My God. I'm so ashamed of this chapter. I'm really sorry but this story is so hard to write about! I've already written it once and the beginning is pretty close to the original but I don't want to bore you, my dear readers, so I'm trying to make it somewhat interesting and unique. >.>
This is kind of a filler chapter. I just need to set this up for the next chapter or two. So please… BEAR WITH ME…
PS. I didn't edit. So please tell me of any mistakes or anything.
Take Me Home
Her slender legs wobbled underneath her and David rushed to her side, holding her up before she fell over. "Whoa, Miss Tifa, you should get back to bed. You probably have a fever."
Sitting down onto the bed, she tried to piece the blurry snippets from last night together.
---
Vincent picked at his nails, trying his best to ignore his surroundings. The guard, the same man who had arrested him, glared at him. For the last six or so hours, the officer sat there and glowered.
The hooker (or at least Vincent could only presume she was a whore, even in his skimpy wear he was still covering more skin than her) had awoken possibly about two hours prior and was now giving the gunman a flirty eye.
Shutting his eyes, he let his head hang against his chest. But shot open those same eyes when he heard the prostitute shuffle. Sitting up straight, Vincent simply began to focus on staying awake.
To him, sleep would probably result in him being molested… or something worse.
"Hey, baby-" She was standing now and made a move to come closer.
"Stay where you are." He interjected coldly. Vincent shuddered before redirecting his attention back to the bars of the cell. He counted them… until there was another flicker of movement. "I said stay."
The beasts in his head laughed at him.
With a sickly masculine laugh, she plopped down in the corner and smiled at him. And that smile was not one that Vincent was very fond of.
It made him feel like a piece of meat.
"That claw thing looks pretty kinky." She purred. "Are you sure you don't want to-"
"I said stay where you are." Tensing on his spot, felt a headache beginning to become.
"Macy, you should really stay away from that pervert." The cop from his seat where he continued to glare venomously chirped up. "He's a crazed rapist, I say."
"Oh my god. You can't be serious." Suddenly, her voice lost all it's femininity (if it had any to begin with…) and she (or maybe he…) pressed against the farthest wall from Valentine. "Officer! You stuck me in a cell with a God damned rapist!
"I'm not a rapist!" One hell of a headache.
---
"Where are you going Miss Tifa?" Popping two pills, she shook the old man off her arm gently.
Oh god, she hoped it wasn't who she thought it was. "You said a man brought me here?"
The old innkeeper was having trouble keeping up with her fast legs as she hustled out the door and towards the jailhouse. "Yes, he was quite tall with frightening red eyes. He had dark long hair, but nowhere close to as long as yours."
Yep, that sounded like Vincent Valentine to her.
With her long legs and amazing endurance, she ran all the way to the jailhouse, hoping to God that nothing had happened to her old comrade. Walking into the jail, she was greeted by screams that echoed through the walls. It was a horrible sound. Like a man's impression of a banshee; low yet loud and screechy.
Delving deeper into the chaotic prison she came upon the cell she was looking for. Inside, on one side was some crazed woman hollering 'Rape' and wailing while trying to attack Vincent, who was on the other side of the tiny confinement, with a chair.
Quirking an eyebrow at the scene before her, Tifa watched as her former companion swung his claw back and forth like a tiger trying scratch at its prey. And through all this was Chief Vallee yelling for them to stop in the corner with his gun drawn, threatening to shoot.
The ever so alert Vincent picked up on movement behind the policeman and, stupidly, turned his attention to see Tifa. "Tifa?"
As the breath left his lips, a wooden chair leg collided with the back of his head and the last thing he heard was the young martial artist's gasp before all sank into darkness.
---
Though she had come to clear his name, the chief was not apologetic and still suspicious of him. He didn't offer Vincent any clothes or any compensation for having to spend a night in a cell with a crazed whore.
Trying to ignore not only the chilly wind that licked his bare chest and legs along with the strange stares the town people gave him as he strolled side by side Tifa in his boxers was also the throbbing pain in his skull. The prostitute had the strength of ten men.
