Lightning's Challenge; ||Juju||

[LightningϟStrife]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, width: 380px; border-left: 20px solid #7a9aa9; background-image:url(http://i583.photobucket.com/albums/ss279/legendskseeker/fk5qwnjpg.png); padding-left: 10px; padding-bottom: 20px;] She felt as if she was in a fucking horror movie. Lightning grit her teeth, angrily punching the black wall beside her with a loose fist, cursing under her breath as the wall scraped exposed skin. She despised being told what to do. Following orders that she didn't want to. But here she was, stuck in some fucking shitty house, with her fucking friends and 3 fucking psychos, with no way out. Like seriously, what the fuck. None of this felt real; as if they were just like the stupid, predictable, overrated characters in a stupid, predictable, overrated plot of a badly directed gore film. It was fucking stupid. Why were they even splitting up anyway? That was just the most fucking retarded thing to do. People were vulnerable when they were alone. No one had your back. Fucking hell. It was as if they were all that moronic blonde slut that always appeared in the horror movies; the one that died first because she fucked off from the rest of her friends. Frustrating. So. Frustrating. She felt like screaming at anything and everything; her mind was hectic, trying to shout what to do at a screen showing Lightning's situation. A screen that didn't exist. That dickhead of a cunt Julian had told them all to find a room. And then one by one, they had all left. 'No,' she wanted to scream at them, 'don't leave! Stay together!' She ran the words over her mind as she walked, not taking care to see where she was going. Why hadn't she said what she was thinking? She was going to.. But she didn't. She couldn't understand. She had a fucking tongue -- 4 words were all that needed to be said; stay in a group. But no. She said no such things, and so here she was now. Fucking alone. Which was just wonderful. Fuck sake. Lightning carried on down the hall, light blue orbs warily searching for anything that seemed dangerous, the tips of her fingertips just briefly touching the walls beside her. They were supposed to find a door, then confront their worst fears. Jesus fucking christ. Did they want to be more fucking vague. There were probably hundreds of fucking doors in this fucking house; it would take her hours to find the specific one. And worst fears? She didn't know what they were! How was she supposed to prepare herself when she didn't even know what she was scared of the most. I mean, yes, she had a few ideas of what she feared. But the worst... Well. It couldn't be possible, could it? Lightning absent-mindedly shook her head as she thrust open a black door, peering in to be greeted with vast darkness. Slamming the door back shut, she carried on walking, biting her lip. How did they even know what her fear was? Lightning never told anyone; it was impossible for Julian to know. But somehow-- if somehow they knew.. Cloud? She drew to an abrupt stop; eyes wide in fear. No. No. Her twin was fine. Per-- no, not perfect; never perfect. But he was alive. They couldn't have.. hurt him, right? Or.. worse? She forced a laugh, the sound empty; echoing off the walls with a hint of worry dragging it away from sounding amused as it should have been. No. They couldn't have killed him. That was murder. Teenagers weren't capa-- Pride. Her line of thought faltered, as she remembered the state of Raea's boyfriend. Running a hand through her hair, she let out a breath of air. Anyone was capable of murder; regardless of age. Cloud; her brother, her twin. The only person that she trusted, and loved. The only family she had left. He had to be alive. She had to get out of here, with her friends, and make sure that Cloud was safe. Lightning narrowed her eyes; the light blue now sporting a much, much darker edge. New yet grim determination set in her mind, she strode forward, banging open any door she could find. "C'mon," She muttered, her teeth grit, "Where the fuck are you?" She rounded a corner, only to be greeted by a narrow staircase; on the landing above her, she could make out a door that seemed more sinister than the others. This was the one. She leapt up the stairs, taking two at a time, desperate to get this over and done with. Her feet landed safely on the landing, and she placed a hand on the wall next to her, bending over slightly to catch her breath. Her eyes closed, trying to soothe her nerves at the same time. This was it. She was about to face her worst fears. Standing up tall, she turned, slowly, to face the door. Hesitantly, she turned her head to the right, and pushed her ear up against the wood, straining to hear anything that could warn her about what she was up against. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock-- Lightning ripped her head away from the door; heart pounding. The sound of a clock. Shit. Fucking mother fuckers. How the fuck did they know? How, the fuck did they know she despised the sound of a ticking clock? Brows knitted tightly together in concentration, she softly touched the wood, sliding her fingers down to curve into the door handle, gently gripping it, ready to turn. She took a deep breathe. This was it. Now or never. She opened the door. Darkness. Soft ticking from the far off distance. A shiver crept up Lightning's back. She didn't want to go in. Fuck, she just wanted to turn around and leg it. But that wasn't the rules. And if she wanted to help save anyone, she had to follow the fucking rules. Whether she wanted to or not. Cautiously, she stepped inside, jumping out of the way just in time as the door slammed shut behind her; cloaking her in darkness, her eyes slowly adjusting to the blackness around her. Where was she? One sense already lost to her, she decided to count on a different one; touch. Reaching out, she rummaged around to see what she could feel, letting out a little gasp as she felt a rough substance that could only be bricks. The gap she was in seemed narrow; how long was this room? Sending a burst of energy to her hand, she felt a burst of energy erupt into her palm, electricity circling itself into a tiny ball; it's light making the perfect lamp. Ahead, Lightning could only make out more darkness. Making the ball of electricity more contact, she took a step back, before throwing the ball, baseball style. She watched, confused, as the lightning flickered out. There was nothing but more darkness ahead. Was she supposed to walk down this alley? Was that it? Trying her best to ignore the ticking (because if she didn't, she might have tried to make a run for it) she started to slowly walk down, ignoring the urge to call out. She refused to be like those people in horror films, who shouted if anyone was there. Like the killer hiding behind the door was going to reply. Yeah. Right. Another electricity ball ready in hand, she continued to make her way down, her figure rigid, fear already setting place. Briefly, she wondered if the others were doing ok. She shook her head; they were fine. Of course they were, they were the fucking bratpack. She couldn't be distracted right now; concentrate on herself and the situation at hand. Right. Concentrate. Easier said that fucking done.

