A.N.: I'm back! Terribly sorry about the long absence, several of my friends have been going through pretty tough times lately, and its been hard to find the time or heart to write. Still, here it is at last, the chapter that bridges between this arc of the story, and the Roxas-and-Axel-have-hot-kinky-sex arc that is coming up. I may go quiet again for a while, but please don't give up on me. Real life sometimes gets in the way. Thank you for sticking with me.

Warnings: Lack of length, ambiguity, half-naked Demyx and Marluxia.

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, Kingdom Hearts 2 or anything associated. They all belong to Square Enix. As does Final Fantasy. The song "Hellfire", from the Hunchback of Notre-Dame, belongs to Disney.

Enjoy.

Roxas lay sprawled on Sora's sofa, a book lying half open against his stomach. It was yet another book he had already finished, as his virtual imprisonment for the last month had left him little else to do. Unable to leave the house unless in Sephiroth's company or to go to school, he had devoured every book in the house and so was reduced to sitting around on the sofa staring at the ceiling.

Or, so his brother and Sephiroth believed. After the first few days of frustration, and the news that a Halloween party would be organised by the town council, Roxas had began to spirit away bits and pieces of time, as well as fabric, and had begun putting together a costume. A fair hand with a needle after the constant repairs his father's beatings had necessitated, the blond felt sure that no one would recognize him, least of all his jailors.

A small smile on his face, Roxas settled down and closed his eyes, and gradually began to drift off to sleep. Hovering in the moment between awareness and sleep, he heard the faint sound of the front door opening, and Sephiroth's measured footsteps. The stairs creaked, and then he heard a faint whisper, deep and calm. Sephiroth.

"How is he?"

Sora's voice, high pitched and ringing even when soft, came next.

"Better than he was."

"Should we tell him?"

That was Riku's voice, Roxas recognized, and wondered what he was talking about.

"No."

Sephiroth's voice came out sounding more like an order than anything else.

"He has enough to deal with recovering from his captivity without learning that his captor might be in town again soon."

Roxas's heart skipped a beat. Axel was going to be in the town. The threat the vampire had made before they parted rang again in his ears, sending shivers down his spine. The vampire had beaten him, raped him, and then killed Cloud, who was still his father if not a good one. He was callous, cruel, sadistic and a remorseless killer.

So why, Roxas wondered, did he feel a quiver of exitement at the thought of Axel's return.

Fireworks exploded into life in the sky above, loud concussive booms shaking the town. In the moments in between, Roxas moved in the shadows, escaping from the house, where he had been left without a minder, except for Sephiroth, who was reading upstairs. Letting the noise cover his movements, Roxas quickly made it to the backdoor, before escaping out into the garden.

Pulling his costume from its hiding place behind the shed, he quickly applied his makeup using the light flashing of the windows to see. Now ready to go out and join the party, he jumped over the fence that had always seemed so high before, and was out on the street and lost in a mass of faces, masks and creatures.

Hands and bodies surrounded him, as vampires, werewolves, serial killers, ghosts, ghouls, wights, and costumed people of all stripes swirled and milled around in the street. Letting the croud carry him towards the town square, where the party was being held, Roxas took it all in with wide-eyed wonder. His father had never let him come to the yearly Halloween party before, and he had never regretted that more than he did now.

"CITIZENS!"

The mayor's voice boomed out impressively, echoing through the square.

"Tonight, Traverse Town is no more. For this night, this single night every year, we celebrate our good fortune and scare each other to remind ourselves that we are a community."

Roxas smiled at the ridiculous speech the mayor was making, his clockwork hat bobbing to emphasize his words. The croud was cheering and yelling, and he felt like a part of something larger than himself, basking in the merriment that filled the air.

"My friends, THIS IS HALLOWEEN!"

He pulled a rope attached to a large black drape and it came loose to reveal a large sign with the words "Halloween Town" and a skeleton man in a suit wearing a pumpkin crown. A roar of approval rose from the crowd and the party properly begun.

Applebobbing was happening on every corner, mulled wine and apple cider being sold by hawkers parked wherever there was empty space, loud techno music was pumping out of the stereos and swarms of people were flocking towards the houses with lights on and pumpkin lanterns lit.

Roxas walked slowly around, lost in the wonder and splendour of it all. Familiar faces were everywhere; he saw Tidus sneaking up behind Olette and Pence, two distant figures who looked like Sora and Riku, the entire tribe of Riku's cousins all dressed identically. He even saw two of his teachers, Yuffie and Aerith, wandering around the place dressed as a ninja and a princess respectively.

A glimpse of red hair, and he turned swiftly, eyes searching the crowd for green eyes, only to realize that it had been a stranger he had seen. Looking once more just in case, he turned back around only to slam into a large frame. The ground zoomed up towards him at an alarming pace before he hit it with a loud thud.

More angry than hurt, Roxas rolled over and brushed the dust of his costume before turning around to give the stranger a piece of his mind, only to stop before he could even begin. Hollow olive eyes stared down at him from the center of a pale face framed by greying pink-brown hair. Black robes swirled in the wind as blood seeped from hundreds of tiny cuts left by a harness of leather and rose briars.

The blond gulped and quickly walked away, avoiding eye contact before becoming lost in the crowd. As he moved with the crowd of people, Roxas began to hear unearthly strains of music wafting through the air, as the crowd spread out and he was thrust into a gap between two people on the edge.

Sitting contentedly on the same steps, strumming the same sitar, was Demyx. Hair sopping wet, skin pale and translucent as though he had drowned, he sat there, a ridge of fins along his back waving in the wind. The webs between his fingers didn't seem to be impairing his playing, and his vest was open down near his abdomen, revealing gill slits down his sides. Noticing Roxas, the vampire began to sing.

"Like fire, hellfire, this fire in my skin. This burning, desire, is turning me to sin."

If the sitarist was singing about fire, and there was one vampire about, then there could be more, which meant that...

"Hello Roxas. Have you enjoyed your reprieve?"

He turned around, and he locked gazes with blazing emerald eyes.

"Axel."

Well? What did you think? Drop me a line and let me know?

Also, I'm opening up a competition - guess where the story is going.

Winners will have chapters dedicated to them.

Many apologies again for both the lateness, and the shortness of this chapter.

Azrael