"I'm sorry about everything that's happened to you… The town's people are just protective of all their citizens." She tinkered with the lock of her home for a moment before the door popped open without anymore resistance. "I think I should have some of Cloud's old clothes somewhere. But, um, they might be a bit tight and short on you…"
As they entered her abode, he stiffened. The entire house was a mess. Beer bottles littered every corner while broken picture frames and other ornaments lay unattended on the ground.
"Excuse the mess, sorry about it. It's been really busy at the bar and I keep having to put off cleaning it up." Turning around to face her friend, Lockheart threw on such a bright smile, he didn't think about questioning her shaky excuse. "There's a bedroom you can stay in upstairs to your left; 'cause I don't think you slept at all last night, did you? I'll get you some clothes while you get settled."
With a quiet 'Thank You', Tifa watched as he shuffled away. Now to find any of Cloud's clothes that she hadn't thrown out or burned when she was drunk…
---
Eventually, she managed to scrounge up a pair of shorts (though she had a hard time imagining Vincent Valentine in the pair of bright blue shorts or any shorts at all) and a black shirt. I'll call David later and see if he still has Vincent's clothes…
As she made her way up the steps, she walked around several bottles and a ripped up shirt. Crap, Vincent probably thought she was a complete slob after having to climb through this mess to get to his room.
"Shit!" Her skin of her foot slit open as she stepped on a shard of glass. Ignoring the sting, she continued up to his room. God, she really did need to tidy this pig-sty up.
Standing in front of the entrance, she lifted her hand to knock and heard rustling. Hesitating for a second, she finally turned the knob and was greeted by an adorable sight of Vincent curled under the sheets asleep.
"Aw. Now that's just cute." Now that she thought about it, she couldn't think of a single coherent memory of seeing him in slumber…
Still with shorts and shirt in hand, she spun on her heel and walked back out, quietly shutting the door behind her.
As her footsteps grew softer and more distant, Vincent unlocked his irises from their false sleep and sighed in relief. He had peeped out the door when he heard her swear and he'd be damned if he was going to put on those horrid blue pants she had in clasped in her hands.
---
Popping two more cough pills, Tifa stirred the stew on the pot and checked the clock. A quarter to six…. He should be calling soon…
As if hearing her thoughts miles away, the phone rang.
"Hello?" Wiping her hands on her apron, she picked up her PHS and placed it between her ear and shoulder, knowing this conversation would last exactly fifteen minutes, just like every other night since the accident.
"Hey." His voice drawled lazily over the line.
---
Tifa had woken Vincent for dinner not too long later and given him back his old clothes since the innkeeper had brought them over the moment she called. It was an uneventful supper as she asked what he had been doing these last little while and he gave her a half mumbled 'Wandering.' Nothing else happened during the quiet meal.
They both bid goodnight before heading back into their own respective rooms.
Crawling into the comfort of her clean sheets, the young woman barely remained awake for five minutes before drowning into a dreamless sleep.
A frightening scream pierced through her slumber and she shot up in her bed, glancing at the clock, it was a little later than three a.m. Peeping into her hall, she could see the shadows of Vincent thrashing in his bed in the room across the hall.
"Oh my God." Cloud had had nightmares when they had lived together. She knew the amount a man could do to his own body when he thought he was being attacked. Her former love had scratched his arms raw and bruised his arms.
Rushing to her friend's side, she caught one of his arms as it swung towards her and tried to wake him by shaking him. "Vincent. Wake up!"
But something warm slid through her fingers. Releasing the forearm, she stared down at her hand only to it dark with blood, though it was hard to make out with the minimal light of the moon through the thin curtains. Shaking him with more vigor, while trying to hold down any limbs coming to attack her. Suddenly, she was flooded with a faint red glow as his eyes unfolded, but they were panicked and she couldn't help but cry out as sharp claws, still covered in his own blood, dug into her shoulder and further, tearing muscle, veins and bones in its way.
Please review. Again, I'm sorry if this was kind of a boring chapter. Or crappy chapter. I promise the next one will be more interesting!