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TEMPLATE BY KHRISTIAN OF CAUTION 2.0, [/center]

[Julian Blake]

Julian was truly in his element tonight. Why was that? Because Julian was playing his game tonight. The game that created himself. The game that his sadistic and twisted mind came up with to torture his fellow man and weed out the truly pure and innocent ones that deserved to live. That deserved him. He would have been skipping down the hallways if he did such things, which he didn't. That was something more out of his assistants book and he rarely ever took any pages out of her book. Not that he was mad at her this evening, no she was a complete help tonight as she always was when he needed her.

She was even helping with a challenge tonight. The most important one of all. Astraea's. He grinned at the thought as he wondered, well more battled over whether he wanted her to get through her challenge or whether he didn't. For selfish reasons he really wanted her to get through her challenge so that she could be his innocent one and then that would be it. No more game his search would be over, or if he wanted her to lose so he could kill that dumb boyfriend of hers. He had discovered the boy was quite smart actually but that didn't matter. He was dumb for thinking that he was going to be able to keep her.

That aside though, He wasn't on his way to go Astraea's. He was on his way to deal with a different challenge.

Lightning.

He snickered a little bit as he thought what was going to befall this girl. He loved doing this to people, to see the fear in there eyes and the realized that this wasn't a fun type of game. This wasn't a game that they were going to end up telling they're friends a bout. This was the nightmare that was going to haunt them for probably the rest of their lives if they got to live them. It was something Julian made sure of. He was a perfectionist when it came to his torture and he was going to make sure that this was nothing short of the perfection he knew he was capable of. He grinned, besides torturing Lightning couldn't possibly be that hard. He had already done it before.

He grinned as he emerged inside the room which to him was just another room that he had in his vast mansion. He looked around and just waited to hear the turn of the knob, she would find the room it would call to her more then the others because that was just how this game worked.

He grinned when he heard a soft click meaning that the door was in fact opening, When she got in here she was going to see what he wanted her to see. This was the reality of the illusion, but she wouldn't see him she wouldn't even notice that he was there. She would see what he projected and what he projected as an alleyway and the sound of a ticking clock. It amused him how the littlelest things could frighten someone so much. So much that they had a heart attack of some sort. If they died here, they died in the real world too. Because the illusion was also reality. Unless of course Julian did something about it and why on earth would he do anything like that? He wouldn't because he was in fact Julian Blake. Not some soft hearted person.

He could see that Lightning was bemused about what was going on and not only that. She was scared. He could smell the fear it rippled off of her in waves of deliciousness that he couldn't help but breath in as if it was warm apple pie. To Lightning, she would see the Alleyway go further and further down.

He walked all the way down to what the end of the alley would be for her and smiled at what grand illusion of reality he had placed there. Oh he was real enough, she would be able to touch him and see her dead brother. Enough to scare her. Scare her to death perhaps even he thought with a chuckle. As she neared the end the ticking was just going to get louder and when the ticking got louder she would see the dead body and and as soon as she tried to touch him. He was going to burst into a million little spiders that would begin to crawl all over her as the ticking clock just got louder and louder.

How was she going to deal with that one? He grinned. Not well, he was sure of it.

