'm not even... Hey! What do you mean..."

"Okay, okay, I agree. It's not very scary. It's just a warm up for the really frightening story. I invite now Mr. Loire to reveal the secret of the house you are in right now."

"Oh... I don't think what they say is true. It seems a perfectly safe house to me. If not, I shouldn't have bought it in the first place."

"Ooooohhh, pleeeeease. You promised me you were gonna tell us all about this haunted house."

"It's not haunted."

"Is it haunted...?" Zell asked.

"I thought you knew, Chicken."

"Of course not, Zell." Quistis said patiently.

"How can you be so sure?" Irvine asked. "I mean... It's not like I'm scared or something like that... But, guys, think. We're in an old house in the middle of the forest. The perfect place for ghosts and serial killers to find their teenager victims."

"Yeah, he's right," Zell agreed.

"See. Someone agrees with me."

"And from what I heard, the killings in this house have something to do with evil forces."

"Someone was killed in this house?" Nida was worried.

"Come on, guys, you can't be serious." Rinoa said.

"It's true, Mr. Loire told me."

"In fact..."

"Did you two plan on making my birthday party in a place like this? And you thought it was a good idea?"

Everyone stared at Squall.

Did I say that out loud?

"No! I mean, yes! Well, in fact..."

"Nevermind." Squall got up from the couch, intending to go to his room.

"Please, don't go."

The boy was frustrated with himself for stopping.

"Yeah, Mr. Loire still need to tell his story."

"..."

"Well, I guess I have no choice than telling how I became the owner of this place. You'll see, there's nothing to be afraid of."

"Hum..." Squall thought twice and sat down again. It wasn't as if he was curious... He just thought it was too early to go to bed at that moment. "Whatever."

"Okay." Laguna stood up and walked to the front of the fireplace. "It was said it was a normal family. Father, mother, three children, grandmother and one uncle."

"And a dog," Selphie complemented.

"Yeah, that's right, a dog named Rude."

"Wasn't it Reno?"

"Was it?"

"Yeah, okay, go on." Seifer said before taking some of Zell's popcorn.

The short blond shivered when a hand brushed his thigh. He didn't know exactly why.

"Where did I stop?"

"The father, you mentioned that something happened to him."

"Oh, yes. One day... it seemed like a day like every other, mysteriously, the man disappeared. He had went fishing and never came back. The family searched everywhere but only found the fishing boat at the riverside. There was no clues about his whereabouts."

"Maybe he drowned." Irvine suggested.

"No one could drown in that river, Kinneas, not even Chicken-Wuss."

"Why always me? Don't you have any other person to mock?"

"I don't think it's polite to make fun of Puberty Boy in front of his dad."

"...Excuse me?"

"Seifer! Don't talk like that about Squall! When I first met you, I never thought you were so mean!"

"Hey, Rinoa, calm down. I never said that Puberty Boy was Leonhart."

"Guys! You're not paying attention!"

"Please, let's hear the story so it can end soon and we can all go to bed," Quistis reasoned.

"I don't wanna go to bed right now..." Irvine said. "Only if someone joins me."

Squall was lost in thought for a while, until Laguna's voice filled the room again.

"After a while, the grandmother started to have strange dreams. It was her lost son pointing at a trail in the forest."

"That one we took today?" Nida asked.

"Yes, that one!"

"..."

"One of the sons of the lost man decided to follow the trail, hoping he could find his father. He made his way into the forest and... never again was he seen."

"Well, there's nothing strange about men disappearing in the forest. I think that every day there are idiots losing their way."

"It's not the end, Seifer! Don't you dare leaving right now!"

"Yeah, I know, you're gonna punish me if I leave now."

"You bet."

"Can I continue the story now?"

"Of course, Mr. Loire."

"Well... Some days after--"

"Guys, no further interruption! Go on, Mr. Loire."

"Okay... Days after--"

"If anyone interrupts the story again I'll..."

"Honey, let the man speak."

"Mr. Loire will only be able to continue if you stay quiet, Irvine."

"Okay, okay! You won't hear my voice from now on for this night, I promise."

"May I..." Laguna looked around to see if he could speak again. "The dog was found dead some days later."