Words: 805
Muse:goood
Notes: Hes evil what can I say

[LightningϟStrife]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, width: 380px; border-left: 20px solid #7a9aa9; background-image:url(http://i583.photobucket.com/albums/ss279/legendskseeker/fk5qwnjpg.png); padding-left: 10px; padding-bottom: 20px;] Back when she was a little girl, Lightning loved to draw. The orphanage she stayed at may have neglected the children, but they had excellent art supplies. So, she would steal some paint and paper, clamber up to her room, lock the door, and trap herself into her own self-made haven. A world, where nothing could harm her. Where not even her brother could enter. The world she had created, was just for herself. And it was peaceful. The drawings she drew, they had no end. Whether it was a street, a sky, a sea; it didn't matter. It was the piece of paper that ended, not the drawing itself. The street, sky, sea would go on forever; limitless. Limitless. That felt like a good word to describe the alleyway. Because just like her childhood drawings, the alleyway that Lightning was currently walking down right now appeared to be endless. As much as she walked, she couldn't find the end. Was this the fear? Was this it? She let out a dry laugh. Perhaps they had all hyped up this game to be something much worse than it should have been. Perhaps their worst fears, weren't fears at all. Just some stupid joke, played by a master player. But then she remembered the last time she had tried to fool herself that this was a joke. The way his eyes looked; cold, blue -- the same as hers. But something was different; something was detached. His soul, maybe? Ha. How humerous. Perhaps Julian was a man who had sold his soul to the devil. Even in a situation as dire as this, Lightning couldn't help rolling her eyes. The devil didn't exist. But neither did nightmares that came to life. Until now. She shook her head; focus. She had to focus. Eyes narrowed, she carried on walking, the little ball of man-made light in her hand slowly starting to flicker, as the strain of keeping her affinity active for so long started to get to her. With a sigh, she turned it off. Her vision instantly clouded into darkness, and she stayed still until her eyes started to get used to the black. Blinking a few times, she began to carry one walking, squinting to see anything peculiar. The footsteps of her heels created a nice diversion to the ever increasing volume of the ticking in the background, and for that, Lightning was thankful. Concentrating on that, she carried on. It was only then, that she realised she still had her stupid, masquerade dress on. She came to a sudden halt. Puzzled, she stared down, the length of her dress worrying her. If she had to run, then this would become a problem for her. Reaching down, using her fingernail, she slowly cut the material, so that it was a few centimetres above her knees. With a satisfied smile, she ripped off any uncut cloth, not giving a shit if the finished outcome was jagged. It was a stupid dress, anyway. Well, back to business. She carried on walking, getting used to the eerie scenery. This, wasn't so bad. She could deal with worse. Much worse, in fact. Lightning chewed on her lip, deep in thought. If this was it -- if having to walk down some shitty, dark alley was all she had to do, then that would be fine. After all, it was just walking, right? She could just block out the noise. Concentrate on something else. Easy! And really, they all were worr-- Oh god. Oh god. Oh god. No. Please no. Oh god. Lightning froze; paralysed in fear. Eyes wide in shock, she stared, wishing, willing for it to not be true. In front of her, just a few yards away, was a body. A body, that looked increasingly familiar. Oh god. No. It had to be someone else; it had to be. Please -- not him. Anyone, but him. She willed herself to walk forward; to carry on walking. But her body refused to communicate, and she stayed where she was -- frozen. It couldn't -- no. It wasn't. Not again. Suddenly, as if her legs finally just got the message, she broke off into a run; chasing down the alleyway, hoping with everything she had that it wasn't him; that it wasn't her brother. That it wasn't Cloud. Because she couldn't lose him. Not again. Oh god. Please. She skidded to a halt, mere inches away from the body. As quick as her legs had started moving again, they failed her just as fast, and she collapsed; a heap of despair. Cerulean eyes hungrily searched the body's features, rejecting the familiar images, searching for anything that was different. Because it couldn't be him. She must have had it wrong. It couldn't be true. It couldn't -- it couldn't -- but it was. Her hands shook. Reaching out, she wanted to touch him, just to make sure he was real. Just before her fingertips made contact, she hastily tucked her hands away, She had touched her dead brother once before. She didn't want to again. Screams. For a second, Lightning pitied the girl who was screaming. Such, agonizing wails; sounds of emptiness and surely, death itself. It took her a while to realise, that those screams were coming from her, and those screams weren't in fact screams, but sobs. Tears flew down her cheeks, and she made no movement to wipe them. Burying her face into her hands, she screamed and sobbed until her throat was sore; hoping for some sort of denial to set her free from this misery. But no such luck. And then, the memories. All at once, they attacked her, leaving her no room to breathe. Thousands of images flooding her brain; images of Cloud, the last time she'd seen him -- the last time he was alive.. Eyes blank, she let herself go into a world of make believe. Propped up by a foundation of only her memories, the sweet, release of denial finally came; she was free. *** Laughter. How long had it been since she'd heard such noise? She curled up, happy. Her brother, Cloud, was with her. Playing with her hair, just like when they were younger. She smiled. "I love you, Cloud. I love you lots." She could feel him smile back. "I know, Light. I love you too." She closed her eyes, content. Yes, this was right. This was the reality. Cloud was well, and alive. He loved her. They were a family. Her smile grew into a grin. Yes. This was how it should be. She relaxed, letting Cloud twist her hair into an intricate pattern, ignoring the small pinches of pain as he did so. "This is real, isn't it?" She asked, dreamily. Of course it was. She laughed to herself. Of course it was real. So why was she asking? Lightning frowned. No, this wasn't right. This was real.. Wasn't it? "..Cloud?" He hadn't answered her question. Her frown deepened, as Cloud began to tug on her hair more viscously, each pull harder than the first. "You don't belong here." The hair pulling began to become unbearable, and she yelled out, attempting to tug her hair out of his hands. "You don't belong here; you need to go." No! This wasn't how -- no -- this didn't -- it wasn't reali -- *** She blinked. What? Wasn't she just.. Huh? She turned, to see her brother, sitting just beside her. She looked around; the courtyard. Yes, of course. They were in the courtyard. How silly of her. She smiled; something he returned. But it wasn't genuine. Worried, she grasped his hand, pulling him towards her. "Cloud? What's wrong? Why aren't you happy?" She asked, desperate to know. Her brother deserved the best. Nothing but the best. He couldn't be sad; if he was sad, then he would do bad things. That couldn't happen. Not any more. He frowned, and turned his head away. "I.. I want to leave. I want to leave this House of Night." He turned his head back; his eyes searching for the cerulean he knew. "Run away with me, Light. Run away with me." Yes. Of course I'll go with you. Ye -- what? Why weren't those words coming out of her mouth? She knew what to say; why couldn't she say them? "I-I'm sorry Cloud.. I don't-- no, it's just.. I like it here. I don't want to leave.." No@ What was she saying? Stop! "I'm sorry.. He looked at her; his eyes full of sadness. He nodded once. A silent ok. Slowly, his features began to twist into a gruesome picture; he face appearing to melt, his features blending into each other. She began to scream, shoving herself away from this beast. What was this?! Where was her brother? What had she do -- Bring him ba -- realit -- *** She was running. Why? Confused, she came to a sudden stop, and immediately bended over, her heart thumping, gasping for air. Where was she? Still out of breath, she looked up. The men's bathroom sign hung clearly on the wall in front of her. She stiffened. A strong sense of foreboding took over her body. This couldn't be -- could it? Nervously, she stepped into the bathroom. Nothing. She sighed, closing her eyes; exhausted from the tension. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Tick. Toc-- Her eyes sprang open. Where? She scanned the room warily, searching for the image that haunted her brain. Slowly, she walked towards the single cubicle. With a shaking hand, she reached out, and opened the door. With a creak, the door slid open. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Tic-- She screamed, her legs collapsing once more. Eyes wide, she stared, unable to rip her eyes away from the scene. Just like before, her brother's body was hanging from the ceiling; broken, bloodied. But this time, it was swinging. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Tick. Toc-- She squeezed her eyes shut, digging her nails into her skin, urging herself to forget the image; but it was too late. It was already burned into her brain, trapped away forever in her mind. She felt something move across her leg and she jolted, ripping her hands away from her face. Nothing. Confused, she forced herself to look back at her dead brother's hanging body. Except it wasn't a body any more. It was the ghost of one; food wrapped around a spider's silk, it's eight eyes staring right at where Lightning stood. This time, she screamed and didn't stop. *** Lightning stirred. Eyes wide now, she frowned, the drumming in her mind louder than ever. She felt something trickle down the side of her face, and for a moment, she wondered if it was blood. Using her fingers to wipe it away, her mouth dropped, as she saw that it was blood. Confused, she hastily wiped the substance off her hands and onto her dress. The sight of it was making her feel sick. Slowly, her eyes flickered back to the dead body of her brother, Her breath caught in her throat. She dragged her legs towards her and hugged them, needing some sort of security. Tucking her head into knees, the previous madness was replaced be a sudden wave of rage. Her twin was dead. And it was all because of them; no. It was all because of Astraea Dike. Her eyes turned a more sinister colour, and she snarled. This was all her fault. Because of her, they were all in this stupid, fucking game. Because of her, Lightning's brother was dead. Because of her, Lightning now had no family. At all. All because of her. She hated her. No, she despised her. When she got out of here, she'd be the first throat she'd rip out. Then Julian's. Then his little friends. Then, the rest of the Pack. Because it was their fault too. They had lured her away from Cloud. Because of them, she couldn't spend as much time as she could have. Because of all of them, she'd lost her one and true family. Because of them, she was all alone. Alone. Because of them. Unforgivable. Cloud was dead, because of them. So they needed to die too. All of them. Or maybe, she'd kill just the people that they loved the most. So that they could feel it too. So that they could understand, what it felt, to lose the only thing you loved. No, they'd never understand. They would never understand her pain; her loss. They would never understand. Ever. But did this all really matter? Cloud was dead. She had no one. She had no one at all. Was there even any point in living any mo-- What was that? Lightning swivelled around, eyes alert. She had definitely heard something. Footsteps, perhaps? Were they going to take Cloud away?! In a flash, she scrambled towards the corpse of her twin, digging her hands into his chest, pulling him up into a tight embrace. He was hers; she'd never let him go again. She held him tightly for a few seconds, before his skin began to move. Confused, she paused, before pushing Cloud away from her a little, wanting to see what was going on. For a second, she thought she could see his eyes flutter. Hope filled her up, and she tightened her grip on him, willing for him to wake up. But he did no such thing. Instead, he did something much, much worse. He was a body; limp, and cold in her arms. But then, he wasn't. The movement around his skin began to become more prominent, and the bulges grew bigger, distorting his skin in a gruesome way. Disgusted, Lightning watched, still unable to let her brother go. It was as if someone popped a water balloon with a needle. Cloud's body suddenly erupted, but instead of blood, thousands of spiders splattered out, all alive, crawling, running amok. They crawled onto Lightning's body, and she let out a terrified shriek, swatting at as much of them as she could. Panic began to rise, and she felt bile come up her throat; she had just enough time to jump up to her feet and swat a few more before being violently sick, her whole body shuddering as she did so. Her mind was in havoc; what was happening? She kept swatting at the spiders, too terrified to do anything else, but it didn't work; they just kept coming. Their legs, graceful in a way, danced across her skin, spinning webs round and round; trapping her. Just like they did to Cloud. She felt suffocated; she was struggling to breathe. Gasping for air, she hastily brushed off all the spiders she could, but it was no use. The spiders she had gotten rid of were just replaced by double it's amount; just like in a nightmare. Unable to take it any longer, she began to scream, her head feeling as if she would exploding from the ticking in the background."STOP IT! GET THEM OFF ME; LET ME GO!" She shrieked, over and over again. As she yelled, a spider managed to crawl into her mouth and she choked, in danger of passing out from lack of oxygen. This had to end. Please. She closed her eyes; there was only one thing left to do. Electrocute herself. It had to end. This was the only way. Gritting her teeth, she switched on her affinity, trying to ignore the soft pricks of the spiders pincers on her skin. Placing her hands on her chest, she counted to three. One. Two. Three. Black.