"I guess Seifer won't like this part of the story."

"Oh, shut up, Chicken."

"GUYS!"

"I didn't mean to interrupt," Zell said.

"You see, it's all Chicken's fault."

"Hey!"

"YOU TWO STOP YELLING NOW!"

Oh... Headache...

"Are you alright, Squall?"

"Yeah, yeah, fine." The boy rubbed his temple. "Please, go on."

"Oh, okay!" Laguna exclaimed excitedly. "I'm so happy you wanna hear my story."

Squall stared at the man's shining eyes.

Why should I care if you're happy or unhappy, if you smile like this at me... Damn, stop looking at me like that...

"Well then..." Laguna saw Squall staring at him and found it difficult to concentrate on his task and... what was it anyway? "Oh... well, after this, the telephone started ringing several times during the days, but only the mother could hear it and when she picked up the phone... she only heard strange sounds. The woman started to act differently over the time, she was no more the lively person she was before. She was changed, living most part of her time alone in her room.

Like Puberty Boy.

"One day, at dinner time, one of her sons got out of the table and headed to his mother's room. He got a gun and shot his mother and then shot himself."

Tragic.

"After all this, the uncle believed the house was cursed and insisted on the idea of leaving the house once and for all with the remaining members of the family. For some strange reason, his nephew and mother decided to stay, living their lives as if nothing happened. The man left the house, but died two or three years after, in the bathtub of his apartment in the city. The woman said that at what would be the same time of the man's death, her grandson left the dinner table and said he’d visit his father. The young man left the house never to be seen again.”

He stopped briefly to take a breath and then continued. “One day a traveller appeared on the house, asking for directions. He wasn't lost, he was just making sure he was following the right way. Well, the nice lady invited him for some tea, delicious tea, and they talked until sunset. Then the woman told him the tragic story of her family and asked if the man believed in it. He was very impressed at the time and said yes. I might say that he was a little, just a little frightened, but his curiosity was stronger than his fear. He asked a lot of questions and decided to solve the mystery, sleeping in the house. After some days, the man concluded that there was nothing wrong with the house. He never saw anything strange and despite what people told him about the place, he found it very charming and cozy. Then the woman made a proposal of selling the house to the man, and he accepted it! Guess who was he?"

No idea...

"Was it you, Mr. Loire?" Rinoa asked cheerfully.

"Hey, nice guess! It was me!"

What a surprise...

"But..." Selphie. "What happened with the old lady?"

"Oh... She moved to a little house in a city nearby."

"And what happened to her?"

"Last I heard about her, she was having dance classes and adopted three cats."

"Oh... I thought she had died in a very tragic accident."

"Why did you think that?"

"The curse?"

"Oh, dear, there's no curse. It was just a tale told by a sweet and creative old lady."

"I don't know... I think we should investigate further...."

"I think we should go to sleep, Selphie." Quistis got up from the couch she had been slouched on and yawned."

"But I'm not tired!"

"Girl, you’re never tired!" Irvine exclaimed.

"I think we have plenty of time to investigate the story in the next days." Laguna touched the girl's shoulders.

"Cool, Mr. Loire!"

"Please... call me just Laguna..." The man scratched the back of his head.

"I can't wait to start investigating! I know what I need to do right now! I'll make some plans!"

Please do it quietly.

The girl waved to everyone and grabbed Quistis' hand and went to her room.

Everyone seemed relieved and decided it was a good time to sleep, so they all headed back to their rooms. The electricity had returned after some time after they went to bed.

It was past midnight and someone was still awake. His blue eyes focused on the shadows of the leaves moving with the wind. It was still raining heavily and the clarity of lightnings could be seen from time to time. The boy then looked around the room and saw the other blond form breathing steadly in his sleep.

Okay, there's nothing wrong with this house... It's just a dark old house in the middle of the forest. Nothing to be worried about.

Zell rolled in his bed, gripping his covers tightly.

The strange sounds are just the rain. The shiver I feel when I walk next to the Laguna’s bedroom is just the cold wind...

"Chicken, will you sleep?"

"I'm trying to!"