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TEMPLATE BY KHRISTIAN OF CAUTION 2.0, [/center]

[Julian Blake]

Screams. Screams were something that Julian loved. He wasn't exactly sure why but any type of scream was enough to lift his mood entirely no matter what mood he was previously in. Screams that came from sex (screams he got often) or screams that came from immense pain (he sorta liked those better but got them just as often). He just loved them all and being in this game right now was making him heavy with anticipation about what type of screams he was going to get out. The thought of it was simply giving him chills.

Lightning's fear was an interesting one. Julian had many things to toy with because of the fact that she had so many things that she was afraid of. He grinned happily as he watched her coming in. She was so stupid to have made friends with this particular group. He had already tortured this girl before and now he was doing it again. Perhaps she would die this time. He wasn't sure he cared really. This was all about Astraea. He needed to have her at his side, she was innocent. A true innocent and he wasn't sure when he was going to ever find that again but back to the task at hand.

He smiled watching Lightning looking frightened at how long this alleyway seemed to be. Not to mention the loud ticking of the clock that was going off in the background. He could feel her fear. It was so sweet to feel the fear coming off of a person. Some people became drunk because of alcohol consumption. He became drunk off of someones fear and someones screams. He was a proud Sadist after all and these were the types of things that appealed to him.

This was the best part he thought as she saw the body and he could hear her little hear breaking. How cute. So many people's fears had something to do with the death of someone they loved. It was a stupid fear to him. Why love anyone in the first place? All it did was make you weak in every way possible. When you loved someone you left yourself vulnerable and out in the open to all types of things. Like the example of what happens if they die? Then you are left here without them hurt and upset and weak. Julian would never leave himself vulnerable. Julian was all about power.

Much to Julian's dismay Lightning did not touch the body right away she seemed to just have a bit of a breakdown and yes she screamed. He grinned and closed his eyes and let the wonderful sound intoxicate his shivering body. So he watched her and he waited for her to stop just sitting there actually touch the body so that the fun could continue. Well his fun anyway. She was so afraid...she was so hurt it was completely delicious to him so much fear that he didn't even know that to do with it. He grinned a bit. He was delighted.

She finally came back to herself enough to touch the body and He grinned at what the illusion conjured up, it was her own fault. The illusion could only be as bad her imagination allowed it to be and she was allowing it to be extremely gruesome.Julian was actually sort of impressed. Just when he thought things might get dull that was when all the spiders came out. He laughed a little bit not like it mattered because she wouldn't be able to hear him or anything like that. No she wouldn't. The spiders came and just started crawling all over her and no matter what they did all of their numbers would just grow and grow until she either died or got out of the fear. He grinned. She wasn't getting out of this, Just look at the way she screamed.

He was surprised by what happened next. The girl had an affinity for electricity and she seemed to just electrocute herself. Luckily she didn't die or anything. She just knocked herself out. He walked over and grinned when she woke up things would not be as they were. The spiders would still be there and growing until they filled the room and then cloud would no longer be dead. He would get up all bloodied still and tell her everything he hated about her and how he finally was going to just leave her forever.

Julian thought it was brilliant. Completely brilliant. She was never going to be able to get out of this and she would just be one down. One down in the vast list of people that were going to be destroyed tonight and Julian just couldn't wait for it all.

Words: 812
Muse: goodish
Notes: So Sorry if its completely terrible

[LightningϟStrife]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, width: 380px; border-left: 20px solid #7a9aa9; background-image:url(http://i583.photobucket.com/albums/ss279/legendskseeker/fk5qwnjpg.png); padding-left: 10px; padding-bottom: 20px;] Everything was refreshingly white. Infinite space. Here, there were no limits -- just like a dream. She felt calm, relaxed. Nothing to fear. Yet, she was still alone. Her eyes flickered down, and blinked in surprise. Her blood stained clothes had been swapped with a simple, white (of course) dress, and her shoes replaced with nothing. She felt clean, and pure. But something was missing. She didn't know what. Nothing. Everything. She was clean, pure and empty. But she didn't care. Here, you didn't have to care. There was nothing to care about. The world of dreams, was a haven of bliss. It was a world, to where people escaped to. Here, they were free, safe. Weren't they? No answer came to mind. She shrugged it off. It didn't matter. Lightning glanced around. Infinite space, indeed. No matter where she looked, everything was just white, with no ends. Huh. The world of dreams seemed to lack imagination. She thought she heard footsteps, and she turned, something a lot like fear creeping down her back. Alert eyes darted about, on guard. For what? She was being watched. She could feel it. Should she be worried? She thought she was alone, but she could feel a gaze concentrated on her. Or perhaps, she should be glad, not worried. Maybe other people had entered this world of dreams. Maybe she wasn't alone. But what made her think that this world was all good? She was being watched. Why? It didn't matter. It didn't matter. It did not. Matter. The confusing thoughts disappeared, and she once again, relaxed. Not wanting to just stand there, she began to walk, concentrating on putting one foot in front of the other. Left. Right. Left. Right. Left. Right. Left. Right. On and on. Forever. The world of dreams had no sky. She couldn't tell the time. She planned on stopping when she needed to rest, but she didn't tire. So, she continued to walk in this peculiar world of dreams. The feeling of not being quite complete still lingered, but she was somewhat content. She didn't feel the pressure of having to be on guard. She didn't feel the pressure to be anything at all. It was a blissful feeling. There it was again! That feeling was back. She was missing something. She tried to ignore it, but it wouldn't go. What was it? She struggled, trying to remember -- Ah. Her memories? She frowned. What memories? She had none. Did she ever possess any? There was something important that she had forgotten. She paused; something incredibly important, but it didn't feel like it had anything to do with her. Not in this world. She couldn't remember. She couldn't remember, so it didn't matter. She carried on walking. Left. Right. Left. Right. Left. Right. She was unsure of how long it was until she saw the bench. Seconds, minutes, hours, days, years may have gone past. Lightning didn't care. Time meant nothing here. She paused as she passed the bench, wondering if she should carry on or stop. She spared another glance around her. Nothing. White. Why not? She sat. She leant back, eyes focusing on nothing in particular. It wasn't hard. There was nothing to see. She sat, and did nothing, time passing meaninglessly once again. Lightning glanced around once more. Nothing. Huh. The world of dreams seemed to lack imagination. She stood. She began to walk. Left. Right. Left. Right. Left. Right. Left. Right. She paused; something was at the back of her mind. What was it? It felt as if it was nagging her -- tugging at her mind, almost. She struggled, trying to remember -- Oh. Remember. Memories? Memories. Memories. Ah. Her memories. What memories? Did she have any? She couldn't remember. She couldn't remember, so it didn't matter. It didn't matter. She carried on walking. Left. Right. Left. Right. Left. Right. It was a while, before she saw the bench. It seemed familiar, somehow. But she couldn't remember why. She paused, when she passed it, unsure of whether to stop and sit, or carry on. She looked around. Nothing. White. Why not? She sat. She sat, and did nothing. Again, this seemed familiar. But she couldn't remember why. And if she couldn't remember, it didn't matter. She looked around once more. White. Huh. The world of dreams seemed to lack imagination. She stood. She paused. Something was in the far off distance; something disturbingly black against this pure, bright white. A figure. The shadow of a figure. Real, or not real? She sat back down, waiting. Who? A name popped into mind. Nyx. The Goddess of the night. How did she know who Nyx was? She couldn't remember -- so it didn't matter. The figure stalked closer, taking the form of a child. No; not Nyx. Of course. Lightning patiently waited, and the child soon reached the bench, before perching herself beside her. The two sat in silence. Lightning turned, glancing at the child. It took a while for the familiarity to click. "You're me! You're Lightning!" She broke the silence, shock and amazement filling the void. The child smiled, before shaking her head. "Not yet. I'm not Lightning, but i'm still you. Younger you." Lightning frowned; she did not have the voice of a child. It carried a tone of wisdom and age that should not be combined with youth. How odd. The two sat in silence, once again. This time, the child dared to break to break it. "Time means nothing here. It'll go by without you noticing." The child's cerulean eyes turned to stare into