"Stop rolling on the bed and making all those noises!"

"I'm just..." Suddenly Zell stopped. "...Did you hear that?"

"What?"

"A dog barking."

Seifer remained silent for a moment but heard no sound. "Stop being a chicken-wuss, don't tell me you believed in that story."

"No! I..." Zell paused for a moment. "Again... I'm sure it's a dog barking."

"Can you stop talking about dogs?" Seifer laid back on his bed and tried to concentrate on sleeping.

"But...."

"Zell, look at me."

Then the younger boy stared at the mesmerizing green eyes.

"There's no fucking dog in here."

"Okay! I got it!" Zell turned his back to the other blond. "Bastard."

"Stupid chicken."

"Can I leave the lamp on?"

Squall looked at the girl with an annoyed expression on his face. "Are you afraid of the dark?"

"Of course not! I'm just used to sleep with some lights on."

"Whatever." The boy put his covers over his face. How could the girl sleep with so much clarity?

"Squall, I know that it may sound silly but, do you think that maybe something in the story Laguna told was slightly true?"

Hell."No."

"Maybe there's nothing wrong in this house, but do you believe in ghosts? You know, generally."

"No."

I believe in Hell and I'm living in it.

"One day, when I was 8, I think I heard my mother call me...."

Squall stood up and headed for the door.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm thirsty, okay? Do I have to announce every time I need to drink water?"

"Course not..." Rinoa felt hurt. "Go on...."

Squall inspired deeply. He wasn't even thirsty, but he needed some peace. Maybe, if he was lucky, Rinoa could be asleep when he came back. Then he could turn off the lights and rest for awhile. Was it too much to ask for? Well, until then he had to spend some time somewhere and it didn't seem to be a bad idea to go to the kitchen after all. When he reached the place, he saw that the lights were already on and someone must...

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh."

"..."

"Oh, man, is that you?" It was Irvine.

"What are you doing here? Can't sleep?"

"Well... no...."

"Don't tell me you're...."

"I'm not scared! I was just..." Irvine stopped suddenly and started to look strangely at the backdoor direction. "Did you see that?"

"What?" Squall turned to the direction Irvine was looking. "I don't see a thing." He kept looking at the glass door.

"Man, I saw a shadow passing quickly."

"It's just your imagination."

Then a strange noise was heard outside, like something was scrathing the wooden surface.

Squall looked at Irvine's face, the boy seemed terrified.

"Look! I saw it again." Unconsciously, he grabbed Squall's arm. For a moment the brunette was lost in some reverie, until he moved away from the touch and bravely walked to the door's direction.

Irvine stood in place, not daring to move.

Squall gathered courage and opened the door, revealing a pair of blue eyes staring directly at him.

It barked.

"Well, Irvine, it's not a monster." The dog came closer to Squall and sniffed him.

"Hey, buddy! What you're doing here?" Irvine leaned down and caressed the dog's head.

"Maybe he lives here."

"But who feeds you? You hunt? You hunt birds and rabbits?"

"Maybe he followed us on the road." Then the dog yawned and walked in the direction of the forest, disappearing from view between the dark trees.

"Why are you laughing?" Irvine asked.

"I'm not laughing."

"Why are you smiling?"

"I'm not smiling."

"Are you making fun of me?"

"No... It was just... funny to see your face.." Squall couldn't hold a small and brief smile.

Irvine laughed. "Well, but I was seeing something! At least I'm not crazy!"

"Yet."

"You son of a bitch." And Irvine laughed more.

When Squall returned to his room that night, Rinoa was already sleeping peacefully. Well, day 1 hadn't been all that bad after all.

x

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To be continued...

A/N: I’m doing my best to revise the text and avoid making mistakes, but it’s being very hard for me. Sometimes I think there’s some parts that are difficult to understand, I don’t know if I can always make myself clear. It’s making me feel a little frustrated. I’m still looking for a betar reader for this English version of my fic, I have a sad non-replied topic on the forum, so... if anyone takes pity on a self-critical author...
And I’m sorry, if the boys aren’t fucking each other senseless yet. If everything goes as planned, they will!
Thank you for reading! I hope you’re enjoying it!