their exact replica's. "You don't belong here. You need to go." Lightning opened her mouth, before shutting it back when words failed to appear. She stared at her younger self. "I don't understand. I do belong. Where would I go? I have nothing to go back to. I like it here. I want to stay." She paused, before speaking again. "You go." Funny, how she was being immature, whilst the child was not. The child glanced to the right, appearing worried. Lightning followed her gaze, and she squinted, making out a line of black. Her words dragged her gaze away. "It's dangerous for you here. Time's working against you. You'll forget everything if you stay -- doomed to repeat, to live a circle of nothing; your memories are in danger." Memories? What memories. She had no memories. She couldn't remember. It didn't matter. It didn't matter. It didn't matter. It didn-- The tight grip of the child's hands clasped around Lightning's wrist had her jumping out of her trance. Scared, she turned to the girl. "I don't understand. I can't remember." The child seemed almost sympathetic. "You can. You always have. It's not that you can't remember. It's that you don't want to remember." The dam holding her memories broke, and they flooded in. Her friends. Julian. Their fate. Cloud. She began to cry. Sobbing, uncontrollably, she let out the hot tears of anguish, finally letting her feelings show. The child, unnerved, held her, gently patting her hair in a reassuring manner. The two stayed, until slowly, the sobbing came to a dawdling stop. "I don't want to go back! I have nothing to go back to! Don't make me go!" She was hysterical. But the child remained calm. She gently brushed the tears off Lightning's face, before giving her a stern stare. "The world of dreams aren't all good, Lightning. Nightmares are a part of this world, and they, just like fear, haunt the minds that let them here." The child nodded back to the line of black. Lightning stared. Nightmare. The line of black was a nightmare. Before her eyes, the line began to thicken, and spread. Worried, she turned back to the child, but she seemed unaffected. "Go back, Lightning. Go back to your friends -- your world." The child, the younger Lightning, stood, before beginning to walk away. "Your nightmare awaits." The dark line expanded quicker, crawling through, reaching, calling, for her. The world of white faded to black. * * * She came back with a jolt. Feeling returned to her limbs, memories rushed back, and the gift of calm bliss melted away. Her head ached, pounding with a heavy drum at the back of her head. She suspected that was from falling to the ground after blacking out. Her mouth was dry, and her throat ached for something to drink. But, she didn't move. Although disoriented, she had enough sense to realise where she was. To know the dangers of where she was. But then she noticed was that nothing was touching her. No pricks against her skin, no stiff, rigid legs brushing past her. The spiders had gone. But she refused to open her eyes. As long as she couldn't see, then she didn't have to do anything. As long as she couldn't see, then it meant that she was still dreaming. A groan. She froze, afraid. That was a human sound. A human. Human. Cloud? She was hoping; a dangerous thing to do. She knew it couldn't be, that it was impossible, but she was still wishing for it. All she had to do was to open her eyes. Open her eyes, and she would see, she would make sure that it wasn't what she thought, that Cloud wasn't-- Her eyes flung open, and they hungrily searched for the corpse of her brother. Except he wasn't there. She blinked, shocked. He was gone. Her eyes noticed a pool of blood on the floor, and her eyes flickered down to it, before following the trail of blood that led into the darkness. Should she follow? She hesitated. Just walk, she thought, harshly. For Cloud. She took a step forward, before stopping, her foot coming down to the floor with a loud thud. She had been wrong. The spider's hadn't gone. They were still here; waiting in the shadows. The eight legged creatures rustled forward, closing off the trail of blood, trapping Lightning in a circle. She stood, helpless, a scream clawing at her throat. There were too many of them-- so many, that they were clambering on top of each other to reach her. She didn't have to turn around to see that there were spiders behind her, too. Hands clenched, she froze, and so did the spiders. Mere inches away, the stopped, watching, waiting. Waiting for what? Lightning continued to stand, not knowing what to do. The spiders; they were huge. As big as her hand -- maybe bigger. She felt the need to move, the unnaturalness of staying too still causing her muscles to resist to being still. But she forced herself to stay put; if she moved, then surely, the spiders would devour her. She'd stay like this for all eternity if she had to. Footsteps. Her head jerked up, causing the spiders to close in a centimetre closer. But she didn't care; she had definitely heard footsteps. Footsteps, that belonged to a human. Her eyes swept the alleyway once more, wanting to make sure. The dead body of her brother remained missing. Hope overcame fear. Taking a step forward, she searched eagerly for the figure she knew so well. The spiders scurried out of the way, clambering over her foot, but she didn't care; how could she, when her brother may be alive? The fear of spiders seemed so trivial right now. They didn't matter. They didn't matter. He may be alive. She took another step forward. Unable to stop, she spoke, her voice soft, hopeful. "Cloud?" Another footstep. And another. And another. The figure appeared. He lived.

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TEMPLATE BY KHRISTIAN OF CAUTION 2.0, [/center]

[Cloud Strife]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,10,true][atrb=style, background-color: #423c42;,true][cs=2] & YOU'RE NOT EVEN HUMAN ` YOU'RE JUST A LOVELY IDEA OF ONE WHO I ACCIDENTALLY LOVED AND GAVE EVERYTHING TO BECOME THE GIRL ON THE PIANO BENCH SINGING ALL OF HER TEARS - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - away
[atrb=width,240] Cloud stared forward. He could see nothing. It was completely pitch black, and also completely silent, other than a very, very faint ticking that he could hear, unsure of where it was coming from. He decided to ignore the noise, and instead took a step through the cloak of darkness, enjoying this feeling of invisibility. It was a very familiar feeling to him considering he spent so much time in small, dark places. Usually he'd be slumped against a wall, pen-knife in hand, and he'd be cutting perfectly straight lines down his arms, trying his hardest to hit a vein, but usually getting too scared at the last moment. This time, he had no knife, and he was completely upright, and walking almost instinctively straight forward, his legs taking him somewhere that his mind had never been. If it hadn't been for the fact he could feel the changes in pressure on the soles of his feet, he would've had no idea that he was moving, it was that dark. He heard footsteps, and froze. Cloud had no idea why he froze at this noise. Maybe because they'd find him and interrupt his train of thought, or they'd tell him something that he didn't want to hear. It could've been somebody that he loved coming to tell him once more that the feeling wasn't returned - that he'd forever be trapped in a spiral of unrequited love and lost opportunities. But thinking again, he decided that these options were unlikely. It was more likely to be somebody coming to hurt him physically, in which case he wouldn't care. Getting a little bored of this endless and also aimless walking, he shoved his hands in his pocket, and looked down at the legs which once again carried themselves even though his mind was sending no signals for them to move. He felt a piece of paper in his pocket. With closer inspection, he could feel that the edges were slightly torn and it was damp. He racked his brains, trying to figure out what it could be, but he had no idea. He pulled it from his pocket and brought it close to his face, but it was useless; there was too little light. Cloud screwed up the little piece of paper and held it tightly in his now clenched fist. He planned on reaching an area of light where he would then read it. Considering his legs were working so hard, he decided that he'd eventually reach somewhere that he could read it. This tunnel couldn't last forever. A flash of light lit the alley. It was tinted slightly blue. He was right, he would eventually reach light. It was so quick that he had no chance of reading the note. He did, however, catch sight of another being. It was probably just because his eyes didn't have the chance to adjust, but he could've sworn that he'd seen himself. Maybe it was a mirror. Piercing screams echoed around the walls, and his pace sped up. He wondered if the sound had been his own screams. He probably wouldn't even notice if he said or did anything, considering his leg movement was barely noticeable now. Maybe he never could feel the change in pressure - maybe it was the sound of his canvas soles hitting concrete that he'd heard and had then led him to believe that he could feel things that he couldn't really. Finally he saw light. Dim as it may have been, he continued towards it. There was now enough light for him to read the note. He took it from his hands and opened it, being careful not to rip the slightly yellowed notebook paper any more than it already was. Cloud, Lightning Strife (your twin) is in this room with you. That made a lot of sense. Maybe that was who he'd seen before. His mind was still a little muddled though, since he wasn't aware that he had a twin. He never really was too observant. Cloud accepted the statement all the same, and continued to read, taking in the information quickly, as though it was the only thing he knew. She'll tell you lies, but you must not listen. If you wish for all you ever loved to survive, then you must upset her. Come up with every way you can to make her feel worthless. You hate her. She is a vile human being that attempts to destroy others' lives. Hurting her will be good for everyone. Succeed and you'll be released. Released from what? This room, or his life? He'd prefer the latter, but decided that either would suffice. He shrugged it off, not thinking that it would matter much if he hurt her. All he knew was that he'd been given instructions, and he always followed instructions. His legs were doing as they were told, weren't they? So his lips could do the same. He dropped the paper as he saw something shining on the ground. It looked slightly red. Blood. His mouth watered at the sight of it. Spiders crawled over it, and suddenly it didn't seem nearly as appetizing. Looking up from the ground, he saw what could only have been Lightning, his twin. "Cloud?" He flinched as the word formed in her lips and seemed to float visibly around him for a few moments after. A sense of longing, and an almost mothering need to protect her overwhelmed him. It was an inevitable and unexplainable feeling, but he quickly pushed it away and replaced it with that same feeling of hatred that he'd had for her whilst reading the note. "Lightning." His tone came out considerably more sinister than intended, and his lip curled up into almost a snarl. He stared pointedly at her for several long moments, and took a few slow steps towards her. "What the fuck are you doing here?" The words were now coming out without him telling them to. That was fine; it meant that he didn't have to any work. "Don't you know you're not wanted here? Here, or anywhere else." His chest felt funny. In fact, his whole person felt weird, and every inch of him seemed to be screaming to shut up and hug her. But he just wouldn't. The impulse to hurt her was much stronger. It was what he'd been told to do, so it was what he was going to do. "You never were wanted. Especially not by me. You were such a burden when we were kids. I had to look after you. It was hard enough looking after myself, but with you as well... It would've been so much better if you'd died that day instead of Mom." He chuckled darkly. "Maybe I'll just do the job now? Make my life, and everybody else's life considerably easier for the future. After all, we all hate you anyway. It'd be nobody's loss."	[atrb=width,140] words , 1570 words tagged , lightning, julian notes , i dunno if this is right but i was bored and i'm aware i haven't been accepted but this is me not GIVING A FUCK
[cs=2] TEMPLATE BY CALIFORNIA DREAMING OF CAUTION 2.0